People v. Rao

In People v Cress, 468 Mich 678, 692; 664 NW2d 174 (2003), this Court reiterated the four-part test that has governed motions for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence for well over a century. This case requires us to elucidate, and reemphasize, several aspects of this test. We begin with the unremarkable observation that when the defendant possesses knowledge of evidence at the time of trial, that evidence cannot he characterized as “newly discovered” under the first part of the Cress test. In addition, we clarify that knowledge of evidence at the time of trial necessarily…