People v. Foster

367 N.W.2d 349, 138 Mich. App. 734
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 6, 1984
DocketDocket No. 69257
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 367 N.W.2d 349 (People v. Foster) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Foster, 367 N.W.2d 349, 138 Mich. App. 734 (Mich. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

Defendant appeals by leave granted from a jury conviction of kidnapping, MCL 750.349; MSA 28.581. She was sentenced to serve a term of 5 to 20 years’ imprisonment.

Defendant was charged with kidnapping Joshua VanDyken on February 29, 1980. VanDyken testified that, as he was walking home from school, defendant grabbed him, threatened him with a knife, and forced him into her house. There, defen[736]*736dant bound VanDyken’s hands and feet. After some time, VanDyken was able to free himself and escape. Defendant was later interviewed by a police officer. During this interview, as testified to by the officer, defendant had explained that she felt that if she took two white boys off the street, held them and called Channel 8, she could reach Minister Louis Forkind, who in turn could be of assistance to two of her sons who were incarcerated.

Defendant testified at the trial and admitted "detaining” VanDyken. On cross-examination, she admitted having picked up VanDyken, having carried him into her house, and having tied his hands and feet. She again stated that she had done this to get in touch with Minister Forkind. Defendant’s theory of the case, presented through her own testimony and that of experts and lay witnesses, was that defendant had been legally insane and mentally ill on February 29, 1980. Defendant was found guilty.

On appeal, defendant first raises a number of issues involving the trial court’s instructions to the jury on the definition of insanity. The trial court twice read CJI 7:8:02A as it existed prior to February, 1983 (CJI 7:8:02A, Supp, 2/83). In its first reading, however, the court instructed the jury that "a person is legally insane if, despite mental illness, that person possesses substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of her conduct or to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law she is charged with violating”. (Emphasis supplied.) The mistaken use of "insane” for "sane” was later corrected when the jury requested that the trial court "define the four verdicts”. We believe that the trial court sufficiently corrected this mistake, especially in light of defense counsel’s failure to object to the error, so that, by itself, this error would not warrant reversal.

[737]*737Defendant argues, however, that this error combined with another error to confuse the jury as to the law on insanity. On both occasions on which the trial court read the jury instructions on insanity, the court read CJI 7:08:02A as it was written at the time of trial. This instruction stated:

"If you have a reasonable doubt as to whether or not the defendant had substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of her conduct or substantial capacity to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law, you must find her not guilty by reason of insanity. Correspondingly, a person is legally sane if, despite mental illness, that person possesses substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of her conduct or to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law she is charged with violating.”

As has been found in a number of cases, this instruction correctly defines legal insanity, but incorrectly defines legal sanity. See People v Gasco, 119 Mich App 143, 145; 326 NW2d 397 (1982), lv den 414 Mich 951 (1982), and cases cited therein. The instruction on legal sanity permits the jury to find defendant criminally responsible if the jury concludes that defendant either knew the difference between right and wrong or could conform her conduct to the requirements of the law. However, in Michigan, a criminal defendant is sane only if she is shown to satisfy both requirements, i.e., she possesses substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of her conduct and to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law. People v Martin, 386 Mich 407, 418; 192 NW2d 215 (1971); People v Morris, 92 Mich App 747, 749; 285 NW2d 446 (1979), lv den 408 Mich 919 (1980).

Generally, where both correct and incorrect instructions are given, this Court will presume that

[738]*738the jury followed the incorrect charge. People v Pace, 102 Mich App 522, 535; 302 NW2d 216 (1980) However, in People v Crawford, 89 Mich App 30; 279 NW2d 560 (1979), held in abeyance (on other grounds) 414 Mich 876 (1982), and People v Ritsema, 105 Mich App 602; 307 NW2d 380 (1981) , panels of this Court found that where CJI 7:08:02A was given without objection by the defendants, manifest injustice did not result. Plaintiff urges us to follow these cases, while defendant argues that People v Gasco, supra, in which the Court found reversible error despite the failure to object, represents the better reasoned approach. After carefully reviewing the record, we find that People v Crawford, supra, is directly applicable to the facts of this case, and we therefore affirm on this ground.

As in the cases mentioned above, there was no objection to the erroneous instruction. Thus, this Court will only reverse if it finds manifest injustice. People v Neumann, 35 Mich App 193; 192 NW2d 345 (1971). In this case, unlike the situation in Gaseo, the facts strongly suggest that the instructional error did not contribute to the guilty verdict. The primary factor, as in Crawford, is the fact that the trial court’s instructions required the jury to determine whether or not defendant was guilty but mentally ill before the jury could find defendant guilty. In this case, the court instructed the jury to first decide whether or not the prosecution had proven that defendant was not mentally ill. If the jury found that the prosecution had proven this, the jury was to decide whether defendant was innocent or guilty. If, however, the jury concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove that defendant was not mentally ill, the jury was to consider if defendant was legally insane. If the jury decided that defendant was not legally insane, [739]*739it was then to consider whether or not defendant was guilty but mentally ill. Thus, the jury could only have found defendant guilty under these instructions if it concluded that the prosecution had proven defendant was not mentally ill or if it had decided that defendant was not even guilty but mentally ill. Although mental illness and insanity are separate defenses with different consequences, a finding of insanity must necessarily include a finding of mental illness:

"The very definition of legal insánity contained in MCL 768.21a; MSA 28.1044(1), refers to the term 'mental illness’. Insanity by definition is an extreme of mental illness. When a person’s mental illness reaches that extreme, the law provides that criminal responsibility does not attach. To put it alternatively, the statutes provide that all insane people are mentally ill but not all mentally ill people are insane.” People v Marlin Smith, 119 Mich App 91, 95-96; 326 NW2d 434 (1982), quoting People v Fultz, 111 Mich App 587, 590; 314 NW2d 702 (1981).

We therefore conclude that defendant was not prejudiced by the erroneous instruction;

Other factors also distinguish this case from Gaseo. In Gaseo, the defense psychiatric witness acknowledged that he believed the defendant could distinguish right from wrong, but opined, however, that the defendant could not conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.

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Related

People v. Federico
381 N.W.2d 819 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1985)

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Bluebook (online)
367 N.W.2d 349, 138 Mich. App. 734, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-foster-michctapp-1984.