e-Journal Summary

e-Journal Number : 83939
Opinion Date : 07/08/2025
e-Journal Date : 07/16/2025
Court : Michigan Court of Appeals
Case Name : People v. Cavanaugh
Practice Area(s) : Criminal Law
Judge(s) : Per Curiam – Maldonado, Boonstra, and Wallace
Full PDF Opinion
Issues:

Habitual offender sentencing; MCL 769.10; Whether a crime committed in another state would be a felony in Michigan; Home-invasion crimes; MCL 750.110a; Scoring of PRVs 2 & 6; MCL 777.52(1)(d); MCL 777.56(1)(c)

Summary

The court held that the trial court on remand did not err in determining that defendant’s “Ohio conviction would be a felony in Michigan” and in enhancing his maximum sentence pursuant to MCL 769.10. Further, it did not err in scoring 5 points for PRV 2 and 10 points for PRV 6. Thus, defendant was not entitled to resentencing. He was convicted of intentional discharge of a firearm at a building and, after remand from the court, resentenced as a second-offense habitual offender to 5 to 15 years. The trial court originally did not determine whether his prior “Ohio offense would be a felony in Michigan before relying on that offense to enhance defendant’s sentence. However, on remand, [it] corrected this error by conducting a hearing and making a determination on this issue before resentencing defendant.” The Ohio offense in question was trespass in a habitation, a fourth-degree felony. He argued “that the analogous offense in Michigan is a misdemeanor pursuant to MCL 750.115[.]” But the trial court determined that the “conduct would be a felony in Michigan, particularly either a first or third-degree home invasion.” The court concluded that the record supported the “determination that the facts of defendant’s Ohio crime would constitute felony home invasion if committed in Michigan.” The facts supported that he “entered a dwelling without permission when a person was lawfully present, satisfying most of the elements of both first and third-degree home invasion pursuant to MCL 750.110a(2) and (4). The only remaining element for either felony is whether [he] entered the home with intent to commit a felony, larceny, or assault, MCL 750.110a(2), or with the intent to commit a misdemeanor, MCL 750.110a(4).” The court held that the trial court could infer his “intent to commit at least a misdemeanor in” the victim’s (W) “home, given that he entered the home through a kitchen window in the middle of the night and fled when [W] called the police. . . . Because [he] had intent to commit at least a misdemeanor, his actions constituted at least third-degree felony home invasion.” Affirmed.

Full PDF Opinion