Summary
concluding that the evidence was sufficient to support a felonious assault conviction when the defendant threatened to strike the victims with "what appeared to be a small bat or club"
Summary of this case from People v. BarrettOpinion
Docket No. 146238. COA No. 305107.
2013-02-6
PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. James Michael GEIERMAN, Defendant–Appellee.
Prior report: Mich.App., 2012 WL 4093737.
Order
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the September 18, 2012 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REVERSE, in part, the judgment of the Court of Appeals and REINSTATE the defendant's conviction for felonious assault because the evidence was sufficient to sustain his conviction for that offense. The defendant broke into a home, threatened to strike the occupants with what appeared to be a small bat or club, and thus attempted “to commit a battery or [committed] an unlawful act that place[d] another in reasonable apprehension of receiving an immediate battery.” People v. Nickens, 470 Mich. 622, 628, 685 N.W.2d 657 (2004) (quotation marks and citations omitted). The Court of Appeals is required to view the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution. It was not empowered to substitute its judgment for that of the circuit court. People v. Wolfe, 440 Mich. 508, 515–516, 489 N.W.2d 748 (1992).