People v. Neal

The prosecution appeals by right the order vacating defendant’s convictions of three counts of assaulting an employee of a place of confinement, MCL 750.197c; MSA 28.394(3), because, although proving that defendant was a prison inmate, the prosecution failed to prove that he was “lawfully” imprisoned. In People v Gaines, 223 Mich App 230; 566 NW2d 35 (1997), this Cotut held that, for purposes of the instant offense, a rational trier of fact could not find beyond a reasonable doubt that an inmate was lawfully imprisoned on the basis of evidence that he was incarcerated in a state prison. We…