Rule 6.100 - Criminal Procedure(A) Criminal Pretrial Conferences.(1) Pretrial conferences shall be held in all criminal cases to be tried in circuit court. The purposes of a pretrial conference shall be:(a) to determine whether the parties intend to proceed to trial or to enter a plea to the original charge, a lesser charge, or an added charge;(b) to determine whether pretrial motions have been completed;(c) to stipulate which witnesses will be called at trial and which witnesses will be waived, if any;(d) to determine the number of trial days required;(e) to determine when the case will be ready for trial and disclose any scheduling problems.(2) The defendant and his or her attorney, as well as the prosecuting attorney or a representative, shall attend the pretrial conference. The defendant shall not participate in the conference, but shall be immediately available for consultation. Incarcerated defendants need not be present, unless required by the judge.(3) Copies of the pretrial conference summary shall be available from the clerk on request.(B) Arraignments and Motions. (1) Arraignments shall be noticed for a regularly scheduled motion day of the judge to whom the case is assigned. The district court judge who binds the case over to circuit court for arraignment will ordinarily assign a date for arraignment. If no date is assigned, the case will automatically be noticed by the clerk for the next regularly scheduled criminal motion day of the assigned judge.(2) A defendant represented by a lawyer may enter a plea of not guilty or stand mute without arraignment in accordance with the provisions of MCR 6.101(D)(2). In such a case, the defendant shall state, in addition, what pretrial motions will be filed, how much time will be required to hear them, and the earliest date the defendant will be ready to proceed with them. A copy of the statement shall be served on the prosecuting attorney no later than the date set for arraignment.(3) At the arraignment or on receipt of the statement required in subsection (2), the court shall set a date for hearing pretrial motions. Except in the discretion of the trial court for good cause and not as the result of failure to exercise due diligence on the part of counsel or the parties and in those matters concerning jurisdiction, no pretrial motions shall be accepted by the court for hearing after the pretrial conference is completed.Mich. L. Ct. R. Cir. Ct. 6.100
Amended effective 10/24/2019; amended effective 1/1/2023.