People v. Ulecki

394 N.W.2d 114, 152 Mich. App. 801
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 7, 1986
DocketDocket No. 84783
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 394 N.W.2d 114 (People v. Ulecki) 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. Ulecki, 394 N.W.2d 114, 152 Mich. App. 801 (Mich. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

Beasley, J.

Defendant, Dorothy Mae Ulecki, was convicted by a jury of two counts of first-degree murder, in violation of MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548. She was sentenced to life in prison on both counts, with her sentences to run concurrently. Defendant appeals as of right.

The charges against defendant arose out of the stabbing deaths of her aunt and uncle. The fingerprints of defendant and her boyfriend were found at the scene of the homicides. Other circumstantial evidence discovered during the investigation of the murders, such as defendant’s use of the victims’ credit cards after the murders, further implicated defendant and her boyfriend in the killings. As a result of this investigation, defendant was arrested, placed in the Macomb County Jail, and charged with first-degree murder.

At trial, the only direct evidence linking defendant to the killings was the testimony of her cell mate in the county jail. The cell mate testified that defendant had told her that she and her boyfriend had planned in detail to kill defendant’s aunt and uncle, that she had been present when the murders took place, and that she had assisted her boyfriend in attempting to render her aunt unconscious. The defendant testified that she had [803]*803been present at the scene of the killings when her boyfriend had attacked her aunt and uncle. However, she went on to deny that she had known that her boyfriend was going to attack the victims or that she had assisted him in the attack, but, as indicated, the jury rejected this explanation and found her guilty.

In her motion for a new trial and on appeal defendant raises one issue. She claims that the trial judge committed reversible error by not allowing her to call the assistant prosecuting attorney in charge of this case as a witness at trial. The trial judge, after conducting a post-trial evidentiary hearing, found that his refusal to allow defendant to call the assistant prosecutor as a witness at trial did not prejudice defendant in this case. Thus, the trial judge denied defendant’s motion for a new trial.

The record of the trial and the subsequent evidentiary hearing reveal that defendant wanted to call the assistant prosecuting attorney as a witness in order to attempt to impeach the credibility of defendant’s cell mate. During defense counsel’s cross-examination of defendant’s cell mate, it was revealed that the assistant prosecutor assigned to defendant’s case was also assigned to the cell mate’s case. During cross-examination, the testimony revealed that the cell mate had originally been charged with bank robbery and felony-firearm. However, after the cell mate came forward with the information concerning defendant’s involvement in the subject murders, the assistant prosecutor agreed to reduce the charge against the cell mate to attempted armed robbery. The cell mate testified that she knew the original charges against her allowed a maximum sentence of life in prison, along with a consecutive mandatory two-year prison term for felony-firearm, while the [804]*804reduced charge carried only a five-year maximum prison sentence.

The cell mate went on to testify that she subsequently pled guilty to the reduced charge, that her bond was then reduced from $50,000 to $5,000 with ten percent cash required, and that she was then able to make bond. The cell mate also testified that she had been scheduled for sentencing one week prior to defendant’s trial. However, her sentencing was adjourned to a date subsequent to when she would testify at defendant’s trial. The cell mate testified that she did not desire the delay in her sentencing, but felt her sentencing was adjourned in order to ensure that she would be free to testify at defendant’s trial. She also testified that no deal or agreement had been made between her and the prosecutor in exchange for her testimony at defendant’s trial and that she did not believe her reduced charge and bond were the result of her willingness to testify at defendant’s trial. She also stated that she did not really expect the fact that she testified at defendant’s trial to affect her eventual sentence.

Subsequently, in defendant’s case in chief, defense counsel attempted to call the assistant prosecuting attorney as a witness in order to elicit testimony concerning his plea bargaining with defendant’s cell mate. Specifically, defense counsel wanted to bring out the details of any deals or agreements made by the assistant prosecutor in exchange for the cell mate’s testimony at defendant’s trial and, thus, hopefully impeach the cell mate’s credibility in this matter. As indicated, the trial judge refused to allow defendant to call the assistant prosecuting attorney as a witness. The trial judge based his refusal on his belief that the jury had been made completely aware of the facts surrounding the cell mate’s dealings with the as[805]*805sistant prosecutor through her testimony during cross-examination, and that no useful purpose would be served by calling the prosecutor as a witness to testify further on the cell mate’s case. The trial judge specifically stated that he did not want to confuse or distract the jury by effectively trying the cell mate’s case during defendant’s trial. The trial judge found that the jury had all the facts necessary for a determination of the cell mate’s motivation and credibility in testifying at defendant’s trial.

As noted above, subsequent to defendant’s trial, an evidentiary hearing was conducted, and the assistant prosecutor testified concerning the plea bargaining involved in the cell mate’s case. His testimony paralleled the testimony of the cell mate given during cross-examination at defendant’s trial. He testified that no deal or agreement had been made with the cell mate in order to obtain her testimony at defendant’s trial. He expressly testified that he had reduced the charge against the cell mate and had not opposed a reduction in bond, based upon the mitigating factors present in the cell mate’s particular case. (The cell mate had allegedly used only a toy gun during the bank robbery.) The prosecutor did admit that, in reducing the bank robbery charge against the cell mate without getting prior approval from his superior, he had not followed office policy. He also testified that the sentencing of the cell mate had been adjourned in order to ensure that the cell mate would testify at defendant’s trial. However, the prosecutor expressly denied that he had made any promises to the cell mate concerning her sentence in exchange for her testimony.

Based on the prosecutor’s testimony at the evidentiary hearing, the trial judge denied defendant’s motion for a new trial. The trial judge [806]*806found that his refusal to allow defendant to call the assistant prosecuting attorney as a witness at trial had not prejudiced defendant in this case. We agree.

In arguing that the trial judge committed reversible error, defendant relies on the Michigan Supreme Court decision in People v Reed.1 The Reed Court addressed a trial judge’s refusal to allow a defendant to call the prosecuting attorney as a witness at a hearing held outside the presence of the jury for the express purpose of discovering any evidence suppressed by the prosecutor which could be favorable to the accused pursuant to Brady v Maryland.2 The Reed Court held that in this situation

the trial judge erroneously limited the scope of the Brady

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People of Michigan v. Jeremy Darnell Morton
Michigan Court of Appeals, 2018
Rudolph v. State
829 P.2d 269 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
394 N.W.2d 114, 152 Mich. App. 801, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-ulecki-michctapp-1986.