Opinion ID: 848612
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: a substantial risk of force

Text: In this case, defense counsel conceded at oral argument that larceny from a person involves a risk that force will be used. However, he asserted that the risk is not substantial. Substantial is defined as of ample or considerable amount, quantity, size, etc. Random House Webster's College Dictionary (2001). The question becomes whether, during the commission of a larceny from a person, there is an ample or considerable amount of risk that force will be used. The statute prohibiting larceny from a person provides: Any person who shall commit the offense of larceny by stealing from the person of another shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not more than 10 years. [MCL 750.357 (emphasis added).] Hence, larceny from a person requires direct contact with the victim. The perpetrator must take personal property from the victim while it is in the victim's possession. This increases the risk that force will be used. A perpetrator is obliged to use force or threaten the use of force to obtain the property unless the victim willingly submits to or remains ignorant of the theft. [5] Larceny from a person quickly evolves into robbery when force is employed to complete the theft. Physical force may be used during the commission of many felonies, especially if the perpetrator is caught in the act. However, the risk that force will be used during a larceny from a person is considerably greater than the risk of force in many other felonies. This is because the crime, by its nature, is often confrontational and always involves the presence of the victim. Its perpetration requires either direct contact with or the actual presence of the victim. Also, the risk of detection is heightened. With an ample risk of confrontation and detection comes an ample risk of the use or threatened use of force to complete the crime. [6] Therefore, larceny from a person involves a substantial risk of the use or threat of physical force. Additionally, the very structure of the larceny statute, when compared with the larceny-from-a-person statute, supports a conclusion that the Legislature recognized that larceny from a person involves a substantial risk that force will be used. The general larceny statute [7] allocates punishment according to the value of the property taken. For example, if the property is valued at from $200 to $1,000, the thief is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by as much as one year in jail, a $2,000 fine, or both. MCL 750.356(4). But if it has a value of from $1,000 to $20,000, the crime is a felony punishable by as much as five years' imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, or both. MCL 750.356(3). This contrasts with larceny from a person, which abandons a gradation of punishment. The defendant is subject to a possible ten years in prison without regard to the value of the property stolen. MCL 750.357. The only difference between the crimes of larceny and larceny from a person is the presence of the victim. Without question, the possibility of harm to the victim is greater if the property is taken from his person. Consequently, it appears that the threat to the victim was of greater concern to the Legislature than the loss of the property, and hence, it provided a greater penalty for larceny from a person. The magnitude of the difference in penalties demonstrates just how seriously the Legislature viewed the risk of force against the victim of a larceny from a person. If the value of the property taken in a normal larceny is less than $200, the defendant is subject to no more than ninety-three days in jail. But, if the defendant takes that same property directly from a person, he is guilty of a felony and subject to potentially ten years in prison. MCL 750.356(5); MCL 750.357. The only logical reason for the great difference in penalties is that a significant danger exists that force will be used, injuring the victim of a larceny from a person. Therefore, the Legislature viewed that crime as involving a substantial risk that physical force will be employed against another. This qualifies it as a specified felony under MCL 750.224f(6)( i ).