PEOPLE OF MI V EDDIE LANE JR
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
September 24, 1999
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 210006
Recorder’s Court
LC No. 97-004708
EDDIE LANE, JR.,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: Gribbs, P.J., and O’Connell and R.B. Burns*, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Following a one-day bench trial, defendant was convicted of armed robbery, MCL 750.529;
MSA 28.797, and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of eighteen months to five years.
Defendant appeals as of right. We affirm.
Defendant first argues that the district court abused its discretion in denying his request for a
lineup identification to require the victim to identify defendant before the preliminary examination.
Although defendant did request a lineup before the preliminary examination was held, defendant failed to
raise this issue before the trial court. Therefore, this issue is unpreserved. People v Sparks, 53 Mich
App 452, 454; 220 NW2d 153 (1974). Because defendant has not demonstrated plain error that was
prejudicial, defendant has forfeited review of this unpreserved issue. People v Grant, 445 Mich 535,
553; 520 NW2d 123 (1994); People v Carines, 460 Mich 750, 763-764; 597 NW2d 130 (1999).
Defendant also argues that the in-court identification of defendant by the victim at the
preliminary examination was unduly suggestive. Although defendant objected to the admission of the
victim’s in-court identification at the preliminary examination, he did not object to the subsequent
admission of the preliminary examination transcript at trial and did not move to suppress the
identification testimony before or during trial.1 Therefore, this issue is also unpreserved. People v Lee,
391 Mich 618, 626; 218 NW2d 655 (1974); People v Whitfield, 214 Mich App 348, 351; 543
NW2d 347 (1995); People v Syakovich, 182 Mich App 85, 89; 452 NW2d 211 (1989). In order to
avoid forfeiture of this issue, defendant must demonstrate plain error that was prejudicial, i.e., that was
* Former Court of Appeals judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
-1
outcome determinative. Grant, supra at 553; Carines, supra at 763-764. In this bench trial, the trial
court made specific findings of fact and concluded that the victim’s in-court identification of defendant
was not adequate to find that defendant committed the crime. However, the trial court found that the
identification testimony of an eyewitness was reliable and was corroborated by other evidence. The
court also found that the identification the eyewitness made was not the result of unduly suggestive
procedures. The court therefore concluded that defendant was beyond a reasonable doubt the person
who committed the crime. Under these circumstances, we conclude that defendant has failed to
demonstrate that the admission of the victim’s in-court identification testimony from the preliminary
examination affected the outcome of the trial. Accordingly, defendant has forfeited this issue.
Finally, defendant argues that the trial court erred in excluding a statement the victim made to a
police officer describing the person who robbed him. Neither the victim nor the police officer testified at
trial, although the victim’s testimony at the preliminary examination was read into the record at trial.
Therefore, the statement defendant sought to admit was an out-of-court statement. Defendant did not
indicate that the statement was being offered for any purpose other than to prove the truth of the matter
asserted; therefore, the statement was inadmissible hearsay. MRE 801(c); MRE 802. Defendant has
failed to identify any hearsay exception or other rule of evidence that would mandate or allow the
admission of the statement; therefore, defendant has abandoned this issue for failing to cite supporting
authority. People v Hanna, 223 Mich App 466, 470; 567 NW2d 12 (1997). See also People v
Kelly, 231 Mich App 627, 640-641; 588 NW2d 480 (1998) (“An appellant may not merely announce
his position and leave it to this Court to discover and rationalize the basis for his claims, nor may he give
only cursory treatment with little or no citation of supporting authority.”). Accordingly, we decline to
review this issue.
Affirmed.
/s/ Roman S. Gribbs
/s/ Peter D. O’Connell
/s/ Robert B. Burns
1
The victim died of natural causes between the preliminary examination and trial, and the victim’s
preliminary examination testimony was therefore read into the record at trial.
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