People of Michigan v. Caleb Nuquay MacKey, 328235

On Jan. 5, 2015, defendant tried on a Rolex at a jewelry store, took it, and fled; employee Robert Mitchell chased him.
During the chase, Mitchell testified defendant put his hand inside his jacket and said, “I’ve got a gun, I’ve got a gun,” and Mitchell feared being shot.
Mitchell memorized the getaway car’s license plate; police located the vehicle, arrested defendant, and recovered the watch; no gun was found.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of armed robbery and sentenced as a fourth-offense habitual offender to 20–50 years’ imprisonment.
On appeal defendant challenged the verdict as against the great weight of the evidence, alleged prosecutorial vouching, and claimed ineffective assistance of trial counsel.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether verdict was against the great weight of the evidence	Mitchell’s testimony that he was placed in fear was credible and established elements of armed robbery.	Mitchell’s pursuit despite claimed fear makes his fear incredible; verdict therefore against great weight.	Affirmed: credibility for jury; no exceptional circumstances to overturn verdict.
Whether prosecutor impermissibly vouched for Mitchell	Prosecutor’s remarks recounted testimony and argued Mitchell had no motive to lie; permissible argument.	Prosecutor vouched for witness and asserted special knowledge of truthfulness.	Affirmed: statements were proper commentary on witness credibility, not personal vouching; no plain error.
Ineffective assistance for alleged lack of investigation/strategy	Counsel presented reasonable strategy disputing gun and fear; record does not show deficient investigation.	Counsel failed to investigate and had no strategy.	Affirmed: defendant failed to show record evidence of deficient performance or prejudice.
Ineffective assistance for plea advice	Counsel advised defendant of plea; record shows discussion of plea offer.	Counsel failed to advise of sentencing consequences of rejecting plea.	Affirmed: record indicates counsel discussed plea; claim abandoned or unsupported on record.

People v. Lacalamita, 286 Mich. App. 467 (preponderance test for great-weight review)
People v. Lemmon, 456 Mich. 625 (witness-credibility challenges and new-trial standard)
People v. Bosca, 310 Mich. App. 1 (exceptional-circumstances for overturning credibility findings)
People v. Chambers, 277 Mich. App. 1 (elements of armed robbery)
People v. Bahoda, 448 Mich. 261 (prosecutor vouching prohibition)
People v. Unger, 278 Mich. App. 210 (plain-error review for unpreserved claims)
People v. Armstrong, 490 Mich. 281 (Strickland ineffective-assistance framework)
People v. Fonville, 291 Mich. App. 363 (record showing counsel’s plea discussion suffices to defeat claim)