People v. Blair

Following a jury trial, defendant was

convicted of being an inmate in possession of a weapon, namely, a sharpened spoon, MCL 800.283(4); MSA 28.1623(4), and was sentenced to from three to five years imprisonment, the term to run consecutive to the sentence defendant was already serving. In this appeal as of right, defendant’s sole appellate issue concerns the availability of the defense of duress to a charge of being an inmate in possession of a weapon.

At trial, defendant admitted that he was incar cerated in the Michigan Reformatory in Ionia and that a sharpened spoon had been taken from him…