People of Michigan v. Tanino Emon Miller

CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 1, 2019
Docket341306
StatusUnpublished

This text of People of Michigan v. Tanino Emon Miller (People of Michigan v. Tanino Emon Miller) 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. Tanino Emon Miller, (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PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, UNPUBLISHED August 1, 2019 Plaintiff-Appellee,

v No. 341306 Wayne Circuit Court TANINO EMON MILLER, LC No. 17-003878-01-FC

Defendant-Appellant.

Before: GADOLA, P.J., and BOONSTRA and SWARTZLE, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Defendant appeals by right his convictions, following a jury trial, of second-degree murder, MCL 750.317, two counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder (AWIGBH), MCL 750.84, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (felony-firearm), MCL 750.227b. 1 The trial court sentenced defendant to concurrent prison sentences of 20 to 30 years for the second-degree murder conviction and 6 to 10 years for each of the AWIGBH convictions, those sentences to run consecutively to a two-year prison sentence for the felony-firearm conviction. We affirm defendant’s convictions, vacate his sentences for second-degree murder and AWIGBH, and remand for resentencing.

I. PERTINENT FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 3, 2017, Eric Surls drove his car to a liquor store in Detroit, intending to meet defendant and purchase marijuana from him. He was accompanied by Jerard Walker, who sat in the front passenger seat, and Amyre Collier, who sat in the back seat behind Walker. Once in the liquor store parking lot, defendant approached Surls’s car, but Surls did not allow defendant to enter. Defendant went around the car to speak with Collier about selling the marijuana. He

1 Defendant was initially charged with first-degree murder, MCL 750.316, and two counts of assault with intent to murder (AWIM), MCL 750.83, but was convicted of lesser included offenses as well as felony-firearm.

-1- handed some marijuana to Collier, but before Collier could pay him for it, Surls began to drive away. Defendant ran after the car and fired one or more gunshots. A bullet fired by defendant shattered the rear window of Surls’s car and struck Walker in the head. Walker died the next day from his injury.

At trial, Surls, Collier, and defendant all testified about the incident. Surls testified that, once defendant approached Surls’s car and began talking with Collier, defendant and Collier began arguing about whether Collier owed defendant money for a previous drug purchase. During the argument, defendant told Surls to turn off the engine, and Collier eventually tried to give the marijuana back to defendant. As Collier and defendant continued to argue, Surls saw defendant reach toward his pocket, and noted that defendant had a gun. At that point, according to Surls, he drove away from defendant because he did not feel safe. Surls testified that as he drove away he heard—but did not see defendant fire—two or three gunshots. He further testified that neither he, Walker, nor Collier were carrying guns during the incident.

Collier testified that, as he was “checking out the weed,” Surls started to pull his car away from defendant—at which time Collier saw a gun in defendant’s hand. According to Collier, defendant ran alongside Surls’s car, fired one gunshot through the rear window of the car, and fired a total of three gunshots at the car.

Defendant testified that after he gave Collier a bag of marijuana, Collier pulled out a gun. He did not initially believe that Collier was being serious. Surls began to drive away while defendant was still leaning on the car, causing injury to his wrist. According to defendant, Collier fired two gunshots as Surls drove off, and he fired one shot in return, then ran after Surls’s car, but did not fire another gunshot.

Defendant’s theory at trial was self-defense; his counsel argued that Surls, Walker, and Collier had robbed defendant and shot at him. Before deliberations, defendant requested that the trial court instruct the jury on the crime of reckless discharge of a firearm causing injury or death, arguing that a reasonable juror could find that defendant’s discharge of his firearm was reckless because the liquor store’s video surveillance footage showed defendant “running behind [Surls’s] car shooting,” and because defendant testified that he did not look where he was shooting. The prosecution disagreed, arguing that defendant was not charged with the crime of reckless discharge of a firearm causing death or injury, nor was that crime a lesser included offense of any of defendant’s charged crimes. The prosecution also pointed out that, because defendant’s theory at trial was based on self-defense (i.e., that defendant intentionally shot at Surls, Walker, and Collier because they were shooting at him), defendant’s argument (that the discharge of his firearm was reckless) was illogical. The trial court denied defendant’s request to instruct the jury on the charge of reckless discharge of a firearm causing death or injury, but did instruct the jury on self-defense. The jury convicted defendant of second-degree murder for the death of Walker, two counts of AWIGBH for the assaults of Surls and Collier, and felony- firearm. At sentencing, the trial court assessed 25 points each for offense variable (OV) 6 (intent to kill or injure another individual) and OV 13 (continuing pattern of criminal behavior) over defendant’s objections. It sentenced defendant as described. This appeal followed.

-2- II. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE—AWIGBH

Defendant argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions of AWIGBH for the assaults of Surls and Collier because neither Surls nor Collier was injured. He asserts that the evidence, at most, only established a felonious assault against Surls and Collier. We disagree.

This Court reviews de novo a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. People v Gaines, 306 Mich App 289, 296; 856 NW2d 222 (2014). We view the evidence “in the light most favorable to the prosecution, to determine whether the trier of fact could have found that the essential elements of the crime were proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. When 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). It is the role of the jury, as the trier of fact, “to determine what inferences may be fairly drawn from the evidence and to determine the weight to be accorded those inferences.” People v Blevins, 314 Mich App 339, 357; 886 NW2d 456 (2016) (quotation marks and citation omitted).

“The elements of AWIGBH are (1) an attempt or threat with force or violence to do corporal harm to another (an assault), and (2) an intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.” People v Stevens, 306 Mich App 620, 628; 858 NW2d 98 (2014) (quotation marks and citation omitted). “The intent to do great bodily harm less than murder is an intent to do serious injury of an aggravated nature.” Id. (quotation marks and citation omitted). “If a defendant has such intent, the fact that he was provoked or that he acted in the heat of passion is irrelevant to a conviction.” Id. at 628-629. With respect to proving a defendant’s intent, this Court has stated:

Because of the difficulty in proving an actor’s intent, only minimal circumstantial evidence is necessary to show that a defendant had the requisite intent. Intent to cause serious harm can be inferred from the defendant’s actions, including the use of a dangerous weapon or the making of threats.

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People of Michigan v. Tanino Emon Miller, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-of-michigan-v-tanino-emon-miller-michctapp-2019.