People v. Perry

Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and several other offenses. At trial, his attorney requested that the jury be instructed on the common-law offense of accessoiy after the fact, but the circuit court refused to give the instruction. The Court of Appeals affirmed. We hold that the common-law offense of accessoiy after the fact is not a cognate offense of murder, and we likewise affirm.

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The crime occurred on June 14, 1990. Shortly before dawn, two Molotov cocktails were thrown through the living room windows of the Saginaw home of a family named Rollie. Flames and smoke soon…