People v. Williams

Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of first-degree felony murder, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548. Defendant was sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment. Defendant now appeals as of right and we reverse.

Defendant argues that he was denied a fair trial due to prosecutorial misconduct. During rebuttal closing argument, the prosecutor stated:

I would like to leave you with one thought. A long time ago, some time in Colonial times there was a guy named Edmond [sic] Burke. He was a statesman and a philospher [sic] and he wrote all kinds of stuff. And he wrote something back then…