People v. Allen

212 N.W.2d 21, 390 Mich. 383, 1973 Mich. LEXIS 150

• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Decided: November 21, 1973
• Docket: 3; Docket 54,341
• Status: Published

Opinion

Per Curiam.

The question presented by this appeal is whether the corpus delicti of felony murder MCLA 750.316; MSA 28.548 may be established without evidence independent of the accused person’s confession of the essential element that distinguishes the offense of first-degree murder from second-degree murder.

For the reasons set forth in the dissenting opinion of Judge (now Justice) Levin in the Court of Appeals, 39 Mich App 483, 494; 197 NW2d 874 (1972), we hold it may not.

We adopt the opinion of Justice Levin as the opinion of this Court.

Reversed, the judgment of conviction is modified to reduce the offense of which the defendant stands convicted to murder in the second degree and the defendant is remanded for resentencing on second-degree murder.

T. M. Kavanagh, C. J., and T. E. Brennan, T. G. Kavanagh, Swainson, Williams, and M. S. Coleman, JJ., concurred. Levin, J., did not sit in this case.