PEOPLE OF MI V RODNEY ALLEN ANTHONY
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
February 5, 1999
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 193986
Recorder’s Court
LC No. 95-004742
RODNEY ALLEN ANTHONY,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: White, P.J., and Markman and Young, Jr., JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Defendant appeals as of right from his bench trial convictions of two counts of assault with intent
to murder, MCL 750.83; MSA 28.278, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony,
MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). Defendant fired five to six shots into a car with three unarmed
passengers, seriously injuring two men. Defendant was sentenced to ten to twenty years’ imprisonment
for each of the assault with intent to murder convictions and two years’ imprisonment for the felony
firearm conviction. We affirm.
Defendant’s sole issue on appeal is that the trial court violated the principle of proportionality
expressed in People v Milbourn, 435 Mich 630; 461 NW2d 1 (1990). Under Milbourn, supra at
660, a sentencing court abuses its discretion when it violates the principle of proportionality. A sentence
must be proportionate to the seriousness of the crime and the defendant’s prior record. Id. at 635-36;
People v Paquette, 214 Mich App 336, 344-45; 543 NW2d 342 (1995). A sentence imposed within
an applicable sentencing guidelines range is presumptively neither excessively severe nor unfairly
disparate. People v Broden, 428 Mich 343, 354-55; 408 NW2d 789 (1987); People v Kennebrew,
220 Mich App 601, 609; 560 NW2d 354 (1996). However, in unusual circumstances, such sentences
can constitute an abuse of discretion. Milbourn, supra, at 661.
Defendant’s ten year minimum sentences here are within the sentencing guidelines range of 96 to
180 months. Defendant’s employed status and his lack of criminal history, in our judgment, are not
unusual circumstances which overcome the presumption of proportionality. People v Daniel, 207 Mich
App 47, 54; 523 NW2d 830 (1994). Although the shooting incident, according to defendant,
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represented a reaction to a prior beating of defendant, the beating took place forty-five minutes earlier.
Defendant had a sufficient amount of time to cool off. Instead, he went home, armed himself and paced
outside his home. Given the seriousness of defendant’s crime, we conclude that defendant’s ten year
minimum sentences are not disproportionate.
Affirmed.
/s/ Helene N. White
/s/ Stephen J. Markman
/s/ Robert P. Young, Jr.
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