Defendant appeals by right his conviction of possessing a weapon in jail, MCL 801.262(2). The trial court sentenced defendant as a third-offense habitual offender, MCL 769.11, to imprisonment of 2 to 10 years. This Court initially granted defendant’s motion for remand “to allow defendant to have an evidentiary hearing on his claims of prosecutorial misconduct and to bring a motion for a new trial in the trial court based on those claims.”
Defendant first argues that MCL 801.262(2) is unconstitutionally vague because it failed to provide defendant with adequate notice that a sharpened paper clip fragment attached to the end of a Q-tip might be considered a “weapon or other item” prohibited under the statute. Defendant made the item by removing the small cotton ball from one end of a Q-tip, placing the paper clip fragment inside the Q-tip, and then replacing the Q-tip cotton ball to cover the paper clip fragment. Jail staff referred to the item as a “needle” during triаl. During sentencing, the trial court stated that the item was “not a knife or something that could cause anyone’s death” but that “it could put out an eye” or “otherwise harm[] someone[.]”
Because defendant did not argue in the trial court that MCL 801.262(2) was unconstitutionally vague, he failed to preserve this claim for appellate review. Cf. People v Wilson,
The void-for-vagueness doctrine flows from the Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment and Const 1963, art 1, § 17, which guarantee that the state may not deprive a person оf life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. People v Roberts,
MCL 801.262(2) provides:
Unless authorized by the chief administrator of the jail, a prisoner shall not possess or have under his or her control any weapon or other item that may be used to injure a prisoner or othеr person, or used to assist a prisoner in escaping from jail.
In People v Herron,
This Court subsequently followed Herron in People v Osuna, 174 Mich App 530, 531;
In sum, the Herron and Osuna decisions support that language prohibiting “a weapon or other implement which may be used to injure a prisoner or other person, or in assisting a prisoner to escape
The wording of MCL 800.283(4) and MCL 801.262(2) is substantively identical. MCL 801.262(2) uses the phrase “any weapon or other item that may be used to injure a prisoner or other person,” while MCL 800.283(4) uses the phrase “a weapon or other implement which may be used to injure a prisoner or other person.”
For the reasons discussed in Herron and Osuna, we reject defendant’s claim that MCL 801.262(2) is void becausе it is unconstitutionally vague. A person of ordinary intelligence would understand that an unauthorized, sharpened fragment of metal attached to the end of a Q-tip is a “weapon or other item that may be used to injure a prisoner or other person, or used to assist a prisoner in escaping from jail.” Roberts,
Defendant also cannot establish a void-for-vagueness challenge to the statute regarding its application to his conduct. To challenge MCL 801.262(2) as unconstitutionally vague for failure to provide fair notice, defendant bears the burden of identifying specific facts that suggest that he complied with the statute. People v Douglas,
Defendant cannot show that he complied with the statute. Defendant was convicted of the unauthorized possession in jail of a “weapon or other item that may be used to injure a prisoner or other person,” i.e., a paper clip fragment attached to a Q-tip. The so-called needle defendant possessed is a “weapon or other item” within the ambit of MCL 801.262(2) because it is a sharpened metal fragment that may be used to directly injure another person. It is comparable to the syringe in Osuna. While defendant argues that the needle was not a weapon because it was relatively small, the needle could have easily been used to inflict significant injury, such as to puncture an eye or other sensitive part of the human body. Thus, the needle was an item with weapon-like qualities that could be used to injure a prisoner or other person. Because the needle was a prohibited item under MCL 801.262(2), defendant did not comply with the statute and his vagueness claim must fail. Douglas, 295 Mich App at 135.
Defendant also argues that MCL 801.262(2) is unconstitutionally vague because it is overly broad and may aрply to virtually any item. But when a vagueness challenge does not involve First Amendment freedoms, “the constitutionality of the statute in question must be examined in light of the particular facts at hand
Defendant next argues that MCL 801.262(2) is unconstitutionally vague because it allows for arbitrary enforcement. A statute may be unconstitutionally vague if it does not contain adequate standards to guide those who are charged with its enforcement or because it impermissibly gives the trier of fact unstructured and unlimited discretion in applying the law. Douglas,
Next, defendant argues that his conviction must be reversed because the trial court failed to instruct the jury that a necessary element of the charged offense requires proof that defendant intended to use the item as a weapon. We disagree.
Defendant failed to preserve his challenge to the jury instructions by raising this issue in the trial court. People v Gonzalez,
We conclude that the trial court did not err in its instructions to the jury; consequently, defendant’s substantial rights were not affected. We specifically reject defendant’s argument that MCL 801.262(2) requires that a defendant have the intent to use the “weapon or other item” as a weapon. Rather, the statute requires only that a defendant “possess or have under his or her control” the prohibited “weapon or other item that may be used to injure a prisoner or other person.” Id. Indeed, the offense is a general intent crime. “[T]he distinction between specific intent and general intent crimes is that the former involve a particular criminal intent beyond the act done, while the latter involve merely the intent to do the physical act.” People v Beaudin,
The Osuna decision interpreting the similarly worded statute governing Michigаn’s prison system, MCL 800.283, supports our conclusion that MCL 801.262(2) is a general intent crime. The Osuna Court held that why the defendant possessed the item was irrelevant. The Court opined that “the element which transforms an unauthorized article into a weapon is its potential to cause injury, not the inmate’s subjective intent.” Osuna,
Because MCL 801.262(2) is a general intent crime, the trial court did not err by failing to instruct the jury that defendant must have had the specific intent to use the item he possessed as a weapon. Consequently, plain error did not affect defendant’s substantial rights. Gonzalez,
Next, defendant argues thаt the trial court abused its discretion by not granting his motion for a new trial. Defendant argues that the prosecutor denied him a fair trial by (1) not correcting the false testimony of a cooperating jail inmate and (2) not disclosing a prior plea agreement with the inmate. The prosecution argues that the inmate’s testimony was accurate and that the plea agreement had no bearing on this case because it had been entered approximately six months before the crime was committed. Moreover, it was a readily accessible part of the trial court’s records. The prosecution also argues that if it erred by failing to disclose the plea bargain, its error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt, including his written confession admitting possession of the needle, the testimony of corrections officers that the needle was located in defendant’s tote bag, and other testimony implicating defendant.
We review for clear error a trial court’s factual findings on a motion for a new trial and for an abuse of discretion the court’s decision to grant or deny the motion. People v Miller,
During cross-examination at trial, the inmate testified that he had “been a witness for the prosecution on some other cases and I’m not well-liked by the population in the jail.” He also acknowledged that he had been convicted of fraud within the past year and false pretenses within
After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the trial court determined that, in context, the inmate’s answer regarding compensation related to his “his cooperation with respect to the jail TV incident and the Boyne Highland’s robbery.” Further, the trial court found that the inmate’s testimony appeared to be truthful given the evidence presented at the hearing. Additionally, the court found that the question regarding compensatiоn was most likely understood by the inmate, the prosecutor, and the jury as referring to money, not some other form of compensation. Thus, the trial court concluded that the evidence did not support finding that the prosecutor either elicited or failed to correct false testimony.
With respect to defendant’s second argument, the trial court concluded that defendant could have discovered the inmate’s plea agreement through reasonable diligence because the plea agreemеnt was available in the court’s files. The trial court also reasoned that defendant could have asked the inmate during trial whether he had executed any plea agreements in previous cases. Therefore, the trial court found that the prosecutor did not suppress evidence of the plea agreement. Finally, the trial court found that there was no reasonable probability that the outcome of the proceedings would have been different had evidence of the plea agreement bеen introduced at trial. Accordingly, the trial court denied defendant’s motion for a new trial.
A defendant’s right to due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment is violated when there is any reasonable likelihood that a conviction was obtained by the knowing use of perjured testimony. People v Aceval,
First, defendant asserts that the inmate’s testimony that he never received “compensation ... for any of this information” was perjury because the inmate had previously received a favorable plea bargain in exchange fоr cooperating with the prosecution in an unrelated drug case. The trial court found that the inmate’s challenged testimony only addressed his cooperation regarding the damaged jail television and the Boyne Highlands robbery, so the testimony was not false. The trial court did not clearly err in so finding. Immediately before providing the challenged testimony, the inmate specifically testified about the television and Boyne Highlands cases. The trial court observed
Moreover, even if the testimony was perjury and the prosecutor knowingly allowed it to stand uncorrected, defendant still would not be entitled to a new trial because the perjury and prosecutorial misconduct did not “materially affect[] the trial’s outcome ... .” Aceval,
Second, defendant argues that the prosecutor violated his right to due process by failing to disclose before trial the inmate’s prior plea agreement. Upon request,
a defendant must prove: (1) that the state possessed evidence favorable to the defendant; (2) that he did not possess the evidenсe nor could he have obtained it himself with any reasonable diligence; (3) that the prosecution suppressed the favorable evidence; and (4) that had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, a reasonable probability exists that the outcome of the proceedings would have been different. [Id. at 281-282.]
In this case, the trial court found that defendant could not establish the second, third, or fourth elements of a Brady violation. Even if the trial court clearly erred regarding the third element, it did not clearly err regarding the second and fourth elements. Accordingly, defendant was not entitled to relief on the basis of his second argument.
The trial court’s finding that defendant could have obtained the inmate’s prior plea agreement with reasonable diligence was not clearly erroneous. As the trial court explained, evidence of the plea agreement was available in the court’s files. Also, as the trial court explained, defendant’s discovery request could have included a request for all plea agreements entered with the prosecution’s prospective witnesses.
More importantly, we agree with the trial court that it is not reasonably probable that the outcome of the proceedings would have been different had the prosecution disclosed the plea agreement before trial. Defendant gave two written confessions
Defendant also argues that he is entitled to resentencing because the trial court erred by assessing 10 points for offense variable (OV) 9 rather than zero points because fewer than two victims were placed in danger. We disagree. In general, the application of the sentencing guidelines presents a question of law that this Court reviews de novo. People v Waclawski,
MCL 777.39(1)(c) requires a trial court to score 10 points for OV 9 when “[t]here were 2 to 9 victims who were placed in danger of physical injury or death[.]” The trial court should “[c]ount each person who was placed in danger of physical injury ... as a victim.” MCL 777.39(2)(a). “OV 9 is scored only on the basis of the defendant’s conduct during the sentencing offense.” People v Carrigan,
In this case, the cooperating jail inmate testified that while defendant had the needle he had constructed, he stated, “I should stab her [a corrections officer] in the neck.” In addition, the inmate testified that a few days earlier, defendant informed him that “if I told anybody about it [the needle] he would hurt me.” From this testimony, the trial court had an adequate factual basis to conclude that while' defendant possessed the needle in the jail, at least two victims were placed in danger of physical injury. MCL 777.39(l)(c). Given that at least two victims were placed in danger of physical injury because of defendant’s possession of the needle, the trial court properly scored OV 9 at 10 points. It is irrelevant that neither the inmate nor the correction officer was actually harmed. A person may be a victim under OV 9 even if he or she did not suffer actual harm; a close proximity to a physically threatening situation may suffice to count the person as a victim. See People v Morson,
We affirm.
Notes
People v Gratsch, unpublished order of the Court of Appeals, entered February 15, 2012 (Docket No. 305040).
MCL 800.283(4).
This is the version of the statute as amended by
We note that the inmate’s testimony regarding defendant’s intent was material to defendant’s sentencing, as discussed later, but the trial court was fully cognizant of the plea agreement, so it could consider it in assessing the inmate’s credibility.
Defendant made such a request before trial.
See Brady v Maryland,
