Rule 3.954.Trial of Designated Cases

MCR 3.954 is short and does most of its work by reference. Once a case has been designated, the trial runs on subchapter 6.400 and any plea runs on subchapter 6.300.

What the rule adopts

The adoption is close to wholesale. Subchapter 6.400 governs trials of designated cases, and subchapter 6.300 governs pleas in them. One provision is pulled out and replaced; the rest of Chapter 6 comes in untouched. A lawyer who works mainly on the juvenile side of the family division will be reading Chapter 6 for the mechanics of the trial.

The one exception

MCR 6.402(A) is carved out and replaced. In its place the rule imposes a single condition on a jury waiver: the court may not accept a waiver of trial by jury until after the juvenile has been offered an opportunity to consult with a lawyer.

Two features of that sentence carry weight. First, the rule speaks of an offer, not of a consultation that took place. What it requires is that the chance was extended. Second, the condition attaches to the court's acceptance of the waiver rather than to the juvenile's decision, so the record of the proceeding needs to show that the offer came first.

Pleas

The closing sentence sends pleas in designated cases to subchapter 6.300. Nothing in MCR 3.954 modifies that subchapter or adds a juvenile gloss to it, so a plea in a designated case is taken under the criminal plea rules rather than the juvenile ones.

The practical effect is a divided rulebook for a single case file. Designation, the preliminary examination, sentencing or disposition, and later review all sit in subchapter 3.900, while the trial and any plea sit in Chapter 6. Handling a designated case means working from both, and MCR 3.954 is the hinge between them.