People of Michigan v. Tyirraince Lavell Daniels

CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 27, 2020
Docket343919
StatusUnpublished

This text of People of Michigan v. Tyirraince Lavell Daniels (People of Michigan v. Tyirraince Lavell Daniels) 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. Tyirraince Lavell Daniels, (Mich. Ct. App. 2020).

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PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, UNPUBLISHED February 27, 2020 Plaintiff-Appellee,

v No. 343919 Saginaw Circuit Court TYIRRAINCE LAVELL DANIELS, LC No. 17-044361-FC

Defendant-Appellant.

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

PER CURIAM.

Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; intentionally discharging a weapon from a vehicle, causing death, MCL 750.234a(1)(d); being a felon in possession of a firearm (felon-in-possession), MCL 750.224f(5); carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), MCL 750.227; and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (felony-firearm), MCL 750.227b.1 The trial court sentenced defendant as a fourth- offense habitual offender, MCL 769.12, to 60 to 90 years of imprisonment for the conviction of second-degree murder, 50 to 80 years of imprisonment for the conviction of intentionally discharging a weapon within a vehicle, 6 to 15 years of imprisonment for the felon-in-possession and CCW convictions, and two consecutive years of imprisonment for the three convictions of felony-firearm. Defendant appeals as of right. We affirm.

I. FACTS

This case arises from a fatal shooting. The victim was shot in the head through his vehicle’s windshield while his car was disabled from a flat tire. Defendant’s girlfriend, who was also the mother of the victim’s child, was a passenger in defendant’s truck. She testified that she saw the victim driving toward them and defendant stated, “I’m tired of him playing with me,” and then

1 The jury acquitted defendant of a charge of extortion, MCL 750.213, and its accompanying felony-firearm charge, MCL 750.227b.

-1- defendant fired three shots into the victim’s vehicle. She further testified that defendant then waved the gun at her and told her that he would kill her if she told anybody what had happened.

At trial, defendant testified that in the year leading up to the shooting the victim had threatened to kill him, and when he saw that the victim was the driver of the disabled vehicle, he believed that the victim was trying to run him off the road. Defendant testified that he feared that his life and his girlfriend’s life were in danger, and that he reached his arm out of the window and shot at the victim three times.

II. ANALYSIS

A. INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE

Defendant first argues that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel when defense counsel did not request an instruction on voluntary manslaughter. We disagree.

Defendant did not move for a new trial or an evidentiary hearing in the trial court; therefore, this issue is unpreserved. People v Payne, 285 Mich App 181, 188; 774 NW2d 714 (2009). “Whether a person has been denied effective assistance of counsel is a mixed question of fact and constitutional law.” People v LeBlanc, 465 Mich 575, 579; 640 NW2d 246 (2002). The trial court’s findings of fact are reviewed for clear error, and questions of constitutional law are reviewed de novo. Id. “When there has been no evidentiary hearing and no findings of fact by the trial court, this Court reviews de novo the entire record to determine whether the defendant’s trial counsel’s representation constituted the ineffective assistance of counsel.” People v Rose, 289 Mich App 499, 524; 808 NW2d 301 (2010). Review is limited to mistakes apparent from the trial court record when the defendant fails to preserve his or her ineffective assistance of counsel claim. Payne, 285 Mich App at 188.

A defendant has the right to the effective assistance of counsel in a criminal case. Strickland v Washington, 466 US 668, 686; 104 S Ct 2052; 80 L Ed 2d 674 (1984). “Defense counsel should be strongly presumed to have rendered adequate assistance . . . .” People v Vaughn, 491 Mich 642, 670; 821 NW2d 288 (2012) (quotation marks and citation omitted). In order to succeed on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant bears the burden of showing that trial counsel’s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, and that the deficient performance resulted in prejudice. Strickland, 466 US at 688, 692.

Whether counsel’s assistance fell below the standard of objective reasonableness requires an inquiry into whether the conduct was “outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance.” Id. at 690. Defense counsel has wide discretion regarding matters of trial strategy and “[t]his Court will not substitute its judgment for that of defense counsel or review decisions with the benefit of hindsight.” People v Heft, 299 Mich App 69, 83; 829 NW2d 266 (2012). Decisions regarding whether to request jury instructions may involve matters of trial strategy. People v Gonzalez, 468 Mich 636, 645; 664 NW2d 159 (2003). “Prejudice means a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.” People v Randolph, 502 Mich 1, 9; 917 NW2d 249 (2018) (quotation marks and citation omitted).

-2- “Manslaughter is a necessarily included lesser offense of murder.” People v Gillis, 474 Mich 105, 137; 712 NW2d 419 (2006). When a defendant is charged with murder, an instruction for voluntary manslaughter must be given if supported by a rational view of the evidence. People v Mendoza, 468 Mich 527, 541; 664 NW2d 685 (2003). Manslaughter is defined as an unlawful killing without malice. Id. at 533. “Voluntary manslaughter requires a showing that (1) defendant killed in the heat of passion, (2) this passion was caused by an adequate provocation, and (3) there was no lapse of time during which a reasonable person could have controlled his passions.” People v Roper, 286 Mich App 77, 87; 777 NW2d 483 (2009). “Adequate provocation is that which would cause the reasonable person to lose control.” People v Pennington, 323 Mich App 452, 465; 917 NW2d 720 (2018) (quotation marks and citation omitted). “[P]rovocation is the circumstance that negates the presence of malice.” Mendoza, 468 Mich at 536.

Defense counsel acted with reasonable trial strategy by not requesting the voluntary manslaughter instruction. Defendant’s own testimony reflected that he did not act out of passion or loss of control, but out of fear for his safety. During closing argument, defense counsel vigorously argued that defendant acted out of an objectively reasonable fear for his life. In light of defendant’s self-defense testimony and defense counsel’s closing argument, it is clear that counsel did not intend to introduce other mitigating factors. Defense counsel may have believed that requesting an instruction on manslaughter would have undermined defendant’s self-defense theory and confused the jury. It is well established that “[t]his Court will not substitute its judgment for that of defense counsel . . . .” Heft, 299 Mich App at 83. Therefore, defense counsel’s failure to request the manslaughter instruction was not objectively unreasonable given the existence of a legitimate strategy.

Moreover, defendant cannot show that he suffered any prejudice as a result of defense counsel’s decision. In order to establish prejudice, the defendant must prove that the unprofessional error was outcome-determinative. Randolph, 502 Mich at 9. Because the jury determined that defendant acted with malice rather than in self-defense, it is unlikely that the jury would have concluded that defendant acted out of passion rather than malice if it had received the manslaughter instruction.

B. PSIR CORRECTION

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People of Michigan v. Tyirraince Lavell Daniels, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-of-michigan-v-tyirraince-lavell-daniels-michctapp-2020.