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STATE OF MINNESOTA IN SUPREME COURT A10-0540

Court of Appeals

Meyer, J. Dissenting, Anderson, Paul H., Page, and Stras, JJ.

State of Minnesota, Appellant, vs. Michael James Ferguson, Respondent. ________________________ Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, Mitchell L. Rothman, Assistant County Attorney, St. Paul, Minnesota, for appellant. David W. Merchant, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Benjamin J. Butler, Assistant State Public Defender, St. Paul, Minnesota, for respondent. ________________________ Filed: January 11, 2012 Office of Appellate Courts

SYLLABUS 1. For purposes of the rule that a defendant may not be sentenced for more

than one crime for each victim, an offense for a single count of drive-by shooting at an occupied building does not constitute an offense for each building occupant.

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The district court did not err when it sentenced respondent on the drive-by

shooting at an occupied building conviction and eight second-degree assault convictions because a single sentence for drive-by shooting at an occupied building is not commensurate with respondent's culpability for using a dangerous weapon to intentionally cause eight persons to fear immediate bodily harm. Reversed. OPINION MEYER, Justice. Michael James Ferguson was convicted of one count of felony drive-by shooting at an occupied building, Minn. Stat.

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Minnesota Law