Attorney fees; Indigency hearing; Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) Act (MIDCA); MCL 780.991(3); “Local funding unit”; Equal protection; Abandoned issue

The court concluded that “it was not error for the trial court to assess [defendant-]Blank $850 in court-appointed attorney fees or to deny his request for an indigency hearing at the time.” Although it affirmed, it acknowledged “that this case exposes a potential conflict between the traditional statutory framework for assessing attorney fees, MCL 769.1k, and the MIDCA.” He pled guilty to CSC II, unlawful imprisonment, and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was ordered “to pay fees and costs, including $850 in attorney fees for his appointed counsel. The trial court denied [his] postconviction request for an evidentiary hearing regarding whether he was indigent[.]” Blank first argued “that the trial court’s assessment of $850 in court-appointed attorney fees was a reversible error because it failed to provide a factual basis to support that amount.” The court held that although “the trial court failed to provide a basis for that amount at Blank’s sentencing hearing, it made sufficient factual findings supporting the $850 assessment at the hearing on” his postconviction motion. Blank also argued “that the trial court’s denial of his request for an indigency hearing violated his due-process rights, equal-protection rights, MCL 780.991(3), and MIDC standards.” The court disagreed “for three reasons: (1) the trial court correctly concluded that [he] was not presently entitled to an evidentiary hearing on indigency; (2) the MIDC standards [he] cites do not apply to impose a different requirement on the circuit court; and (3) [he] has abandoned his equal protection argument.” Second, Blank argued “that the trial court did not comply with MCL 780.991(3) and the MIDC’s standards.” The court held that because he “has not established that the circuit court was the ‘appointing authority’ or the ‘local funding unit,’ [he] has not established that the MIDC standards he cites apply to the circuit court.”