PEOPLE OF MI V RICHARD M ADKINS
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
July 19, 1996
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 181354
LC No. 94-131789
RICHARD M. ADKINS,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: McDonald, P.J., and White and P. J. Conlin*, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of breaking and entering an occupied dwelling
with the intent to commit larceny, MCL 750.110; MSA 28.305. Defendant subsequently pleaded guilty
to being an habitual offender, second offense, MCL 769.10; MSA 28.1082, and was sentenced to 24
to 270 months’ imprisonment. Defendant appeals as of right, and we affirm.
Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. In reviewing the
sufficiency of the evidence, this 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 elements of the crime of breaking and entering an occupied dwelling with the
intent to commit larceny are: 1) the breaking of an occupied dwelling; 2) an entering of an occupied
dwelling; and 3) an intent to commit larceny. People v Frost, 148 Mich App 773, 776; 384 NW2d
790 (1985).
Defendant contends that the evidence did not establish that he actually broke and entered into
the complainant’s trailer. However, the evidence indicates that a larceny was committed. Items of
value, including a credit card and several hundred dollars in change, were missing from the
complainant’s bedroom. A witness observed defendant standing at the door to the trailer. Defendant
* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
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had a small tool in his hand and was trying to pry open the door. The witness identified defendant from
a photographic lineup, at the preliminary examination, and at trial. Moreover, a screwdriver was
discovered in defendant’s car a few days after the larceny occurred. The tool had a white substance on
its tip that was consistent with scratches on the door of the trailer. Two witnesses saw defendant’s car
outside the trailer on the day of the break-in, and one of them identified defendant’s car in a police
parking lot filled with approximately forty to fifty civilian and unmarked cars.
Defendant argues that these witnesses were young and unreliable and asserts that four defense
witnesses claimed defendant was with them during the hours the break-in occurred. Two of the defense
witnesses admitted in court to prior convictions of breaking and entering, and a third admitted to a prior
conviction of forgery of a licensed document. The fourth defense witness was aged sixteen. A rational
jury could have chosen to believe the prosecution witnesses over the defense witnesses.
Finally, defendant claims that the trial court failed to caution the jury “as to the inherent
unreliability of the eyewitness testimony.” Defendant did not request such an instruction from the trial
court and therefore has not preserved this issue for appeal. Moreover, the trial judge should have
refused to give such an instruction even if properly requested. The credibility of witnesses should be left
to the trier of fact, which was in this case the jury. People v Palmer, 392 Mich 370, 376; 220 NW2d
393 (1974). Furthermore, defendant failed to support this issue by authority, and the issue is therefore
considered abandoned. People v Fowler, 193 Mich App 358, 361; 483 NW2d 626 (1992).
Affirmed.
/s/ Gary R. McDonald
/s/ Helene N. White
/s/ Patrick J. Conlin
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