Carjacking Defense Attorney
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Carjacking is a serious felony in the state of Michigan. It is also treated as a serious felony in all West Michigan courts.
The maximum penalty for carjacking is life in prison. According to Michigan law, Carjacking is:
(1) A person who in the course of committing a larceny of a motor vehicle uses force or violence or the threat of force or violence, or who puts in fear any operator, passenger, or person in lawful possession of the motor vehicle, or any person lawfully attempting to recover the motor vehicle, is guilty of carjacking, a felony punishable by imprisonment for life or for any term of years.
(2) As used in this section, “in the course of committing a larceny of a motor vehicle” includes acts that occur in an attempt to commit the larceny, or during commission of the larceny, or in flight or attempted flight after the commission of the larceny, or in an attempt to retain possession of the motor vehicle.
(3) A sentence imposed for a violation of this section may be imposed to run consecutively to any other sentence imposed for a conviction that arises out of the same transaction.
If you are facing this serious felony charge, you need to hire an expert carjacking defense attorney to represent you! Call Shawn now at 616-438-6719! The call is free!
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Breaking the Statute Into Its Elements
The full text is quoted above. What a prosecutor actually has to establish is this:
- A larceny of a motor vehicle — or an attempt at one, or flight after one, or an effort to keep it.
- Force or violence, the threat of force or violence, or putting a person in fear.
- Directed at an operator, a passenger, a person in lawful possession, or a person lawfully trying to recover the vehicle.
Notice what is not required: a weapon, an injury, or a completed theft. Notice also that the value of the vehicle is irrelevant. A twenty-year-old car and a new truck carry identical exposure.
Consecutive Sentencing Is the Part People Miss
MCL 750.529a(3) lets the court order a carjacking sentence to run consecutively to any other sentence from the same transaction. Most Michigan sentences run concurrently, meaning they overlap. A consecutive sentence is served one after the other.
This matters enormously because carjacking is almost never charged alone. It usually arrives with armed robbery, felony-firearm under MCL 750.227b — itself a mandatory consecutive 2 years for a first offense — assault charges, and sometimes fleeing and eluding. Stacked consecutively, a case that looks like a term of years on paper becomes something much longer.
Carjacking Compared to the Alternatives
| Charge | Statute | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Unlawful use of a motor vehicle (joyriding) | MCL 750.414 | 2 years (3 months possible on a first offense) |
| Unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle (UDAA) | MCL 750.413 | 5 years |
| Receiving a stolen motor vehicle | MCL 750.535(7) | 5 years |
| Unarmed robbery | MCL 750.530 | 15 years |
| Carjacking | MCL 750.529a | Life or any term of years |
Moving a case down this table is the whole job. The distance between MCL 750.414 and MCL 750.529a is the difference between a misdemeanor and a life offense, and the facts that separate them are often genuinely disputed — particularly who said what, and whether anyone was actually put in fear.
How I Defend a Carjacking Charge
- No force, no threat, no fear. If the vehicle was taken without any of the three, this is UDAA or joyriding, not carjacking. This is the single most valuable argument in these cases.
- Identification. These incidents are seconds long and terrifying. Cross-racial identifications, poor lighting, and suggestive show-ups all cut against reliability.
- Claim of right. Disputes over jointly used vehicles, family vehicles, and vehicles subject to a repossession or a break-up get reported as carjackings more often than you would think.
- Mere presence. Being in a vehicle after the fact is not the same as taking it. Aiding and abetting requires proof of intent, not proximity.
- The consecutive-sentence exposure. Even where the facts are bad, whether sentences run consecutively is discretionary, and it is worth arguing hard.
- Suppression. Vehicle stops, searches, and custodial statements in these cases frequently have Fourth and Fifth Amendment problems.
Where Your Case Will Be Heard
Carjacking is a circuit court felony. It begins in district court with an arraignment and a preliminary examination — the 61st in Grand Rapids, the 62A in Wyoming, the 62B in Kentwood, the 63rd elsewhere in Kent County — before being bound over to the 17th Circuit Court in Kent County, or the corresponding circuit in Ottawa, Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Muskegon, Newaygo, or Van Buren County.
Related reading: armed robbery, unarmed robbery, Michigan auto theft laws, and receiving stolen property.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the penalty for carjacking in Michigan?
Carjacking is a felony punishable by imprisonment for life or for any term of years under MCL 750.529a(1). There is no statutory maximum short of life. Under subsection (3), the sentence may also be ordered to run consecutively to any other sentence arising out of the same transaction — so a carjacking sentence can be stacked on top of, rather than served alongside, everything else charged from the same incident.
Does the car have to actually be taken?
No. MCL 750.529a(2) defines "in the course of committing a larceny of a motor vehicle" to include acts in an attempt to commit the larceny, during it, in flight or attempted flight afterward, or in an attempt to retain possession of the vehicle. An attempted carjacking where the vehicle never moved is still a carjacking charge.
What is the difference between carjacking and unlawfully driving away an automobile?
Force. Unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle (UDAA) under MCL 750.413 is a 5-year felony and involves taking a vehicle without authority. Carjacking under MCL 750.529a requires force, violence, the threat of force or violence, or putting a person in fear — and carries life. Taking a car that nobody is near is not carjacking.
Can I be charged with carjacking if the owner was not in the car?
Possibly. The statute reaches force used against any operator, passenger, or person in lawful possession of the vehicle, and also against any person lawfully attempting to recover it. So a struggle with an owner who runs out of a house to stop the vehicle leaving can support the charge even though no one was inside when it started.
Talk to Me Before You Talk to the Police
I am Shawn Haff, and I defend theft and property crime cases across Kent, Ottawa, Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Van Buren counties. The call is free, I answer my own phone, and in a property case the earlier I am involved the more room there is to work. Call 616-438-6719 or send me a message.