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People V. Smith Case Summary

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In the Supreme Court of Michigan, in the case of the People v. Smith (Ricky Franklin Smith), Smith was charged with breaking and entering a building with intent to commit theft. (Wesoloski, 2011) Smith agreed that he had broken a window to gain entrance into the Pontiac’s warehouse, and removed property without permission. (Wesoloski, 2011) At the time of this incident Smith was considered an adult and sentenced to three and one-half to ten years for breaking and entering; however, the sentence was vacated when Smith was convicted to serve six to thirty years as a habitual offender, for his fourth offense. (JUSTIA US Law, 2018) Researching Smith’s arrest history included twelve juvenile violation and inaccurate adult offense history. Even though Smith pleads guilty to breaking and entering and being a habitual offender, fourth offense; Smith filed a motion for resentencing alleging his presentence report file contained …show more content…

Smith’s juvenile records included seven prior felonies and three misdemeanors, which a judge ruled to protect society Smith will serve his sentencing concurrently with other sentencing. The Supreme Court observed that one panel of Courts could not use juvenile records for sentencing and on the other hand some Courts use juvenile records such as felonies which cannot be set aside for sentencing efficiently subverts MCR. (JUSTIA US Law, 2018) Therefore, law enforcement agencies may continue to use expunged records against defendants to their prejudice. The second issue with Smith’s case included that expungement can only be enforced before the age of twenty-seven, which an individual has been an adult for purposes of criminal penalty for ten years. (JUSTIA US Law, 2018) “A defendant’s juvenile court history may reveal a pattern of lawbreaking and response to previous rehabilitative efforts” (JUSTIA US Law, 2018, p.

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Upon reviewing the case of People v. Smith 437 Mich. 293 (1991), we find that the defendant Ricky Smith; an adult at the time of the commission of the offenses in question, was a habitual juvenile offender; possessing a juvenile record which included twelve juvenile entries including seven prior felonies, three misdemeanors, was charged, pleaded guilty, and convicted of breaking and entering with the intent to commit larceny and being a habitual offender. As a result of the admission of guilt by Smith, he was sentenced to 3 ½ to 10 years, however, the sentence was vacated after it was determined that Smith was a habitual offender, where the current offense constituted his 4th offense. (Justlaw) Therefore, as a result of the juvenile offenses being taken into consideration for sentencing, Smith received a sentence of 6 to 30 years as a habitual offender. Smith’s argument comes from the admission of his juvenile criminal record which was referenced in the presentencing investigative report, citing that pursuant to former MCR 5.913 which indicates that “the juvenile record of a former offender was expunged at the age of twenty-seven”,(justlaw) and as such, should

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Price (1988) resulting in the majority concluding that Price presented a better-reasoned approach and further added that the automatic expungement of juvenile convictions “is delusive and purposeless if law enforcement agencies may continue to use supposedly expunged records against a defendant to his prejudice” (People v. Price, 1988). Subsequently following People v. Jones (1988), its approach was deemed to effectively subvert MCR 5.913 and the dissenting judge expressed the belief that Jones represented “the better-reasoned analysis (People v. Jones, 1988). Consequently, the presentence investigation report that outlines Smith’s previous record, including twelve juvenile entries, Smith’s lawyer indicated was accurate (People v. Smith, 1991). Therefore, the judge indicated that because Smith’s record indicated seven prior felonies and three misdemeanors, the judge viewed the sentence as appropriate in order to punish Smith, protect society, and to deter others from committing such offenses (People v. Smith, 1991).

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Therefore, Ricky Smith was sentenced to serve his time concurrently with the other sentence that he had encountered. However, in the case of People v. McFarlin, 389 Mich 557; 208 NW2d 504 (1973), it was suggested that a judge has the right to consider an adult offender's juvenile record, whereas the Probate Code suggests the probate *299 court cannot use a juvenile record as proper evidence against a child in any case in any civil, criminal, or other cause except under a Juveniles and Juvenile Division Chapter of the Probate Code(People v. Smith, 2017). Shortly after in 1978, the Court adopted JCR 13, in which provided automatic expungement juvenile offender records, providing within seven years afterward there is not a felony conviction(People v. Smith, 2017). The Panel of a different court has encountered this situation before, for instance in the People v. Price, 172 Mich App 396, 399-400; 431 NW2d 524 (1988) found that an automat expunge pursuant to MCR 5.913 will not use a juvenile record in court sentencing whereas, in the case of People v. Jones, 173 Mich App 341; 433 NW2d 829 (1988) suggests that a expunged juvenile record could be a factor in sentencing and included in the

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Even though the crimes were committed as a juvenile, those records, once expunged, literally do not exist and should not be a determining factor. Just as Puechner (2014) stated individuals who have committed juvenile offenses are entitled to petition for an expungement of any adjudication records held by the district court. If the petitioner’s request is granted, that individual is entitled to have that record erased as if the event never

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Most states implement expunged laws; at the age of twenty-seven juveniles can have their record expunged. The purpose of the law is to allow juveniles become adults without having a criminal record. In the case of Docket No. 105833 People v. Smith, 448 NW2d 794, Michigan Supreme Court (1989), during the presentence investigation into Ricky Franklin Smith he was indicted on charges as an adolescent. Smith plead guilty to breaking and entering; the career criminal past decisions resulted in his incarceration.

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The court showed that the utilization of an offender’s juvenile criminal record allowed for the stigma of criminal behavior to follow the person into adulthood. The legal issues before the Supreme Court of Michigan were; what are the terms that a sentencing judge can rightfully use the juvenile records of a convicted offender during the sentencing process (People v. Smith, 437 Mich. 293

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Based upon his decision to plead guilty, Smith was convicted of breaking and entering. This was also his fourth

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Juveniles that go through the rehabilitation process will be able to have a clean record after they reach 18, whereas the exact opposite if they went through the adult justice system. Stevenson feels that, “We’ve become so fearful and vengeful that we’ve thrown away children, discarded the disabled, and sanctioned the imprisonment of the sick and the weak—not because they are a threat to public safety or beyond rehabilitation but because we think it makes us seem tough, less broken.” (289) This quote represents the treatment towards juveniles in prison and how the potential of these children is wasted. The goal of rehabilitation is to help the youth understand the consequences of their actions and learn how to make better choices in the

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However, this article also acknowledges the complexities and challenges associated with implementing a time-based expungement system. Concerns are raised about the potential risks of overlooking serious offenses or patterns of criminal behavior, as well as the need to balance the rights of individuals with public safety considerations. Legal experts and policymakers interviewed in this article provide valuable insights into these complexities, highlighting the need for careful deliberation and consideration of all relevant factors. The point of serving time for your crimes and then being released is so you can move on from the past, learn from your mistakes, and start over again. It's hard enough as it is to sustain a decent job or housing, so being denied these simple things people need to survive because of a past mistake that you already paid for is heart

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Everyone makes mistakes. Whether it’s accidental, like taking an item without paying at the store, or purposeful, like robbing someone at gunpoint. Subsequently, every action comes with a consequence. However, these consequences can be too extreme or unfair. These unfortunate occurrences are happening in our juvenile justice system.

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Roper v. Simmons is considered a landmark case and is one of a handful that shows a new direction in granting some relief from what has been established as harsh “adult” punishments for juveniles (Elrod & Ryder, 2014). In fact, many studies are showing that the differences between adults and juveniles are quite significant (Elrod & Ryder, 2014). The courts are realizing that these differences must be taking into account when dealing with juveniles in the criminal justice system (Elrod & Ryder, 2014). However, that being said, change does not occur overnight, and for the unforeseeable future, juveniles will still continue to be waived into adult courts (Elrod & Ryder, 2014).

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The federal government’s “War on Crime” by the Johnson administration in the 60s made way for tougher law enforcement and surveillance (Hinton, 2015). However, with this came the separation of children and adults in the criminal justice system; then the separation of juvenile delinquents from status offenders. As mentioned, status offenders are different from juvenile delinquents because they had broken rules which apply to only children. Meanwhile, juvenile delinquents are youths under the age of 18, who committed offenses that would be punishable to adults as well. By the late 1960s, there became a growing concern that juveniles involved in the court-based status-offense system, were not getting their best interests met (Shubik & Kendall, 2007).

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While the state of Mississippi, my home state, does provide for the expungement of juvenile records, the actual process of expungement is rare. The reason for this is the state laws, which govern the sealing of all juvenile records. Even though the state law calls for the sealing of juvenile records, juvenile adjudications can be taken into consideration, by judges of the circuit courts, when determining sentences. This records can also be used, and disseminated to others, usually by court order of the youth court. Section 43-21-263 of the Mississippi Code of 1972, provides for the sealing of all juvenile court records, once a person has reached 20 years of age.

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The juvenile justice system has made numerous of ethical issues when managing juvenile offenders. The issue with the juvenile justice system is the laws and rules that govern it. It has led to years of controversial debate over the ethical dilemmas of the juvenile corrections system, and how they work with youth offenders. The number of minors entering the juvenile justice system is increasing every month. The reasons why the juvenile justice system faces ethical dilemmas is important and needs to be addressed: (1) a vast proportion of juveniles are being tried and prosecuted as adults; (2) the psychological maturation of the juvenile to fully comprehend the justice system; and (3) the factors that contribute to minorities being adjudicated in the juvenile justice system are more likely than White offenders.

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Annotated bibliography Childress, S. (2016, June 2). More States Consider Raising the Age for Juvenile Crime. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/more-states-consider-raising-the-age-for-juvenile-crime/ More states are considering to raising the age for juvenile crimes before being tried as adult because young offender's mental capacity. The idea is to cut the cost of incarcerate young offender in adult prison and ensure offenders to receive proper education and specialized care to change their behavior. Putting children in adult prison does not deter crime.

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