Successive motion for relief from judgment; OV 3; MCL 777.33(2)(b) (100-point score); Death resulting from commission of a crime; Factual causation; People v Laidler; First-degree murder acquittal; Acquitted conduct at sentencing; People v Beck

The court held that defendant’s acquittal of first-degree murder did not preclude the trial court from scoring OV 3 at 100 points based on a death resulting from the criminal conduct underlying his AWIM convictions, and Beck did not prohibit that scoring. On remand from the Supreme Court, the court considered whether the murder acquittal resolved whether the victim’s death “result[ed] from the commission of a crime” under MCL 777.33(2)(b), whether OV 3 could be scored at 100 points, and whether Beck applied. Defendant had been acquitted of first-degree murder but later convicted of two counts of AWIM arising from the same shooting episode. The court explained that OV 3 requires a factual-causation inquiry. Under Laidler, the relevant question was whether defendant’s criminal conduct was a but-for cause of the death. The murder acquittal established only that the prosecution failed to prove the elements of first-degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt. It “does not establish that the victim did not die or resolve whether defendant’s criminal conduct was a factual cause of his death.” The record supported the trial court’s finding that defendant was the shooter and that the victim was fatally shot during the same episode in which defendant committed the offenses of which he was convicted. The court also determined that Beck was inapplicable. Beck prohibits a sentencing court from finding by a preponderance that a defendant committed conduct of which the jury acquitted him. Here, the trial court did not find that defendant committed first-degree murder or rely on the elements of that offense. Instead, it relied on “the undisputed fact that the victim was fatally shot during the commission of the crimes of which defendant was convicted” and found those criminal acts were a but-for cause of the death. Thus, OV 3 was properly scored at 100 points. Affirmed.