Opinion ID: 2049680
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: mcl 750.82; msa 28.277 is only simple assault plus a dangerous weapon

Text: At common law assault and battery were misdemeanors. When codifying the criminal law, the Legislature created a series of more serious or aggravated offenses which did not exist as separate crimes at common law. Although based partly on common-law crimes of assault and battery, some of the aggravated offenses are now felonies. Although the common law created the twin crimes (misdemeanors) of assault and battery, in modern times legislatures everywhere have added the more serious crimes (felonies) of aggravated assaults and batteries (e.g., assault, battery with intent to kill, rob, rape; assault, battery with a dangerous weapon). LaFave & Scott, Criminal Law, § 80, p 603. The 1931 codification, The Michigan Penal Code, contains Chapter XI which lists aggravated assaults. It has remained essentially unchanged to this day. The basis of the offenses listed in Chapter XI is an assault; this is evident from the catchlines and text of the particular sections. The obvious intent of the Legislature is to punish more severely those assaults accompanied by some degree of aggravation, e.g., serious injury, use of a dangerous weapon or a specific intent. Therefore, the basic assault must be established, accompanied by the aggravating circumstances to meet requirements of the particular sections. MCL 750.82; MSA 28.277 requires an assault    with a    dangerous weapon, in other words an assault aggravated by the use of a dangerous weapon. In People v Goolsby, 284 Mich 375; 279 NW 867 (1938), a prosecution for felonious assault with an automobile, the Court said: Construction or interpretation of a penal statute requires consideration of the evil sought to be penalized. The evil, under legislative consideration, was that of assaults, aggravated by use of dangerous weapons. 284 Mich 375, 379. This analysis of the legislative concerns demonstrates that the elements of felonious assault are (1) an assault and (2) employment of a dangerous weapon. In Burk, supra, this Court again listed the elements of felonious assault as an assault with a dangerous weapon without the intent to murder or the intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. The Court said, If defendant assaulted Foster with a dangerous weapon he would be guilty of the offense charged, regardless of his intent to injure him. 238 Mich 485, 489. We conclude that felonious assault is, as the statute states, assault with a dangerous weapon. There is no support for the allegation that the offense requires more than those elements. Simple criminal assault is acknowledged as a general intent crime. [1] In other words, it is only necessary to show an intent to commit an unlawful act to satisfy the intent element of simple assault. Since felonious assault is assault with a dangerous weapon, the intent element of felonious assault is shown by the same type of act, i.e., an intentional unlawful act. There is no specific intent necessary for felonious assault, only the general intent needed for simple assault.