People v. Freeland

300 N.W.2d 616, 101 Mich. App. 501, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 3059
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 19, 1980
DocketDocket 43932
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 300 N.W.2d 616 (People v. Freeland) 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 v. Freeland, 300 N.W.2d 616, 101 Mich. App. 501, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 3059 (Mich. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinions

Danhof, C.J.

Defendant, Harold Freeland, and his wife, Pamela Jane Freeland, were charged with larceny in a building, contrary to MCL 750.360; MSA 28.592, as a result of their alleged theft of a tent from a K-Mart store. Defendant’s wife pled guilty and was sentenced to two years probation. Defendant was convicted by a jury of the charged offense and also pled guilty as a third felony offender under the habitual offender statute, MCL 769.11; MSA 28.1083. He was sentenced to a prison term of from five to eight years and appeals as of right.

Defendant first claims the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. The record reveals that defendant and his wife entered the store on August 5, 1977, bringing along a toy wagon containing a sleeping bag and their infant son. Their [504]*504activities in the store were observed by security personnel. They entered the sporting goods department, where defendant picked up a box containing a folded tent and left that department with defendant’s wife carrying the tent while he pulled the wagon. Next, they entered the record department and were out of sight of the observing employees. When they emerged, the tent had disappeared and the sleeping bag in the wagon had been rearranged. The family left the store and were stopped by security personnel in the parking lot. The tent was discovered concealed under the sleeping bag in the wagon.

In reviewing a claim of insufficient evidence, the evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to the prosecution. In proceedings below, the prosecutor was required to introduce some competent direct or circumstantial evidence as to each element of the crime charged so as to support the jury’s finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. People v Gibson, 94 Mich App 172; 288 NW2d 366 (1979). The defense theory in the present case was that defendant’s wife concealed the tent under the sleeping bag without his knowledge. We believe the jury could easily find otherwise based on the evidence presented. See People v David Thomas, 407 Mich 936; 285 NW2d 658 (1979). The evidence was sufficient to support defendant’s conviction.

Next, defendant argues that the trial court erred in refusing to give Michigan Criminal Jury Instruction 3:1:10(7) which states:

"If the evidence is open to two reasonable constructions, one indicating guilt and the other innocence, it is your duty to accept the construction indicating innocence.”

We disagree. The case against defendant was [505]*505based on circumstantial evidence, since there were no witnesses to the actual concealment of the tent in the wagon, and proper jury instructions on the use of such evidence were given. The disputed instruction was properly omitted because the construction of the evidence favoring defendant’s theory of innocence was not reasonable in comparison with the construction favoring guilt. It strains logic to believe that defendant’s wife could have concealed the tent without his knowledge under the circumstances. General use of this instruction in cases involving circumstantial evidence would make it extremely difficult to obtain convictions. See, People v Edgar, 75 Mich App 467; 255 NW2d 648 (1977). We believe its use is properly confined to cases where, unlike the present case, the circumstantial evidence against a defendant is weak.

The third issue raised by defendant concerns the prosecution’s use of evidence of his wife’s silence to impeach her testimony that she acted without defendant’s knowledge. During cross-examination, the prosecutor questioned Mrs. Freeland about her failure to inform the police that her husband was innocent. Police Officer Melvin Hartman, called in rebuttal by the prosecutor, testified that on August 19, 1978, he read Mrs. Freeland her Miranda rights1 and asked to interview her whereupon she replied that she had nothing to say. In closing argument, the prosecutor argued that Mrs. Free-land’s silence prior to trial cast doubt upon her testimony that her husband was innocent.

Defendant claims that the evidence of Mrs. Free-land’s silence was irrelevant and improperly admitted. Silence of an accused at the time of arrest is the exercise of a constitutional right and cannot [506]*506be used as evidence against the accused. People v Bobo, 390 Mich 355; 212 NW2d 190 (1973). In Bobo, the Supreme Court stated that nonutterances are not statements and that a witness’s failure to make a statement could be shown only to contradict the witness’s assertion that he did make a statement. However, the Court was addressing a situation where the witness was the defendant and the use of his silence for impeachment restricted the exercise of his constitutional right to remain silent in the face of accusation. The present case differs because the use of Mrs. Freeland’s silence to impeach her testimony that she acted alone in no way restricted her right to remain silent. She had already pled guilty to larceny in a building at the time of trial and the evidence of her silence had no bearing on her own guilt.

The credibility of a witness may be attacked by showing that he failed to speak or act when it would have been natural to do so if the facts were in accordance with his testimony. People v McClow, 40 Mich App 185; 198 NW2d 707 (1972). In McClow, the defendant argued that the trial judge erred in allowing the prosecution to cross-examine an alibi witness on his failure to come forward with the alibi prior to trial and emphasize such failure during closing argument as bearing on the witness’s credibility. This Court disagreed. We find McClow persuasive and hold that use of Mrs. Freeland’s silence to impeach her credibility was not improper.

Defendant next raises a number of issues relating to failure of the prosecution to produce indorsed res gestae witness Timothy Rosencrants at trial. K-Mart’s security manager Dan Ady testified that he and Rosencrants observed the Freelands’ [507]*507activities in the store and that Rosencrants went out on the floor of the store when the suspects were lost from view in the record department. Ady’s testimony also indicated that Rosencrants assisted in apprehending the suspects and marking the evidence. On the first day of trial, following Ady’s testimony, the jury was excused and the prosecutor stated that Rosencrants, who was indorsed on the information as a res gestae witness, would not be produced. Defense counsel requested a showing of due diligence and the prosecutor called Detective James Muma of the Jackson Police Department. Muma stated that on April 13, 1978, he learned that Rosencrants had moved from his known address and then detailed his unsuccessful efforts to locate this witness. Muma claimed that two days before the trial he learned that Rosencrants was living in Tampa, Florida. He stated that on the morning of the first day of trial, he obtained the witness’s telephone number and turned it over to the prosecutor. The prosecutor himself then took the stand and stated that he had spoken to the witness on the telephone that day and requested his presence whereupon Rosencrants replied that he would not voluntarily attend the trial. The court found that the prosecution had exericsed due diligence in attempting to produce the witness, but, at defense counsel’s request, agreed to submit the question to the jury. The jury was recalled and Muma and the prosecutor again testified regarding their efforts to locate and produce the witness.

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Bluebook (online)
300 N.W.2d 616, 101 Mich. App. 501, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 3059, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-freeland-michctapp-1980.