People of Michigan v. Jimmie Walker Jr

CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 20, 2019
Docket340719
StatusUnpublished

This text of People of Michigan v. Jimmie Walker Jr (People of Michigan v. Jimmie Walker Jr) 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. Jimmie Walker Jr, (Mich. Ct. App. 2019).

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PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, UNPUBLISHED August 20, 2019 Plaintiff-Appellee,

v No. 340719 Oakland Circuit Court JIMMIE WALKER, JR., LC No. 2017-262242-FC

Defendant-Appellant.

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

PER CURIAM.

Defendant appeals as of right his jury trial convictions of two counts of armed robbery, MCL 750.529, one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder (AWIGBH), MCL 750.84, one count of felon in possession of a firearm (felon-in-possession), MCL 750.224f, and four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (felony-firearm), MCL 750.227b, arising from his robbery of a jewelry store.1 The trial court sentenced defendant as a fourth-offense habitual offender under MCL 769.12, to 40 to 60 years each for his armed robbery convictions, 40 to 60 years for his AWIGBH conviction, 10 to 40 years for his felon-in-possession conviction, and two years each for his felony-firearm convictions. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Daniel Chiappelli owns the Clarkston Jewelry Outlet (the store) in Clarkston, Michigan. On December 17, 2016, at about 4:00 p.m., while working at the store with his son, Hunter Chiappelli (Hunter), defendant and Roy Genright entered Chiappelli’s store with handguns drawn wearing ski masks and gloves. Chiappelli rushed to the back of the store to activate the silent panic alarm but could not do so because it needed a new battery. Genright chased after

1 The jury acquitted defendant of one count of second-degree home invasion, MCL 750.110a(3), and one count of unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle, MCL 750.413.

-1- Chiappelli and ordered him to the ground. Defendant followed with Hunter and ordered him to the ground. Genright held Chiappelli and Hunter at gunpoint on the ground while defendant robbed the showroom. After being pistol whipped, Chiappelli fought with Genright to take his gun. Genright called for defendant’s help and he returned and shot at Chiappelli injuring him. Defendant threatened to kill him and Hunter if Chiappelli moved again. The robbers forced Chiappelli to open the large safe from which they stole loose diamonds, customer’s jewelry, and other articles of value. Afterward, they moved Chiappelli and Hunter into the back room where Genright watched them while defendant stole additional items. Defendant left out the front door of the store with the jewelry and Genright fled through the back door.

Chiappelli realized that the robbers jumped the fence into nearby Lakeview Cemetery. After telling Hunter to call 911, Chiappelli drove his truck around the block to the only entrance to the cemetery. There he saw defendant and Genright trying to escape in a white Chevrolet Malibu. Chiappelli blocked the entrance of the cemetery with his truck which prompted Genright to exit the Malibu and start shooting at Chiappelli. Chiappelli drove his truck from the cemetery entrance but when the robbers tried to drive out of the cemetery he reversed and rammed his truck into the Malibu immobilizing it. The robbers escaped on foot. Genright and defendant were later arrested and convicted in separate trials.

II. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

On appeal, defendant first contends that the prosecution failed to prove defendant’s identity as one of the robbers and that the prosecution only proved that his rental car served as the getaway car. We disagree.

We review de novo a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. People v Bailey, 310 Mich App 703, 713; 873 NW2d 855 (2015). When determining whether the prosecution presented sufficient evidence to support a conviction, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and determine whether a rational trier of fact could find that the essential elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. People v Reese, 491 Mich 127, 139; 815 NW2d 85 (2012). “[A] reviewing court is required to draw all reasonable inferences and make credibility choices in support of the jury’s verdict.” People v Nowack, 462 Mich 392, 400; 614 NW2d 78 (2000). In reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, “[a]ll conflicts in the evidence must be resolved in favor of the prosecution, and circumstantial evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom can constitute satisfactory proof of the crime.” People v Solloway, 316 Mich App 174, 180-181; 891 NW2d 255 (2016) (citations omitted). “A jury, and not an appellate court, observes the witnesses and listens to their testimony; therefore, an appellate court must not interfere with the jury’s role in assessing the weight of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses.” People v Mikulen, 324 Mich App 14, 20; 919 NW2d 454 (2018) (citation omitted).

“[I]dentity is an element of every offense.” People v Yost, 278 Mich App 341, 356; 749 NW2d 753 (2008). Circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences drawn from that evidence may suffice to prove the elements of a crime. People v Nelson, 234 Mich App 454, 459; 594 NW2d 114 (1999).

-2- In this case, the prosecution presented circumstantial evidence that defendant robbed the jewelry store. Police recovered the car rental agreement from the glove compartment of the Malibu which indicated that defendant rented the robbers’ getaway car. The police also obtained defendant’s DNA from a water bottle and an orange juice bottle recovered from inside the car. That evidence established that defendant had been inside the Malibu. Hunter identified one of the robbers as wearing both a camouflage ski mask and jeans with a “light pattern on the back pockets.” The police recovered a camouflage ski mask with defendant’s DNA near the crashed Malibu. Later on December 17, 2016, witnesses saw defendant wearing jeans with a pattern on the back pocket that matched the jeans of one of the robbers.

Police also found defendant’s cell phone inside the Malibu. The phone number matched the number provided by defendant on the car rental application. Data retrieved from defendant’s phone established that his phone traveled from Detroit to Clarkston on the afternoon of December 17, 2016. Phone account records indicated that defendant’s phone interacted with a cell tower in Clarkston around the same time as the robbery. Further, defendant’s phone data established that he called Genright about 30 times in the days leading up to the robbery, which showed that defendant had a personal connection with Genright who witnesses identified as one of the robbers. The police also recovered a gun registered to defendant that was used during the robbery.

Jurors could reasonably infer from all of this circumstantial evidence that defendant robbed the jewelry store. Therefore, defendant’s claim that the prosecution presented insufficient evidence to identify him as a perpetrator of the jewelry store robbery fails.

III. FOURTH-OFFENSE HABITUAL SENTENCE ENHANCEMENT

Next, defendant contends that the trial court erred by sentencing him as a fourth-offense habitual offender because two of his convictions for which he received sentences on the same day in 1992 arose out of the same transaction. We disagree.

We review for clear error a trial court’s factual findings at sentencing. People v Mack, 265 Mich App 122, 125; 695 NW2d 342 (2005). We review for an abuse of discretion a trial court’s decision to impose an enhanced sentence under the habitual offender statute. Id.

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People v. Bell
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People v. Nelson
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People v. Odendahl
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Bluebook (online)
People of Michigan v. Jimmie Walker Jr, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-of-michigan-v-jimmie-walker-jr-michctapp-2019.