People v. Solomon

266 N.W.2d 453, 82 Mich. App. 502, 1978 Mich. App. LEXIS 2244
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 24, 1978
DocketDocket 29169
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 266 N.W.2d 453 (People v. Solomon) 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. Solomon, 266 N.W.2d 453, 82 Mich. App. 502, 1978 Mich. App. LEXIS 2244 (Mich. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

*504 Per Curiam.

Defendant was convicted by a jury of carnal knowledge of a female over the age of 16 under the old rape statute, MCLA 750.520; MSA 28.788. The offense involved the alleged rape of a downtown Detroit motel lifeguard on February 2, 1975. Defendant was sentenced to a term of not less than 24 nor more than 30 years in prison. He appeals as of right.

Defendant first claims that where, at preliminary examination, the magistrate suppresses a pretrial photographic show-up and a corporeal lineup, that it is error for the trial court to admit such evidence at trial.

The record indicates that the trial court ruled fully on the objection when it was raised by defendant at trial, as follows:

"The Court is satisfied that a full reading of the Examination transcript makes it plain that Judge Heading was asking each side whether they wanted it suppressed or not on the motion of Mr. Feinberg. And that his words, when he first inquired was, 'Do you want that testimony suppressed now or not?’ And the Defense indicated that it did. The prosecution originally objected. The Court indicated, 'Well, now the testimony is in Court. She pointed him out. There is the man.’ The Court went on to say that she identified him in Court without the show-up. He asked the Prosecutor, 'Do you want the show-up in or out?’ The Prosecutor said, 'It doesn’t matter.’ The Court said to Mr. Feinberg, 'Do you want it suppressed?’ Mr. Feinberg said, 'Yes.’ The Court said, 'All right. It is suppressed.’ And went on to bind the Defendant over based upon the in-court identification.
"I think that what’s clear from the examination transcript is that Judge Heading suppressed it for purposes of his decision and that he did not rely upon it. I think that it is more than foolish for anyone to think that the somewhat cavalier manner in which it was handled at the Examination is in any way an order *505 to suppress the line-up identification for purposes of trial. I think that Michigan law is clear that a motion to suppress has to be brought prior to trial. There’s been no motion before me. There’s no order in the file indicating that the line-up is suppressed for purposes of trial. And I think for counsel to have relied upon that rather spur of the moment decision by the Examining Magistrate is misguided to say the least. And certainly this Court is not bound by that there having been no further motions or hearings or orders. The objection is overruled.”

Careful reading of the preliminary examination transcript indicates that defendant is wrong in claiming suppression of the photographic show-up; no objection was raised at preliminary examination to the photographic show-up evidence. It seems clear that neither did the examining magistrate intend nor did defense counsel believe that the photographic show-up evidence had been suppressed.

With respect to the corporeal lineup, careful review of the preliminary examination transcript does not indicate that the question of admissibility of the corporeal lineup evidence was fully and fairly presented. 1 As the trial court noted, treatment of that question was rather cavalier. The admissibility of the corporeal lineup evidence was not fully and fairly presented for determination at the preliminary examination. Consequently, we find no error in admission of this evidence by the trial court.

Further support for denying defendant’s claim for reversal in this connection is the fact that there was no motion before trial to suppress the *506 lineup evidence. Although at trial, defense counsel claimed that he was unfairly surprised and prejudiced by the refusal of the trial court to apply the alleged ruling of the magistrate, the record indicates that he did not seek an adjournment to afford additional time to prepare this defense, even though earlier in the proceedings the trial court had indicated a willingness to adjourn the trial for some three weeks so that notice of an alleged alibi defense could be given. We conclude that the trial court did not err in finding that it was not bound by the alleged decision of the magistrate.

Defendant also claims that he was improperly denied assistance of counsel at both the pretrial photographic show-up and the corporeal lineup and that the procedures followed in both instances were so impermissibly suggestive as to taint the in-court identification of defendant and to make admission of such evidence reversible error. Review of the record does not indicate any challenge to the photo show-up previous to the preliminary examination, during preliminary examination, nor any pretrial motion to suppress the photo show-up identification. In fact, the first challenge to the photo show-up is raised on appeal. Therefore, the issue has not been preserved for appeal. 2 Furthermore, the record indicates that attempts were made by the police to contact defendant for the purpose of having him appear for a corporeal lineup. When no response was made, the photo show-up was held instead. This was at a time when defendant was not in custody. Under these circumstances, he had no right to be represented by counsel at that show-up procedure and, further, there has been no showing that the procedure followed at the photo show-up was impermissibly *507 suggestive. His claim of error as to the photo show-up is without merit.

As to defendant’s claim that he was denied assistance of counsel at the corporeal lineup, that claim is not supported by the record. The claim was first raised following trial. Trial counsel for defendant at no time, during preliminary examination or at trial, claimed that he had been excluded from the lineup. Furthermore, there is in the court file a voucher for expenses which indicates a charge for an appearance by appointed counsel at the lineup.

We also hold, considering the totality of the circumstances, that defendant’s claim that the lineup procedure was improper, where defendant was the only participant in the lineup whose photo had been included in a previous photo show-up, is without merit. 3

Defendant also claims that the trial court erred in not sua sponte granting an adjournment so that a notice of alibi defense could be given.

The record indicates clearly that the trial court recognized his discretion to grant an adjournment. It does not indicate that an adjournment was requested. We hold that the trial court was not required sua sponte to grant an adjournment where defendant was offered the opportunity to request an adjournment and failed to do so.

Defendant next contends that it was an abuse of the trial court’s discretion to refuse to grant a jury request to rehear certain portions of testimony.

The jury requested: "Original testimony from Plaintiff [complaining witness] on the description of the accused.” The trial court was uncertain what the jury wanted. He noted that the complaining witness’s testimony had included at "a mini *508

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
266 N.W.2d 453, 82 Mich. App. 502, 1978 Mich. App. LEXIS 2244, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-solomon-michctapp-1978.