Order Michigan Supreme Court
Lansing, Michigan
March 28, 2014 Robert P. Young, Jr.,
Chief Justice
147434 Michael F. Cavanagh
Stephen J. Markman
Mary Beth Kelly
Brian K. Zahra
Bridget M. McCormack
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, David F. Viviano,
Plaintiff-Appellant, Justices
v SC: 147434
COA: 313207
Kalamazoo CC: 2012-000303-FC
RODERIQUE LAREESE ROLARK,
Defendant-Appellee.
_________________________________________/
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the May 23, 2013
judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered, and it is DENIED, because we are not
persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.
MARKMAN, J. (dissenting).
I respectfully dissent and would grant leave to appeal to consider (a) whether the
trial court clearly erred by determining that a document discovered in defendant’s prison
cell, appearing to police to contain a detailed and first-hand confession by defendant of
his involvement in a homicide for which he was then under investigation, was “intended
for counsel” and therefore properly suppressed and (b) whether the Court of Appeals in
its characterization of the scope of the attorney-client privilege in Michigan erroneously
or inadvertently expanded the traditional understanding of the privilege to encompass
communications intended for yet-unidentified attorneys. See Watson v Detroit Free
Press, 248 Mich 237, 240 (1929) (stating that for the privilege to apply, “the relation of
attorney and client must exist”); Devich v Dick, 177 Mich 173, 178 (1913) (stating that
the defendant need not have formally retained an attorney for this privilege to exist, but
he must have “‘consult[ed] with an attorney in his professional capacity, with the view to
obtaining professional advice or assistance, and [if] the attorney voluntarily permits or
acquiesces in such consultation, then the professional employment must be regarded as
established’”) (citation omitted).
I, Larry S. Royster, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the
foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court.
March 28, 2014
h0325
Clerk