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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v CHARLES ROBERT RUCKER, Defendant-Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED March 22, 2007

No. 266892 Macomb Circuit Court LC No. 05-001858-FH

Before: Jansen, P.J., and Neff and Hoekstra, JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendant was charged with first-degree home invasion, MCL 750.110a(2), and felonious assault, MCL 750.82. Following a jury trial, he was convicted of the lesser offenses of third-degree home invasion, MCL 750.110a(4), and simple assault,1 MCL 750.81. Pursuant to MCL 769.11, he was sentenced as a third habitual offender to 34 months to 10 years in prison for the home invasion conviction, and to 93 days for the assault conviction, with credit for 179 days served. Defendant appeals as of right, and we affirm. I Defendant's convictions arise from the assault of his sister. Defendant's sister resided in a duplex with her children and with defendant's two young children. Sometime after midnight, while defendant's sister was lying on a couch in the living room, defendant entered through her front door without permission. Defendant held a knife as he approached his sister. He threatened to kill her and his children if his sister did not promptly return the children. Defendant never pointed the knife blade toward his sister. Defendant demanded that the victim "send [the children] back" in the morning. There was also testimony that defendant had two cellular-phone conversations with his sister's 17-year-old son, William. At 12:16 a.m., defendant asked William about the victim's location. William replied that he was not with his mother at that time. At 1:01 a.m., defendant

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The judgment of sentence identifies this conviction as "assault or assault and battery," and the parties at times refer to the conviction in their briefs on appeal as one of "assault and battery." However, the record makes clear that the conviction was for simple assault only.

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again called William. Defendant asked to speak with his sister, but William again told defendant that he was not with her. Defendant was cursing and told William that he did not want William's mother to have the children. After William returned home at about 1:10 a.m., he learned from his mother what defendant had done. Defendant's sister reported the matter to the police at about 2:03 a.m. She later went to defendant's residence, at the request of the police, to identify a knife that looked like the one defendant had possessed. Defendant presented several witnesses, including his fianc

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