Opinion ID: 1679410
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: PEOPLE v RODE AND PEOPLE v GALLINA

Text: Following a joint trial before separate juries, defendants Eric Rode and Aldo Gallina were convicted of second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; MSA 28.549, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2), stemming from the killing of a young man in Dearborn in 1989. An explanation of the relevant events is set forth in the Court of Appeals opinion: On July 2, 1989, defendants were riding around in a Chevrolet Camaro with some high school friends. The Camaro was owned by defendant Gallina's cousin, Frank Kuhne. Defendant Gallina, age fifteen, was seated in the front passenger seat, and defendant Rode, age sixteen, was in the back seat on the passenger side. A Ford Mustang pulled beside the Camaro and the Mustang's occupants, Edward and Charles Schramek, indicated that they wanted to race. When the cars were side by side, Charles and the other occupants of the Camaro began shouting at each other. Charles shouted, You're lucky we don't pull our gun out and shoot you. At that point, defendant Gallina pulled a gun from the front panel of the car, where he knew his cousin kept it, and fired it out the window more than once. Defendant Rode then took the gun from defendant Gallina. Defendant Gallina testified that defendant Rode said, If you are not going to shoot at them, I will. Defendant Rode fired the gun toward the tires of the Mustang. Defendant Rode testified that after he shot toward the tires, he gave the gun back to defendant Gallina, who shot the gun again. Defendant Rode then reloaded the gun with bullets supplied by defendant Gallina. The Mustang continued to follow the Camaro. The driver of the Camaro stopped the car suddenly, and, as the Mustang passed the driver's side of the Camaro, one of the defendants pulled himself up out of the passenger-side window and shot several times over the roof of the Camaro into the passenger side of the Mustang. Charles was killed by one of these shots. Each defendant testified after the prosecutor rested. Each denied firing the gun over the roof as the Mustang passed the Camaro, and each claimed that the other defendant fired the gun. Jonathan Warmack, who was driving the Camaro, testified that defendant Gallina did not fire the gun when the Mustang was passing. Warmack also testified that after the Mustang passed by, defendant Rode said, I know I hit him. Brad Andrews, who was in the back seat of the Camaro on the driver's side, made a statement to the police wherein he said that defendant Rode fired the gun over the roof as the Mustang was passing. At trial, Andrews testified that he did not see defendant Rode fire the gun as the Mustang passed, but he did see defendant Gallina reach out the window and fire the gun once the Mustang had passed. James Kelly, who was seated in the middle of the Camaro's back seat, testified that defendant Gallina fired the gun over the roof as the Mustang was passing, and then defendant Rode leaned out the window and fired the gun as the Mustang drove off. [196 Mich App 58, 61-62; 492 NW2d 483 (1992).] The defendants were charged with first-degree (premeditated) murder and with possession of a firearm during the commission of that felony. MCL 750.316, 750.227b; MSA 28.548, 28.424(2). As juveniles, they were processed under the automatic-waiver provisions. MCL 600.606, 764.1f, 712A.2(a)(1); MSA 27A.606, 28.860(6), 27.3178(598.2)(a)(1). [2] Before trial, both defendants moved for severance, claiming that separate trials were necessary because of antagonistic defenses. Following two hearings on the issue, the trial court ruled that there would be a single trial at which separate juries would be impaneled. A two-jury joint trial took place in November, 1989. Each jury returned a verdict finding its defendant guilty of second-degree murder and felony-firearm. The trial court conducted a dispositional hearing pursuant to MCL 769.1(3); MSA 28.1072(3); MCR 6.931, and concluded that defendants should be sentenced as adults. The court imposed sentences of life in prison for second-degree murder, as well as the mandatory two-year consecutive terms for felony-firearm. Both defendants appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed defendants' convictions, finding in pertinent part that the trial court erred in its decision to try the cases jointly with dual juries. The prosecutor filed separate applications for leave to appeal with this Court. In an order entered June 28, 1993, we granted leave to appeal, limited to the issue whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion for separate trials. We further ordered that these cases be argued and submitted to the court together with the case of People v Hana, 442 Mich 935.