Court Opinion

ID: 9732743
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:33:35.674517+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:32.508695
License: Public Domain

R. B. Burns, P. J.
(dissenting). Defendant was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder. MCLA 750.316; MSA 28.548.
The defendant claims the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury concerning the impact of intoxication.
In People v Lynch, 47 Mich App 8; 208 NW2d 656 (1973), this Court held that murder is a crime which requires a specific intent.
The Supreme Court in People v Crittle, 390 Mich 367, 374; 212 NW2d 196, 199 (1973), stated:
"These various rules all have one thing in common. They refer to a capacity standard. Their test is not Justice Cooley's — '[T]he crime cannot have been committed when the intent did not exist.’ Their test is rather 'the crime cannot have been committed when the intent could not exist’. It is obviously a different standard and not to be followed.”
In the present case the trial court used the capacity standard, to wit: "at the time of the alleged offense was capable of forming a willful * * * ; he was so deeply intoxicated as to be incapable * * * ; that he cannot form an intent * * * ; that it was impossible for him * * * .”
I would reverse and remand for a new trial.