Congratulations to MAACS Administrator Bradley R. Hall on his article in the September 2019 Michigan Bar Journal, “Thinking Outside the Four Corners: How Michigan’s unique criminal appellate process promotes justice through factual development on direct appeal.” In the article, Mr. Hall describes how Michigan’s jurisprudence uniquely allows procedures, such as Ginther hearings, for factual development on direct appeal:

"In almost all jurisdictions, direct criminal appeals are limited to the 'four corners' of the trial court record, meaning that many constitutional claims must wait until later collateral review, when defendants have a mechanism to develop the record but no right to appellate counsel to assist in doing so. Michigan is a rare exception to this unfortunate rule. By permitting the development of a factual record during direct appeal, our unique criminal appellate procedure helps protect defendants’ rights and identify wrongful convictions while fostering accurate and efficient fact-finding."

This unique aspect of Michigan’s jurisprudence allows criminal defendants to pursue claims requiring expansion of the record, such as ineffective assistance of counsel, on direct appeal where they have the right to the assistance of counsel and other critical defense tools typically unavailable on collateral review.

Mr. Hall describes the development of this aspect of Michigan’s jurisprudence and suggests ways to improve our jurisprudence to “cement” Michigan’s position as a leader in this area, such as lengthening the jurisdictional timeframe for filing post-conviction motions in the trial courts and providing greater expert witness and investigative support.

Along with serving as the MAACS Administrator, Mr. Hall is also the chair-elect of the SBM Appellate Practice Section Council.

Read the entire article here.

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