Teenage girl awoke at gunpoint by Halloween-masked man

Daniel Dwayne Wright, left, and Bobby Derrick Gamble.

MUSKEGON, MI - The hair-raising details of an armed invasion of a couple's home in Muskegon are laid out in an appeals court document upholding a prisoner's convictions.

Daniel Dwayne Wright, 60, was convicted by a jury in December 2015 for home invasion, armed robbery and unlawful imprisonment. He recently appealed the conviction to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

In an unpublished opinion April 27, 2017, the Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions of Muskegon County's 14th Circuit Court.

Wright and co-defendant Bobby Derrick Gamble were convicted of entering a home on Aug. 12, 2014, and tying up a 22-year-old man and a 17-year-old female. Gamble allegedly A four-year-old boy in the home had a bag placed over his head and was made to sit on a bed until it was over.

The appeals court described the facts of the ordeal from the perspective of the woman, who was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom at 9 a.m., according to the document.

"She was awakened by a man, later identified as co-defendant Bobby Gamble, who was standing over her wearing a Halloween mask and pointing a gun at her head."

Gamble forced the victim downstairs into another bedroom where the male victim was allegedly already tied up, with Wright standing nearby. Wright had a bandanna covering his face from the nose down, but "she specifically took notice of his eyes, his large hands, and his posture," according to the court document.

The woman also was tied up. Then, Gamble pointed the gun at the male victim and demanded he give him the money - the male victim assumed the gunman was referring to $1,200 he had won gambling the day before. He said he didn't have the money, that he had given it to someone else for safekeeping.

Gamble and Wright then put a pillowcase over the man's head and left the house with him to head to a location on Superior Street, according to the appeals court document. After they left, the woman untied herself, "grabbed the kids" and ran to a neighbor's house to call 911.

Gamble and Wright were later confronted by a couple searching for the male victim, according to the appeals court document. Wright, discovered taking off the bandanna, said he had nothing to do with the situation and walked away. However, Gamble fired at the vehicle several times, with one bullet striking a woman in the shoulder.

Gamble also faces a separate trial for the murder of Robert Lee Dawson Jr.

Wright's appeal

Wright's appeal was based on arguments that a lineup where the female victim identified him wasn't properly conducted, and that a request he made to represent himself wasn't properly handled by the court.

But according to the Appeals Court, Wright almost immediately followed up on request to represent himself with written letters that caused Judge Timothy G. Hicks to call into question Wright's mental health.

Wright wrote to the trial court asking for his bond to be changed so he could travel to Nigeria and claim his "divine kingship" there.

The Appeals Court opinion documented Wright's claims in some detail:

"According to the letter that defendant wrote to the trial court, and as he explained at the hearing, defendant's true name, based on his 'rootreading and genetic code' and according to the 'sacred order of Ifa,' which 'deals with different expressions of consciousness, energy patterns of that sort,' and based on 'numerology, astrology, ontology,' is Mwata Oba Olatunde. In addition, according to defendant, he is the 'rightful heir to the throne of Ile Ife' in 'Oshun State, Nigeria.' Defendant also admitted, however, that he is a lifelong resident of Muskegon County and has never been to Nigeria. ...

"The trial court also found concerning defendant's statement, 'If I'm able to incorporate my divine kingship and its resources with this great land, we will be able to usher in a thousand years of peace and prosperity.'"

Wright's request to represent himself in court was revoked while he was examined for his competency to stand trial, according to the appeals court. Wright was connected with a new attorney and he never renewed the request for self-representation.

In the conclusion to its appeal, the court of appeals wrote that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in withdrawing permission for Wright to represent himself or commit a reversible error in allowing a lineup of suspects where Wright was identified.

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