People v. Glover

In People v. Glover, 154 Mich App 22; 397 NW2d 199 (1986), the Court held that "[a] trial judge is not entitled to make an independent finding of a defendant's guilt on another charge and assert that as a basis justifying sentence, especially where a defendant was found not guilty of that charge." In that case, the trial court departed upward from the recommended guidelines range in sentencing the defendant on his conviction of voluntary manslaughter, stating as one of the reasons for the departure that the crime was "too cold and deliberate." Id. at 44. On appeal, the Court held that "because defendant was found not guilty of first-degree murder, there was no justification for imposing a sentence based upon the trial judge's opinion that the defendant should have been convicted of the greater offense." Id. at 45.