People v. Blythe

In these consolidated cases, we granted leave to determine whether the phrase "for life or for any term of years” in the armed robbery statute refers to the mandatory minimum sentence to be imposed.

Defendant Luke pled guilty to a charge of armed robbery and was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of six months to four years. Under MCL 750.529; MSA 28.797, armed robbery is punishable by imprisonment "for life or for any term of years”. The people argued in the Court of Appeals that the language "any term of years” requires a minimum sentence of at least a year and a day. On April 8, 1982, the…