Sentencing; Consideration of refusal to admit guilt; People v Yennior; Exercise of the right to trial; People v Jackson

In an order in lieu of granting leave to appeal, the court reversed in part and vacated in part the Court of Appeals judgment (see eJournal # 80921 in the 1/29/24 edition), vacated defendant’s sentence, and remanded to the trial court for resentencing. The court held that the trial court plainly erred in sentencing “defendant based, at least in part, on her refusal to admit guilt and her insistence on proceeding with the trial.” The prosecution conceded this on appeal. The court reversed “the Court of Appeals’ holding that the trial court did not plainly err by sentencing the defendant based, at least in part, on her refusal to admit guilt and her insistence on proceeding with trial.” In addition, it vacated the Court of Appeals’ holdings as to the scoring of “defendant’s offense variables and the proportionality of her sentence.” It denied leave to appeal in all other respects because it was not persuaded that it should review the remaining questions presented.