Court Opinion

ID: 9847935
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:10:08.053775+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:47.966657
License: Public Domain

V. J. Brennan, J.
(dissenting). The defendant was charged with the crime of felonious assault on police officer William Griffin. MCLA 750.82; MSA 28.277. He was convicted of attempted felonious assault in a one-day jury trial and appeals.
Early in the morning of August 4, 1972, two police officers, while on patrol in the area of John R and Erskine Streets in the city of Detroit, were flagged down by Ross Mitchell, Jr., who complained that he had just been approached and robbed. He pointed out the defendant, who was about a half block away, as his assailant. The police thereupon approached the defendant, noticed a weapon by his side, and ordered him to drop it. Instead of complying with these directions, the defendant raised the gun to his side and leveled it first at Officer Phelsey, then at Officer Griffin. Defendant then lowered his shotgun, threw it to the curb, and hid behind a trash container.
*691At the trial, Officer Griffin identified people’s exhibit 1 as the sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun held by the defendant. He also identified three shells taken from the gun and three shells taken from the defendant’s pocket.
Defendant presented no witnesses.
The trial judge informed both the defense and prosecuting attorneys that the jury would be instructed on attempt. Neither objected. The instructions were given and the jury charged that they could find the defendant guilty of felonious assault, attempted felonious assault, or not guilty. Again, neither objected. The jury found defendant guilty of attempted felonious assault.
My colleagues say that defendant’s conviction must be reversed because there is no such crime as attempted felonious assault. I respectfully disagree with this position. The record in this case clearly reveals that there was more than ample evidence presented to support a conviction of the greater charge, felonious assault. The defendant was identified by the police as the man holding the weapon. After being ordered to stop by the police and to drop his weapon, the defendant turned toward the officers and leveled his shotgun at them. He then dropped it behind a trash receptacle while retreating. Who is to say whether the jury’s verdict was the product of a compromise or not? One thing is certain, however, the defendant definitely received a break getting the lesser verdict.
I see no harm in allowing this conviction to stand. No objection was raised by the defendant or his counsel to the lesser included charge nor did they object to the verdict. Defendant, in all respects, received a fair trial.
Other jurisdictions which have considered the issue decided by my colleagues have reached vary*692ing conclusions. See 1 Wharton’s Criminal Law and Procedure (Anderson ed 1957) § 72; Perkins, An Analysis of Assault and Attempts to Assault, 47 Minn L Rev 71 (1962). Prudence demands that in the future trial courts should refrain from charging on an attempted assault situation. To reverse this conviction solely on that basis, however, seems entirely unnecessary. The overwhelming nature of the evidence presented at the trial together with the fact that no objection was raised to the charge or verdict below would place this complaint of error in a nonreversible status.
Therefore, I would affirm.