Sec. 72. (1) A person who willfully or maliciously burns, damages, or destroys by fire or explosive any of the following or its contents is guilty of first degree arson: (a) A multiunit building or structure in which 1 or more units of the building are a dwelling, regardless of whether any of the units are occupied, unoccupied, or vacant at the time of the fire or explosion. (b) Any building or structure or other real property if the fire or explosion results in physical injury to any individual. (c) A mine. (2) Subsection (1) applies regardless of whether the person owns the dwelling, building, structure, or mine or its contents. (3) First degree arson is a felony punishable by imprisonment for life or any term of years or a fine of not more than $20,000.00 or 3 times the value of the property damaged or destroyed, whichever is greater, or both imprisonment and a fine.
Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.72
First degree arson
Applied in 80 court decisions — leading case Evans v. Michigan (2013)
Most recently applied in People of Michigan v. Lonnie James Arnold (July 2018)
1931, Act 328, Eff
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Michigan Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Michigan statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.