Chapter 3: Determining Recommended Minimum Sentence for Offender Not Sentenced as Habitual Offender
Chapter 3 discusses the method of determining the recommended minimum sentence ranges using the statutory sentencing guidelines and sentencing grids1 for offenders not being sentenced as habitual offenders.
A standard procedure applies to most felonies to which the guidelines apply — enumerated in MCL 777.11a to MCL 777.17g. Special procedures apply to offenses predicated on the commission of an underlying felony and attempted offenses. See MCL 777.18; MCL 777.19. This chapter details calculation of the minimum sentence range under the guidelines for each of these types of offenses.
Note that in 2015, the Michigan Supreme Court rendered the previously-mandatory sentencing guidelines “advisory only.” People v Lockridge, 498 Mich 358, 365, 399 (2015), aff’g in part and rev’g in part 304 Mich App 278 (2014) and overruling People v Herron, 303 Mich App 392 (2013). Although “sentencing courts [are no longer] bound by the applicable sentencing guidelines range,” they must “continue to consult the applicable guidelines range and take it into account when imposing a sentence,” and they “must justify the sentence imposed in order to facilitate appellate review.” Lockridge, 498 Mich at 392, citing People v Coles, 417 Mich 523, 549 (1983), overruled in part on other grounds by People v Milbourn, 435 Mich 630, 644 (1990).2 The Lockridge decision is discussed in detail in Section 1.4. See also the Michigan Judicial Institute’s Lockridge flowchart. Sentencing courts are required to articulate both the justification for an out-of-guidelines sentence and the justification for the extent of the departure itself. People v Steanhouse (On Remand) (Steanhouse III), 322 Mich App 233, 239 (2017), vacated in part 504 Mich 969 (2019).3 See Chapter 5 for a detailed discussion of imposing an out-of-guidelines sentence.