PEOPLE OF MI V EPHRAIM SALEH FISHER
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
September 26, 1997
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 195867
Recorder’s Court
LC No. 95-007562
EPHRAIM SALEH FISHER,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: Holbrook, Jr., P.J., and White and R.J. Danhof*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
Defendant was convicted following a bench trial of assault with intent to rob while armed, MCL
750.89; MSA 28.284, and felonious assault, MCL 750.82; MSA 28.277. He appeals as of right,
arguing that insufficient evidence was presented at trial to sustain his conviction of assault with intent to
rob while armed. We affirm.
To convict a defendant of the offense of assault with intent to rob while armed, the defendant’s
specific intent to rob or steal must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. People v Cotton, 191 Mich
App 377, 391; 478 NW2d 681 (1991). Contrary to defendant’s argument, the fact that defendant
neither openly expressed his intent to rob the bakery nor did he actually steal anything does not leave his
conviction open to a challenge based on insufficiency of the evidence. Circumstantial evidence, and
reasonable inferences arising from the evidence, may constitute satisfactory proof of a defendant’s
specific intent to commit an offense. People v Hutner, 209 Mich App 280, 282; 530 NW2d 174
(1995). Here, the evidence established that defendant and his friends were “hanging out” when one of
them asked if anyone wanted some bread. The group agreed and proceeded to the complainants’
bakery, which was closed at the time, entering through an open garage door. The group was asked to
leave by Sandy Janevski, an employee of the bakery. In response, defendant cursed her, grabbed an
empty steel baking pan, and began to beat her with it. At the same time, another member of
defendant’s group began to snatch bread from the shelves. When Dragoslav Janevski attempted to aid
his daughter, defendant began to beat him with the same steel pan. While he beat Sandy and
Dragoslav, others in defendant’s group grabbed bread from the shelves. Defendant left only after Koce
Mihajlovic entered the garage and fired a gun into the air. Accordingly, viewing this evidence in the light
* Former Court of Appeals judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
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most favorable to the prosecution, sufficient evidence was presented to support an inference that
defendant specifically intended to rob the bakery.
Affirmed.
/s/ Donald E. Holbrook, Jr.
/s/ Helene N. White
/s/ Robert J. Danhof
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