FLINT – Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said the Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld the murder conviction of a Flint man who a jury found guilty in the 2019 shooting deaths of three individuals and ruled that delays in his case resulting from the COVID pandemic did not violate his constitutional rights to a speedy trial.
In its opinion, published April 4, 2024, the Court of Appeals affirmed the 2022 jury conviction and sentence of Quatrail Terell Smith, now 32, on three counts of first degree premeditated murder and several firearm offenses related to the September 20, 2019 killings of three young men ranging in ages from 16 to 18 on Illinois Avenue in the city of Flint.
Leyton noted that the most important decision for his office was the Court’s upholding of Smith’s convictions but, he said, just as important for prosecutors across the state was the underlying holding related to the constitutional issues of a speedy trial during the COVID years.
Smith was incarcerated for over two and a half years from the time of his arrest until a jury convicted him of the triple murders.
Smith’s attorney filed his appeal on several claims including that delays in the full adjudication of Smith’s case were a violation of his constitutional rights to a speedy trial.
The Court of Appeals evaluated the various delays that had occurred throughout the case and concluded that the primary period of delay in the case was “caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, whether because of mandated courtroom closures or the resulting backlog of cases that prevented Smith’s case from quickly proceeding to trial.”
In its opinion, the Court of Appeals stated “the COVID-19 pandemic placed immeasurable, unexpected, and unprecedented stress on our court system.” It noted that delays resulting from the pandemic affected everyone but that it “uniquely affected criminal defendants, especially those incarcerated while awaiting trial.”
Despite the affects the COVID pandemic had on the court system and defendants, the Court held that the delays stemmed from emergency public-health measures and that Smith’s right to a speedy trial was not violated. The Court also found no merit in Smith’s challenges to jury instructions, the sufficiency of the evidence, the imposition of court costs and his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.
“This was a very important ruling issued by the Michigan Court of Appeals and, I am very
pleased they ruled in our favor,” said Leyton. “Since this was a published opinion, it means this case out of Genesee County will be new authoritative, binding case law throughout the state. It is a win for my office, for the safety of Genesee County residents, and for my prosecutor colleagues around the state.
