People of Michigan v. Daniel Hughes, 328530

Defendant Daniel Hughes was convicted by a jury of felonious assault (MCL 750.82), felony-firearm (MCL 750.227b), and domestic assault (MCL 750.81).
Trial court sentenced Hughes as a fourth habitual offender to concurrent five-year probations for the assault convictions and two years’ imprisonment for the felony-firearm conviction.
Victim testified that Hughes met her after she exited a bathroom, pressed a loaded gun to her temple, and pushed her once.
Victim’s son was present only briefly and did not see the gun pointed; police officer Triner was not present for the assault and observed no visible injuries.
Officer Triner described the victim as evasive and frightened at the scene. Hughes appealed, arguing insufficient evidence supported the convictions.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence to support assault convictions	Prosecution: victim’s testimony alone can establish assault; jury may infer intent or reasonable apprehension from the gun being pressed to her temple	Hughes: only the victim testified to the assault; other witnesses did not corroborate that he pointed a gun at her	Court: Evidence sufficient; victim’s testimony alone could support convictions and credibility issues are for the jury
Relevance of lack of visible injuries	Prosecution: physical injuries not required for assault; reasonable apprehension suffices	Hughes: lack of injuries and officer observations undermine victim’s account	Court: No physical injury needed; absence of injuries does not negate assault proof
Weight of officer and son testimony	Prosecution: their limited/non-present status explained; their testimony consistent with victim’s fear	Hughes: son and officer did not corroborate pointing of the gun	Court: Conflicts resolved for prosecution; nonobservations unsurprising and do not defeat verdict
Credibility challenges on appeal	Prosecution: credibility is for jury; appellate court defers	Hughes: argues jury should not have believed victim without corroboration	Court: Rejects appellate credibility reweighing; affirms convictions

People v Meissner, 294 Mich App 438 (de novo review of sufficiency of the evidence)
People v Lane, 308 Mich App 38 (standard for sufficiency review: evidence viewed in prosecution's favor)
People v Avant, 235 Mich App 499 (circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences may suffice for assault; assault requires reasonable apprehension of immediate battery)
People v Harmon, 248 Mich App 522 (conflicts in evidence are resolved in favor of the prosecution)
People v Wolfe, 440 Mich 508 (appellate courts may not overturn jury credibility determinations)
People v Corbiere, 220 Mich App 260 (intent or placing victim in apprehension can be inferred from circumstances)