Plea or Trial in a Michigan CSC Case: The Factors in the Decision

Whether to plead or go to trial in a criminal sexual conduct (CSC) case is the client's decision, made after consultation with a lawyer.^[1] The law does not supply an answer; it supplies the things to weigh: the evidence and the burden of proof, the sentence each outcome exposes the person to, registration and monitoring, consequences outside the criminal court, and the rights a plea gives up.

This page sets out those factors with the source for each. It does not recommend a plea or a trial, in general or in any kind of case, and it makes no prediction about outcomes. How plea negotiations work mechanically is covered in Plea bargains in CSC cases, and the trial itself in What happens at a CSC trial.

Who decides, and on what information?

In a criminal case the lawyer shall abide by the client's decision, after consultation with the lawyer, with respect to a plea to be entered, whether to waive jury trial, and whether the client will testify.^[1] The lawyer's part is to notify the client promptly of all proposed plea bargains and to explain the matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit an informed decision.^[9] Those rules are written for "a lawyer" and draw no distinction between appointed and retained counsel.^[1][9]

Factor 1: The evidence and the burden of proof

At trial the accused is presumed innocent, the presumption continues throughout the trial, and the prosecutor must prove each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant is not required to prove innocence or to do anything.^[7] A jury verdict must be unanimous.^[8]

Several evidence rules are specific to these cases, and they cut in different directions.

• The testimony of a victim need not be corroborated in a prosecution for first- through fourth-degree CSC or assault with intent to commit CSC.^[10]
• When a defendant is accused of a listed offense against a minor, evidence that the defendant committed another listed offense against a minor is admissible and may be considered for its bearing on any matter to which it is relevant.^[11]
• Evidence of specific instances of the complainant's sexual conduct, and opinion and reputation evidence of it, shall not be admitted except to the extent the judge makes the findings the statute requires for two listed kinds of evidence; a defendant who proposes to offer such evidence must file a written motion and offer of proof within 10 days after the arraignment on the information.^[12][13]
• The Court of Appeals has stated that witness credibility is a question for the fact-finder.^[14]

Discovery is the court-rule process for learning the prosecution's evidence: on request in a case under the felony rules the prosecutor must provide, among other things, exculpatory information, police reports and interrogation records.^[15] The guides on one-witness cases, other-acts evidence, the rape-shield law and defenses explain each rule.

Factor 2: Sentence exposure, including mandatory minimums

Sentence exposure depends on the offense of conviction. The statutory figures are these; each is a maximum or a mandatory minimum, not a prediction of any sentence.

Offense	Statutory penalty	Mandatory minimum
First-degree CSC	Life or any term of years[16]	Not less than 25 years if committed by a person 17 or older against a child under 13[17]
Second- and third-degree CSC	Not more than 15 years[18]	At least 5 years for a second or subsequent conviction of first-, second- or third-degree CSC[19]
Fourth-degree CSC	Not more than 2 years or a fine of not more than $500, or both[20]	The 5-year repeat-offense minimum is written for convictions under the first-, second- and third-degree statutes[19]

Where a statute mandates a minimum sentence, the court must impose it.^[3] The Sexual Assault Benchbook states that a trial court is without authority to impose a punishment below the statutory minimum for first-degree CSC, and describes People v Kreiner as a case in which a plea agreement offering a ten-year minimum sentence for first-degree CSC called for a sentence the trial court was "without authority to impose."^[4] A person 18 or older convicted of first-degree CSC against a child under 13, who has a listed prior conviction against a child under 13, must be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.^[21]

A prisoner sentenced for first- through fourth-degree CSC or assault with intent to commit CSC, for a crime committed on or after December 15, 1998, comes under the parole board's jurisdiction only after serving a period equal to the minimum sentence imposed by the court.^[22]

Outside the mandatory minimums, the sentencing guidelines recommend a range for the minimum sentence and that range is advisory.^[23] A court may not set a minimum above two-thirds of the statutory maximum.^[24] The probation statute excludes first- and third-degree CSC from the offenses for which a court may place a defendant on probation, and when a court grants probation for a listed offense the term is not less than 5 years.^[25][26] Sentences run concurrently unless a statute authorizes consecutive sentences; the first-degree statute allows a consecutive term for another offense arising from the same transaction.^[27][28]

A judge may, at a party's request, state on the record the sentence that appears appropriate on the information then available; that preliminary evaluation does not bind the judge's sentencing discretion.^[29] See mandatory minimum sentences, sentencing guidelines and consecutive sentences.

Factor 3: Sex offender registration

The registration act applies to an individual who is convicted of a listed offense; the sources reviewed draw no distinction between a conviction after a plea and one after a trial.^[30] As the act is written, a Tier I offender must comply for 15 years, a Tier II offender for 25 years and a Tier III offender for life.^[31] The tier depends on the offense of conviction and, for some offenses, on ages: fourth-degree CSC, for example, is Tier I if the victim was 18 or older, Tier II if the victim was 13 to 17, and Tier III if the actor was 17 or older and the victim was under 13.^[32]

The Court of Appeals held in 2022 that a defendant must be informed of registration before pleading guilty to a listed offense and that the requirement must be included in the judgment of sentence.^[6] Court rulings have also changed how the act applies: by order of September 9, 2026 the Michigan Supreme Court held that the current act may not be retroactively applied to registrants whose criminal acts occurred before enactment of the 2011 amendments.^[33] Other challenges were still pending as of October 2026, and nothing on this page describes what any individual must or need not do.^[34] See SORA tiers, how long registration lasts and the court rulings on the registry.

Factor 4: Lifetime electronic monitoring

The Michigan Supreme Court held in People v Comer (2017) that lifetime electronic monitoring must be imposed for all defendants convicted of first-degree CSC except those sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.^[35] The second-degree statute requires it where the sexual contact was committed by a person 17 or older against a child under 13.^[36] Monitoring tracks a person's movement and location from release on parole or from prison until death, and the person reimburses the Department of Corrections at $60 per month after discharge from parole.^[37][38]

Before accepting a plea under the felony plea rule, the court must tell the defendant the maximum possible prison sentence and any mandatory minimum, including a requirement for mandatory lifetime electronic monitoring.^[5] Details are in Lifetime electronic monitoring.

Factor 5: Immigration consequences

For a person who is not a U.S. citizen, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Padilla v Kentucky that counsel must inform a client whether a plea carries a risk of deportation.^[39] A non-citizen convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after admission is deportable, and the federal definition of aggravated felony includes "murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor."^[40][41] Whether a particular Michigan conviction falls within that definition is a question of federal law that this guide does not answer. Federal immigration law has its own definition of "conviction," which can include a case where adjudication of guilt was withheld after a guilty or no contest plea and some punishment or restraint was ordered.^[42] These are federal questions with their own guide: Immigration consequences of sex offenses.

Factor 6: Licenses, work, firearms and family

• Health licenses. If a licensee is convicted of a felony, or a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum term of 2 years, the department must summarily suspend the license.^[43]
• Teaching certificates. A conviction of CSC in any degree requires summary suspension of a teaching certificate, followed by an opportunity for a hearing.^[44]
• School employment. A school that verifies through public records that an individual has been convicted of a listed offense shall not employ the individual in any capacity.^[45]
• Firearms. A person convicted of a felony may not possess a firearm in Michigan until the conditions and periods the statute sets have been met; federal firearms law is separate.^[46]
• Custody. If a person is convicted of CSC and the victim is the person's child, the court shall not award that person custody of the child or a sibling without the consents the statute requires.^[47]
• Record. Convictions for second- and third-degree CSC, and for any felony punishable by life, cannot be set aside; a fourth-degree conviction entered on or after January 12, 2015 cannot be set aside.^[48][49]

Each has its own guide: professional licenses, gun rights, child custody and setting aside a conviction.

Factor 7: The rights a plea gives up

In circuit court, before accepting a guilty or no contest plea the court must place the defendant under oath and advise that if the plea is accepted there will be no trial of any kind.^[2] The rights given up include the right:

• to be tried by a jury;^[2]
• to be presumed innocent until proved guilty;^[2]
• to have the prosecutor prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt;^[2]
• to have the witnesses against the defendant appear at the trial and to question them.^[2]

The rule's list continues: the right to have the court order defense witnesses to appear, to remain silent during the trial, to not have that silence used against the defendant, and to testify.^[50] The court must also advise that the defendant may be giving up the right to appeal issues that would otherwise be appealable after a trial, and that any appeal from the conviction and sentence will be by application for leave to appeal and not by right.^[50] The court must personally give the advice before accepting the plea.^[2] The Criminal Proceedings Benchbook states that an unconditional guilty or no contest plea also waives a challenge based on the statute of limitations.^[51] That plea rule, MCR 6.302, is not among the rules the court rules apply to misdemeanor cases in district court, which have their own subchapter.^[52]

Any plea agreement must be stated on the record or reduced to writing and signed by the parties.^[53] A defendant may withdraw a plea as of right until the court accepts it; after acceptance and before sentence, only in the interest of justice and not where withdrawal would substantially prejudice the prosecutor.^[54] A defendant is entitled to withdraw if the court says it cannot follow the agreed sentence, unless the defendant committed misconduct after the plea was accepted and the court does not allow withdrawal for good cause, and if a consecutive sentence will be imposed that the defendant was not told about.^[55][56] The types of plea are explained in the sister guide's Guilty vs. no contest plea.

Factor 8: What each path involves in practice

A trial is public: court sittings are public by statute and the accused has a constitutional right to a public trial.^[57] The victim has the right to be present throughout the trial, subject to sequestration until he or she first testifies.^[58] Before accepting a plea in circuit court, the court places the defendant under oath.^[2]

The statutes on custody after conviction speak of a defendant "convicted" and awaiting sentence, without distinguishing a plea from a verdict.^[59][60] A defendant convicted of an assaultive crime, a term that includes every CSC degree, and awaiting sentence shall be detained unless the trial court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is not likely to pose a danger to other persons.^[59] A defendant convicted of "sexual assault of a minor," a term the statute defines by reference to listed CSC offenses against a person under 16, and awaiting sentence shall be detained and not admitted to bail.^[60]

A conviction can also matter in a civil lawsuit. A judgment of conviction entered after a trial or guilty plea for a crime punishable by more than a year is not excluded by the rule against hearsay when offered to prove a fact essential to the judgment, while a no contest plea is generally not admissible against the defendant in a civil case.^[61][62] See Criminal case vs. civil case.

What this page does not say

The sources reviewed for this guide contain no verified figures on how often CSC cases end in pleas, how sentences after trial compare with sentences after pleas, or how any prosecutor's office or judge approaches these cases. Practice varies by county and by court. This page therefore gives none. What the rules do fix is who decides: the lawyer shall abide by the client's decision on the plea, after consultation.^[1] The questions worth putting to a lawyer are collected in Questions to ask a defense lawyer about a CSC case.