People v. Delong

• Docket Number: 362322
• Decision Date: 28 December 2023
• Parties: PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. TYLER THOMAS DELONG, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

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PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
TYLER THOMAS DELONG, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 362322

Court of Appeals of Michigan

December 28, 2023

UNPUBLISHED

Chippewa Circuit Court LC No. 20-004047-FC

Before: Stephen L. Borrello, P.J., and Brock A. Swartzle and Sima G. Patel, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Defendant prevented a woman from leaving her house after sexually assaulting her, and he also stabbed a man in the head with a knife when that man tried to intervene. A jury convicted defendant of assault with the intent to murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and unlawful imprisonment. We affirm defendant's convictions, and remand solely for the trial court to correct a clerical error in defendant's judgment of sentence.

After defendant was bound over on his charges, he submitted an interlocutory appeal that was granted by this Court. People v Delong, unpublished order of the Court of Appeals, entered September 15, 2020 (Docket No. 353687). At that time, defendant argued that the trial court had erred by denying his motion to quash his charges. This Court affirmed the trial court's decision, and provided the relevant factual background.

On August 2, 2019, at approximately 3:20 a.m., officers responded to a call for a reported assault. The responding officer found [the male victim] bleeding heavily from his face with [the female victim] steadying him. [The female victim] explained that defendant, who had been staying with her for a few days, had been acting strangely and would not let her leave her house. She described that when she texted [the male victim] for help, defendant became angry, raped her, and began beating her. She explained that [the male victim] broke down the door and pepper sprayed defendant, and that defendant attacked him with a knife, stabbed him, and strangled him. [Both the male and female victims] were taken to the hospital for treatment. Officers made contact with defendant, who was waiting outside the

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residence. Defendant explained in detail that he sexually assaulted [the female victim], beat her, and fought [the male victim]. He explained that he aimed for [the male victim's] intestines and kidneys with the knife, and said that his only thought at the time was to kill [the male victim]. [People v Delong, unpublished per curiam opinion of the Court of Appeals, issued February 11, 2021 (Docket No. 353687), p 1.]

The officers that initially made contact with defendant were recording the encounter with their body cameras. That body camera footage revealed that defendant was waiting for the officers to arrive, and he asked the officers if he needed to get on the ground. The officers told him "no" and instead instructed him to sit back down. Defendant asked the officers to check him for weapons, at which point the officers told him to interlock his fingers on his head while they conducted a physical search for any weapons. Defendant then asked for soap and water to wash the male victim's blood off of his arm, and the officers told him that he was not permitted to do that. The officers asked defendant what happened, and defendant explained in detail that he sexually assaulted the female victim, beat her, and prevented her from leaving the house. Defendant also described how he fought the male victim with a knife and stabbed him repeatedly in the intestines and kidneys while thinking that he wanted to kill him. The officers questioned defendant for 17 minutes before reading defendant his Miranda rights. Within one minute after being read his Miranda rights, defendant continued to confess to the crimes that he had committed.

Defendant moved to suppress his statements from being introduced as evidence. The trial court held that defendant was not in custody for the first 17 minutes of the encounter, and, thus, ...