Court Opinion

ID: 9575521
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:14:32.808686+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:48:18.867075
License: Public Domain

J. B. Sullivan, J.
Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of assault with intent to commit murder, MCL 750.83; MSA 28.278, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). He was sentenced to prison terms of from forty to eighty years on the underlying offense, plus two years on the felony-firearm offense, and now appeals as of right.
The evidence produced at trial established that, on August 28, 1985, defendant fired a handgun from a passing car approximately six times into a group of youths near Pershing High School in Detroit. Two of the shots struck one of the youths, who eventually recovered.
Defendant had been a student at Pershing, where he was entering the twelfth grade. Several of the youths in the group shot at testified they *119knew defendant from school and, of these, some positively identified defendant as the assailant. Throughout the trial, defendant maintained he had been misidentified, which was his only defense.
Defendant first argues that the trial court committed error when, in instructing the jury on the underlying offense, it omitted from CJI 17:2:01, paragraph 5, the clause: "under circumstances that did not justify, excuse or mitigate the crime.” Defendant maintains that this omission deprived the jury of knowing that it could consider circumstances which justified, excused or mitigated the crime.
A defendant, of course, has the right to have the jury pass on the evidence under proper instructions. People v Lambert, 395 Mich 296, 304; 235 NW2d 338 (1975); People v Bender, 124 Mich App 571, 574; 335 NW2d 85 (1983). However, since defendant failed to object below, this Court will not reverse the verdict absent manifest injustice, e.g., where the omitted instruction pertains to a basic and controlling issue. People v Trammell, 70 Mich App 351, 354; 247 NW2d 311 (1976).
We are not persuaded that the omitted instruction pertained to a basic and controlling issue. The court did in fact instruct on all the elements of the offense of which defendant was convicted. The omitted language did not pertain to an element of the crime, but, rather, pertained to certain affirmative defenses which were not at issue below.
The Use Note to the instruction states, "[wjhere appropriate, give special instructions on justification or excuse (see Chapter 16), and on mitigation (see CJI 17:2:02), and transferred intent (see Chapter 16).” (Emphasis added.) Defendant did not maintain below that he committed the offense under justifiable or mitigating circumstances. *120Rather, he denied committing the crime altogether. Consequently, we find no manifest injustice in our refusal to reverse the verdict.
Defendant also maintains that his sentence should shock the conscience of this Court. People v Coles, 417 Mich 523; 339 NW2d 440 (1983). In imposing the sentence, the court articulated its consideration of the wanton and lawless character of defendant’s act, defendant’s intent to kill, and the need to deter others from committing a similar offense. These are appropriate objectives for a court to consider when imposing a sentence. See People v Ross, 145 Mich App 483; 378 NW2d 517 (1985).
Defendant nonetheless maintains that the judge ignored the lack of a criminal record and, consequently, gave no consideration to his allegedly high potential for rehabilitation. We disagree. In articulating its reasons, the court specifically acknowledged that defendant did "not formerly (have) problems as a juvenile” and was performing nominal work at the time of the incident. Although the court stated that such factors were in defendant’s favor, it nonetheless permissibly placed greater emphasis on the other stated considerations. We do not believe that the sentence is one which "far exceeds what all reasonable persons would perceive to be an appropriate social response to the crime committed and the criminal who committed it.” 417 Mich 542-543.
Affirmed.
P. R. Joslyn, J., concurred.