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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v TERRILL ANTHONY BIRD, Defendant-Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED August 21, 2007

No. 269154 Kent Circuit Court LC No. 05-008901-FC

Before: Bandstra, P.J., and Cavanagh and Jansen, JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendant appeals as of right his jury trial convictions of two counts of first-degree murder, MCL 750.316, kidnapping, MCL 750.349, and unlawful driving away of a motor vehicle, MCL 750.413. He was convicted on February 6, 2006 following a jury trial and was sentenced as an habitual offender, third offense, MCL 769.11, to life imprisonment without parole for two counts of first-degree murder, life imprisonment with possibility of parole for kidnapping, and 80 to 120 months' imprisonment for unlawful driving away. We affirm. Melissa Friar and her eight-year-old daughter Alana were found dead in their home. Melissa's four-year-old son Jonathan was found several miles away, on the back porch of a vacant home, the same morning. Melissa's ex-boyfriend, Shannon Bell, is Jonathan's father and defendant's half brother. Defendant later admitted taking both Jonathan and a car, which Melissa borrowed from her mother the night before the bodies were found. Defendant, however, denied killing Melissa or Alana. He claimed that drug dealers murdered the two and forced defendant and Jonathan to leave with them in the borrowed car. Defendant first argues that he was denied his constitutional right to counsel because the trial court denied his motion to adjourn the trial and allow a substitution of counsel. We disagree. Although an issue of constitutional law is reviewed de novo, a court's exercise of discretion regarding a defendant's choice of counsel is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. People v Akins, 259 Mich App 545, 556; 675 NW2d 863 (2003). The constitutional right to counsel encompasses the right of a defendant to choose his own retained counsel. US Const, Am VI; US Const, Am XIV; 1963 Const, art 1,

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