ALPENA — The law prohibits using too much force to remove someone from your home, the state appellate court said this week while ruling an Alpena County man’s domestic violence conviction should stand.

The Michigan Court of Appeals, on Thursday, upheld the Alpena County Circuit Court’s denial of a new trial for David Hayes, 51, who was convicted last year on domestic violence charges for injuring a woman in 2019 by tossing her out of his home.

Hayes had argued to the appellate judges that he had the right to use force to remove a trespasser from his home, likening that right to the right to self-defense.

The appellate judges, however, said the right to self-defense is limited, and cited Michigan case law that says a person defending himself or herself should use “no more force than reasonably appears necessary to repel a threat.”

“Because Hayes used excessive force to remove the complainant from his home, any right to expel her by force was negated,” the appellate judges ruled.

Hayes also argued he received ineffective assistance from his attorney at trial because the attorney never argued case law related to his self-defense claims. The appellate court ruled that, even if the attorney had made such arguments, it likely wouldn’t have made a difference in the outcome of the case, so “Hayes did not receive ineffective assistance from his lawyer.”

Hayes also appealed based on what he claimed was new evidence in his case: The woman he’s convicted of assaulting had later been arrested and, during the arrest, had allegedly slipped out of her shirt and kicked at the arresting officer, exactly as Hayes had claimed the woman did during their altercation at his home. Hayes said that evidence helped corroborate his version of events.

The appellate judges, however, said that, even if that evidence “might support Hayes’s version of events regarding the complainant’s evasive maneuvers, it would also support the complainant’s version of events that Hayes assaulted her and did not merely escort her to the door.”

Following a bench trial, Hayes was convicted of domestic violence-third offense after the woman, whom Hayes had been dating, came to his home in August 2019 and the two got into an argument over the location of some marijuana.

The woman said Hayes grabbed her by the arm, threw her to the ground, kicked her, and threw her and her belongings outside. A physician testified at the trial that the woman’s injuries were consistent with her version of events.

Hayes said he repeatedly asked the woman to leave and, when she refused, he grabbed her by the shirt to escort her to the door. She, however, slipped out of her shirt, threw her phone at him, wrapped her arms around his leg, and kicked at him before rolling out the front door, according to Hayes.

The woman filmed the incident on her smartphone and, though the audio was not always clear and the camera was mostly obscured, the trial court determined the video supported the charges against Hayes.

Hayes was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

He is currently on probation after pleading no contest earlier this year to charges of resisting arrest.

Read the Michigan Court of Appeals opinion below.

Michigan Court of Appeals ruling on David Hayes by JustinHinkley on Scribd