Sufficiency of the evidence; Involuntary manslaughter & felony firearm; Whether the jury instruction accurately defined gross negligence; M Crim JI 16.10 & 16.18; People v Cummings

Holding that there was sufficient evidence to convict defendant of involuntary manslaughter and felony-firearm and, being bound to follow Cummings, the court rejected his argument as to whether the jury instruction accurately defined gross negligence, and affirmed. He argued that he was entitled to a new trial because the model jury instruction defining gross negligence, which was read at his trial, did not comport with Michigan law. As to his involuntary manslaughter conviction, defendant argued that “his actions did not amount to gross negligence because he was unaware of the risk of injury to a human while shooting at the deer.” The court noted that he “told the investigating officer that he had been hunting his entire life. Multiple witnesses testified that the goal when firing a gun while hunting was to kill the target. Further, that hunters should avoid taking quick shots because the goal is to kill whatever is shot. Defendant told the investigating officer that he ‘shot without hesitating.’ Defendant was hunting on private property with no-trespassing signs posted. The shooting occurred on the busiest hunting day of the year. The victim was wearing an orange hat and had several belongings out in the area. Defendant made statements to the investigating officer implying that the victim may not have died if defendant had taken a little bit longer prior to shooting.” The court concluded that from these facts a jury could determine that he “knew that he needed to exercise ordinary care while hunting to avoid injuring a person. Because defendant shot and killed the victim, the jury could have inferred that the victim would not have been killed had the defendant taken more time to identify what he was shooting. Moreover, the jury could also infer that failing to use ordinary care when firing a gun, given the intent to kill the target, could be disastrous to another.”