People v. Garnes
People v. Garnes
Opinion of the Court
Defendant was convicted by a jury of unlawful imprisonment, MCL 750.349b, and assault with a deadly weapon (felonious assault), MCL 750.82. The trial court sentenced defendant to concurrent prison terms of 43 months to 15 years for unlawful imprisonment and 32 months to 4 years for felonious assault. Defendant raises no argument on appeal challenging her convictions, but she argues that the trial court improperly scored her sentencing guidelines variables and, therefore, imposed an improper sentence. We are constrained to agree, in part, and we remand for possible resentencing.
The crimes at issue in this matter involve defendant, defendant’s three daughters (codefendants Kelli Hyde and Tamara Stephens, who appealed separately, and
After the assault, the victim was escorted to an SUV and driven from the home. The victim testified that defendant was giving the driver directions on where to go. The officer who interviewed defendant the day after the incident testified that defendant indicated it was her idea to put the victim in the car because, in the officer’s words, defendant “wanted to teach her a lesson.” The victim reported that defendant said at one point, “ ‘We should leave her butt naked, saying pussy for sale.’ ” The victim’s cell phone, voter registration card, and Social Security card were taken from her,
Defendant contends that the trial court improperly based her sentence on sentencing guidelines scored “using facts beyond those found by the jury or admitted by the defendant,” which “change [d] the applicable guidelines minimum sentence range.” People v Lockridge, 498 Mich 358, 399; 870 NW2d 502 (2015). We agree.
Defendant specifically objects to the scoring of Offense Variables 3, 4, 7, and 8. To summarize, Offense Variable (OV) 3 was scored at 10 points, requiring that “[b]odily injury requiring medical treatment occurred to a victim.” MCL 777.33(l)(d). OV 4 was scored at 10 points, requiring that “[s]erious psychological injury requiring professional treatment occurred to a victim.” MCL 777.34(l)(a). OV 7 was scored at 50 points, requiring that “[a] victim was treated with sadism, torture, or excessive brutality or conduct designed to substantially increase the fear and anxiety a victim suffered during the offense.” MCL 777.37(l)(a).
We note that there is ample record evidence to support these scores. However, under Lockridge, the sentencing guidelines are no longer mandatory to the extent they are “scored on the basis of facts beyond
We are therefore constrained to conclude that defendant’s OV scores were unsupported. The guidelines were scored for defendant’s unlawful imprisonment conviction. A conviction for felonious assault does not require an actual injury. See People v Davis, 216 Mich App 47, 53-54; 549 NW2d 1 (1996). Indeed, neither physical nor psychological injury is an element of either of defendant’s convicted offenses. Neither is any particular level of brutality or any aspor-tation or captivity “beyond the time necessary to commit the offense.” Consequently, we agree with defendant that none of the facts on which these OVs could have been scored was necessarily found by the jury.
The answer to the question whether any facts supporting the scoring of the OVs were “admitted by the defendant” is less obvious. Lockridge did not define that phrase. Defendant did not testify, but of
We hold that “admitted by the defendant” under Lockridge means formally admitted by the defendant to the court in a plea, in testimony, by stipulation, or by some similar or analogous means. Defendant did not make any such formal admission here. Consequently, the OVs discussed earlier in this opinion were impermissibly scored, and we are required to remand for possible resentencing in accordance with United States v Crosby, 397 F3d 103 (CA 2, 2005), as set forth in Lockridge. See Stokes, 312 Mich App at 197-203.
Stephens, J., concurred with Ronayne Krause, P.J.
This appeal was submitted for decision with the appeals of Hyde and Stephens (Docket Nos. 324802 and 324804).
MCL 777.37 was amended subsequent to defendant’s sentencing; we refer to the language in place at the time.
Concurring Opinion
(concurring). I concur in the result only.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.