(Source: MIRS.news, Published 07/12/2024) A Wayne County man who wished to withdraw his plea – which was conditioned on his twin also taking the deal – is entitled to an evidentiary hearing, the Michigan Supreme Court held Friday.

In a 5-2 opinion from Justice Richard Bernstein, the majority held that a hearing is needed to consider the totality of the circumstances to determine if defendant Dwight Samuels’ plea was involuntary.

However, Justice Brian Zahra said the majority’s opinion “ignores the combined wisdom of every federal court” and instead adopts the California Supreme Court’s In re Ibarra test, which includes factors to consider, such as whether inducement for the plea is proper, and which has different circumstances than Samuels’ case.

The Ibarra case deals with the plea-taking process, while Samuels’ is a post-plea claim.

“This Court may be the first in the nation to apply Ibarra to a motion to withdraw a guilty plea,” Zahra wrote. “… The majority opinion is bad for the people of Michigan who expect our courts to run efficiently and equitably for all involved in our criminal justice system: defendants, victims, jurors, law enforcement and witnesses.”

Samuels and his twin brother were charged with various crimes for beating and shooting a man at a Detroit Coney Island restaurant in 2019.

The prosecution made a joint plea offer that was conditioned on both defendants entering a plea deal, and Samuels was initially reluctant to accept, but he eventually agreed when his brother said he wanted to accept the plea deal.

Samuels, however, later said he felt coerced into making a plea to assault with intent to murder and second-offense felony firearms, and he moved to withdraw his plea.

The trial court denied the request and in December 2021, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed in a published opinion.

Michigan’s high court held that a defendant’s plea is involuntary “if, under the totality of the circumstances, their will was overborne such that the decision to plead was not the product of free will,” Bernstein wrote. 

“Because we find that the record here raises a question of fact whether defendant’s plea was involuntary, we remand the case to the (Wayne County) trial court to hold such an evidentiary hearing,” he summed up.

The majority also held that the trial court needs to consider the Ibarra test, which includes factors to consider, such as whether inducement for the plea is proper. The majority also held that Samuels’ relationship with his twin “is also a relevant factor” for the trial court to consider.

Zahra, with concurrence from Justice David Viviano, would not adopt and expand the Ibarra test to motions to withdraw a plea. He holds Ibarra is “procedurally distinct” from Samuels’ case.

In Ibarra, the California Supreme Court held, and other states adopted, that package-deal plea offers may be unreasonable because of the extraneous factors that might influence a defendant’s decision. Among the factors to be considered is the factual basis for the plea, and the nature and degree of coerciveness.

Samuels is serving a 13-30 years’ sentence for the assault conviction and a five years’ consecutive imprisonment for the felony-firearm conviction.