People v. Langworthy

331 N.W.2d 171, 416 Mich. 630
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 23, 1982
DocketDocket Nos. 65320, 65480. (Calendar Nos. 4, 5)
StatusPublished
Cited by95 cases

This text of 331 N.W.2d 171 (People v. Langworthy) 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. Langworthy, 331 N.W.2d 171, 416 Mich. 630 (Mich. 1982).

Opinions

Fitzgerald, C.J.

The common ground of these cases is that, at their trials, both defendants attempted to utilize voluntary intoxication as a defense to charges of crimes which Michigan appellate courts previously have held to be general-intent crimes. Both defendants request this Court to expand the category of specific-intent crimes to include the offenses they were convicted of, i.e., first-degree criminal sexual conduct and second-degree murder, in order to make available to them the defense of voluntary intoxication.

Facts

Defendant Lundy was found guilty but mentally ill of three counts of first-degree criminal sexual [635]*635conduct, MCL 750.520b; MSA 28.788(2), and sentenced to three concurrent life terms. The convictions arose from the October 30, 1978, rape of his adult sister. The crime, carried out with the use of a knife as a threatening weapon, involved three penetrations.

At Lundy’s bench trial, the major issue centered on defendant’s mental state at the time of the commission of the crime. His defense was predicated upon expert testimony regarding his mental state as well as evidence that he had been sniffing glue and drinking alcohol immediately prior to the crime. The trial court rejected Lundy’s insanity defense as well as his intoxication defense, ruling as to the latter that first-degree criminal sexual conduct is a general-intent crime.

The Court of Appeals affirmed in a memorandum opinion.

Defendant Langworthy was convicted of second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; MSA 28.549, and was sentenced to 60 to 90 years in prison.

After a bench trial, the trial judge found that on the night of November 5, 1976, defendant, Roy Schipani, and Alan Parker were together indulging in alcohol and drugs in a house in Ypsilanti. Parker left sometime during the early morning hours to purchase cigarettes at a gas station. There he met the decedent, William Wedge, who returned to the house with Parker.

The trial judge further found that Wedge was intoxicated and offensive and that Wedge made certain comments which irritated defendant. Wedge then passed out and the three others dis[636]*636cussed robbing Wedge. Defendant suggested that they "blow him away” and then he turned up the stereo, went to a closet where he got a rifle and shot Wedge in the mouth and in the chest.

The trial judge determined that the defendant was not mentally ill or legally insane at the time of the commission of the crime. He found that defendant had taken at least 400 milligrams of Valium and some codeine and Nembutal and had been drinking Southern Comfort and Coke at the time of the crime. The trial judge concluded:

"However, the court finds that as a result of the drugs and alcohol his judgment and his appreciation of the consequence of his actions was grossly impaired.
"That he committed the act knowingly with malice but 'without a real concept of the consequence of the act.’ That he had a conscious intent to commit the crime but that his judgment and appreciation of the consequence of his act was grossly impaired as the result of the drugs and alcohol.”

The Court of Appeals affirmed in an unpublished opinion per curiam, ruling, inter alia, that second-degree murder is not a specific-intent crime and that, therefore, voluntary intoxication was not a defense.

A. The Voluntary Intoxication Defense

Every jurisdiction in this country recognizes the general principle that voluntary intoxication is not any excuse for crime.1 This is in accord with the common-law rule dating back to the sixteenth [637]*637century which allowed no concession to a defendant because of his intoxication.2 However, by the early nineteenth century, the English courts began to fashion a doctrine to mitigate the harshness and rigidity of the traditional rule.3 The doctrine, which has come to be known as the exculpatory rule, was stated by Judge Stephen as follows:

"[Although you cannot take drunkenness as any excuse for crime, yet when the crime is such that the intention of the party committing it is one of its constituent elements, you may look at the fact that a man was in drink in considering whether he formed the intention necessary to constitute the crime.”4

It is said that the theory behind this exculpatory doctrine is that it does not hold that drunkenness will excuse crime; rather, it inquires whether the very crime which the law defines has in fact been committed.5 Almost every state, by statute or by common law, has adopted the exculpatory rule,6 and Michigan is no exception.7_

[638]*638"While it is true that drunkenness cannot excuse crime, it is equally true that when a certain intent is a necessary element in a crime, the crime cannot have been committed when the intent did not exist.” People v Walker, 38 Mich 156, 158 (1878). See, also, People v Crittle, 390 Mich 367; 212 NW2d 196 (1973).

The applicability of the exculpatory rule rests entirely on the determination whether the offense involved is categorized as a general- or specific-intent crime.

"It is important in this decision to emphasize that intoxication may only negative the existence of specific intent. Examination of the cases reveals that where the rule was applied, it was done so in cases where the crime charged also involved a specific intent.” People v Guillett, 342 Mich 1, 6; 69 NW2d 140 (1955). See, also, Roberts v People, 19 Mich 401 (1870).

Thus, if a crime is determined to require only a general intent, the defendant’s voluntary intoxication during the commission of an offense may not be asserted as a defense to the existence of the mental element of that crime.

The general intent-specific intent dichotomy arose as a compromise between the perceived need to afford some relief to the intoxicated offender whose moral culpability was considered less than that of a sober person who committed the same offense and the view that a person who voluntarily becomes drunk and commits a crime should not escape the consequences.8 Although the rule seems [639]*639logical on the surface, it has proven to be far from logical in application. While specific intent can easily be defined as "a particular criminal intent beyond the act done”* **9 (whereas general intent is the intent simply to do the physical act), the ease of stating the definition belies the difficulty of applying it in practice. In order to appreciate the problem, one need only note the divergence of opinion among the jurisdictions as to which crimes require a specific intent and, therefore, to which crimes the exculpatory rule applies.10

It has been noted that the law with respect to voluntary intoxication and criminal responsibility has shown little tendency to change or develop despite advances socially and medically in this area;11 and, we might add, despite strong criticism from treatise writers,12 law review commentators,13 case law,14

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Bluebook (online)
331 N.W.2d 171, 416 Mich. 630, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-langworthy-mich-1982.