People v. Martz

836 N.W.2d 243, 301 Mich. App. 247
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 30, 2013
DocketDocket No. 307916
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 836 N.W.2d 243 (People v. Martz) 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. Martz, 836 N.W.2d 243, 301 Mich. App. 247 (Mich. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

RONAYNE KRAUSE, P.J.

Defendant appeals as of right his convictions by a jury of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC I), MCL 750.520b (force or coercion); unlawful imprisonment, MCL 750.349b; resisting or obstructing a police officer causing serious impairment of a body function, MCL 750.81d(3); and two counts of resisting or obstructing a police officer, MCL 750.81d(l). Defendant was sentenced as a second-offense habitual offender, MCL 769.10, to concurrent imprisonment for 15 to 40 years for the CSC I conviction, 15 to 22V2 years for the unlawful imprisonment conviction, 10 to 15 years for the resisting and obstructing a police officer causing serious impairment conviction, and 16 months to 2 years for the resisting and obstructing a police officer conviction. We affirm.

This case arises out of a long, controlling, and abusive relationship between the complainant, Stephanie, her mother, Karen,1 and defendant. Defendant claimed to be Stephanie’s husband. According to Karen, they were married on May 18, 2000, when Stephanie was 21 years old, by a “Marriage Covenant” document.2 Stephanie contended that the signature on the document was not hers and she had not been present when the document was created. According to Stephanie, defendant had claimed to be her husband since she was about 14 years old, at which time defendant would have been approximately 46 years old.3 Stephanie testified [249]*249that she was afraid of defendant and had a personal protection order (PPO) against him. She explained, however, that her attempts to live away from defendant were undermined by her concern for her mother, with whom defendant continued to live.

Despite her concern about defendant, Stephanie decided in May 2011 to visit her mother. She contacted a state police officer to confirm that she would not be in violation of the PPO if she happened to encounter defendant. She left a note in her apartment for a friend explaining that she had gone to visit her mother and would be back. She left the radio on, a “purse wallet” behind, and her pain and psychiatric medications behind. She also left her cat, to whom Stephanie was a dedicated caretaker. No one was initially home when Stephanie arrived at defendant’s and Karen’s residence, but defendant arrived shortly thereafter and apparently believed Stephanie “was back to stay.” Stephanie testified that defendant told her “you’re going to stay here and you’re going to stick to me like glue.” She also testified that defendant followed her around the house, even accompanying her to the outhouse.4

That evening, defendant told her to go to his bedroom and she complied, despite being afraid “[b]ecause in the past he has been mean to me.” Stephanie testified that defendant had hit her before, knocking her “jaw bone out of alignment.” Defendant joined her in the bedroom, where he disrobed her and “forced” her to have sex with him, which caused her to bleed “[i]n my private.” She testified that defendant believed he had a right to have sex with her because “[h]e thinks that Pm [250]*250his wife,” and had considered her to be so since she was 14 years old. She testified that she was afraid to tell him that she did not want to have sex with him, and in the past when she said so, “[h]e would do it anyway, usually.” She testified that defendant had first attempted to be intimate with her “a couple of days after” he told her that she would be his wife. Stephanie testified that she did not tell her mother that defendant had raped her because her mother also considered Stephanie to be married to defendant, “so she thinks that it is alright for him to have sex with me.” Karen, in contrast, testified that Stephanie had a motorbike that she rode “[a]ll over the place” and that Stephanie could have left any time she wished, including during a shopping trip. Stephanie testified that she could not have left because defendant was always with her.

The manager at Stephanie’s apartment became concerned when she did not see Stephanie for a few days. Other friends, including Stephanie’s outpatient clinician at a mental health clinic, also became concerned. Several of them went to Stephanie’s apartment with police officers and were admitted by the manager, where they discovered that Stephanie’s cat had not been given food or water, and several of Stephanie’s essentials, such as her cellphone and medication, had been seemingly abandoned. A friend received an envelope in the mail containing Stephanie’s keys and a note stating that she would not be back and requesting that her cat be returned to the Humane Society.

A “well-being check” was commenced by the police at defendant’s property. Initially, officers parked off the premises, walked to the door, identified themselves, and asked to talk. Defendant “started screaming at [them] to get off his property, that [they were] violating his civil rights, and that [they were] trespassing.” Stephanie [251]*251testified that she heard defendant shouting at the police, but she was with her mother, “stuck in the back seat of a pickup truck” on the property, and when she tried to leave, Karen told her to remain where she was and stay silent. The police retreated and obtained a search warrant. In anticipation that defendant would not be cooperative, the local police and the Michigan State Police received assistance from the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team (UPSET), which had training in breaching houses. The officers wore attire marking them as police.

The police spent several minutes knocking on the door continuously, and they further made announcements with a loudspeaker. Stephanie testified that she heard the police announce themselves, bang on the door, and say her name. She testified that defendant told her and Karen “to be quiet and close the curtains.” She observed defendant pace the floor, peek out the curtains, and retrieve a can of pepper spray and take it to the front door. Karen testified that she heard nothing because the house was “pretty darn sound-proof,” and she believed any sounds from the door were from a bear that occasionally visited the area. The officers eventually decided to breach the door to the home.

The first two officers through the doors to the home testified that they were hit with a chemical spray causing immediate eye irritation and difficulty breathing. Karen confirmed that defendant had sprayed bear mace. Defendant later explained to officers that he had sprayed bear mace because he believed a bear was outside, although when “he recognized that it was a person with a gun,” he decided to spray the mace anyway. As the officers retreated, one fell off the porch and broke his ankle. The officers then noticed “a commotion” in the house, and Stephanie “kind of [252]*252spilled” out of the door. They noticed that it appeared that someone was holding onto the back of her shirt. Karen testified that she tried to restrain Stephanie from leaving the house because she was concerned that the mace would harm her. Stephanie testified that defendant was the one who grabbed her shirt, and that he told her “that God told him to spray the police officers.” Officers summoned Stephanie over to them and moved her “out of any line of fire.” Because they had accomplished the purpose of the search warrant, the police then left with Stephanie. They subsequently obtained a warrant for defendant’s arrest.

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Bluebook (online)
836 N.W.2d 243, 301 Mich. App. 247, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-martz-michctapp-2013.