Court Opinion

ID: 9519950
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:28:17.753977+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:45:23.121496
License: Public Domain

T. M. Burns, J.
(dissenting). The operable language of the felony-firearm statute states that a person "who carries or has in his possession” a firearm at the time that he commits or attempts to commit a felony is guilty of a felony. MCL 750.227b(l); MSA 28.424(2)(1). Statutes that define criminal acts must be strictly construed. People v Hall, 391 Mich 175, 189; 215 NW2d 166 (1974). Therefore, I concur in the opinions of this Court in People v Powell, 90 Mich App 273; 282 NW2d 803 (1979), and People v Walter Johnson, 85 Mich App 654; 272 NW2d 605 (1978), which held that the felony-firearm statute requires that a defendant personally carry or have in his possession a firearm in order to be found guilty thereunder. I would hold that defendant cannot be convicted of violating the felony-firearm statute as an aider and abettor.