Court Opinion

ID: 9725577
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 11:54:15.920076+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:16.810176
License: Public Domain

V. J. Brennan, J.
(dissenting). I respectfully dissent. The facts of this case are that defendant stole four socket sets worth approximately $12.95 from a drug store. In short, defendant was guilty of shoplifting. I have consistently adhered to the position that, under such undisputed facts, the *658prosecutor abuses his discretion when he overcharges a shoplifter with larceny in a building, a potential four-year felony conviction, rather than with larceny under $100, a 90-day misdemeanor. People v CarMichael, 86 Mich App 418; 272 NW2d 667 (1978), lv den 406 Mich 949 (1979), People v Evans (V. J. Brennan, J., dissenting), 94 Mich App 4, 11; 287 NW2d 608 (1979), People v Hart (V. J. Brennan, J., dissenting), 98 Mich App 273, 276; 296 NW2d 235 (1980). It was not the intent of the Legislature to have the statute prohibiting larceny in a building applied in a shoplifting case. Petty shoplifting, no matter how frequently performed, does not amount to a felony. The penalties for shoplifting, as prescribed by the Legislature, are deemed to be sufficient deterrence and punishment. It is an abuse of prosecutorial discretion to elevate a 90-day misdemeanor into a four-year felony. Hopefully the Supreme Court will soon speak to this issue. Until then, I would reverse and remand for a reduction of the charge.