Michigan Supreme Court, 1881

People v. Jones

Michigan Supreme Court · Decided June 29, 1881 · Marston, Other

46 Mich. 441; 9 N.W. 486; 1881 Mich. LEXIS 612

Cases that cite this one

24 later published cases cite this decision.

People v. Thousand (Mich. 2001)
State v. Lopez (N.M. 1983)
People v. Page (Mich. Ct. App. 1977)
People v. Moran (New York Supreme Court 1889)
People v. Ng (Mich. Ct. App. 1986)
State v. Lopez (N.M. Ct. App. 1983)
People v. Smith (Mich. Ct. App. 1979)
People v. Tinskey (Mich. 1975)
Booth v. State (Okla. Crim. App. 1964)
United States v. Ventimiglia (District Court, D. Maryland 1956)
Alexander v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 1942)
People v. Heinrich (Cal. Ct. App. 1924)
Andrews v. Commonwealth (Va. 1923)
In re Magidson (Cal. Ct. App. 1917)
Bloch v. State (Ind. 1903)
In re Appeal No. 568, Term 1974 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 1975)
People v. Rolling (New York Supreme Court 1962)
United States v. Thomas (United States Court of Military Appeals 1962)
The PEOPLE v. Dogoda (Ill. 1956)
State of Oregon v. Elliott (Or. 1955)
Commonwealth v. Johnson (Pa. 1933)
People v. . Gardner (N.Y. 1894)
People v. Kong (Cal. 1892)
People v. . Moran (N.Y. 1890)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Marston, C. J.

The respondent was charged with and convicted of an attempt to commit a larceny from the person, and the proof tended to show that he had put his hand into the outside cloak pocket of Emma Bellair; that there was no property of any kind in the pocket at that time and nothing therefore was taken therefrom. It was claimed that under such circumstances he could not be convicted.

*442We are of a contrary opinion. The charge is of an attempt to commit a crime. In burglary, and many cases of attempts, the intent is gathered from the taking or other act done. But this is not the only way of proving the intent; if it were, in many eases attempts to commit crime would go unpunished.

We fully concur in the views expressed by the Massachusetts court in Com. v. McDonald 5 Cush. 365. We think this is not only the better, but the only rule of law that could be adopted or recognized with safety to the rights of the public or of individuals.

It must be certified to the Recorder’s Court that we discover no error in the record, and that court is advised tc proceed to judgment.

The other Justices concurred.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.