PEOPLE OF MI V THELMON F STUCKEY III
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
April 30, 1999
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
No. 211802
Wayne Circuit Court
LC No. 98-002007
THELMON F. STUCKEY III.,
Defendant-Appellee.
Before: Gage, P.J., and Gribbs and Hoekstra, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
The people appeal by right from the trial court’s order granting defendant’s motion to quash the
information charging one count of first-degree murder, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, three counts of
assault with intent to commit murder, MCL 750.83; MSA 28.278, and one count of felony-firearm,
MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). We reverse and remand for reinstatement of the charges.
Reviewing the trial court’s decision de novo to determine whether the examining magistrate’s
bindover decision was an abuse of discretion wholly unjustified by the preliminary examination record,
we conclude the trial court erred in quashing the information because the magistrate’s decision is
justified by competent evidence. People v Northey, 231 Mich App 568, 574-575; ___ NW2d ___
(1998), lv den 459 Mich 932 (1998).
With regard to the murder charge, the fact that several bullet casings at the murder scene were
matched to an AK-47 gun in defendant’s possession is fairly strong circumstantial evidence that
defendant was involved in the shooting, especially since defendant was found with the AK-47 one block
north of the murder location approximately two minutes or less after the fatal shooting occurred. While
two other kinds of ammunition were also found at the murder site, an eyewitness indicated that only one
AK-47 and one handgun, possibly a nine millimeter, were used in the shooting. To the extent the
eyewitness’ testimony indicates that two shooters were acting in concert, it is unnecessary f r the
o
prosecution to prove which shooter’s weapon actually fired the fatal shots. See, e.g., People v Brown,
184 Mich App 567, 571; 459 NW2d 19 (1990), lv den 437 Mich 874 (1990); People v Espinosa,
142 Mich App 99, 105; 369 NW2d 265 (1985), lv den 424 Mich 855 (1985).
-1
As for the assault with intent to murder charges, a police officer gave eyewitness testimony that
the defendant turned and fired a couple of shots from his AK-47 at the three police officers at the
location nearby the murder where defendant was apprehended. Although no spent AK-47 ammunition
was found at that location to corroborate the officer’s testimony, this may be viewed as a question of
witness credibility for the factfinder to resolve at trial.1 The same is true of the discrepancies in the
descriptions provided by the eyewitness to the murder, as well as his admitted inability to identify
defendant in court. Where competent evidence is presented both supporting and negating an inference
that the defendant committed the crime, the issue should be left to the trier of fact at trial. People v
Northey, supra.
Reversed and remanded for reinstatement of the charges. We do not retain jurisdiction.
/s/ Hilda R. Gage
/s/ Roman S. Gribbs
/s/ Joel P. Hoekstra
1
Indeed, there are several arguable explanations for this, e.g., the police over looked the casings at that
location or the gun somehow misfired.
-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.
