Preview:

STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v MATT WELLS, Defendant-Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED August 2, 1996

No. 180322 LC No. 93-007903

Before: Reilly, P.J., and Cavanagh, and R.C. Anderson,* JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendant appeals as of right from his jury trial conviction of second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; MSA 28.549, for the drug-related slaying of Leroy Ashley. Defendant was sentenced to nineteen to fifty years' imprisonment. We affirm defendant's conviction but remand for sentencing proceedings consistent with this opinion. Defendant initially contends that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because trial counsel inadequately investigated his defense and made several mistakes during trial. Because defendant failed to preserve these issues by moving for an evidentiary hearing or new trial below, review is foreclosed unless detail of the deficiency is apparent on the record. People v Barclay, 208 Mich App 670, 672; 528 NW2d 842 (1995). Upon review of the record, we conclude that trial counsel's decision to neutralize the effect of defendant's prior conviction by disclosing it during direct examination was a legitimate trial tactic, which we will not second-guess. People v Barnett, 163 Mich App 331, 338; 414 NW2d 378 (1987); People v Swindlehurst, 120 Mich App 606, 611; 328 NW2d 92 (1982). We also find that trial counsel adequately cross-examined witness Butler, and given Butler's admission that he was a drug dealer and sold guns, defendant was not prejudiced by trial counsel's failure to impeach Butler with evidence of a prior conviction. People v Pickens, 446 Mich 298, 338; 521 NW2d 797 (1994). Finally, we are not persuaded that defendant has demonstrated prejudice by his counsel's failure to locate witness William Powell. Defendant has not submitted an affidavit or other evidence to support his claim that Powell's testimony would have aided the defense. Furthermore, the

Download PEOPLE OF MI V MATT WELLS.pdf

Michigan Law