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37 Wayne L. Rev. 1951 (1990-1991)
Excluding an Accessory after the Fact from a Felony-Firearm Conviction

handle is hein.journals/waynlr37 and id is 1963 raw text is: EXCLUDING AN ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT FROM A FELONY-FIREARM CONVICTION I. INTRODUCTION Can a conviction for being an accessory after the fact' consti- tute the predicate felony for charging a person with a felony- firearm crime?2 The Michigan Court of Appeals has split on this issue. This Note focuses on how the Michigan felony-firearm statute is applied when the underlying crime is accessory after the fact. In determining whether a felony-firearm conviction may be based on an accessory after the fact conviction, several factors should be examined. First, the Note will look at the language of the felony-firearm statute. Second, the Note will focus on the legislature's purpose in enacting the statute. Finally, the Note will analyze the applicable case law to determine whether a conviction for being an accessory after the fact may or should constitute a predicate crime on which to base a felony-firearm conviction. II. BACKGROUND A. The Felony-Firearm Statute The applicable language of the statute reads as follows: (1) A person who carries or has in his or her possession a firearm when he or she commits or attempts to commit a felony ... is guilty of a felony, and shall be imprisoned for 2 years.'3 The 1. Accessory after the fact is a codified common law felony in Michigan. MicH. Comp. LAWS ANN. § 750.505 (West 1991). An accessory after the fact conviction requires that a person obtain knowledge of the principal's guilt following the principal's completed crime, and that the person provide assistance in order to impede detection, arrest, trial, or punishment of the principal. People v. Lucas, 402 Mich. 302, 262 N.W.2d 662 (1978) (per curiam). 2. Felony-firearm is a statutory crime that carries a mandatory sentence of two years for the first conviction and is served consecutively with the predicate crime. MicH. Comp. LAWS ANN. § 750.227b (West Supp. 1991). 3. Id. (emphasis added). The complete language of the Michigan felony- *firearm statute reads as follows: Sec. 227b. (1) A person who carries or has in his or her possession a firearm when he or she commits or attempts to commit a felony, 1951

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