People v. Sawyer
| Decision Date | 18 December 1979 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 78-4014 |
| Citation | 288 N.W.2d 438,94 Mich.App. 393 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ralph E. SAWYER, Defendant-Appellant. 94 Mich.App. 393, 288 N.W.2d 438 |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US |
[94 MICHAPP 394] Raymond L. Miller, Detroit, for defendant-appellant.
Frank J. Kelley, Atty. Gen., Robert A. Derengoski, Sol. Gen., William L. Cahalan, Pros. Atty., E. Reilly Wilson, Appellate Chief, Asst. Pros. Atty., E. Gail Willhardt, Asst. Pros. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before BASHARA, P. J., and GILLIS and VanVALKENBURG, * JJ.
Defendant was convicted of two separate crimes of armed robbery, M.C.L. § 750.529; M.S.A. § 28.797. He was also convicted of two separate charges of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, M.C.L. § 750.227b; M.S.A. § 28.424(2). In addition to the armed robbery sentences, the defendant received two consecutive sentences of two years and five years for the felony-firearm convictions.
Defendant filed a delayed application for leave to appeal, contesting only the felony- firearm convictions. He argued that the statute was unconstitutional and that the trial court erred in failing to explain that the two felony-firearm convictions could not run concurrently.
This Court granted the delayed application for leave to appeal and ordered that the parties brief the following issue:
"Did the trial court lack authority to make the two felony-firearm sentences consecutive to one another?"
[94 MICHAPP 395] Since the delayed application for leave to appeal was granted, our Supreme Court has definitively ruled that the felony-firearm statute is constitutional in its entirety. Wayne County Prosecutor v. Recorder's Court Judge, 406 Mich. 374, 280 N.W.2d 793 (1979).
Our review of the record indicates that the trial court, the prosecutor and defense counsel clearly stated that the armed robbery sentences would run consecutively. The trial judge also explained that the felony-firearm convictions would be a mandatory two years and five years. The guilty plea form signed by defendant reveals that he understood that the sentences resulting from one armed robbery conviction would run consecutively with the sentences from the other.
Did the trial judge have the authority to make the two felony-firearm sentences consecutive? The felony-firearm statute makes it clear that upon a first conviction, a mandatory two year imprisonment shall be exacted. A second...
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People v. Spearman, Docket No. 44962
...rather than consecutive sentences for defendant's two felony-firearm convictions. This argument is supported by People v. Sawyer, 94 Mich.App. 393, 288 N.W.2d 438 (1979), where the Court stated that where a defendant pleads guilty to two felony-firearm offenses at a single proceeding, the s......
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People v. Sawyer
...prior to beginning his term of imprisonment for the second armed robbery conviction. 1 The Court of Appeals affirmed, 94 Mich.App. 393, 288 N.W.2d 438. II Absent statutory authority for imposing a consecutive sentence, it is the rule in this state to impose concurrent sentences, People v. G......