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By the time a case reaches sentencing, most people assume the outcome is already decided. It is not. Michigan sentencing involves real discretion, real advocacy, and a set of procedural rights that are routinely underused.

Here is what actually happens and what actually moves a judge.

Misdemeanor Versus Felony Sentencing

Misdemeanors are sentenced in district court, frequently at the same hearing as the plea. The judge has broad discretion within the statutory maximum — 93 days, one year, or whatever the offense carries. There are no guidelines.

Felonies are sentenced in circuit court, usually four to six weeks after a plea or verdict, following preparation of a presentence investigation report.

The Presentence Investigation Report

For felonies, the PSIR is the single most important document in the case. It is prepared by the probation department and it contains:

  • A description of the offense,
  • The defendant's prior record,
  • Personal, family, educational, and employment history,
  • Substance abuse and mental health history,
  • Victim impact statements,
  • The scored sentencing guidelines,
  • A sentencing recommendation.

The judge reads it before the hearing. It goes with the defendant to the Department of Corrections and influences classification, programming, and parole decisions for years.

Errors in the PSIR must be challenged at sentencing. Under MCR 6.425, a defendant may raise inaccuracies, and the court must respond — either correcting the report or striking the disputed information. Unchallenged errors follow a person through the entire system.

Read it. Every line.

The Sentencing Guidelines

Michigan's legislative sentencing guidelines, in MCL 777.1 and following, produce a recommended minimum sentence range for felonies.

The scoring involves:

  • Prior Record Variables (PRVs) — scoring criminal history,
  • Offense Variables (OVs) — scoring the circumstances of the offense: injury, weapons, vulnerability of the victim, degree of planning, and other factors.

Those scores place the case on a grid producing a recommended minimum range.

The Guidelines Are Advisory

This is critical and widely misunderstood. In People v. Lockridge (2015), the Michigan Supreme Court held the guidelines advisory rather than mandatory, following Alleyne v. United States.

A court may sentence outside the guidelines. The sentence must be reasonable and proportionate to the offense and the offender, and a departure must be explained on the record.

That change matters enormously. It means guideline scoring is a starting point for argument, not a ceiling on it.

Scoring Is Contestable

Offense variable scoring is where felony sentencing is won and lost. Individual OVs frequently get scored on thin evidence, and a successful challenge to a single variable can drop the recommended range substantially.

Scoring must be supported by a preponderance of the evidence in the record. Objections must be raised at sentencing to be preserved.

Allocution

Under MCR 6.425, the defendant has the right to allocute — to address the court personally before sentence is imposed. The court must offer the opportunity.

This is the one moment in the entire case where the defendant speaks directly to the judge without a lawyer between them. It is squandered constantly.

What works:

  • Genuine acceptance of responsibility, stated plainly,
  • Acknowledgment of the harm caused, and to whom,
  • What has already changed — treatment started, job kept, counseling attended, restitution paid,
  • What the specific plan going forward is,
  • Brevity. Two or three minutes, delivered directly.

What does not work:

  • Minimizing, or explaining why it was not really that bad,
  • Blaming the victim, the police, the co-defendant, or the system,
  • Re-litigating guilt after a plea,
  • Reading a long prepared statement,
  • Anything that sounds rehearsed rather than meant.

Judges hear allocution constantly. They can tell the difference between someone who understands what they did and someone performing contrition, and that assessment affects the sentence more than most defendants realize.

What Else the Court Considers

  • Victim impact statements — victims have a constitutional right to be heard,
  • Letters of support from employers, family, clergy, coaches, counselors,
  • Employment and what incarceration would cost the defendant's family,
  • Treatment already underway — showing up already in a program is among the most persuasive things available,
  • Restitution paid before sentencing,
  • Military service,
  • Health and mental health considerations,
  • Age, particularly for young defendants,
  • Prior record, or the absence of one.

A sentencing memorandum with organized supporting documentation is materially more effective than an oral pitch. Most defendants show up with nothing.

Sentencing Options

  • Delayed sentencing (MCL 771.1) — the court delays sentencing up to a year, and can dismiss or reduce on successful compliance,
  • HYTA (MCL 762.11) — for defendants 17 to 25, dismissal without public record,
  • MCL 333.7411 — first-offender drug diversion,
  • MCL 769.4a — first-offense domestic violence deferral,
  • Probation with conditions,
  • Jail as a condition of probation,
  • Work release or tether in lieu of straight jail,
  • Specialty courts — sobriety, drug treatment, veterans, mental health,
  • Prison, for felonies where guidelines and circumstances warrant.

The Sentence Structure

Michigan uses indeterminate sentencing for prison terms — a minimum and a maximum. The guidelines govern the minimum; the statutory maximum sets the ceiling.

Under the “two-thirds rule” from People v. Tanner, the minimum generally cannot exceed two-thirds of the maximum.

Consecutive sentencing is the exception in Michigan — concurrent is the default unless a statute specifically authorizes or requires otherwise. The major exception: felony firearm under MCL 750.227b carries a mandatory consecutive two years for a first offense.

Jail Credit

A defendant is entitled to credit for time served before sentencing where they were held on that offense. Credit calculations are frequently wrong and should be verified.

Appeals

A sentence can be appealed on grounds including guidelines scoring errors, reliance on inaccurate information, and unreasonableness of a departure. Deadlines are short — generally 6 months for an application for leave following a plea — and they run from sentencing.

Preparing Properly

  • Read the PSIR line by line and flag every error.
  • Verify the guidelines scoring independently.
  • Gather letters of support — specific, from people who know you, not form letters.
  • Start treatment or counseling before sentencing if it is relevant.
  • Pay restitution, or begin paying, once the correct amount is established.
  • Bring employment verification.
  • Prepare allocution. Three minutes, honest, no excuses.
  • Dress like it matters. Arrive early.

Where Sentencing Happens

Misdemeanors from Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Canton, and Northville are sentenced in the 35th District Court in Plymouth. Felonies are sentenced in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit.

The Hearing Is Not a Formality

Sentencing is the last opportunity to affect the outcome, and it is the one most often approached as a foregone conclusion. Guidelines get scored wrong. PSIRs contain errors. Judges sentence below the range when given a reason to.

Reach Boria Law at (734) 453-7806 before your sentencing date. Attorney Aaron J. Boria prepares sentencing memoranda, contests guidelines scoring, and appears at sentencing in the 35th District Court and Wayne County Circuit Court.

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