People of Michigan v. Demaun Rashawn Butler

CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 10, 2015
Docket322690
StatusUnpublished

This text of People of Michigan v. Demaun Rashawn Butler (People of Michigan v. Demaun Rashawn Butler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People of Michigan v. Demaun Rashawn Butler, (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

STATE OF MICHIGAN

COURT OF APPEALS

PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, UNPUBLISHED December 10, 2015 Plaintiff-Appellee,

v No. 322690 Wayne Circuit Court DEMAUN RASHAWN BUTLER, LC No. 14-000672-FC

Defendant-Appellant.

Before: MURRAY, P.J., and METER and RIORDAN, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Defendant appeals as of right his bench trial convictions of first-degree home invasion, MCL 750.110a(2), and second-degree criminal sexual conduct (“CSC 2”), MCL 750.520c(1)(c) (sexual contact occurring during the commission of a felony). The trial court sentenced defendant, as a fourth habitual offender, MCL 769.12, to 11 to 20 years’ imprisonment for the first-degree home invasion conviction and 9 to 15 years’ imprisonment for the CSC 2 conviction. We affirm, but remand for the ministerial task of correcting defendant’s presentence investigation report (“PSIR”).

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This case arises from an incident occurring at the home that the complainant shared with her three children and her roommate, Samantha Antisdel. On the evening of the incident, the complainant and her three children; Samantha and her four children (including her son, 16-year- old Jordan Antisdel); Jordan’s girlfriend, Stacy Grimm; and Samantha’s and Jordan’s cousin, “Steve,” were celebrating the New Year’s holiday at the complainant’s residence.

The complainant became intoxicated and “passed out” around 10:00 p.m. that evening. As a result, she has no recollection of the evening’s events independent from the stories that she heard from other people. However, early in the morning, she awoke in her bedroom “feeling violated” and walked out to the living room to observe Samantha, Jordan, Steve, and Stacy “beating up” a complete stranger, who was lying on the floor. Samantha and Jordan would later explain that the stranger was defendant, and that they had caught defendant “sexually molesting” the complainant while she was unconscious. That morning, though, the complainant did not see defendant’s face as she watched him break free from his assailants and run naked from her house.

-1- At trial, Jordan testified that he had met defendant, a stranger, at a party store on New Year’s Eve and invited him back to the complainant’s house to hang out. He said defendant agreed to come and played cards with Samantha and Steve for an hour or so before Samantha suggested that they go to a neighbor’s house. Samantha, who did not appear at trial but testified at the preliminary examination, confirmed that defendant was with them that evening and that he accompanied her, Jordan, Stacy, and Steve to a neighbor’s house. However, she claimed that defendant was the one to suggest that they visit the neighbor’s house. Jordan said that they were at the neighbor’s home for about 15 minutes, while Samantha thought it was approximately an hour, but they both agreed that, at some point, they realized that defendant was no longer with them.

When they returned to the complainant’s home, all of the children were sleeping soundly in the living room. However, minutes later, Samantha’s trip to the bathroom was interrupted when she looked through the complainant’s open bedroom door and saw defendant inside. She screamed, and Jordan and Stacy rushed to the bedroom. Jordan and Samantha both testified that they saw defendant lying on top of or next to the complainant with his pants pulled down and his genitals between the complainant’s legs while making a thrusting motion. The complainant’s underwear had been removed and was lying on the floor. They pulled defendant away from the complainant and into the living room, where a physical altercation ensued. The fight was underway when the complainant awoke and emerged from the bedroom. During the altercation, Samantha and Jordan removed defendant’s clothing, intending to preserve evidence of his DNA. Defendant ultimately left the house naked, and the police were called.

Defendant testified on his own behalf at trial and maintained his innocence. He indicated that Jordan had stopped him while he was at the party store and asked him to find some cocaine. Defendant brought cocaine back to Samantha at the complainant’s house and stayed with the group for a few hours while she used it. According to defendant, they went to his acquaintance’s house later that evening to acquire more cocaine at Samantha’s request and returned to the complainant’s home together. Once there, Samantha demanded her money back for the first batch of “bad” cocaine, and defendant refused. Subsequently, the group physically attacked him and stole his clothes, so he threatened them with future violence. He then fled after Samantha told him to leave.

At trial, his defense theory was that Samantha and Jordan were fabricating the sexual assault in order to protect themselves from defendant’s violent threats. Additionally, he claimed that he never returned to the complainant’s home on his own and was never inside the complainant’s bedroom.

II. DUE DILIGENCE IN LOCATING AN ENDORSED RES GESTAE WITNESS

-2- Defendant argues that the trial court erred in finding that the prosecution exercised due diligence to procure Samantha’s presence at trial. Samantha was a res gestae witness1 who was endorsed on the prosecution’s witness list. We disagree with the defendant.

A. STANDARD OF REVIEW AND APPLICABLE LAW

“Because a finding of due diligence is a finding of fact, this Court will not set it aside absent clear error.” People v Briseno, 211 Mich App 11, 14; 535 NW2d 559 (1995), citing MCR 2.613. “Clear error exists when the reviewing court is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake was made.” People v Brooks, 304 Mich App 318, 319-320; 848 NW2d 161 (2014) (quotation marks and citation omitted).

Under MCL 767.40a, the prosecution has an ongoing duty to advise the defense of all witnesses it intends to call at trial. People v Canales, 243 Mich App 571, 577; 624 NW2d 439 (2000). “A prosecutor who endorses a witness under MCL 767.40a(3) is obliged to exercise due diligence to produce that witness at trial.” People v Eccles, 260 Mich App 379, 388; 677 NW2d 76 (2004). The prosecution may be relieved of this duty if it shows that the witness could not be produced despite an exercise of due diligence. Canales, 243 Mich App at 577. “Due diligence” is the attempt to do everything reasonable to obtain the presence of a witness, not everything possible. Eccles, 260 Mich App at 391, citing People v Cummings, 171 Mich App 577, 585; 430 NW2d 790 (1988). Likewise, “[t]he test for due diligence is whether good-faith efforts were made to procure the testimony of the witness, not whether increased efforts would have produced it.” People v Watkins, 209 Mich App 1, 4; 530 NW2d 111 (1995).

B. APPLICATION

Samantha was undisputedly a res gestae witness, and the prosecution specifically endorsed her on its witness list. Therefore, the prosecution was obliged to produce her at trial unless it could show that it exercised due diligence in its attempts to procure her testimony. Eccles, 260 Mich App at 388; Canales, 243 Mich App at 577. Based on the facts and circumstances presented here, we are not definitely and firmly convinced that the trial court made a mistake when it determined that the prosecution exercised due diligence. See Brooks, 304 Mich App at 319-320.

1 A res gestae witness is defined as follows: A res gestae witness is one who is present at the scene of the alleged crime, at the time of the alleged crime, or one who had occasion to observe the surrounding events and circumstances. This includes those who were eyewitnesses to some event in the continuum of the criminal act and whose testimony will aid in the full disclosure of facts surrounding the alleged commission of the crime.

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People of Michigan v. Demaun Rashawn Butler, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-of-michigan-v-demaun-rashawn-butler-michctapp-2015.