People v. M.N.B., 2025 Mich. App. LEXIS 1591 (Mich. Ct. App. 2025)

On February 28, 2025, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court’s denial of a racial justice expert violated a young person’s due process rights to present a defense. This case involved an altercation between two middle school students involving the use of a racial slur and other racially derogatory comments. Defense counsel sought to admit an expert affiliated with the Gault Center to testify about the social context of this fight and how the other classmate’s racially charged comments could have made the youth “feel more fearful, thereby justifying her use of force.” Clarifying the legal standard for admitting court-appointed expert testimony, the Court of Appeals explained, “It was enough for defense counsel to indicate that he wanted to call an expert from the Gault Center or an expert suggested by the Gault Center.” The Court of Appeals continued, “Testimony from an expert could have helped illustrate for the jury that [the youth’s] response to being called a racial slur was not excessive under the circumstances. Moreover, the materials presented to the trial court indicated that an expert could have been useful for contextualizing race and racism in the juvenile justice system at large, as well as in the classroom.” This case offers key language that supports the use of racial justice experts on juvenile cases to contextualize youth behavior rooted in young people’s due process rights to present a defense and offer expert testimony.