Case Name: PEOPLE v. HARMAN
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1983-03-10
Citations: 124 Mich. App. 93
Docket Number: Docket No. 59178
Parties: PEOPLE v HARMAN
Judges: Before: Beasley, P.J., and M. J. Kelly and W. S. White, JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 124
Pages: 93–106

Head Matter:
PEOPLE v HARMAN
Docket No. 59178.
Submitted October 8, 1982, at Lansing.
Decided March 10, 1983.
Leave to appeal denied, 417 Mich —
Defendant, Roy A. Harman, was bound over for trial in the Livingston Circuit Court on a charge of possession of cocaine in excess of 650 grams. The trial court, Bert M. Hensick, J., issued an opinion granting defendant’s motion to quash the information and issued an order of dismissal to that effect. The people appeal, alleging error in the trial court’s findings that the mandatory life sentence prescribed for possession of 650 grams or more of cocaine is a denial of due process and equal protection of the law, that since the life sentence shocks the judicial conscience it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and that the classification of cocaine in the same classification as heroin and other hard drugs is without a rational basis and, therefore, is a denial of equal protection of the law. Held:
1. A mandatory life sentence for conviction of possession of 650 grams or more of cocaine does not constitute cruel or unusual punishment under the United States and Michigan Constitutions. Such mandatory life sentence serves to prevent the offender from causing injuries to others by reason of involvement with large quantities of cocaine and serves society’s need to deter individuals from engaging in the proscribed conduct.
2. The statutory scheme that places cocaine in Schedule 2 for penalty purposes does not violate an individual’s due process or equal protection rights under the United States and Michigan Constitutions.
3. The classification of cocaine as a narcotic for penalty purposes is based upon: (1) the fact that enormous profit from illegal cocaine traffic has led to a great deal of crime, including violent crime, as major importers and dealers compete with each other; (2) a strong correlation between the use of cocaine and the use of heroin and the opiates; (3) the potential harm to a user inherent in the illegal use of cocaine including the danger inherent in the increase in the practice of smoking coca paste or freebase cocaine; and (4) the ongoing dispute in the scientific and medical community as to the potential harm inherent in the use of cocaine and the abundance of unresolved questions concerning the effect of cocaine on humans.
References for Points in Headnotes
21 Am Jur 2d, Criminal Law §§ 627, 629, 630. Review of excessivness of sentence in narcotics case. 55 ALR3d 812.
25 Am Jur 2d, Drugs, Narcotics, and Poisons § 17.
21 Am Jur 2d, Criminal Law § 589.
21 Am Jur 2d, Criminal Law § 583.
Reversed and remanded for trial.
M. J. Kelly, J., concurred in part and dissented in part. He would hold:
1. That a mandatory life sentence for conviction of possession of 650 grams or more of a mixture containing cocaine does constitute cruel and/or unusual punishment under the United States and Michigan Constitutions.
2. Defendant’s potential sentence is not purely hypothetical and he has standing to challenge the constitutionality of the statute’s applicable minimum sentence.
3. Three standards are used to determine whether a statute imposes a cruel and/or unusual punishment: the punishment must be proportionate to the offense, the punishment must be comparable to punishments imposed in other jurisdictions for the same offense, and the punishment must serve the modern policy factors of rehabilitation, deterrence, and protection of society.
4. The mandatory minimum sentence for possession of 650 grams or more of a mixture containing cocaine fails to meet the test of proportionality or the evolving standards or decency tests.
5. The speed with which the offender is apprehended, tried, and punished is the measure of the effectiveness of the criminal justice system, not the length of the sentence. The mandatory life sentence provided by the statute has no rehabilitation potential. The goal of rehabilitation is not served by the statute.
6. The mandatory penalty of the statute fails under each test for determining whether the minimum penalty violates the prohibition against cruel and/or unusual punishment. The statute is, therefore, unconstitutional.
7. The felony-punishment provision of MCL 750.503 should apply to violators of the statute until a new minimum sentence can be legislatively enacted.
Opinion of the Court
1. Controlled Substances — Cocaine — Mandatory Life Sentences — Constitutional Law.
The provision of the controlled substances portion of the health code providing for a mandatory life sentence for possession of 650 or more grams of cocaine does not constitute cruel or unusual punishment under the United States or Michigan Constitutions; the mandatory life sentence serves to prevent the offender from causing injuries to others by reason of involvement with large quantities of cocaine and serves society’s need to deter individuals from engaging in the proscribed conduct (US Const, Am VIII; Const 1963, art 1, § 16; MCL 333.7403[2][a][i]; MSA 14.15[7403][2][a][i]).
2. Controlled Substances — Cocaine — Constitutional Law.
The statutory scheme which places cocaine among the Schedule 2 list of controlled substances for penalty purposes does not violate an individual’s due process or equal protection rights under the United States or Michigan Constitutions; the classification of cocaine as a narcotic for penalty purposes is based upon: (1) the fact that enormous profit from illegal cocaine traffic has led to a great deal of crime; (2) a strong correlation between the use of cocaine and the use of heroin and the opiates; (3) the potential harm to the user inherent in the illegal use of cocaine; and (4) the ongoing dispute in the scientific and medical community as to the potential harm inherent in the use of cocaine and the abundance of unresolved questions concerning the effect of cocaine on humans (US Const, Am XIV, § 1; Const 1963, art 1, § 2; MCL 333.7214; MSA 14.15[7214]).
Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by M. J. Kelly, J.
3. Controlled Substances — Constitutional Law — Mandatory Life Sentences — Cocaine.
The mandatory life sentence provided for conviction of possession of 650 grams or more of a mixture containing cocaine constitutes cruel and/or unusual punishment in violation of the United States and Michigan Constitutions (US Const, Am VIII; Const 1963, art 1, § 16).
4. Constitutional Law — Criminal Law — Cruel and Unusual Punishment — Appeal.
The proper procedure to be employed when a statute provides for a punishment thought to be cruel and unusual is to attack the constitutionality of the statute itself rather than a sentence imposed within the limits of the statute.
5. Controlled Substances — Mandatory Life Sentences — Cocaine.
A defendant who is charged with possession of 660 grams or more of cocaine under a provision of the controlled substances act has standing to challenge the constitutionality of that provision’s applicable minimum sentence of life imprisonment (MCL 333.7403[2][a][i]; MSA 14.15[7403][2][a][i]).
6. Constitutional Law — Definition of Crimes — Punishments.
The power to define crimes and establish punishments rests, in the fust instance, with the Legislature; however, the exercise of that power is subject to judicial scrutiny to ensure that the punishment does not exceed constitutional limits.
7. Constitutional Law — Controlled Substances — Cruel and Unusual Punishment — Mandatory Life Sentences — Cocaine.
Three standards are used to determine whether a statute imposes a cruel and/or unusual punishment: the punishment must be proportionate to the offense, the punishment must be comparable to punishments imposed in other jurisdictions for the same offense, and the punishment must serve the modern policy factors of rehabilitation, deterrence, and protection of society; the mandatory penalty of life imprisonment provided for possession of 650 grams or more of cocaine fails under each of these standards; the statute is, therefore, unconstitutional (MCL 333.7403[2][a][ij; MSA 14.15[7403][2][a][ij).
8. Constitutional Law — Criminal Law — Sentences — Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
A punishment, otherwise appropriate, may be so disproportionate to the offense charged as to be cruel and/or unusual; an excessive sentence is cruel and/or unusual.
9. Constitutional Law — Cruel and Unusual Punishment — Comparative Law.
The evolving standards test, also referred to as the decency test, used in determining whether a statute imposes cruel and/or unusual punishment looks to comparative law in other jurisdictions for guidelines in determining what penalties are widely regarded as proper for the offense under consideration.
10. Criminal Law — Sentencing.
The speed with which an offender is apprehended, tried, and punished is the measure of the deterrent effect of the criminal justice system, not the length of the sentence imposed; the goal of rehabilitation of the offender is best served by short sentences except for the most serious crimes.
11. Constitutional Law — Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
A law is not rendered invalid for all other purposes where it is held that the penalty provision of the law is cruel and/or unusual punishment.
12. Criminal Law — Sentencing — Punishments Not Fixed by Statute.
The statute regarding punishments for felonies when not Sxed by statute should be applied to determine the sentence applicable to felons convicted under a statute whose penalty provision is found to be unconstitutional (MCL 750.503; MSA 28.771).
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Louis J. Caruso, Solicitor General, Frank R. Del Vero, Prosecuting Attorney, and Thomas C. Nelson, Assistant Attorney General, for the people.
Michael L. Pritzker, Ltd. (by Michael L. Pritzker, Mark F. Sullivan, and Marcia L. Smith), for defendant on appeal.
Before: Beasley, P.J., and M. J. Kelly and W. S. White, JJ.
Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.

Opinion:
Per Curiam.
On December 17, 1979, defendant, Roy Andrew Harman, was bound over for trial on the offense of possession of cocaine in excess of 650 grams, in violation of MCL 333.7403(2)(a)(i); MSA 14.15(7403)(2)(a)(i). On April 20, 1981, the trial judge issued a written opinion in which he granted defendant's motion to quash the information. From this holding, the prosecutor appeals as of right.
At an evidentiary hearing held on December 17, 1980, Dr. Lester Grinspoon, a:.i expert on the subject of psychoactive drugs, testified on defendant's behalf. Among other things, Dr. Grinspoon testified that the classification of cocaine as a narcotic drug is unwarranted and that it has a less deleterious effect than alcohol or barbiturates.
Based on the testimony of the expert witness and an Illinois Court of Appeals case, People v McCarty, the trial judge, in quashing the information, made the following findings regarding the constitutionality of the statute: (1) the mandatory life sentence prescribed for possession of in excess of 650 grams of cocaine is a denial of due process and equal protection of the law; (2) since the life sentence shocks the judicial conscience, it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment; and (3) the classification of cocaine in the same classification as heroin and other "hard drugs" is without a rational basis and, therefore, is a denial of equal protection of the law.
In People v McCarty, we held that a mandatory life sentence for conviction of possession of 650 grams or more of cocaine does not constitute cruel or unusual punishment under the United States and Michigan Constitutions. The bases for this holding, with which we agree, were that the mandatory life sentence for the offense served to prevent the offender from causing injuries to others by reason of involvement with large quantities of cocaine and society's need to deter individuals from engaging in the proscribed conduct.
In People v Lemble, we discussed the penalty provisions of the controlled substance act of 1978:
"The statutory scheme of the controlled substances portion of the health code punishes those found to be in possession of greater amounts of mixtures containing controlled substances with more severe penalties. We find that the legislative policies underlying criminal penalties — rehabilitation of the offender, society's need to deter the behavior in others, the prevention of the offender from causing injury to others — are achieved by this statute's graduated punishment. People v Lorentzen, 387 Mich 167; 194 NW2d 827 (1972). The penalties that may be imposed under this statute do not shock the judicial conscience in light of the gravity of the offenses.
"Nor was this defendant denied equal protection of the laws. It is reasonable for the Legislature to impose more severe punishment for those possessing greater amounts of a mixture containing a controlled substance due to the potential for wider dissemination with an increased potential harm to society. The wording of MCL 333.7403; MSA 14.15(7403) indicates to this Court that the Legislature intended to punish defendants more severely for possession of greater amounts of 'any mixture' containing a controlled substance with the recognition that purchasers of such mixtures often have little or no idea of what percentage of the mixture is filler and what percent is the 'pure' drug. The greater the quantity of the mixture, regardless of the degree of purity, the greater the potential harm to society. Therefore, the different treatment for persons in different situations under the code is proper because it is based on the object of the legislation, deterrence of the distribution of the drug. People v Chapman, 301 Mich 584; 4 NW2d 18 (1942)."
In Peole v Kaigler, this Court held that the classification of cocaine among the Schedule 2 list of controlled substances for penalty provisions did not violate the equal protection clauses of the federal and state constitutions. However, the Kaigler Court noted that the defendant failed to adduce any scientific data in support of his claim that the Legislature acted arbitrarily in classifying cocaine as a Schedule 2 drug.
The Illinois Supreme Court, in People v McCarty, overruled the Illinois Court of Appeals case which the trial court herein relied upon to quash the information. As summarized in Kaigler, supra, the McCarty court upheld the classification of cocaine as a narcotic for penalty purposes:
"The bases enumerated by the court were: (1) enormous profit from illegal cocaine traffic has led to a great deal of crime, including violent crime, as major importers and dealers compete with each other; (2) a strong correlation between the use of cocaine and the use of heroin and the opiates; (3) potential harm to a user inherent in the illegal use of cocaine including the danger inherent in the increase in the practice of smoking coca paste or freebase cocaine; and (4) the ongoing dispute in the scientific and medical community as to the potential harm inherent in the use of cocaine and the abundance of unresolved questions concerning the effect of cocaine on humans."
We adopt the reasoning delineated by the Illinois Supreme Court and hold that the statutory scheme that places cocaine in Schedule 2 for penalty purposes does not violate an individual's due process or equal protection rights under the federal and state constitutions.
Reversed and remanded for trial
93 Ill App 3d 898; 418 NE2d 26 (1981).
113 Mich App 464; 317 NW2d 659 (1982).
US Const, Am VIII.
Const 1963, art 1, § 16.
103 Mich App 220, 222-223; 303 NW2d 191 (1981), lv den 412 Mich 888 (1981).
MCL 333.7101 et seq.; MSA 14.15(7101) et seq.
116 Mich App 567; 323 NW2d 486 (1982).
MCL 333.7214; MSA 14.15(7214).
US Const, Am XIV, § 1.
Const 1963, art 1, § 2.
86 Ill 2d 247; 427 NE2d 147 (1981), rev'g 93 Ill App 3d 898; 418 NE2d 26 (1981).
Kaigler, supra, p 571.