People of Michigan v. Kera Elone Hill

CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 23, 2018
Docket333453
StatusUnpublished

This text of People of Michigan v. Kera Elone Hill (People of Michigan v. Kera Elone Hill) 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. Kera Elone Hill, (Mich. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

STATE OF MICHIGAN

COURT OF APPEALS

PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, UNPUBLISHED January 23, 2018 Plaintiff-Appellee,

v No. 333453 Wayne Circuit Court KERA ELONE HILL, LC No. 15-009809-01-FC

Defendant-Appellant.

Before: CAMERON, P.J., and SERVITTO and GLEICHER, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Defendant, Kera Elone Hill, appeals as of right her jury trial convictions of one count of assault with a dangerous weapon (felonious assault), MCL 750.82, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (felony-firearm), MCL 750.227b. Defendant was sentenced to two years’ probation for the assault with a dangerous weapon conviction, to run concurrently to her sentence of two years’ imprisonment for the felony-firearm conviction. We affirm.

I. GREAT WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE

Defendant asserts that the jury’s guilty verdicts on the charges of felonious assault and felony-firearm are contrary to the great weight of the evidence because of discrepancies in the testimony and evidence and the lack of credibility of the shooting victim, Stephen Jarrett.

In general, to preserve the issue for appellate review, contentions that a jury’s verdict was contrary to the great weight of the evidence must be raised in a motion for a new trial. People v Lopez, 305 Mich App 686, 695; 854 NW2d 205 (2014). This Court reviews “for an abuse of discretion a trial court’s grant or denial of a motion for a new trial on the ground that the verdict was against the great weight of the evidence.” People v Lacalamita, 286 Mich App 467, 469; 780 NW2d 311 (2009), citing People v Unger, 278 Mich App 210, 232; NW2d 272 (2008). “An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial court chooses an outcome that falls outside the range of principled outcomes.” People v Gonzalez-Raymundo, 308 Mich App 175, 186; 862 NW2d 657 (2014), citing People v Miller, 482 Mich 540, 544; 759 NW2d 850 (2008).

In her appellate brief, after citing two pages of case law on the topic, defendant asserts as her argument that her convictions are contrary to the great weight of the evidence:

-1- This is because all of the evidence that could conceivably have supported the verdicts of guilty were seriously impeached and subject to uncertainties and discrepancies.

A key discrepancy in this case relates to the nature of Stephen Jarrett’s alleged gunshot wound. Mr. Jarrett’s trial testimony on this matter was wildly at odds with the medical report.

In support of these assertions, defendant cites generally to “Medical Records” and five pages of the March 8, 2016 trial transcript. As routinely recognized by this Court:

It is not enough for an appellant in his brief simply to announce a position or assert an error and then leave it up to this Court to discover and rationalize the basis for his claims, or unravel and elaborate for him his arguments, and then search for authority either to sustain or reject his position. The appellant himself must first adequately prime the pump; only then does the appellate well begin to flow. Failure to brief a question on appeal is tantamount to abandoning it. [People v Kevorkian, 248 Mich App 373, 389; 639 NW2d 291 (2001), quoting Mitcham v Detroit, 355 Mich 182; 94 NW2d 388 (1959).]

Because defendant has failed to explain the alleged discrepancies between the evidence and the jury’s guilty verdict in the context of cited legal authority and the weight attributable to the evidence, this issue is deemed abandoned on appeal. Regardless, we find defendant’s presumed arguments to lack merit.

As explained by this Court:

The test to determine whether a verdict is against the great weight of the evidence is whether the evidence preponderates so heavily against the verdict that it would be a miscarriage of justice to allow the verdict to stand. Generally, a verdict may be vacated only when the evidence does not reasonably support it and it was more likely the result of causes outside the record, such as passion, prejudice, sympathy, or some other extraneous influence. Conflicting testimony, even when impeached to some extent, is an insufficient ground for granting a new trial. Further, the resolution of credibility questions is within the exclusive province of the jury. [Lacalamita, 286 Mich App at 469-470 (citations and quotation marks omitted).]

“The elements of felonious assault are (1) an assault, (2) with a dangerous weapon, and (3) with the intent to injure or place the victim in reasonable apprehension of an immediate battery.” People v Chambers, 277 Mich App 1, 8; 742 NW2d 610 (2007)(citation omitted). In turn, “[t]he elements of felony-firearm are that the defendant possessed a firearm during the commission of, or the attempt to commit, a felony.” People v Taylor, 275 Mich App 177, 179; 737 NW2d 790 (2007) (citation omitted).

-2- Initially, defendant asserts the weight of the evidence presented at trial was contrary to Jarrett having incurred an “alleged gunshot wound.” Contrary to defendant’s contention, Jarrett testified at trial that defendant discharged a firearm twice, with one of the bullets striking Jarrett in the upper thigh or groin area. Two other witnesses, unrelated to the incident or individuals involved, Noah Purcell and Khaled Shato, testified to seeing two individuals outside the Trumbull Market and hearing an argument and gunshots. Shato observed one of the individuals to have a firearm. A police officer, Patrick Hammil, provided Jarrett with treatment for his leg wound while awaiting the arrival of emergency medical technicians.

Defendant’s medical records were admitted into evidence at trial. A report authored by Dr. Earl Hartwig, within Jarrett’s medical records, indicates that a “head to toe examination” of Jarrett by the trauma team after his arrival at the hospital, found “the 2 above mentioned bullet wounds either exit and entrance or 2 entrance.” X-rays were taken and did not reveal the existence of a foreign body “in the abdomen” or a foot fracture. The physician noted, “He [referring to Jarrett] does have a notable gunshot wound to the medial aspect of the upper thigh as well as a wound to the medial aspect of the posterior upper thigh or gluteal crease area.” Also noted was “an abrasion . . . to the plantar aspect of the right great toe with mild tenderness to palpation[.]” A history and physical completed at the hospital indicates: “No deformity, tenderness of left thigh near site of bullet wound entry and exit; no drainage of blood from the area, through and through injury.” As such, any conclusion by the jury in finding defendant guilty of felonious assault and felony-firearm was supported by evidence adduced at trial that Jarrett was shot and sustained a gunshot wound. At trial, defense counsel challenged Jarrett while he was under oath regarding having incurred the injuries he alleged. The medical records, however, confirm Jarrett’s injuries. Hence, with regard to this aspect of defendant’s assertions, the verdict is not contrary to the great weight of the evidence.

To the extent defendant takes issue with contradictions in the testimony adduced at trial from Jarrett and, his friend, Deon Johnson regarding how events unfolded and transpired when compared to explanations provided by Jarrett to medical personnel while undergoing treatment, such discrepancies were explored at trial. For instance, at trial, Jarrett indicated that defendant discharged her firearm twice, with one bullet striking him. At the hospital, during the history and physical, Jarrett indicated having been shot “3 times.” In addition, in the medical records, Jarrett is reported as having stated that the shoes were found on a porch, rather than near a trash can as asserted at trial.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Miller
759 N.W.2d 850 (Michigan Supreme Court, 2008)
People v. Gillis
712 N.W.2d 419 (Michigan Supreme Court, 2006)
People v. Lett
644 N.W.2d 743 (Michigan Supreme Court, 2002)
People v. Wolfe
489 N.W.2d 748 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1992)
People v. Abraham
662 N.W.2d 836 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2003)
People v. Bulmer
662 N.W.2d 117 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2003)
People v. Gonzalez
663 N.W.2d 499 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2003)
People v. Hardin
365 N.W.2d 101 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1985)
People v. Carines
597 N.W.2d 130 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1999)
People v. Lacalamita
780 N.W.2d 311 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2009)
People v. Taylor
737 N.W.2d 790 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2007)
People v. Parker
349 N.W.2d 514 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1984)
People v. Fennell
677 N.W.2d 66 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2004)
People v. Unger
749 N.W.2d 272 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2008)
People v. Chambers
742 N.W.2d 610 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2007)
People v. Kevorkian
639 N.W.2d 291 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2002)
People v. Sullivan
220 N.W.2d 441 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1974)
Mitcham v. City of Detroit
94 N.W.2d 388 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1959)
People v. Perry
319 N.W.2d 559 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1982)
People v. Ginther
212 N.W.2d 922 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
People of Michigan v. Kera Elone Hill, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-of-michigan-v-kera-elone-hill-michctapp-2018.