People v. Frazier

This 1995 murder case has a long history in the Michigan and federal courts. Following the affirmance of defendant’s convictions in our state courts, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, on habeas corpus review, ordered defendant’s release unless he was given a new trial in which his confession would be excluded from evidence. The district court ordered this result because of retained counsel’s deficient performance, not because of any police misconduct.

During pretrial hearings, the trial court also suppressed the testimony of two witnesses — street sweepers…