PEOPLE OF MI V ROXIE BURTON
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
February 3, 2004
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 243874
Saginaw Circuit Court
LC No. 01-020014-FH
ROXIE BURTON,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: Cooper, P.J., and O’Connell and Fort Hood, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
Defendant appeals as of right his jury conviction for delivery of less than 50 grams of
cocaine, MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(iv), and third-degree fleeing and eluding, MCL 750.479a(3). We
affirm. This appeal is being decided without oral argument pursuant to MCR 7.214(E).
On appeal, defendant asserts that the trial court erred in failing to give a lesser included
offense instruction on simple possession of cocaine. Possession is a cognate lesser included
offense of delivery. People v Marji, 180 Mich App 525, 530; 447 NW2d 835 (1989). MCL
768.32(1) precludes a trial court from instructing a jury on cognate lesser offenses. People v
Cornell, 466 Mich 335, 355; 646 NW2d 127 (2002). Cornell is applicable to defendant’s case,
because it raised the issue on appeal after Cornell was decided. Id., at 367. Defendant was not
charged with a major controlled substance offense, and MCL 768.32(2) is therefore inapplicable.
Therefore, the court properly declined to give the requested instruction, which also was not
supported by the evidence.
There was sufficient evidence to support defendant’s conviction. “[W]hen determining
whether sufficient evidence has been presented to sustain a conviction, a court must view the
evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution and determine whether any rational trier of
fact could have found that the essential elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable
doubt.” People v Wolfe, 440 Mich 508, 515; 489 NW2d 748 (1992). “The standard of review is
deferential: a reviewing court is required to draw all reasonable inferences and make credibility
choices in support of the jury verdict.” People v Nowack, 462 Mich 392, 400; 614 NW2d 78
(2000).
The testimony of the police officers showed that they gave defendant $40, and he gave
them two rocks of crack cocaine. Viewed in a light most favorable to the prosecution, the
officers’ testimony established the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The
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prosecution did not have to produce the $40 as evidence to prove that defendant received the
money in exchange for the drugs.
Affirmed.
/s/ Jessica R. Cooper
/s/ Peter D. O’Connell
/s/ Karen M. Fort Hood
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