Case Name: PEOPLE v. STEVENS
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1979-09-19
Citations: 92 Mich. App. 427
Docket Number: Docket No. 78-1700
Parties: PEOPLE v STEVENS
Judges: Before: M. F. Cavanagh, P.J., and Bashara and D. E. Holbrook, Jr., JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 92
Pages: 427–432

Head Matter:
PEOPLE v STEVENS
Docket No. 78-1700.
Submitted March 6, 1979, at Lansing.
Decided September 19, 1979.
Leave to appeal applied for.
Defendant, Rodney W. Stevens, was charged with felonious assault. He had allegedly pointed a starter pistol at another. It is undisputed that the firing pin had been filed and the pistol was incapable of firing a bullet. The Jackson Circuit Court, Charles J. Fahalee, J., dismissed the charge, ruling that the inoperable pistol was not a “dangerous weapon” under the felonious assault statute. The people appeal. Held:
If a victim perceives an object such as a handgun and believes that object to be a dangerous weapon, a prima facie case of felonious assault is made out.
Reversed,
M. F. Cavanagh, J., dissented. He would hold that an instrumentality incapable of firing a projectile is not a firearm and, therefore, cannot be a "dangerous weapon” under the felonious assault statute, regardless of the victim’s perception. He would affirm.
Opinion of the Court
1. Assault and Battery — Words and Phrases.
A simple criminal assault is either an attempt to commit a battery or an unlawful act which places another in reasonable apprehension of receiving an immediate battery.
2. Assault and Battery — Felonious Assault.
A prima facie case of felonious assault is made out where a victim perceives an object such as a gun and believes it to be a dangerous weapon; whether or not the gun is operable is irrelevant.
References for Points in Headnotes
6 Am Jur 2d, Assault and Battery §§ 2-7.
Attempt to commit assault as criminal offense. 79 ALR2d 597.
6 Am Jur 2d, Assault and Battery §§ 48-54.
Fact that gun was unloaded as affecting criminal responsibility for assault. 79 ALR2d 1415.
Dissent by M. F. Cavanagh, P.J.
3. Assault and Battery — Felonious Assault.
The crime of felonious assault is established by proof of an assault plus the use of a dangerous weapon.
4. Assault and Battery — Felonious Assault — Dangerous Weapon — Firearm — Statutes.
An instrumentality which is incapable of propelling a dangerous projectile cannot be a "ñrearm” or a "dangerous weapon” contemplated by the felonious assault statute (MCL 8.3t, 750.82; MSA 2.212[20], 28.277).
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Robert A. Derengoski, Solicitor General, Edward J. Grant, Prosecuting Attorney, and John L. Wildeboer, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.
Jacobs & Engle (by Frederick J. Gentner), for defendant.
Before: M. F. Cavanagh, P.J., and Bashara and D. E. Holbrook, Jr., JJ.

Opinion:
Bashara, J.
The majority of this panel accepts the factual findings of Judge Cavanagh. We differ in his conclusion that the pointing of an inoperable handgun loaded with live shells at the complaining witness does not amount to felonious assault.
The applicable statute, also set forth by Judge Cavanagh, provides that one who assaults another with a gun, without intending to commit great bodily harm, is guilty of a felony. We agree that the statute should be strictly construed. However, it is difficult to traverse around its plain meaning. When the statute speaks of a gun, it does not refer to its caliber, nor to its operability.
We are required to accept the definition of the term "assault" set forth in People v Sanford, 402 Mich 460, 479; 265 NW2d 1 (1978). The Supreme Court there unanimously declared that:
"We adopt what Perkins on Criminal Law (2d ed), p 117, says is the majority rule, namely 'a simple criminal assault "is made out from either an attempt to commit a battery or an unlawful act which places another in reasonable apprehension of receiving an immediate battery" '."
This is the traditional subjective test of assault which examines the mind, of the vicitm to determine whether that individual had a reasonable apprehension of an impending battery.
To say that an assault was not committed because the weapon involved was not operable misses the mark. If a victim perceives an object such as a handgun and believes that object to be a dangerous weapon, then a prima facie case of felonious assault is made out. People v Williams, 6 Mich App 412; 149 NW2d 245 (1967).
Given the facts of this case, the trial court was in error in dismissing the charge prior to trial.
Reversed.
D. E. Holbrook, Jr., J., concurred.