People v. Gould

179 N.W.2d 617, 384 Mich. 71, 1970 Mich. LEXIS 106
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 25, 1970
DocketCalendar 1, Docket 52,389
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 179 N.W.2d 617 (People v. Gould) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Gould, 179 N.W.2d 617, 384 Mich. 71, 1970 Mich. LEXIS 106 (Mich. 1970).

Opinions

Kelly, J.

The Court of Appeals briefly but adequately set forth the facts in its opinion in this case1 in which it reversed the Recorder’s Court jury conviction of defendant Walter Gould, and we quote therefrom (pp 84, 85):

“Defendant and 2 codefendants were charged on 2 counts with armed robbery and carrying concealed weapons. All 3 were convicted by a jury on the second count but on the first count one codefendant was convicted of armed robbery, the other was convicted of simple assault and defendant was convicted of larceny from the person.

“The complainant testified that shortly after midnight on May 11, 1965, 2 men entered the restaurant [74]*74where she was working as a waitress. One of the men had a gun in his hand. After announcing a holdup, the 2 men forced the waitress and her sole customer to lie face down on the floor of another room and proceeded to take about $77 from the cash register and a cigar box and $7 from the wallet of the customer. The men then ran from the restaurant. Another patron, who was entering the restaurant just as the 2 men were fleeing, testified that the men ran to an automobile where a third man was waiting. He could not, however, identify any of the defendants except as to the clothing of one and the color of both.

“The waitress was able to identify one of the codefendants as the man with the gun but was unable to identify his accomplice. The customer who had been in the restaurant corroborated the testimony of the waitress as to the details of the robbery and also identified the man with the gun.

“The police were called and given the details of the robbery, including a description of the men and the car in which they escaped. This information was immediately communicated by police radio to a Detroit police cruiser. Approximately 10 minutes after the robbery, the officers in the police cruiser observed the 3 codefendants in their car and, based on the broadcast information, arrested them. A search of the car uncovered a fully loaded .45 caliber automatic pistol, 2 pairs of brown cloth gloves under the front seat, $40 in bills and $17.50 in change in the glove box. Forty dollars in bills were found in the pocket of one of the codefendants.”

In regard to Count One (armed robbery), the majority opinion of the Court of Appeals stated (pp 86, 87):

“While there is testimony that money was taken from the wallet of the customer who was in the restaurant at the time of the holdup, the criminal information on which defendant was tried alleges [75]*75only the taking of the money from the cash register and cigar box in the presence of the waitress. Because we must confine ourselves to a consideration only of the facts alleged in the information, the only question for our determination is whether the taking of the money from the cash register and cigar box constituted larceny from the person.

“CL 1948, § 750.357 (Stat Ann 1954 Rev § 28.589) provides as follows:

. “ ‘Any person who shall commit the offense of larceny by stealing from the person of another shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not more than 10 years.’ (Emphasis supplied.) There is disagreement as to the proper interpretation to be given the italicized portion of the statute. *4. 1 tS* tF

“LI]t appears that there' are 2 schools of thought on the subject; one requires a taking from the actual person and the other allows a taking of property in the possession and immediate presence of the owner,”

and concluded (p 92):

“The real error occurred when the court charged the jury that they could bring in a conviction of larceny from the person in this case. Under the facts in this case, larceny from the person was not an included offense.”

The dissenting opinion called attention to our Court’s rule that (p 95):

“[T]his Court will not regard as the basis for a new trial or reversal of a conviction any procedural error which does not result in a miscarriage of justice. GCR 1963, 529; CL 1948, § 769.26 [Stat Ann 1954 Rev § 28.1096],”

and stated:

[76]*76“The sole reclining customer, whose wallet was stolen, was not named in the information as was the waitress. Again, as with lack of license, proofs were admitted and a charge was given to the jury-on larceny from the person, but this defect was not mentioned throughout the course of the trial and is raised for the first time on appeal.

“The failure to raise a question in the lower court precludes this Court considering it on appeal. Young v. Morrall (1960), 359 Mich 180, 187; Therrian v. General Laboratories, Inc. (1964), 372 Mich 487, 490.”

For the following reasons we do not agree with the majority opinion of the Court of Appeals that “under the facts in this case, larceny from the person was not an included offense”:

First, we quote with approval from plaintiff’s brief:

“The [Court of Appeals] opinion states, to-wit: “ ‘# * * the criminal information on which defendant was tried alleges only the taking of the money from the cash register and cigar box in the presence of the waitress.’

“Those are not the facts alleged in the information. The waitress, Velva Jane Swain, is the only person named assaulted but it states ‘approximately seventy-seven ($77.00) dollars in lawful money of the United States of America’ was described as taken. Th§ place where taken from was not named. The cash register and cigar box were not named as the place where taken from. The sum named could be construed to include the money (about $7.00) handed to the stickup man by the customer when demanded to remove the money from his wallet and hand it over.

“The information adequately informed the defendant of the crime with which he was charged. The taking from the waitress and the customer were all one continuous action by the holdup men. All par[77]*77ties were present (1) at the same time, (2) at the same place and (3) involved in the same criminal intent.

“There was no objection before or at trial that the acts against the customer were a separate and distinctly chargeable offense. On appeal defendant did not claim in his four allegations of error that the information did not cover all the acts necessary to support a verdict from the jury for larceny from the person.

“The Court of Appeals on its own initiative attacked the information and erroneously construed it to exclude larceny from the person of the customer.”

Second, defendant William Schrader was sentenced by the court to the State Prison of Southern Michigan for a term of not less than 15 years nor more than 30 years with no recommendation, on the count of robbery armed, and this conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in People v. Schrader (1968), 10 Mich App 211 (appeal denied [1969], 382 Mich 768).

The court committed Walter Gould to the State Prison of Southern Michigan for a term of not less than two nor more than ten years on the count of larceny from a person, with no recommendation.

The distinction between accessories before the fact and principals has been abrogated by statute so that one who counsels, aids or abets in the commission of an offense may be tried and convicted as if he had directly committed such offense.2

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
179 N.W.2d 617, 384 Mich. 71, 1970 Mich. LEXIS 106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-gould-mich-1970.