People v. Munn, Docket No. 149104
| Citation | 499 N.W.2d 459,198 Mich.App. 726 |
| Decision Date | 16 March 1993 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 149104 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. David Harry MUNN, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US |
Frank J. Kelley, Atty. Gen., Thomas L. Casey, Sol. Gen., Michael D. Thomas, Pros. Atty., and Edwin R. Brown, Asst. Pros. Atty., for the People.
Roberta M. Gubbins, Ann Arbor, for defendant-appellant.
Before ROBERT J. DANHOF, P.J., and JOHN H. GILLIS and WILLIAM R. BEASLEY, * JJ.
Defendant pleaded guilty of first- degree retail fraud, M.C.L. Sec. 750.356c; M.S.A. Sec. 28.588(3), and of being an habitual offender, third offense, M.C.L. Sec. 769.11; M.S.A. Sec. 28.1083. After being sentenced to 2 1/2 to 4 years' imprisonment, he filed this appeal as of right. We affirm.
Defendant's sole claim on appeal is that M.C.L. Sec. 750.356c; M.S.A. Sec. 28.588(3) is unconstitutionally vague because he had no way of knowing that his twenty-year-old conviction for the theft of a snowmobile could be used to enhance a misdemeanor shoplifting offense to a felony status. We disagree. The ordinary and plain language of the applicable statute provides, in clear and understandable terms, that anyone who commits a shoplifting offense that would otherwise be a misdemeanor under M.C.L. Sec. 750.356d(1)(b); M.S.A. Sec. 28.588(4)(1)(b) but who also has a prior conviction of, among other things, a larceny, is guilty of the felony offense of first-degree retail fraud. M.C.L. Sec. 750.356c(2); M.S.A. Sec. 28.588(3)(2). The language used to prohibit the act or conduct is not so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning. State Treasurer v. Wilson (On Remand), 150 Mich.App. 78, 80-81, 388 N.W.2d 312 (1986). Further, defendant's challenge to the statute that is premised on a reading of its title only is without merit because an analysis of a void-for-vagueness claim requires an examination of the entire text of the applicable statute. People v. Jackson, 140 Mich.App. 283, 364 N.W.2d 310 (1985). Finally, that defendant was unaware that his conduct was proscribed by a penal statute is irrelevant to a determination whether the statute is unconstitutionally vague. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. People v. Turmon, 417 Mich. 638, 657, 340 N.W.2d 620 (1983) (citing 4 Blackstone, Commentaries, p 27).
Affirmed.
* Former Court of Appeals judges, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment pursuant to ...
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