People of Michigan v. Harlyn Christopher Shook II

CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 3, 2022
Docket355470
StatusUnpublished

This text of People of Michigan v. Harlyn Christopher Shook II (People of Michigan v. Harlyn Christopher Shook II) 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. Harlyn Christopher Shook II, (Mich. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

If this opinion indicates that it is “FOR PUBLICATION,” it is subject to revision until final publication in the Michigan Appeals Reports.

STATE OF MICHIGAN

COURT OF APPEALS

PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, UNPUBLISHED March 3, 2022 Plaintiff-Appellee,

v No. 355470 Antrim Circuit Court HARLYN CHRISTOPHER SHOOK, II, LC No. 2019-004993-FC

Defendant-Appellant.

Before: REDFORD, P.J., and K. F. KELLY and LETICA, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Defendant appeals by delayed leave granted1 his sentence of 24 to 60 months’ imprisonment for aggravated stalking, MCL 750.411i. We affirm.

I. BASIC FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The victim, the mother of two children, met defendant when she was in fifth grade, but lost contact with him in eighth grade. As adults, the two became reacquainted when he messaged her through Facebook in 2017. Defendant lived in Colorado at the time. In September 2017, defendant moved in with the victim in Mancelona, Michigan. In late October 2017, the victim saw a text message that defendant sent to an ex-girlfriend. Defendant did not think it was wrong to send the message, but the victim questioned how defendant would feel if she had received such a message. The discussion turned into a screaming match between the two of them in her vehicle. Although defendant was driving, the argument turned physical. The victim exited the vehicle. Defendant attempted to chase the victim down with her car and run her over. To avoid being struck, the victim ran into the woods. Defendant parked the car and pursued her. The victim was unsure if she tripped or if defendant struck her. However, she found herself on the ground with defendant

1 People v Shook, II, unpublished order of the Court of Appeals, entered March 4, 2021 (Docket No. 355470).

-1- on top of her and choking her with his hands. The victim could not breathe and could hardly speak. She believed that she was going to die and her concerns about defendant continued.

On March 12, 2018, defendant engaged in similar conduct. The victim was given a ride home from a work staff meeting by a female coworker. A short time later, defendant entered the home and was angry that the victim had received a ride home. He insisted that he observed a man drop the victim off at home. This belief angered defendant. First, he yelled at the victim and slammed doors in the home. Then, he chased the victim, and a physical altercation occurred. Specifically, defendant pushed the victim onto the bed, hit her a few times, and pulled her hair. Defendant tried to sexually assault the victim, but she was able to kick him off of her. The victim feared that the defendant was going to kill her. The victim went to work. At that time, a coworker asked the victim about bruises on the victim’s face. The victim also had a lump on the back of her head, and she was “sore all over.” By May 2018, the relationship between the couple was over.

The victim testified concerning these two incidents and recounted three more when defendant pleaded guilty to one count of domestic violence, third offense, MCL 750.81(5). On August 16, 2018, he was sentenced to 16 months to 5 years’ imprisonment for the domestic violence.

On April 26, 2018, the victim obtained a personal protection order (PPO) against defendant.2 This PPO precluded defendant from having any contact with the victim for one year. Nonetheless, in August or September of 2018, defendant mailed a letter from Jackson prison to the victim’s children. The victim’s children were only six and four years old. The victim recognized defendant’s handwriting and his signature on the letter and feared that her daughter would try to read it. The victim threw this letter out. In November 2018, the victim received a second letter mailed by defendant to her from Jackson prison. The victim did not read this letter, but gave it to the police. The letter made the victim angry because she had “moved on” and was happy. After receiving the letter, the victim was concerned for her safety. She testified she feared that defendant would not be “out of my life for good, even though he was locked up.” The victim also noted that if defendant could get to her from prison, he would not be stopped from “getting” to her upon his release.

Indeed, despite changing her phone number on multiple occasions, the victim received approximately 15 telephone calls from defendant although she never gave him her contact information. The victim generally did not answer these calls, but defendant left messages. These messages consisted of a recording that the call was from an inmate and the victim then recognized defendant’s voice. The victim presented a photograph of her call logs from April 2019, showing they occurred between April 17, 2019, and April 29, 2019. The victim did not know how defendant acquired her phone number and was terrified because he received the phone number without her

2 On April 27, 2018, a corrections officer with the Antrim County Sheriff’s Department served a copy of a personal protection order on defendant at the county jail. The officer had defendant sign and date the paperwork, and the proof of service was returned to the court.

-2- giving it to him. The victim had been selective about who received her phone number, and she felt like someone was following her at defendant’s request.

A police detective instructed the victim to try to record any future call and have defendant state his name. Consequently, the victim answered one phone call in late April 2019, and her fiancé attempted to record it. During this call, the victim instructed defendant to stop calling her. The victim was unaware of any further attempt by defendant to contact her.3

At the conclusion of the victim’s testimony, the district court4 determined that there was probable cause to believe that defendant committed aggravated stalking in violation of the PPO by engaging in a willful course of conduct to intimidate and harass the victim. Defense counsel objected to consideration of the letter mailed to the victim for purposes of aggravated stalking. He alleged that the letter was the subject of a PPO violation for which defendant was held in contempt of court and served 93 days in jail. It was defendant’s intent to prepare a brief contending that the evidence of the mailed letter to support aggravated stalking constituted a due process, double jeopardy violation.5 The district court noted the objection and overruled it.

Thereafter, defendant was arraigned in circuit court and entered a not-guilty plea. The prosecution filed a written notice of its intent to enhance defendant’s sentence as a fourth habitual offender, MCL 769.12. Defendant declined an offer to plead guilty to the aggravated stalking charge in exchange for the dismissal of the habitual offender enhancement.

And defendant moved to dismiss the charge of aggravated stalking. He alleged that the November 18, 2018 letter mailed to the victim could not serve as a ground for aggravated stalking because it would violate double jeopardy’s prohibition against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction or multiple punishments for the same offense. Specifically, he asserted that to demonstrate aggravated stalking, the prosecution had to prove the alleged stalking violated a court’s order. Because the letter mailed to the victim served as the basis for contempt and defendant was punished with a 93-day jail sentence, he alleged that this aggravated-stalking prosecution violated the double-jeopardy prohibition. Alternatively, defendant asserted that consideration of a PPO violation for purposes of aggravated stalking violated “due process mandates.”

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People of Michigan v. Harlyn Christopher Shook II, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-of-michigan-v-harlyn-christopher-shook-ii-michctapp-2022.