PEOPLE OF MI V JOHN B TALMAGE
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
January 16, 1998
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 193657
Oakland Circuit Court
LC No. 95-138762-FC
JOHN B. TALMAGE,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: Hoekstra, P.J., and Wahls and Gribbs, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of first-degree felony murder for committing
murder during the perpetration of first-degree child abuse, MCL 750.316(1)(b); MSA 28.548(1)(b).
He was sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment. Defendant now appeals as of right. We affirm.
Defendant’s conviction arises out of the death of his live-in girlfriend’s infant son. Defendant
admitted that on the night of April 6, 1995, he punched the baby in the side with his fist, shook the
baby, and then slammed the baby’s head against the ground three times. Although the baby was
transported to the hospital, he died after being disconnected from life support systems on the night of
April 8, 1995.
Defendant first argues that his conviction should be reversed because first-degree child abuse,
MCL 750.136b(2); MSA 28.331(2)(2), is a cognate lesser included offense to second-degree murder.
This argument is without merit. As an initial matter, defendant did not properly preserve this issue
because he did not raise it below. See People v Carrick, 220 Mich App 17, 19; 558 NW2d 242
(1996). In any event, the double jeopardy clause is not implicated because defendant was only
convicted of a single crime. See People v Minor, 213 Mich App 682, 690; 541 NW2d 576 (1995).
Defendant also argues that his conviction was improper because the underlying felony, first
degree child abuse, was not independent of the murder. However, this Court has already rejected this
argument in People v Jones, 209 Mich App 212, 215; 530 NW2d 128 (1995). We likewise reject
defendant’s argument in the present case.1 We note that defendant’s reliance on People v Dumas, 454
-1
Mich 390; 563 NW2d 31 (1997), is misplaced. In Dumas, the trial court gave an erroneous instruction
regarding the intent required for felony-murder. No such error occurred in this case.
Finally, defendant challenges the trial court’s determination that his inculpatory statements to the
police were voluntarily made. We defer to the trial court’s credibility determination that no promises of
leniency were made to defendant, People v Etheridge, 196 Mich App 43, 57; 492 NW2d 490
(1992), and conclude after our independent review of the record that defendant’s statements were
voluntarily made in light of the totality of the circumstances. People v Krause, 206 Mich App 421,
423; 522 NW2d 667 (1994).
In a supplemental brief, defendant raises an additional argument which we address only briefly.
Defendant argues that the jury instructions improperly allowed the jury to find defendant guilty if he
“knowingly” caused serious physical harm to the victim. He essentially argues that the prosecutor had
to prove that he desired to cause serious physical harm to the victim, relying on People v Gould, ___
Mich App ___; ___ NW2d ___ (Docket No. 184342, issued 8/15/97). We disagree with this
contention. Gould does indeed hold that first-degree felony murder is a specific intent crime.
However, specific intent can consist of either a subjective desire or knowledge that the prohibited result
will occur. Id., slip op at 3 (citing People v Lerma, 66 Mich App 566, 569-570; 239 NW2d 424
(1976)). In this case, the prosecutor’s remarks and the trial court’s instructions regarding intent were
proper.
Affirmed.
/s/ Joel P. Hoekstra
/s/ Myron H. Wahls
/s/ Roman S. Gribbsd
1
We note that defendant’s statement of the questions presented to this Court raised a challenge to the
sufficiency of the evidence. However, defendant merely reasserted his contention that his conviction
should be overturned because the felony was not independent of the murder. In any event, there was
clearly sufficient evidence to support defendant’s conviction.
-2
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.