Case Name: PEOPLE v. McMASTER
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1981-04-08
Citations: 105 Mich. App. 162
Docket Number: Docket No. 48528
Parties: PEOPLE v McMASTER
Judges: Before: D. C. Riley, P.J., and N. J. Kaufman and Mackenzie, JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 105
Pages: 162–181

Head Matter:
PEOPLE v McMASTER
Docket No. 48528.
Submitted October 9, 1980, at Detroit. —
Decided April 8,1981.
Leave to appeal denied, 411 Mich 988.
Robert McMaster, charged in Wayne Circuit Court with assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm while in the commission of a felony, was convicted by a jury of felonious assault and possession of a firearm while in the commission of a felony. Defendant received a suspended sentence for the felonious assault conviction but was sentenced to the mandatory two-year prison term for the felony-firearm violation, Charles Kaufman, J. Defendant was arrested following a domestic argument and physical fight with his wife. Mrs. McMaster fled the apartment after defendant drew a handgun from under the couch, began to load it and threatened to kill her. After Mrs. McMaster had fled, defendant fired a shot at the door through which she had exited. Defendant appeals. Held:
1. Under a local court rule, the party seeking an adjournment of a trial of a criminal case must file a written motion showing good cause why the adjournment should be granted before the presiding judge may grant an adjournment. A motion was made and denied but, because the record of the motion hearing has not been made available, the Court has nothing to review to determine whether an abuse of discretion occurred.
References for Points in Headnotes
21 Am Jur 2d, Criminal Law § 31 et seq.
5 Am Jur 2d, Appeal and Error § 891 et seq.
6 Am Jur 2d, Assault and Battery §§ 2-7.
6 Am Jur 2d, Assault and Battery § 6.
16A Am Jur 2d, Constitutional Law § 638.
75 Am Jur 2d, Trial §§ 574, 575.
21 Am Jur 2d, Criminal Law § 107.
Effect of voluntary drug intoxication upon criminal responsibility. 73 ALR3d 98.
Modern status of the rules as to voluntary intoxication as defense to criminal charge. 8 ALR3d 1236.
6 Am Jur 2d, Assault and Battery §§ 48, 53.
6 Am Jur 2d, Assault and Battery §§ 2-6, 13.
What constitutes "imminently dangerous” within homicide statute. 67 ALR3d 900.
6 Am Jur 2d, Assault and Battery § 20.
40 Am Jur 2d, Homicide §§ 10, 570, 572, 576, 578.
65 Am Jur 2d, Rape §§ 20-24.
2. Defense counsel failed to give timely notice of his intention to raise the issue of defendant’s sanity or diminished capacity. This failure may have deprived defendant of a valid defense because exclusion of evidence purporting to establish insanity is mandated if the requisite 30-day notice of such intent is not given. Counsel’s failure to pursue this defense was excusable, however. His belief that the charges would be dismissed because of Mrs. McMaster’s reluctance to pursue the matter was well-founded.
3. A miscarriage of justice occurred by the refusal of the trial court to give a requested jury instruction on intoxication as it relates to specific intent crimes. The trial court should either have given the intoxication instruction or should have clarified the intent element of felonious assault. The jury in a felonious assault trial should be instructed that there must be either an intent to injure or an intent to put the victim in reasonable fear or apprehension of an immediate battery. The only allusion to specific intent had been made by the trial court in its instructions on the charged offense of assault with intent to murder and the lesser included offense of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. A trial court is required to charge the jury concerning the law applicable to the case and, since defendant’s defense at trial concerned the absence of intent, the improper instruction went to a controlling issue in the case.
Reversed and remanded for trial on the charge of felonious assault.
D. C. Riley, P.J., concurred.
Mackenzie, J., dissented from the holding that felonious assault requires proof of a specific intent which may be negated by evidence of defendant’s voluntary intoxication. She contends that simple assault and felonious assault are not specific intent crimes but are, rather, general intent crimes and that voluntary intoxication should not be an available defense to simple assault or felonious assault. Further, she argues that even if simple assault and felonious assault are deemed to be specific intent crimes, evidence of voluntary intoxication should not be admissible to negate the intent requirement. She would hold that the trial court’s failure to instruct on the defense of voluntary intoxication was harmless error. However, because of her belief that the failure to file notice of insanity was a serious mistake and that defendant was reasonably likely to have been acquitted but for this error, she would reverse and remand for a new trial.
1. Criminal Law — Pretrial Procedure — Defenses — Insanity — Statutes.
A defendant in a felony case who seeks to offer evidence purporting to establish insanity at the time of commission of an alleged offense must give written notice of his intention to assert such a defense not less than 30 days before the date set for trial (MCL 768.20a; MSA 28.1043[1]).
2. Appeal — Jury Instructions — Court Rules.
Appellate review of alleged errors in a trial court’s jury charge requires that I) the alleged errors were objected to by trial counsel before the jury retired to deliberate or 2) that a miscarriage of justice has resulted from the giving of the erroneous instruction (GCR 1963, 516.2).
3. Assault and Battery — Elements of Assault.
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.
4. Assault and Battery — Felonious Assault — Jury Instructions.
The jury in a prosecution for felonious assault must be instructed that the defendant must have had an intent to injure or an intent to put the victim in reasonable fear or apprehension of an immediate battery before he may be found guilty of the charged offense.
5. Courts — Supreme Court — Retroactivity.
A Supreme Court decision which does not announce a new rule but merely clarifies existing law is entitled to retroactive effect.
6. Criminal Law — Jury Instructions.
A trial court in a criminal prosecution is required to charge the jury concerning the law applicable to the case.
Dissent by Mackenzie, J.
7. Criminal Law — Defenses — Intoxication.
Voluntary intoxication is a defense to some offenses where the intoxication is of a degree which enables a jury to say that the accused was incapable of forming the speciñc and requisite intent.
8. Assault and Battery — Felonious Assault — Defenses — Intoxication.
The defense of voluntary intoxication is not available to a charge of felonious assault because felonious assault is not a speciñc intent crime but rather a simple assault committed with a dangerous weapon.
9. Assault and Battery — Elements of Assault.
An assault is committed whenever a defendant does an unlawful act which either constitutes an attempt to commit a battery upon his victim or results in placing the victim in reasonable fear of an immediate injury; it is immaterial whether or not the defendant intends to do bodily injury to the victim.
10. Assault and Battery — Elements of Assault.
The critical inquiry in determining if a defendant is guilty of assault is whether he intentionally attempted or threatened to do violence upon the person of another and either 1) had the ability to carry out the threat or 2) his conduct reasonably placed the victim in fear of an immediate battery; it is not necessary to show that the defendant intended to cause his victim any particular bodily harm, and, as a matter of policy, the defendant should be liable for an assault where he actually intends no bodily harm, but threatens the victim, who is then placed in reasonable fear of harm.
11. Assault and Battery — Specific Intent.
The speciñc intent doctrine was only intended to be used to negate evidence of an intent beyond the consequences of bodily injury or fright resulting from an assault, such as where the assault was done with intent to murder or rape.
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Robert A. Derengoski, Solicitor General, William L. Cahalan, Prosecuting Attorney, Edward Reilly Wilson, Principal Attorney, Appeals, and Timothy L. Cronin, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.
Lawrence R. Greene, for defendant on appeal.
Before: D. C. Riley, P.J., and N. J. Kaufman and Mackenzie, JJ.

Opinion:
N. J. Kaufman, J.
Defendant was initially charged with assault with intent to murder, MCL 750.83; MSA 28.278, and possession of a firearm while in the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). He was convicted on September 10, 1979, by a Wayne County Circuit Court jury of felonious assault, MCL 750.82; MSA 28.277, and possession of a firearm while in the commission of a felony. Defendant received a suspended sentence for the felonious assault conviction but was sentenced to the mandatory two-year prison term for the felony-firearm violation. Defendant appeals as of right, pursuant to GCR 1963, 806.1.
The charges in the instant case arose out of a domestic argument which culminated in a shooting. In the course of an argument and physical fight with his wife, defendant drew a handgun from under the couch, began to load it and threatened to kill his wife. Complainant fled from the apartment and defendant fired a shot at the door through which she had exited.
Of the three issues raised by defendant on appeal, we deem only one to be meritorious. There is, however, an issue which we feel compelled to raise sua sponte which we believe is dispositive of this case.
Defendant contends that the trial judge abused his discretion in denying defendant's request for a continuance. Defendant alleges that defense counsel expected that the trial would not proceed as scheduled, believing that defendant and his wife had reconciled. When the requested continuance was. denied, defendant claims he was forced to proceed to trial without a valid defense, that of diminished capacity.
Wayne County Circuit Court Rule 14.9 states:
"No trial of a criminal case shall be adjourned except by the Presiding Judge for good cause shown upon written motion of the party seeking the adjournment."
Thus, it appears that under the local court rule, the trial judge had no discretion to grant the requested continuance. However, a motion was made before the Presiding Judge and was denied. The record of that hearing has not been made available to this Court and we, therefore, have nothing to review.
In any case, the issue raised by defendant in regard to the denial of the continuance should more properly be characterized as the denial of effective assistance of counsel. It is defendant's contention that the failure of his counsel to give timely notice of his intention to raise the issue of defendant's sanity or diminished capacity as required by MCL 768.20a; MSA 28.1043(1) may have deprived defendant of a valid defense. Without the requisite 30-day notice, the statute mandates the exclusion of evidence purporting to establish insanity. MCL 768.21; MSA 28.1044.
Counsel's reason for not providing the appropriate notice was his belief that the charges against defendant would be dismissed because of complainant's reluctance to pursue the matter. We believe that counsel's opinion was well-founded. Defendant had reconciled with his wife. She had driven him to court on the date set for trial and stated that it was her intention to drive him home and to allow him to remain with her if he refrained from drinking. Under the standards of People v Garcia, 398 Mich 250; 247 NW2d 547 (1976), and People v Degraffenreid, 19 Mich App 702; 173 NW2d 317 (1969), we believe that counsel's failure to pursue the available defense was excusable.
We believe the following issue is dispositive of this case. After the judge charged the jury, defense counsel requested an instruction on intoxication as it relates to specific intent crimes. Although the court asked the attorneys to approach the bench to discuss this request, the court's ruling does not appear on the record. However, since no such instruction was given, the request was obviously denied. We agree that there was no objection to the court's jury charge. GCR 1963, 516.2 requires that counsel object to alleged errors before the jury retires to deliberate if he expects to rely upon such alleged errors on appeal. This no objection-no review rule applies unless there is a miscarriage of justice. People v Fry, 27 Mich App 169; 183 NW2d 377 (1970), lv den 384 Mich 826 (1971), People v Turner, 31 Mich App 44; 187 NW2d 241 (1971). Although there was no objection to the judge's apparent refusal to give the intoxication instruction, and, in fact, this issue was not even raised on appeal, we feel that in light of the Supreme Court's recent decision in People v Joeseype Johnson, 407 Mich 196; 284 NW2d 718 (1979), a miscarriage of justice did, in fact, occur in the instant case.
We acknowledge that the jury did not convict defendant of the charged offense, assault with intent to do murder, MCL 750.83; MSA 28.278, or of the lesser included offense, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, MCL 750.84; MSA 28.279. Prior to the Johnson decision, we could then have said that failure to instruct on the intoxication defense in regard to these specific intent crimes was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. However, People v Johnson, supra, strongly suggests that felonious assault is also a specific intent crime.
In the memorandum opinion signed by seven Justices, the Supreme Court stated:
"1) 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', People v Sanford, 402 Mich 460, 479; 265 NW2d 1 (1978),
"2) the jury should be instructed that there must be either an intent to injure or an intent to put the victim in reasonable fear or apprehension of an immediate battery,
"3) the instruction in Johnson was deñcient in two respects: it failed adequately to inform the jury of the intent requirement and it neglected to present the alternative 'reasonable apprehension of receiving an immediate battery' form of felonious assault; the jurors in Ring should be instructed that defendant can be convicted if he intended to injure the victim or put him in reasonable apprehension of receiving an immediate battery." Johnson, supra, 210. (Emphasis supplied.)
The Court in Johnson further stated:
'Johnson did not raise an intoxication defense and the question whether assault or felonious assault are specific intent crimes for the purpose of the voluntary intoxication defense is not raised by the facts and has not been briefed or argued and is not before us; we intimate no opinion on that question." Id.
In the instant case, however, the intoxication defense was raised and the instruction requested. Although we also do not intimate an opinion on whether voluntary intoxication would negate the crime of felonious assault, we nevertheless feel that the trial court in the instant case should either have given the intoxication instruction or should have clarified the intent element of felonious assault, according to Johnson, supra, especially when the jury requested a rereading of that statute.
The trial court gave an instruction which closely paralleled CJI 17:4:01, the recommended jury in struction on felonious assault. In response to a request from the jury for a rereading of the felonious assault statute, the Court responded as follows:
"THE COURT: Okay. The felonious assault statute is really entitled: 'Assault with a dangerous weapon.' We commonly call it the felony assault statute. And it provides that any person who shall assault another with a gun or other dangerous weapon, but without intending to commit the crime of murder and without intending to inflict great bodily harm less than the crime of murder, shall be guilty of felonious assault.
"And you want to know what the prosecution must prove. Okay. Now, for this charge the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt first that the defendant assaulted Henrietta McMaster. And an assault is an attempt or threat with force and violence to do immediate bodily harm to another by one who has the present means of doing such harm; and second, that the defendant committed such assault by the use of a dangerous weapon; that is, as alleged in this case, a revolver or pistol. Now, a gun, as I told you, is a — or revolver or pistol is a firearm and a firearm includes any weapon from which a dangerous object may be shot or propelled by the use of explosives. Okay?"
The only allusion to specific intent had been made by the court in its instructions on the charged offense of assault with intent to murder and the lesser included offense of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
This Court is certainly aware that at the time of the trial in the instant case, the trial judge did not have the benefit of the Supreme Court decision in People v Joeseype Johnson, 407 Mich 196; 284 NW2d 718 (1979). In that case, the trial court refused defendant's request to instruct the jury that the crime of felonious assault includes the specific intent to inflict an injury on another and instead instructed the jury that a felonious assault must be an "intentional assault". Johnson, supra, 255 (opinion by Levin, J.). On appeal, the Supreme Court stated that the trial court's instruction constituted reversible error in that it failed to adequately inform the jury of the intent requirement. The Court held that "the jury should be instructed that there must be either an intent to injure or an intent to put the victim in reasonable fear or apprehension of an immediate battery". Johnson, supra, 210. In the instant case, the instruction given by the trial court was incorrect under Johnson.
The pivotal question thus presented is whether the intent requirements set forth in Johnson are applicable to the case at bar, in which the trial concluded prior to the decisional date of Johnson. We answer affirmatively and therefore reverse defendant's conviction. See People v Szymanski, 102 Mich App 745; 302 NW2d 316 (1981). See also People v Ideis, 101 Mich App 179; 300 NW2d 489 (1980).
In his concurring opinion in Johnson, Justice Ryan, joined by Justice Fitzgerald, stated that the decision in Johnson was a reiteration of the legal principles set forth in People v Sanford, 402 Mich 460; 265 NW2d 1 (1978), which was, in turn, merely a clarification and restatment of the law recited in People v Carlson, 160 Mich 426; 125 NW 361 (1910). Johnson, supra, 228-229. We agree and therefore find the instructions mandated in Johnson fully applicable to the instant case.
We acknowledge that defendant did not request the instruction mandated by Johnson. We are not, however, precluded from considering this issue on appeal. The trial court is required to charge the jury concerning the law applicable to the case. People v Liggett, 378 Mich 706, 714; 148 NW2d 784 (1967), People v Oberstaedt, 372 Mich 521, 526; 127 NW2d 354 (1964), People v Lewis, 91 Mich App 542; 283 NW2d 790 (1979). Since defendant's defense at trial concerned the absence of intent, the improper instruction went to a controlling issue in the case.
Reversed and remanded for trial on the charge of felonious assault.
D. C. Riley, P.J., concurred.