The court rule reigns supremeby Michael B. Skinner · Friday July 10, 2009 10:11 pm PERMALINK
In People v Williams, the Michigan Supreme Court considered the joinder of two separate drug cases tried to a single jury. Under People v Tobey, 401 Mich 141 (1977). the offenses would have had to have been tried separately because they were unrelated. However, in 1989, the Michigan Supreme Court adopted MCR 6.120, which had a broader interpretation of when offenses are related for joinder purposes. Because the rule was adopted post-Tobey, it supersedes the holding of Tobey. And under 6.120, joinder of the defendant's cases was permissible. That's the case (all 26 pages of it) in a nutshell.So, in the future, ignore Tobey and check the court rules instead for all your joinder and severance questions.
