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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v EURAL KIRKSEY, Defendant-Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED May 26, 2000

No. 211356 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 97-005734

Before: Meter, P.J., and Griffin and Owens, JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendant appeals by right from his conviction, following a bench trial, of attempted larceny from a motor vehicle, MCL 750.356a; MSA 28.588(1); MCL 750.92; MSA 28.287. The trial court sentenced him to six to thirty months in prison. We remand for further findings of fact. This case arises from the carjacking of a Chevrolet Astro van owned by Lawrence Houston on July 14, 1997. Houston had just finished pumping gas at a gas station located at 17707 Plymouth Road in Detroit when his van was stolen by two males. Later that evening, two Detroit police officers spotted defendant attempting to remove the tires of the van in the backyard of a house at 9101 Norcross Street in Detroit. The officers apprehended defendant at this time. At trial, defendant claimed that he did not know the van was stolen when he attempted to remove the tires. He claimed that he was approached by two men in the Astro van while he was visiting a friend and that he agreed to switch the vans' tires with the tires of another vehicle in exchange for money. Additionally, defendant denied taking part in the carjacking; he testified that he had not been at 17707 Plymouth Road on July 14, 1997. At the conclusion of the trial, the court set forth its findings and conclusions as follows: THE COURT: The Court finds that the defendant Kirksey was at 17707 Plymouth Street [sic, Road], in the City of Detroit, on July 14th, 1997.

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MR. SKYWALKER [THE PROSECUTOR]: Judge, if that's your finding, we would ask that you consider that it was a continuous transaction that went to 9101 Norcross. THE COURT: All right. And also 9101 Norcross. While at that address, he did attempt to commit the offense of larceny from a motor vehicle. The police officers who testified at the trial said that they saw the defendant attempting to remove a tire from a motor vehicle that was owned by Mr. Lawrence Houston. He did not have Mr. Houston's permission to do so. The defendant Kirksey intended to commit the crime of attempted larceny from a motor vehicle. He committed an overt act necessary to commit that crime by laying on the ground with the necessary tools, near the tire, and had already removed a hubcap from the tire. The defendant attempted an unlawful

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