People v. Jones, 299 Mich. App. 284

Defendant Byron Deandre Jones was convicted on three counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, MCL 750.84, plus one count each of carrying a concealed weapon, MCL 750.227, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b.
The incidents arose from a shooting at Eastland Mall in Harper Woods, Michigan, where Jones and another man identified as “Taiwan” confronted another group, drew guns, and Jones fired.
Jones challenged the trial court’s scoring of 10 points for offense variable (OV) 14 (offender’s role) on the theory that there was no “multiple offender situation.”
The trial court’s sentencing guidelines scoring is reviewed de novo for interpretation of the statute, with clear-error review for the sufficiency of the evidence.
The appellate court held OV 14 proper because the record showed a multiple-offender situation involving Jones and Taiwan; thus the court did not err in scoring OV 14.
The court noted it would not address whether Jones was a “leader” under OV 14 since that issue was not challenged on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether OV 14 was properly scored as a multiple-offender situation	Jones argues there was no multiple-offender situation	Jones contends only he violated the law	OV 14 properly scored; multiple-offender situation existed and upholds the 10 points

People v. McGraw, 484 Mich 120 (2009) (interpretation and application of the sentencing guidelines)
People v. Hicks, 259 Mich App 518 (2003) (review of sentencing guidelines scoring; evidence supports scoring)
People v. Hornsby, 251 Mich App 462 (2002) (scoring decisions upheld if supported by evidence)
People v. Lowe, 484 Mich 718 (2009) (plain meaning of the statute; legislative intent)
People v. Stone, 463 Mich 558 (2001) (dictionary definitions aid statutory interpretation)