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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v ANTHONY EDWARD CIAVONE, Defendant-Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED December 11, 2007

No. 256187 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 03-014160-01

Before: Zahra, P.J., and White and O'Connell, JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendant appeals as of right his jury convictions of first-degree premeditated murder, MCL 750.316(1)(a), and felony murder, MCL 750.316(1)(b), and the trial court's sentence of life imprisonment for each of the two convictions. We remand to the trial court to amend the order of conviction and sentence to reflect one conviction of first-degree murder supported by two theories--felony murder and premeditated murder, and, as thereby modified, affirm defendant's conviction and single sentence for first-degree murder. Defendant and co-defendant William Hill were tried together, to separate juries, for the murder of Jeannette Zummo, who was found dead in her Palmer Park home in Detroit on December 19, 1999. The cause of death was manual strangulation. Zummo was 85 years old at the time, kept large amounts of cash hidden throughout her house, and had no children. A home health care aid, Martha Chenney, attended to Zummo three days a week, and David Holt, a friend whom Zummo had appointed as one of her two trustees, visited Zummo regularly. Frank Hodges, a handyman that had worked in Zummo's neighborhood, was arrested about a year after Zummo's murder, and made a statement to the police confessing to having robbed and murdered Zummo. However, Hodges was tried, presented an alibi defense, and was acquitted of all charges. In April 2004, defendant and co-defendant Hill were tried for Zummo's murder. There was no physical evidence tying defendant to the murder, and no witness placing him at the murder scene. The prosecution's case rested largely on the testimony of three associates of defendant and co-defendant Hill, Hadel, Lane, and Salaytah, all of whom, along with Hill, were caught red-handed robbing a cigarette store in Macomb County in 2002. After being arrested for that robbery, Hadel, Lane and Salaytah came forward and informed authorities that defendant -1-


and Hill had robbed and killed Zummo. The prosecution also called a jail-house informant, Joseph Addelia, who testified that he and defendant had been cellmates in Wayne County jail for a few weeks in August 2003, and that defendant told him he and Hill robbed and murdered Zummo. Addelia had served time for bank robbery and was being held in jail for unarmed bank robbery at the time. Addelia testified that he had his mother contact the Detroit Police Homicide division "out of repulsion," and that he got nothing in return for his testimony, either from the Wayne County prosecutor, Detroit police, or the federal authorities. Defense counsel in opening statement cast suspicion for Zummo's murder on Hodges and on David Holt, noting that Holt was a revocable trustee of Zummo's, that Holt and Zummo had argued about money shortly before her murder, and that Holt inherited Zummo's house and several hundred thousand dollars from her. Defense counsel stated that Hadel, Lane and Salaytah were thieves, did not come forward until years after the murder when they were arrested for the cigarette store robbery, and that they believed defendant had tipped the police off about the Macomb County robbery, thus they had reason to concoct testimony against defendant. At trial, Holt testified that Zummo's house needed new roofing, that he had recommended TLC Roofing, and that TLC had called him with an estimate for the job. Defendant was the owner of TLC Roofing. Hadel, Lane and Salaytah testified at trial that they had known defendant and Hill for years, and that defendant had told them that he and Hill robbed Zummo and that Hill killed her, and that Hill had told them he and defendant had robbed Zummo and defendant killed her. Lane also testified that defendant asked him one evening to be dropped off in the Palmer Park area because he was owed money by a man he had done work for. Hadel testified that defendant called him very late one night and asked that he pick him up at Seven Mile and Woodward, which is near Palmer Park, and that when he picked defendant up, defendant said that they had to pick Hill up down the road. Hadel testified that Hill ran out of some bushes, carrying a bag that he later learned contained tens of thousands of dollars. Lane testified that he heard after he was convicted of the Macomb County robbery that defendant or defendant's wife had tipped off the authorities about that robbery. Neither defendant nor co-defendant Hill testified. The jury convicted defendant of first-degree murder and felony murder, and co-defendant Hill of second-degree murder and felony murder. The trial court denied defendant's motion for directed verdict, and his motion for JNOV or for a new trial. The court sentenced defendant to two terms of life in prison. On defendant's appeal, this Court remanded for an evidentiary hearing and a decision on whether defendant should be granted a new trial. On remand, the trial court again denied defendant's motion for new trial. I Defendant asserts that Investigator Barbara Simon's testimony regarding Hodges' earlier trial and acquittal was both hearsay and testimonial, and thus violated his right of confrontation. A defendant has the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him. US Const, Am VI; Const 1963, art 1,

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