Successive motion for relief from judgment; MCR 6.502(G)(2); Newly discovered evidence; People v Johnson; People v Allen; MCR 6.508(D)(3); The People v Cress factors; Reasonable diligence & good cause; The probable outcome & actual prejudice

Holding that the trial court failed to “apply the correct legal framework” and made factual and legal errors in granting defendant’s successive motion for relief from judgment, the court vacated and remanded. Defendant and his girlfriend (M) were arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting. He was convicted of multiple charges in 2000, including second-degree murder. The court concluded that the trial court was correct that the 2019 affidavit from one of the surviving victims (W) that defendant attached to his successive motion was newly discovered. But it found that the trial court “fell short in applying the fourth prong of Cress” to this new evidence. The “trial court found the jury should have ‘had the benefit of evaluating Mr. [W’s] credibility,’ which is distinct from concluding a reasonable juror could find the testimony credible.” And the court could not find record support for the trial court’s determination that M’s Walker hearing testimony “was new evidence for purposes of MCR 6.502(G)(2)(b).” The same was true as to some of defendant’s police misconduct allegations. Thus, it vacated “the trial court’s findings and holding as to all evidence” except the 2019 affidavit. For the “other pieces of evidence, the trial court must begin with the procedural hurdle set forth in MCR 6.502” on remand. The court also noted that even assuming the trial court was correct about defendant’s trial counsel being ineffective, that was insufficient at this stage. The trial court had to consider defendant’s “direct appeal and his first motion for relief from judgment to assess whether these arguments were previously addressed and, if not, whether [he] alleged ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. [It] did not do so when determining good cause under MCR 6.508(D)(3)(a), and its failure to do so was clear error.”