People v. Cameron
| Decision Date | 15 February 2011 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 293119. |
| Citation | 291 Mich.App. 599,806 N.W.2d 371 |
| Parties | PEOPLE v. CAMERON. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Bill Schuette, Attorney General, B. Eric Restuccia, Solicitor General, Jessica R. Cooper, Prosecuting Attorney, John S. Pallas, Chief, Appellate Division, and Kathryn G. Barnes, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.
Law Offices of Robert J. Boyd, III, P.C., Mount Clemens, (by Robert J. Boyd, III), for defendant.
Before: OWENS, P.J., and WHITBECK and FORT HOOD, JJ.
Defendant Stanley Wayne Cameron appeals by right his conviction for domestic violence resulting from the assault and battery of his ex-girlfriend, Kristie Yacheson. The trial court found Cameron guilty of domestic violence (third offense).1 The trial court subsequently sentenced Cameron as a second-offense habitual offender 2 to six months to three years in prison. We affirm.
During the early morning hours of September 19, 2008, Cameron allegedly abused his ex-girlfriend, Kristie Yacheson. Cameron and Yacheson had lived together and dated off and on from October 2005 until September 2008. At the time of incident, however, Yacheson lived alone in an apartment on 14 Mile Road in the City of Royal Oak.
On the evening of September 18, 2008, Yacheson invited several friends to her apartment. Cameron sent Yacheson a text message asking if he could come over. Although a court order prohibited Cameron from being at Yacheson's apartment, Yacheson allowed Cameron to visit because he was acting nice and because she still loved him. Yacheson sent Cameron a text message saying he could come over as long as he behaved appropriately. Cameron asked Yacheson if she had any food, and she replied that she did not. Yacheson did not ask Cameron to bring food over, and she did not expect him to bring food. However, when Cameron arrived about 8:00 p.m., he brought some food and beer with him. Because she felt safe with her other friends present, Yacheson let Cameron into her apartment.
Once inside the apartment, Cameron took the food and beer into the kitchen, placed at least one of the beers into the freezer, and began cooking dinner for everyone. At first, Cameron behaved appropriately. However, once everyone started drinking, Cameron's demeanor changed. Yacheson had two or three beers, a couple of shots of whiskey, and a shot or two of brandy. Cameron drank about the same amount, and he began to show signs of intoxication. Yacheson became increasingly concerned about Cameron's behavior because she knew from past experience that Cameron sometimes became violent when he drank.
At one point, Yacheson and Cameron entered the kitchen while Yacheson's friends remained in the living room. While in the kitchen, Yacheson and Cameron began arguing because Yacheson suggested that Cameron slow down his drinking. Eventually, the arguing turned into yelling, and Yacheson told Cameron to leave her apartment. Cameron opened the freezer to retrieve the beer that he brought, but Yacheson said no, and she slammed the freezer shut. Cameron allegedly then pushed Yacheson twice. The second time that Cameron allegedly pushed Yacheson, he pushed her against the refrigerator and stove with enough force to knock the refrigerator and stove askew. Yacheson then tried to push Cameron away, and Cameron allegedly punched or jabbed her in the stomach. Yacheson told her friends in the other room to call 911. Again, Yacheson told Cameron to leave, and she pushed Cameron out the door of her apartment. As Cameron exited, the police arrived.
Officer Donald Scher of the Royal Oak Police Department arrived at Yacheson's apartment at 1:06 a.m. on September 19, 2008.3 The dispatch informed Officer Scher that a no-contact order prohibited Cameron from being near Yacheson's home. As Officer Scher approached the apartment building, he saw Cameron leaving the premises on the sidewalk. Officer Scher recognized Cameron from prior police calls at the apartment. When Officer Scher yelled for Cameron to stop, Cameron ducked into a locked stairwell at the end of the apartment building. Officer Scher walked around the building to see where Cameron might exit.
Meanwhile, Officer Kathy Szydlowski of the Royal Oak Police Department, who arrived about the same time as Officer Scher, spoke with Yacheson. Officer Szydlowski observed Yacheson crying hysterically. Officer Szydlowski also observed that Yacheson appeared very frightened of Cameron.
When Officer Scher returned to the front of the building, Yacheson pointed out the direction in which she had seen Cameron leaving. Officer Scher spotted Cameron walking westbound away from the building. Again, Officer Scher called out for Cameron to stop, but Cameron began walking faster. Officer Scher lost sight of Cameron as he passed the corner of the building. Officer Scher gave chase, and as he rounded the corner of the building, he heard branches moving in a nearby evergreen tree. He saw Cameron trying to hide under the branches of the tree. Officer Scher radioed that he had found the suspect, and then he arrested Cameron. Cameron struggled as Officer Scher tried to handcuff him, and Officer Scher had to use pepper spray on him. Officer Szydlowski joined Officer Scher and assisted him in handcuffing Cameron.
After Officer Scher placed Cameron into the back of the police car, Officer Szydlowski interviewed Yacheson.4 Officer Szydlowski observed that Yacheson appeared to be very upset and that she remained upset throughout the interview. Yacheson told Officer Szydlowski that she had some friends over, she heard a sound at the door, and Cameron opened the door and came into the apartment. Yacheson also told Officer Szydlowski that Cameron charged toward her, backed her into the kitchen, and then pushed her against the refrigerator several times. Yacheson stated that although she tried to get away, Cameron grabbed her from behind and pushed the front of her body against the refrigerator. Yacheson said that she yelled for her friend to call the police, and when Cameron heard that the police were coming, he left the apartment. Yacheson also said that a no-contact order barred Cameron from contacting her, which Officer Szydlowski's dispatcher verified. Officer Szydlowski asked Yacheson to write out a statement, and she did so.
The incident left Yacheson sore, but she did not display any obvious or visible injuries. During her investigation, Officer Szydlowski did not observe any disarray or signs of a struggle in the kitchen, nor did she see any signs of injury on Yacheson. Furthermore, Yacheson did not tell Officer Szydlowski that she had invited Cameron to come over to her apartment earlier in the evening, that he had brought groceries and cooked dinner, and that he had been there for several hours.
At trial, Officer Szydlowski testified that she wanted to ask Yacheson more questions, but Yacheson's extreme emotional state had rendered her incapable of giving any more information at the scene.
On October 20, 2008, pursuant to MCL 768.27b, the prosecutor sought a ruling permitting it to introduce evidence of prior bad acts involving Cameron and Yacheson, as well as Cameron and his ex-girlfriend, Pamela Ponder. Over defense counsel's objection, the trial court ruled that the prosecutor could introduce other bad-acts evidence at trial to show Cameron's character.
At trial, Yacheson testified that Cameron had previously physically attacked her. On March 5, 2006, when Yacheson and Cameron lived at the Admiral Hotel in Clinton Township, Cameron punched her on the side of her head, and she fell to the ground. Cameron grabbed Yacheson's cell phone so that she could not call 911, and he broke her phone when he threw it aside. Cameron told Yacheson that he would kill her if she called the police. He then stomped on her and repeatedly hit her. He called her a “whore” and other names as he hit her. Yacheson called the police.
Yacheson also testified that four additional incidents occurred between June 2006 and May 2008. In June 2006, Yacheson lived at the Eastland Hotel in Eastpointe. On June 16, 2006, as Yacheson and Cameron walked outside, Yacheson said hello to a male friend. Cameron then punched the side of Yacheson's head. Another incident occurred on June 29, 2006, when Yacheson and Cameron started arguing about Yacheson's cell phone. Cameron demanded that Yacheson hand over the memory card for her phone, and Yacheson refused. Cameron then punched her. The fourth incident occurred on January 16, 2008, when Yacheson lived at the apartment in Royal Oak. Cameron wanted to see Yacheson, but she would not let him enter the apartment. Cameron, who had been drinking, forced his way in through a screen door to get into the apartment. Cameron then forced his way into the bedroom, where Yacheson had barricaded herself, and he took Yacheson's phone away from her. Cameron punched her in the face. The fifth incident occurred on May 16, 2008, when Cameron came into Yacheson's apartment and punched her. When Yacheson tried to call the police, Cameron broke her flip phone in half. The neighbors called the police. At trial, Yacheson testified that she had stayed in the off-and-on relationship with Cameron despite the assaults because he apologized each time and because she loved him.
At trial, the prosecutor also elicited testimony that Cameron had also abused another ex-girlfriend. Pamela Ponder testified that she dated Cameron for a few months in 2001. In May 2001, she told Cameron that she wanted to end their relationship. Cameron reacted angrily.
Several other incidents occurred within a week of the breakup. During one...
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