Unpublished Michigan Court of Appeals Summaries

Summaries of unpublished Michigan Court of Appeals Decisions

ECONOMIC PENALTIES--Attorney Fees

People v Melissa Kay Churchill
Unpublished opinion of 09-16-08
(Court of Appeals #278171)
MLW #09-67685 (4pp)
PC: Donofrio, Murphy, Fitzgerald
SADO - BRANDY ROBINSON

Affirmed sentence of 30 to 180 months in prison; vacated order to reimburse attorney fees.

The trial court clearly erred by imposing $425.00 in attorney fees without inquiring into defendant's present or future ability to pay.

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ECONOMIC PENALTIES--Attorney Fees

People v Marvin Lamont Franklin
Unpublished opinion of 09-16-08
(Court of Appeals #278269)
MLW #09-67740
PC: Wilder, Markey, Talbot
SADO - DESIREE FERGUSON

Affirmed convictions of breaking and entering a building and resisting or obstructing an officer; vacated order to reimburse attorney fees.

The trial court clearly erred by imposing $1700.00 in attorney fees without considering defendant's present or future ability to pay.

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ECONOMIC PENALTIES--Attorney Fees

People v Antwan Stephen Hart
Unpublished opinion of 09-16-08
(Court of Appeals #278709)
MLW #09-67691 (4pp)
PC: Cavanagh, Jansen, Kelly
SADO - ANNE YANTUS

Affirmed conviction of false pretenses; vacated order to reimburse attorney fees.

The trial court clearly erred by imposing $400.00 in attorney fees without considering defendant's present or future ability to pay.

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SENTENCING AND PUNISHMENT--Consecutive Terms
POST-TRIAL MOTIONS AND APPEALS--Motion For Relief From Judgment

People v Jessie Harrison
Unpublished opinion of 09-16-08
(Court of Appeals #279123)
PC: Whitbeck, Bandstra, Donofrio
SADO - RANDY DAVIDSON

Reversed trial court's denial of motion for relief from judgment; remanded for correction of judgment of sentence.

Defendant was improperly sentenced to consecutive terms for convictions of reckless discharge of a firearm and felony-firearm. Defendant was charged with a felony, but the lesser offense of reckless discharge, a two-year misdemeanor, is insufficient to invoke the felony-firearm consecutive sentencing provision. Defendant's sentence is invalid and this constitutes “actual prejudice.” Appellate counsel's ineffectiveness in recognizing this error created good cause for defendant's failure to raise the issue on direct appeal.

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INSTRUCTIONS--Included Offenses

People v Deangelo Wright
Unpublished opinion of 09-16-08
(Court of Appeals #279239)
PC: Whitbeck, Bandstra, Donofrio
SADO - CHRISTINE PAGAC

Affirmed conviction of armed robbery; vacated conviction of receiving and concealing stolen property.

The trial court erred in considering and convicting defendant of receiving or concealing stolen property as an alternative to carjacking. Receiving or concealing is not even a cognate offense of carjacking as they have no elements in common. It would be improper to characterize the court's decision as a decision to amend the information and, moreover, there was no evidence concerning the value of the car, a necessary element of receiving or concealing.

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SEARCH AND SEIZURE--Stops--Automobiles

People v Ira Stephen McCoy
Unpublished opinion of 09-16-08
(Court of Appeals #277852)
MLW #09-67681 (4pp)
PC: Murray, Whitbeck, Talbot
SADO - SUSAN MEINBERG

Reversed convictions of possession with intent to deliver cocaine and possession of marijuana.

The police officer lacked probable cause or a reasonable suspicion to stop defendant's vehicle. Although defendant had an object dangling from his rearview mirror in violation of MCL 257.709, that statute does not apply to vehicles not registered in Michigan. The officer acknowledged that he observed defendant's out-of-state license plate. Because the stop was invalid, the officer was precluded from detaining defendant for validation of his license and registration. The evidence discovered as a result of the seizure should have been suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree.

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SENTENCING AND PUNISHMENT--Guidelines--Scoring
SENTENCING AND PUNISHMENT--Presentence Report--Correction

People v William Brian Story
Unpublished opinion of 09-11-08
(Court of Appeals #277830)
MLW #09-67645 (7pp)
PC: Donofrio, Murphy, Fitzgerald
SADO - DESIREE FERGUSON

Affirmed convictions of first-degree home invasion and assault with intent to rob unarmed; remanded for resentencing.

The trial court erred by scoring 25 points under OV 13 for a pattern of felonious criminal activity involving three or more crimes against a person. There was no evidence on the record that defendant committed the third felony, and the trial court did not find that defendant committed the crime by a preponderance of the evidence.

The trial court abused its discretion when it refused to strike a charge of criminal sexual conduct from the presentence report. The testimony at trial did not support the charge and it was subsequently dismissed.

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ECONOMIC PENALTIES--Attorney Fees

People v Paul David Gibbs
Unpublished opinion of 09-09-08
(Court of Appeals #274003)
MLW #09-67613 (9pp)
PC: Gleicher, Fitzgerald, Hoekstra
SADO - MICHAEL MITTLESTAT

Affirmed conviction of first-degree murder; vacated order to pay attorney fees.

The trial court erred by imposing $450.00 in attorney fees without inquiring into defendant's present or future ability to pay.

View fulltext of this decision through the Michigan Court of Appeals web site.



ECONOMIC PENALTIES--Attorney Fees

People v Maria Candelaria Kellett
Unpublished opinion of 09-04-08
(Court of Appeals #276817)
MLW #09-67586 (6pp)
PC: Markey, Whitbeck, Gleicher
PATRICK EHLMANN

Affirmed convictions of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, OUIL, and failure to stop at the scene of an accident; vacated order for attorney fees and remanded.

The trial court erred by imposing attorney fees without indicating that it considered defendant's ability to pay. The trial court need not conduct a formal hearing but may rely on the record evidence.

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SENTENCING AND PUNISHMENT--Credit for Time Spent in Prior Custody

People v Benjamin Gerald Trice
Unpublished opinion of 08-26-08
(Court of Appeals #277293)
MLW #09-67521 (3pp)
Pc: Cavanagh, Jansen, Kelly
SADO - CHRISTOPHER M. SMITH

Affirmed conviction of felony firearm; remanded for correction of judgment of sentence.

The trial court erred when it miscalculated the amount of jail credit. Defendant is entitled to an additional 56 days of credit.

View fulltext of this decision through the Michigan Court of Appeals web site.



MAINTAINING A DRUG VEHICLE -- Sufficiency of Evidence

People v Ian Michael Engle
Unpublished opinion of 08-19-08
(Court of Appeals #277066)
MLW #09-67429 (4pp)
PC: Murray, Whitbeck, Talbot
VALERIE NEWMAN

Affirmed conviction of delivery of marijuana and methadone; vacated conviction of maintaining a drug vehicle.

The evidence was insufficient to support defendant's conviction of maintaining a drug vehicle. Defendant used the vehicle to deliver drugs on only one occasion, and there was no other evidence of continuity. The decision in People v Thompson, 477 Mich 146 (2007), that “keep or maintain” requires more than a single, isolated instance of activity, did not create a new rule, but rather interpreted the existing statute.

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COUNSEL--Ineffectiveness Of

People v Raymond Craig Jones
Unpublished opinion of 08-12-08
(Court of Appeals #276690)
MLW #09-67379 (12pp)
PC: Markey, White, Wilder
SADO - DESIREE FERGUSON

Reversed conviction of first-degree CSC.

Defendant was denied effective assistance of counsel when his trial attorney elicited highly prejudicial evidence of his propensity for child sexual molestation. There could be no reasonable trial strategy in eliciting that defendant had been accused of molesting another child, whether or not the allegation was recanted. This evidence would have been inadmissible had the prosecutor sought to introduce it. Without the damaging evidence, there is a reasonable probability that the outcome may have been different. While sufficient, the evidence of defendant's guilt was not overwhelming.

The trial court abused its discretion when it granted an amendment to the information during trial. The original information stated that the offense occurred in 2003, and was amended to add the first six months of 2004. The difference was important because a great deal of testimony focused on whether defendant had his driver license when the incident was alleged to have occurred, and he received his license in October of 2003. The trial would have proceeded differently had the amendment been made timely.

Judge Markey concurred in result only.

Judge Zahra concurred in part and concurred in the judgment.

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SENTENCING AND PUNISHMENT--Guidelines--Scoring

People v Thomas Lewis Plair
Unpublished opinion of 08-07-08
(Court of Appeals #274575)
MLW #09-67346 (5pp)
PC: Markey, Meter, Murray
SADO - CHARI GROVE

Affirmed convictions of first-degree CSC and two counts of second-degree CSC; remanded for resentencing.

The trial court erred in scoring five points under OV 3 for bodily injury to the victim. There was no bodily injury that could be attributed to defendant. The victim acknowledged other voluntary intercourse, and the examining physician could not say which sexual contact caused the injury to the complainant's hymen.

Fifteen points were erroneously scored for OV 8 because there was no evidence that defendant transported the victim to another place or held her captive.

It was error to score 25 points under OV 9 for ten or more victims as there was only one victim.

The trial court erred in scoring 25 points for OV 11 because points should not be scored for the one penetration that formed the basis of a CSC offense, and there was no evidence of penetration beyond the one occurrence for which defendant was convicted.

The trial court erred in scoring 50 points for OV 13, continuing pattern of criminal behavior. The evidence showed at least three CSC offenses in the last five years, but only one penetration. Fifty points is appropriate only when there have been three or more sexual penetrations against a child under the age of 13.

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SENTENCING AND PUNISHMENT--Guidelines--Scoring
ECONOMIC PENALTIES--Attorney Fees

People v Terrell Jenkins
Unpublished opinion of 08-05-08
(Court of Appeals #276763)
MLW # 09-67336 (5pp)
PC: Sawyer, Jansen, Hoekstra
SADO - JONATHAN SACKS

Affirmed convictions of attempted unlawful imprisonment and domestic violence; remanded for consideration of defendant's ability to pay attorney fees.

The trial court erred in scoring 25 points for OV 13 as the record fails to establish that defendant committed two other felonies against a person within a five-year period. The court could not rely on the aggravated stalking charge because the jury found defendant not guilty of that offense and, because defendant engaged in only one act of stalking, he could not have committed aggravated stalking. The court could not rely on charges that were subsequently dismissed because the court failed to determine by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant actually committed those crimes.

The trial court plainly erred in ordering defendant to reimburse the county $400 for the costs of his appointed attorney without determining whether he had the ability to pay.

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