PEOPLE OF MI V ROBERT LEE RICHARDS
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
May 18, 2010
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 290514
Wayne Circuit Court
LC No. 08-005402-FC
ROBERT LEE RICHARDS,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: METER, P.J., and MURRAY and BECKERING, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Defendant appeals as of right his bench trial convictions of assault with intent to murder
(assault/murder), MCL 750.83, assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder
(assault/GBH), MCL 750.84, first-degree home invasion, MCL 750.110a(2), felonious assault,
MCL 750.82, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b.
Defendant was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 12 to 20 years for the assault/murder
conviction, six to ten years for the assault/GBH conviction, ten to 20 years for the first-degree
home invasion conviction, and two to four years for the felonious assault conviction. Defendant
was also sentenced to two years’ consecutive imprisonment for the felony-firearm conviction.
We affirm. This appeal has been decided without oral argument pursuant to MCR 7.214(E).
This case arises out of an incident wherein defendant arrived at the home of the victim—
his former girlfriend—and her two teenage children in the early morning hours of April 4, 2008.
The victim awoke to find defendant pacing in her bedroom. Defendant locked the bedroom
door, turned on the lights, pointed a 12-gauge single shot shotgun at the victim’s head and pulled
the trigger. The gun did not fire, and defendant pulled the trigger three more times. He then
opened the gun, looked inside, and removed and replaced the shotgun shell, whereafter the shell
fell out of the gun and went underneath the bed. As the victim tried to escape, defendant struck
her in the back of the head five times with the gun. The victim fled the bedroom, and defendant
struck the victim’s daughter in the face after she indicated she had called the police. After the
victim locked herself in the bathroom, defendant knocked down the bathroom door. While the
victim’s children distracted defendant, the victim went downstairs. Defendant pursued the
victim and used a wooden piece of the shotgun to strike her in the left temple.1 Ultimately, the
1
The witnesses have different memories regarding how the shotgun came to be in pieces. The
(continued…)
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victim was able to leave the home and seek medical treatment. She was treated at the hospital
for a five-centimeter laceration on the back of her head, a laceration on her face, and a bone
fracture in her orbital area.
As his sole issue on appeal, defendant claims the prosecution failed to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that he intended to kill the victim to support the conviction of assault with
intent to commit murder. We disagree.
This Court reviews a claim of insufficient evidence de novo, People v Lueth, 253 Mich
App 670, 680; 660 NW2d 322 (2002), “view[ing] the evidence in a light most favorable to the
prosecution and determin[ing] 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), amended 441 Mich 1201 (1992).
“The elements of the crime of assault with intent to murder are (1) an assault, (2) with an
actual intent to kill, (3) which, if successful, would make the killing murder.” People v Warren
(After Remand), 200 Mich App 586, 588; 504 NW2d 907 (1993). An assault is committed by
“either an attempt to commit a battery or an unlawful act that places another in reasonable
apprehension of receiving an immediate battery.” People v Starks, 473 Mich 227, 234; 701
NW2d 136 (2005).
Circumstantial evidence and the reasonable inferences that arise from the
evidence can constitute satisfactory proof of the elements of the crime. The intent
to kill may be proved by inference from any facts in evidence. Because of the
difficulty of proving an actor’s state of mind, minimal circumstantial evidence is
sufficient. All conflicts in the evidence must be resolved in favor of the
prosecution. [People v McRunels, 237 Mich App 168, 181; 603 NW2d 95 (1999)
(citations omitted).]
Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of
fact could have found that the essential elements of the crime of assault with intent to commit
murder were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Wolfe, 440 Mich at 515. Defendant pointed a
shotgun at the victim and pulled the trigger four times, although the weapon failed to discharge.
This behavior constituted an assault because it was an attempt to commit a battery. Starks, 473
Mich at 234. When the gun failed to discharge, defendant opened it up, removed the shotgun
shell, and attempted to re-insert the shell. Defendant’s attempt to fire the gun and his efforts to
determine why it did not fire and to rectify the condition demonstrated his intent to commit
murder. Additionally, the evidence established that defendant and the victim had an intimate
relationship before the incident; she had recently broken up with him; he made persistent efforts
to convince her to get back together; he had purchased the shotgun shells two days before
appearing at her house; he broke into her house early in the morning; and he loaded the shotgun
and attempted to discharge it four times while it was pointed at her head. Finally, as the trial
(…continued)
victim’s daughter testified that the gun broke when defendant used it to strike the victim in the
face.
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court noted, if defendant’s attempted assault had been successful, it would have surely resulted in
the victim’s death.
Affirmed.
/s/ Patrick M. Meter
/s/ Christopher M. Murray
/s/ Jane M. Beckering
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