Roberts v. People

19 Mich. 401 (1870)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Roberts (D) was tried for assault with intent to murder. D was drunk and shot at Charles E. Greble with a loaded pistol. At trial D, attempted to prove that he was so drunk at the time of the shooting that he could not form the criminal intent that he was charged with such that he would only be liable for what he actually did, the assault with the aggravation of the intent. D asked the court to instruct the jury that if he were so intoxicated that he could not form the intent to kill, he should be convicted of an assault without the intent to kill. The judge refused on grounds that voluntary intoxication cannot disprove the intent to kill. D was convicted and appealed. The Appeals court affirmed. D appealed again.