Court overturns armed robbery conviction over confrontation clause
The state Court of Appeals last week overturned the armed robbery conviction of a man in the armed robbery of a Roseville appliance store because a police detective was allowed to testify for two witnesses.
An appeal panel last Thursday in a 3-0 decision reversed the 2019 jury conviction of Joe Wesley Straws III in Macomb County Circuit Court in the 2016 robbery of the owner of A & R Appliance at the store on Groesbeck Highway
and Common Road.
The judges say in the 10-page opinion that Detective Sgt. Robert Gudenau should not have been allowed to repeat the statements of two key witnesses leading to Straws’ conviction in lieu of the two witnesses testifying themselves. That violates the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution that guarantees the right of a defendant to confront witnesses against him or her.
“We conclude that a Confrontation Clause violation occurred when the prosecution introduced (Joanne ) Oglesby and (Malique)
Odin’s statements through Gudenau. This was plain error warranting reversal.
“Neither Odin, nor Oglesby testified at trial. The prosecution introduced their statements solely through Detective Gudenau. Neither was available for cross-examination. The defense did not object to these statements as violative of the Confrontation Clause or the Michigan Rules of Evidence.”
(The assistant Macomb prosecutor and defense attorney were not identified.)
Odin said he was a “distant relative” of Straws who had used an address on Cherrylawn Street in Detroit that was provided in connection with the investigation, Gudenau testified, according to the opinion.
Ogelsby told Gudenau she was the grandmother of a person who resided at the same address and Odin, Gudenau testified, the judges say.
The incident occurred when the robber entered the store and told a cashier he wanted to purchase a stove and refrigerator for his mother, the opinion says. He left the store to check with his mother, he told the cashier, according to the judges. He returned and wanted to purchase the appliances on credit, providing a name, address on Cherrylawn Street in Detroit and phone number. But when asked for his license, he left and returned with cash, the judges wrote.
In that third visit, the male store owner and a male relative arrived, and the robber said “he