People v. Hernandez

264 N.W.2d 343, 80 Mich. App. 465, 1978 Mich. App. LEXIS 2059
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 4, 1978
DocketDocket 29591
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 264 N.W.2d 343 (People v. Hernandez) 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. Hernandez, 264 N.W.2d 343, 80 Mich. App. 465, 1978 Mich. App. LEXIS 2059 (Mich. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinions

J. H. Gillis, J.

Defendant was convicted by a jury of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, contrary to MCLA 750.520b(l); MSA 28.788(2)(1). He was subsequently sentenced to 3-1/2 to 20 years in prison. Defendant appeals as of right.

The charges against the defendant stem from an incident which took place in the late evening hours on December 16, 1975, in the City of Fern-dale.

The complaining witness, while walking to a friend’s apartment, was approached by a knife-wielding assailant who pushed her to the ground. The assailant molested and sexually assaulted the complaining witness before being chased from the scene by the screams of an area resident. Defendant was later arrested and tried for the offense.

Defendant first contends that the trial court [468]*468erred in reading the information to the jury, inasmuch as the information was defective in alleging facts insufficient to constitute the charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCLA 750.520b(l); MSA 28.788(2)(1). Therefore, the information misled the jury as to elements of the offense charged therein.

The record reveals that the defendant did not object to the text of the information at trial. It is well established that an information may not be challenged for the first time on appeal.1

Defendant, while cognizant of MCLA 769.26; MSA 28.1096, alleges that the defective information misled the jury from the very outset of the trial, constituting gross error and resulting in a miscarriage of justice as evidenced by defendant’s subsequent conviction. Hence, no objection need be made at trial in order to preserve the issue for appeal.

The pertinent portion of the information as read to the jury states:

"That Andrew Hernandez * * * did, with another person, to-wit: Madelyn K. Wayne, engage in sexual penetration, to-wit: touching of complainant’s primary genital area under the following existent circumstances, to-wit: defendant was armed with a weapon or any article used or fashioned in a manner to lead the victim to reasonably believe it to be a weapon.”

Defendant was tried for violation of MCLA 750.520b(l) which states:

"A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree if he or she engages in sexual penetration [469]*469with another person and if any of the following circumstances exist:
"(e) The actor is armed with a weapon or any article used or fashioned in a manner to lead the victim to reasonably believe it to be a weapon.”

It is quite clear that the information was defective in stating that the touching of the genital parts would constitute first-degree criminal sexual conduct. "Sexual penetration” is necessary in order to sustain such a charge.

However, no miscarriage of justice resulted from the defective information. The trial court, in reading the information to the jury, expressly indicated that the information contained only the charges brought by the prosecution. Specific definitions of the law applicable to the case were given to the jury by the trial court in the jury instructions. Moreover, pursuant to the jury’s request, the court repeated these same thorough instructions during the jury deliberations. The trial court also instructed the jury to follow the law as given in the jury instructions.

Based upon this record, we fail to see how the jury was misled and find no reversible error on this issue.

Defendant next contends that the prosecutor’s closing arguments went beyond the realm of the evidence presented at trial, and included statements of the prosecutor’s own belief as to defendant’s guilt and credibility, thus denying defendant a fair trial. We disagree.

A careful review of the record indicates that the prosecutor’s remarks were based upon the testimony and evidence presented at trial. Such statements are clearly permissible in the prosecutor’s [470]*470closing arguments. In People v Cowell, 44 Mich App 623, 627-628; 205 NW2d 600 (1973), this Court considered the propriety of prosecutorial comments.

"The question of the propriety of a prosecutor’s remarks is dependent upon all the facts of the case. A statement cannot be taken out of context. Just as jury instructions must be read as a whole, so must the remarks of the prosecutor. The prosecutor’s remarks must be evaluated in light of the relationship or lack of relationship they bear to the evidence admitted at trial. The fact that a statement has been reversible error in one case does not automatically mean that a similar remark is reversible error in another case. Each case must be considered on its own facts. For example, a remark found to constitute reversible error because it was not supported by the evidence would not be reversible error in a case where it was supported by the evidence.” (Emphasis supplied.)

Even if the prosecutor’s closing remarks could in some way be construed as not being based in toto upon the evidence, there would no reversible error.

Defendant did not object to the prosecutor’s closing arguments at trial. The law in Michigan is well settled that the failure to object is a bar to appellate review unless the prejudicial effect of the prosecutor’s comments was so great that it could not have been cured by a timely objection and cautionary instruction. People v McLendon, 51 Mich App 543, 547; 215 NW2d 742 (1974), People v Humphreys, 24 Mich App 411, 416; 180 NW2d 328 (1970). The nature of the statements made by the prosecutor cannot be classified as inflammatory or highly prejudicial.2 Such remarks, even if not [471]*471based upon the evidence presented at trial, created no error which could not be cured by a timely objection and a cautionary instruction.

Hence, we conclude that the prosecutor’s closing arguments did not deny the defendant a fair trial.

Defendant further contends that the jury instructions given by the trial court were erroneous and misleading, thus confusing the jury as to the elements of the charged offense.

The alleged erroneous instruction reads as follows:

"The Defendant is charged with the crime of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree. The Defendant has pleaded not guilty to this charge. To establish this charge, the People must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
[472]*472"First, the Defendant engaged in a sexual act which involved some actual entry into the genital openings of the complainant’s body, the act alleged. If you should so find there must have been a sexual act, that is, it must have had its purpose as the arousing, stimulating or gratifying of the sexual emotion or it must have been done with some other sexual improper intent or purpose. ” (Emphasis supplied.)

Defendant claims that the highlighted portion of the aforementioned instruction includes the definition of "sexual contact”, which is not an element of first-degree criminal sexual conduct but is an element of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Therefore, the instructions confused the jury by rendering indistinguishable the differences between these two offenses.

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People v. Hernandez
264 N.W.2d 343 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1978)

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Bluebook (online)
264 N.W.2d 343, 80 Mich. App. 465, 1978 Mich. App. LEXIS 2059, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hernandez-michctapp-1978.