Appeal DENIED
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| Mon, 03-01-2004 - 7:11pm |
People of the State of Michigan(plaintiff-Appellee) V Dennis M***** S******(Defendant)
Following a bench trial, defendant was convicted of first degree premeditated murder, and was sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Defendant appeals as of right. We affirm.
This case involves the murder of defendant's estranged wife, an East Lansing resident whose partally clad body was discovered in a landfill near the campus of Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Defendant contends that the prosecutor failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that the murder occured in Ingham County.
Venue, although not an element of a crime, is nonetheless a part of every criminal case, and must be proved by the prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt.(*case sited..I am skipping the cases that they site in here)Due process requires thta a criminal prosecution take place before a trier of fact of the city or county where the offense occurred, except as otherwise provided by Legislature. *
This court reviews de novo whether the trial court had proper venue in a criminal case de novo. * Venue is a factual isssue and the trier of fact was permitted to make rationa inferences and consider circumstatial evidence in finding that the crime was perpetrated inIngham County. *
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational fact finder could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim was killed in Ingham County. Thomas Huff testified that he met defendant while in jail in Ohio in February 2001. Defendant told Huff he was in jail for murdering his boyfriend, and eventually told Huff that he had murdered his wife in Lansing because she found out that he had an affair with a man and was going to "tell everybody about it." Additionally, the testimony established that the victim feared defendant, had the locks on her apartment changed, and was in the process of seeking a personal protection order against him. The victim was last seen at her apartment in East Lansing at 6:00 a.m. on June 30, 2000, after finishing a newspaper delivery route. The victim was scheduled to begin her internship work at Community Mental Health at 9:00 a.m. on June 30, but did not show up for work, did not call in to report that she would be absent, and was not seen alive by anyone after 6:00a.m. on June 30, 2000. The following morning, the victims Plymouth Reliant was seen parked in a Toledo, Ohio, parking lot at 7:30a.m. Defendant's fingerprintswas found on the inside of the drivers door window. The timing of the victims disappearance, as well as evidence that the victim was minimally clothed when her body was discovered and that she would not have voluntarily left her apartment with defendant, provides sufficient circumstantial evidenct that the victim was killed inside her apartment on June 30. *
Defendant also argues that the trial court erred by denying defendant's motion to suppress a letter written by the victim that was siezed by police officers during a lawful serch of a box found in a sotrage unit because the letter did not constitute evidence or contraband. The trial court found that the letter fell under the plain-view exception to the warrant requirement:
It has been stipulated that the officers wree lawfully in the storage - that the officers were lawfully present, pursuant to a warrant, in the storage locker. They were authorized pursuant to that warrant to search for papers and writings of the defendant. In so doing, they uncovered what has been marked as Exhibit 1 to the prosecutors brief.
It is a one-paged typed written statement. It is dated the day before the victim of this crime disappeared. It is a request for a personal protection order. It is signed by the victim. The first line of that statement states that the victim seeks protection from the defendant.
Whether on views the investigation at that time as a missing person's investigation or a murder investigation, it is and would be, to any reasonable investigator, immediately apparent that such a document would have relevancy to the investigation. This is not a case where the police have further invaded the privacy of the defendant. They did not go into an area not authorized. They did not inspect types of documents that were not authorized.
Their conduct, under the totality of the circumstances, was reasonable, and the statement was lawfully seized under the plain view doctrine. Motion is denied.
And more legal talk but my fingers are getting tired. Basically he wanted a retrial because he thought that they hadnt proved venue and had used this evidence that shouldnt have been used in his opinion.
A small victory for us. He will never be back out in society but I still miss my sister terribly. Please everyone read this and know that it could be YOUR family that is getting this paper. If it could happen to my sister it could happen to anyone. Please leave your abusive partner as soon as you are able. Make a safety plan and let people know what is going on....People that you can trust.
My sister is now memorialized in the Transformation Project/ Silent Witness Project on the Bowling Green Campus with too many other women that are fatal victims of domestic abuse. Please dont let your name be added to that list/statistic.
Hugs to you all. May God protect you all and give you the strength to do what you know is right in your heart.
Love,
Reemeow

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Hi Ree -
I'm very glad to hear that the appeal was denied.
CL-Blueliner4
I didn't know your history. Huge huge hugs to you. My heart goes out to you. Is there anyplace that I could read about your sister, or perhaps light a candle in her honor? I'd love to do something. Thank you for sharing this with us, for some, it is unbelievable to think or comprehend what the outcome could possibly be. We live in denial - "oh not me", yet it seems to be somebody.
hugs to you,
Pam
Reemeow...thank you so much for sharing this with us...I'm really so sorry for what you and your family must go through with this.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them.
- Maya Angelou
I just can't believe your mother still acts the way she does to you, after losing one daughter to an abusive relationship already! Maybe she's in denial or something? Just don't let her opinion influence you. There's a saying about opinions, that I like to quote in situations like this: "Opinions are like assholes -- everyone has one, and most of them stink!" ;o)
Just know that you've done the right thing by leaving him, no matter what your mom or anyone else says. Your sister is looking down on you from heaven and she's very relieved that you saw your ex for what he is, and got out in time. You were able to learn from what happened to her, and that's the best thing you could have done in your sister's memory.
Congratulations on this small victory, and remember -- we love you and we're all pulling for you!
Love & Hugs,
Emm
Thanks so much. I dont believe that anything is posted on the internet to memorialize her but I am sure she would love it if you lit a candle and included a prayer for all the women that are in domestic violence. My sister was a remarkable woman and had so much to offer the world. She was just a few months away from her Masters degree in Speech Pathology. She loved helping people...especially children...and it never really hit me how many people she touched and helped until the day of her funeral. One woman who had an autistic boy that my sister had helped had saved a postcard from my sister from when she had been on a trip to Italy. I cant recall now what it said but I just remember being so shaken by how wonderfully kind and beautiful of a person my sister was... of feeling totally devastated and crushed with loss of such a person...by what she had written to this lady. I am glad for the memorial at Silent Witness because then she will always be remembered and her story will always be told.
It just breaks my heart to read all of the stories on here and to see women asking if it is abuse when to someone on the outside it is so clear. And yet I know exactly how they feel. That was me a few months ago. I am still struggling with truly believing my husband is an abuser. Even though I have read books and can point to controlling behaviors of his and say yes he does that. In some ways I still want to stick my head back in the sand...but how can I ? How can I change the way I feel after getting a peek at reality. I feel guilty because I havent gone to therapy with him. Have I done enough? Have I really tried hard enough to make it work? Should I give him another chance? Should I just throw my hands up in the air and go back to him? Sometimes I wonder. And other times I think that if I just hang in there another week things might change...I might be a little stronger...maybe my mom will lay off me and maybe something will happen to change how I feel. I am still trying to find a job...feeling so discouraged about that...but it will happen when it is ready to happen.
Sorry I am rambling again hehe. Hugs to you Pam and thanks so much for your response.
God Bless You,
Ree
Huge Hugs to you lady...thanks so much for your support.
God Bless You,
Ree
Gentle hugs and hope for you.
Cathy
Thank you so much for your support and wonderful words. Thank you. I hope I am strong. I hope that I can do this and be a good mom and support my son and raise him up to be a good decent man. Again thanks so much for your words...which inspire me every time that I read them. They give me hope. Thank you.
God Bless You,
Ree
LOL thanks so much for the laugh. I love the opinions quote.
Yes it has been very difficult for me to realize and accept that my husband is abusive. I got a chill when my first therapist in June told me that "you're husband is like your sisters husband...only your sisters husband was like a cancer and your husband is more like a cold". I got a chill when she told me that. Said that our relationship seemed to her like a parent/child relationship. But she wanted to know if I would bring him to counselling sessions which back then scared me. The idea of opening completely up in front of him scared me. I never went back to her because my H told me that I was "fine" and that it cost too much and that I didnt need to see her again. But after one session she had said those words to me and that is when I started thinking that maybe it could be abuse but I still wasnt sure. Not until December when I finally posted on this board and really started reading and getting some strength.
As far as my mother. I do think it is denial. Because if she had to admit that what my H is doing is abuse then she would have to admit that what my father is doing is abuse. And I think that it is too painful for her to admit that...especially with what has happened with my sister. It is hard to not let her opinion influence me because I have always valued it so much. But I guess it is time to start valueing my own opinion more than anyone elses. Which I dont know if I have ever done. Its new territory for me and sort of scary...learning to trust myself.
Huge hugs to you for the support and wonderful words. I was brought to tears when you said my sister was looking down on me and supporting me.
God Bless You.
Love and Hugs,
Ree
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