PEOPLE v REESE
Docket No. 142913
Supreme Court of Michigan
Argued January 11, 2012. Decided May 14, 2012.
491 Mich 127
Docket No. 142913. Argued January 11, 2012 (Calendar No. 7). Decided May 14, 2012.
Verdell Reese, III, was charged in the Wayne Circuit Court with second-degree murder,
In an opinion by Chief Justice YOUNG, joined by Justices MARKMAN, MARY BETH KELLY, and ZAHRA, the Supreme Court held:
The doctrine of imperfect self-defense does not exist in Michigan law as a freestanding defense that mitigates murder to voluntary manslaughter. To distinguish the two crimes, the finder of fact must determine whether the prosecution proved the element of malice, although factual circumstances that have been characterized as imperfect self-defense may negate the malice element of second-degree murder.
1. Michigan statutory law proscribes both murder and manslaughter, but does not define either term. Because both crimes
2. At common law, self-defense could justify an otherwise unlawful homicide, but only if the use of force was necessary. While there is no duty to retreat in one‘s own home or from a sudden, violent attack, a voluntary participant in mutual combat has a duty to retreat to a safer place before resorting to deadly force.
3. Previous decisions of the Court of Appeals have applied the doctrine of imperfect self-defense to situations in which a defendant would have been entitled to claim self-defense had he or she not been the initial aggressor or at fault for provoking the danger. This doctrine was not developed until 1882, which postdated the Michigan Legislature‘s 1846 codification of the common-law crimes of murder and manslaughter and their attendant defenses. When Michigan codified murder and manslaughter, the circumstances that the common law recognized as negating the element of malice were the presence of provocation and heat of passion; the common law did not recognize the doctrine of imperfect self-defense. Once the Legislature had codified the common-law offenses of murder and manslaughter with their attendant defenses and mitigations, Michigan courts were foreclosed from altering what the Legislature adopted. Accordingly, there is no independent defense of imperfect self-defense in Michigan law.
4. The evidence that defendant had participated in a shootout with the victim from which he did not retreat was sufficient for a fact-finder to conclude that defendant was guilty of voluntary manslaughter and that defendant was not entitled to self-defense. Moreover, the trial court‘s factual findings regarding the elements of voluntary manslaughter and defendant‘s self-defense claim were not clearly erroneous. Accordingly, the trial court‘s verdict must be affirmed, and defendant is not entitled to a new trial on the ground that the evidence was insufficient.
Trial court‘s verdict affirmed; Court of Appeals’ judgment reversed in part and vacated in part; case remanded to the Court of Appeals for consideration of remaining issue.
1. HOMICIDE — SECOND-DEGREE MURDER — MANSLAUGHTER — MALICE.
Second-degree murder is a death caused by an act of the defendant with malice and without justification or excuse; manslaughter requires the same elements with the exception of malice; voluntary manslaughter occurs when the defendant killed in the heat of passion, the passion was caused by adequate provocation, and there was no lapse of time during which a reasonable person could have controlled his or her passions; provocation is not an element of voluntary manslaughter but is instead a circumstance that negates the presence of malice (
2. HOMICIDE — SELF-DEFENSE — IMPERFECT RIGHT OF SELF-DEFENSE — MALICE.
The doctrine of imperfect self-defense does not exist in Michigan law as a freestanding defense that mitigates murder to voluntary manslaughter; to distinguish the two crimes, the finder of fact must determine whether the prosecution proved the presence of malice, which is an element of murder but not manslaughter; factual circumstances that have been characterized as imperfect self-defense, however, may negate the malice element of second-degree murder (
Bill Schuette, Attorney General, John J. Bursch, Solicitor General, Kym L. Worthy, Prosecuting Attorney, and Timothy A. Baughman, Chief of Research, Training and Appeals, for the people.
State Appellate Defender (by Valerie R. Newman) for defendant.
YOUNG, C.J. We granted the prosecution‘s application for leave to appeal to resolve whether Michigan law recognizes the doctrine of “imperfect self-defense” as an independent theory that automatically mitigates crimi-
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Defendant, Verdell Reese, III, was charged with second-degree murder2 and, alternatively, voluntary manslaughter3 for the April 2008 death of Leonardo Johnson.4 Defendant waived his right to a jury trial and proceeded to a bench trial in the Wayne Circuit Court.
Long testified that on the evening of April 17-18, 2008, defendant and a man named John Smith (also known as J.T.) arrived at the Johnson/Long residence. After they had been at the house for a couple of hours, defendant and another friend, D, drove to a nearby store to purchase liquor. While defendant and D were at the store, Lakeshia Williams, who was Johnson and Long‘s cousin, left the house with Smith and walked toward the east, where she lived.
Williams testified that, after she left the house, she saw Johnson approach from the east. Once Smith greeted Johnson, Williams heard two gunshots as defendant‘s car drove past them. She heard the first gunshot come from the driver‘s side of the car, but testified that she did not know the origin of the second gunshot. Smith placed himself between Williams and the street and, after the second gunshot, ran back to Johnson and Long‘s house. Johnson also continued on his way to his house, while Williams continued to her house and told her father about the gunshots she heard.5
Once the shooting ended, Johnson ran across the street and through a vacant lot, while defendant remained in front of the house. A police officer responding to the shooting found Johnson‘s body facedown on the driveway of a house one block north of the shootings. Johnson‘s .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol was nearby and contained a live round that had jammed in the chamber. The medical examiner testified that Johnson had been shot twice and that the fatal bullet passed through his right arm into his chest.
Defendant had been shot in the right leg. Long and Smith drove defendant to the hospital in defendant‘s car, but not before Long put defendant‘s gun in the house. Another officer was dispatched to the hospital where defendant was admitted and took a brief statement from defendant.6 Defendant “was very vague [and] did not want to give any information about what happened.” However, defendant did say that “he was standing outside by the car, heard several shots and was struck by several shots” before being taken to the hospital. Defendant claimed to know neither the person who fired the shots nor where the shots had come from.
At the bench trial, defense counsel did not call any witnesses and argued that defendant did not shoot Johnson or, alternatively, that defendant shot Johnson in self-defense. The trial court made its findings of fact and issued its ruling from the bench. First, the trial court rejected defense counsel‘s claim that defendant did not shoot and kill Johnson: “There‘s no question... [that] Mr. Johnson shot at Mr. Reese and Mr. Reese shot at Mr. Johnson, okay. So to suggest that Mr. Reese never shot Mr. Johnson is a mischaracterization of what was proffered by way of evidence here.” The trial court theorized that the shootings occurred because defendant and Johnson “[couldn‘t] settle their scores in a diplomatic or a professional or responsible way.”
Addressing the defendant‘s alternative claim of self-defense, the trial court explained that the general rule of self-defense in Michigan is that “one... may use deadly force in self-defense if he ... honestly and reasonably believes that he is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that deadly force is necessary to prevent such a death or great bodily harm.” The trial court emphasized that “the touchstone of any claim of self-defense as justified for homicide is a necessity....” Thus, the trial court determined that “whether or not the Defendant himself was the original aggressor... [is] key to the evaluation of the self-defense defense.”
The trial court acquitted defendant of second-degree murder, explaining:
Is this homicide murder in the second degree? It is not. I don‘t think the People have proven [their] case beyond a reasonable doubt, but what the Court has found is that in this case there‘s no question that the victim shot at Mr. Reese.
The trial court then concluded that defendant was the initial aggressor in the confrontation:
The fact of the matter is, is that Mr. Reese was the one that fired the first shot as Mr. Johnson is walking back to his house and I agree with the prosecutor. This is Mr. Johnson‘s house, not Mr. Reese‘s house and Mr. Reese knew that if he‘d come to that house there would be trouble....
That being stated the evidence shows clearly the Defendant shot out of the car the first shot. That was verified by Miss Williams. She saw that. The Court can use circumstantial evidence and you [defendant] were in the car. This is verified by Mr. Long who says you got out of the car and as you‘re walking up, so, too, is Mr. Johnson and at that point this is where the evidence parts ways, who fired the first shot.
This is where the imperfect self-defense comes in and that is clearly that you were the aggressor. The Court finds, Mr. Reese, that you were the aggressor in this case; that you fired the first shot prompting Mr. Johnson to be on guard, prompting Mr. Johnson to pull his weapon on you, prompting you then to pull your weapon on him and no question, this was a shoot-out.
After identifying this as a case involving imperfect self-defense, the trial court applied the elements of manslaughter to the evidence in this case:
The Court finds the prosecution has proven, first, that the Defendant caused the death of Mr. Johnson; that is, that Mr. Johnson died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.
Second, the Defendant had one of these three states of mind; he either intended to kill Mr. Johnson or he intended to do great bodily harm to Mr. Johnson and pumping five rounds into somebody is pretty much evidence that you intended to at least, at the very least, do great bodily harm to Mr. Johnson or knowingly created a very high risk of death or great harm bodily harm knowing that death or such harm would be the likely result of your actions and, third, the Defendant caused the death without legal justification.
The Court find[s] you to be the aggressor here. You‘re the one [who] shot the first shot. You‘re the one [who] scared Mr. Johnson into believing that now he had to defend himself....
Mr. Johnson... said, [“]what‘s up with that[?“] The Court infers from that statement that he‘s wondering, what the heck you doing shooting a gun off by his house, and the Court finds that you shot him....
* * *
The Court finds that the Defendant did not act in lawful self-defense and the People have proven that he did not act in lawful self-defense because he was the initial aggressor.
He didn‘t back off. He didn‘t say, okay, it didn‘t mean anything. Hey, Mr. Johnson[,]... I didn‘t mean anything....
* * *
The Court‘s going to find the Defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter, homicide manslaughter for the reasons stated on this record.7
The trial court subsequently sentenced defendant, as a third-offense habitual offender, to 8 to 30 years’ imprisonment for the manslaughter conviction.8 Immediately before sentencing, defense counsel moved for a new trial on the basis of potential testimony by Smith. Defendant renewed this request in a postsentence pro se motion for a new trial on the basis of counsel‘s failure to call Smith as a witness. The trial court denied both motions in a subsequent written opinion.
On appeal, defendant claimed that the prosecution had failed to prove that he was the initial aggressor and that, therefore, he had a valid self-defense claim. Second, defendant claimed that the trial court had abused its discretion by denying his posttrial motions for a new trial.
The Court of Appeals vacated defendant‘s conviction for voluntary manslaughter and remanded for a new trial on the basis of defendant‘s first claim of error.9 The
The evidence indicates the initial firing of two shots in an unknown direction and by an unknown individual before the face-to-face confrontation between Reese and Johnson. Only the first shot was attributed to Reese based on Williams indicating she heard the shot and assumed it was from his vehicle. Williams could not place whether the shooter was in the driver‘s seat or back seat of the vehicle. There is no testimony or evidence to identify who fired the second shot or where it originated. Based on Johnson‘s continued ambulation toward Reese and Long‘s house and engaging Reese in conversation, albeit very briefly, it seems reasonable to assume that Johnson did not feel threatened or intimidated by this random, preceding gunfire, which requires us to question the trial court‘s labeling of Reese as the initial aggressor to justify the use of imperfect self-defense to convict him of voluntary manslaughter.11
The Court of Appeals criticized the trial court‘s characterization of defendant‘s intent to harm Johnson as “problematic on a number of levels.”12 First, the panel claimed that there was a “lack of evidence that Reese personally fired five shots during the events involved” because “[t]he medical examiner identified only two wounds to Johnson.”13
Second, the panel claimed that the trial court‘s ruling “would contraindicate the applicability of imperfect self-defense,” given the trial court‘s conclusion that
Third, the panel claimed that an “insurmountable” difficulty in the trial court‘s ruling was that the trial court had “failed to address Reese‘s intent at the crucial point in time — the initial provocation.”16 The panel then concluded that the evidence did not support the assumption that defendant acted with the required intent during the initial provocation because even if defendant fired the initial shots before the deadly confrontation, “there is no evidence that he aimed his weapon at Johnson” and the only evidence regarding defendant‘s intent was “some cryptic comments between Johnson and Reese before they exchanged fire....”17
Finally, the panel criticized the trial court for failing to account for the “delay between the first shots and any further aggression,” which the panel speculated was a sufficient length of time for defendant to “withdr[a]w from the conflict” and for Johnson to “initiate a new conflict.”18
In the end, the Court of Appeals concluded that it could not “state with any confidence that either the factual findings or the conclusions of law by the trial court are sufficient to sustain Reese‘s conviction for voluntary man-
This Court granted the prosecution‘s application for leave to appeal and ordered the parties to address “whether the doctrine of imperfect self-defense can mitigate second-degree murder to voluntary manslaughter and, if so, whether the doctrine was appropriately applied to the facts of this case by the Wayne Circuit Court.”20
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
Whether the doctrine of imperfect self-defense exists under Michigan law is a question of law, which this Court reviews de novo.21 In examining the sufficiency of the evidence, “this Court reviews the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecutor to determine whether any trier of fact could find the essential elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”22 A trial court‘s findings of fact may not be set aside unless they are clearly erroneous.23 A ruling is clearly erroneous “if the reviewing court is left with a definite and firm conviction that the trial court made a mistake.”24
Because the trial court concluded that the doctrine of imperfect self-defense applied to this case, and because the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court‘s verdict on the ground that the trial court had misapplied the doctrine to the facts of the case, this case presents this Court with the question whether the doctrine of imperfect self-defense exists under Michigan law. Although the Court of Appeals has adopted and applied the doctrine of imperfect self-defense,25 this Court has neither adopted it nor defined its scope and applicability.
A. MICHIGAN LAW OF HOMICIDE
In analyzing the doctrine of imperfect self-defense to determine whether it can mitigate second-degree murder to voluntary manslaughter, we follow the foundational principles of interpretation that this Court has outlined regarding Michigan‘s law of homicide:
Because Michigan‘s homicide statutes proscribe “murder” without providing a particularized definition of the elements of that offense or its recognized defenses, we are required to look to the common law at the time of codification for guidance. See
Const 1963, art 3, § 7 ; People v Couch, 436 Mich 414, 418-421; 461 NW2d 683 (1990). Where a statute employs the general terms of the common law to describe an offense, courts will construe the statutory crime by looking to common-law definitions. See Couch, [436 Mich] at 419, quoting Morissette v United States, 342 US 246, 263; 72 S Ct 240; 96 L Ed 288 (1952):” ‘[W]here [a legislature] borrows terms of art in which are accumulated the legal tradition and meaning of centuries of practice, it presumably knows and adopts the cluster of ideas that were attached to each borrowed word in the
body of learning from which it was taken and the meaning its use will convey to the judicial mind unless otherwise instructed. In such case, absence of contrary direction may be taken as satisfaction with widely accepted definitions, not as a departure from them. ’ ”
The criminal law, as defined at common law and codified by legislation, “should not be tampered with except by legislation,” and this rule applies with equal force to common-law terms encompassed in the defenses to common-law crimes. In re Lamphere, 61 Mich 105, 109; 27 NW 882 (1886).26
When the Legislature codifies a common law offense and thereby adopts the common law defenses to that offense, this Court is “proscribed from expanding or contracting the defense as it existed at common law.”27
For example, as early as 1858, this Court defined “murder” as when “a person of sound memory and discretion unlawfully kills any reasonable creature in being, in the peace of the state, with malice prepense or aforethought, either express or implied” and stated that “[t]his, the common law definition, is still retained in our statute.”30 The malice enshrined in the common law understanding of murder “did not mean deliberate and calculating malice, but only malice existing at any time before the act so as to be its moving cause or concomitant.”31 Applying this traditional understanding of com-
The common law distinguished manslaughter from murder by the absence of malice. Blackstone defined manslaughter as “the unlawful killing of another without malice either express or implied” and further classified manslaughter as being committed “either voluntarily, upon a sudden heat; or involuntarily, but in the commission of some unlawful act.”33
This Court explained the crime of voluntary manslaughter further:
Manslaughter may in some cases be intentional. In such a case it differs from murder because it is provoked. It is not justifiable to take life under provocation, and yet the provocation may be serious enough to deprive the intentional killing of its malicious character, so that it is neither murder on the one hand nor justifiable or excusable on the other. It is a very serious crime, though not reckoned as done with malice.34
In People v Mendoza, this Court recently reiterated this common law distinction between murder and manslaughter:
[T]o show voluntary manslaughter, one must show that the defendant killed in the heat of passion, the passion was caused by adequate provocation, and there was not a lapse of time during which a reasonable person could control his passions. See People v Pouncey, 437 Mich 382, 389; 471
qualities are not changed, but (except in special cases) the division is chiefly between cases where the malice aforethought is deliberate and where it is not.” Id.
NW2d 346 (1991). Significantly, provocation is not an element of voluntary manslaughter. See People v Moore, 189 Mich App 315, 320; 472 NW2d 1 (1991). Rather, provocation is the circumstance that negates the presence of malice. [People v] Scott, [6 Mich 287, 295 (1859)].35
Accordingly, Mendoza concluded that “the elements of voluntary manslaughter are included in murder, with murder possessing the single additional element of malice.”36
B. SELF-DEFENSE AND IMPERFECT SELF-DEFENSE
Traditionally, the common law of self-defense justifies an otherwise unlawful homicide by allowing “a man [to] protect himself from an assault, or the like, in the course of a sudden broil or quarrel, by killing him who assaults him.”37 However, Blackstone reiterated that “[t]his right of natural defence does not imply a right of attacking: for, instead of attacking one another for injuries past or impending, men need only have recourse to the proper tribunals of justice.”38
This understanding of self-defense is consistent with the fact that this Court from a very early time characterized self-defense in terms of necessity: “Human life is not to be lightly disregarded, and the law will not permit it to be destroyed unless upon urgent occasion.”39 This Court‘s decision in Riddle reiterated that “the touchstone of any claim of self-defense, as a justification for homicide, is necessity.”40 Riddle also explained that while there is no duty to retreat from
The Texas Court of Appeals appears to have been the first appellate court to define a separate doctrine of “imperfect self-defense” as it is constituted today, which it did in an 1882 decision.44 In Reed v State, the defendant was convicted of second-degree murder for killing his paramour‘s husband, apparently while the defendant was in flagrante delicto with the victim‘s wife. The defendant claimed that he acted in self-defense because the husband drew his weapon upon discovering the defendant with his wife. Nevertheless, the trial court concluded that the defendant was not entitled to self-defense in light of the fact that the
A perfect right of self-defense can only obtain and avail where the party pleading it acted from necessity, and was wholly free from wrong or blame in occasioning or producing the necessity which required his action. If, however, he was in the wrong, — if he was himself violating or in the act of violating the law, — and on account of his own wrong was placed in a situation wherein it became necessary for him to defend himself against an attack made upon himself which was superinduced or created by his own wrong, then the law justly limits his right of self-defense, and regulates it according to the magnitude of his own wrong.47
Thus, if someone is physically attacked when committing a felony, “and in resisting such attack he slay[s] his assailant, the law would impute the original wrong to the homicide and make it murder.”48 On the other hand, “if the original wrong was or would have been a misdemeanor, then the homicide growing out of or occasioned by it, though in self-defense from an assault made upon him, would be manslaughter under the
In Michigan, the theory of imperfect self-defense first appeared in a footnote to a 1971 Court of Appeals opinion, although the term itself was not used in that opinion:
In general, mitigating circumstances are the commission of the killing in a sudden heat of passion caused by adequate legal provocation. 1 Wharton‘s Criminal Law and Procedure, § 274, p 580 et seq.; Perkins on Criminal Law (2d ed), p 54. Wharton and Perkins say that even where such mitigating circumstances are not present the crime may be manslaughter, not murder, when the actor kills in self-defense but was not entitled to do so under the circumstances, either because he was not free from fault or his belief that he was in danger was not justified.51
Then Judge LEVIN‘S obiter dictum52 remained just that for nine years, until the Court of Appeals’ decision in People v. Springer reversed a second-degree murder conviction on the basis of the defendant‘s “imperfect
After the Court of Appeals’ decision in Springer, several other decisions of the Court of Appeals applied the doctrine of imperfect self-defense to situations in which the defendant was the initial aggressor.55 However, the lead Court of Appeals opinion in People v. Kemp warned that “the inquiry regarding the applicability of the doctrine of imperfect self-defense requires more than just a determination whether defendant was the initial aggressor.”56 Rather, the court must “focus...on ‘the intent with which the accused brought on the quarrel or difficulty’ ” giving rise to lethal force.57 On
Although Judge CONNOR agreed with the panel‘s decision to remand for further trial court proceedings regarding voluntary manslaughter, he criticized the lead opinion‘s emphasis on the doctrine of imperfect self-defense as “counterproductive” in light of the fact that the panel was “only following the longstanding law of voluntary manslaughter in Michigan.”59 Judge CONNOR explained:
In Michigan, the crime of murder is reduced to manslaughter if committed “under the influence of passion or in the heat of blood produced by adequate provocation.” CJI 16:4:02(1). If defendant‘s desire to kill his victim was actually born of the moment, if it was the result of such provocation that would cause a reasonable person to kill in the heat of passion, then his crime is manslaughter, not murder. See People v. Younger, 380 Mich 678, 681-682; 158 NW2d 493 (1968).
I do not believe that the theory of imperfect self-defense adds anything to Michigan‘s traditional notions of self-defense or voluntary manslaughter, and I would not require the trial court to apply the theory of imperfect self-defense in this case.60
Although Judge MICHAEL J. KELLY also concurred in the remand, he too criticized the doctrine of imperfect self-defense, calling it “slippery and undeveloped,” and suggested that this Court take up the issue.61 We do so today.
Under Michigan law, the doctrine of imperfect self-defense does not exist as a freestanding defense that mitigates a murder to manslaughter because it was not recognized as such under the common law at the time the Legislature codified the crimes of murder and manslaughter.
As discussed, the doctrine first appeared in an 1882 Texas decision, postdating the Michigan Legislature‘s 1846 codification of the common law crimes of murder and manslaughter and their attendant defenses. It is significant that the doctrine of imperfect self-defense developed after the Legislature codified the common law crimes of murder and manslaughter, which means that the Legislature could not have codified the doctrine into the murder and manslaughter statutes. In further support of this conclusion, we note that when adopting the doctrine of imperfect self-defense, the Springer panel acknowledged that the doctrine was an innovation in the common law by stating that it ”has been adopted in several jurisdictions....”62 Thus, the
Although we reject the doctrine of imperfect self-defense, many circumstances that involve what the Court of Appeals labeled “imperfect self-defense” can nevertheless provide grounds for a fact-finder to conclude that the prosecution has not proved the malice element that distinguishes murder from manslaughter. However, we emphasize that the operative analysis for the fact-finder is not whether the circumstances involving “imperfect self-defense” exist. Rather, the operative analysis is whether the prosecution has proved the element of malice beyond a reasonable doubt. This focus rightly turns on the actual elements of murder and manslaughter, rather than any label of “imperfect self-defense” as a judicially created shorthand that risks becoming unmoored from the actual element distinguishing the two crimes.
“[T]he elements of voluntary manslaughter are included in murder, with murder possessing the single additional element of malice.”64 Malice itself “evolved from being merely an intent to kill to also evidencing
[The] general rule [is] that all homicide is malicious, and, of course, amounts to murder, unless where justified by the command or permission of the law; excused on the account of accident or self-preservation; or alleviated into manslaughter, by being either the involuntary consequence of some act, not strictly lawful, or (if voluntary), occasioned by some sudden and sufficiently violent provocation.66
This understanding of malice is consistent with this Court‘s 1859 determination that the element of malice is negated when the “direct intent to kill” was caused by “great provocations sufficient to excite the passions beyond the control of reason.”67
This Court‘s Mendoza decision summarized the scope of the mitigating circumstances that the common law traditionally recognized:
[B]oth murder and voluntary manslaughter require a death, caused by defendant, with either an intent to kill, an intent to commit great bodily harm, or an intent to create a very high risk of death or great bodily harm with knowledge that death or great bodily harm was the probable result. However, the element distinguishing murder from manslaughter—malice—is negated by the presence of provocation and heat of passion.68
Additional circumstances—including the label “imperfect self-defense“—were not themselves recognized at common law as negating the element of malice. Because the Legislature chose to codify the common law offenses of murder and manslaughter, thereby including the
IV. APPLICATION
Both the trial court and the Court of Appeals analyzed defendant‘s claim within the context of imperfect self-defense. The Court of Appeals granted defendant relief in the form of a new trial on the manslaughter charge because it determined that the trial court had both misinterpreted the evidence of this case and misapplied the doctrine of imperfect self-defense to the evidence. In light of our holding that the doctrine of imperfect self-defense does not exist as an independent mitigation in Michigan law, we need not review the Court of Appeals’ analysis of the doctrine except as it relates to the Court of Appeals’ application of the facts of this case to the elements of manslaughter.71
The trial court also concluded that the prosecution had proved the third element of manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt—that defendant caused Johnson‘s death with the requisite intent. The Court of Appeals, however, rejected as “problematic on a number of levels” the trial court‘s claim that
“pumping five rounds into somebody is pretty much evidence that you intended to at least, at the very least, do great bodily harm to Mr. Johnson or knowingly created a very high risk of death or great bodily harm knowing that death or such harm would be the likely result of your actions.”73
Because defendant claims that he was entitled to assert self-defense as a complete justification for shooting Johnson, we also address this claim. “[O]nce the defendant satisfies the initial burden of production, the prosecution bears the burden of disproving the common law defense of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt.”77 Defendant has satisfied his initial burden of production because he “produc[ed] some evidence from which a [fact-finder] could conclude that the elements
To analyze the trial court‘s conclusion that defendant was not entitled to the justification of self-defense, we must examine its conclusion that by firing two shots from his car at the outset of the confrontation, defendant was the initial aggressor. The Court of Appeals panel concluded that the trial court had erred by finding that defendant fired two shots from his car at the outset of the confrontation with Johnson. The panel observed that “[o]nly the first shot was attributed to Reese based on Williams indicating she heard the shot and assumed it was from his vehicle.”79 The panel also determined that “[t]here is no testimony or evidence to identify who fired the second shot or where it originated.”80 However, Williams testified that she heard two gunshots, at least one of them coming from the car that she testified was defendant‘s. Although Williams did not know the source of the second gunshot, it was not clearly erroneous for the trial court to conclude, on the basis of the logical inferences drawn from Williams‘s testimony, that defendant fired both shots from his car. Moreover, Long‘s testimony was consistent with this conclusion because Long testified that defendant‘s car arrived at his and Johnson‘s residence shortly after he heard the two gunshots from the direction of defendant‘s car. There being evidence to support the trial
Next, the Court of Appeals concluded that “it seems reasonable to assume that Johnson did not feel threatened or intimidated by this random, preceding gunfire....”81 To begin with, the Court of Appeals’ conclusion does not disprove the trial court‘s conclusion that defendant was the initial aggressor. Even so, the Court of Appeals’ conclusion was erroneous. The panel reached its conclusion by noting that Johnson “continued [to] ambulat[e] toward Reese and Long‘s house and engag[ed] Reese in conversation....”82 However, the undisputed testimony is that Johnson was walking toward his own house, not defendant‘s house, a point that the trial court correctly appreciated and that severely undermines the Court of Appeals’ theory that defendant could not have felt threatened or intimidated by the initial gunshots. Moreover, although there was testimony that Johnson “engag[ed] Reese in conversation,” that conversation was hardly premised on the lack of a perceived threat. Rather, Long testified that Johnson asked, “[W]hat‘s up with that[?]” In interpreting this question, the trial court “infer[red] from that statement that he‘s wondering, [‘]what the heck you doing shooting a gun off by his house[?‘]” While this question could have been innocuous, given the context of the situation, the trial court‘s interpretation of this exchange was not clearly erroneous. The trial court concluded that Johnson did not view the preceding gunfire as “random,” as the Court of Appeals opined, but saw it as an aggressive act. This conclusion was not clearly erroneous. Thus, when all the circumstances are considered as a whole, the Court of Appeals erred by
Although the trial court went on to discuss this finding in the context of imperfect self-defense, it remains relevant to reviewing the trial court‘s conclusion that defendant was not entitled to self-defense as a complete justification for shooting Johnson. This Court reiterated in Riddle that an “‘aggressor in a chance-medley (an ordinary fist fight, or other nondeadly encounter)‘” who “‘finds that his adversary has suddenly and unexpectedly changed the nature of the contest and is resorting to deadly force... must not resort to deadly force if there is any other reasonable method of saving himself.‘”83 In this case, the trial court correctly applied the law from Riddle and specifically found that defendant had not engaged in one such reasonable method of defusing the situation. The trial court explained: “[Defendant] didn‘t back off. He didn‘t say, okay, it didn‘t mean anything.” The trial court did not clearly err by concluding that defendant was not entitled to self-defense as a complete justification to homicide.84
The Court of Appeals’ opinion is deficient for all the foregoing reasons, but when considered as a whole, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the panel simply substituted its interpretation of the testimony for the trial court‘s. This is inappropriate when the standard of review requires an appellate court to accept the trial court‘s findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous.89 This standard is higher than the standard for reviewing questions of law because the finder of fact
In summary, the evidence as outlined here was sufficient for a fact-finder to have concluded that defendant was guilty of each of the elements of voluntary manslaughter and that defendant was not entitled to use self-defense. Moreover, the trial court did not clearly err in rendering its findings of fact on the elements of voluntary manslaughter and defendant‘s self-defense claim. Accordingly, defendant is not entitled to a new trial on the ground that the evidence was insufficient.
V. CONCLUSION
Because the common law of murder and manslaughter did not recognize the doctrine of “imperfect self-defense” at the time the Legislature codified those crimes, this Court concludes that the doctrine of imperfect self-defense does not independently mitigate murder to manslaughter. Rather, in deciding between murder and the lesser included offense of manslaughter, the fact-finder must determine whether the prosecution has proved the element distinguishing the two crimes: malice. While some “imperfect self-defense” situations may involve “provocation [as] the circumstance that negates the presence of malice,”91 courts may not use the doctrine of imperfect self-defense to shortcut any analysis of the elements of the two crimes.
In this case, the Court of Appeals erred by concluding that the trial court‘s verdict was clearly erroneous. For
MARKMAN, MARY BETH KELLY, and ZAHRA, JJ., concurred with YOUNG, C.J.
MARILYN KELLY, J. (concurring in part and dissenting in part). I concur in the majority‘s decision to reinstate defendant‘s conviction for manslaughter but dissent from the pronouncement that the doctrine of imperfect self-defense does not exist in Michigan law. Any opining about the doctrine is unnecessary to resolve this matter and should be left for another day and a more appropriate case.
Defendant was convicted of manslaughter after a bench trial. In the Court of Appeals, he asserted that he was entitled to an acquittal on the basis of self-defense and that the trial judge‘s findings of fact were clearly erroneous. At issue was the judge‘s finding that defendant was the initial aggressor.
The Court of Appeals vacated the manslaughter conviction and remanded for a new trial. The prosecution appealed in this Court, asserting that the trial court‘s finding was not clearly erroneous and that defendant‘s manslaughter conviction should be reinstated.
Because the trial court acquitted defendant of second degree murder, for the prosecution to renew the count would constitute double jeopardy.1 As the prosecution stated in its arguments before this Court, we cannot now consider whether defendant should have been convicted of murder; that ship has sailed. At this point, the prosecution can charge and try defendant only for manslaughter. Hence, the doctrine of imperfect self-defense could not arise again in this matter, it not being a mitigating defense to manslaughter. Consequently, answering the question in this decision of whether imperfect self-defense exists has no effect on the relief available to either party.
Further supporting this position is the fact that both parties stated at oral argument that this is not the case to address the doctrine of imperfect self-defense. However intertwined the doctrine may have been with the lower court‘s ruling, we need not adjudicate its appropriateness in order to decide the case. The majority has selectively dissected the defense out of the lower court‘s analyses and dispatched it from Michigan‘s jurispru-
CAVANAGH and HATHAWAY, JJ., concurred with MARILYN KELLY, J.
Notes
2 Bishop, Commentaries on the Criminal Law (3d ed), § 625, p 334. Thus, on Bishop‘s theory of “imperfect defense,” a non-life-threatening “as-sault and battery, for instance, may be justified as inflicted in defence of one‘s property.” Id., § 642, p 343.There are two kinds of defence which a man may make of his person or his property. The one extends, when necessary to accomplish the object, to the taking of the life of the aggressor; and this we shall call, in the present chapter, perfect defence. The other permits not the person using it to take life; but it does permit him to resist trespasses on his person or property to an extent not involving the life of the trespasser; and this, in the present chapter, we shall call imperfect defence.