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M. J. Kelly, P.J.
Defendant appeals as of right from the trial court’s vacation of an arbitration award of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) in which plaintiff’s claim against defendant for no-fault benefits was denied. The trial court concluded that the arbitrators had exceeded their powers as defined in the arbitration contract and granted plaintiff’s motion to vacate under GCR 1963, 769.9(1). We reverse.
Plaintiff, while insured under a policy with de fendant Motorland Insurance Company, was injured in an automobile collision with an uninsured motorist on April 17, 1978. Defendant refused to pay benefits under the uninsured motorist provision of plaintiffs policy and arbitration proceedings resulted. Both parties were sent a list of the names of nine individuals qualified to serve as arbitrators. Three of the nine names were designated "plaintiff’, three were designated "defendant”, and three were designated "neutral”. AAA was to select a three-person arbitration panel after the parties had been provided the opportunity to strike one name from each designation.
One of the names designated as neutral on the list of arbitrators was John Sheridan. He was subsequently selected by the AAA to serve as an arbitrator in this case. Sheridan stated in an affidavit submitted at the hearing on plaintiffs motion to vacate:
"That at the time of the hearing he was General Attorney and Assistant Secretary of American Motors Corporation and that approximately 15% of his time was devoted to supervising other attorneys whose responsibilities involved the defense of product liability cases brought against the corporation and its subsidiaries, and that the balance of the time was devoted to general corporate legal problems and secretarial responsibilities, including the supervision of attorneys handling litigation in which the corporation was plaintiff.”
Sheridan further stated in his affidavit that he had been a "neutral” arbitrator with the AAA for a period of more than ten years. and had, during 1957 through 1962, been an associate and then partner in a plaintiff-oriented firm. Sheridan’s employment experience was not contained on the list supplied to the parties. Plaintiff returned the list to the AAA without crossing out any names.
The arbitration decision denying plaintiffs claim was issued October 6, 1981. On October 27, 1981, plaintiff filed her motion to vacate the award. One of the grounds alleged by plaintiff as a basis for vacating the award was that the arbitration panel had not been chosen in the . manner required under the arbitration agreement because the AAA had failed to disclose to the parties Sheridan’s association with AMC. Plaintiff further argued that Sheridan’s employment was a material matter and was detrimental to the plaintiff since, according to her attorney’s affidavit, Sheridan’s name would have been struck from the list had he been aware that AMC was his employer. Sheridan, along with the defense arbitrator, voted to deny plaintiff benefits.
The trial court agreed with plaintiffs analysis and vacated the award under GCR 1963, 769.9(l)(c). Rule 769.9(1) provides:
"(1) Upon application of a party, the court shall vacate an award where:
"(a) The award was procured by corruption, fraud or other undue means;
"(b) There was evidence partiality by an arbitrator appointed as a neutral or corruption in any of the arbitrators or misconduct prejudicing the rights of any party;
"(c) The arbitrators exceeded their powers; or
"(d) The arbitrators refused to postpone the hearing upon sufficient cause being shown therefor or refused to hear evidence material to the controversy or otherwise so conducted the hearing as to prejudice substantially the rights of a party.”
In DAIIE v Gavin, 416 Mich 407, 431; 331 NW2d 418 (1982), the Supreme Court described the "standard by which all interested parties may measure whether a given misstep by arbitrators means that the 'arbitrators exceeded their powers’ ”. While primarily focusing on the "magnitude of legal error” required to justify vacating awards under GCR 1963, 769.9(1)(c), the Court in Gavin noted:
"Thus, in discharging their duty, arbitrators can fairly be said to exceed their power whenever they act beyond the material terms of the contract from which they primarily draw their authority, or in contravention of controlling principles of law.” 416 Mich 434.
We believe that the issue raised in this case can best be characterized as whether the AAA or Sheridan acted beyond the material terms of the arbitration contract in rendering the decision against plaintiff.
The contract to arbitrate between plaintiff and defendant is part of the standard automobile insurance policy purchased by plaintiff and incorporates by reference the accident claim rules of the AAA. Section 9 of those rules provides in relevant part:
"Section 9. * * * No person shall serve as an Arbitrator in any arbitration in which that person has any financial or personal interest. * * * An Arbitrator shall disclose any circumstances likely to create a presumption of bias which might disqualify him * * * as an impartial arbitrator. Either party may advise the AAA of any reason why an Arbitrator should withdraw or be disqualified from serving.”
The trial court found that § 9 required the AAA to disclose to the parties any information bearing on the neutrality of a potential arbitrator and that, because the AAA failed to note next to Sheridan’s name his association, with AMC and the type of legal work performed by him, Sheridan served in violation of the terms of the arbitration contract and thus exceeded his powers.
We do not agree with the trial court’s interpretation of § 9 of the AAA rules of arbitration. The designation of an arbitrator as "plaintiff’, "defense”, or "neutral” is not, under the arbitration scheme, a prerogative left to any of the individual parties to the proceedings. According to the affidavits submitted at the hearing on plaintiffs motion to vacate by Albert A. Miller, an appointed member of the Arbitration Claims Tribunal Advisory Committee, and by Charlene Chase, Tribunal Claims Administrator, the committee twice a year carefully reviews all applications of local attorneys who seek to qualify as arbitrators. The committee is made up of a "broad cross-section of the local trial bar representing both claimants and defendants in tort and other litigation”. If accepted, an applicant receives his or her designation only by unanimous agreement of the entire committee. Moreover, according to Chase’s affidavit, the AAA maintains a file on each arbitrator containing all relevant data on the arbitrator’s employment history and experience and these files are available upon request to the parties involved in an arbitration.
We do not believe that § 9 of the arbitration rules requires either the AAA or potential arbitrators to provide the same information regarding employment and prior experience as had been provided the committee upon the arbitrator’s application to the AAA. Instead, we construe § 9 as requiring the arbitrator to disclose to the parties, upon appointment to a particular case, any infor mation which might suggest that he or she has an interest in the particular matter being arbitrated or is associated with any of the parties or attorneys involved. For example, Sheridan was required to and apparently did disclose to the AAA and to the parties the fact that a member of the firm of attorneys representing the defendant had been a classmate of his in law school.
We believe that the task of designating arbitrators as neutral or plaintiff or defense-oriented is properly left to the AAA. The internal procedure utilized in 1979 and now formally in effect for the selection and designation of AAA arbitrators ensures the integrity and reliability of arbitration as a method for conflict resolution. John Sheridan’s designation as a neutral was unanimously approved by even the plaintiff-oriented members of the committee and we find no basis to challenge that approval. Plaintiff has not persuaded us that § 9 of the AAA rules requires anything more than disclosure of an appointed arbitrator’s particular connections to the case being arbitrated or to the individuals involved. On this basis, we reverse the trial court’s order vacating the arbitration award issued in this case on October 6, 1981.
Plaintiff advanced several other arguments at the trial level in support of her motion to vacate the arbitration award. The trial court declined to address these issues. On appeal, plaintiff argues that if we should reject the reasoning relied upon by the trial court in vacating the arbitration award, the order should nevertheless be affirmed on one of these other grounds. We consider plaintiff’s alternative arguments on the theory that this Court will generally affirm a trial court decision arrived at for the wrong reasons so long as the right result is reached. DeSaele v Sterling Heights (On Remand), 123 Mich App 610, 618; 333 NW2d 496 (1982), lv den 417 Mich 1087 (1983).
Plaintiff argues that two of the arbitrators based their decisions on substantial errors of law. At the hearing on plaintiff’s motion to vacate, plaintiff submitted the affidavit of the dissenting arbitrator, who stated that Sheridan and the defense-designated arbitrator had opined during deliberations that soft tissue injuries could never be considered serious impairment of bodily function and that plaintiff could not recover for economic loss without first establishing serious impairment. Both Sheridan and the defense-designated arbitrator responded with affidavits in which they denied basing their decision either on the belief that soft tissue injuries could never be considered serious impairment or on the belief that plaintiff could not recover economic losses without first establishing serious impairment.
The Supreme Court’s decision in DAIIE v Gavin clearly limits judicial review of alleged errors of law in arbitration decisions to those which appear on the face of the award. 416 Mich 443, citing Howe v Patrons’ Mutual Fire Ins Co of Michigan, 216 Mich 560, 570; 185 NW 864 (1921). The arbitration award in this case merely stated:
"The claim of Ernestine Smith against Motorland Insurance Company is hereby deemed denied.”
The "remarks” sheet further indicated that:
"Petitioner failed to establish a serious physical impairment by a preponderance of the evidence related to the accident.”
We believe that the decision in DAIIE v Gavin was intended to preclude judicial review in precisely the type of case presented here. We cannot tell on the face of the award whether the majority of the arbitrators relied upon erroneous principles of law in reaching their decision or whether they found that plaintiffs injuries were not causally related to the accident. Evidence submitted at the arbitration hearing would amply support the latter disposition. The arbitrators’ remarks may be similarly construed. We thus cannot say that the decision in this case was based on erroneous principles of law and decline to affirm the trial court’s decision on this basis.
Plaintiff also argues that the arbitration award should be vacated because it was procured by undue means or because there was evident partiality on the part of Sheridan. GCR 1963, 769.9(1)(a) and (b). These arguments are variations of plaintiffs challenge to the designation of John Sheridan as neutral. We do not believe that Sheridan’s involvement in products liability defense work necessarily requires that he be designated as defense oriented for purposes of no-fault arbitration disputes. Plaintiff has failed to present any other evidence impugning the impartiality of Sheridan and we thus decline to affirm the trial court’s order on this ground as well.
Reversed.
According to counsels’ representations at oral arguments on appeal, the procedures for designating an attorney were not expressly provided for in the 1979 arbitration rules, though the practice was then in effect. In 1981, the arbitration rules were revised and now formally describe the procedures as followed in 1979 for the selection and designation of arbitrators. | [
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Per Curiam.
The present appeal arises out of two separate actions by plaintiffs Oerther Brothers Excavating, Inc., and C. Barron & Sons, Inc., to enforce construction liens against defendants-appellants. The appeals were consolidated by order of this Court dated December 27, 1983.
Oerther is a Michigan corporation engaged in excavating, landfill and other related activities in the construction area. Oerther’s complaint alleged that it contracted with defendants John Desjardine, Michael Desjardine and John Desjardine, Jr., doing business as Walker Construction Company, to provide materials, labor and equipment to the Woodcraft Square Project, that it was not paid, and that it took steps to perfect a construction lien pursuant to the Construction Lien Act, MCL 570.1101 et seq.; MSA 26.316(101) et seq. Oerther’s first amended complaint sought a declaration that the lien was valid, a determination of the amount of the lien and relief in the event that the lien was not paid. A default against Walker was entered and it is not a party to this appeal.
Barron is a Michigan corporation, doing business as Hurd Sterling-Eversole-Jay, engaged in providing supplies for the construction industry. Its complaint alleged that it provided materials to the project pursuant to a contract with Walker (apparently the same company designated by Oerther,. although a different individual is named in the complaint), that it was not paid, and that it took steps to perfect a construction lien pursuant to the Construction Lien Act. Walker is also not a party to the Barron appeal.
For purposes of explaining the factual situation present in these appeals, it is necessary to briefly summarize the relationship of each of the appellants to the project. Woodcraft Square Limited Dividend Housing Association is the fee title owner of the property upon which the project was built. Woodcraft acquired this interest on May 7, 1982. The Douglas Company was engaged as the general contractor for the project. Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) is the mortgagee of the project. Design Services Construction Company and the Shoreline Corporation of Massachusetts also provided services on the project. These parties will be collectively referred to as appellants.
Hereinafter we refer to these appeals as if one action occurred, since the pleadings and arguments of the parties were identical in each case and the trial judge rendered one opinion applicable to both. Appellants’ answer to the plaintiffs’ complaint alleged that the initial contract between Woodcraft and Douglas was executed on November 9, 1981. Appellants also filed a motion for partial summary judgment, arguing that since the initial contract was executed on November 9, 1981, the mechanic’s lien act, MCL 570.1 et seq.; MSA 26.281 et seq., applied, rather than the Construction Lien Act. The Construction Lien Act superseded and repealed the mechanic’s lien act, effective March 1, 1982. Plaintiffs made a counter motion for summary judgment, arguing that the Construction Lien Act applied because Woodcraft did not become an owner of the property until May 7, 1982. The trial judge entered an opinion and order granting summary judgment in favor of both plaintiffs. The court found that the Construction Lien Act applied, that plaintiffs had duly perfected liens under that act, that the contract dated November 9, 1981, was not effective until Woodcraft acquired fee title on May 7, 1982, and that the Construction Lien Act was applicable only where the contracting owner held fee title or a land contract interest at the time of execution of the initial construction contract. It is from this opinion and order that appellants presently appeal.
Appellants first argue that the trial court erred in holding that the Construction Lien Act applied rather than the mechanic’s lien act. Appellants contend that Woodcraft was a contracting owner as that term is used in MCL 570.1301(3), (4); MSA 26.316(301)(3), (4).
MCL 570.1301(3), (4); MSA 26.316(301X3), (4) state:
"(3) Except as provided in subsection (1), this act shall control all rights to a construction lien arising from any project for which the contracting owner entered the first contract with a contractor on or after March 1, 1982.
"(4) Except as provided in subsection (2), Act No. 179 of the Public Acts of 1891, as amended, being sections 570.1 to 570.30 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, shall control all rights to a lien arising from any project for which the contracting owner entered the first contract with a contractor before March 1, 1982.”
The determinative phrase in these statutory sections for purposes of this appeal is "contracting owner”. The term "owner” is defined in MCL 570.1105(3); MSA 26.316(105X3) as "a person holding a fee interest in real property or an equitable interest arising out of a land contract”.
It is undisputed that Woodcraft did not acquire a fee title interest in the subject property until May 7, 1982. We agree with the trial court that Woodcraft’s lack of a fee title or land contract interest in the property at the time of signing the initial contract on November 9, 1981, precludes it from being considered a "contracting owner” within the meaning of the statute. We are unable to interpret MCL 570.1301(3), (4); MSA 26.316(301)(3), (4) as requiring inquiry only into the date of the initial contract, as argued by appellants, since to do so would render nugatory the use of the word "owner” in the same statutory section.
We do not address the second issue raised by appellants, since even if we were to find that the date of entry of the initial contract was prior to March 1, 1982, Woodcraft’s lack of "owner” status until after March 1, 1982, would mandate the use of the Construction Lien Act rather than the mechanic’s lien act.
We hold that the trial court correctly determined that the Construction Lien Act applied. We remand this case to the trial court for a determination of the remaining issues of plaintiffs’ compliance with the Construction Lien Act and the amount of plaintiffs’ liens.
Affirmed. Remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. No costs, á question of statutory construction being involved. | [
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Per Curiam.
This appeal involves plaintiffs constitutional challenge to the Michigan campaign financing and practices act, MCL 169.201 et seq.; MSA 4.1703(1) et seq., as applied to the 1982 Michigan gubernatorial general election. Plaintiff was the nominee of the Libertarian party while defendants Richard Headlee and James Blanchard were the nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively.
Plaintiff filed this action on September 13, 1982, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief on the grounds that the act violated his right to due process, equal protection and freedom of speech under both the Michigan and United States Con stitutions. Plaintiff filed an amended complaint alleging that the financing scheme in the act violated Const 1963, art 2, § 4, which guarantees the purity of elections. Plaintiff sought an order declaring the statutory campaign financing scheme unconstitutional and requiring defendants to return the funds they had received pursuant to the act. The trial court entered an order on October 29, 1982, finding the act constitutional and denying plaintiff’s request for injunctive relief. Plaintiff appeals as of right.
Under the act, both Headlee and Blanchard qualified for $750,000 in state campaign financing funds since they represented "major political parties” as that term is defined in § 10 of the act. Plaintiff did not qualify for campaign financing funds under § 65 because he was the nominee of a minor party (a party qualified to be listed on the general election ballot but not qualifying as a major party) which did not receive 5% or more of the vote. Plaintiff also failed to qualify for match ing funds under § 65(5).
Plaintiffs challenges to the act on appeal are based entirely on the Michigan Constitution. He argues that the financing scheme in the act violates Michigan constitutional guarantees of due process, art 1, § 17; equal protection, art 1, § 2; purity of elections, art 2, § 4; and freedom of speech, art 1, § 5. We address these claims seriatim.
Due Process
Plaintiff argues that the statutory scheme of publicly funding gubernatorial campaigns does not advance any legitimate governmental interest and violates due process. The campaign financing provisions in the Michigan act are generally similar to the provisions for public funding of presidential election campaigns in Subtitle H of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 USC 9001-9012, 9031-9042 (1970 ed, Supp IV). In Buckley v Valeo, 424 US 1; 96 S Ct 612; 46 L Ed 2d 659 (1976), the United States Supreme Court considered, inter alia, federal constitutional challenges to the campaign financing scheme in Subtitle H. The court found no merit to a challenge brought on First and Fifth Amendment grounds, holding that public financing of elections does advance legitimate governmental goals:
"It cannot be gainsaid that public financing as a means of eliminating the improper influence of large private contributions furthers a significant governmental interest. S Rep No. 93-689, pp 4-5 (1974). In addition, the limits on contributions necessarily increase the burden of fundraising, and Congress properly regarded public financing as an appropriate means of relieving major-party Presidential candidates from the rigors of soliciting private contributions.” 424 US 96.
The Michigan Supreme Court has likewise recognized in an advisory opinion the legitimate goals furthered by public financing of gubernatorial elections:
"Similarly, the Michigan Legislature has determined that public financing of gubernatorial elections is for the general welfare of the public, and it is well within the Legislature’s powers to so determine.
"Chapter 3 may be said to have any of the following beneficial public purposes:
"1. To allow gubernatorial candidates to become less dependent upon financial support from special-interest groups, thus promoting the appearance and reality of an executive with the welfare of the public at large in mind.
"2. To encourage greater participation in gubernatorial campaigns by reducing financial obstacles for candidates with less fundraising abilities, and by enhancing the importance of smaller contributions.
"3. To promote the dissemination of political ideas to the electorate by gubernatorial candidates who have been encouraged to campaign for the governorship.” Advisory Opinion on Constitutionality of 1975 PA 227 (Questions 2-10), 396 Mich 465, 497; 242 NW2d 3 (1976).
We conclude that the public financing scheme does not violate plaintiffs due process rights under the Michigan Constitution.
Equal Protection
Relying on Socialist Workers Party v Secretary of State, 412 Mich 571; 317 NW2d 1 (1982), plaintiff urges this Court to find that the act affects a fundamental right and to accordingly employ a "compelling state interest/least drastic means” test in considering whether the financing plan violates equal protection. In Socialist Workers Party, the Supreme Court invalidated a statute imposing certain requirements for candidates of minor parties to be placed on primary election ballots. The Court found that ballot access implicates two distinct fundamental rights, the right of individuals to associate for the advancement of political beliefs, and the right of qualified voters to cast their votes effectively. Socialist Workers Party, supra, p 588, quoting Williams v Rhodes, 393 US 23, 30; 89 S Ct 5; 21 L Ed 2d 24 (1968). Plaintiff refuses to acknowledge the well-established distinction between ballot access cases and cases involving campaign financing schemes. The Court in Buckley v Valeo, supra, held that public financing of elections statutes do not involve fundamental rights and need not meet exacting scrutiny:
"In several situations concerning the electoral process, the principle has been developed that restrictions on access to the electoral process must survive exacting scrutiny. The restriction can be sustained only if it furthers a 'vital’ governmental interest, American Party of Texas v White, 415 US 767, 780-781; 94 S Ct 1296; 39 L Ed 2d 744 (1974), that is 'achieved by a means that does not unfairly or unnecessarily burden either a minority party’s or an individual candidate’s equally important interest in the continued availability of political opportunity.’ Lubin v Panish, 415 US 709, 716; 94 S Ct 1315; 39 L Ed 2d 702 (1974). See American Party of Texas v White, supra, p 780; Storer v Brown, 415 US 724, 729-730; 94 S Ct 1274; 39 L Ed 2d 714 (1974). These cases, however, dealt primarily with state laws requiring a candidate to satisfy certain requirements in order to have his name appear on the ballot. These were, of course, direct burdens not only on the candidate’s ability to run for office but also on the voter’s ability to voice preferences regarding representative government and contemporary issues. In contrast, the denial of public financing to some Presidential candidates is not restrictive of voters’ rights and less restrictive of candidates’. Subtitle H does not prevent any candidate from getting on the ballot or any voter from casting a vote for the candidate of his choice; the inability, if any, of minor-party candidates to wage effective campaigns will derive not from lack of public funding but from their inability to raise private contributions. * * * Accordingly, we conclude that public financing is generally less restrictive of access to the electoral process than the ballot-access regulations dealt with in prior cases. In any event, Congress enacted Subtitle H in furtherance of sufficiently important governmental interests and has not unfairly or unnecessarily burdened the political opportunity of any party or candidate.” 424 US 93-96. (Footnotes omitted.)
We therefore find that the minimal scrutiny test is appropriate. Under this analysis, the public financing scheme must be upheld if the challenged classification is rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest. The burden is on plaintiff to show that the classification is without reasonable justification. Halstead v City of Flint, 127 Mich App 148, 156; 338 NW2d 903 (1983).
The court in Buckley rejected the argument that the federal election campaign financing provi sions discriminated against minor and new parties in violation of the Fifth Amendment. As discussed above, the court found a legitimate governmental interest in eliminating the improper influence of large private contributions and relieving candidates from the rigors of soliciting private contributions. The court further stated with regard to the equal protection challenge:
"The States have also been held to have important interests in limiting places on the ballot to those candidates who demonstrate substantial popular support. E.g., Storer v Brown, supra, p 736; Lubin v Panish, supra, p 718-719; Jenness v Fortson, 403 US 431, 442; 91 S Ct 1970; 29 L Ed 2d 554 (1971); Williams v Rhodes, 393 US 23, 31-33; 89 S Ct 5; 21 L Ed 2d 24 (1968). Congress’ interest in not funding hopeless candidacies with large sums of public money, S Rep No. 93-689, supra, p 7, necessarily justifies the withholding of public assistance from candidates without significant public support. Thus, Congress may legitimately require 'some preliminary showing of a significant modicum of support,’ Jenness v Fortson, supra, p 442, as an eligibility requirement for public funds. This requirement also serves the important public interest against providing artificial incentives to 'splintered parties and unrestrained factionalism.’ Storer v Brown, supra, p 736; S Rep No. 93-689, supra, p 8; HR Rep No. 93-1239, p 13 (1974). Cf. Bullock v Carter, 405 US 134, 145; 92 S Ct 849; 31 L Ed 2d 92 (1972).
"As conceded by appellants, the Constitution does not require Congress to treat all declared candidates the same for public financing purposes. As we said in Jenness v Fortson, 'there are obvious differences in kind between the needs and potentials of a political party with historically established broad support, on the one hand, and a new or small political organization on the other. * * * Sometimes the grossest discrimination can lie in treating things that are different as though they were exactly alike, a truism well illustrated in Williams v Rhodes, supra.’ 403 US 441-442.” 424 US 96-98.
We find the analysis in Buckley equally applicable to plaintiffs equal protection challenge under the Michigan Constitution. We conclude that the legislation is rationally related to legitimate governmental objectives and does not deny plaintiff equal protection under Const 1963, art 1, § 2.
Purity of Elections
Const 1963, art 2, § 4 provides in part:
"The legislature shall enact laws to preserve the purity of elections, to preserve the secrecy of the ballot, to guard against abuses of the elective franchise, and to provide for a system of voter registration and absentee voting.”
The Court in Socialist Workers Party, supra, p 596, stated:
"The purity of elections’ clause has been interpreted by this Court to embody two separate concepts: first, that the constitutional authority to enact laws to preserve the purity of elections resides in the Legislature; and second, 'that any law enacted by the Legislature which adversely affects the purity of elections is constitutionally infirm’. Wells v Kent County Board of Election Comm’rs, 382 Mich 112, 123; 168 NW2d 222 (1969). The Wells Court further stated:
" 'The phrase, "purity of elections,” is one of large dimensions. It has no single, precise meaning. The * * * cases demonstrate, however, that one of the primary goals of election procedures is to achieve equality of treatment for all candidates whose names appear upon the ballot.’ 382 Mich 123.”
The purity of elections concept requires "fair ness and evenhandedness in the election laws of this state”. Socialist Workers Party, supra, p 598.
Contrary to plaintiffs contentions, this Court finds that the act’s public financing scheme does not provide any unfair advantage to major party candidates. As noted in the equal protection analysis, the placing of declared candidates into different categories for public financing purposes is based on legitimate governmental objectives and does not result in unfairness. Indeed, unfairness would result if all candidates were eligible for the same amount of funds without regard to public support. As noted in Buckley, supra, any disadvantage suffered by a minor party candidate flows not from the financing eligibility requirements but from the minor party candidate’s inability to raise private contributions. 424 US 94-95. Furthermore, the Court in Buckley recognized that a financing plan tied to acceptance of campaign expenditure limits may actually enhance the competitive position of minor party candidates:
"Furthermore, appellants have made no showing that the election funding plan disadvantages nonmajor parties by operating to reduce their strength below that attained without any public financing. First, such parties are free to raise money from private sources, and by our holding today new parties are freed from any expenditure limits, although admittedly those limits may be a largely academic matter to them. But since any major-party candidate accepting public financing of a campaign voluntarily assents to a spending ceiling, other candidates will be able to spend more in relation to the major-party candidates. The relative position of minor parties that do qualify to receive some public funds because they received 5% of the vote in the previous Presidential election is also enhanced. Public funding for candidates of major parties is intended as a substitute for private contributions; but for minor-party candidates such assistance may be viewed as a supple ment to private contributions since these candidates may continue to solicit private funds up to the applicable spending limit.” 424 US 98-99. (Footnotes omitted.)
The Court also noted:
"Public financing of some candidates does not make private fundraising for others any more difficult; indeed, the elimination of private contributions to major-party Presidential candidates might make more private money available to minority candidates.” 424 US 94, fn 128.
The Michigan statutory provisions do not deter any candidate from being placed on the ballot, freely campaigning, soliciting private contributions and qualifying for public funds under the formulas established in the act. Nor does the act prevent any voter from casting his vote for the candidate of his choice. The fact that some candidates cannot garner sufficient support to qualify for funding under § 65 does not demonstrate a lack of fairness or evenhandedness. We conclude that the public financing scheme does not create any unfair advantage and does not violate the purity of elections clause.
Freedom of Speech
Plaintiff argues that public financing "per se” violates the spirit of governmental neutrality in election procedures necessary to insure freedom of speech”. Plaintiff also asserts that the act was designed and has the effect of encouraging candidates to abandon minor-party endeavors, resulting in the "enshrinement of the two current major parties”, in violation of the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Michigan Constitution.
The Court in Buckley rejected a similar challenge under the First Amendment, finding that public financing under federal law did not abridge freedom of speech:
"Although 'Congress shall make no law * * * abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, 'Subtitle H is a congressional effort, not to abridge, restrict, or censor speech, but rather to use public money to facilitate and enlarge public discussion and participation in the electoral process, goals vital to a self-governing people. Thus, Subtitle H furthers, not abridges, pertinent First Amendment values.” 424 US 92-93. (Footnotes omitted.)
The Court also noted that public financing does not as a practical matter enhance major parties’ ability to campaign to the detriment of minor parties:
"Any disadvantage suffered by operation of the eligibility formulae under Subtitle H is thus limited to the claimed denial of the enhancement of opportunity to communicate with the electorate that the formulae afford eligible candidates. But eligible candidates suffer a countervailing denial. As we more fully develop later, acceptance of public financing entails voluntary acceptance of an expenditure ceiling. Noneligible candidates are not subject to that limitation.
We find the First Amendment analysis in Buckley to be dispositive of plaintiffs claim herein. The public financing scheme does not chill plaintiff’s right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the Michigan Constitution.
Affirmed.
MCL 169.210; MSA 4.1703(10) provides:
"(1) 'Major political party’ means a political party qualified to have its name listed on the general election ballot whose candidate for governor received 25% or more of the popular vote cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. If only 1 political party received 25% or more of the popular vote cast for governor in the preceding gubernatorial election, then the political party with the second highest vote shall be deemed a major party.
"(2) 'Minor political party’ means a political party qualified to have its name listed on the general election ballot but which does not qualify as a major party.”
Section 65(1), MCL 169.265(1); MSA 4.1703(65)(1), states that a major political party nominee is entitled to payment of not more than 75% of the spending limit designated in § 67, MCL 169.267; MSA 4.1703(67), for a general election. The expenditure limit in § 67 is $1,000,000 for one election.
Section 65, subds (2) and (3) provide:
"(2) A minor political party nominee whose party received 5% or more of the vote for the same office in the last election is entitled to an amount of not more than 75% of the spending limit as designated in section 67, multiplied by the number of popular votes the minor party received in the preceding general election for governor which is divided by the average number of votes the major parties received in that general election for governor.
"(3) A minor political party nominee not eligible under subsection (2) but who receives more than 5% of the vote in that general election for governor is entitled to reimbursement in an amount of not more than 75% of the spending limit as designated in section 67, multiplied by the number of popular votes the minor party received in the preceding general election for governor which is divided by the average number of votes the major parties received in that general election for governor.”
Plaintiff did not qualify for funds under § 65. No minor party nominee received more than 3% of the vote in the 1982 gubernatorial general election.
See Buckley v Valeo, 424 US 1, 85-90; 96 S Ct 612; 46 L Ed 2d 659 (1976).
" Appellants dispute the relevance of this answer to their argument on the ground that they will not be able to raise money to equal major-party spending. As a practical matter, however, Subtitle H does not enhance the major parties’ ability to campaign; it substitutes public funding for what the parties would raise privately and additionally imposes an expenditure limit. If a party cannot raise funds privately, there are legitimate reasons not to provide public funding, which would effectively facilitate hopeless candidacies.” 424 US 95. | [
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M. J. Kelly, P.J.
This controversy with one more ingredient could provide the grist for a season’s episodes of General Hospital. Plaintiff doctor was employed by defendant hospital as a sort of independent commission merchant for x-ray services. After several terms covering 20 years, the parties fell out with a bang, not a whimper. Plaintiff enlisted a battery of attorneys, launched a preemptive strike against defendants and fired off one, two, three lawsuits. Defendants reacted with a battalion of attorneys who returned the salvo and added numerous countering missiles of their own. The resulting fray dumps a collage of claims on this Court, disposed of summarily below, the unraveling of which we assay with great trepidation and in part reverse.
Facts
Plaintiffs instituted actions in Oakland County Circuit Court for breach of contract, interference with contractual relations and with prospective advantage, and intentional infliction of economic harm. Certain defendants counterclaimed, alleging interference with business relations and prospective business of Pontiac Oseteopathic Hospital and Paul W. Trimmer, extortion and conspiracy. The trial court granted partial summary judgment on the claims and counterclaim, by orders entered March 17, 1982, and October 6, 1982. Plaintiffs appeal as of right. Defendant hospital cross-appeals as of right.
Plaintiff Martin Trepel is an osteopathic physician and a board-certified radiologist. On November 1, 1959, Trepel and defendant hospital entered into a contract whereby Trepel, as an independent contractor, would provide x-ray services at the hospital. The contract provided for an initial term of seven years with automatic renewal for a second term unless notice of cancellation was given by either party. Trepel’s compensation was to be computed as a percentage of the gross charges of the x-ray department. In 1966, the contract was automatically extended until 1973. On March 29, 1973, Trepel and defendant hospital agreed to extend the contract for one year, with a provision for automatic one-year renewals thereafter unless notice of termination was given by either party. On September 25, 1974, defendant hospital gave notice that the contract would terminate on October 14, 1975.
After receipt of the notice of termination Trepel negotiated a new contract with defendant hospital which took effect on October 15, 1975. The contract expressly provided that it would expire on December 31, 1979. As compensation, Trepel was to receive one-third of the gross billings of the radiology and nuclear medicine departments until separate billing was instituted. Defendant hospital was required to provide facilities:
"2. Facilities. While this agreement is in effect, the hospital will make available to Trepel as an independent contractor adequate physical facilities, as well as equipment and supplies which the hospital deems reasonably necessary for the proper operation of the department in accordance with currently approved methods and practices and in accordance with the standards of the American Osteopathic College of Radiology and agrees to provide the services of such medical technicians and non-professional personnel including, but not limited to secretarial staff, as the administration of the hospital shall deem reasonably necessary to operate the department.”
The contract provided standards which Trepel was to follow in providing services:
"8. Scope and Standards. All radiological or nuclear medical examinations performed by comparable osteopathic hospitals shall, within the limitations of the facilities, equipment, supplies and services furnished by the hospital (as to which see ¶ 2) be performed by Trepel or his staff physicians at the hospital in his capacity as an independent contractor.”
Finally, the departments were to be governed by additional standards:
"12. Standards. The department shall be governed by the rules and regulations of the hospital, the American Osteopathic Association, the American College of Radiology, the hospital staff, the hospital administration, and the board of directors of the hospital.”
To implement the 1975 contract, Trepel entered into separate but substantially identical agree ments with qualified specialists, defendants Dr. Martin T. Rasp and Dr. Bernard H. Green, to provide the radiological services at defendant hospital. For the first four years of their association with Trepel, Rasp and Green were to receive guaranteed compensation in a stated amount. Thereafter, their compensation was to be based on a profit-sharing formula. A non-competition clause limited Rasp’s and Green’s medical practice in Oakland County for one year after termination of their association with Trepel. Trepel assigned his interest in the agreements to his wholly-owned partnership association, Martin Trepel and Associates Limited (MTL).
Trepel was awarded the 1975 contract in spite of competition from defendant David A. Kellam. Kellam was also an osteopathic physician and a board-certified radiologist. He had been employed by Trepel from 1962 to 1966 to practice osteopathic medicine and radiology at defendant hospital. Kellam continued to negotiate with defendant hospital to provide services to the radiology and nuclear medicine departments. Rasp and Green agreed to stay on at the hospital with him should Kellam receive a contract. Kellam’s efforts became successful when, in August, 1979, defendant hospital notified Trepel that his contract would not be renewed after its termination on December 31, 1979.
Because of defendant hospital’s rejection, Trepel allegedly followed through on threats he had made earlier and sent letters to various Michigan agencies, including the Municipal Finance Commission (MFC). The letters alleged that there were various defects in certificates of need filed by defendant hospital. The intent behind these letters was to interfere with defendant hospital’s application for a bond issue approval from the Michigan State Hospital Finance Authority. By mid-September, 1979, defendant hospital’s negotiations with the authority had resulted in the tentative approval of a proposed sale of tax-free municipal bonds in the amount of $19,720,000 with a proposed interest rate of 7.5 percent. The final step before consummation of the sale was approval by the MFC, which was scheduled to be obtained on or about September 11, 1979. The scheduled approval of the MFC was substantially delayed and, consequently, defendant hospital ran out of money and had to obtain new financing at a rate of 14.5 percent.
Procedural History
On December 26, 1979, Trepel filed a three-count complaint (Case No. 79-198827-CZ), seeking equitable relief and monetary damages for breach of hospital rules and regulations, breach of contract and interference with prospective business interests. Defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment as to Counts I and II was granted by order of March 25, 1980, but Trepel was granted leave to amend. On April 30, 1980, Trepel filed an amended complaint. Count I alleged breach of contract by all named defendants except Kellam. Count II alleged interference with contract and prospective advantage by all named defendants. On July 30, 1980, the action was dismissed as to Kellam for failure to serve him with process pursuant to GCR 1963, 102.5. On October 31, 1980, Trepel filled the gap with a complaint (Case No. 80-213833-NM) against Kellam only, alleging interference with contract and prospective advantage. The two cases were consolidated by order of March 13, 1981. The dismissal of Kellam in No. 79-198827-CZ was set aside on November 5, 1981.
On January 11, 1980, MTL filed a complaint (Case No. 80-199333-CK) premised on the violation of the non-competition clauses in Trepel’s agreements with Rasp and Green. MTL filed a four-count amended complaint on February 14, 1980, for breach of contract, interference with prospective advantage and with contractual relations and intentional infliction of economic harm. On February 19, 1980, defendant hospital was joined as a defendant by stipulation. Defendants’ efforts to have the amended complaint dismissed on the grounds that the non-competition clauses were invalid and unenforceable were unsuccessful and, on January 26, 1982, this action was consolidated with the first two cases.
On February 13, 1981, defendants (except Ke11am) in Case No. 79-198827-CZ counterclaimed against Trepel and joined Berrien. C. Eaton and John Morris, Trepel’s attorneys in the contract negotiations, as counterdefendants. Defendants twice amended their counterclaim. The first of four counts was for interference with defendant hospital’s business relations and prospective advantage based on Trepel’s alleged interference with the approval of the pending bond issue before the MFC.
Following a hearing on February 8, 1982, the trial court on March 17, 1982, entered an order granting partial summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(1). Count I of Trepel’s amended complaint in Case No. 79-198827-CZ was dismissed to the extent the purported breaches did not violate the standards of the American Osteopathic College of Radiology. Count II of the amended complaint was dismissed with prejudice for failure to allege improper conduct. Counts I, III and IV of the second amended counterclaim were dismissed with prejudice.
Another hearing was held on July 12, 1982, to consider and reconsider the propriety of summary judgment as to the various counts in the claims and counterclaim. On October 6, 1982, the trial court entered an order granting summary judgment with an express determination of finality. The order of March 17, 1982, was affirmed and, in addition, Count I of Trepel’s amended complaint in Case No. 79-198827-CZ was dismissed in its entirety; Counts II, III and IV of MTL’s amended complaint in Case No. 80-199333-CK were dismissed; and Trepel’s complaint against Kellam in Case No. 80-213833-NM was dismissed for the same reasons as were the second counts in the other two amended complaints.
Trepel appeals as of right the dismissal of the amended complaint in Case No. 79-198827-CZ and the complaint against Kellam in Case No. 80-213833-NM. MTL appeals as of right the dismissal of Counts II and III of its amended complaint in Case No. 80-199333-CK. Defendants have not cross appealed from the denial of their motion to dismiss Count I. Defendant hospital cross appeals as of right the dismissal of Count I of the second amended counterclaim in Case No. 79-198827-CZ.
I
Did the trial court err in dismissing with prejudice Count I of the amended complaint in Case No. 79-198827-CZ alleging breach of contract, for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted?
We believe the court did err in this regard. Defendants filed their motion for summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(1) for failure to state a claim. On March 17, 1982, the court entered the following order:
"Defendants’ motion is denied to the extent that the purported breaches set forth in the amended complaint violate 'the standards of the American Osteopathic College of Radiology.’ The motion is granted to the extent the purported breaches alleged in the amended complaint do not violate such standards.”
Defendants were permitted to renew their motion in order to show that the AOCR standards were not violated. Defendants did so and their motion was granted with the express determination that it should be appealable as a final order.
Plaintiff does not argue that the trial court erroneously determined that the breaches were not in violation of the AOCR standards. Plaintiff claims there are additional standards which the court ignored, namely, "currently approved methods and practices” as excerpted from ¶ 2 of the contract. The court found that designation "very ambiguous”. The court held that the complaint stated a claim inasmuch as it alleged a breach of the agreement and, zeroing in on ¶ 2, the court noted an objective standard — the AOCR standards —and a subjective standard: "reasonably necessary in accordance with currently approved methods and practicies”. The court held that plaintiff had stated a legally sufficient claim as to the AOCR standards, but not as to the "reasonably necessary” standard.
Furthermore, in one area the trial court found the "currently approved methods” standard ambiguous, and in the next colloquy it lumped the standard in with the "reasonably necessary” language. We find that the court was in actuality interpreting provisions of the contract which is inappropriate for purposes of determining legal sufficiency of a claim. We hold that the cburt erred in ruling that the standards in ¶ 2 were unambiguous. The ambiguity raises a question of fact in the pleadings which should not have been disposed of by dismissal under GCR 1963, 117.2(1).
Plaintiffs argument — that the trial court’s reliance on the merger clause of the agreement to reject any implied duties effectively relieved defendants of the duty of good-faith performance — adds nothing to the analysis. The question of good faith arises where defendants have discretion to determine what is reasonably necessary under ¶ 2 of the agreement. See Attorney General v Michigan National Bank, 110 Mich App 106, 124-125; 312 NW2d 405 (1981), rev’d on other grounds, 414 Mich 948; 325 NW2d 777 (1982). Because the trial court erred in ignoring the "reasonably necessary” language, it did not reach the question of good faith.
II
Did the trial court err in dismissing with prejudice plaintiffs’ claims for tortious interference with contract and prospective advantage contained in all three lawsuits?
Plaintiffs have alleged two separate tort actions in the various counts discussed in this issue: interference with contract and interference with prospective advantage. This Court, in Northern Plumbing & Heating, Inc v Henderson Bros, Inc, 83 Mich App 84, 92-93; 268 NW2d 296 (1978), lv den 405 Mich 845 (1979), stated the elements of these two torts:_
"To prevail on this theory [tortious interference with an existing contract], plaintiff must show that a contract existed, that it was breached, that [defendant] instigated the breach and that it did so without justification. Dassance v Nienhuis, 57 Mich App 422; 225 NW2d 789 (1975).
" 'The basic elements which establish a prima facie tortious interference with a business relationship are the existence of a valid business relation (not necessarily evidenced by an enforceable contract) or expectancy; knowledge of the relationship or expectancy on the part of the interferer; an intentional interference inducing or causing a breach or termination of the relationship or expectancy; and resultant damage to the party whose relationship or expectancy has been disrupted.’ ” Quoting 45 Am Jur 2d, Interference, § 50, p 322.
As to the latter tort, see also Wilkerson v Carlo, 101 Mich App 629, 632; 300 NW2d 658 (1980), lv den 411 Mich 984 (1981).
In Weitting v McFeeters, 104 Mich App 188, 197; 304 NW2d 525 (1981), a panel of this Court, relying on 4 Restatement Torts, 2d, § 766B, stated that the interference with a business relationship must be improper in addition to being intentional. Improper means "illegal, unethical, or fraudulent”. 104 Mich App 198. See also Northern Plumbing, supra, pp 99-101 (Danhof, C.J., dissenting), Meyering v Russell, 53 Mich App 695, 709-713; 220 NW2d 121 (1974), reversed 393 Mich 770; 224 NW2d 280 (1974), adopting the dissenting opinion of O’Hara, J.
While the term "improper” would apply also to interference with an existing contract, it is not apparent that the same definition should apply. Chief Judge Danhof, dissenting in Northern Plumbing, supra, p 100, stated:
"The social desirability of encouraging competition will justify some actions in an advantageous business relationship case which would be tortious if a contract existed.”
The trial court, however, interpreted the requirement that interference with a contract be without justification to be identical to the requirement of "improper” conduct interfering with prospective advantage. The trial court held that plaintiffs had failed to plead "improper” conduct by any of the defendants in any of the various counts.
A. Count II in lower court #S 79-198827-CZ and 80-213833-NM.
Trepel has alleged that defendants made efforts to eliminate him from defendant hospital, terminate his agreement, and replace him with Kellam. Trepel characterized this as unlawful and intentional interference. Trepel also alleged that defendant hospital refused "to renegotiate [his] contract in good faith” and refused "to deal”. It is apparent that these allegations do not plead "illegal, unethical or fraudulent conduct”. Trepel concedes as much by focusing his appeal on the "potentially meritorious” grounds raised in the July 12, 1982, hearing which he argues justify a grant of leave to amend. Those "grounds” allege interference with Trepel’s contracts with Rasp and Green. Trepel’s theory is that, since Rasp and Green were the only available radiologists to staff the department at defendant hospital and since they had contracts with him, he had a valid business expectancy in remaining at defendant hospital. Trepel claims that defendant hospital could not replace him due to the shortage of radiologists and that defendants’ inducement of Rasp and Green to breach their contracts and remain at defendant hospital under Kellam’s supervision satisfied the "improper” con duct requirement for interference with Trepel’s prospective advantage in obtaining a renewed contract with defendant hospital.
Trepel’s argument posits some expansion on the authorities cited in his brief. Defendants’ interference with Rasp’s and Green’s contracts, while perhaps subjecting them to liability for that interference, should not make defendants liable on their own contracts with Trepel. While the breach of Rasp’s and Green’s contracts may be a condition of defendants’ alleged breach, it is not causally related. Furthermore, under Weitting, Trepel must show illegal, unethical, or fraudulent conduct in addition to intentional interference. Trepel’s proposed amendment does not allege more than mere knowing and intentional interference. We endorse the Weitting panel’s interpretation and find it futile to give Trepel further opportunity to amend his complaint; the trial court’s grant of defendants’ motion for summary judgment is affirmed. Meyer v Hubbell, 117 Mich App 699, 705-706; 324 NW2d 139 (1982), lv den 417 Mich 993 (1983).
B. Counts II and III of No. 80-199333-CK.
In these abbreviated counts MTL has made the conclusory allegation of unlawful and intentional interference. In its brief, MTL argues that Rasp and Gr^en tortiously interfered with MTL’s prospective advantage in obtaining further continuity at defendant hospital by violating their covenants not to compete and by agreeing to work for Ke11am while Trepel was still involved in negotiations with defendant hospital. Kellam allegedly interfered by inducing Rasp’s and Green’s violations of their covenants not to compete.
MTL insists that intentional inducement to breach a contract is all that is required to show unlawful interference, citing the Restatement and old case law. We hold that this Court now requires allegations of "improper” conduct. Mere interference for the purpose of competition is not enough. Weitting, supra, pp 197-198. Since MTL has not alleged impropriety the trial court’s denial of leave to amend was not an abuse of discretion.
Ill
With regard to defendant hospital’s counterclaims did the trial court err in granting summary judgment on the claim for tortious interference with prospective advantage on the ground that Count I of the counterclaim failed to allege an issue as to any material fact which could establish the existence of a valid business expectancy?
A
Count I of defendant hospital’s second amended counterclaim alleges tortious interference with prospective advantage. Unlike plaintiffs’ claims, the counterclaim clearly alleges unethical conduct —sending letters knowing them to contain false allegations. However, the trial court held that defendant hospital did not adequately plead another element — the existence of a valid business expectancy. The expectancy must be a reasonable likelihood or probability, not mere wishful thinking. Schipani v Ford Motor Co, 102 Mich App 606, 622; 302 NW2d 307 (1981), Behrend v Bell Telephone Co, 242 Pa Super 47, 62; 363 A2d 1152 (1976), vacated, 473 Pa 320; 374 A2d 536 (1977). Defendant hospital alleged that, having obtained approval from the Michigan State Hospital Finance Authority on August 23, 1979, it expected approval by the MFC on or about September 11, 1979. Consideration by the MFC was impeded and defendant hospital had to refinance at a much higher rate. Two questions emerge: whether defendant hospital could reasonably expect approval of the bond issue by the MFC and, if so, whether defendant hospital could expect that approval without a substantial delay.
The proposed bond issue by the Michigan State Hospital Finance Authority was governed by the Hospital Finance Authority Act, MCL 331.31 et seq.; MSA 14.1220(1) et seq. The authority has the power to make loans to hospitals for the purpose of refinancing outstanding debts if it determines that the refinancing is necessary to realize the objectives and purposes of the act. MCL 331.42; MSA 14.1220(12). The determination is conclusive except with respect to the approval of the MFC. Id. In this context, the MFC does not exercise its powers and discretion under the Municipal Finance Act, MCL 131.1 et seq.; MSA 5.3118(1) et seq. Rather, the MFC is specifically limited by MCL 331.76; MSA 14.1220(46), which states in part:
"Before approving the issuance of the bonds or notes the municipal finance commission shall determine that the amount of the proposed issue is sufficient but not excessive, that the revenue and properties pledged for the payment thereof are sufficient and that the bonds or notes and the proceedings authorizing the same comply with this act and other applicable law.”
We find that the discretion of the MFC is not so broad as to deprive defendant hospital of a reasonable expectation that the bond issue would be approved. No Michigan cases have been found relating to interference with discretionary governmental action. The cases cited by the parties are not directly on point but are helpful.
In Lewis v Bloede, 202 F 7 (CA 4, 1912), plaintiff had put in the low bid for providing black ink to the United States Treasury Department. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing determined that plaintiffs ink was the best quality. Plaintiffs bid then had to be approved by the "committee of three”. This committee would give automatic approval unless it received a report to the contrary from an officer of the department known as the "chemist and inkmaker”. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that plaintiff had a cause of action where the chemist and inkmaker, in concert with codefendant, maliciously submitted a false report to the committee of three which resulted in the rejection of plaintiffs bid. Lewis does not discuss what allegations are required in the pleadings since it involved the propriety of a directed verdict. The court held, however, that where plaintiff seeks to prove intentional and malicious interference with an expectancy to enter into a contract as distinguished from a contract already executed, plaintiff must prove that he "would, but for the malicious interference of defendants, have entered into the contract.” 202 F 17. Because in Lewis the committee of three had already indicated that plaintiff was the low bidder and would be awarded the contract subject only to the chemist and inkmaker’s final approval, the court ruled that a directed verdict was not in order.
Pedersen v United States, 191 F Supp 95 (D Guam, 1961), also involved an ultimately unsuccessful bidder but in the context, as here, of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Plaintiff alleged that he had submitted the high bid for the purchase of certain obsolete ammunitions. A lower bidder, in concert with certain United States Air Force officers, maliciously sub mitted derogatory information about plaintiff to the person charged with the responsibility of awarding the purchase contract. Plaintiff’s bid was rejected. Plaintiff alleged that but for the wrongful interference he would have been awarded the contract. The court held that plaintiff’s complaint stated a claim upon which relief could be granted.
Somewhat different from the above two cases in Carr v Brown, 395 A2d 79 (DC App, 1978). Plaintiff had applied to the City Council Transportation Committee for permission to close and relocate a portion of an alley. The committee was to make a decision only after hearing interested parties. Opposition to any such application was invited so that an informed and prudent decision, after consideration of all viewpoints, could be rendered. The court held that plaintiff’s expectancy of approval within a specified time period was simply too remote. Also, to attempt to determine the reason for the delay would lead to futile speculation. The court emphasized that it was not dealing with a case involving alleged interference with business due to malicious official refusal to issue necessary permits nor with a claim by the plaintiff that he had an expectancy of doing business with a governmental body which expectancy was unjustifiably interfered with by the defendant. Id., p 84.
In the instant case, the discretion to be exercised by the MFC appears to be somewhat greater than that attributed to the governmental bodies in Lewis and Pedersen, supra, but significantly less than that in Carr. We perceive that Carr is a gloss on the general rule. It applies to situations where too many factors are in play to be able to reasonably infer that, but for defendant’s allegedly wrongful action, plaintiff likely would have obtained the desired advantage. In this case, the MFC’s grant of approval must be preceded by the determinations required by statute. A trier of fact might be persuaded that defendant hospital could ascertain with reasonable certainty whether the items listed in the statute were satisfied so that MFC approval was a probability. If the question were whether defendant hospital’s application for a loan was denied because of counterdefendants’ interference, defendant hospital would have made out a cause of action because a trier of fact could assess the causal effect of the counterdefendants’ actions.
However, where the MFC approval is only delayed, as alleged here, the problem becomes more difficult. The MFC is required to make findings of fact before granting approval. Obviously, that task takes a certain amount of time to accomplish. However, the procedure involved is not a notice and comment type hearing, as in Carr, designed to let interested parties express their opposition. Defendant hospital should have the opportunity to prove its allegation that approval was "scheduled” for September 11, 1979.
In Lewis, supra, pp 20-21, and Carr, supra, p 84, reference is made to the prior history of the governmental entity in granting approval. Defendant hospital has sought to introduce evidence by way of affidavit of the MFC’s perfect record in approving bond issues already approved by the Michigan State Hospital Finance Authority. We believe such evidence if otherwise admissible could persuade a trier of fact at a contested trial.
B
Counterdefendants argue an alternative theory for dismissing the second amended counterclaim, which the trial court did not reach, namely that counterdefendants’ interference was privileged by the First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances. The hospital argues that counterdefendants’ actions fall within a "sham petitioning” exception. The right to petition government has been considered at length in antitrust litigation under the Sherman Act. In Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v Noerr Motor Freight, 365 US 127; 81 S Ct 523; 5 L Ed 2d 464 (1961), reh den 365 US 875; 81 S Ct 899; 5 L Ed 2d 864 (1961), and United Mine Workers of America v Pennington, 381 US 657; 85 S Ct 1585; 14 L Ed 2d 626 (1965), the Supreme Court held that defendants’ conduct was privileged in spite of allegations of malicious and fraudulent acts with the overriding purpose of destroying competition. However, the Sherman Act would apply where action, "ostensibly directed toward influencing governmental action, is a mere sham to cover what is actually nothing more than an attempt to interfere directly with the business relationships of a competitor”. Noerr, supra, p 144. In California Motor Transport Co v Trucking Unlimited, 404 US 508; 92 S Ct 609; 30 L Ed 2d 642 (1972), the Court applied the "sham” exception where defendants had engaged in concerted action to deny plaintiffs access to petition the government by going to court on every application filed by plaintiffs. Unethical behavior condoned in the political arena was not immunized when used in the adjudicatory or administrative processes. Id., p 513. The sham exception has been broadened in recent lower court cases. See Clipper Exxpress v Rocky Mountain Motor Tariff Bureau, Inc, 674 F2d 1252 (CA 9, 1982), modified 690 F2d 1240 (CA 9, 1982), cert den, — US —; 103 S Ct 1234; 75 L Ed 2d 468 (1983), Sage International, Ltd v Cadillac Gage Co, 507 F Supp 939 (ED Mich, 1981).
In Sierra Club v Butz, 349 F Supp 934 (ND Cal, 1972), the Noerr-Pennington doctrine and sham exception were applied by analogy in the context of a counterclaim for interference with advantageous relationship. The court rejected the "malice” standard, holding that something more than improper motive was required. The court also analyzed defamation cases, noting that the First Amendment will not protect a speaker who knows his statements are false. We are persuaded by the analysis in Butz that the right to petition does not preclude liability where counterdefendants have knowingly falsified information sent to a governmental agency. It should also be noted that the content of the letter sent to the MFC did not relate to the items listed in the statute for the MFC to review. The MFC was not in a position to do anything about the informmation in the letter. It is apparent that counterdefendants’ petition was therefore a sham.
C
Counterdefendants Eaton’s and Morris’s argument that they are privileged as attorneys working on behalf of their client is unpersuasive. It is true that attorneys owe no duty of care to parties opposing their client and may not therefore be sued in negligence by the opposing party for attorney representation of a client. Friedman v Dozorc, 412 Mich 1; 312 NW2d 585 (1981). However the same rationale does not apply in non-negligence actions, where elements other than duty of care are required. In Sovereign v Hart, 363 Mich 32, 36; 108 NW2d 758 (1961), for example, the Supreme Court held that while an attorney does not become liable to an opposing party for deceit merely by filing a complaint containing untrue allegations, a cause of action is pled against that attorney where it is alleged that the attorney " 'counseled and caused the said allegations to be made,’ knowing them to be false, in order to deceive the court”. Thus, attorneys are not immune from allegations that they were personally involved in the wrongful and intentional conduct forming the basis for the cause of action.
In this case, defendant hospital alleges that Eaton and Morris had personal knowledge of the hospital’s business expectancy and that they personally and intentionally interfered with that expectancy with illegal, unethical, or fraudulent intent. We find that the trial court erred in dismissing the hospital’s counterclaim against these counterdefendants.
Decision
We affirm in part and reverse in part.
The trial court’s grant of defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to Count I of the amended complaint in the first action is reversed.
We affirm the dismissal of plaintiffs claims for interference with contract and with prospective advantage in all three lawsuits. We affirm the trial court’s denial of leave to amend as plaintiffs failed to allege illegal, unethical, or fraudulent conduct.
We reverse the dismissal of defendant hospital’s counterclaim against Trepel and his attorneys and order the same reinstated.
No costs, no party having fully prevailed.
These are Count II in Case No. 1, by which we mean the case filed first in time, lower court No. 79-198827-CZ, Court of Appeals No. 67537, and Counts II and III in both other lawsuits. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from a declaratory judgment in defendants’ favor determining plaintiffs liability under a no-fault automobile insurance policy issued to defendants by plaintiff.
This case arises out of an automobile accident which occurred on October 14, 1979. On that date Russell Parmelee, III, was operating a vehicle owned by his father, Russell Parmelee, Jr., with his mother, Patricia Parmelee, riding as a passenger. The car went out of control and struck a tree, causing Mrs. Parmelee to be injured. Patricia and Russell Parmelee, Jr., filed an action asserting a claim for personal injuries suffered by Mrs. Parmelee as a result of the accident. During the course of the action the question arose concerning insurance coverage available in the form of liability protection for Russell Parmelee, III, and for compensation for the injuries suffered by Mrs. Parmelee.
At the time of the incident Russell Parmelee, Jr., and Patricia Parmelee were named insureds on a policy of automobile liability insurance with plaintiff. The residual bodily injury liability limits of this policy were $100,000/$300,000. The insurance policy contained an exclusionary clause which stated that liability protection does not apply to "bodily injury to any named insured * * The effective dates of the policy were May 25, 1979, to November 25, 1979.
Plaintiff filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a determination of its rights and liabilities under the insurance policy. Plaintiff sought to have two problems resolved through the action. The first was whether the exclusionary clause was valid and enforceable. If the exclusionary clause was found to be invalid, plaintiff sought to determine the limits of its liability under the policy. Citing State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co v Shelly, 394 Mich 448; 231 NW2d 641 (1975), plaintiff argued that, should the exclusionary clause be invalidated, the limits of the policy should be the minimum statutory limit imposed by MCL 500.3009; MSA 24.13009. Thus, it was plaintiff’s position that its liability under the policy should be $20,000/$40,000 as opposed to $100,000/ $300,000, the contractual limit contained in the policy.
At the hearing held in the matter on August 15, 1983, the trial court held that the exclusionary clause which stated that there would be no coverage of injuries to named insureds was invalid. The court further held that the contractual policy limits would govern and, therefore, the limits of plain tiffs residual bodily injury liability would be $100,-000/$300,000.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from the trial court’s ruling determining the limits of plaintiffs liability under the policy. On appeal, plaintiff does not contest the propriety of the court’s ruling that the exclusionary clause is invalid.
In State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co v Sivey, 404 Mich 51; 272 NW2d 555 (1978), the Supreme Court declared void as against public policy an exclusionary clause identical to the one involved in the instant case. Sivey was decided December 26, 1978. The policy at issue herein ran from May 25, 1979, to November 25, 1979. Plaintiff, therefore, should have been aware that the policy at issue contained a clause that, if not totally void, was certainly ambiguous in the instant situation where defendants had paid for a policy containing extra residual bodily injury coverage of $100,000/$300,000 but the law, MCL 500.3009(1); MSA 25.13009(1), required limits of $20,000/$40,000. Where an ambiguity exists, the policy must be liberally construed in favor of the insured and against the insurer who drafted it. Dittus v Geyman, 68 Mich App 433; 242 NW2d 800 (1976); Weaver v Michigan Mutual Liability Co, 32 Mich App 605; 189 NW2d 116 (1971); Citizens Ins Co of Amercia v Detloff, 89 Mich App 429; 280 NW2d 555 (1979); Citizens Ins Co of America v Tunney, 91 Mich App 223; 283 NW2d 700 (1979). We, therefore, affirm the judgment of the trial court that the contractual policy limits of $100,-000/$300,000 apply in the instant case.
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R. B. Burns, J.
Plaintiffs appeal from an order granting defendant’s petition to modify the property settlement provisions of the judgment of divorce.
Plaintiff David M. Colestock and defendant Judy Ann Colestock were married on November 20, 1971. Two children were born during their marriage.
As a result of injuries sustained by plaintiff in an automobile accident on September 7, 1979, the parties, represented by the same attorney, filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking damages jointly and severally.
On August 7, 1980, plaintiff filed a complaint for divorce. After the divorce action was filed defendant retained the same attorney who was representing her in the divorce action to file an appearance in the accident case.
A trial in the divorce case was held on June 15, 1981. The trial court ruled that plaintiff’s cause of action in the tort suit was not a marital asset but that defendant was not precluded from asserting any claim she might have for herself or on behalf of the children arising out of the suit. The judgment of divorce entered on June 18, 1981, contains a provision which states that the judgment will not affect any of defendant’s rights to proceed on her own behalf or on behalf of the children for any cause of action she may personally have as a result of the September 7, 1979, automobile accident. The judgment of divorce was silent as to plaintiff’s potential recovery from the suit filed in federal court. Defendant did not appeal from the judgment of divorce.
On November 5, 1981, plaintiff settled his federal tort claim, which was dismissed on November 16, 1981. The settlement agreement and release signed by the plaintiff recites that plaintiff was settling his claims for noneconomic loss and was waiving his right to recover for economic loss. The noneconomic losses included but were not limited to pain and suffering, emotional trauma, anxiety, embarrassment, humiliation and unsightly scarring.
Defendant filed a petition to modify the property settlement provisions of the divorce judgment on December 4, 1981. Defendant sought a determination by the trial court that the monies received by plaintiff as the result of his settlement in the federal tort action were marital assets subject to distribution between plaintiff and defendant.
On December 4, 1981, defendant’s attorney filed a petition in the circuit court to require plaintiff to disclose the amount of the settlement and to modify the divorce judgment. Following a hearing, the court issued an order on July 1, 1982, declaring that the plaintiff’s settlement proceeds were marital assets.
It should be noted that plaintiff married Lois Colestock, intervening plaintiff, on February 24, 1982, and that plaintiff substantially disbursed the settlement proceeds in the purchase of real property on March 21, 1982. In addition, on April 20, 1982, defendant settled the federal tort action brought on her own behalf and on behalf of the children for an undisclosed amount.
The trial court had also issued an opinion on June 18, 1982, granting defendant’s petition to modify the judgment of divorce. The trial court stated that it had incorrectly found that plaintiff’s cause of action was not a marital asset. The trial court ruled that proofs be reopened on the issue of the portion of the settlement to be awarded defendant.
Property settlement provisions of a divorce judgment, unlike alimony or child support provisions, are final and, as a general rule, cannot be modified. Boucher v Boucher, 34 Mich App 213; 191 NW2d 85 (1971). A judgment of divorce dividing marital property is res judicata and not subject to collateral attack, even if the judgment may have been wrong or rested on a subsequently overruled legal principle. McGinn v McGinn, 126 Mich App 689; 337 NW2d 632 (1983). Like all final judgments, a party may seek relief from the property settlement provisions of a judgment of divorce within a "reasonable time” for the following reasons:
"(1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under subrule 527.2; (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.” GCR 1963, 528.3.
Before a party may obtain relief from a judgment under the broad language of GCR 1963, 528.3(6), three conditions must be satisfied: "(I) the reason for setting aside the judgment must not fall under subrules (1) through (5), (II) the substantial rights of the opposing party must not be detrimentally affected if the motion is set aside, and (III) extraordinary circumstances must exist which mandate setting aside the judgment in order to achieve justice”. Lark v Detroit Edison Co, 99 Mich App 280; 297 NW2d 653 (1980).
The trial court, defendant and defense counsel were all aware of plaintiff’s pending tort action. At the time of trial, defendant was represented by separate counsel in the federal tort suit. The trial court ruled that plaintiffs cause of action was not a marital asset. Thus, the question to be decided is whether the trial court’s legal ruling at trial constitutes an extraordinary circumstance mandating modification of the property settlement provisions in order to achieve justice.
We find that the trial court’s ruling at trial that plaintiffs cause of action in the tort suit was not a marital asset is not an extraordinary circumstance justifying relief from the operation of the judgment. In Postill v Postill, 116 Mich App 578; 323 NW2d 491 (1982), this Court affirmed the trial court’s ruling which denied the plaintiffs motion pursuant to GCR 1963, 528.3(6) for relief from the judgment of divorce. The defendant in Postill initiated a libel action during the course of the marriage. At the time of the parties’ divorce, the defendant was awarded $200,000 in the libel action. Thereafter, the plaintiff moved to have the property settlement set aside and to have 50% of the defendant’s recovery awarded to her. Because the plaintiff was aware of the defendant’s cause of action which was pending at the time of divorce, there was no reason justifying reopening or setting aside the judgment of divorce. Postill, supra, p 581.
The trial court abused its discretion in granting defendant relief from the property settlement provisions of the divorce judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 528.3(6). Defendant should have appealed the trial court’s initial ruling not to include plaintiffs cause of action in the marital estate subject to distribution. Instead, defendant waited until plaintiff negotiated a settlement and then sought to collaterally attack the previously rendered judgment of divorce. This she cannot do.
Reversed.
R. L. Tahvonen, J., concurred. | [
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R. I. Cooper, J.
Defendants were jointly tried and convicted by a jury of breaking and entering an occupied dwelling with intent to commit a larceny, MCL 750.110; MSA 28.305. Both defendants received sentences of 10 to 15 years in prison and both defendants appeal their convictions as of right.
The undisputed facts are as follows. Shortly after midnight, while doing a safety check in the parking lot of a 7-11 party store, officer Martin Brock observed a Buick parked away from the party store. He noticed the Buick’s brake lights flashing on and off and the driver looking over his shoulder several times. Officer Brock stopped and briefly questioned defendant Lange, the driver, who said he was waiting there for "a couple of chicks”. During this time the brake lights flashed on and off several more times and Mr. Lange acted very nervous according to officer Brock’s testimony. Brock told him to stay where he was while he drove around the immediate area. The officer saw a second person, later identified as defendant Marland, behind the building. When the officer approached defendant Marland, Marland tried to run away with Brock in pursuit. As Marland approached the Buick, defendant Lange waved him away. Defendant Marland then entered the party store but came back out when officer Brock motioned for him to exit from the party store. Officer Brock asked defendant Marland if he knew the man in the Buick and Marland replied in the affirmative. Officer Brock then placed Marland in the back seat of his police car and radioed for assistance from Grand Blanc Township police officers so that he could check what was going on at that particular time. He also turned on a tape recorder sitting on the front seat of his cruiser. Officer Brock returned to defendant Lange who was still waiting in the Buick. Officer Brock asked Lange if he knew the man who had tried to get into the Buick. Lange responded that he had never seen him before in his life. Brock then ordered Lange out of the car, patted him down and placed him in the back seat of the police car with Mar-land.
While seated in the police cruiser, the defendants had a conversation which was recorded by the tape recorder in the front seat. Both defendants made incriminating statements while sitting in the cruiser. Neither defendant was told of the existence of the tape recorder or that it was turned on. However, a transcript of the recording shows that the defendants commented that the "police radio could be hooked up”. The trial court denied defendants’ motion to quash the tape recording, on the grounds that there was no Miranda violation because there had been no interrogation. The jury was allowed to have copies of the edited transcript of the tape recording.
The tape recorder had been turned on prior to the first defendant’s being placed in the patrol car. While the defendants were talking in the patrol car, a police officer was positioned behind the cruiser, but not within hearing distance of the defendants. Officer Brock in the meantime returned to the area where he had first seen defendant Marland, and followed a trail of footprints to a nearby house. He found that the back porch window had been smashed out and it appeared as though someone had attempted to kick out the storm door because there were footprints on the door. Also a window on the front porch had been broken out. Defendant Marland’s tennis shoes had broken glass imbedded in them. Officer Brock testified that the tape recorder "was laying in plain view on the front seat”.
Both defendants on appeal claim that the tran script of the defendants’ conversation was erroneously admitted at trial because it was the fruit of an illegal arrest. Generally, a defendant’s failure to object to the admission of evidence at trial precludes appellate review. People v Paul Williams, 118 Mich App 117; 325 NW2d 4 (1982). However, despite the fact that neither defense counsel raised the issue of the legality of the warrantless arrest at trial, this Court’s review is not precluded, because the courts have recognized an exception to this rule when a constitutional question is involved. People v Crawl, 401 Mich 1, 31; 257 NW2d 86 (1977).
This Court has established a two-part standard of review:
"Where a defendant raises a constitutional question for the first time on appeal, we must ask two questions: (1) was the evidence decisive, and (2) was the evidence erroneously admitted into evidence.” People v Woodard, 111 Mich App 528, 531; 314 NW2d 680 (1981), quoting People v Bukoski, 41 Mich App 498, 501; 200 NW2d 373 (1972).
This Court answers in the affirmative regarding the former question for the reason that the transcript of the recording was provided to the jury and clearly incriminated the defendants. This Court answers in the negative regarding the latter question for the reason that the action of officer Brock was reasonable. People v Martin, 99 Mich App 570; 297 NW2d 718 (1980); People v Bloyd, 96 Mich App 264; 292 NW2d 546 (1980); People v Carter, 96 Mich App 694; 293 NW2d 681 (1980); People v Grimmett, 97 Mich App 212; 293 NW2d 768 (1980). Addressing the matter as events unfolded, this Court observes that probable cause to arrest is not necessary for an investigative stop. It is necessary that the officer have a reasonable belief that criminal activity may be occurring. People v Johnson, 81 Mich App 70; 264 NW2d 125 (1978); People v Lillis, 64 Mich App 64; 235 NW2d 65 (1975). Officer Brock’s action in stopping both defendants initially and briefly questioning them was a proper investigatory stop under Terry v Ohio, 396 US 1; 88 S Ct 1868; 20 L Ed 2d 889 (1968). Because of the continued blinking of the brake lights, defendant Lange’s continually looking over his shoulder, and his nervous response, Officer Brock was justified in his instruction that defendant Lange remain in his Buick while the officer drove around the immediate premises. Upon spotting defendant Marland behind the store and receiving a response that he was urinating, the officer was justified in pursuing defendant Marland when he thereupon attempted to run away and was waved off as he sought to enter defendant Lange’s Buick. Thie contradictory answers by defendant Lange that he did not know Marland and Marland’s response that he did know Lange justified the officer’s continued investigation by having placed both defendants in the back of his patrol car. The removal to the patrol car was reasonable in that the lone officer now was dealing with two persons without any assistance. When assistance arrived, officer Brock immediately followed the footprints, apparently left by defendant Marland in that they matched the footwear Marland was wearing, which led to a nearby residence where indications of a breaking and entering existed. The situation clearly evolved from a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity had been taking place to justify the initial stop to probable cause that an offense was committed and that the suspect committed it based on the evidence of the breaking and entering. People v Lillis, 64 Mich App 64; 235 NW2d 65 (1975); People v Langston, 57 Mich App 666; 226 NW2d 686 (1975); People v Murphy, 28 Mich App 150; 184 NW2d 256 (1970).
We recognize at the outset that defendants were not placed under formal arrest when they were detained in the back seat of the patrol car. Nevertheless, we hold that defendants were "seized” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment since they would have been prevented from leaving the area had they attempted to do so. Michigan v Summers, 452 US 692, 696; 101 S Ct 2587; 69 L Ed 2d 340 (1981); Dunaway v New York, 442 US 200, 212; 99 S Ct 2248; 60 L Ed 2d 824 (1979); People v Freeman, 413 Mich 492, 495; 320 NW2d 878 (1982). The case of People v Bloyd, 416 Mich 538; 331 NW2d 447 (1982), provides a pertinent analysis regarding the issue of what is the permissible scope of a detention based on less than probable cause. The Bloyd Court cites Dunaway v New York as follows:
"[T]he court held that a detention for custodial interrogation, a procedure that was indistinguishable from a traditional arrest, must be supported by probable cause.” 416 Mich 545.
In Dunaway the police had driven the defendant to police headquarters in a patrol car and placed him in an interrogation room. In both the Bloyd situation and Dunaway, the Bloyd Court observed that the defendant was not questioned briefly where he was found. In Bloyd, the police observed pornographic material in defendant’s car and proceeded to place the defendant in their patrol car while they drove to two different locations trying to determine if establishments which sold pornographic material had been broken into.
Next the Bloyd Court analyzed the case of Mich igan v Summers, 452 US 692; 101 S Ct 2587; 69 L Ed 2d 340 (1981). Quoting Terry v Ohio, supra, the Summers Court stated as follows:
" '[S]ome seizures admittedly covered by the Fourth Amendment constitute such limited intrusions on the personal security of those detained and are justified by such substantial law enforcement interests that they may be made on less than probable cause, so long as police have an articulable basis for suspecting criminal activity’. 452 US 699.”
As stated in Summers, a police officer may communicate with others, either police or private citizens, in an effort to verify an explanation tendered. A suspect may be detained while it is determined if in fact an offense has occurred in the area, a process which might involve checking certain premises, locating and examining objects abandoned by the suspect, or talking with other people. Bloyd, supra, p 549. The above language is specifically addressed to investigative techniques based on a Terry-type stop. Such investigative methods are not considered inherently objectionable provided the period of detention is not unduly long or does not involve moving the suspect to another locale. 3 LaFave, Search & Seizure, § 92, pp 36-37. Further, the Bloyd Court observed that the Summers decision did not preclude the possibility of justifying similar police conduct without a warrant if the warrant requirement is excused by exigent circumstances. 452 US 702, fn 17. Applying the above citations of law, we observe in the present case that officer Brock first observed suspicious activity because the car was located at a portion of the parking lot not normally used for the parking of cars at that period of the night. He observed the brake lights flashing which signified to him that the driver may have been trying to signal someone. He observed that the defendant acted in a nervous manner. Officer Brock allowed defendant Lange to remain in his car while he drove around the immediate premises. He then observed defendant Marland and had a right to speak to him. When defendant Marland attempted to flee on foot, officer Brock had a right to deduce that exigent circumstances existed in that he was a lone officer who needed to exercise some control while he analyzed contradictory explanations provided by the defendants. Thus he was entitled to place in the patrol car one defendant who had just attempted to flee while he in turn talked to the other defendant. When the other defendant contradicted the person just put in the patrol car, the officer then had a right to place both defendants into the patrol car. As stated by Professor LaFave and cited in the Summers decision, the officer had a right to make an effort to verify the explanation tendered. He checked the immediate premises and removed neither of the defendants from the immediate area. Our present case is easily distinguished from Bloyd in that, unlike in Bloyd, there was no transportation involved in our present case. As stated in Summers, and again in Bloyd, supra, p 553:
"[I]t is important to focus upon the law enforcement interest and the nature of 'articulable facts’ supporting the particular detention when assessing the justification for an intrusion. These law enforcement interests include (1) preventing flight, (2) minimizing the risk of harm to an officer, and (3) facilitating an orderly completion of a search.”
Certainly items 1 and 3 apply to our present case. There was no undue delay in the present case in that the officer immediately radioed for assistance, assistance arrived rapidly, and, once the defendants were placed under observation, officer Brock was then able to follow the footprints to the scene of a nearby residence where substantial evidence of a breaking and entering was discovered. In conclusion we find that the transcript of the defendants’ conversation was not the fruit of an illegal arrest.
Next defendants argue that reversible error occurred because no search warrant was obtained before recording the conversation. In addition it may be argued that the defendants were not given any Miranda warnings. On appeal defendants argue that they were alone in the cruiser, that the windows were rolled up, and that the doors were closed, thus justifying their expectation that any conversation would be private. No Michigan case has addressed the issue under similar factual circumstances. Two recent California cases, however, have held that such recordings, made surreptitiously after defendants had been validly arrested and placed in police cruisers, were properly admissible into evidence. In People v Crowson, 124 Cal App 3d 198; 177 Cal Rptr 352 (1981), the court held that there can be no reasonable expectation of privacy in the back seat of a police car. That holding was reaffirmed in the subsequent case of People v Williams, 128 Cal App 3d 981; 180 Cal Rptr 734 (1982). In Williams, the court stated that "an individual’s expectation of privacy must be objectively reasonable before he can complain of any intrusion”. Williams, p 987. Further, the Williams case cites a 1974 California case to the same effect, thus showing that the California position has withstood the test of time for almost a decade. See People v Newton, 42 Cal App 3d 292; 116 Cal Rptr 690 (1974). In our present case it is significant that the defendants, by their own taped conversation, have shown they did not completely entertain an expectation of privacy for the reason that on page 9 of the tape transcript defendant Marland observes that the police radio could be hooked up. Again on page 19 defendant Marland observes that the police radio could be hooked up. Nevertheless they continued to talk in both instances even though they had alerted themselves to the possibility that their conversation might be overheard. On March 24, 1983, the Supreme Court of California upheld the Court of Appeals decision, affirming that defendant Crowson did not have a reasonable right to expect privacy in the back seat of a police car. People v Crowson, 33 Cal 3d 623; 190 Cal Rptr 165; 660 P2d 389 (1983).
We find no violation of defendants’ Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination or Sixth Amendment right of confrontation. Specifically, there was no interrogation by the officers involved in the case. The single question asked by the police did not produce an incriminating response by either defendant. Further, the statements of both defendants were clearly admissible against each other pursuant to People v Shepherd, 63 Mich App 316, 322; 234 NW2d 502 (1975), which states as follows:
"It is well settled that admissions and statements of a codefendant are admissible against another defendant if there exists a concert of action between the defendants, and the statements are made while the common scheme or plan is still in effect, People v Trilck, 374 Mich 118; 132 NW2d 134 (1965), People v Adams, 48 Mich App 595; 210 NW2d 888 (1973).”
Defendant Marland alleges that the trial court’s instructions improperly suggested to the jury that acquittal on the charged crime must be unanimous before consideration could be given to the lesser offenses. People v Mays, 407 Mich 619; 288 NW2d 207 (1980). Defense counsel, however, failed to object to the instruction challenged on appeal, and, in fact, indicated satisfaction with the instructions as given. In People v Handley, 415 Mich 356; 329 NW2d 710 (1982), the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that in trials conducted prior to the release of that decision, failure to object to an allegedly coercive instruction such as the type prohibited in People v West, 408 Mich 332; 291 NW2d 48 (1980), People v Mays, supra, and People v Hurst, 396 Mich 1; 238 NW2d 6 (1976), precludes consideration on appeal. We thus decline to address defendant’s argument.
We find no reversible error in the trial court’s denying defendant Marland’s request for an adjournment of his sentencing. Defendant Marland made no showing that the information contained in his presentence report was misleading or inaccurate.
Next we find that the trial court did not commit reversible error in its denial of defendant Lange’s request for an adjournment made on the first day of trial. Defendant Lange requested an adjournment for the reason that he had been furnished the transcript of the incriminating conversation in the back seat of the patrol car only on the first day of trial. GCR 1963, 503 provides in pertinent part:
"It is the policy of this rule to encourage the diligent preparation and trial of cases. Except where the court, within its discretion and to promote the ends of justice, adjourns a cause, continuance of any trial or hearing upon stipulation shall not be granted unless the stipulation is made in writing or made orally only in open court and is based upon good cause shown to the satisfaction of the court under all of the circumstances of the case and with a view toward speedy and substantial justice.”
The trial court denied defendant’s motion for adjournment on the grounds that the defense had not requested a transcript of the suppression motion on the day that the motion was heard. The motion was heard approximately one week prior to trial. We find no abuse of discretion by the trial court in that both defendants were furnished a copy of the tape transcript the day of trial. The time between the hearing and the commencement of trial was short, thus there was no lack of diligence by the court reporter. Further, defendants made no showing of actual prejudice. Both defendants were familiar with the general contents of the tape in that they had listened to it one week earlier. Thus, absent a showing of actual prejudice, we find no reversible error. See People v Wilson, 397 Mich 76; 243 NW2d 257 (1976).
We find no reversible error in the trial court’s having admitted into evidence the statement by defendant Marland that defendant Lange was "his ride” to the store. There was no objection at trial by defendant Lange. We find no manifest injustice in that the evidence described on appeal was not decisive. Specifically, the defendants would have been convicted based on the admitted tape of their incriminating statements while in the back of the patrol car. Thus the reference to the ride was nothing more than an innocuous statement to the officer. Further, it would be allowable as justification for the officer’s course of action in investigating the situation. We affirm defendants’ convictions.
Affirmed.
Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436; 86 S Ct 1602; 16 L Ed 2d 694; 10 ALR3d 974 (1966). | [
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Beasley, P.J.
Defendant-appellant, Helean Marshall, appeals as of right from an order dated November 15, 1982, modifying the property settlement provisions of her 1980 divorce. Plaintiff-appellee, Neil M. Marshall, cross appeals by leave granted.
The parties were divorced in a judgment dated October 29, 1980. With respect to property settlement, the divorce judgment provided as follows:
"It is further ordered and adjudged that a certain property settlement agreement dated October 29, 1980, is incorporated by reference as if fully recited herein, but is specifically declared not to be merged into this judgment, but is declared to be a contractual agreement between the parties hereto.”
Arrived at after protracted negotiations, the nine-page written property settlement agreement was signed by the parties and their respective attorneys on October 29, 1980, in anticipation of and on the same date as the divorce.
The major marital asset of the parties consisted of stock of Ogden & Moffett Company, which was awarded to plaintiff husband under the property settlement agreement. To offset this award, defendant wife was awarded substantial amounts of cash payable by plaintiff husband over a period of time.
Plaintiff had owned 28% of Ogden’s stock, which share was valued by him at approximately $1,403,-000 at the time of the divorce. Prior to the divorce, R-W Service Systems entered into a stock purchase agreement with Ogden’s stockholders for $5.3 million, less any operating losses by Ogden between the proposed date and the time the Interstate Commerce Commission allowed the parties to consummate the transaction. The purchase price was to be adjusted further by any other items that lessened the value of the stock. During this period, the federal government deregulated the trucking industry, resulting in a claimed devaluation of the worth of plaintiff’s Ogden stock from $1,403,000 to $1,184,000, which reduction occurred after the divorce judgment.
In the parties’ extensive property settlement agreement, among other things, plaintiff agreed to pay defendant $25,000 within 30 days of plaintiff’s receipt of R-W’s downpayment under the stock purchase agreement and to pay defendant $202,-000 in semiannual installments of $10,000 or more, plus interest on the unpaid balance at 7% per annum. The latter indebtedness was evidenced by a promissory note and interest was to accrue commencing with the receipt by plaintiff of R-W’s downpayment under the stock purchase agreement. The semiannual payments were to be made within 30 days of R-W’s semiannual payments to plaintiff under the stock purchase agreement. Both obligations, that is, the $25,000 in lump sum and the $202,000 in periodic payments, were conditioned upon R-W’s performance of its obligations under the stock purchase agreement under the following language of the property settlement agreement:
"It is further agreed by the parties that the payment of principal and interest is conditional upon performance by R-W of the obligations imposed by the stock purchase agreement of September 10, 1979 and as amended December 17, 1979.”
As a result of the reduction in the purchase price that R-W paid for the stock, plaintiff filed a motion on July 20, 1981, under GCR 1963, 528.3 for modification of the judgment of divorce, alleging that he did not receive from R-W as much as anticipated under the stock purchase agreement. This motion was denied on August 17, 1981.
On September 4, 1981, plaintiff moved for rehearing of the earlier motion, requesting that the judgment of divorce be modified for reasons of fairness and equity as well as mutual mistake in the determination of the property settlement agreement. This motion for rehearing was denied on September 14, 1981. No appeal was taken from either of these orders denying plaintiff relief.
On April 23, 1982, plaintiff filed a further motion for modification of the judgment of divorce, raising the same general reasons as in the previous motion for rehearing, but emphasizing the language making the plaintiff’s obligation conditional upon "performance” by R-W under the property settlement agreement. On May 10, 1982, the trial court reduced the larger amount plaintiff had to pay under the property settlement agreement by $50,000, that is, from $202,000 to $152,-000. Defendant moved for rehearing, which motion was denied by the trial court in an opinion filed September 7, 1982. On November 15, 1982, an order was entered pursuant to the opinion. Defendant has now appealed as of right.
GCR 1963, 528.3 requires motions brought under subsection (1) to be brought within one year of the entry of the judgment. Subsection (1) provides as follows:
"On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or his legal representative from a final judgment, order or proceeding for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; * *
Plaintiffs motion was made pursuant to GCR 1963, 528.3 under subsection (1) for reasons of mutual mistake and under subsections (5) and (6) for reasons of fairness and equity. Subsections (5) and (6) provide:
"* * * (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.”
In granting the modification, the trial court did not specify which subsection gave it jurisdiction to make such modification, holding rather that the motion of July 20, 1981, and the motion for rehearing of September 4, 1981, served to meet GCR 1963, 528.3’s requirement that the motion be brought within one year of entry of judgment.
The language of the court rule gives no indication that such a motion which is brought within the year and denied serves to toll the one year period for subsequent motions. Therefore, if plaintiff disagreed with the trial court’s order of August 17, 1981, denying the motion, and the order of September 14, 1981, denying a rehearing on the motion, then plaintiffs remedy was to appeal such orders. Since plaintiff failed to do so within a year, we hold that the trial court had no jurisdiction to modify the judgment of divorce on the basis of mutual mistake after expiration of the one year period from the entry of the divorce judgment.
In spite of this, motions under subsections (5) and (6) are only required to be brought within a reasonable time. Thus, the trial court could have justifiably found that the motion of April 23, 1982, was brought within a reasonable time and, thus, modified the judgment of divorce for the reasons enumerated in subsections (5) and (6).
The term property settlement, as used in divorce parlance, is used interchangeably in describing the two different bases for divison of marital property: (1) based upon agreement of the parties and approval by the court; and (2) based upon an award by the court after trial on the merits.
In the within case, the parties negotiated and entered into a written property settlement agreement which the trial court incorporated into the judgment of divorce. Traditionally, once the parties enter into a property settlement and obtain approval of it, the trial court may not modify the settlement in the absence of fraud, duress or mutual mistake, or for such other causes as any other final judgment may be modified. _
In their property settlement agreement, the parties said that payment was conditional upon performance by R-W of the stock purchase agreement with Ogden & Moffett. Plaintiff interprets that provision to mean that, if the amount paid by R-W to Ogden & Moffett turned out to be less than the parties comtemplated (and thus plaintiff would receive less for his Ogden & Moffett stock than contemplated by the parties), then the amount ($25,000 cash within 30 days of receipt of the downpayment under the stock purchase agreement and $202,000 in installments) payable by plaintiff to defendant should be proportionately reduced. Defendant says that the parties both knew that the price to be paid by R-W to Ogden & Moffett was subject to change and that neither a reduction nor an increase in price was intended to modify the amount of plaintiff’s obligation to defendant under the property settlement agreement.
The parties’ property settlement agreement referred to "a certain stock purchase agreement dated September 10, 1979, as amended December 17, 1979”. The price under the stock purchase agreement was subject to revision in the event of certain specified happenings. There is no claim that R-W defaulted under the stock purchase agreement. The parties’ property settlement agreement simply does not spell out what was to happen if the price paid by R-W to Ogden & Moffett was changed.
Plaintiff wants the trial court to make a property settlement for him that he did not make for himself. This is not a case where either R-W defaulted in its obligation to purchase the Ogden & Moffett stock or Ogden & Moffett defaulted in acquiring plaintiff’s stock. Admittedly, if either of those defaults, had occurred, we would be con fronted by a different case. But defaults did not occur.
Under the circumstances of this case, we interpret the provision of the property settlement agreement making payment conditional upon performance by R-W to relate to the time of payment. If the parties’ property settlement agreement were held ambiguous, the trial court would possess inherent power to interpret and clarify the property settlement agreement’s terms. However, we do not construe its incompleteness to be an ambiguity.
On rehearing, the trial court held that its decision to modify the property settlement ageement was correct because the modification "achieved a fair and equitable result and effectuated the intentions of the parties in the property settlement agreement”. Thus, in part at least, the trial court’s decision appears to have been based upon a finding that there was a mutual mistake of the parties as to the effect of the property settlement agreement.
Although we review equity cases de novo, we sustain the findings of the trial court unless convinced by review of the evidence that we would have been compelled to reach a different judgment had we heard the evidence in the first instance.
Here, the burden of presenting evidence to support reformation of the property settlement agreement was on plaintiff who sought the reformation. If the mistake is with respect to an extrinsic fact, reformation is not allowed even though the fact is one which probably would have caused the parties to make a different contract. The reason for this rule is that the court does not make a new contract for the parties.
In the instant case, the only mistake of the parties was with respect to the final purchase price of the stock. Because this information was extrinsic to the property settlement agreement, we do not grant reformation. Stated another way, there was no mistake as to the instrument actually entered into.
It must be assumed that the parties considered the risks of the property settlement agreement that they made, especially in light of testimony that the parties knew the purchase price of the stock could be adjusted. Therefore, we do not believe the trial court had the power to make a new contract for the parties by modifying the property settlement agreement. Hence, we hold the trial court’s finding of mutual mistake to be clearly erroneous.
The second factor on which the trial court based its holding was that fairness and equity required the modification. It is sometimes argued that recent cases stand for the proposition that GCR 1963, 528.3 permits modification of a final property settlement when necessitated by fairness. These cases seem to cite Ross v Ross and Paul v Paul. Our reading of these cases indicates that the assertion that modification of a property settlement can be granted when necessitated by fairness is no more than obiter dictum.
GCR 1963, 528.3(5), allowing a party to be relieved from a judgment when "it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application”, appears to apply only to injunctive or declaratory relief. That leaves GCR 1963, 528.3(6), which provides "any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment”.
In Lark v Detroit Edison Co, we held that, for subsection (6) to apply, there must be a finding that the grounds for modification do not fall under subsections (1) through (5). Relief under subsection (6) is available only when extraordinary circumstances make it necessary to vacate the judgment to achieve justice. In general, relief is granted under this provision only where the judgment was obtained by the improper conduct of the party in whose favor it was rendered.
We are satisfied that a contract bargained for by two equally positioned parties is well outside the reach of this provision of the court rule. In the within case, there is no allegation that the alleged inequitable result was caused by any improper conduct of defendant. Thus, we conclude that the trial court was without authority to modify the property settlement agreement entered into by the parties.
In the within case, the divorce judgment incorporated the parties’ property settlement agreement by reference, but specifically provided that the property settlement agreement was not merged in the divorce judgment. When a property settlement agreement is incorporated and merged in a divorce judgment, it becomes a disposition by the court of the property. But, when not merged in the divorce judgment, the property settlement agreement may only be enforced by resort to the usual contract remedies and not as part of the divorce judgment.
Thus, in the within case, by providing that the property settlement agreement was not merged in the divorce judgment, the parties lifted enforcement out from under GCR 1963, 528.3. This analysis does not, however, aid plaintiff because, for the reasons indicated, we have already declined to find ambiguity, and thus find that the trial court lacked inherent power to interpret and clarify the terms of the property settlement agreement.
Therefore, consistent with this opinion, we reverse the order of the trial court modifying the judgment of divorce and reinstate the original divorce judgment.
Reversed.
This valuation is based upon testimony of an R-W Service Systems official.
See, 27B CJS, Divorce, § 301(2), p 411, which provides:
"A divorce judgment * * *, in so far as it adopts a property settlement agreement, is a consent judgment and is as valid and binding on the parties as though made by the court without any stipulation or agreement of the parties. The fact that a divorce decree settling the property rights of the parties is made pursuant to a stipulation or agreement does not make it any less effective as an adjudication of what constitutes a just and proper distribution of their property than if it had been made on other evidence in the case.” (Footnotes omitted.)
ER Brenner Co v Brooker Eng Co, 301 Mich 719, 724; 4 NW2d 71 (1942). Affirming a decision for defendant, the Supreme Court held that the burden of proof was upon plaintiff to make out a case for reformation and that the evidence needed to be clear and convincing. The proofs indicated that only a mutual mistake as to an extrinsic fact was at best shown. The Court said:
"If the mistake is with respect to an extrinsic fact, although one which probably would have caused the parties to make a different contract, reformation will not be allowed, because courts cannot make a new contract for the parties.”
Alexander v Alexander, 103 Mich App 263, 266-267; 303 NW2d 202 (1981); Villadsen v Villadsen, 123 Mich App 472, 476; 333 NW2d 311 (1983); Dougherty v Dougherty, 48 Mich App 154, 158; 210 NW2d 151 (1973).
24 Mich App 19; 179 NW2d 703 (1970).
362 Mich 43; 106 NW2d 384 (1960).
99 Mich App 280; 297 NW2d 653 (1980), lv den 410 Mich 906 (1981).
Id.
Kaleal v Kaleal, 73 Mich App 181, 189; 250 NW2d 799 (1977), citing 3 Honigman & Hawkins, Michigan Court Rules Annotated (2d ed), p 189.
See 27B CJS, Divorce, § 301(2), subds c and d, pp 413, 414. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was charged in the Wayne County Circuit Court with premeditated first-degree murder, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; MSA 28.549, and felony-firearm. He was sentenced to serve a term of two years imprisonment for the felony-firearm conviction to be followed by a term of from 10 to 20 years imprisonment for the murder conviction.
The underlying facts may be briefly summarized. Defendant, while at his brother’s residence, shot and killed S. R. Gentry. Defendant testified that Gentry refused to leave the trailer after being asked to do so and that, rather, Gentry physically assaulted him. Defendant claimed that the shooting occurred in self-defense. Defendant’s brother testified that he had asked Gentry to leave his place two or three times, but Gentry would not leave.
In rebuttal, the prosecution called three witnesses who testified that the deceased was a peaceful and law-abiding person.
Prior to trial, defense counsel moved to suppress evidence of his client’s prior conviction for carrying a concealed weapon should his client testify. In denying this motion, the trial court said:
"Actually, if he was convicted for a C.C.W., it was punishable in excess of one year under the law. It doesn’t make any difference whether it involves theft, dishonesty or false statement. If what we are talking about here, a previous conviction similar to the crime with which he is charged, now the Court would have to give it even greater consideration because it would increase his probability of his having committed this crime.” (Emphasis added.)
As a result of this ruling, defense counsel elicited the fact of the prior conviction himself during direct examination of defendant.
The trial court clearly erred in treating the similarity of the charged offenses to the previous conviction as a factor which weighed in favor of permitting impeachment by means of evidence of the prior conviction for carrying a concealed weapon. People v Baldwin, 405 Mich 550; 275 NW2d 253 (1979); People v Woods, 97 Mich App 197; 293 NW2d 762 (1980). In Baldwin, as here, the defendant testified that he had killed the victim, but claimed that he acted in self-defense. The trial court treated the similarity of Baldwin’s prior conviction to the charged offense as a factor in favor of allowing evidence of the prior conviction to be used for impeachment purposes. The Supreme Court reversed, without discussing whether the error could be deemed harmless. We nonetheless believe that an error of the type committed here may be deemed harmless in an appropriate case. This is not such a case, however. Apart from defendant, there were no eyewitnesses to the shooting. The evidence that the homicide constituted murder and was not justifiable was significantly less than overwhelming.
Defense counsel brought out the fact of the prior conviction on direct examination. However, since this strategic decision was the result of the trial court’s erroneous treatment as to the use which could be made of the evidence of the prior conviction, this issue is not waived. People v Robert Barker, 411 Mich 866; 306 NW2d 100 (1981).
Defendant made various brief statements to the police. The first was given before defendant was informed of his rights pursuant to Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436; 86 S Ct 1602; 16 L Ed 2d 694 (1966). Ecorse Police Officer James Hunt explained the circumstances under which this statement was made at the motion to suppress:
”Q. [By the prosecutor]: What did you do after you identified the people who were present [at the scene]?
"A. I saw who was present. From looking at the fellow on the floor, apparently to me, he had been shot. At least, I believed so. And the nature of the call had been a shooting. I immediately had the other people in the room take a seat on the couch and on a chair, after it had been checked for weapons, to make sure there were no weapons on the couch.
”Q. What happened then?
"A. I told everyone to fold their hands in their lap. Other officers and I took a look around the immediate area for any other weapons.
"Q. Did you find any weapon?
"A. No. I asked if anyone had seen what had happened and received no answer. By this time, the rescue unit arrived and firemen were in the room trying to do something with the fellow on the floor. Once they removed him from the trailer, I informed everyone in the trailer they would have to remain until I could obtain statements from them as to what happened. I then asked if anyone knew where the gun was that was involved and received no answer.
"[Defendant] stood up and said, 'I’ll save everybody a lot of trouble. I’m the one that did it.’ ”
As defendant was being taken from the trailer to the police car which was to transport him to the police station for booking, Officer Leonel Lopez heard defendant twice say: "I’m the one who did it. I’m the one who shot him.” Defendant, during the drive to the police station, made yet another statement to Officer Edward Watters under the following circumstances:
"Q. * * * And did you say anything to the defendant after he was placed in your car?
"A. I had asked him if he had remembered me.
"Q. I see.
"A. I had been in the Detective’s Bureau in plain clothes. This particular time, I was in uniform. I asked him if he remembered me.
”Q. And did he respond to that?
"A. Yes, he did.
”Q. What happened?
"A. We were driving to the station. We were in the area of Southfield and Jefferson.
”Q. How far was that away from the trailer where you picked the defendant up?
"A. Approximately three minutes away. At that point, [defendant] stated that he’d shot the guy because he was 'fucking’ with him.
”Q. Those were his exact words?
"A. Yes.
”Q. Had you said anything to him, prior to that?
"A. Not with regard to the shooting, no, sir.
"Q. What happened after he made that statement?
"A. I advised Mr. Blackburn not to say anything until we got to the station. Then he could be advised of his rights if he wants to make a statement. At that time, he can.
”Q. Was anything else said to Mr. Blackburn enroute to the station?
"A. No, sir.”
Officer Leonel Lopez actually booked defendant. At the time of the booking, defendant was advised of his Miranda rights. In Officer Lopez’s words, the following then happened:
"Once that was done, I walked [defendant] to a cell-block. Then he asked me, 'How’s he doing?’ I told him 'I don’t know. I haven’t been out there,’ meaning, the hospital. He says, T hope the mother — F dies.’ That was the last I had talked with [defendant].”
Defendant asserts on appeal that evidence of his first statement must be suppressed because it was made without his having the benefit of the Miranda warnings and that each of his subsequent statements must be suppressed as the fruit of the poisonous tree.
To resolve this issue, we must first determine whether defendant was in custody such that he should have been given Miranda warnings prior to Officer Hunt’s initial inquiry as to "what happened”. Custody arises when a person has been deprived of his freedom of action in a meaningful way. People v Belanger, 120 Mich App 752, 760; 327 NW2d 554 (1982). To determine whether a defendant was in custody at the time of interrogation, the totality of the circumstances must be examined. The key question is whether the defendant could reasonably believe that he was not free to leave. See, e.g., United States v Hall, 421 F2d 540, 544-545 (CA 2, 1969). If so, that defendant is in custody.
On appeal, the prosecution notes that Officer Hunt had not focused his suspicions on any one of the four people in the trailer at the time he asked "what happened” and, accordingly, argues that Officer Hunt was not required to give Miranda warnings. However, we agree with the Vermont Supreme Court’s holding in State v Hohman, 136 Vt 341; 392 A2d 935, 940 (1978), that, for the purposes of determining if a defendant is in custody, the degree of investigative focus is pertinent only to the extent that it contributes to a defendant’s reasonable belief that he is not free to leave. Since in this case Officer Hunt specifically told defendant and the other persons in the trailer that they could not leave until they gave statements concerning what happened, it is manifest that defendant was in custody for purposes of Miranda. Cf. Commonwealth v Meyer, 488 Pa 297; 412 A3d 517 (1980), wherein evidence of a statement given by the defendant to a state police officer after being asked "what happened” was ruled inadmissible because the defendant had been required to stay at the scene by a local police officer to wait for a state trooper and the defendant was not advised of his rights under Miranda before questioning by the state police.
The prosecution also relies heavily on People v Herman Jackson, 37 Mich App 664; 195 NW2d 312 (1972). There, this Court held that evidence of the defendant’s statement in response to the officer’s question "what happened” was admissible. However, as defendant on appeal notes, unlike the situation in Herman Jackson, here defendant was specifically told that he could not leave until he gave a statement. Since the crucial issue is whether the defendant reasonably believed he was free to leave, this distinction mandates a different result than that reached in Herman Jackson. Thus, evidence of defendant’s initial admission that he shot the deceased should have been suppressed.
We now turn to whether evidence of any of the other statements must be suppressed as the fruit of the poisonous tree. Issues involving the suppression of evidence of statements because they are tainted by antecedent police misconduct usually arise via a claim that an illegal arrest has tainted a subsequent confession. See, e.g., People v Martin, 94 Mich App 649, 653-654; 290 NW2d 48 (1980). In our opinion, the same basic question posed in Martin-type cases must be resolved here, i.e., was there any causal connection between the illegality or misconduct (here, the failure to give Miranda warnings) and the subsequent statements. See, Martin, supra.
Utilizing this approach, we conclude that evidence of all of the statements given by defendant before he was given Miranda warnings must be suppressed. The time span between the initial statement given without benefit of Miranda warnings and the statements made on the way to and in the patrol car was slight. Although these subsequent statements were not the product of interrogation but, rather, were volunteered, defendant, having already admitted to the shooting, could well have believed that it was pointless not to speak freely. As defendant had not been given Miranda warnings before these statements were made nor had the police advised him not to say anything further at this time, we find that there was a causal connection between the initial failure to give Miranda warnings and the pre-booking statements.
As to the last statement (i.e., defendant’s professed hope that the deceased would die), this was volunteered by defendant after he was given Miranda warnings. We find these circumstances (the volunteered nature of the statements after receiving warnings) sufficient to break any causal connection between the initial failure to give Miranda warnings and the last statement. Evidence as to the last statement, therefore, was admissible.
We need not decide whether the erroneous admission of evidence of defendant’s statements constituted harmless error, as we are specifically reversing on the basis of the lower court’s handling of defendant’s motion to suppress evidence of his prior conviction for carrying a concealed weapon for impeachment purposes.
Defendant also argues that he was deprived of his constitutional right to due process of law because of the denial of his motion for funds to hire an investigator who could possibly locate witnesses able to testify about the deceased’s violent and aggressive character. In making this argument, defendant relies heavily on Mason v Arizona, 504 F2d 1345 (CA 9, 1974). However, under Mason, "such assistance is not automatically mandatory but rather depends upon the need as revealed by the facts and circumstances of each case”. 504 F2d 1352. In our opinion, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that a sufficient showing of need for the investigator had not been made in this case.
Defendant’s contention that the magistrate abused his discretion by binding defendant over on a charge of first-degree murder is rendered moot because he was actually convicted of second-degree murder and thus acquitted of first-degree murder. Of course, on retrial, defendant will be facing a charge of second-degree, and not first-degree, murder.
Reversed and remanded.
Defendant also contends that application of the relevant criteria set forth in People v Crawford, 83 Mich App 35, 39; 268 NW2d 275 (1978), precluded use of evidence of the conviction for impeachment. While we do not reverse on this basis, it is difficult to see how proper application of the Crawford factors could support the use of evidence of the carrying a concealed weapon conviction in this case. In any event, the trial court is cautioned that, pursuant to MRE 609(a)(2), it must articulate on the record the factors which it considered in determining that evidence of the conviction is admissible for impeachment purposes.
In this regard, we note our disagreement with the trial court’s opinion that, because carrying a concealed weapon is punishable by more than one year in prison, it "doesn’t make any difference whether it involves theft, dishonesty or false statement”. While MRE 609(a)(1) permits use of evidence of a defendant’s conviction for impeachment purposes solely because it was punishable by more than one year’s imprisonment, in determining whether discretion should be exercised to allow this impeachment, it always makes a difference whether the conviction involves theft, dishonesty or false statement. Convictions for offenses involving dishonesty obviously are more probative of a defendant’s credibility than convictions for offenses which involve no elements of dishonesty.
We acknowledge that the members of this Court continue to disagree over whether, as a general rule, Miranda warnings must be given when the police investigation focuses on one person or whether Miranda warnings need only be given to a defendant who is in custody. See e.g., People v Wallach, 110 Mich App 37, 47-50; 312 NW2d 387 (1981), vacated on other grounds 417 Mich 937; 331 NW2d 730 (1983). This case is unusual, however, in that defendant was clearly not the focus of the investigation when he was asked, "what happened”, although, as we discuss, infra, he was in custody. Normally, the focus test works in the defendant’s favor. To the extent that, in a particular case, the custody test works to the defendant’s advantage, it must be applied. Custody is the test required by the United States Supreme Court as a matter of federal constitutional law, and the states must, in every case, apply a standard which is at least as protective of the individual’s federal constitutional rights as is required by the United States Supreme Court.
It should also be noted that, until Officer Hunt said that everybody would have to remain on the scene until he could get statements, he got no response to any of his inquiries. The compulsion of detention, then, was actually necessary to get defendant to talk. | [
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Per Curiam.
The facts of this case are rather confusing. Recitation of the facts is necessary to understand our adjudication.
Plaintiffs originally sold the Advance Cafeteria to defendant. On July 13, 1978, defendant sold the cafeteria to the garnishee defendant. Garnishee defendant executed a promissory note, dated July 13, 1978, and was making payments to defendant who, in turn, was making payments on his note to plaintiffs.
After a short period of time, defendant stopped making payments to plaintiffs, although he contin ued to collect payments from the garnishee defendant. On January 14, 1982, acting under an acceleration clause, plaintiffs filed the instant case in Wayne County Circuit Court seeking the balance of $35,000 due on defendant’s promissory note.
Two day later, on January 16, 1982, defendant asked the garnishee defendant to accelerate payments under the garnishee defendant’s promissory note. In return, defendant agreed to forgive approximately $9,000 of debt and gave garnishee defendant a gold piece as collateral. Defendant and garnishee defendant entered into a new agreement, dated January 11, 1982, which provided:
"I, Samir Freij [garnishee defendant], do hereby agree that I will return the collateral of the gold piece undamaged to Mahamad Amir Elfakir [defendant Elfakir] upon receipt of clearance on the Nosherie (Advance Cafeteria).
"I further agree that if the collateral is damaged, stolen or destroyed, I will pay the amount of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) to Mahamad Amir Elfakir.
"I, Samir Freij also agree that after one hundred and twenty days (120) the payment of Seven Thousand Dollars ($7,000.00) is not paid to Mohamad Amir Elfakir that all agreements are null and void and the original Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) payment will be applied toward the balance of the purchase price of the Nosherie (Advance Cafeteria). Both Samir Freij and Mahamad Elfakir have agreed that Samir Freij is not to return the collateral (Gold Piece) and Seven Thousand One Hundred Twenty Five Dollars ($7,125.00) until Mahamad Amir Elfakir has the clearance papers from Borislav Mihajlovski and Dushan Djordjevski [plaintiffs] on the Nosherie (Advance Cafeteria).”
Pursuant to this contract, garnishee defendant made the first accelerated payment of $10,000. The second payment was never made because defen dant could not deliver "clearance papers” from plaintiffs.
On March 8, 1982, plaintiffs were granted summary judgment for the $35,000 due on defendant’s promissory note. Defendant’s attorney would not approve the order and a hearing was set for May 21, 1982, for entry of the order. On May 19, 1982, defendant through his attorney assigned garnishee defendant’s July 13, 1978, promissory note to Ciatti, a client unrelated to the real estate transactions; Ciatti paid $5,000 cash for the note. The assignment to Ciatti, dated May 19, 1982, provided:
"Assignment of Promissory Note
"Mahamad A. Elfakir, for valuable consideration, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, do hereby assign all of my interest in a Promissory Note due me from Samir Freij to Richard Ciatti. Note date is July 13, 1978.”
Two days later, on May 21, 1982, a judgment of $36,442.12 was formally entered for plaintiffs against defendant.
On June 3, 1982, plaintiffs filed an order to show cause and motion to appoint a receiver and obtained a temporary restraining order against garnishee defendant regarding any debts he owed defendant. Garnishee defendant filed an inter-pleader action for money held owing to defendant. On June 11, 1982, plaintiffs served a writ of garnishment on the garnishee defendant.
The garnishment hearing was held on September 13-14, 1982. At the conclusion of that hearing, the trial court refused to declare the assignment to Ciatti fraudulent because Ciatti had not been a party to the suit. The court further found that Ciatti was not a necessary party to the garnishment action and refused to allow the garnishee defendant to interplead Ciatti.
The trial court also found that defendant’s January 11, 1982, agreement with garnishee defendant was void by its own terms. Since the court refused to find the assignment to Ciatti of the July 13, 1978, note fraudulent for purposes of this action and since the court found the January 11, 1982, agreement void, the court ruled that there was no current indebtedness, with respect to the notes, to garnish. However, the court found that the gold piece held as collateral by the garnishee defendant was properly subject to garnishment.
Plaintiffs and garnishee defendant appeal as of right from the circuit court’s order. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
I. Did the circuit court err by denying garnishee defendant’s motion to interplead Ciatti?
The circuit court refrained from determining the validity of the assignment of the July 13, 1978, promissory note to Ciatti because Ciatti had not been a party to the lawsuit. At the very least, Ciatti’s rights concerning the note were those belonging to an assignee of a non-negotiable writing. Those rights are set forth in Saginaw Financing Corp v Detroit Lubricator Co, 256 Mich 441, 443-444; 240 NW 44 (1932).
"The rule that an assignee of a non-negotiable chose takes subject to defenses means, of course, defenses existing at the time of the assignment. After assignment, the assignor loses all control over the chose and cannot bind the assignee, by estoppel or otherwise. [Citation omitted.] Nor can prior acts of the assignor, which have not ripened into rights in others at the time of the assignment, bind an assignee without notice. An assignment is not subject to latent equities not known to the assignee.”
Plaintiffs obtained a judgment against defendant on the promissory note executed by defendant to them prior to the assignment. This judgment, however, did not give plaintiffs a claim against the note executed by garnishee defendant to defendant. Plaintiffs’ claim against the July 13 note did not arise until the writ of garnishment was served or, at the earliest, the obtaining of the temporary restraining order against the garnishee defendant on June 3, 1982. J. T. Sinclair Co v IT Becker Coal Co, 263 Mich 617; 249 NW 13 (1933).
The rule governing the claims in the July 13 note was set forth in Blumenthal v Simons, 110 Mich 42; 67 NW 1102 (1896). The Supreme Court held that garnishment proceedings cannot be sustained against a judgment debtor where it appears that the judgment, prior to the institution of the suit, had been assigned by the principal defendant to a third party unless it is established that the assignment was fraudulently made. Thus, unless the conveyance of the note to Ciatti was fraudulent, garnishee defendant was liable to Ciatti, Ciatti being the assignee of the July 13 note.
Simply stated, if the assignment to Ciatti was fraudulent, plaintiffs had the right to garnish the money owed to defendant from the garnishee defendant. If the assignment was valid, plaintiffs’ right to garnishment recovery was precluded. The circuit court clearly had to rule on the validity of the assignment in order to determine plaintiffs’ right to garnishment.
A grantee who retains title to the property is a necessary party in an action to set aside a fraudulent conveyance. 37 CJS, Fraudulent Conveyances, § 345, p 1176. Ciatti, being a necessary party to the determination of whether the assignment was fraudulent, and the issue of the fraudulent assignment being necessary to the proper determination of the garnishment proceeding, the circuit court erred in finding that Ciatti was not an indispensable party to the garnishment action; Ciatti’s presence was essential to permit the court to render complete relief, GCR 1963, 205.1. Moreover, the garnishee defendant was exposed to liability on his note which had been assigned to Ciatti and to plaintiffs by way of garnishment. The trial court erred in denying the garnishee defendant’s motion to interplead Ciatti, GCR 1963, 210.1.
Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s denial of the garnishee defendant’s motion to interplead Ciatti and remand this case to the trial court to enter an order granting the motion. We also vacate the order denying plaintiffs’ claim to garnish the July 13, 1982, promissory note from defendant garnishee. On rehearing, the circuit court should determine whether the assignment to Ciatti was fraudulent and then, in accordance with this opinion, determine whether plaintiffs are entitled to garnishment of the July 13 note.
In all other respects, we affirm the circuit court’s ruling. Specifically, we hold that the circuit court correctly ruled that the January 11, 1982, agreement, modifying the amount owed to defendant by the garnishee defendant, was, by its own terms, rendered null and void when the garnishee defendant failed to pay defendant $7,000 because defendant had failed to obtain "clearance papers” from plaintiffs. The amount owed by garnishee defendant is the balance due on the original July 13 note. The circuit court also correctly ruled that, since all agreements under the January 11 contract were null and void, the gold piece remained the property of defendant. The gold piece, as property of the defendant in the possession of the garnishee defendant, was properly garnished, MCL 600.4011; MSA 27A.4011.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. | [
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Beasley, P.J.
Plaintiffs, Randall L. and Noelle C. Yager, appeal as of right from a judgment of no cause of action awarded defendants after a bench trial.
Plaintiffs, owners of a residential home in Cascade Acres No. 6, a residential subdivision in Cascade Township, Kent County, sought an injunction to compel defendants to demolish or reconstruct a residential dwelling that was being constructed on an adjacent lot in the same subdivision, claiming violations of the zoning ordinance and the property owners restrictions. Defendants’ plans were approved by an officer of the subdivision association, and a building permit was issued by the township building inspector. After a three-day trial and a visit to the premises, the trial judge denied plaintiffs’ request for a permanent injunction.
Since plaintiffs sought injunctive relief which is equitable in nature, our appellate review is de novo, with appropriate deference given to the trial court’s findings of fact. We also note that the trial judge visited the premises and accord his findings special weight insofar as they rest upon those observations.
Plaintiffs claimed that defendants violated the minimum square footage requirements of both the property owners restrictions (1500 square feet for a single story and 1750 square feet for a two-story dwelling) and the zoning ordinance (1600 square feet). The gist of plaintiffs’ claim is that in the so-called passive solar, earth-bermed structure planned by defendants, over 1000 square feet of the main living area of the home is a "basement” or "walk-out”, the square footage of which cannot be counted toward the minimum under either the property owners restrictions or the zoning ordinance. This assertion rested upon the part of the restriction agreement that provides:
"c) Furnished basement areas and/or 'walk-out’ levels shall be in addition to the minimum square footage requirements of ¶[¶[ a) and b) above.”
Two "berms” of earth were pushed against the main level of the structure to insulate it and to reduce energy costs. In general, defendants sought to more or less conform the grade of the main level to the surrounding terrain.
While there were conflicts in the testimony, the president of the developer-owner of the subdivision and drafter of the restrictions testified:
"Q. Now, within the meaning of ¶ 2(c), what is a basement?
"A. A basement is a full story area below the main level of a home either partially or completely below the original grade of the surrounding earth._
”Q. And within the meaning of ¶ 2(c) of the plat restrictions, what is a walk-out?
"A. A walk-out is a basement level with a penetration through the foundation wall opening up onto the surrounding grade. * * *
"Q. [I]s the main level a basement or a walk-out?
’A. No.
"Q. Why isn’t it?
"A. It is not a basement because it is above the level of the existing grade. It does not have a full story above it. This is a tri-level or one and a half story home with a slab on grade. It is not a walk-out, number one, because it is not a basement. Number two, it is not dug into the side of a hill and to me this was the lower level of the story and a half or tri-level home. It was built at the existing grade and within the plat restrictions, and the requirements of the plat restrictions, it meets them.
"The lower level is built at the existing grade. The only difference between that home and what we will quote call a conventional home is that the Wrights have elected to berm earth against the exterior of the lower level for insulation purposes. I might say they have elected to berm earth on basically the two sides because the third side of a tri-level is going to be automatically below grade anyway, so they have elected to berm the earth on basically two sides of the lower level and that is the only difference.”
In holding with defendants, the trial judge said:
"I am of the opinion that the dwelling here involved does not violate the restrictions here involved. It is true that a portion of the living room, the living area is below grade. It is also true that there are two berms on either side, but I am of the opinion that this does not make it a basement nor does the mere fact that there are sliding doors from, I think, both the living room and the dining area onto what is eventually going to be a terrace is sufficient to make it what is known as a 'walk-out’ so that it would be considered, as such, in violation of the restrictions.”
The trial judge also said:
"There has been much testimony relative to the definitions of many of the things here involved. The first question is, what is a basement? And I have had many definitions given to me. We all have our own thoughts of what a basement is. BOCA has one, BOCA has another definition of a cellar which is different than a basement, but in one respect a basement can be a cellar. There are many definitions in various dictionaries. There are also many definitions of a basement that we all have in our own minds of what is a basement. There apparently is no standard definition of walk-out. When you look in the dictionary, I understand you don’t find it when you try to find something that is used as a walk-out. Each of the people here involved have given their own definitions and I won’t try to define it, but it is an opening onto a ground level from an established lowest level construction which has earth around it to more than one-half of its height.”
We see no reason to interfere with the trial judge’s opinion.
There are various definitions of a basement. One dictionary definition of basement is:
"2. the lowest story of a building, below the main floor and wholly or partly below the surface of the ground.”
As indicated by appellees, the key element of this definition is that a basement is an area below the main floor. The "lower level” of defendants’ home is the main floor containing the living room, dining room, kitchen, bath, and bedroom-den. It is not a basement because it is not below the main floor. We agree with a witness who described it as a one-and-a-half story slab home without a basement.
The term "walk-out” is less readily susceptible of accepted dictionary definition. As previously quoted, the drafter of the restrictions defined a "walk-out” and testified unequivocally that defendant’s construction was not a "walk-out”. Thus, we are satisfied that there was ample evidence in support of the trial judge’s conclusion that the disputed living area was neither a basement nor a walk-out.
Neither do we believe that the trial court erred in holding that the proposed residence did not violate the zoning ordinance, the court stated:
"There is also evidence that a strict interpretation of the zoning law might be involved here. I am of the opinion that if just because you put the berms on both sides of the house and because it may be a foot or two feet, or even up to three feet, lower than the existing grade does not make it a basement to violate the zoning laws of the township.”
We do not interpret the zoning ordinance in question to mean that this use of "berms” creates a basement within the language of the ordinance. It may be that the township should give attention to including in its ordinance definitions more apropos and timely for the type of construction contemplated here, but in the interim, we are not inclined to strain the meaning of the ordinance by filling in missing definitions.
Affirmed.
In this case, defendants contracted for a house to cost $110,500.
Marconeri v Village of Mancelona, 124 Mich App 286; 335 NW2d 21 (1983); Ed Zaagman, Inc v City of Kentwood, 406 Mich 137; 277 NW2d 475 (1979).
Emerald Valley Land Development Co v Diefenthaler, 35 Mich App 346; 192 NW2d 673 (1971), lv den 386 Mich 770 (1971); Kustarz v Janesick, 347 Mich 223; 79 NW2d 613 (1956).
Webster’s New World Dictionary (William Collins & World Publications Co., Inc., 1974), p 116.
Our search does not reveal a dictionary definition of "walk-out” as such.
"Grade” and “basement” are not defined in the ordinance. | [
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R. B. Burns, J.
This is a divorce action. At trial defendant sought a share of the value of the plaintiff’s medical degree and her reasonable attorney fees and costs. The trial court denied both requests. Defendant appeals and we modify the judgment.
Plaintiff and defendant are 36 and 33 years old respectively. They were married September 6, 1969, in Ames, Iowa. Plaintiff filed his complaint on August 6, 1981. The parties ceased living together on December 15, 1981.
Plaintiff received his undergraduate degree in 1968 and at the time of the parties’ marriage was employed as a chemical engineer at a salary of $10,000 a year. Prior to her marriage, defendant was pursuing her undergraduate studies at Iowa State University. When she married plaintiff, she transferred to Western Illinois University in Ma- comb, Illinois, because it was the nearest school to Keokuk, Iowa, where her husband was employed. During the next 1-1/2 to 2 years of marriage, the couple was supported by the plaintiff’s salary, while the defendant continued her education. Defendant received her B.S. in zoology in 1971. She was unable to find employment as a zoologist, so she took a job as a ward clerk at a hospital. This job was contingent upon her entering a student nursing program, but defendant testified that she never expected to receive a nursing degree.
In 1972 plaintiff decided to go to medical school. In March, 1972, the couple returned to Ames, Iowa, so that plaintiff could re-enter school to complete the necessary premed requirements. Plaintiff did not work during the time he completed the premed requisites, but during this time defendant did work, first as a night messenger in a hospital and then as a research technician at a veterinary college.
Plaintiff was then accepted into osteopathic school in Kirksville, Missouri. The couple moved to Kirksville and remained there until plaintiff received his D.O. degree in June, 1977. Defendant obtained a job as a technician at the school and worked there until plaintiff received his degree. Plaintiff was not employed while in school and, other than a $13,000 tuition loan which plaintiff obtained, the couple was supported by defendant.
In 1977 the couple moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, so that plaintiff could perform a one-year internship at Grand Rapids Osteopathic Hospital. During this year the couple was supported by plaintiff’s income as an intern and defendant prepared for plaintiff’s medical practice, arranging financial matters, purchasing office equipment, etc. Defendant testified that she did most of the prepa rations since plaintiff was occupied with the medical work of an intern.
For the first year of plaintiff’s practice, defendant worked in plaintiff’s office as many hours as her husband worked. She performed numerous jobs, including: (1) insurance work, (2) billing, (3) equipment maintenance and operation, (4) drug inventories, (5) certain office procedures, e.g., taking blood pressures, some gynecological work, lab work, receptionist duties and referral of patients to specialists. After the first year of plaintiff’s practice, the number of hours worked by defendant decreased.
The parties experienced marital difficulties and on December 15, 1981, defendant returned to Nevada, Iowa, to live with her parents. At the time of trial, defendant was attending Iowa State University and still residing with her parents in Nevada, Iowa. She has an additional two years of schooling to complete her computer science studies. From August, 1981, through the trial, plaintiff made certain payments to defendant including $100 a week temporary alimony by court order.
The couple acquired few assets during the course of their marriage. Around May, 1978, they purchased a home for $69,500. A first mortgage from First Michigan Bank was obtained with a $15,000 down payment and a second mortgage was taken for the remainder from Hamilton Farm Bureau. Plaintiff additionally borrowed $15,000 to $20,000 from his parents to make improvements on the basement of the house. After the improvements were completed, plaintiff’s parents came to live in the basement, but moved out after three months when the marriage began deteriorating.
The couple purchased a 1978 Blazer through plaintiff’s medical business which was valued at $8,494.61, less depreciation of $6,120. The couple also owned a 1973 Chevrolet Vega, title to which was transferred to defendant on November 17, 1982.
Defendant estimated that she would require $12,000 a year for her expenses, at least for the next two years while she was completing school. The main dispute at trial concerned the value of plaintiffs medical license and practice. As to the plaintiffs practice, the court stated:
"Now, you are asking me what Dr. Olah’s practice is worth, I don’t know. I guess I am taking into consideration time and effort the parties have put into it. I don’t know, you can just say, well, I just worked those four years so he would get started. You know, Dr. Olah happened to work too. If sombody approves supporting something, is a party entitled to one-half of it because they sort of supported the spouse with moral support and monetary support? That is a hard question for me to answer. I guess basically I don’t think so. Obviously it allowed that spouse to continue their education due to the economic wherewithal to continue, but that alone isn’t sufficient.
"I am going to award a lump sum amount by way of permanent alimony to this defendant, to compensate her for her endeavors in supporting these parties while Mr. Olah continued in school and setting up his practice until they separated, the sum of $12,500.00; and that should be paid over a three-year period, quarterly installments.”
On appeal, the defendant states the issues as follows:
I. Whether appellee’s medical degree is marital property subject to division.
II. Whether appellant should be awarded a reasonable attorney’s fee.
In Moss v Moss, 80 Mich App 693, 695; 264 NW2d 97 (1978), this Court stated:
"It was impossible to award the wife a portion of the husband’s medical degree, the only substantial asset acquired during coverture. An award of $15,000 fairly represents the wife’s contribution to the acquisition of that asset, financial and otherwise.”
In Watling v Watling, 127 Mich App 624, 627-628; 339 NW2d 505 (1983), Judge T. M. Burns, who also authored Woodworth v Woodworth, 126 Mich App 258; 337 NW2d 332 (1983), stated:
"In the present case, we believe that the trial court correctly declined to award plaintiff a percentage of the value of defendant’s degree in dentistry. * * * [P]laintiff by now has her own advanced degree. While a master’s in education may not be as financially remunerative as a degree in dentistry, plaintiff’s degree was in the field chosen by her. * * * [Defendant's current salary and earning capacity are to a large extent the product of skill and experience he has acquired as a dentist rather than the product of what he learned during his education.”
In our opinion, a spouse who works and supports the mate while the mate pursues an education should be compensated. However, we do not adhere to the proposition that a degree is property and therefore a marital asset. We believe as stated in Graham v Graham, 194 Colo 429, 432; 574 P2d 75, 77 (1978):
"An educational degree, such as an M.B.A., is simply not encompassed even by the broad views of the concept of 'property.’ It does not have an exchange value or any objective transferable value on an open market. It is personal to the holder. It terminates on death of the holder and is not inheritable. It cannot be assigned, sold, transferred, conveyed or pledged. An advanced degree is a cumulative product of many years of previous education, combined with diligence and hard work. It may not be acquired by the mere expenditure of money. It is simply an intellectual achievement that may potentially assist in the future acquisition of property. In our view, it has none of the attributes of property in the usual sense of that term.”
An award of alimony is discretionary and should be based on "the ability of either party [to earn] and the character and situation of the parties, and all the other circumstances of the case”. MCL 552.23(1); MSA 25.103(1).
The trial court’s determinations are presumed to be correct and a reviewing court will not find an abuse of discretion unless the reviewing court is convinced that it would have reached a different result. This Court is convinced that it would have reached a different result if it had been in the trial court’s position.
The trial judge awarded the defendant a lump sum by the way of permanent alimony of $12,500, payable in quarterly installments over a three-year period. This was to compensate her for her support and efforts while the plaintiff was in medical school and setting up his practice. The defendant testified in December of 1982 that she had two years left in which to complete her degree in computer science. From her statement we assume that she will complete her course in May or June of 1985.
Plaintiff’s income for both 1981 and 1982 exceeded $50,000 each year. The defendant should not have to work while attending college. Nor should she be restricted to the living standards of the parties during past years.
We feel that the trial court’s award of $12,500, under the circumstances of this case, was so low as to constitute an abuse of discretion. We feel that an equitable award of alimony would be $1,000 per month, from January, 1983, until the defendant completes her degree in computer science. From defendant’s previous testimony we assume that she will finish school in May or June of 1985 at the latest.
We also think that under the circumstances of this case, an award for attorney fees should have been granted. We hereby award defendant attorney fees in the amount of $1,000.
The remaining portions of the judgment of divorce not discussed here shall remain in full force and effect.
Affirmed as modified.
J. G. Roskopp, J., concurred. | [
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J. N. O’Brien, J.
Respondent mother appeals as of right from a probate court order pursuant to MCL 712A.19a, subds (e) and (f); MSA 27.3178(598.19a), subds (e) and (f) terminating her parental rights over her four minor children.
Respondent mother first argues that the probate court erred by considering hearsay evidence. The court ruled that, because it was engaged in a dispositional hearing, hearsay evidence would be admitted provided the evidence bore indicia of accuracy and trustworthiness.
JCR 8.3 provides:_
"(A) Adjudicative Phase. Absent a valid plea in confession, only competent, relevant, and material evidence is admissible at the adjudicative phase. In a case involving an offense by a child, the rules of evidence for a criminal proceeding and the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt apply. In a case involving an offense against a child, the rules of evidence for a civil proceeding and the standard of proof by a preponderance of the evidence apply.
"(B) Dispositional Phase. In the dispositional phase only relevant and material evidence may be considered. Clear and convincing evidence is required to terminate parental rights.”
The reference to termination of parental rights in the subsection dealing with the dispositional phase shows that the probate court properly characterized the termination hearing as part of the dispositional phase of the proceedings. See also JCR 8.1, and In the Matter of Oakes, 53 Mich App 629, 632; 220 NW2d 188 (1974). Because the subsection dealing with the adjudicative phase specifies that only "competent, relevant, and material” evidence is admissible, while the subsection dealing with the dispositional phase merely specifies that only "relevent and material” evidence may be considered, we infer that admissibility in the dis-positional phase is limited only by the rules of evidence dealing with relevance and materiality, and not by other rules of evidence. Hearsay evidence is therefore admissible in the dispositional phase.
Authorities supporting this result include In re Weldon, 397 Mich 225, 255; 244 NW2d 827 (1976) (opinion of Coleman, J.), and People v Williams, 111 Mich App 818, 824-825; 314 NW2d 769 (1981) (proceeding for waiver of jurisdiction to circuit court).
We are aware that no exception is made for the dispositional phase of juvenile proceedings in MRE 1101, which governs the applicability of the rules of evidence. However, JCR 8.3, rather than MRE 1101, is the controlling rule because the former rule deals more specifically with the admissibility of evidence in the dispositional phase of juvenile proceedings. Where two acts or provisions are apparently in conflict, the more specific of the two will be construed as an exception to the more general. Heims v School Dist No 6 of Davison Twp, 253 Mich 248, 251-252; 234 NW 486 (1931).
Due process, as well as JCR 8.3(b), requires that parental rights not be terminated unless the state proves by clear and convincing evidence that such termination is warranted. In the matter of LaFlure, 48 Mich App 377, 385-386; 210 NW2d 482 (1973). However, neither the requirements of due process nor of clear and convincing evidence prevent admission of hearsay evidence. The requirements of due process are not coextensive with the traditional exceptions to the rules against admission of hearsay. California v Green, 399 US 149, 155-157; 90 S Ct 1930; 26 L Ed 2d 489 (1970); Dutton v Evans, 400 US 74, 81-83; 91 S Ct 210; 27 L Ed 2d 213 (1970). Due process does not prevent admission of hearsay evidence meeting tests of fairness, reliability, and trustworthiness. United States v Medico, 557 F2d 309, 314 (CA 2, 1977) (upholding FRE 804[b][5]). Here, the probate court recognized the applicability of such tests, but respondent mother made no objection relating to fairness, reliability, or trustworthiness. Under these circumstances, no error occurred in the admission of hearsay evidence.
Respondent mother also argues that one of the children had not been in the temporary custody of the court on the basis of a neglect petition for at least two years and that the probate court therefore erred in terminating her parental rights over that child pursuant to MCL 712A.19a(f); MSA 27.3178(598.19a)(f). We need not address this issue, because subsection (f) provided only one of the two alternate grounds for the probate court’s decision. The court also found that termination was warranted under MCL 712A.19a(e); MSA 27.3178(598.19a)(e), and no two-year delay is required by that subsection.
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from summary judgments in favor of defendants on plaintiff’s claims for personal injury protection benefits under the policies of no-fault insurance issued by defendants.
The trial judge decided the case on the following stipulated statement of facts:
"On December 21, 1980, the plaintiff, Paul Wagner was severely burned in an accident which occurred in the City of Monroe, Monroe County, Michigan. At the time of the accident, plaintiff was an insured under two separate motor vehicle insurance policies which provided personal insurance protection benefits under the Michigan no-fault law. The Michigan Mutual policy covered a 1978 Kenworth truck (tractor) being policy number 18-81006335. The State Farm policy insured a 1979 Ford pick-up truck, policy number 22-1488-525.
"December 21, 1980 was a Sunday and the weather was quite cold. The Kenworth tractor, which was connected to a trailer, was parked at an abandoned service station at 1240 North Dixie, Monroe, near 1-75. Plaintiff arrived in his 1979 Ford pick-up truck from home, and took it over where the Kenworth truck was parked. He connected the pick-up truck to the Kenworth truck by way of battery jumper cables and took out an old tire rim (without a tire on it), put charcoal in it, took a can of Coleman lantern fluid out of the bed of the pick-up truck and squirted the charcoal with it. He then lit the charcoal and when the flame died down, he put the charcoal fire underneath the oil pan of the Kenworth truck for the purpose of heating the oil therein to make it easier to turn over the engine. He left the truck in this condition and went in to have coffee at an adjacent restaurant.
"A short time later, he came out with an acquaintance, Dwayne Miller and they noted that the charcoal fire had apparently gone out and seemed cold. He then pulled out the rim with the charcoal in it from underneath the truck to a spot just in front of the Kenworth truck. At all times, the pick-up truck had been running at an idle for the purpose of transmitting energy into the battery of the Kenworth truck through the attached jumper cables. Wagner then squirted more Coleman lantern fluid on to the charcoal in the rim in an attempt to then restart the charcoal fire but at that point, an open flame or spark ignited the fluid in the can causing the bottom of the can to blow out and dousing the lower part of his body with burning charcoal fluid resulting in severe burns.
"The purpose of the efforts on the part of Paul Wagner was to warm the Kenworth tractor-trailer rig. The effort was to fuel a small charcoal fire under the semi to warm the engine oil so that the vehicle would start easier in the colder temperature.”
The trial judge ruled in favor of defendants, holding:
"At most, the attempted starting of a vehicle would fall under the heading 'operation’ not under ownership, maintenance or 'use’. Expanding the Kangas logic to the present case, any injury must be foreseeably identifiable with the normal operation of the vehicle. Squirting an explosive liquid from a can onto a charcoal fire while holding the can in one’s hand, is not in any way identifiable with normal vehicle operation.” See Kangas v Aetna Casualty Co, 64 Mich App 1; 235 NW2d 42 (1975).
On appeal, plaintiff claims that the trial judge erred by finding that his injuries did not arise out of the maintenance of his vehicle. The phrase "arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use” of a motor vehicle has a long history of use in automobile insurance policies and judicial interpretation. It was apparently used in Michigan’s no-fault act with knowledge of that history. Miller v Auto-Owners Ins Co, 411 Mich 633, 638; 309 NW2d 544 (1981). See also Schweitzer v Aetna Life & Casualty Co, 306 Pa Super 300; 452 A2d 735, 737 (1982); O’Connell & Henderson, Tort Law, No-Fault & Beyond (1975), p 362. In Miller, our Supreme Court stated:
"The meaning of the term 'maintenance’, in addition to appearing from the common sense of the word, has been established in the case law: 'The "maintenance” aspect of the "ownership, maintenance, use” clause covers the act of repairing the covered automobile.’ 12 Couch, Insurance (2d ed), § 45.63, p 152. The policy embodied in the requirement of § 3105(1) that coverage extend to 'injury arising out of the * * * maintenance * * * of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle’ thus is to provide compensation for injuries, such as Miller’s, incurred in the course of repairing a vehicle.” Miller, supra, p 639.
While we agree with defendants that warming an engine in order to start it is not a "repair” as that term is commonly understood, we disagree with defendants’ conclusion that the Supreme Court has narrowly construed "maintenance” to include only repairs. The Court stated that the meaning of maintenance is derived from "the common sense of the word”; the Court then stated that the term "covers the act of repairing”. The language used by the Court leaves claimants free to argue that maintenance covers activities other than repair. Earlier in its opinion, the Court stated:
"It would perhaps be possible, as argued by Auto-Owners, to distinguish among parked vehicles according to whether they were parked involuntarily, as when a driver pulls onto the shoulder to repair a flat tire, or voluntarily, as in Miller’s case. Such a distinction, however, would often be difficult to draw. What of a car which is obviously malfunctioning but which the driver is able to nurse home to his or her garage, where the tools necessary for the repair are available? What of a car which is voluntarily parked in one’s driveway but which, after a cold Michigan night, becomes involuntarily parked? Would an injury from a battery explosion while trying to jump-start the car be covered? We do not think that a nebulous distinction between volun tarily and involuntarily parked-for-repair vehicles was intended.” Miller, p 638.
The Court’s reference to efforts to jump-start a car after a cold Michigan night strongly implies that it has not sanctioned a definition of maintenance limited only to repairs. The Court clearly indicated its reliance on the body of judicial authority which has been constructed defining the phrase "arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use”; in this phrase, maintenance has traditionally been given a liberal construction. See 6B Appleman, Insurance Law & Practice (Buckley ed), § 4315, pp 339-341. The Supreme Court’s interpretation of "maintenance” is also illustrated by its analysis in Heard v State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co, 414 Mich 139, 154; 324 NW2d 1 (1982). In Heard, the plaintiff was injured when he was hit by an insured car while pumping gas into his own uninsured car. The Court clearly assumed that the refueling of a vehicle, without more, is maintenance of that vehicle. Heard, supra, pp 146-147, 154. See also Gutierrez v Dairyland Ins Co, 110 Mich App 126; 312 NW2d 181 (1981), rev’d on other grounds 414 Mich 956; 327 NW2d 253 (1982) (see Heard, supra, p 153, fn 15); State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co v Pan American Ins Co, 437 SW2d 542 (Tex, 1969).
This Court has adopted a broad definition of maintenance in order to advance the purposes of the no-fault act. See Michigan Basic Property Ins Ass’n v Michigan Mutual Ins Co, 122 Mich App 420, 424-425; 332 NW2d 504 (1983).
We think that the actions of plaintiff in heating his oil pan in order to start his truck constituted maintenance of the Kenworth truck. Although starting a vehicle on a cold morning is more in the nature of servicing it than repairing it, such ser vicing fits squarely within the meaning which the Legislature intended the term "maintenance” to have. The judges of this Court have not agreed in their views of the application of the no-fault act to accidents occurring in repair facilities. Compare Buckeye Union Ins Co v Johnson, 108 Mich App 46; 310 NW2d 268 (1981), with Liberty Mutual Ins Co v Allied Truck Equipment Co, 103 Mich App 33; 302 NW2d 588 (1981). This disagreement is based on a consideration of the purposes of the no-fault act. We have little doubt, however, that most would agree that the purposes of the no-fault act would be defeated by a narrow construction of the term "maintenance” applied in cases like the present one in which an owner-operator of a vehicle attempted to service the vehicle in a place other than a service facility. If this type of activity is not covered, it is hard to imagine the Legislature’s reasons for including the coverage of maintenance. The need for insurance coverage would appear to be far greater in cases of roadside service than in cases of major repairs which are usually performed in facilities covered by other insurance.
Defendants also claim, and the trial court held, that plaintiff’s injuries did not arise out of his maintenance of the tractor even if his actions came within the statutory definition of maintenance. The degree of causation required to be shown before injuries may be said to "arise out of the * * * maintenance * * * of a motor vehicle” was discussed in Gutierrez, supra, 110 Mich App 135:
"Cases dealing with this issue in other contexts have set out what is necessary for the showing of a sufficient causal connection. The term 'arise out of does not require as strict a showing of causation as does the concept of proximate cause. Williams v Citizens Mutual Ins Co, 94 Mich App 762, 764; 290 NW2d 76 (1980), Shinabarger, supra, 313-314, Kangas v Aetna Casualty & Surety Co, 64 Mich App 1, 17; 235 NW2d 42 (1975), lv den 395 Mich 787 (1975). The relationship between the maintenance and the injury must, however, be more than incidental, fortuitous, or but for. Ricciuti v Detroit Automobile Inter-Ins Exchange, 101 Mich App 683; 300 NW2d 681 (1980), Detroit Automobile Inter-Ins Exchange v Higginbotham, 95 Mich App 213, 222; 290 NW2d 414 (1980), lv den 409 Mich 919 (1980), Kangas, supra, p 17. It is not sufficient that the motor vehicle is merely the site of the accident. Shinabarger, supra, p 314. A sufficient causal connection is established, however, if the injury is foreseeably identifiable with the normal maintenance of a motor vehicle. Higginbotham, supra, p 222, Williams, supra, p 765, Kangas, supra, p 17.”
See also Buckeye Union, supra, pp 50-51.
We have no trouble concluding that the maintenance of the Kenworth tractor was causally connected with plaintiffs injuries. The truck was not merely the place at which the explosion causing the injury took place. The fire was a direct result of plaintiff’s attempts to warm the oil pan of his truck engine. This is more than a fortuitous or incidental relationship.
Defendants also argue that plaintiffs efforts to warm his truck’s oil were not "normal maintenance” as that term was used in Gutierrez, supra. On this point, we strongly disagree. Plaintiff’s methods were, perhaps, unorthodox. "Normal” as used in the term "normal maintenance” refers, however, to function, and not to method. In the present case, plaintiffs maintenance was normal because it was directed toward enabling his vehicle to start, a normal function. Defendants have strongly implied that the plaintiff should be penalized because safer methods to start his truck might have been used. This approach was rejected by the Legislature when it adopted a no-fault system of motor vehicle insurance. A no-fault system would be considerably less useful if coverage could be denied because of the dangerous manner in which the insured’s act (i.e., operation, maintenance or use) was performed. We believe that the trial judge erred by holding that plaintiffs injuries were not foreseeably identifiable with the normal maintenance of a motor vehicle.
Plaintiff was not an occupant of a motor vehicle at the time of the accident. See Winters v National Indemnity Co, 120 Mich App 156; 327 NW2d 423 (1982); Kalin v Detroit Automobile Inter-Ins Exchange, 112 Mich App 497; 316 NW2d 467 (1982). Coverage is governed by MCL 500.3114(1); MSA 24.13114(1), because plaintiff was a named insured on his policies with both defendants. See MCL 500.3115(1); MSA 24.13115(1). Both defendants were in the same order of priority to provide personal protection insurance benefits. See Winters, supra, pp 163-164. Thus, MCL 500.3115(2); MSA 24.13115(2) applies.
Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. | [
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Per Curiam.
Appellant, Central Soya Company, Inc., appeals as of right from a judgment entered on a jury verdict awarding damages to appellee George Rose on his products liability counterclaim.
Central Soya began this action in district court to collect the balance due on Rose’s purchase of certain hog feed products. Rose filed a counterclaim alleging that his use of Central Soya’s feed program resulted in substantial damage to his swine herd, including the death of 927 young pigs during the winter of 1979-1980. The matter was removed to Emmet County Circuit Court. At trial the jury was instructed relative to the counterclaim on theories of breach of contract and express and implied warranties. A general verdict form was submitted. The jury found in favor of Central Soya on the collection action ($3,793.91) and awarded Rose $33,000 in consequential damages and $11,000 as reimbursement of sums paid for the defective feed program. Central Soya’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial was denied.
Central Soya contends that the trial court erred in denying its motions for directed verdict and partial directed verdict. We disagree.
In ruling on a motion for directed verdict the trial court must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiff and determine whether the evidence establishes a prima facie case against the defendant. The motion should be granted only when there is no question for the trier of fact, i.e., where all reasonable men would agree that there has been an essential failure of proof. Bullock v Gulf & Western Manufacturing, 128 Mich App 316, 319; 340 NW2d 294 (1983). In order to avoid a directed verdict in a products liability case, the plaintiff must produce evidence reasonably leading to the conclusion that the defendant supplied a product which is defective and that this defect caused the plaintiff’s injury. Caldwell v Fox, 394 Mich 401, 410-411; 231 NW2d 46 (1975).
To withstand a directed verdict in a products liability action, the plaintiff need not establish the exact nature of the alleged defect but must show through direct or circumstantial evidence a reasonable probability that the defect is attributable to the manufacturer or seller. Kupkowski v Avis Ford, Inc, 395 Mich 155, 161; 235 NW2d 324 (1975); Chambers v General Motors Corp, 123 Mich App 619, 621; 333 NW2d 9 (1982). However, where the evidence establishes two or more equally plausible causes for the injury, the selection by the jury of one of the causes would be based not upon reasonable inferences but upon conjecture. In such cases directed verdicts are proper. Chambers, supra. The plaintiff may fulfill his burden of establishing a defective product attributable to the manufacturer by showing that the manufacturer failed to supply appropriate warnings or instructions necessary for the safe use of the product. If such warnings or instructions are required, the information provided must be adequate, accurate and effective. Antcliff v State Employees Credit Union, 414 Mich 624, 638; 327 NW2d 814 (1982), reh den 417 Mich 1103 (1983). Thus, the failure to provide adequate instructions or warnings can constitute a product defect sufficient to sustain an implied warranty claim. Antcliff, supra; Smith v ER Squibb & Sons, Inc, 405 Mich 79; 273 NW2d 476 (1979).
Applying these principles, we find that the evidence was sufficient to support a reasonable inference that the feed program supplied by Central Soya was defective in that Central Soya did not provide accurate and adequate instructions for safe use of the products.
There was expert testimony that anemia was probably a major factor in the deaths of the pigs. While the cause of the anemia was disputed, there was expert testimony to support an inference that it resulted from insufficient iron, insufficient food rations to pregnant sows and gilts during part of the gestation period, causing decreased milk production and the birth of pigs with lower resistance to disease, and insufficient nutrition of the young pigs prior to and during the weaning stage. There was also evidence reasonably connecting the iron and nutrition deficiencies to Central Soya’s instructions concerning the feed program. One veterinarian testified that the 18-gauge needle recommended by Central Soya for administration of the iron supplement was too large and may have caused excessive iron to leak out. Another expert testified that the rations of feed recommended by Central Soya for pregnant sows and gilts were inadequate in the northern Michigan climate. Also, there was evidence that Rose was not informed of the shelf life of the feed for the young pigs, which may have resulted in unpalatability and, hence, inadequate nutrition. While the evi dence was certainly not clear-cut, we believe it was sufficient to support a reasonable inference that the food program sold by Central Soya to Rose was defective. The motions for directed verdict and partial directed verdict were correctly denied.
In a related argument Central Soya contends that the trial court erred in refusing to give the following proposed instruction:
"As to the claim asserted by Mr. Rose against Central Soya, I instruct you that Mr. Rose has introduced no evidence, whatsoever, of any defect or deficiency in any of the feeds bought and used by Mr. Rose. For that reason when you consider Mr. Rose’s claim you may consider only the question of whether the feéding program provided to Mr. Rose by Central Soya through its brochures and sales people was not fit for its intended purposes.”
As noted above, Rose produced evidence of inaccurate or insufficient instructions which alone can constitute a product defect. Since there was evidence of a product defect, rejection of the instruction was proper.
Finally, Central Soya contends that the trial court erred in failing to give SJI 6.01a, to the effect that Rose’s failure to produce a sample of the alleged defective products may result in a jury inference that the evidence would have been adverse to him. Instead, the court charged the jury as follows, based on SJI 6.01c:
"George Rose, in this case, has not offered the feed or an analysis of the feed which he purchased from Central Soya. As this evidence was under the control of George Rose and could have been produced by him, you may infer that the evidence would have been adverse to George Rose if you believe that no reasonable excuse for George Rose’s failure to produce the evidence has been shown.”
Under the facts adduced at trial, we find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in giving the instruction which reserved to the jury the determination of whether Rose’s inability to produce feed samples was the result of reasonable actions on his part.
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Per Curiam.
Defendant Christopher Eberhart appeals as of right from a declaratory judgment entered in favor of Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company.
In a separate circuit court action, Christopher Eberhart filed a complaint in the case of Eberhart v Rademacher alleging that defendant David Rademacher intentionally assaulted and battered Christopher Eberhart, which intentional assault and battery resulted in a broken jaw. Thereafter, the instant declaratory judgment action was commenced to determine whether Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company had a duty to defend Rademacher or pay any judgment that might be rendered against him in the principal action. On the date of the alleged assault, David and Julie Rademacher were named insureds under a homeowner’s insurance policy issued by Farm Bureau. The policy of insurance contained a provision excluding coverage for injuries caused intentionally by the insured. That exclusion, and the liability provisions to which it refers, are as follows:
"Section II
"Comprehensive Personal Liability Insuring Agreements
"Coverage A — personal liability.
"This Company agrees to pay on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury * * * to which this insurance applies, caused by an occurrence.”
"III. Definitions — Section II
"e. Occurrence: Means an accident, including injuri ous exposure to conditions, which results, during the policy term, in bodily injury or property damage.”
"Exclusions — II
"This policy does not apply:
"(c) Under Coverages A, B and C, to injury, sickness, disease, death or destruction caused intentionally by or at the direction of the insured.”
The only evidence introduced at the hearing on the complaint for declaratory judgment consisted of the discovery depositions of defendants Rademacher and Eberhart. On the evening of the complained-of assault, the Rademachers and their daughter were returning home in their van after attending a movie. As the van was being driven, it was struck by one or more snowballs. Rademacher turned his van around and entered a parking lot, approching three persons. One of them ran away. Rademacher threw Eberhart to the ground and hit the other person with his fist.
What followed, according to Rademacher, was that, as Eberhart attempted to stand up, Rademacher struck him with a downward punch to the jaw. According to Eberhart, Rademacher pulled him up and then hit him in the jaw.
The trial judge observed that, under either scenario, when one suffers a broken jaw from being hit on the jaw, the injury is a natural, probable, foreseeable, and expected result.
After considering the evidence and applicable case law, the trial court found the exclusionary policy language applicable, and entered an order declaring that Farm Bureau had no duty to defend or pay any judgment rendered against Rademacher in the principal action.
Since the trial court sat as trier of fact, this Court must review the record to determine whether it supports the trial court’s findings. GCR 1963, 517.1.
We have reviewed the cases cited by the trial court and the parties: Morrill v Gallagher, 370 Mich 578; 122 NW2d 687 (1963), Putman v Zeluff, 372 Mich 553; 127 NW2d 374 (1964), Vermont Mutual Ins Co v Dalzell, 52 Mich App 686; 218 NW2d 52 (1974), Hermans v Pendleton, 62 Mich App 576; 233 NW2d 658 (1975), and Group Ins Co of Michigan v Morelli, 111 Mich App 510; 314 NW2d 672 (1981).
The findings in Morrill and Vermont Mutual were that the injury was not intended. In Morrill, the defendants attempted to frighten the plaintiff by throwing a lit firecracker into a room occupied by the plaintiff. As a result of the firecracker exploding, plaintiff suffered a serious injury. Our Supreme Court, in holding the insurer liable, stated:
"Some emphasis is placed on exclusion (c) on the ground that in the instant case the firecracker was thrown intentionally. Unquestionably such was the case, but it will be noted that under the language of the excluding clause, the injury must be caused 'intentionally’. There is nothing in this case to justify a conclusion that either Gallagher or Canfield intended to cause any physical harm to plaintiff. The language of the policy is binding on appellant [insurer], and if ambiguous it must be construed against appellant’s claims in the instant controversy. It may not be interpreted as barring liability under the policy.” Morril, supra, p 588. (Emphasis in original.)
In Vermont Mutual, a 17-year-old boy threw a pumpkin from an overpass. It struck a vehicle, shattering the windshield and seriously injuring the driver. The Court of Appeals said:
"The trial court found that the youth’s act of throwing the pumpkin was intentional and there was abundant evidence presented to support this finding. In addition, however, the trial court found that the youth intended to injure the motorist, defendant Dalzell. This was error since there was no evidence presented to support the conclusion that the youth intended to injure Dalzell. Throughout the criminal and civil proceedings, the youth maintained that the pumpkin was thrown to strike in front of or alongside of defendant Dalzell’s vehicle in order to frighten him. This testimony stood uncontradicted. Therefore, the finding of the trial court that there was an intent to injure was clearly erroneous and cannot be allowed to stand. GCR 1963, 517.1.” Vermont Mutual, supra, pp 692-693.
The trier of fact in Putman found intent to fire a gun to stop the onrush of a dog by shooting in the direction of the animal, but found no intent to destroy the dog.
Our Court ruled in Kermans that the trial court correctly held the exclusion applicable, quoting the trial court:
" 'There was no allegation of self-defense or accident on behalf of the principal defendant, and this court has no difficulty in determining that where there is no allegation of provocation, negligence or accident, that the pointing of a firearm at another human being and discharging same is of itself an intentional act, and one whereby the actual result could be anticipated, and thus outside the scope of the instant policy.’ ” Kermans, supra, p 580.
In another declaratory judgment action, Group Ins Co of Michigan v Morelli, supra, James Nesbitt was visiting at the home of his girlfriend, Ellen. Ellen had previously dated Daniel Morelli. While Nesbitt was visiting, Morelli entered Ellen’s home and kicked Nesbitt in the face, breaking his nose. The Court stated:
"The above rationale and cited authorities are equally applicable to the instant case. The injury sustained by Nesbitt was the natural, foreseeable, expected and anticipatory result of the intentional act of Morelli. As such, we find that both the act and injury were intentional and, thus, within the exclusion provision of the policy coverage. Hence, plaintiff had no duty to defend or indemnify defendant.” Ill Mich App 516.
Consistent with our prior decisions in Kermans and Group Ins Co of Michigan, we hold that the trial court’s inferential finding that the injury to Eberhart was intentionally caused was not clearly erroneous.
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Wahls, J.
Defendant was found guilty by a jury of armed robbery, MCL 750.529; MSA 28.797. The trial court sentenced defendant to 15 to 30 years imprisonment. Defendant appeals as of right.
Defendant raises several arguments on appeal. The issue we find sufficiently meritorious to warrant discussion concerns whether a statement attributed to defendant was properly admitted into evidence at trial.
The record reveals that defendant was arrested with another person on February 10, 1982, and charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery in connection with the robbery of a clothing store in Detroit the same day. The security guard was shot and killed. A Walker hearing was conducted in which defendant challenged the admissibility of a statement which he made to police while in custody.
The testimony at the Walker hearing revealed that defendant was taken into custody at approximately 6:00 p.m. on February 10, 1982. On the morning of February 11, 1982, defendant was taken to a hospital for treatment of a hand injury. Defendant returned to the station house that evening. Arraignment was conducted on the morning of February 12, 1982.
During the night of February 11, 1982, defendant initiated a converstaion with an officer of the Detroit Fire Department, who was in the station house to interview a witness in an arson case. The defendant expressed a willingness to talk about the robbery. This information was conveyed to the police officer investigating the robbery. The defendant was taken to an interview room and informed of his constitutional rights. Defendant then gave a statement to the police officer which implicated his involvement in the robbery and the shooting.
The police officer asked the defendant to put the statement in writing. The defendant then requested that an attorney or his sister be present. The police officer brought in an attorney who was at the station house on line-up duty. The attorney did not discuss the facts of the case with defendant. Rather, she informed defendant that she could not represent him and advised defendant to keep his mouth shut until the arraignment, when an attorney would be appointed. Defendant then requested that his sister be present. Defendant’s sister arrived at the station house and entered the interview room. Defendant then reduced the statement to written form with the aid of the police officer. Defendant did not request an attorney and no further attempt was made to procure an attorney for defendant.
The testimony at the Walker hearing also included defendant’s testimony that his actions on that evening were affected by the drug penicillin, which was given to him at the hospital. However, defendant’s girl friend testified that penicillin caused only a skin rash. At the conclusion of the testimony, defendant argued that the interrogation had been conducted in derogation of his constitutional rights. Defendant argued that, once he requested that he wanted an attorney present, all interrogation should have ended.
The trial judge rejected this argument. The judge held that there was no interrogation because defendant initiated the conversation with the po lice. The trial judge further reasoned that, in light of the circumstances of defendant’s request for either an attorney or his sister, the police were not required to terminate their discussion with defendant prior to reducing his statement to writing.
At the trial, the testimony established that two men perpetrated the robbery of the clothing store. During the robbery, the men disarmed the guard and shot him. The cashier of the store identified the person arrested with defendant, Michael Anthony Wicks, as the one who shot the guard. None of the witnesses were able to identify defendant as one of the robbers. The testimony also established that defendant and Wicks were arrested near the store soon after the robbery and the security guard’s handgun was found in a nearby snowbank.
The substance of defendant’s statement is as follows. Defendant entered the store with Wicks to buy clothing. Once inside, Wicks told him that he intended to rob the store. Defendant agreed and together they disarmed the guard. Wicks took the guard’s gun. Defendant took the money from the register and ran out of the store. Once outside, defendant heard two shots fired. As both men ran from the scene, defendant placed the handgun in his pocket because his coat was bigger.
The standard of review for suppression rulings requires this Court to examine the whole record and independently determine whether the defendant voluntarily made the statements admitted at trial. People v Robinson, 386 Mich 551, 557; 194 NW2d 709 (1972). The ruling of the trial judge will be sustained unless we are left with a definite and firm belief that a mistake has been made. People v Goss, 89 Mich 598; 280 NW2d 608 (1979). In the present case, the circumstances surrounding the defendant’s confession convince us that defendant voluntarily made the inculpatory statement.
The present case is clearly distinguishable from the authoritive cases on police interrogation. See Edwards v Arizona, 451 US 477, 482-484; 101 S Ct 1880; 68 L Ed 2d 378 (1981); People v Paintman, 412 Mich 518; 315 NW2d 418 (1982). Here, the conversations were initiated by defendant. Neither testimony at the Walker hearing nor at trial suggests that the police officer present took the initiative to extract a statement from the defendant. Defendant was advised of his rights and made the inculpatory statement prior to his request for an attorney or his sister. The request for an attorney was made in response to the police officer’s desire to have defendant repeat the statement in writing. Defendant rejected the advice of the attorney to whom he spoke and repeated the statement in the presence of his sister.
In People ex rel Wayne Prosecutor v Recorder's Court Judge, 79 Mich App 495; 261 NW2d 63 (1977), lv den 402 Mich 879 (1978), cert den 436 US 958 (1978), this Court held that an expression by a defendant that he wanted an attorney, albeit an ambiguous statement, requires a cessation of police interrogation. See also People v Plyler, 86 Mich App 272, 277; 272 NW2d 623 (1978). However, we find the facts of this case distinguishable from those cited above. In ex rel Wayne Prosecutor and Plyler, after the custodial interrogation began, the defendants "either specifically requested counsel, and counsel was not made available, or the defendants sufficiently expressed a desire for counsel by asking questions concerning either the availability of counsel or the advisability of procuring counsel”. People v Giuchici, 118 Mich App 252, 257; 324 NW2d 593 (1982). However, we hold that in the present case, defendant was not subjected to custodial interrogation within the meaning of Miranda.
"By custodial interrogation, we mean questioning inititated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.”
People v Paintman, supra, pp 528-529, quoting from Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436, 444; 86 S Ct 1602; 16 L Ed 2d 694 (1966).
Therefore, while it is true that "custodial interrogation by police may take different forms”, People v Paintman, supra, p 529, we do not find any overreaching in the conduct of police in this case. Thé officer did not "impinge on the exercise of the subject’s continuing option to cut off the interview”. People v Giuchici, 118 Mich App 252, 258; 324 NW2d 593 (1982), quoting from Nash v Estelle, 597 F2d 513, 518 (CA 5, 1979).
Likewise, we are not persuaded by the defendant’s assertion that he was so unduly influenced by his allergic reaction to penicillin that his statement was not the product of a clear mind. The trial judge heard conflicting testimony of the effect of the drug on defendant. On this question we defer to the factual determination of the trial judge. There is nothing in the record to suggest that his decision was erroneous. People v Anglin, 111 Mich App 268; 314 NW2d 581 (1982).
Finally, we reject defendant’s árgument that the delay in his arraignment was used as a tool to extract a confession. Michigan law requires that police bring a prisoner before a magistrate for arraignment without unnecessary delay. MCL 764.26; MSA 28.885. The delay in this case cannot be considered unnecessary. Defendant was arrested on the night of February 10, 1982. The following morning he was transferred to the hospital where he remained until the evening of February 11, 1982. The following morning, defendant was arraigned. The record does not suggest that any portion of the intervening time was intended to extract a statement from defendant. Therefore, this argument must fail. People v Hamilton, 359 Mich 410; 102 NW2d 738 (1960); People v Jackson, 114 Mich App 649; 319 NW2d 613 (1982).
We find the remainder of defendant’s arguments meritless.
Affirmed.
People v Walker (On Rehearing), 374 Mich 331; 132 NW2d 87 (1965).
Wicks, who was jointly tried with defendant, was convicted of second-degree murder, armed robbery, assault with intent to rob armed and felony firearm. This Court affirmed his conviction in an unpublished opinion. People v Wicks, Docket No. 66835, decided November 2, 1983. | [
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M. J. Kelly, J.
Following a mistrial, defendant was convicted by a jury of felony murder, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, in connection with the death of 70-year-old Frederick Trombley, who was found beaten and unconscious in his home on April 30, 1981. Trombley died on July 2, 1981, without regaining consciousness. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment and he now appeals his conviction as of right. We affirm.
Rosilind Lee, a 911 operator, testified that on April 30, 1981, she received a call from a man subsequently identified as Mr. Trombley reporting that some person or persons had broken into the basement of his home at 115 Tuxedo, Highland Park, and were attempting to break down the door which separated him from the basement. Lee requested police assistance and spoke to the caller for approximately five minutes when she heard the phone drop. Lee testified that she then heard a loud banging noise and the caller yelling and two voices ordering the caller on the floor, repeatedly demanding money. Near the end of the call, Ms. Lee heard a crashing sound and, about five minutes later, heard a male voice yell "freeze”. The call began at 10:43 p.m. and ended at 11:12 p.m.
Highland Park Police Officer Michael Garden-hire testified that on April 30, 1981, between 10:30 p.m. and 10:35 p.m., he received a call to go to 115 Tuxedo. Upon arriving at the scene, Officer Gardenhire checked the front door and windows on the front and side of the house and found them locked. He received no response when he knocked on the front door but observed some movement through a window. His partner, Officer Morris Cotton, was at the same time investigating the rear of the house when he observed a man exit from one of the windows and begin running down an alley. Officer Gardenhire chased the man until he recognized him as Shawn Bigham and then returned to the house. Backup officers arrived and Officer Gardenhire kicked in the front door, observing as he entered the house some movement behind the den door. He discovered defendant hiding in the den and placed him under arrest. He then discovered Mr. Trombley lying on his stomach on the floor with his hands bound and his mouth gagged. Mr. Trombley’s pants pockets were turned out and he was suffering from injuries to his head. The house was in a state of disarray.
Defendant introduced testimony attempting to establish that he was not present when the beating occurred but arrived at the house shortly thereafter. Three alibi witnesses testified that on the evening of April 30, 1981, Shawn Bigham showed up at defendant’s home, which was located less than one block away from Mr. Trombley’s home, and persuaded defendant to accompany him to a house where they were to meet some women. According to defendant’s version of the incident, he was then led by Bigham to Mr. Trombley’s home where Mr. Trombley already lay injured on the floor.
I
At trial, the prosecutor sought to introduce into evidence a tape of the entire recording of Mr. Trombley’s 911 telephone call. Defense counsel objected on the grounds that the tape was inadmissible hearsay and that its prejudicial effect far outweighed any probative value it may have had. The trial court excluded the portion of the tape containing Lee’s conversations with her supervisor but admitted the remaining portions of the tape under the excited utterance and present sense impression exceptions to the hearsay rule. On appeal, defendant argues that the admission of portions of the 911 tape constitutes error because the tape was irrelevant to the only disputed issue at trial, the identification of defendant as one of the perpetrators. Defendant alternately argues that even if the tape was properly admitted as relevant evidence, its prejudicial effect so seriously outweighed its probative value as to constitute error. Defendant argues that the probative value of the tape is significantly reduced by the availability and presentation of Lee’s in-court testimony.
We first consider defendant’s relevancy challenge to the admission of the 911 tape. Evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make the existence of any fact of consequence to the determination of the action more or less probable than it would be without the evidence. MRE 401. All relevant evidence is admissible unless otherwise provided under the constitution or rules of evidence. MRE 402; People v Prast (On Rehearing), 114 Mich App 469, 489; 319 NW2d 627 (1982).
We believe that the edited 911 tape was probative of at least two issues in this case. First, the tape tended to prove that Mr. Trombley’s fatal injuries were inflicted by the perpetrators of the breaking and entering. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the tape is probative of the credibility of defendant’s story regarding his limited involvement in the incident. Given the testimony of defendant’s alibi witnesses, a critical issue is whether defendant had the opportunity to enter the Trombley house unobserved after Shawn Big-ham and some unidentified person had inflicted the injuries upon Mr. Trombley and departed.
The 911 call began at 10:43 p.m. The tape was cut off at trial at a point that would have been approximately 10:48 p.m. or 10:49 p.m. on April 30, 1981. As of that cutoff point, the sound of only one entry is heard. According to Officer Cotton, he and Gardenhire arrived at the Trombley house at 10:50 p.m., following which Officer Cotton was at all times positioned at the rear of the house. He saw no one enter or even walk near the house during that time. Officer Gardenhire was positioned at the front of the house until he chased Shawn Bigham down the alley. After this brief absence he returned to the front of the house and did not see anyone enter or leave. The officers remained outside the house until they broke down the front door and entered. The portion of the tape admitted at trial begins again just before the officers’ entry. Thus, the combination of the tape and the officers’ testimony tends to prove that no one entered the Trombley house after the 911 call was placed and before the officers’ entry. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s threshold finding that the tape was relevant to a material issue of fact and therefore admissible at trial. People v Howard, 391 Mich 597, 603-605; 218 NW2d 20 (1974).
However, even relevant evidence must be excluded if its probative value is substantially out weighed by the risks of unfair prejudice. MRE 403. Defendant in this case alternatively argues that the edited tape should have been excluded as unfairly prejudicial and that failure to do so constitutes error. We have already described the highly probative nature of the admitted portions of the tape. Our inquiry now is whether the trial court abused its discretion in concluding that the probative value of the tape outweighed its prejudicial effect.
Included in the edited portions of the 911 tape heard by the jury were Mr. Trombley’s calls for help and pleas not to be hurt, followed by his muffled moans. We agree with defendant that these sounds were likely to elicit an emotional response from the jury. We do not, however, agree that the effect of these sounds upon the jury was so prejudicial to the issue of defendant’s guilt or innocence as to require exclusion of this otherwise highly probative evidence. Defendant’s voice was not identified as one of the voices on the tape, leaving the question of defendant’s involvement in the crime to be decided in light of other evidence. We cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in its balancing of the probative value and prejudicial effect of the 911 tape as evidence.
Defendant further argues that the edited 911 tape should have been excluded as inadmissible hearsay. MRE 802. We disagree. Mr. Trombley’s statements to Ms. Lee informing her that some person or persons had broken into his basement and were trying to break down the door separating him from the basement as he spoke described an event as he was perceiving that event and were therefore admissible as present sense impressions under MRE 803(1). Moreover, Trombley’s statements related to a startling event and were made while under the stress or emotional shock of that event and were therefore also admissible as an excited utterance under MRE 803(2). Similarly, Ms. Lee’s statements to Mr. Trombley related to a startling event made while she was under the stress of that event and were also admissible under MRE 803(2). See Hewitt v Grand Trunk Western R Co, 123 Mich App 309; 333 NW2d 264 (1983). The background noises on the tape are not inadmissible hearsay as they are not statements.
We finally note that the admission of sound recordings in general must be supported by a proper foundation. The requirements for a proper foundation are:
" '(1) a showing that the recording device was capable of taking testimony, (2) a showing that the operator of the device was competent, (3) establishment of the authenticity and correctness of the recording, (4) a showing that changes, additions, or deletions have not been made, (5) a showing of the manner of the preservation of the recording, (6) identification of the speakers, and (7) a showing that the testimony elicited was voluntarily made without any kind of inducement.’ ” People v Taylor, 18 Mich App 381, 383-384; 171 NW2d 219 (1969), aff'd 386 Mich 204; 191 NW2d 310 (1971), citing 58 ALR2d 1024, 1027.
Each of the seven requirements must be met in any case in which all apply though the seventh, the "voluntary testimony” requirement, does not apply where the victim of a crime telephones the police or, as in this case, the 911 operator for help because the recorded phone call is not "testimony”. People v Parker, 76 Mich App 432, 443-444, fn 6; 257 NW2d 109 (1977).
The prosecutor in this case adequately established the applicable foundation requirements in introducing evidence of the 911 tape. Jeanne Den nis, a 911 operator and administrative clerk for the Communications Operations Section of the Detroit Police Department, testified that the machine which recorded Mr. Trombley’s call automatically records all incoming telephone calls by means of a direct connection between the telephones and the recording machine. She had encountered no difficulty with the recorder on the day of the crime. Dennis further described how the tape which was introduced into evidence was prepared from a master multi-track tape and then labeled by her and stored at the Communications Section. No changes, additions or deletions were made, except that the time which is simultaneously taped on another track of the same master tape was added to the copy. The copy was then placed on hold for the Highland Park Police and transferred from the Communications Section by Officer Michael Volney to Detective Donald Roberts, who kept it in his possession until it was presented in court. Lee identified her voice on the tape. Doris Pollard testified that she had spoken to Mr. Trombley approximately two to three times a day on the telephone every day over the two years preceding his death and identified his voice as the caller on the tape.
We conclude that the edited 911 tape was properly admitted at defendant’s trial and we find no error.
II
Defendant also alleges error in the trial court’s refusal to allow defense counsel to impeach Officer Gardenhire with prior in-court testimony. Apparently, defense counsel had previously represented another defendant in an unrelated criminal trial at which Officer Gardenhire had misidentified someone as the driver of a motor vehicle. Defense counsel attempted to cross-examine Officer Gardenhire regarding the misidentification, but the trial court sustained the prosecutor’s objection.
The impeachment of a witness on a collateral matter is within the sound discretion of the trial court, People v McConnell, 124 Mich App 672, 682-683; 335 NW2d 226 (1983), subject only to the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses. People v Partee, 130 Mich App 119, 125; 342 NW2d 903 (1983). We find no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in this case in excluding for impeachment purposes Officer Gardenhire’s prior testimony in an unrelated case. Nor do we find that defendant’s right of confrontation required the introduction of that evidence.
Defendant sought to impeach Officer Gardenhire because Gardenhire had testified that, when he first entered the Trombley home, he observed defendant "hiding” behind the den door. In his testimony at the preliminary examination and at the mistrial, Gardenhire had testified that defendant was walking toward him from the back room when Gardenhire entered the home. Defense counsel was allowed to impeach Gardenhire with the use of this earlier testimony. In fact defense counsel’s cross-examination of Gardenhire covers 71 pages of transcript and we find it difficult to conclude that defendant was denied any meaningful right of confrontation. In any event, whether defendant was hiding behind the den door or walking toward the officers when the police entered is not material to the issue of defendant’s guilt or innocence in this case.
Ill
Defendant next argues that error occurred when the trial court permitted Officer Gardenhire to testify that he knew the time he received the Trombley radio call because a dispatcher had informed him it was 10:35 p.m. Officer Gardenhire’s testimony was in response to the prosecutor’s inquiry regarding his certainty of the time the call was received. Inasmuch as Gardenhire repeated an out-of-court statement which was offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted, we find the statement was hearsay and inadmissible under MRE 802.
However, the erroneous admission of hearsay testimony is harmless where the same facts are shown by other competent evidence. People v Price, 112 Mich App 791, 803; 317 NW2d 249 (1982), lv den 414 Mich 946 (1982); People v Prophet, 101 Mich App 618, 624; 300 NW2d 652 (1980). In this case, Officer Gardenhire also testified that he personally recalled the time that he received the message to go to the Trombley house because he had looked at his watch after receiving the dispatch. The 911 tape indicates that the call came into the operator at 10:43 p.m. and that the operator initiated the ticket to the dispatcher 10 to 15 seconds later. The importance of the time the call was received relates to the time the police arrived at Trombley’s house and both Officer Cotton and Officer Gardenhire testified that they arrived at the house at approximately 10:50 p.m. Because other competent evidence clearly establishes the officers’ arrival time, the admission of the hearsay statement is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
IV
Defendant finally argues that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the shoes that defendant was wearing at the time of his arrest. Defendant alleges that the prosecutor failed to establish a proper foundation and that, even if a foundation had been laid, the probative value of the shoes was substantially outweighed by the prejudicial effect of the introduction of this evidence.
The requirements for establishing an adequate foundation prior to the admission of real evidence have been articulated by this Court in People v Beamon, 50 Mich App 395, 398-399; 213 NW2d 314 (1973). We have carefully reviewed the record in the instant case and conclude that the prosecution presented sufficient evidence on the Beamon factors to establish an adequate foundation for the admission of defendant’s shoes. Defendant was placed in custody immediately upon being discovered in Trombley’s house and remained in custody when, approximately three days after his arrest, Officer Ray Buckner typed up a search warrant and removed defendant’s shoes from his feet, placed an evidence tag upon them, and placed them in the evidence locker. Detective Roberts received the shoes from Officer Buckner and took them to the Serology Department of the Detroit Police Department. Employees of the Serology Department then conducted tests upon the shoes. Two of the tests results, if read together, revealed that human blood was present on the shoes though no blood type could be identified.
We do not believe that the trial court abused its discretion in determining that the probative value of the shoes outweighed any risks of unfair prejudice to the defendant. The evidence was probative of defendant’s participation in the beating which eventually resulted in Mr. Trombley’s death. Testimony revealed that Trombley sustained multiple bruises and lacerations to the head and was surrounded by a pool of blood when discovered by the police. Two factors in particular persuade us that the prejudicial effect of the admission of this evidence does not outweigh its probative value. First, the expert witnesses who conducted the tests and who testified at trial did not attempt to connect the blood on defendant’s shoes with the blood type of Mr. Trombley nor did they attempt to establish the length of time the blood had been on defendant’s shoes. Second, the presence of blood on defendant’s shoes is entirely consistent with his defense of limited participation since testimony revealed that defendant had admitted to stumbling over the victim’s body prior to the police entry. We find no error in the trial court’s admission of defendant’s shoes at trial.
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Per Curiam.
Appellant, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, initiated a third-party action against appellee, Farmers Insurance Group, for contribution of no-fault benefits Progressive paid to an injured plaintiff. The trial court granted summary judgment on essentially undisputed facts in favor of Farmers, and Progressive appeals.
Progressive was sued by plaintiff, Robert Bach-man, for recovery of first-party no-fault benefits arising out of a motorcycle accident. Two cars, a Dodge and a Grand Prix, were present at the scene of the accident. Progressive insured the Dodge; Farmers insured the Grand Prix. Neither Bach-man nor any member of his household owned a vehicle covered by no-fault insurance at the time of the accident.
Robert Bachman was driving his motorcycle westbound on Plymouth Road. His wife, Sherry Bachman, was a passenger. The Dodge was facing eastward in the left-hand turn lane at a light on Plymouth Road, waiting to turn left on Outer Drive. The Grand Prix, also facing eastward, was stopped at the light in the lane adjacent to the Dodge. The motorcycle, traveling westbound, switched lanes toward the left turn lane and col lided with the Dodge. Sherry Bachman was thrown from the motorcycle and landed on the Grand Prix. Progressive, the insurer of the Dodge, paid no-fault benefits to Bachman, who discontinued his suit. Farmers, the Grand Prix insurer, voluntarily paid one-half of Sherry Bachman’s no-fault benefits. In Progressive’s third-party action against Farmers, the trial court granted summary judgment for Farmers, finding that the Grand Prix was not "involved in the accident” within the meaning of MCL 500.3115(1); MSA 24.13115(1). The only issue on appeal is whether or not the trial court correctly interpreted and applied the statute when granting summary judgment.
We initially note that the Grand Prix was not a parked vehicle. Thus, the Supreme Court’s discussion of involvement of a parked vehicle in Heard v State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co, 414 Mich 139; 324 NW2d 1, reh den 414 Mich 1111 (1982), is not particularly helpful.
The facts underlying this appeal are more akin to the circumstances in Stonewall Ins Group v Farmers Ins Group, 128 Mich App 307; 340 NW2d 71 (1983). In Stonewall, a bicyclist was struck by a vehicle insured by the third-party plaintiff. The third-party defendant was the insurer of a vehicle standing in an intersection to make a left-hand turn. Plaintiff’s insured vehicle swerved to avoid a collision with defendant’s insured vehicle. The vehicles did not collide, but plaintiff’s insured vehicle struck the bicyclist. In affirming the trial court’s findings and conclusion of law, this Court agreed that the defendant’s vehicle was not "involved in the accident” and quoted the trial court with approval: "[T]here must be some sort of activity that somehow contributes in the happening of the accident.” Stonewall, supra, p 309.
In this case, there was no activity, with respect to the Grand Prix, which somehow contributed to the happening of the accident. The trial court correctly determined that the Grand Prix was not "involved in the accident” within the meaning of MCL 500.3115(1); MSA 24.13115(1).
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Per Curiam.
Defendant appeals as of right from a jury conviction of breaking and entering an occupied dwelling with intent to commit larceny, MCL 750.110; MSA 28.305. He was sentenced to serve 8 to 15 years imprisonment.
Defendant was charged with breaking and entering the home of Aletha Clark, in Kalamazoo County, on July 20, 1981. On July 19, 1981, Mrs. Clark, the sole occupant of the house, died in a hospital. After her death, friends and relatives visited the house to straighten up, remove food from the refrigerator, secure the house, and feed Mrs. Clark’s dog, but no one stayed in the house for any length of time. At approximately 7:30 p.m. on July 20, 1981, a neighbor, Eric Erickson, went to the Clark home to check on the house. He encountered an older model brown Chevrolet parked in the driveway and met its driver as he came from behind the house. The man was black and at least six feet tall. Erickson spoke to the man for several minutes and then the man drove away. After the man left, Erickson noticed Mrs. Clark’s television set in the backyard and quickly chased after the car. He got the license plate numer. Defendant was picked up five hours later in the car, and a subsequent search of the car found evidence which tied him to the crime. The Clark home was checked and found to be in disarray despite having been locked up securely earlier in the day by relatives of Mrs. Clark. On July 22, 1982, Erickson was shown a photographic array and identified defendant as the burglar. At the time the photographic identification was made, defendant was in custody and available for a corporeal line-up.
Defendant first argues that his conviction must be reversed because a photographic, rather than corporeal, line-up was shown to Erickson and because the trial court compounded this error by permitting Erickson to make an in-court identification of defendant without first finding an independent basis for that identification. While the question is a close one, we disagree that the use of a photographic line-up in this case was improper.
Generally, photographic arrays should not be used for identification where the accused is in custody. People v Anderson, 389 Mich 155, 186-187; 205 NW2d 461 (1973). However, where it is not possible to arrange a proper line-up or where there is an insufficient number of people available with defendant’s physical characteristics, a photographic line-up is permissible. Anderson, supra, pp 186-187, fn 22. Here, the prosecutor argued that the photographic line-up was necessary because defendant was of a rare physical type in Kalamazoo County — over 50 years old, black, at least 6 feet tall, and approximately 200 pounds in weight. The prosecutor presented evidence that the Kalamazoo police wanted to conduct a corporeal line-up and requested the personnel at the county jail to find likely candidates to stand with defendant. After a two-hour search, the jail representative called the officer in charge of defendant’s case and told him that they had been unable to locate enough "specimens” for a line-up because of defendant’s somewhat unusual appearance. The officer therefore arranged the photographic array and had defendant’s attorney present when the array was presented to Erickson. The attorney removed all "Department of Corrections” indicia from the photographs and arranged them so that height markers in the photographs were masked.
While this evidence does not include direct evidence of the number of tall black men over 50 years in age available for a line-up, we find that the prosecution sufficiently proved that there was an insufficient number. There was no evidence that the police sought to avoid a corporeal line-up —to the contrary, the police attempted to arrange one, but were thwarted by members within their own organization (the jail staff). Thus, this was not a situation in which defendant’s wish to have such a line-up was thwarted or in which the police ignored standard procedures which might have located available men. People v Ealey, 102 Mich App 301; 301 NW2d 514 (1980). Although it would have been preferable for the police to have involved defense counsel in the choice of line-ups, People v Powell, 97 Mich App 287; 294 NW2d 262 (1980), we do not find that the failure to do so invalidated the photographic identification.
Defendant next contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion for a directed verdict on the charge of breaking and entering an occupied dwelling house. He argues that, under the facts of this case, there was insufficient evidence that the house was "occupied” at the time of the breaking and entering and that the trial court should have submitted only the 10-year felony charge of breaking and entering an unoccupied dwelling house to the jury instead of submitting both charges and permitting the jury to choose between them.
MCL 750.110; MSA 28.305 defines an "occupied dwelling house” as a building which is "habitually used as a place of abode”. This Court has in turn interpreted "habitual place of abode” as follows:
"Under Michigan law, a residence need not in fact be occupied when the offense takes place in order for the offense to constitute a breaking and entering of an occupied dwelling. People v Guerrero, 57 Mich App 316, 319; 225 NW2d 746 (1975). Any dwelling house habitually used as a place of abode, whether or not an occupant is physically present at the time of the breaking and entering, is an occupied dwelling within the meaning of the statute under which defendant was convicted. When an inhabitant intends to remain in a dwelling as his residence, and has left it for a temporary purpose, such absence does not change the dwelling into an unoccupied one in the eyes of the law. The intent to return following an absence controls; the duration of the absence is not material. Nor is the structure’s habitability germane.” People v Traylor, 100 Mich App 248, 252; 298 NW2d 719 (1980).
The question before us is whether a house, left vacant by the death of its sole owner and occupant, may be considered an occupied dwelling house within these parameters.
This issue has not been addressed before by Michigan courts. However, courts in two other states have addressed the issue tangentially and concluded sub silentio that a house left unoccupied by its occupant’s death is not an "occupied” dwelling. In Keel v State, 165 Ind App 579; 333 NE2d 328 (1975), the defendant was convicted of burglarizing the home of Lula Roberson who had recently died. The defendant had chosen the house after scanning the obituary notices in the newspaper and concluding that, if he were caught, he could only be charged with second-degree burglary (burglary of a building other than a place of human habitation). However, unknown to the defendant, Ms. Roberson’s fiance had come to stay with her shortly before her death and had remained in the home for a week after her death. The Indiana Court of Appeals concluded that, because the fíance was legally living in the house at the time of the burglary, the defendant could properly be convicted of burglarizing a "place of human habitation at the time of the burglary”. 165 Ind App 583. In Johnson v State, 188 So 2d 61 (Fla App, 1966), the defendant was convicted of breaking and entering a dwelling house. In that case, the evidence established that the house had been owned by a husband and wife but that, at the time of the crime, the husband was deceased and the wife was confined in a mental hospital. Custody of the home had been placed in a real estate salesperson who had an exclusive listing for the sale of the prop erty and was in actual possession, but who did not live in the house. The Florida Court of Appeal concluded that the state had not proven that the house was a "dwelling house” at the time of the crime:
"It was incumbent upon the State to prove each element of the crime. Thus, when the proof is that a building, which is alleged to be a dwelling house, was not occupied at the time of the breaking, the State has the burden of proving that the occupant’s absence was temporary. To hold otherwise would shift the burden of proof to the defendant and require her to prove the absence of an intent to return.” 188 So 2d 63-64.
The court noted that the prosecution had not introduced any evidence that the mentally ill wife intended to return to the house.
We conclude that, on these facts, Mrs. Clark’s house was not an "occupied dwelling house” at the time of the crime. Mrs. Clark’s absence can hardly be considered temporary and there was no evidence that anyone had shared her home and intended to either remain in it or to return to it after a temporary absence. We therefore vacate defendant’s conviction for breaking and entering an occupied dwelling house and remand to the trial court for entry of a conviction of breaking and entering an unoccupied dwelling house. Defendant is entitled to be resentenced on the new conviction. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff was severely injured when the automobile she was driving collided with a train. Plaintiffs car was a 1972 American Motors Ambassador Brougham, the steering column of which was designed and manufactured by defendant General Motors Corporation, which sold it to American Motors Corporation. In this product liability suit against defendant, plaintiff claimed that she suffered enhanced injuries because of the steering column’s failure to adequately collapse upon impact with her body. The jury returned a verdict of no cause of action, and plaintiff moved for a new trial, which motion the trial court denied. Plaintiff appeals as of right from the court’s order denying her motion for a new trial, reiterating on appeal the two issues raised in her motion.
The first issue raised by plaintiff is that the court committed error in instructing the jury, over plaintiff’s objection, that if it found that plaintiff’s failure to wear her seat belt was the sole proximate cause of her enhanced injuries it should render a verdict for defendant. Together with this proximate cause instruction, the court instructed the jury that the law does not require a person to wear a seat belt and that the jury was neither to consider plaintiff negligent nor to reduce plaintiff’s damages for failure to wear her seat belt. We agree with plaintiff that the court’s proximate cause instruction relative to plaintiff’s failure to wear her seat belt was error and requires reversal:
This Court has previously addressed the "seat belt defense” question. In Romankewiz v Black, 16 Mich App 119; 167 NW2d 606 (1969), it was held that a plaintiff’s failure to wear a seat belt was not contributory negligence so as to wholly bar recovery. The Romankewiz Court pointed to the absence of any statute imposing a duty to wear a seat belt, and the Court declined to impose such a duty under the common law. Romankewiz, supra, pp 124-125. The Court further held that, since there is no duty to wear a seat belt, failure to wear a seat belt is not a proper basis for reducing damages on the theory that the injuries would not have been as serious had a seat belt been used. Romankewiz, supra, pp 126-127. In the subsequent case of Selmo v Baratono, 28 Mich App 217; 184 NW2d 367 (1970), lv den 384 Mich 834 (1971), it was held that the trial court did not err in refusing to instruct the jury that it could consider whether the plaintiffs’ injuries were proximately caused by their failure to wear seat belts, citing Romankewiz, supra. In Placek v Sterling Heights, 52 Mich App 619; 217 NW2d 900 (1974), lv den 392 Mich 811 (1974), this Court again adhered to Romankewiz, supra, in finding that it was error to allow the jury to consider evidence of the plaintiffs’ failure to wear seat belts in determining whether the plaintiffs were contributorily negligent.
Defendant argues that the trial judge adhered to Romankewiz, supra, since he instructed the jury that plaintiff had no duty to wear a seat belt, that failure to do so did not constitute negligence, and that plaintiff’s damages should not be reduced for failure to wear a seat belt. We find, however, that the proximate cause instruction given by the Court was inconsistent with Romankewiz. The practical effect of the court’s instruction, that the jury could find plaintiff’s failure to wear a seat belt to be the proximate cause of her enhanced injuries, was to permit the jury to deny recovery to plaintiff because of her failure to wear a seat belt, which is the same effect as where a jury is permitted to consider failure to wear a seat belt as contributory negligence, which was disapproved of in Romankewiz, supra. Furthermore, the decision in Selmo, supra, reflects that an instruction allowing the jury to consider the plaintiff’s nonuse of a seat belt in determining whether the proximate cause element was established is contrary to the spirit of Romankewiz, supra.
Defendant also urges this Court to abandon the view adopted in Romankewiz, supra, and followed in Selmo, supra, and Placek, supra, since those cases were decided prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in Placek v Sterling Heights, 405 Mich 638; 275 NW2d 511 (1979), adopting comparative negligence in place of contributory negligence. We do not read the seminal Romankewiz decision as resting on the harsh results which were obtained under the contributory negligence theory earlier applied in this jurisdiction. Indeed, the Romankewiz Court disapproved not only of the nonuse of seat belts as a basis for finding contributory negligence, but also as a basis for reducing damages, which is the result where comparative negligence is applied. Rather, the underpinnings of the Romankewiz decision were the absence of any legisla tion requiring the use of seat belts, which is still the situation at present, and the Court’s refusal to adopt as a matter of common law a rule making failure to wear a seat belt negligence per se, which we likewise refuse to adopt for the reasons cited in Romankewiz, supra, p 125. We agree with Romankewiz v Black, supra, p 127, that the question of whether or not automobile drivers should be obliged to use seat belts is a matter best suited for resolution by the Legislature. To date, the Legislature has not imposed such a duty, and in view thereof we decline defendant’s invitation to disturb Romankewiz, supra.
Nor can we agree with defendant that Romankewiz, supra, is inapplicable to the case at bar because here the cause of action is based on a "crashworthiness” theory, i.e., plaintiff herein is seeking damages for enhanced injuries sustained because of an alleged defect in the steering column causing it not to collapse sufficiently upon impact. Defendant directs our attention to "crashworthiness” cases from other jurisdictions where the courts held it permissible for a jury to consider, in determining whether the defendant negligently designed a particular safety feature, all the other safety features provided in the automobile, including seat belts. E.g., Daly v General Motors Corp, 20 Cal 3d 725; 575 P2d 1162; 144 Cal Rptr 380 (1978). However, defendant’s reliance on such cases is misplaced since the instruction given in the present case, that the jury should find for defendant if it found plaintiffs failure to wear a seat belt was the sole proximate cause of her enhanced injuries, went far beyond an instruction permitting the jury to consider the availability of seat belts as a factor in determining whether the steering column was negligently designed.
We conclude that the proximate cause — seat belt instruction given by the trial court was error and requires reversal.
The second issue raised by plaintiff on appeal is that the trial court erred in admitting two videotape films because defendant did not list the films in its pretrial exhibit list and that plaintiff was prejudiced by the unexpected introduction of the videotapes after her expert witnesses had testified and were no longer available to view the videotapes. Defendant claims that, because the films were not an accurate representation of the accident involved herein, the use of the films to merely illustrate the physical principles related by the testimony of defendant’s expert witnesses was more probative than prejudicial. We need not consider this issue in view of our reversal. However, we caution the trial court, if at the new trial it determines that the films are admissible for a limited purpose, to instruct the jury accordingly.
Reversed and remanded for a new trial; costs to plaintiff-appellant. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of possession of marijuana, MCL 333.7403(2)(d); MSA 14.15(7403)(2)(d), and sentenced to one year of probation with 15 days to be spent in the county jail and fined $150. Defendant appeals as of right.
At trial, defendant challenged the constitutionality of the marijuana laws, asserting that the laws, and the conduct of law enforcement judicial officers in enforcing those laws, had violated his rights under the Ninth Amendment. Defendant argued that the marijuana laws made him a criminal for exercising his right to decide for himself what he wanted to do with his body.
Noting that the law in question was shrouded by a presumption of constitutionality, the trial court held that defendant failed to overcome that presumption.
On appeal, defendant originally raised three issues. At oral argument, defendant withdrew two of those issues, leaving for our consideration only his challenge to the constitutionality of the marijuana possession law. On appeal, defendant has abandoned his Ninth Amendment argument and now claims that the law in question violates his right to privacy. This question has not yet been addressed by the courts of this state.
Defendant urges this Court to follow the case of Ravin v State, 537 P2d 494 (Alas, 1975), and hold that the statute punishing possession of marijuana for personal use as a criminal offense violates one’s right to privacy. We decline to do so. Ravin was based on a right to privacy provision peculiar to the Alaska Constitution. Instead, .we adopt the reasoning of the Supreme Court of Washington which held in State v Smith, 93 Wash 2d 329, 345-348; 610 P2d 869, 879-881 (1980), that no constitutional right of privacy exists which encompasses the right to possess and use marijuana.
More than two months after oral argument, defense counsel informed this panel that defendant’s oral waiver of the other two issues raised on appeal was made without discussing the matter with counsel and was not an informed and knowing decision on his part. Defendant now requests that we review those two issues. We have and find no reversible error.
Affirmed. | [
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Allen, J.
Plaintiff, Lumber Village, Inc., appeals as of right from a September 22, 1982, order of accelerated judgment in favor of third-party defendant, Byron Center State Bank, pursuant to GCR 1963, 116.1(5). Issue III raised on appeal is of first impression in Michigan.
In 1977, Thomas S. Siegler and his wife, Priscilla, undertook to have built for them a pole barn building for use in their horse stable operation business. For this purpose they employed Larry M. Beaman and L. M. Beaman Construction Corporation as the builder and secured financing for construction of the barn by a mortgage for $68,000 from the Byron Center State Bank. Plaintiff furnished building materials for the barn project, the bulk being delivered between September 27, 1977, and October 26, 1977, with smaller deliveries as late as January, 1978. Two money order checks totaling $30,250 were issued by the Byron Center State Bank to L. M. Beaman and Lumber Village, Inc., in September, 1977. The purpose of making the money orders payable to both parties was to avoid creation of a mechanics lien in favor of plaintiff.
The first check for $15,250 was dated September 22, 1977, and was picked up by Mr. Siegler, who gave the check to Beaman. Unbeknownst to either the bank or the Sieglers, and without the authorization of plaintiff, Beaman endorsed the name of plaintiff and deposited the check in his account at the Bank of Lansing on September 26, 1977. The second check, dated September 30, 1977, and in the amount of $15,000, was similarly endorsed by Beaman and deposited in his account on October 3, 1977. The first check was paid by Byron Center State Bank on September 27, 1977, and the second check was paid by the bank on October 5, 1977.
Plaintiff did not receive payment from Beaman and, in April, 1978, recorded a mechanic’s lien on the Siegler property. Mr. Siegler first became aware that the checks had not been properly negotiated when he was served with notice of the lien on April 12, 1978. Mr. Siegler immediately notified the bank, and this appears to be the first time that the bank or Siegler became aware that the instruments had been paid over forged endorsements. In March, 1979, Lumber Village filed a contract action against Beaman and sought to foreclose the mechanic’s lien on the Siegler property. After considerable difficulty, service was finally obtained on Beaman, and a default judgment against him was entered in May, 1980.
In February, 1981, an order was entered permitting the Sieglers to file a third-party complaint adding the Byron Center State Bank as an additional party-defendant. Though the bank and the Sieglers knew of the forgery and that Lumber Village was named as a payee on the money orders, this information had never been communicated to Lumber Village. The bank’s failure to inform plaintiff of the forgery is the subject of the instant appeal. In March, 1981, the Sieglers filed a third-party complaint against the bank. This was the first time Lumber Village learned of the forgery. In April, 1981, the Sieglers filed bankruptcy, and the cause was removed to the United States Bankruptcy Court but was remanded July 28, 1981. In August, 1981, Lumber Village, Inc., moved for leave to file a third-party complaint against Byron Center State Bank, and, by stipulation and order, a third-party complaint against the bank was filed in December, 1981.
Third-party defendant bank pled the three-year statute of limitations for forged instruments, MCL 600.5805; MSA 27A.5805, as an affirmative defense and, on June 28, 1982, moved for accelerated judgment. In a written opinion dated September 22, 1982, the trial court made the following findings:
1. For purposes of the motion, it was conceded that Lumber Village, Inc., did not become aware of the checks or the forgery until after the Sieglers filed their cross-complaint against the bank around April of 1981.
2. Based on Continental Casualty Co v Huron Valley National Bank, 85 Mich App 319; 271 NW2d 218 (1978), the three year statute of limitations applies to the alleged conversion and such statute began to run in September-October 1977, when the checks were paid on a forged endorsement and not in March 1981 when the plaintiff discovered the conversion or forgery.
3. Estoppel from asserting the defense of the running of the statute of limitations is unavailable in Michigan.
4. Estoppel and/or fraudulent concealment sufficient to toll the running of the statute of limitations requires active misconduct or affirmative acts or misrepresentations and mere silence is inadequate.
5. A separate or independent cause of action for silent fraud or fraudulent concealment requires detrimental reliance and, since Lumber Village, Inc., was unaware of the instruments, it could not have relied thereon to its detriment in any way.
The parties frame the issues differently both in content and number. As is our practice in such instances, we have rearranged and reworded the issues as follows:
I. Whether constitutional due process requires that a statutory period of limitations begin to run on the date a cause of action is discovered rather than the date the wrong occurred.
II. Whether defendant fraudulently concealed the existence of a cause of action so as to prevent the statute of limitations from running until two years after discovering the action.
III. Whether defendant should be estopped from asserting the statute of limitations as a defense to plaintiffs cause of action.
IV. Whether plaintiff sufficiently stated a cause of action for silent fraud to allow the case to go to the trier of fact on the merits.
I
Initially, plaintiff presents the constitutional argument that due process requires that the statutory period of limitation starts running from the day of discovery by plaintiff of the cause of action, rather than from the date that the cause of action accrued. To hold otherwise, argues plaintiff, would result in the extinguishing of a payee’s right to bring suit before the payee discovered that a cause of action existed. The trial court’s opinion did not address the constitutional challenge, and nothing in the file suggests that the constitutional issue was raised at the trial level. The general rule of law is that constitutional challenges to a statute may not be raised for the first time on appeal. Brookdale Cemetery Ass’n v Lewis, 342 Mich 14, 18; 69 NW2d 176 (1955); Petterman v Havermill Farms, Inc, 125 Mich App 30, 33; 335 NW2d 710 (1983); Michigan Carousel, Inc v Cecil, 66 Mich App 248, 251; 238 NW2d 825 (1975).
Moreover, federal decisions find no violation of due process under the federal constitution even if the statute in question extinguishes a cause of action before it is discovered to exist. Adair v Koppers Co, Inc, 541 F Supp 1120, 1128 (ND Ohio, 1982) (Ohio’s ten year statute of limitations for actions against architects and engineers); Jewson v Mayo Clinic, 691 F2d 405, 411-412 (CA 8, 1982) (two-year limitation statute starts to run when treatment ceases rather than when injury is discovered); Mathis v Eli Lilly & Co, 719 F2d 134; 141 (CA 6, 1983); (Tenessee’s ten-year limitation period for filing tort claim where injury was not discovered until 25 years after exposure); Duke Power Co v Environmental Study Group, Inc, 438 US 59; 82-93; 98 S Ct 2620; 57 L Ed 2d 595 (1978). (Price-Anderson Act limiting liability of operator of nuclear plant arising from nuclear accident).
Citing Dyke v Richard, 390 Mich 739; 213 NW2d 185 (1973), plaintiff argues that, if not under the federal constitution, at least under the Michigan constitution, a statute of limitations is unreasonable and therefore constitutionally flawed where it extinguishes a cause of action before the injured party knew or could have known of the cause of action. However, this Court ruled in Szlinis v Moulded Fiber Glass Cos, Inc, 80 Mich App 55, 66; 263 NW2d 282 (1977), that Dyke "restricted this approach to malpractice cases”. More on point, for purposes of the instant case, is the Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling seven years after Dyke in O’Brien v Hazlet & Erdal, 410 Mich 1; 299 NW2d 336 (1980). That case involved suits by various plaintiffs against state licensed architects or contractors for injuries arising out of defective or unsafe improvements to buildings. Citing Dyke, the injured parties claimed that the six-year period of limitation violated due process because it barred a cause of action before the injured parties could reasonably know that a defect existed. In a unanimous opinion, the six-year period of limitation was upheld. Since a review of relevant federal and state law discloses that neither the federal nor state constitution mandates that a "discovery” rule be utilized when applying a statutory period of limitation, we find Issue I to be without merit.
II
Did the defendant bank fraudulently conceal from plaintiff supplier of lumber and materials the existence of a cause of action? If the existence of a cause of action is concealed by the party who would be liable, the person entitled to sue may bring the action within two years after the date of discovery or after the date the existence of the cause should have been discovered, despite any applicable statute of limitations. MCL 600.5855; MSA 27A.5855. That statute provides:
"If a person who is or may be liable for any claim fraudulently conceals the existence of the claim or the identity of any person who is liable for the claim from the knowledge of the person entitled to sue on the claim, the action may be commenced at any time within 2 years after the person who is entitled to bring the action discovers, or should have discovered, the existence of the claim or the identity of the person who is liable for the claim, although the action would otherwise be barred by the period of limitations.”
As a general rule, for fraudulent concealment to postpone the running of the period of limitation, the fraud must be manifested by an affirmative act or misrepresentation. Draws v Levin, 332 Mich 447, 452; 52 NW2d 180 (1952); Dowse v Gaynor, 155 Mich 38; 118 NW 615 (1908); Grebner v Runyon, 132 Mich App 327; 347 NW2d 741 (1984); Buszek v Harper Hospital, 116 Mich App 650; 323 NW2d 330 (1982). An exception to this rule is that there is an affirmative duty to disclose where the parties are in a fiduciary relationship. Barrett v Breault, 275 Mich 482; 267 NW 544 (1936); Tompkins v Hollister, 60 Mich 470; 27 NW 651 (1886). See, also, Stetson v French, 321 Mass 195; 72 NE2d 410 (1947), cited with approval in International Union United Automobile Workers of America, AFL v Wood, 337 Mich 8; 59 NW2d 60 (1953).
However, there does not appear to be a fiduciary relationship between plaintiff and defendant bank. The record indicates that the only transactions between plaintiff and the bank were the two bank money orders. The bank issued these money orders payable to both Beaman and plaintiff, not so much to look out for plaintiff’s interest, but rather to look out for the bank’s own interest in preventing the attachment of a mechanics lien to property over which the bank held the mortgage. Therefore, we conclude that the fiduciary relationship exception to the affirmative act requirement of fraudulent concealment does not apply to the instant case.
Plaintiff cites Groening v Opsata, 323 Mich 73; 34 NW2d 560 (1948), for the proposition that there exists a duty to disclose when one party has superior knowledge. Plaintiff’s reliance on Groening is misplaced. Groening involved a direct action based upon fraud in which the plaintiffs, purchasers of a parcel of land, made specific inquiries of one of the defendants, Mrs. Opsata, one of the owners of the property being sold. In answering those questions, Mrs. Opsata either misrepresented the facts or was silent to material facts. Groening differs from the case at bar in that a distinction is drawn between what will establish a direct action for fraud and what constitutes fraudulent concealment for the purposes of tolling the running of a statutory period of limitation. Dowse v Gaynor, supra, pp 42-43; Draws v Levin, supra, pp 452-453; McNaughton v Rockford State Bank, 261 Mich 265, 268; 246 NW 84 (1933).
A second distinction between Groening and the case at bar is that in Groening the plaintiffs had made specific inquiries of Mrs. Opsata and the defendants were advised that the plaintiffs were relying on the "superior knowledge, experience as a builder, and information of’ Mr. Opsata. Groening, supra, p 82. In the instant case, plaintiff never made any inquiries of the bank, and therefore did not rely upon the bank’s superior knowledge. A third distinction is that in Groening there was a buyer-seller relationship between the parties, whereas in the instant case, the bank had no relationship at all with plaintiff. Furthermore, plaintiff fails to cite any authority for the proposition that a drawee bank has a duty to disclose to a payee that a negotiable instrument made payable to payee was paid over a forged endorsement.
Ill
It is plaintiff’s claim that it would have brought its action within the three-year period of limitation had the bank disclosed to plaintiff the existence of the forged instrument, that the bank was in a uniquely superior position to know that the instrument had been forged, that special knowledge is a factor favoring the application of the doctrine of estoppel, and that, accordingly, the bank should be estopped from asserting the defense of the statute of limitations. The question of whether a bank which has no direct dealings with a payee of a bank money order issued by the bank pursuant to a mortgage loan agreement with the bank’s customer should be estopped from asserting the defense that the statutory limitation period has run in an action by the payee based upon the bank’s payment of the money order over the payee’s forged endorsement has never been addressed in Michigan.
The criteria for application of the doctrine of estoppel are set forth in Cook v Grand River Hydro Electric Power Co, 131 Mich App 821, 828; 346 NW2d 881 (1984).
"An estoppel arises where: (1) a party by representation, admissions or silence, intentionally or negligently induces another party to believe facts; (2) the other party justifiably relies and acts on this belief; and (3) the other party will be prejudiced if the first party is permitted to deny the existence of the facts * * *.”
Special knowledge of a defendant may be a consideration in applying estoppel. Bohlinger v DAIIE, 120 Mich App 269; 327 NW2d 466 (1982). However, special knowledge is just one of many other factors enumerated by the Bohlinger Court, viz: concealment of a cause of action, misrepresentation as to the statutory time in which an action may be brought, inducement not to bring the action, a promise to pay or settle the claim, and a fiduciary relationship. None of these other factors are present in the instant case.
Also missing in the instant case is the element of false representation. In Lothian v Detroit, 414 Mich 160, 176-177; 324 NW2d 9 (1982), Chief Justice Coleman, writing for a unanimous Court which held that a party seeking to invoke the doctrine of estoppel must establish a false repre sentation or a concealment of a material fact, stated:
"The doctrine of equitable estoppel, a judicially fashioned exception to the general rule which provides that statutes of limitation run without interruption, see Klass [v Detroit, 129 Mich 35, 39; 88 NW 204 (1901)] 'is essentially a doctrine of waiver’ which 'serves to extend the applicable statute of limitations — by precluding the defendant from raising the bar of the statute’, Huhtala v Travelers Ins Co, 401 Mich 118, 132-133; 257 NW2d 640 (1977). Equitable estoppel may be introduced to counter a statute of limitations defense so as 'to accomplish the prevention of results contrary to good conscience and fair dealing’, McLearn v Hill, 276 Mass 519, 524; 177 NE 617 (1931). Generally, to justify the application of estoppel, one must establish that there has been a false representation or concealment of material fact, coupled with an expectation that the other party will rely upon this conduct, and knowledge of the actual facts on the part of the representing or concealing party. See 28 Am Jur 2d, Estoppel and Waiver, § 35, p 640.”
In the instant case, the bank made no representations to plaintiff. Nothing in the record suggests that the bank induced plaintiff to believe certain facts. Indeed, the bank had no dealings at all with plaintiff.
Except for silence, there is nothing in the record showing the bank concealed any material fact from plaintiff. While silence or inaction, in certain situations, may invoke the doctrine of estoppel, silence does not invoke the doctrine unless the party remaining silent has a duty or obligation to disclose.
"That concealment of material facts that one under the circumstances is bound to disclose may constitute actionable fraud is not open to question. Busch v Wil cox, 82 Mich 315; 46 NW 940 (1890); Prudential Insurance Company of America v Ashe, 266 Mich 667; 254 NW 243 (1934); Wolfe v AE Kusterer & Co, 269 Mich 424; 257 NW 729 (1934).” Groening, supra, p 83.
Unless there has been some fiduciary relationship or other direct dealings between the parties, mere silence is not enough to overcome the applicable period of limitation.
"Fraudulent concealment is more than mere silence. McNaughton v Rockford State Bank, 261 Mich 265, 268; 246 NW 84 (1933). See, also, Schram v Burt, 111 F2d 557 (CA 6, 1940). No fiduciary relationship existed between the Union and Wood, as was alleged and denied in Dowse v Gaynor, 155 Mich 38, 42; 118 NW 615 (1908). See, also, Stetson v French, 321 Mass 195; 72 NE2d 410; 173 ALR 569 (1947), and authorities annotated beginning on page 578.” International Union United Automobile Workers of America, AFL v Wood, 337 Mich 8, 13-14; 59 NW2d 60 (1953).
Finally, we note that plaintiff cites Nowicki v Podgorski, 359 Mich 18, 32; 101 NW2d 371 (1960), for the proposition that silence should toll the statute of limitations in the instant case. However, that case involved direct dealings between the plaintiff, as purchaser, and defendants, as sellers of a grocery store. In Nowicki, defendant wife remained silent when her husband made false statements as to the volume of sales per week and as to the fact that the fixtures were in good shape. Obviously, there was a duty to speak up in that case.
IV
Lastly, plaintiff argues that an action for silent fraud is recognized in Michigan, United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co v Black, 412 Mich 99; 313 NW2d 77 (1981), and that its complaint states a claim for silent fraud. In so doing, plaintiff concedes that for suppression of information to constitute silent fraud there must be a legal or equitable duty to disclose. The bank argues that plaintiff’s complaint fails to state a claim for silent fraud, and even if it does, the bank owed no duty, either legal or equitable, to disclose the existence of the instruments to the plaintiff. We agree with the bank.
The complaint does not specifically plead a cause of action in fraud. Assuming, arguendo, that an action in fraud has been sufficiently pled, for the reasons set forth in Issues II and III of this opinion, we find that the bank had no duty to disclose to plaintiff the fact that the money orders had been paid over a forged endorsement. Consequently, plaintiff would not be able to prevail upon a silent fraud claim.
In addition to the duty to disclose, silent fraud requires a plaintiff to establish reliance. Emerick v Saginaw Twp, 104 Mich App 243, 247; 304 NW2d 536 (1981). Despite plaintiff’s allegations to the contrary, we fail to see how plaintiff realistically relied on the bank’s silence in the instant case. As was so aptly stated in the trial court’s opinion:
"If, as alleged in this case, the plaintiff was not aware of the checks until four years after their issuance, there is no way that plaintiff could have relied upon the issuance of the check to its detriment in any way.”
For these reasons, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint against defendant bank with respect to silent fraud.
In conclusion, having found that none of the issues raised by plaintiff establish error on the part of the trial court, the trial court’s order for accelerated judgment in favor of the bank is affirmed. Costs to the bank.
For an excellent review of the growing reliance upon state constitutions, rather than the federal constitution, as the primary guarantor of fundamental rights, see Utter Freedom & Diversity In a Federal System: Perspectives on State Constitutions and the Washington Declaration of Rights, 7 Puget Sound L Rev, p 491 (1984).
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Bronson, P.J.
Plaintiffs, Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM) and Johannes Spreen, Oakland County Sheriff, appeal as of right from an order dismissing their complaint against defendants, Oakland County, Oakland County Board of Commissioners, Daniel T. Murphy, Oakland County Executive, and C. Hugh Dohany, Oakland County Treasurer.
Plaintiff POAM, as the union representing the employees of the Oakland County Sheriffs Department, entered into a collective-bargaining agreement with the Oakland County Sheriff and the Oakland County Board of Commissioners on January 23, 1981. The agreement was to remain in effect until December 31, 1981, and thereafter while a new agreement was being negotiated. . The agreement incorporated the Oakland County Merit System Rules. Rule 9 provides for separation from county employment because of curtailment of work or lack of funds. The rule defines "curtailment of work” as:
"[A] situation in which the need for the employee’s services are no longer required because the county no longer performs the function to which the employee was assigned, to the degree that the same number of employees are needed.”
and defines "lack of funds” as:
"[A] situation in which the county is forced to drop positions because it does not have the funds to pay the salaries of the incumbent employees.”
On May 20, 1982, after POAM and the employer had negotiated unsuccessfully for a new agreement, plaintiff POAM filed an amended petition for compulsory arbitration with the Michigan Em ployment Relations Commission (MERC) pursuant to MCL 423.231 et seq.; MSA 17.455(31) et seq.
On December 2, 1982, defendant Oakland County Board of Commissioners passed the 1983 General Appropriations Act. The 1983 budget reduced the number of road patrol positions in the sheriffs department from 45 to 25. Plaintiff POAM, later joined in the action by the Oakland County Sheriff, Johannes Spreen, filed its original complaint in the instant suit, alleging that defendants had unilaterally altered the conditions of employment set forth in the rules of the Oakland County Merit System in violation of MCL 423.24; MSA 17.454(26). Plaintiff POAM requested that defendants be temporarily and permanently enjoined from effecting the scheduled layoffs on January 1, 1983, and sought a declaratory judgment as to whether the layoffs violated the Oakland County Merit System Rule 9.
The trial court denied plaintiff POAM’s request for a permanent injunction. The parties agreed that the case could be resolved on a stipulation of facts. Following oral argument, the trial court dismissed plaintiff POAM’s amended complaint, ruling that neither the state constitution, the applicable statute, the collective-bargaining agreement, nor the pending arbitration compelled the board of commissioners to appropriate funds for the road patrol.
The electorate of Oakland County has adopted the optional unified form of county government and has chosen to lodge administrative and executive power in an elected county executive pursuant to MCL 45.551 et seq.; MSA 5.302(51) et seq. Under MCL 45.558; MSA 5.302(58), the annual county budget is initially prepared by the county executive and submitted to the board of commis sioners for consideration. MCL 45.556; MSA 5.302(56) authorizes the board of commissioners to adopt a county budget and work program. The county executive may veto the board’s action, subject to the board’s authority to override the veto by a two-thirds vote of all board members. MCL 45.561; MSA 5.302(61).
The separation of powers doctrine mandates the preservation of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government as entities distinct from one another. Const 1963, art 3, § 2. The power to appropriate money is exclusively legislative in character. OAG 1979-1980, No 5816, p 1079. This Court has consistently refrained from interfering with a legislative body’s exercise of discretion in appropriating funds. Wayne County Prosecutor v Wayne County Bd of Comm’rs, 93 Mich App 114, 121; 286 NW2d 62 (1979); Wayne County Sheriff v Wayne County Bd of Comm’rs (Court of Appeals opinion, docket no. 60933, decided November 22, 1983 [unreported]). In order to warrant judicial intrusion, the legislative action must be "so capricious or arbitrary as to evidence a total failure to exercise discretion”. 93 Mich App 122-123; Veldman v Grand Rapids, 275 Mich 100, 113; 265 NW 790 (1936).
In ruling that the decision to eliminate 20 road patrol positions was within the discretion of the board of commissioners, the trial court stated:
"Now, they also eliminated these particular, in quotes, [sic] road patrol positions, and there’s no question under the case law, statutory law, and not included in the constitutional duties of the sheriff, there is no mandate for road patrol. It’s absolutely a permissive— perfectly lawful — but permissive function of the sheriff and its [sic] solely within the legislative discretion of the board of commissioners whether they want to undertake that or not.”
The statement is correct, but begs the question. Just because the board had discretion to eliminate the road patrol does not ipso facto mean that the board exercised its discretion without abuse. Furthermore, if the original appropriations decision was an abuse of discretion, the board could not remedy such abuse merely by complying with the Merit System Rules and the collective-bargaining agreement in determining which deputies would be laid off and in notifying the deputies.
In Wayne County Sheriff v Wayne County Bd of Comm’rs, supra, we were able to conclude that that board had not abused its discretion because the record was replete with evidence of the decision-making process undertaken by the board prior to eliminating the sheriff’s road patrol. We were unable to find any indication that the elimination was motivated by malice, ill will, or bad faith on the part of the board.
In the instant case, plaintiff POAM alleged that the road patrol positions were eliminated in retaliation for the position taken by POAM in a pending labor dispute. Such a reason would not be a legitimate basis for a decision to eliminate the road patrol positions; therefore, plaintiff’s allegation, if proved, would be evidence of an arbitrary or capricious exercise of discretion. We do not intimate that this was necessarily the basis for the board’s decision. We do find, however, that the trial court, by terminating its inquiry with a finding that the board had discretion to eliminate the positions, failed to address the pertinent issue, i.e., whether the board abused its discretion. We, therefore, remand this case to the trial court to determine whether the board of commissioners abused its discretion when it eliminated the 20 road patrol positions. Such a determination may require the taking of additional evidence.
We now turn to a second issue raised by plaintiffs. Plaintiffs argue that defendants were prohibited from effecting the layoffs during the pendency of the compulsory arbitration proceedings instituted by plaintiffs. MCL 423.243; MSA 17.455(43) provides:
"During the pendency of proceedings before the arbitration panel, existing wages, hours and other conditions of employment shall not be changed by action of either party without the consent of the other but a party may so consent without prejudice to his rights or position under this act.”
In Local 1277, Metropolitan Council No 23, AFSCME, AFL-CIO v City of Center Line, 414 Mich 642, 654; 327 NW2d 822 (1982), the Supreme Court held that compulsory arbitration extends only to mandatory subjects of collective bargaining under MCL 423.201 et seq.; MSA 17.455(1) et seq. (PERA).
While acknowledging PERA as the dominant law regulating public employee relations, Rockwell v Crestwood School Dist Bd of Ed, 393 Mich 616, 629; 227 NW2d 736 (1975), our courts have recognized that PERA does not compel bargaining over every subject proposed by a party. Some subjects may be "beyond the scope of collective bargaining under PERA because they fall within the powers granted exclusively to the employer by the Michigan Constitution”. National Union of Police Officers Local 502-M, AFL-CIO v Wayne County Bd of Comm’rs, 93 Mich App 76, 87; 286 NW2d 242 (1979).
In City of Center Line, supra, the police officers’ union had requested in its collective-bargaining agreement with defendant city a clause mandating that any layoff of police officers because of a general lack of funds could be made only in conjunction with layoffs and cutbacks in other city departments. In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court held that the initial decision to lay off employees is within the scope of the city’s management prerogative and, therefore, was not a mandatory subject of bargaining. The Court stated:
"The [requested layoff provision] unduly restricts the city in its ability to make decisions regarding the size and scope of municipal services. As the city argued in both oral argument and its brief, the city no longer would be able to base its decision on factors such as need, available revenues, or public interest. The decision regarding layoffs could only be based on the level of services in other departments if the layoff clause was to be upheld. This severely restricts the city in its ability to function effectively and poses serious questions with regard to political accountability for such decisions.” 414 Mich 660.
In the instant case, Merit System Rule 9, incorporated into the collective-bargaining agreement, provided for layoffs in the event of a lack of funds. Although defendant board of commissioners failed to appropriate funds for the eliminated road patrol positions, the board reserved an amount in excess of the cost of the eliminated positions as a contingency fund in the adopted budget. Plaintiffs interpret the definition of "lack of funds” in Rule 9 to mean an "actual” lack of county funds rather than a lack of appropriated funds.
Plaintiffs concede that, under the optional unified form of government, defendants board of commissioners and county executive have power to adopt a county budget and allocate county funds to the various county departments. However, under plaintiffs’ interpretation of the "lack of funds” provision, the county executive "bargained away” the board of commissioners’ exclusive power to allocate funds. Such a contention is a variation of the argument rejected by the Supreme Court in City of Center Line, supra.
The discretionary authority to determine a county budget cannot be limited by a collective-bargaining agreement. The Legislature’s power to appropriate funds is constitutionally derived. Const 1963, art 4, § 31; art 9, § 17; Civil Service Comm v Auditor General, 302 Mich 673, 682-683; 5 NW2d 536 (1942). Under the optional unified form of government statute and pursuant to Const 1963, art 7, § 8, the Legislature granted budget authority to the board of commissioners and the county executive. Implicit in plaintiffs’ argument is the premise that under the optional unified form of government statute, the Legislature has authorized the county executive to transfer, through labor negotiations, a portion of the budget authority to a third party, i.e., plaintiffs. We do not believe the statute evinces such an intent. Instead, the statute provides that the county board of commissioners adopts the county budget and the county executive’s input is limited to the initial submission of a proposed budget and the statutory veto power. An attempt by the county executive to otherwise limit the board of commissioners’ authority to allocate county funds would infringe upon the Legislature’s constitutional authority in these matters.
Michigan courts have adopted a broad and expensive interpretation of what constitutes proper subjects for collective bargaining under PERA. Local 1383, International Ass’n of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO v City of Warren, 411 Mich 642, 655; 311 NW2d 702 (1981). Nonetheless, we conclude that budget appropriations are not a proper subject for collective bargaining. Defendant board of commissioners has authority under its collective-bargaining agreement with plaintiff POAM to lay off road patrol deputies where the county budget failed to appropriate funds for the affected positions. Furthermore, defendant’s action was not preempted by the initiation of compulsory arbitration.
Remanded for proceedings in accordance with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction.
R. S. Hoffius, J., concurred.
Local 1277 v City of Center Line, supra, should not be confused with Metropolitan Council No 23, Local 1277, AFSCME, AFL-CIO v City of Center Line, 78 Mich App 281; 259 NW2d 460 (1977), lv den 402 Mich 814 (1977). We do not cite the Supreme Court case in the Local 1277 proceedings because of any supposed "connection” between the Court of Appeals case and the Supreme Court case. Were the Supreme Court case totally unrelated to the Court of Appeals case, we would nonetheless use it as the basis for our analysis in the instant case.
We note, however, that the Supreme Court has rejected the idea that an institution which derives its powers from the constitution is insulated from the collective-bargaining obligation of PERA. Central Michigan Univ Faculty Ass’n v Central Michigan Univ, 404 Mich 268, 279; 273 NW2d 21 (1978), reh den 406 Mich 1117 (1979). | [
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R. I. Cooper, J.
Plaintiffs appeal from a trial court’s order quashing service of process on defendant, Wilder Lee Gordon.
Plaintiffs commenced suit against defendant on May 29, 1981, for damages arising out of an automobile collision which occurred on June 12, 1978. The police investigation shows that defendant gave an address of 18461 Mark Twain, Detroit, Michigan, as did one of the other two occupants of his vehicle. Defendant was identified as a driver of one of the vehicles involved in the collision and the address was obtained from defendant’s operator’s license. The summons and complaint were turned over to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office to make service of process. Seven attempts were made by a deputy sheriff to serve the defendant at the address obtained from his license between the months of June through September of 1981, but without success. On November 9, 1981, plaintiffs obtained an order for substituted service. However Deputy Sheriff Randall informed plaintiffs that no one at 18461 Mark Twain would accept a copy of the complaint, summons and order for service at defendant’s usual place of abode. Plaintiffs then obtained a second order for substituted service which stated that the plaintiff may serve process on defendant, Wilder Lee Gordon, by leaving a summons, a copy of the complaint and a copy of the order at 18461 Mark Twain, Detroit, Michigan, at the defendant’s usual place of abode with some member of his family therein residing of suitable age and discretion or some other person of suitable age and discretion or, in the alternative, that a copy of the summons, complaint and the order be tacked on the premises at the defendant’s usual place of abode. It was further ordered that the plaintiffs send a summons, copy of the complaint, and copy of the order by registered mail and regular mail addressed to the defendant at his usual place of abode as set out above. On November 24, 1981, Deputy Sheriff Randall tacked a copy of the summons, complaint and order for service on the premises at 18461 Mark Twain. Said tacking of copies occurred within the 180-day period allowed for service of summons. The 180th day was November 26, 1981. The defendant admitted that he found a copy of the summons, complaint and order in his mail box at 18516 Mark Twain, Detroit, Michigan, on November 27, 1981. The trial court quashed service stating that plaintiffs had not complied with all the provisions of the November 23, 1981, order for substituted service.
This Court would agree with the trial court’s conclusion that a defendant is entitled to actual notice of the proceedings.
Due process requires that the method of substitute service ordered by a court pursuant to the court rule regarding such service be reasonably calculated to give the defendant actual knowledge of the proceedings. Sechler v VanHoey, 83 Mich App 252; 268 NW2d 364 (1978); GCR 1963, 105.8.
The trial judge agreed that the substituted service by posting would have been effective if it had been posted at the correct address where the defendant actually lived. However, because it was not posted at the correct address, the trial court granted defendant’s motion to quash. This Court agrees with the trial court’s observation as to the effect of substituted service if it had occurred at the correct address, even though the defendant in reality did not see the posting and thus have actual notice until after the 180-day period. We find no fault by plaintiffs in seeking substituted service for the reason that seven attempts had been made to serve the defendant personally during a four-month period. GCR 1963, 105.8 arguably attempts to resolve the right of a plaintiff to pursue an action and the right of a defendant to have due process.
"The requirement of notice so as to afford an opportunity to be heard is clearly the heart of GCR 105.8. The rule adopts a liberal approach to service of process which recognizes the mobility of contemporary society and the state’s interest in providing recompense for injured plaintiffs.” Krueger v Williams, 410 Mich 144, 158; 300 NW2d 910 (1981). See, also, Conrad v Ward, 33 Mich App 687, 690; 190 NW2d 361 (1971).
"As long as the means are 'reasonably calculated’ to reach the defendant, the requirement of actual notice is satisfied and service will be sustained.” Krueger, supra, p 159.
Having found that plaintiffs’ efforts to obtain substituted service were justified, we next address plaintiffs’ argument that defendant should be es-topped from challenging the substituted service. Plaintiffs rely upon the following statute:
"If a person who is or may be liable for any claim fraudulently conceals the existence of the claim or the identity of any person who is liable for the claim from the knowledge of the person entitled to sue on the claim, the action may be commenced at any time within two years after the person who is entitled to bring the action discovers, or should have discovered, the existence of the claim or the identity of the person who is liable for the claim, although the action would otherwise be barred by the period of limitations.” MCL 600.5855; MSA 27A.5855.
Although the grounds asserted for estoppel are different in the case of Fulton v Citizens Mutual Ins Co, 62 Mich App 600; 233 NW2d 820 (1975), said case also deals with a matter of proper service and a definition of estoppel as follows:
" 'Estoppel is a bar which precludes a person from denying the truth of a fact which has in contemplation of law become settled by the act of the party himself, express or implied. If one’s conduct induces another to believe in the existence of certain facts, and the other acts thereon to his prejudice, the former is estopped to deny that the state of facts does in truth exist.’ Czajkowski v Lount, 333 Mich 156, 165; 52 NW2d 642 (1952), quoting from Detroit Savings Bank v Loveland, 168 Mich 163, 172; 130 NW 678 (1911).” 62 Mich App 607.
Under the Michigan Vehicle Code, the defendant has a duty to show a correct address on his operator’s license. This duty exists even though the time may not have arrived when the license itself needs to be renewed. It is standard policy that a change of address is affixed to the back of a person’s operator’s license. The pertinent statute provides as follows:
"(a) Any operator of chauffeur, who shall change his residence previous to the expiration of a license granted under this chapter shall immediately return such li cense to the local examining board or the department, whose duty it shall be to write the new address on the reverse side of the license and the date of change.
"(b) Failure to have such change of address recorded as herein provided may be cause for revocation or suspension of same immediately if there is no response to a notice mailed to his last known address.” MCL 257.315; MSA 9.2015.
Finally the case of Bromley v Citizens Ins Co of America, 113 Mich App 131, 136; 317 NW2d 318 (1982), addresses the tolling provision of MCL 600.5855; MSA 27A.5855 as follows:
"Fraudulent concealment means employment of artifice, planned to prevent inquiry or escape investigation, and mislead or hinder acquirement of the information disclosing a right to action. The acts relied on must be of an affirmative character and fraudulent.” Quoting, DeHaan v Winter, 258 Mich 293, 296; 241 NW 923 (1932). Also, see Draws v Levin, 332 Mich 447; 52 NW2d 180 (1952).
The Bromley Court found that the representations made were nonfraudulent in that the comments relied upon pertained to settlement attempts. However, in our present case, we have a statute that requires an operator to immediately have the address on his operator’s license changed where such an operator changes his residency. In our present case the defendant has admitted that he changed his residence in 1977. Yet, at least six months later, as of June 12, 1978, he had not had his operator’s license changed. Further, an officer was investigating the scene of an accident. Yet the defendant remained silent as to the accuracy of the information being provided to that officer. Such failure on defendant’s part is clearly of an affirmative character and clearly has hindered the acquisition of information so that a right of action could be pursued. Said failure clearly has resulted in prejudice to the plaintiffs’ rights to seek recompense for plaintiffs’ alleged injuries.
We find that the trial court improperly granted defendant’s motion to quash.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. | [
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R. B. Burns, J.
Plaintiff appeals from a circuit court order denying plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(3), based on the parties’ "stipulated set of material facts”.
Duane Forsyth was injured in an automobile accident. Plaintiff was Forsyth’s no-fault insurance carrier at the time of the accident, while defendant provided Forsyth with health insurance under a group policy through Forsyth’s employer. Forsyth had elected to "coordinate” his no-fault insurance with his health insurance by checking a box on his insurance application. MCL 500.3109a; MSA 24.13109(1) requires no-fault insurance carriers to offer "coordinated benefits” coverage at reduced premium rates to those individuals who coordinate their no-fault benefits with "other health and accident coverage”:
"An insurer providing personal protection insurance benefits shall offer, at appropriately reduced premium rates, deductibles and exclusions reasonably related to other health and accident coverage on the insured. The deductibles and exclusions required to be offered by this section shall be subject to prior approval by the commissioner and shall apply only to benefits payable to the person named in the policy, the spouse of the insured and any relative of either domiciled in the same household.” (Emphasis added.)
Plaintiff has paid Forsyth’s medical bills and , defendant has refused to reimburse plaintiff for these payments. Both plaintiff and defendant claim that they are secondary insurers relative to the other. Defendant relies on the following language in provision (d) of the "Effect on Benefits” section of its health policy:
"Under 'No Fault’ legislation the benefits of this plan shall be determined after the benefits provided by 'No Fault’ legislation in those states where such legislation is in force and allowable by law.”
Plaintiff relies on the language in its Michigan Personal Injury Protection Endorsements (Medical Expense Amendment) Form No. AUTO 523A:
"This insurance does not apply to the extent that any amounts are paid or payable for allowable expenses to or on behalf of such named insured or relative under the provisions of any other insurance, service, benefit or reimbursement plan providing similar direct benefits, without regard to fault, for bodily injury sustained as a result of the operation, maintenance, or use, including the loading or unloading, of a motor vehicle.”
The circuit court held there was no conflict between these "escape clauses” because no money was "paid or payable” by defendant by reason of defendant’s escape clause.
Plaintiff argues that, under the terms of the policy issued by defendant, defendant is liable for all or part of the medical and hospital expenses incurred by Duane Forsyth.
Defendant argues that its "escape clause” re lieves it from liability. Furthermore, defendant contends that, even if its policy can be construed to provide Forsyth with insurance coverage, the Commissioner of Insurance has ruled that the no-fault carrier is primarily liable in a case such as the present one. According to defendant, public policy dictates that group health plans should not be construed to duplicate primary no-fault coverage.
In Nyquist v Aetna Ins Co, 84 Mich App 589; 269 NW2d 687 (1978), this Court held that an insured could coordinate his no-fault insurance benefits with his Blue Cross and Blue Shield health and accident insurance coverage. In LeBlanc v State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co, 410 Mich 173; 301 NW2d 775 (1981), the Supreme Court held that an insured could also elect to coordinate his no-fault benefits with benefits provided under the Medicare program. Both cases pointed out that the legislative intent in providing for coordinating benefits was to reduce the premiums for those who have duplicate insurance, i.e., both health and no-fault insurance. Here, however, Forsyth’s no-fault insurance policy purports to exclude insurance coverage for amounts "paid or payable” under Forsyth’s health policy, and defendant’s health insurance policy does not provide for the payment of benefits until Forsyth’s no-fault benefits are exhausted.
This case presents the same dilemma that was discussed in Farm Bureau Mutual Ins Co v Horace Mann Ins Co, 131 Mich App 98; 345 NW2d 655 (1983). That panel recognized the absurdity of assuming that, where "other insurance” provisions conflict, one policy must yield to the other. Instead, the Farm Bureau panel adopted a minority position and "rejected in toto” both "other insurance” clauses. The Court stated:
"The majority view has been criticized as circular. Union Ins Co (Mutual) v Iowa Hardware Mutual Ins Co, [175 NW2d 413 (Iowa, 1970)] p 417. The present case provides an apt illustration of that criticism. Both policies provide primary coverage. Reading the Horace Mann policy first, one could argue that the Farm Bureau policy is a 'valid policy’ under the escape clause with the result that, pursuant to that clause, Horace Mann has no liability. However, a different result is produced by reading the Farm Bureau policy first. Under its pro-rata clause, one might argue that the Horace Mann policy applies to the loss and, thus, under that clause both insurers are responsible for their proportionate share of the loss. As the Court said in Union Ins Co (Mutual), supra, p 417:
" 'To solve the problem by picking up one policy, and reading it with a result which would be opposite to that reached if the other policy were first in order, is at best a pseudo-solution in that it only aggravates a circular riddle.’
"The majority view attempts to resolve an intractable conflict. That is not possible. We recognize 'the absurdity of attempting to assume that where conflicting "other insurance” provisions exist by reason of overlapping coverages of the same occurrence the provisions of one policy must yield to the provisions of the other’. Lamb-Weston, Inc v Oregon Automobile Ins Co, 219 Or 110, 128; 341 P2d 110, 118-119 (1959). Courts which have arrived at that conclusion represent the minority view. See Union Ins Co (Mutual), supra; Westhoff v American Inter-Ins Exchange, 250 NW2d 404 (Iowa, 1977); Sparling v Allstate Ins Co, 249 Or 471; 439 P2d 616 (1968). Under that approach, the conflicting 'other insurance’ clauses are declared 'repugnant’ and are 'rejected in toto’. Lamb-Weston, Inc v Oregon Automobile Ins Co, supra, p 129. Once the conflicting clauses are disregarded, both policies clearly provide coverage. Each insurer’s liability is then prorated based on the proportion of the combined policy limits represented by the limits of each insurer’s policy.
"We adopt the minority view. The escape clause of the Horace Mann policy and the pro-rata clause of the Farm Bureau policy conflict and must be rejected. Liability for the insured’s claim must be prorated between the insurers.” 131 Mich App 103-104.
We agree with the reásoning in Farm Bureau and adopt such reasoning.
Each insurer’s liability will be prorated based on the proportion of the combined policy limits represented by the limits of each insurer’s policy.
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of felonious assault, MCL 750.82; MSA 28.277. Thereafter, defendant was sentenced to two years probation subject to the following conditions: Defendant was to pay a $2,000 fine, attend a personal counseling program and serve six months in the Charlevoix County Jail beginning on January 14, 1982, for 60 days with the balance to be held in abeyance. Defendant appeals as of right.
First, defendant claims that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel failed to assert the substantial defense that defendant was reasonably defending his proprietary rights in the property in dispute. We have reviewed the facts of this case and find that defendant’s claim is meritorious. We find that the assertion of the theory of defense of a proprietary interest might well have made a difference in the outcome of the trial at bar. See People v Foss, 80 Mich 559; 45 NW 480 (1890); People v Lewis, 64 Mich App 175, 184; 235 NW2d 100 (1975). Defense counsel therefore made a serious mistake in not asserting the defense and requesting instructions thereon and consequently defendant was deprived of a fair trial.
Defendant also claims that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because defense counsel did not properly prepare to introduce independent witness Joseph Fitzek’s testimony. Having reviewed the record we agree.
Under a claim of unpreparedness of counsel, defendant is required to show prejudice. People v Grant, 102 Mich App 368, 374; 301 NW2d 536 (1980). Fitzek’s testimony was important to defendant’s case in general to lend credibility to his version of the facts. Because of the two very different accounts of the incident, credibility was a crucial issue. Fitzek was a neutral witness in the sense that he had no interest in the dispute of the parties and, indeed, his testimony was against his own interests. His testimony would therefore have been of much help to defendant’s case. Had the jurors heard this testimony, one or more of them may well have accepted defendant’s version of the facts and his theory of the case. Fitzek’s testimony becomes especially crucial in light of the defense of defending a proprietary interest. Defendant would otherwise be hard put to prove, on his say-so alone, that he reasonably believed the disputed property was for his use.
Resolution of the foregoing being dispositive, we need not address defendant’s remaining allegations of error, which we have reviewed and find to be without merit. See People v Nickson, 120 Mich App 681, 685; 327 NW2d 333 (1982); People v Caldwell, 78 Mich App 690, 692; 261 NW2d 1 (1977).
Reversed. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was charged with assault with intent to commit murder, MCL 750.83; MSA 28.278, and felony-firearm, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). After a bench trial, he was acquitted of assault with intent to commit murder but was convicted of felonious assault, MCL 750.82; MSA 28.277, and felony-firearm. Defendant’s defense to the charges was voluntary intoxication. He appeals as of right, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for felonious assault in light of the strong evidence that he was very drunk at the time he committed the crimes.
At about 8 a.m. on December 30, 1982, defendant began to consume whiskey and beer. He continued to drink through the day and well into the night. As a conservative estimate, defendant had consumed a half gallon of whiskey and at least six or seven beers by 2:30 a.m., December 31, 1982. The trial court found, and the prosecution does not dispute, that defendant was in fact intoxicated as a result of this binge.
At 2:30 a.m. on December 31, 1982, defendant accosted two complete strangers, Gene Nickowski and Marcia Cosky, as they left a bar. He was belligerent and waved a knife at Mr. Nickowski. Nickowski assumed a defensive position and defendant immediately turned and ran away. It later turned out that he fled to his apartment above a nearby bar. Cosky described defendant as looking "like a very confused person with perhaps a lot of problems, like somebody that was on drugs would look like” and as if "he wasn’t all together at the time of the incident”. Nickowski had not been able to observe defendant closely but felt his behavior was irrational.
The police were called and followed defendant to his apartment. They heard the sounds of a barricade being put up in front of the apartment door. The police indentified themselves, but defendant apparently believed they were really Nickowski and Cosky. He refused to come out and, after a time, a gun shot came from inside the apartment, passed through the door and narrowly missed two police officers standing outside the apartment. Defendant then proceeded to knock out the windows of the apartment with the butt of the gun and apparently cut himself on the glass. After some more time, defendant’s girlfriend (who was barricaded inside the apartment with their daughter) threw out the gun. The police entered the apartment and found defendant lying in a dazed condition in a pool of blood from his cut wrist. One of the officers smelled a strong alcoholic smell from "all over defendant”. Immediately after his arrest, defendant passed out.
Defendant was treated at a nearby hospital. Two and one-half hours after the incident, his blood alcohol level was 328.5 milligrams per deciliter. According to the emergency room nurse who treated defendant, anything over 150 milligrams per deciliter would be considered "intoxicated”, while anyone at defendant’s level would be "highly intoxicated” and "almost at the level of unconsciousness”. An alcoholic would be better able to tolerate this level of alcohol ingestion, but still would be unlikely to know the exact nature of everything he was doing.
Defendant’s history included the fact that he had been involuntarily committed to a hospital in March, 1982, because of his dangerous behavior when intoxicated. Neighbors who had seen defendant drunk in the past stated that, when drunk, defendant behaved as if he were "half out of his head” or as if he were "in a trance”. Those who had seen him on December 30 through December 31, 1982, agreed that he had followed this pattern.
Defendant testified that the gunshot had occurred by accident when he was striking the gun against the door in a belligerent rage. He could not recall the knife incident or going to the hospital. He denied having had any intent to kill the police officers at the door.
The trial court found that defendant had lacked the specific intent to kill the police officers. However, the court found that when defendant fired the shotgun (the court here implicitly rejected defendant’s claim that the gun went off by accident) he "had the capacity and did in fact, have the intent to cause apprehension to whoever was on the other side of that door”. This finding was based on the fact that defendant "wisely elected not to engage in a fight with [Nickowski]” after Nickowski assumed a defensive posture, retreated to his home, and, when home, "did those acts necessary to protect himself to the best of his ability in his home”. The court found that defen dant had "fired a shotgun to scare or to discourage those at the door” and found defendant guilty of felonious assault and felony-firearm.
In response to defendant’s claim of voluntary intoxication, the prosecution argues that such intoxication is not a defense to felonious assault because felonious assault is not a specific intent crime. The prosecution also argues that, even if felonious assault is a specific intent crime, it may be committed as the result of criminally negligent behavior and that voluntary intoxication would not affect any intent element under those circumstances. The prosecution’s argument is premised on a chain of reasoning which notes that every battery includes an assault and that some batteries may be commited as the result of criminally negligent (reckless) behavior (see LaFave & Scott, Criminal Law, § 81, p 605). Therefore, the prosecution argues, some assaults might be committed as the result of criminally negligent (reckless) behavior.
We note, however, that Michigan requires that an individual commit a wilful act of touching another person before that individual can be convicted of a battery. People v Rivera, 120 Mich App 50, 55; 327 NW2d 386 (1982); People v Bryant, 80 Mich App 428, 433; 264 NW2d 13 (1978), lv den 402 Mich 942 (1978); Tinkler v Richter, 295 Mich 396, 401; 295 NW 201 (1940). Thus, under Michigan law, it would be improper to convict of an assault which rested on proof of a battery committed as the result of criminally negligent behavior. In addition, even if this were not the law, this argument would not apply in this particular case. The trial court did not conclude that defendant had committed an assault based upon a completed battery, but rather found that defendant had in tended to put the people on the other side of his door in apprehension of an immediate battery. We believe that an assault which requires an intent to put the victim in reasonable fear or apprehension of an immediate battery is a specific intent crime and is subject to the defense of voluntary intoxication. People v Polk, 123 Mich App 737, 740-741; 333 NW2d 499 (1983).
However, although we find that defendant was entitled to raise the defense of voluntary intoxication, we do not find that the trial court’s factual findings are clearly erroneous. The trial court recognized defendant’s state of extreme intoxication and concluded that he had not had the specific intent to kill the police officers on the other side of the apartment door. However, the trial court found that, even in this condition, defendant had been able to form the minimal intent to frighten the people outside the door. While this is a close question, given the undisputed evidence of defendant’s advanced intoxication and previous behavior when drunk, we conclude that this finding is not clearly erroneous. The evidence demonstrated that defendant was capable enough to retreat from a perceived threat to the safety of his own apartment and, once there, to take precautions against intrusion by others into the apartment. Firing a gun so as to frighten off the perceived intruders fit logically into this pattern of behavior. We therefore affirm._
Defendant has framed the issue as insufficiency of the evidence. However, because this was a bench trial, the issue is more properly whether or not the trial court’s fact-finding was clearly erroneous. GCR 1963, 517.1. | [
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V. J. Brennan, J.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from an order of accelerated judgment, GCR 1963, 116.1(5), dismissing Counts I and II of his complaint on the ground that the statute of frauds, MCL 566.132(a); MSA 26.922(a), barred plaintiff’s claims.
In 1979, the parties first met and began discussing the possibility of opening a women’s apparel discount operation in Michigan. The individual defendants reside in New York City and are affiliated with Bromley Coats of New York. When the parties met, plaintiff was a coat buyer with the H. C. Prang Department Store in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Because plaintiff had expressed to defendants a desire in obtaining new employment, defendants offered plaintiff the managerial position of the proposed store in Michigan.
Plaintiff claims that during the first part of 1980 the following agreement in the form of a typewritten memorandum was reached by the parties: plaintiff and his wife would move to the Detroit area; plaintiff would operate a retail clothing store under the name of Coats Unlimited; during the first year, commencing on or about August 1, 1980, plaintiff would be paid a salary of $40,000 and also 10% of the first year’s profits of the business; at the beginning of the second year, on or about August 1, 1981, 20% ownership of the business would be transferred to plaintiff and plaintiff would share in the surplus profits of the business at that percentage rate in both the second and third years of operation; and, at the beginning of the fourth year of operation, on or about August 1, 1983, an additional 5% ownership interest in the business would be transferred to plaintiff.
Defendants allege that there was no writing executed by the parties. According to defendants, plaintiff accepted defendants’ recommended $40,-000 annual salary for the first year and defendants agreed to grant plaintiff a bonus at the end of the first year of employment. Furthermore, if plaintiff performed satisfactorily in his first year, defendants would give plaintiff the opportunity to acquire a 10% equity interest in the compnay at the beginning of the second year.
In February, 1980, plaintiff travelled to Detroit and selected a location for the first retail store of the proposed business. Thereafter, plaintiff terminated his employment with H. C. Prang, and he and his family moved to the Detroit area to establish the clothing store.
According to plaintiff, in May, 1980, the parties decided to incorporate the business, naming it Coats & Suits Unlimited. Plaintiff was elected a corporate director and president of the newly formed Michigan corporation. July 31 was selected as the corporation fiscal year end. The new business had its grand opening sometime in July, 1980.
At the close of the first fiscal year, July 31, 1981, plaintiff received a $10,000 bonus and he had also received his $40,000 salary during the course of the year. It was alleged by plaintiff that the business was a tremendous financial success and had made more money than originally anticipated by any of the parties.
According to plaintiff, between January, 1980, and August 1, 1981, defendants continually reiterated their promise to plaintiff that they would transfer 20% of the business to him in accordance with the original agreement between the parties. After August 1, 1981, plaintiff began to inquire about when he was to receive his stock certificates showing his 20% interest in Coats & Suits Unlimited. Defendants were noncommittal, but told plaintiff that, upon the opening of a second retail store in the Troy, Michigan area, they would pursue the matter.
It is defendants’ position that during plaintiff’s second year of employment the parties discussed a prospective stock transfer to plaintiff representing 10% of the equity in the corporation, but defendants indicated that they would first review plain tiffs performance before committing to the issue of any stock.
On or about January 22, 1982, plaintiff received a letter from defendants’ New York attorneys regarding a proposed stockholder’s agreement. The letter stated that the stockholder’s agreement "will replace the August 1, 1980, agreement”. The proposed stockholder’s agreement lists the plaintiff as a 10% owner of the 30 shares of common stock issued by the corporation, and establishes 300 shares of preferred stock to be owned by the three individual defendants, respectively. Plaintiff rejected the proposed stockholder’s agreement and the parties agreed to discuss plaintiff’s concerns at a meeting planned to be held in New York City in April, 1982.
At the April, 1982 meeting, plaintiff again requested to receive his stock certificates. Defendants then indicated to plaintiff that they were not happy with his performance at the store and, according to plaintiff, defendants were considering the idea of not issuing him his ownership interest in the business. According to defendants, plaintiff was informed that there would be no stock issuance before the end of the second fiscal year, at which time plaintiff’s performance would be reevaluated. Nevertheless, plaintiff claims that he was told that he would receive 20% of the net profits of the business, but defendants were going to hold off the stock transfer. In May, 1982, plaintiff notified defendants of his intention to resign his various positions with Coats & Suits Unlimited. Plaintiff officially resigned as an employee, officer, and director of the corporate defendant on October 14, 1982.
On October 23, 1982, defendants inventoried the corporate defendant’s merchandise. Previously, the store experienced an average of less than $6,000 worth of shortages. However, after plaintiff left the store, defendants claimed that it experienced a $94,000 shortage. Based upon this, defendants filed a counter-complaint against plaintiff in this suit.
On November 10, 1982, plaintiff commenced the instant action against the corporate defendant and against the individual defendants, jointly and severally. Count I of plaintiff’s complaint was based upon a violation of his stockholder rights; Count II was based upon defendants’ breach of an agreement to transfer a 20% stock ownership interest in the corporate defendant to plaintiff; and Count III was based upon defendants’ misrepresentations to plaintiff regarding their offer to transfer a 20% stock ownership interest in the defendant corporation to him if he operated the defendant corporation for defendants.
On January 19, 1983, defendants filed a motion for accelerated judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 116.1(5) against Counts I and II of plaintiff’s complaint, based upon the statute of frauds. Oral arguments on defendants’ motion were heard by the trial court on February 2, 1983. Ruling from the bench, the trial court granted defendants’ motion. In making its ruling, the trial court said that the statute of frauds defeats plaintiff’s claims that an agreement existed between the parties regarding plaintiff’s entitlement to a 20% stock ownership interest in the defendant corporation, because the alleged agreement could not be performed in less than a year. Furthermore, the trial court stated that the case could not be taken out of the statute of frauds based upon a theory of promissory estoppel.
On February 24, 1983, plaintiff filed a motion and affidavit requesting the trial court to recon sider its ruling from the bench. A hearing on plaintiffs motion was conducted by the trial court on March 23, 1983. On March 24, 1983, the trial court issued its order granting defendants’ motion for accelerated judgment against Counts I and II of plaintiffs complaint and it issued its order denying plaintiffs request to reconsider its ruling.
The issue for our determination is whether the trial court properly granted defendants’ motion for accelerated judgment under the facts of this case.
Plaintiff alleged that he had an agreement with defendants that he would leave his buyer’s position with H. C. Prang Department Store in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and establish a store for defendants in the Detroit area in exchange for a $40,000 salary plus a 20% ownership interest in the proposed clothing store. Plaintiff attached to his complaint a memorandum which had allegedly been sent to him from Ted Goldsmith, detailing the terms of the parties’ agreement. On appeal, plaintiff challenges the trial court’s decision to grant defendants’ motion for accelerated judgment on the following grounds: first, that defendants’ typewritten names listed in the memorandum attached to his complaint could properly satisfy the signature requirement of the statute of frauds; secondly, that the agreement between the parties could be performed within one year; and, finally, that, if the memorandum is found not to satisfy the requirements of the statute of frauds, the agreement could still be removed from the operation of the statute of frauds by reason of either the doctrine of promissory estoppel or the doctrine of partial performance.
Under GCR 1963, 116.1(5), a party may raise the statute of frauds so as to defeat a claim based upon an alleged agreement which cannot be per formed within a year and which is not evidenced by a writing signed by the party to be charged therewith. MCL 566.132(a); MSA 26.922(a). In reviewing such an affirmative defense under this motion, the trial court must accept all well-pled allegations of the nonmoving party as true. Robards v Estate of Leopold J Kantzler, 98 Mich App 414, 416; 296 NW2d 265 (1980); Empire Shoe Service, Inc v Gershenson, 62 Mich App 221, 223-224; 233 NW2d 237 (1975). Where factual issues exist which might remove the alleged agreement from the operation of the statute of frauds (e.g., promissory estoppel or the doctrine of partial performance), it is improper to grant a motion brought pursuant to GCR 1963, 116.1(5). And, if a reviewing court determines that the lower court performed some fact-finding in granting such a motion, the reviewing court will reverse. Kropff v City of Monroe, 128 Mich App 450, 452; 340 NW2d 119 (1983); Schipani v Ford Motor Co, 102 Mich App 606; 302 NW2d 307 (1981); Baker v Detroit, 73 Mich App 67, 72; 250 NW2d 543 (1976).
Plaintiff argues that the memorandum attached to his complaint satisfies the requirements of the statute of frauds. He contends that it certainly is a writing and that the typewritten names listed on the document may properly represent signatures of the defendants, who are the parties to be charged in this case.
MCL 566.132; MSA 26.922 provides in pertinent part as follows:
"In the following cases an agreement, contract or promise shall be void, unless that agreement, contract, or promise, or a note or memorandum thereof is in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or by a person authorized by him:
"(a) An agreement that, by its terms, is not to be performed within 1 year from the making thereof.”
The trial court believed that the memorandum was not signed by a party to be charged or by any "identification of authentication by the party to be charged”. Plaintiff argues that a "typewritten name will satisfy the requirement of a signing”. In our opinion, the issue herein is one of fact. See, generally, 2 Corbin, Contracts, § 522, pp 768-769, where it is explained that a typewritten name may satisfy the signature requirement of the statute of frauds as long as the party typing his or her name intends to authenticate same. Cf. MCL 440.1201(39); MSA 19.1201(39) (" 'signed’ includes any symbol executed or adopted by a party with present intention to authenticate a writing” [Emphasis supplied.]).
In this case, plaintiff claimed that defendants signed the memorandum. Defendants, however, denied signing the memorandum and, moreover, denied ever seeing the document before the commencement of this case against them. Such a fact should not be tried by affidavits, especially where, as here, a jury demand has been entered by plaintiff. GCR 1963, 116.3.
The memorandum purports to be "From Ted Goldsmith”. As stated by Professor Corbin, the manner and means used to inscribe the signature are a "question of intention to authenticate”. Cor-bin, supra, p 768. Plaintiff, therefore, should be permitted to present evidence to show that Ted Goldsmith sent plaintiff the memorandum and that Ted Goldsmith intended to authenticate the document when sent, thus satisfying the signature requirement of the statute of frauds. Furthermore, if it can be shown that Ted Goldsmith sent plaintiff the memorandum and he intended to authenticate such, a question of fact remains on the issue of whether or not Ted Goldsmith signed the memorandum in his individual capacity, as an agent of the remaining defendants, or both. Because several questions of fact exist, it is our opinion that the trial court improperly granted accelerated judgment on the ground that the memorandum did not satisfy the writing requirement of the statute of frauds. Thus, we find it necessary to reverse the court’s order and remand for trial on this issue.
We also find it necessary to address the question of whether or not equitable or promissory estoppel applies to the factual situation before us. In the event that plaintiff cannot show that the memorandum satisfies the statute of frauds, it is our opinion that plaintiff can proceed on the alternative theory of estoppel because factual issues do exist to support this theory.
It is well settled that promissory estoppel, if established, can be invoked to defeat the defense of the statute of frauds. See, e.g., McMath v Ford Motor Co, 77 Mich App 721, 725; 259 NW2d 140 (1977).
The elements of equitable or promissory estoppel are: (1) a promise; (2) that the promisor should reasonably have expected to induce action of a definite and substantial character on the part of the promisee; (3) which in fact produced reliance or forbearance of that nature; and (4) under such circumstances that the promise must be enforced if injustice is to be avoided. Schipani v Ford Motor Co, supra, pp 612-613; McMath v Ford Motor Co, supra, p 725.
Defendants, as the promisors, offered plaintiff a salary of $40,000 plus a 20% ownership interest in the subject business if plaintiff would leave his job as a buyer with the H. C. Prang Department Store in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and establish a clothing store in the Detroit area on defendants’ behalf.
As a buyer, plaintiff had been receiving $25,000 annually. Accordingly, if it is true that plaintiff was to receive an annual increase in pay of $15,-000 plus a 20% ownership interest in the business, one could say that this promise should reasonably have induced action on plaintiff’s part to accept defendants’ offer. Plaintiff left his former employment as a buyer with the H. C. Prang store, moved himself and his family to the Detroit area, set up and then, subsequently, ran defendants’ clothing store, hence it is reasonable to believe that, in fact, the promise "produced reliance” on plaintiff’s part. And, finally, if these facts as alleged are found by the trier of facts to be true, the circumstances under which they occurred are such that "the promise must be enforced if injustice is to be avoided”. Thus, we conclude that the trial court erroneously decided these factual issues on its own.
Plaintiff also argues that he should be permitted to recover damages against defendants on a theory based upon the doctrine of partial performance, citing Ordon v Johnson, 346 Mich 38; 77 NW2d 377 (1956). In reviewing plaintiff’s argument, it is evident that he misunderstands the basis of recovery in Ordon, supra. Generally, the doctrine of partial performance is not applied to employment contracts. Whipple v Parker, 29 Mich 369, 374-375 (1874); Schipani v Ford Motor Co, supra, p 612; McMath v Ford Motor Co, supra, p 725.
Nevertheless, plaintiff may recover the value of his services devoted to defendants’ business under a theory of quantum meruit. In doing so, if it is found that the alleged agreement is void under the statute of frauds, it may still be admissible if helpful in estimating plaintiffs damages. Ordon, supra, pp 48-49. Accordingly, plaintiff should also be permitted to prove his case under a theory of quantum meruit. However, the bench and bar should understand that plaintiff may not seek nor obtain specific performance; i.e., he may not recover the stock which he allegedly bargained for in this case. He may simply obtain the value of this stock, if, by proper proofs, he can show that it is the proper estimate of his damages. Ordon, supra, pp 48-49.
Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. | [
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Per Curiam.
Claimant appeals from a circuit court order affirming the February 10, 1983, decision of the Michigan Employment Security Commission Board of Review which upheld the referee’s finding that claimant was discharged from employment as a result of misconduct within the meaning of former § 69(2)(b) of the Michigan Employment Security Act, MCL 421.69(2)(b); MSA 17.569(19) (2)(b), and was therefore disqualified for unemployment benefits.
Claimant was employed as a dishrunner by Amway Grand Plaza from October 16, 1981, until June 22, 1982, when she was discharged for lateness and absenteeism. The immediate reason for claimant’s discharge was her tardiness on June 22, 1982. That day claimant was scheduled to begin work at 6:30 a.m. At approximately 6:45 a.m. she called and said she was going to be late. When claimant arrived at approximately 8 a.m., she was sent home by her supervisor, and her employment was subsequently terminated. Claimant testified that it was not her fault that she was late that day because her ex-husband had tried to break into her home and this necessitated her calling the police.
In the nine months of claimant’s employment, she received five warnings regarding lateness or absenteeism, including three "final” warnings on May 5, May 16, and June 7, 1982. Other warnings were issued on December 21, 1981, and May 15, 1982. Tardiness and absenteeism were also brought to claimant’s attention in an employee evaluation in April, 1982. Dale Hamilton, assistant chief steward for Amway, testified that the reasons claimant offered for her lateness were an inadequate alarm clock, marital problems and that "[m]ost of the reasons were she overslept”. Claimant testified that many times the weather was the reason she could not get to work. On one occasion claimant was given a warning because she failed to report two hours prior to the start of her shift that she would be absent, as required by Amway’s regulations. Claimant testified that she had in jured herself the night before and did not call in earlier because she did not have a phone and did not have anyone to call in for her. Her brother called in for her one hour before the start of her shift.
Claimant acknowledged receipt of the written warnings but stated, "I also tried to explain myself’. Although claimant did not blame Amway for her lateness and absenteeism, she testified, "It wasn’t my fault for me being late half the time, you know, like when they fired me”. With respect to her lateness on June 22, 1982, which resulted in her discharge, claimant testified:
"And I didn’t want to, you know, risk losing my job, because I liked my job. And the day I got fired, my husband, he did show up, and I couldn’t make it to work. But I did call in.”
The referee found that since none of the incidents of tardiness or absences were the result of actions on the part of the employer, disqualification was in order. The board of review, one member dissenting, affirmed, finding the referee’s decision "in conformity with the law and facts”. The circuit court affirmed finding that the board’s conclusion of misconduct was supported by competent, material and substantial evidence.
The applicable standard of review was stated in Chrysler Corp v Sellers, 105 Mich App 715, 720; 307 NW2d 708 (1981):
"On appeal from decisions of the Board of Review, we may review questions of law or fact, Const 1963, art 6, § 28, MCL 421.38; MSA 17.540, but we can reverse only if the order or decision is contrary to law or is unsupported by competent, material and substantial evidence on the record. If there is no dispute as to underlying facts, questions presented on appeal are to be treated as matters of law. Laya v Cebar Construction Co, 101 Mich App 26, 29; 300 NW2d 439 (1980).”
The scope of appellate review clearly includes the soundness of the board of review’s interpretation of misconduct. See Helzer v Metzgar Conveyor Co, 89 Mich App 695, 700; 282 NW2d 187 (1979), dissenting opinion of Judge (now Justice) Cavanagh.
This case is governed by former § 69(2)(b) of the act, MCL 421.69(2)(b); MSA 17.569(19)(2)(b), which provided that an individual shall be disqualified for benefits where the individual has been discharged for misconduct connected with his or her work. MCL 421.29(l)(b); MSA 17.531(l)(b) now covers disqualification for benefits due to misconduct. In Carter v Employment Security Comm, 364 Mich 538, 541; 111 NW2d 817 (1961), the Court adopted the classic definition of misconduct, quoting Boynton Cab Co v Neubeck, 237 Wis 249, 259-260; 296 NW 636 (1941):
" 'The term “misconduct” * * * is limited to conduct evincing such wilful or wanton disregard of an employer’s interests as is found in deliberate violations or disregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect of his employee, or in carelessness or negligence of such degree or recurrence as to manifest equal culpability, wrongful intent or evil design, or to show an intentional and substantial disregard of the employer’s interests or of the employee’s duties and obligations to his employer. On the other hand mere inefficiency, unsatisfactory conduct, failure in good performance as the result of inability or incapacity, inadvertencies or ordinary negligence in isolated instances, or good-faith errors in judgment or discretion are not to be deemed "misconduct” within the meaning of the statute.’ ”
The burden is on the employer to show statutory misconduct. Fresta v Miller, 7 Mich App 58, 63-64; 151 NW2d 181 (1967).
An employee’s failure to report to work on time may in certain circumstances constitute statutory misconduct. See Wickey v Employment Security Comm, 369 Mich 487; 120 NW2d 181 (1963). We agree with claimant, however, that, applying the Carter, supra, definition to the facts of this case, claimant’s tardiness or absences cannot support a finding of statutory misconduct unless it is determined that they were without good cause, which could include personal reasons or other reasons beyond claimant’s control. As a matter of law, tardiness or absences resulting from events beyond the employee’s control or which are otherwise with good cause cannot be considered conduct in wilful or wanton disregard of the employer’s interests. Carter, supra. This interpretation is consistent with the Court’s duty to narrowly construe the disqualification provisions of the act so as to further the remedial policy of the act, which is, in part, to provide benefits to persons unemployed through no fault of their own. Laya v Cebar Construction Co, 101 Mich App 26, 34-35; 300 NW2d 439 (1980); Anderson v Top O'Michigan Rural Electric Co, 118 Mich App 275, 279; 324 NW2d 603 (1982), lv den 417 Mich 958 (1983).
In this case the referee and the board of review concluded that since none of the instances of tardiness or absences were due to acts of the employer, the discharge must result in a finding of misconduct. The referee and the board did not consider claimant’s explanations and excuses for her absences and tardiness. It appears that the referee and the board took the position that since claimant was discharged for violation of Amway’s rules and regulations concerning attendance, she was necessarily disqualified under the statute. However, it is well established that what may justify discharge from employment does not necessarily constitute statutory misconduct sufficient to disqualify the employee for unemployment benefits. Reed v Employment Security Comm, 364 Mich 395; 110 NW2d 907 (1961).
The case is remanded to the board of review to determine whether statutory misconduct was present under the standard set forth in Carter, supra. In making this determination the board should specifically consider claimant’s explanations and excuses for her absences and tardiness which resulted in the discharge. Statutory misconduct cannot be made out under the Carter, supra, definition if the board factually determines that the absences and tardiness which resulted in the discharge were with good cause or for reasons otherwise beyond claimant’s control. On remand, the burden of proving misconduct remains on the employer.
Reversed and remanded to the board of review for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was convicted, following a jury trial, of first-degree murder, contrary to MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, and assault with intent to commit murder, contrary to MCL 750.83; MSA 28.278. He now appeals by right.
Defendant’s conviction stems from a bizarre and tragic incident which occurred at a Reveo Drug Store in Redford Township on March 17, 1982. At about 9 p.m. that night, defendant, who was employed as a security guard for Reveo, attacked pharmacist Elise Rouhier, causing her death, and cashier Ann Ceane, leaving her seriously injured. The only contested issue at defendant’s trial, where he presented an insanity defense, was his mental state at the time of the attack.
Ann Ceane testified that defendant arrived at the store shortly before closing time that evening, which was not unusual. He asked both women to come with him to the back of the store, and told Ms. Ceane to go into the women’s restroom; believing this was part of some security procedure, she complied. After a few minutes, defendant asked her to come out of the restroom and had Ms. Rouhier go in. Defendant then reached towards Ms. Ceane; she got scared and knocked his hand away. Defendant then began stabbing her with a knife. From this point forward, defendant alternated between viciously attacking the women and apologizing to them for his actions. He told the women to call an ambulance, but when Elise Rouhier began to dial, he hung up the receiver and then yanked the cord off the phone. He grabbed Ms. Ceane, trying to suffocate her; then he began smashing bottles over her head and resumed attacking Ms. Rouhier with a knife. Finally, when the phone began ringing and someone was heard at the door, defendant fled from the store.
Elise Rouhier died as a result of five stab wounds in her chest and six stab wounds in her back, all inflicted by defendant.
Defendant appeared at his parents’ home shortly after the incident. Defendant’s mother, wife, and aunt testified to defendant’s odd behavior at that time. He laid on the floor, curled up, then began running through the house and into walls, mumbling incoherently.
Members of defendant’s family, and some of his co-workers, testified generally to the effect that defendant had never before exhibited bizarre behavior, and always acted normally.
Although defendant did not testify at trial, it became clear through expert testimony that defendant claimed to have no recollection whatsoever of the incident. Two psychiatrists and a psychologist all testified for the defense that defendant was mentally ill or psychotic at the time of incident, that he had not been dealing with his anger, that he had a repressed hypercritical personality, and that the incident was totally unlike anything defendant had ever done before. Defense counsel asked two of these experts whether their opinion would change if they heard testimony from defendant’s neighbors that suggested that defendant abused his wife. Both responded that it would not change their opinion. In rebuttal, the prosecutor called Steven and Kathleen Cicotte, defendant’s next-door neighbors. Both testified that they frequently heard yelling and crying coming from defendant’s house. They would hear a woman say things like, "Stop, you’re hurting me”, and then would hear a male laughing, presumably defendant.
Defendant now contends that reversible error occurred when the prosecutor elicited this testimony from the next-door neighbors, as it was inadmissible a) under MRE 404(b) because it was evidence of similar bad acts, b) under MRE 405 because it was evidence of specific instances of conduct to rebut the inference that defendant was nonviolent, and c) because it was irrelevant to the issue of sanity since the prosecutor’s expert witness did not rely on the testimony.
We disagree. First of all, the concerns which underlie MRE 404(b) and the Supreme Court’s decision in People v Golochowicz, 413 Mich 298; 319 NW2d 518 (1982), interpreting that rule, are not here implicated. The evidence was not introduced in an attempt to have the jury convict defendant of the crime charged on the basis of past misconduct; rather, the evidence was clearly introduced on the issue of defendant’s sanity. As defendant recognizes, general similar-acts evidence analysis is inappropriate in an insanity defense setting. The Supreme Court in People v Woody, 380 Mich 332; 157 NW2d 201 (1968), ruled that testimony of prior antisocial conduct, ordinarily completely inadmissible, becomes material and admissible as bearing on the issue of defendant’s sanity. In an effort to discharge its burden of proving defendant’s sanity, the prosecution is entitled to all rights of cross-examination of defense witnesses and to introduce rebuttal testimony by witnesses of its own. Id., p 338. More recently, this Court faced a similar question and reiterated that evidence of a defendant’s past conduct, not normally admissible, is admissible on the issue of sanity. People v Cramer, 97 Mich App 148, 161; 293 NW2d 744 (1980), lv den 411 Mich 862 (1981), and cases cited therein.
While recognizing the insanity exception to MRE 404(b), defendant suggests the exception be limited so that otherwise inadmissible similar-acts evidence is only admissible on the issue of insanity where a party’s expert witness has relied on the testimony.
We do not find the limitation defendant advocates to be supported by the case law. The cases on which defendant relies, People v Morris, 92 Mich App 747; 285 NW2d 446 (1979), lv den 408 Mich 919 (1980), People v Hammack, 63 Mich App 87; 234 NW2d 415 (1975), and People v Dimitris, 115 Mich App 228; 320 NW2d 226 (1981), do not compel the conclusion he urges. Moreover, to the extent that the defense’s expert witnesses considered defendant’s past nonviolence as a factor in rendering an opinion as to defendant’s sanity, evidence that defendant in fact exhibited violence in the past would be relevant to the trier of fact in determining whether to give credence to the testimony; it was admissible because it directly refuted one of the facts on which defendant’s experts relied.
Finally, whether similar-acts evidence is admitted rests within the discretion of the trial court, and we do not find any abuse of discretion here. People v Golochowicz, supra; People v Claybon, 124 Mich App 385; 335 NW2d 493 (1983).
In the course of testimony by the prosecution’s expert witness, Dr. Banks, Dr. Banks volunteered that, in an effort to aid defendant’s recall, Dr. Banks wanted defendant to undergo hypnosis or an interview under the influence of Amytol (a "truth drug”), but that defendant’s attorney refused to let him participate in such a session. Defense counsel immediately moved for a mistrial on the basis of this reference by Dr. Banks. The court denied the motion. Defendant requested a curative instruction; the trial court agreed to give it but gave it at the end of trial rather than immediately as requested by defendant. Defendant now argues that the reference by Dr. Banks so prejudiced him that it warrants reversal of his conviction.
We fail to see how this reference in any way prejudiced defendant. Testimony based on hypnosis or "truth serum” sessions is inadmissible because it is unreliable and has not gained general acceptance in the scientific community. People v Gonzales, 108 Mich App 145; 310 NW2d 306 (1981), aff'd 415 Mich 615; 329 NW2d 743 (1982); People v Cox, 85 Mich App 314; 271 NW2d 216 (1978). See also People v Young, 418 Mich 1; 340 NW2d 805 (1983), and cases cited therein. The trial judge clearly indicated this to the jury in an instruction at the end of the trial:
"During the course of the trial you’ve heard mention of hypnosis. You should know that hypnosis is not a reliable means of accurately restoring forgotten incidents or repressed memory, and has not gained general acceptance in the field of medicine and psychiatry. As a result, any mention of hypnosis is improper, and must be totally disregarded by you jurors in your deliberations.”
Defendant argues that the mention that he had refused to undergo hypnosis suggested that he was suppressing the truth.
To the contrary, since courts do not hold hypnosis useful in discovering the truth, refusal to undergo hypnosis could not prejudice defendant in this manner. Moreover, if the reference to hypnosis left any doubts in the minds of the jury, the trial court’s very good curative instruction should have removed any chance for prejudice to the defendant. That the instruction was not given until the end of trial would not necessarily prejudice defendant; if anything, it may have helped. Defendant misreads People v Alvin Johnson, 396 Mich 424; 240 NW2d 729 (1976), if he is implying that the Supreme Court there held that cautionary instructions can never cure a reference to polygraph. The Supreme Court in Johnson also cited People v Paffhousen, 20 Mich App 346; 174 NW2d 69 (1969), lv den 383 Mich 825 (1970), where this Court suggested that a trial court can take curative action rather than granting a mistrial where improper reference to polygraph is made.
In People v Rocha, 110 Mich App 1; 312 NW2d 657 (1981), lv den 411 Mich 915 (1981), this Court set forth a test to be utilized in determining whether a reference to a polygraph examination constitutes reversible error. Modifying that test to fit this case concerning reference to refusal to submit to hypnosis, we find that defendant here sought and received a curative instruction, the reference came into evidence as an unresponsive answer to a question, and there was only a single, brief reference to the hypnosis. We find no error.
Defendant also objects to the trial court’s failure to give the manslaughter instruction defendant requested. The instruction defendant proposed would have allowed the jury to find him guilty of manslaughter rather than murder if it found that defendant’s mental condition precluded him from having the requisite intent for murder. The trial court offered to give the standard criminal jury instruction on manslaughter, CJI 16:4:02, in which provocation or. passion is a necessary ingredient for voluntary manslaughter. Defendant refused this instruction, so no instruction on manslaughter was given. Defendant now urges that he was denied a fair trial because the court failed to give an instruction which would have allowed the jury to find him guilty of manslaughter rather than murder if it found that defendant’s mental condition prevented him from having the requisite intent for murder.
Manslaughter, while not a necessarily included offense of murder, may well be an included offense if the evidence adduced at trial would support a verdict of manslaughter. People v Van Wyck, 402 Mich 266; 262 NW2d 638 (1978). It is reversible error for the trial court to fail to instruct on manslaughter where there is evidence to support such a theory and a proper request for such an instruction is made. People v McIntosh, 400 Mich 1; 252 NW2d 779 (1977); People v Parney, 98 Mich App 571, 586; 296 NW2d 568 (1979).
In this case, the evidence did not support the standard criminal jury instruction on manslaughter, since there was no evidence of either provocation or passion. It is thus understandable that defendant chose not to have that instruction given. Defendant’s proposed instruction that diminished capacity or "partial insanity” may negate the intent element of murder and warrant a verdict of, and instruction on, manslaughter is not well supported in Michigan law. No court has reversed a defendant’s conviction for failure to give the type of instructions defendant requested in this case.
"It has been suggested that mental disorder not amounting to insanity might reduce the killing to manslaughter. Most cases, however, have rejected this position; they go only so far as to reduce the homicide from first-degree murder to second-degree murder, the theory being that the mental defect may serve to negative the killer’s capacity to deliberate and premeditate but not his intent to kill * * *.” LaFave & Scott, Criminal Law, § 77, p 585. (Footnotes omitted.)
The trial court in this case adequately instructed the jury on insanity and on the verdict of guilty but mentally ill. The jury did not agree to either of those theories. This Court has held it to be harmless error where an instruction on a lesser offense is not given but the jury reached a verdict on the offense charged rather than deciding on another lesser offense for which an instruction was given. People v Daniel Meyers (On Remand), 124 Mich App 148, 160; 335 NW2d 189 (1983), and cases cited therein; People v Baker #2, 103 Mich App 704; 304 NW2d 262 (1981) (no instruction on CSC IV, but as between instructions on CSC I and CSC III, conviction on CSC I), lv den 417 Mich 1093 (1983).
The Supreme Court cast some doubt on this principle in People v Rochowiak, 416 Mich 235; 330 NW2d 669 (1982), where the Court ruled that it was reversible error to instruct only on second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter without also instructing on the lesser offense of reckless use of a firearm, even though the jury reached a verdict of second-degree murder rather than manslaughter. The majority did, however, recognize that there are situations where failure to give lesser offense instructions would be harmless error. This case seems to present such a situation. In rejecting the possible verdict of second-degree murder and in rejecting possible guilty-but-mentally-ill verdicts for first- and second-degree murder, the jury clearly revealed that it did not believe defendant’s mental condition prevented him from intending to kill with premeditation and deliberation. Based on the insanity defense and evidence at trial, the jury surely understood that the only real issue at trial was defendant’s mental state at the time of the attack. Under these circumstances, it is clear that the trial court’s refusal to give the requested manslaughter instruction could not have prejudiced defendant. People v Marshall, 115 Mich App 433; 320 NW2d 396 (1982).
In defendant’s last issue defendant argues that his due process rights were violated when his case was reassigned to a judge by unilateral decision of the assignment clerk rather than through a blind draw, as required by Wayne County Circuit Court Rule 14.8, which provides:
"On the day of trial, cases shall be assigned by lot to a trial judge.”
Defendant’s case was originally scheduled to be heard by Judge Theodore Bohn. However, since Judge Bohn was still in the midst of another trial on the day defendant’s trial was scheduled to begin, the assignment clerk assigned the case to Judge Michael Stacey.
Before trial began, defendant moved for compli anee with Wayne County Circuit Court Rule 14.8. After a hearing was held, Judge Stacey denied the motion. Judge Stacey offered to entertain a motion to have himself disqualified, but defense counsel stated that he did not want to so move. Defendant then filed an emergency application for leave to appeal to this Court, which this Court denied on December 14, 1982, (Docket no. 68339). His application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court was also denied. 417 Mich 907 (1983). While that application was still pending, defendant filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in the United States District Court, seeking to restrain the court from reassigning his case to Judge Stacey. The Wayne County prosecutor filed a motion to intervene as of right, which was granted. Defendant’s motion for a preliminary injunction was denied, and his complaint was dismissed, on February 22, 1983. (US District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, Civil No. 83-CV-0297-DT).
According to the affidavit of the assignment clerk which accompanied the answer to defendant’s application for leave to appeal to this Court, after defendant’s case was returned to the assignment clerk because Judge Bohn was unavailable, of the seven judges on the criminal call for that date, Judge Michael Stacey was the only judge available for trial. It is apparent that, whether by lot or by assignment, Judge Stacey was the only judge who could have heard defendant’s case on that date; to draw any judge by lot would have been useless. Furthermore, defendant has shown no prejudice. The fact that the system has a potential for abuse is not grounds in this case for reversing defendant’s conviction.
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Shepherd, P.J.
Defendant was charged with murdering Violet Tabatto and the wilful or malicious burning of a dwelling house. Following a five-day jury trial, defendant was convicted of second-degree murder and the burning of a dwelling house, MCL 750.317; MSA 28.549 and MCL 750.72; MSA 28.267. He appeals as of right.
The charges against defendant stemmed from the stabbing death of his landlady, Violet Tabatto, on September 25 or 26, 1981, in the rooming house in which he resided in Grand Ledge, Michigan. The prosecutor’s version of the crime was that defendant and Mrs. Tabatto had an argument when he returned to the rooming house at approximately 11 p.m. on Friday, September 25, 1981. The prosecutor theorized that defendant struck the victim and then stabbed her once in the chest with a butcher knife which he had obtained from the kitchen of the house. In an effort to cover up the crime, defendant then took gasoline from his motorcycle and set fire to the house. The primary issue in this case involves incriminating statements which defendant gave to Detectives Boggs and Parkinson of the Michigan State Police on Monday, September 28, 1981. It is defendant’s theory that his confession was a product of psychological coercion on the part of the detectives to whom he confessed.
Mrs. Tabatto’s body was found in her bed. Grand Ledge Fire Chief Graydon Briggs testified that upon inspection of the building he "observed what appeared to be three separate fires”. Briggs stated that there was no connection between any of the fires and that it was obvious that someone had purposely set three separate fires.
Prior to removing the victim’s body from the building, investigators discovered that she had a slit-like puncture wound in her chest which was approximately 1 to 1-1/4 inches long. Grand Ledge Police Officer Gregory Bria made the determination that the puncture was a stab wound. The physician who performed the autopsy, Laurence Simson, testified that the wound was indeed a stab wound and that it was also the cause of death.
The police immediately began an investigation. Grand Ledge Police Officer Robert Sipple testified that he went to defendant’s mother’s apartment at approximately 6:15 a.m. on September 26, 1981, to discuss the crime with defendant. Defendant talked to Sipple but denied any involvement in the killing. At approximately 7 a.m., Officers Bria and Flitton went to the apartment and spoke with defendant. Defendant spoke with these officers and again denied any involvement in the killing. Defendant voluntarily agreed to go to the police station where he made a nonincriminating written statement that afternoon.
The disputed incriminating statements were those made by defendant on September 28, 1981, to detectives at the Lansing State Police Post. Defendant also made incriminating statements to Martin Daughenbaugh, his cellmate at the Eaton County Jail, in which he admitted stabbing Mrs. Tabatto. On May 21, 1982, a Walker [People v Walker (On Rehearing), 374 Mich 331; 132 NW2d 87 (1965)] hearing was held to determine the admissibility of the statements.
After being contacted by Officer Bria, defendant agreed to take a polygraph examination. The polygraph examiner, Roger Burns, of the Michigan State Police, testified that shortly after he was introduced to defendant he advised him of his Miranda [Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436; 86 S Ct 1602; 16 L Ed 2d 694 (1966)] rights. Defendant indicated that he understood his rights. Burns stated that he noticed nothing unusual about defendant’s physical or mental condition during the examination.
A polygraph test consists of three parts, the first part being the pre-test where the subject is interviewed regarding background information resulting in the formulation of questions to be asked. The second part is the actual testing phase. The third component of the test is the post-test interview at which the subject is advised of the results and given an opportunity to explain results indicating deception. The facilities at the police post were equipped to allow persons in an adjacent office to monitor the examination via closed circuit television. Detectives Boggs and Parkinson observed the polygraph examination on closed circuit television.
The polygraph examination lasted approximately three hours. Near the end of the test Burns informed defendant that he felt defendant was not being truthful during the polygraph examination. After being so informed, Burns testified, "He [defendant] said he didn’t want to talk with me any longer”. Burns then went outside the testing room and told Boggs that defendant wanted to leave. Sergeant Boggs then came to the room and took defendant out of the room.
Boggs testified that he observed defendant say to Burns, "I do not want to talk to you anymore”. Boggs stated that he immediately went into the room and asked defendant if he would talk to him. Boggs stated that defendant replied that he would talk to him. He and defendant then began walking to Boggs’ office.
Upon arriving at Boggs’ office, defendant was readvised of his Miranda rights. Boggs then told defendant what he thought had actually occurred on the night of the killing. The sergeant told defendant that he thought that defendant had gone home drunk, began to argue with Mrs. Tabatto, got angry, hit her, panicked and then killed her. Boggs testified that,, after being told the foregoing, defendant broke down and started to cry. He cried for approximately five minutes and then made a statement in which he confessed to the killing and to setting fire to the home in an attempt to cover up the crime. After being read-vised of his Miranda rights, defendant made a second incriminating statement which was tape-recorded and played at the Walker hearing and at trial.
The testimony of defendant and of the police officers who participated in his interrogation differed as to whether defendant ever requested an attorney to be present at his interrogation. Defendant testified at the Walker hearing that after Sergeant Burns accused him of lying during the polygraph examination he told Burns that he no longer wished to speak to him and that he wanted to see a lawyer. Defendant stated that Burns kept talking to him and once again he stated that he wanted to stop talking and to see a lawyer. Defendant said that he definitely asked for a lawyer three times during the course of his interrogation.
In his recorded confession defendant was asked whether he understood that he could not be questioned without his consent in the absence of an attorney. Defendant answered the question "yes” and that he was aware that if he did not have an attorney that one would be appointed for him. On cross-examination, defendant stated that he did not ask for an attorney at that time because he was "confused”.
All four of the police officers present during the proceedings at the state police post (Bria, Burns, Boggs and Parkinson) denied that defendant ever requested to speak to an attorney at any time. Detective Parkinson stated that at no time did defendant assert his right to an attorney and that he affirmatively waived that right.
After hearing the testimony from the witnesses and the attorneys’ arguments, the trial court made its ruling. The court recapitulated the evidence which it had considered and found that defendant’s statements were voluntarily given and were admissible into evidence. The court also ruled that the statement given by defendant to his cellmate, Daughenbaugh, was admissible.
Was Defendant’s Fifth Amendment Right To Remain Silent Violated?
The purpose of a Walker hearing (People v Walker, supra) is to determine whether or not a defendant’s statement was given voluntarily. When reviewing a trial court’s ruling in a Walker hearing, an appellate court will examine the entire record and reach an independent determination of voluntariness. Absent a definite and firm conviction that the trial court erred, the decision will be affirmed. People v Crawford, 89 Mich App 30, 33; 279 NW2d 560 (1979). If there is conflicting evidence and the determination of voluntariness is largely dependent upon the credibility of witnesses, the appellate court should defer to the trial court’s findings. People v Joyner, 93 Mich App 554, 558; 287 NW2d 286 (1979). Review of the facts of the instant case leads us to conclude that the trial court did not err in holding that defendant had voluntarily given incriminating statements to the police.
Initially, we note that the issue of whether defendant’s Fifth Amendment right to remain silent was violated was not raised in the proceedings below. At the Walker hearing, the only question addressed by the parties was whether defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel had been violated. As a general rule, this Court will not review an issue raised for the first time on appeal. People v Davis, 122 Mich App 597; 333 NW2d 99 (1983); People v Smith, 118 Mich App 366; 325 NW2d 429 (1982). However, where an important constitutional question is raised regarding the admissibility of the evidence and is decisive of the outcome of the case, appellate review is appropriate. People v Guy, 118 Mich App 99; 324 NW2d 547 (1982); People v Harris, 95 Mich App 507; 291 NW2d 97 (1980) . Since we view this issue as being outcome-determinative it is discussed below.
This Court has recognized that under the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Miranda v Arizona, supra, a suspect is free at any time to exercise his right to remain silent, and all interrogation must cease if such right is asserted. People v Rowen, 111 Mich App 76, 80; 314 NW2d 526 (1981) . The issue in the instant case is whether defendant actually invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. It does not appear to us that defendant unequivocally invoked that right.
As is stated above, the trial court did not address these specific issues in making its ruling. Thus, this Court is obliged to make its determination by a de novo review of the record. Here, both parties admit that defendant told Sergeant Burns that he no longer wished to speak with him. The issue is whether this was a sufficient assertion of defendant’s right to remain silent.
The prosecutor relies on Sergeant Boggs’ testimony that after defendant indicated that he did not wish to speak with Sergeant Burns, Boggs entered the room and asked defendant whether he would speak to him. Boggs stated that he did not view defendant’s reaction as an invocation of his right to remain silent, as defendant’s words were a natural reaction to Burns’ calling defendant a liar. When Boggs entered the room and asked defendant if he would talk to him, defendant stated that he would do so. Boggs then took defendant to his office where defendant made his incriminating statements. Thus it is the prosecutor’s position that defendant never actually invoked his right to remain silent and, therefore, his right to silence was not violated.
It is defendant’s contention that, by informing Sergeant Burns of the fact that he no longer wanted to talk to him, defendant had invoked his right to remain silent and, therefore, it was improper for the officers to continue any interrogation. Defendant testified at the Walker hearing that Boggs came to the polygraph examination room and asked him to accompany him to his office. Defendant’s testimony does not indicate that Boggs asked him if he wanted to talk to him. After going to Boggs’ office, defendant made a recorded statement at the outset of which he was readvised of his Miranda rights and knowingly waived them. Defendant asserts that he did not request an attorney at that time because he was confused.
Our review of the record leads us to conclude that defendant did not unequivocally invoke his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. The rec ord reveals that defendant did not indicate that he would not talk to any police officer but only that he would not speak to Sergeant Burns. It was within the province of the trial court to believe Sergeant Boggs’ testimony that defendant’s remark to Burns was merely a hostile response to being accused of lying. The fact that defendant cooperated with Sergeant Boggs after being advised of his Miranda rights at least three times indicates to us that defendant’s right to remain silent was not invoked in a manner that precluded Sergeant Boggs from continuing the questioning.
The Miranda Court addressed the issue of when a defendant may be held to have properly waived his rights after first invoking them:
"Once warnings have been given, the subsequent procedure is clear. If the individual indicates in any manner, at any time prior to or during questioning, that he wishes to remain silent, the interrogation must cease. At this point he has shown that he intends to exercise his Fifth Amendment privilege; any statement taken after the person invokes his privilege cannot be other than the product of compulsion, subtle or otherwise. Without the right to cut off questioning, the setting of in-custody interrogation operates on the individual to overcome free choice in producing a statement after the privilege has been once invoked.” Miranda, supra, pp 473-474. (Footnote omitted.)
Thereafter, the Supreme Court said in Michigan v Mosley, 423 US 96; 96 S Ct 321; 46 L Ed 2d 313 (1975), (in holding that a statement secured after the giving of Miranda warnings was admissible):
"This is not a case, therefore, where the police failed to honor a decision of a person in custody to cut off questioning, either by refusing to discontinue the interrogation upon request or by persisting in repeated efforts to wear down his resistance and make him change his mind. In contrast to such practices, the police here immediately ceased the interrogation, resumed questioning only after the passage of a significant period of time and a provision of a fresh set of warnings, and restricted the second interrogation to a crime that had not been a subject of the earlier interrogation.” Mosley, supra, pp 105-106.
From this language we conclude that once a prisoner has stated that he wishes to remain silent, interrogation may only continue (if the prisoner has not on his own initiative stated that he no longer wishes to remain silent) when:
(a) the police resume questioning after a significant period of time;
(b) a fresh set of Miranda warnings is given;
(c) the subsequent interrogation relates to a crime that was not the subject of the earlier interrogation.
Furthermore, even if the above criteria are met, the subsequent interrogation may not have the characteristics of a repeated effort to wear down the resistance of the prisoner and make him change his mind.
All of these requirements are in furtherance of the Mosley/Miranda doctrine that "the admissibility of statements obtained after the person in custody has decided to remain silent depends under Miranda on whether his 'right to cut off questioning’ was 'scrupulously honored’ ”. Michigan v Mosley, supra, p 104.
However, our adoption of the above rule does not end our inquiry in the context of this case. There was testimony that defendant made a statement that he no longer wished to speak to the polygraph examiner, at which time Sergeant Boggs sought to clarify that statement by inquiring whether defendant was willing to speak to Boggs. Once a defendant chooses to remain silent, the police are. permitted to seek a clarification of an equivocal exercise of that right. Thompson v Wainwright, 601 F2d 768 (CA 5, 1979). Had the defendant’s exercise of the right to remain silent been unequivocal, the police would not have been able to initiate any new interrogation subject to the attenuations of the rule as enunciated in Michigan v Mosley, supra. Since it was not clear in the instant case that defendant wished to cut off all questioning regardless of source, Sergeant Boggs’ query was not improper.
Was Defendant’s Sixth Amendment Right To Counsel Violated?
The basic issue in the instant case is one of credibility. The trial court was faced with testimony on the part of defendant that he had requested that counsel be present during his interrogation a number of times, but that these requests were ignored by the police. On the other hand, there was unequivocal testimony by the four officers who had participated in the interrogation and the polygraph examination that defendant had not requested counsel. As a general rule, when reviewing a trial court’s ruling, an appellate court must examine the entire record and draw its own conclusions. People v Joyner, supra. However, if there is conflicting evidence and the determination of voluntariness is largely dependent on the credibility of witnesses, the appellate court should defer to the trial court’s findings. Id.
In Joyner, the police officers testified that the defendant-had been fully advised of his Miranda rights, had received adequate food and sleep and had not been threatened or physically abused. It was the defendant’s claim, however, that his statement was made as the result of threats made to him regarding his girlfriend. Presented with a conflicting record, the trial judge viewed the video tape made of the defendant’s confession, and, from the relaxed demeanor of defendant exhibited on the tape, the judge concluded that the confession was voluntary. Id., p 559. This Court upheld the trial court’s determination of voluntariness on that basis.
In the instant case, the trial court listened to defendant’s tape-recorded confession. In a section of the tape prior to defendant’s actual confession, Detective Boggs instructed defendant as to his Miranda rights. Boggs dwelled on the fact that defendant had the right not to be questioned without his consent in the absence of an attorney. He also explained in intricate detail that if defendant could not afford an attorney one would be appointed for him. Defendant acknowledged that he understood his rights and that he still wanted to make the statement. In making its ruling, the trial court noted that defendant had been advised of his Miranda rights at least three different times over a period of 3-1/2 hours. The court also made reference to the fact that all of the officers stated that they had not at any time heard defendant ask for an attorney. In making its final ruling the court stated, "I’m satisfied not by a preponderance of the evidence, but beyond a reasonable doubt that the statement was voluntarily given and is admissible in evidence”.
Edwards v Arizona, 451 US 477; 101 S Ct 1880; 68 L Ed 2d 378 (1981), held that once a defendant has exercised his right to counsel, all questions must cease until counsel is present unless defendant unequivocally asks to speak to the police and specifically states that he no longer desires the assistance of counsel. It is clear from Edwards that before such a per se rule can be invoked there must first be a finding that defendant exercised his right to counsel. Since there is adequate evidence in the record to support the trial court’s finding that defendant did not invoke the right to counsel, the only issues are whether the police violated the defendant’s right to remain silent and whether the statements made by defendant were voluntary. Since we hold that defendant’s right to remain silent was not violated and that there was adequate evidence to support a finding by the trial court that the incriminating statements were voluntary, the convictions of second-degree murder and arson are affirmed.
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After Remand
Before: Gribbs, P.J., and T. M. Burns and H. E. Deming, JJ.
Per Curiam.
Defendant was convicted after a bench trial of felonious assault, MCL 750.82; MSA 28.277, and felony-firearm, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). He was sentenced to consecutive terms of one to four years on the assault and two years on the felony-firearm. On defendant’s first appeal, this Court remanded to the trial court for additional findings of fact on the record to comply with GCR 1963, 517.1. People v Davis, 126 Mich App 66; 337 NW2d 315 (1983). A month later the trial judge read his supplemental findings into the record, reaffirming defendant’s convictions and sentences. Neither defendant, his counsel, nor the prosecutor was present at this proceeding. Defendant appeals, arguing that his presence was required during the reading of the findings into the record.
The purpose of a remand for the recording of further findings is to aid appellate review. People v Jackson, 390 Mich 621, 627-628; 212 NW2d 918 (1973); People v Davis, supra; People v Kelly, 122 Mich App 427; 333 NW2d 68 (1983). This purpose is not enhanced or hindered by the presence of defendant, his counsel, or the prosecutor. The recording of further findings is not a time for the presentation of additional evidence or argument, and the absence of defendant or his counsel would not prejudice defendant. We find no error.
Affirmed. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of first-degree (felony) murder. MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548. We affirm.
Defendant was charged with the murder of George Wissmiller, the caretaker of a summer home and hunting lodge in Alcona County. The lodge was located on a private, wooded estate of about 850 acres. Defendant’s father testified that he and defendant had gone onto the estate to hunt deer and possibly to break and enter the lodge. As they were about to break in, they heard a tractor approaching. They saw Mr. Wissmiller drive the tractor into a garage. He then came out and let his dog loose. The dog circled the area in which defendant and his father were standing and began barking. Wissmiller went into his house, came back out, then walked past the spot where defendant and he were standing. The dog kept barking and Wissmiller began walking slowly toward where they were hidden. Defendant’s father whispered "let’s get out of here”. Defendant said, "I’ll take a fast look through the scope to see what he’s doing”. Defendant’s rifle then went off, although defendant’s hands were not near the trigger. Defendant then said, "I didn’t mean to do it. The safety must have been off”. Thereafter, defendant and his father broke into the lodge and stole various items. Defendant later testified that his father shot and killed Wissmiller.
Over objection, Michael Koski testified that he and defendant had burglarized several cabins, lodges, and other buildings in the area of Alcona County on a night about six months before the alleged murder. Koski further testified that, while at one lodge, defendant drew a handgun from a holster and fired three shots into a television set and then told Koski that, if someone approached him while he was committing a breaking and entering, he would fire a shot in the air and, if the person kept coming, he would shoot at him.
Defendant now claims that the trial judge abused his discretion by admitting Koski’s testimony into evidence. Defendant bases this contention on the similar acts rule, MRE 404(b). See People v Golochowicz, 413 Mich 298; 319 NW2d 518 (1982).
In People v Golochowicz, supra, p 309, the Supreme Court declared that the following evidentiary safeguards must be met before evidence of similar acts, i.e., defendant’s uncharged misconduct, may be admitted:
"(1) there must be substantial evidence that the defendant actually perpetrated the bad act sought to be introduced; (2) there must be some special quality or circumstance of the bad act tending to prove the defendant’s identity or the motive, intent, absence of mistake or accident, scheme, plan or system in doing the act and, in light of the slightly different language of MRE 404(b) we add, opportunity, preparation and knowledge; (3) one or more of these factors must be material to the determination of the defendant’s guilt of the charged offense; and (4) the probative value of the evidence sought to be introduced must not be substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.” (Footnote omitted.)
Defendant claims that the bad acts at issue were not sufficiently similar to the charged crime to meet the test set forth in Golochowicz, supra. We disagree. In this case, the evidence of the bad acts was offered to prove intent and absence of accident. In Golochowicz, supra, evidence of similar acts was introduced in order to prove identity. The Supreme Court’s statement that admission of similar-acts evidence is proper only where the circumstances and manner in which the two crimes were committed are so nearly identical in method as to earmark the charged offense as the handiwork of the accused was limited to cases in which the evidence was offered to prove identity. Golochowicz, supra, pp 310, 325. We conclude that a less vigorous showing of similarity is required where factors other than identity are sought to be shown.
In this case, the prior bad act was sufficiently similar to the charged crime to justify its admission on the issue of defendant’s intent in going onto the estate and in shooting Wissmiller. These matters were clearly material to the determination of defendant’s guilt of the charged crime in that issues had been raised as to whether defendant entered onto the estate for the sole purpose of hunting and whether Wissmiller was shot accidentally. Defense counsel inquired into these matters on cross-examination of defendant’s father. These inquiries were sufficient to put these matters in issue. See Golochowicz, supra, p 316. Furthermore, the probative value of the evidence was not outweighed substantially by its prejudicial effect.
Defendant next claims that the trial judge erred by holding that the district judge erred as a matter of law by refusing to bind defendant over on first-degree felony murder. Felony murder is a murder which occurs "in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate” one of the felonies listed in MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, such as breaking and entering. The trial judge, relying on the facts found by the district judge, held that sufficient proof had been presented that the killing was committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a felonious breaking and entering to justify the defendant’s bindover on felony murder. Defendant argues that a murder is not "in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of’ a crime if it is committed before a defendant has taken actions sufficient to constitute an attempt to commit the crime. In this case, defendant argues that he could not have been convicted of attempted breaking and entering based on his actions before the shooting. Therefore, the shooting was not in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of the breaking and entering.
Michigan courts have held that a homicide qualifies as felony murder if it is committed while a defendant is attempting to escape from or prevent detection of the felony and if it is immediately connected with the underlying felony. People v Podolski, 332 Mich 508, 518; 52 NW2d 201 (1982); People v Smith, 55 Mich App 184, 189; 222 NW2d 172 (1974). While these cases are not directly on point, their reasoning can be applied to the present case, leading us to conclude that if a homicide occurs before the underlying felony, yet is closely connected with the felony, the homicide can be found to be felony murder.
This position has been adopted in other jurisdictions. Although the language of other felony-murder statutes varies widely, most require that the killing be in the "commission/perpetration” or attempt to "commit/perpetrate” the underlying felony. LaFave & Scott, Criminal Law, § 71, p 555. Where a causal connection between the killing and the underlying felony exists, courts generally have held that a killing may take place sometime before or after, as distinguished from during, the felony and yet still qualify as a killing "in the commission or attempted commission of’ the felony. LaFave & Scott, supra, p 555. Courts have usually required that the killing and the underlying felony be "closely connected in point of time, place and causal relation.” State v Adams, 339 Mo 926; 98 SW2d 632 (1936). The required relationship between the homicide and the underlying felony has been summarized as being "whether there is a sufficient causal connection between the felony and the homicide depends on whether the defendant’s felony dictated his conduct which led to the homicide”. LaFave & Scott, supra, p 557.
We hold that, to qualify as felony murder, the homicide must be incident to the felony and associated with it as one of its hazards. It is not necessary that the murder be contemporaneous with the felony. A lapse of time and distance are factors to be considered, but are not determinative. State v Phams, 342 NW2d 792 (Iowa, 1983); State v Conner, 241 NW2d 447, 464 (Iowa, 1976). Defendant must intend to commit the felony at the time the killing occurs. See Commonwealth v Legg, 491 Pa 78; 417 A2d 1152 (1980); People v Green, 27 Cal 3d 1; 164 Cal Rptr 1; 609 P2d 468 (1980).
The magistrate concluded that the evidence showed that defendant killed George Wissmiller immediately before and at the scene of the subsequent breaking and entering. More importantly, he concluded that a case had been made that Wissmiller was killed in order to enable defendant to proceed with the break-in without delay. Under these circumstances it could be found that the intent to commit the break-in had been formed when the homicide had occurred and that the homicide was incident to the break-in and associated with it as one of its hazards. Accordingly, the magistrate’s factual findings justified a bindover on the felony-murder charge. Furthermore, there was sufficient evidence to convict defendant of felony murder under the doctrine.
Defendant also claims that his conviction must be reversed because the trial judge failed to instruct the jury on the definition of attempt. The judge, following CJI 16:2:02, told the jury that, to convict defendant, they must find that the murder was committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of the breaking and entry of the lodge. The jury was instructed on the elements of breaking and entering, but was not given the definition of attempt. Defendant claims he was prejudiced by the judge’s failure to instruct on the difference between an attempt and mere preparation to commit an offense. This argument is based on his position that, to convict him of felony murder, the prosecution was required to prove that defendant killed Wissmiller during an attempt to commit breaking and entering, since the breaking and entering occurred after the shooting. We decline to reverse based on the omitted instruction. Defendant’s argument on this issue is premised on an argument which we have already rejected. As stated above, there was sufficient evi dence to convict defendant of the charged crime, in that the evidence showed that a homicide had been committed in the perpetration of a felony, as opposed to during the attempted perpetration of a felony. We do not believe defendant was prejudiced by the instruction as it was much narrower than necessary.
Defendant claims that the trial judge erred when he excluded from evidence testimony of defendant’s mother concerning a hearsay statement made by defendant’s father. After a discussion concerning the evidence, defense counsel specifically stated, "I withdraw the testimony” and "I withdraw the witness”. At that point, the trial judge had not ruled against admitting the evidence. We deem this a waiver of any claim of error.
Defendant claims that he was denied a fair trial by the prosecutor. Defendant mischaracterizes this issue. In substance, this issue is not one dealing with prosecutorial misconduct but merely consists of objections to alleged errors which were not raised at trial.
The first alleged error concerns the recross-examination of defendant. On recross, defendant was asked about statement made by him to police in which he admitted killing George Wissmiller. In the statement, defendant claimed that the killing was accidental. Defendant argues that the recross-examination was improper because he could have been questioned concerning the statement on cross-examination. Where a party has not been limited in his redirect-examination, however, recross-examination may properly be allowed the same latitude. Because the recross-examination was within the scope of the redirect-examination, it was proper. On redirect, defendant was asked if he had killed George Wissmiller. He denied it. Thus, this issue is without merit.
Defendant also claims that questioning concerning the admission was improper because such questioning should have been part of the prosecution’s case in chief. However, this attempt to draw an analogy to rules limiting the introduction of rebuttal evidence must fail. We find no authority for developing such a rule by analogy; more importantly, we find no logical reasons for doing so. In the present case, defendant’s statement admitting an accidental killing was inconsistent with the prosecution’s theory of the case. With respect to the prosecution’s theory, defendant’s statement was exculpatory. It did not prove the commission of the crime charged. We believe that the prosecutor was entirely free to use this prior inconsistent statement for impeachment purposes. Had defendant not testified as to the matter and the prosecutor sought to subsequently admit the statement, the rule requiring the prosecution to present its case in chief first would have been violated. See People v McGillen #1, 392 Mich 251, 265-266; 220 NW2d 677 (1974).
Defendant’s final claim of error concerns questions posed to him on cross-examination about the similar-acts testimony of Michael Koski. No objection was made to this testimony; we deem this claim of error to be waived absent manifest injustice to the defendant. We agree with defendant’s claim that the questions concerning the similar acts testimony exceeded the scope of the direct examination. MRE 611(b) provides, however, that a witness may be cross-examined on any matter relevant to any issue in the case. It states that the "judge may limit cross-examination with respect to matters not testified to on direct examination”. We view this rule as conferring broad discretion on the trial judge to decide the proper scope of cross-examination. Where no request to exercise its discretion is made, no error can be committed. We find no manifest injustice here; defendant was not denied a fair trial. In response to the questioning, defendant confirmed some of the statements made by Koski and denied others. The failure to object to the cross-examination was a reasonable tactical choice under the circumstances.
Affirmed.
The phrase "in the commission of’ has been interpreted more broadly than the term "during”. People v Taylor, 112 Cal App 3d 348; 169 Cal Rptr 290 (1980). Conviction on a felony murder theory is not precluded where the homicide precedes the acts which make the felony. People v Jones, 86 Ill App 3d 253; 408 NE2d 79 (1980), rev’d in part on other grounds 62 Ill Dec 171; 435 NE2d 1143 (1981); See also State v Kimball, 14 Wash App 951; 546 P2d 1217 (1976). A test requiring proximity of both time and distance and a close causal relation was advanced in State v Hearron, 228 Kan 693; 619 P2d 1157 (1980). See also State v Rider, 229 Kan 394; 625 P2d 425 (1981). Another court held that the killing and the underlying felony must be connected in a single chain of events and that the killing must occur as part of the res gestae of the underlying felony. Pickle v State, 345 So 2d 623 (Miss, 1977); See also People v Podolski, 332 Mich 508; 52 NW2d 201 (1952). Some courts have required that the killing and the underlying felony be parts of one continuous transaction. People v Welch, 8 Cal 3d 106; 104 Cal Rptr 217; 501 P2d 225 (1972); State v Wooten, 295 NC 378; 245 SE2d 699 (1978); Clark v State, 558 P2d 674 (Okla Crim, 1977). In addition to requiring that the killing and underlying felony be parts of a single continuous transaction and so closely connected as to be inseparable in terms of time, place and causal relations, another court has required that the killing and the felony tend to be explanatory of, and incidental to, one another. Clark v State, supra.
The essential ingredients of an attempt are a felonious intent to commit the crime and an overt act going beyond mere preparation toward the commission of the crime. People v Gardner, 13 Mich App 16, 18; 163 NW2d 668 (1968). An additional element is the failure to consummate the offense attempted. People v Bauer, 216 Mich 659, 661; 185 NW 694 (1921). | [
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Per Curiam.
This case arises out of an automobile accident. Defendant admitted negligence and plaintiff brought suit, claiming that he suffered back injuries which were a serious impairment of a body function. The jury returned a verdict in plaintiff’s favor in the amount of $340,500. The trial court partially granted defendant’s motion for remittitur, reducing the award to $165,500. Both plaintiff and defendant appeal.
On appeal, defendant first argues that the trial court improperly instructed the jury. The trial court denied defendant’s request to give the standard jury instruction on mitigation of damages. SJI2d 53.05.
The trial court correctly refused to instruct the jury pursuant to SJI2d 53.05 since defendant did not carry her burden. Defendant had the burden to show that plaintiff did not use every reasonable effort within his power to minimize damages. Williams v American Title Ins Co, 83 Mich App 686, 697; 269 NW2d 481 (1978). There was no evidence before the jury which indicated that plaintiff’s injury might have been lessened by more frequent visits to a doctor or by surgery. Defendant’s own medical witness stated that there was no reason to perform surgery. Defendant’s theory at trial was that plaintiff had no injury whatsoever, not that he failed to mitigate his damages. Defendant was not entitled to an instruction on mitigation of damages.
Defendant next argues that the trial court should have placed the issue of serious impairment of body function in context by reading MCL 500.3135(1); MSA 24.13135(1), including the other two exceptions to the abolition of tort liability, namely "death” and "permanent serious disfigurement”. The trial court correctly declined to do so. Plaintiff survived the accident, and advanced no disfigurement claim. Reference to the alternative thresholds of tort liability would have been irrelevant and caused confusion. Karas v White, 101 Mich App 208, 211; 300 NW2d 320 (1980).
Defendant next argues that she was denied a fair trial by a deliberate and calculated attempt by plaintiffs attorney to create prejudice, bias, and sympathy despite the fact that the trial court specifically found that plaintiff’s attorney was not guilty of any misconduct. Defendant points to six areas which she alleges illustrate misconduct by plaintiffs attorney. In some instances, a defense objection was sustained by the trial judge. In others, no objection was raised. A request for a curative instruction or a motion for a mistrial is requisite to appellate review of a claim of attorney misconduct unless the misconduct "may have caused the result or played too large a part and may have denied a party a fair trial”. Reetz v Kinsman Marine Transit Co, 416 Mich 97, 103; 330 NW2d 638 (1982). The record does not show that a course of misconduct was so persistently followed that a charge of the court in an effort to obviate prejudice would have been useless. Reetz, supra, p 112.
Defendant first points to plaintiff’s attorney’s remark concerning a drummer with broken wrists. Plaintiff’s attorney used this argument to illustrate an example of a serious body impairment. One of the jurors was a drummer. It was error to apply a hypothetical set of facts to the jurors personally. Clark v Grand Trunk W R Co, 367 Mich 396, 400; 116 NW2d 914 (1962). Defendant did not object to this remark which could have been cured by a cautionary instruction. Defendant’s failure to object, therefore, precludes appellate review.
The record also does not show that plaintiff’s attorney improperly appealed to the jury for sympathy. The references to plaintiff’s parents were not error since they served to explain why plaintiff kept working despite his injuries. Counsel’s argument that it was difficult for plaintiff to take his claim to trial and testify was an attempt to bolster plaintiff’s credibility. Defendant’s case was based on the premise that plaintiff was malingering. Plaintiff’s attorney properly argued that his client was not malingering. Firchau v Foster, 371 Mich 75, 78; 123 NW2d 151 (1963). Plaintiff’s attorney had the right to argue that his witness spoke the truth. Reetz, supra, p 109.
Plaintiff’s attorney also did not improperly attack defense counsel. Most of these remarks were objected to. The trial court properly cured any error caused by these remarks. These remarks did not constitute reversible error. Wayne County Bd of Road Comm’rs v GLS Leasco, 394 Mich 126, 136-137; 229 NW2d 797 (1975).
Plaintiff’s attorney also properly referred to the accident in his opening statement. Even though defendant admitted liability, the facts surrounding the collision remained relevant to the likelihood that plaintiff suffered a serious back injury. MRE 401. Defense counsel even commented on the accident and cross-examined plaintiff on the details of the accident.
Plaintiff’s attorney also properly cross-examined one of defendant’s medical experts, Dr. Larry Blau. Plaintiff’s attorney asked Dr. Blau whether he was aware that his evaluation was for purposes of litigation. Surprisingly, Dr. Blau exhibited an unwillingness to admit that he knew his evaluation was in connection with litigation, even though he did it in response to defense counsel’s request, and the letter he received from the defense counsel had the case title and docket number listed. Plaintiff’s attorney also questioned Dr. Blau about the frequency of his appearing in court cases and the nature of his position at an industrial clinic.
All of these inquiries were proper subjects of cross-examination. Wilson v Stilwill, 411 Mich 587, 599-602; 309 NW2d 898 (1981). The trial court fulfilled its duty to "be alert to questions which harrass, intimidate, or belittle a witness” by sustaining objections to the more roughly phrased inquiries. Wilson, supra, p 599.
Plaintiff’s attorney also properly commented on a prior court ruling regarding defense counsel’s misstatement of a legal proposition. Even though the trial court previously ruled that defense counsel’s statement was improper, plaintiff’s attorney could properly remind the jury not to be influenced by defense counsel’s misstatement.
Defendant’s argument that the jury’s award of damages for past loss of income was purely speculative lacks merit. Plaintiff submitted a tax return to substantiate his claim that his income decreased as a result of the injury. The return evidenced a downward trend in plaintiffs income after the accident. Defendant also argues that plaintiffs failure to exhaust his remedies against his insurance carrier bars him from recovery of damages for lost income in a tort action. The no-fault statute forbids recovery for loss of income, except "work-loss” damages "in excess of the daily, monthly and 3-year limitations contained in” MCL 500.3107(b); MSA 24.13107(b). MCL 500.3135(2)(c); MSA 24.13135(2)(c). MCL 500.3107(b); MSA 24.13107(b) contains an adjustable, monthly cap on the sum of benefits paid and the allowable income earned by an injured person for work during the same period. Plaintiff earned well in excess of this monthly cap and had no hope of obtaining work-loss benefits from his own carrier and, therefore, could recover damages for lost income in a tort action. MCL 500.3135(2)(c); MSA 24.13135(2)(c).
Defendant further urges that damages for loss of earning capacity are barred by the no-fault statute. She relies on decisions which hold "that the Legislature intended to provide work-loss benefits for actual loss, but excluded recovery for loss of earning capacity”. Gerardi v Buckeye Union Ins Co, 89 Mich App 90, 93; 279 NW2d 588 (1979); Struble v Detroit Automobile Inter-Ins Exchange, 86 Mich App 245; 272 NW2d 617 (1978); Nawrocki v Hawkeye Security Ins Co, 83 Mich App 135; 268 NW2d 317 (1978). Each of these cases involved a claim against the plaintiffs own insurance carrier. In each case, this Court stressed the statutory definition of "work loss” as "loss of income from work an injured person would have performed during the first 3 years after the date of the accident if he had not been injured”. MCL 500.3107(b); MSA 24.13107(b).
Since plaintiff proved that he suffers a serious impairment of body function, he may recover economic losses not guaranteed by the no-fault act. Since plaintiff could not have recovered work-loss benefits from his insurance carrier, he could recover for loss of earning capacity in the instant tort action. In Prince v Lott, 369 Mich 606, 610; 120 NW2d 780 (1963), the Court defined loss of earning capacity as "not what plaintiff would have but what he could have earned but for the injury”. In the instant case, the trial judge instructed the jury that it could award damages for loss of income which plaintiff "is reasonably certain to sustain in the future”. It seems unlikely that the term "earning capacity”, as used on the jury form and in argument, had any significance to the jurors. Since the trial court properly instructed the jury, reversal is not required.
Defendant next argues that the trial court erred by allowing plaintiff to call a medical expert as a rebuttal witness. Defendant’s experts testified that there was no objective evidence to support plaintiff’s complaints of pain. Plaintiff then rebutted defendant’s experts by offering the testimony of Dr. Gunabalan, who stated that plaintiff’s complaints of pain were supported by the results of thermographic testing.
The scope of rebuttal in civil cases is within the sound discretion of the trial court. Wolak v Walczak, 125 Mich App 271, 279; 335 NW2d 908 (1983); Kokinakes v British Leyland, Ltd, 124 Mich App 650, 655; 335 NW2d 114 (1983). While Dr. Gunabalan could have testified during plaintiff’s case in chief, the admission of his testimony cannot be reviewed on a claim of error unless there has been a clear abuse of discretion which materially affects the rights of the parties. Chase v Lee, 59 Mich 237, 239; 26 NW 483 (1886). The rule governing the scope of rebuttal evidence should not be applied to defeat the ends of justice. 59 Mich 239. Each of defendant’s medical witnesses insisted that there was no objective evidence that plaintiff had a back injury. Dr. Gunabalan properly rebutted this testimony by testifying that objective evidence supported plaintiff’s allegation of a back injury. Defendant does not challenge the admissibility of thermographic evidence per se. This new diagnostic tool allows medical examiners to objectively document conditions which may have been previously categorized as subjective complaints. The testimony and video display presented at trial provided objective evidence of plaintiff’s claim of injury. The trial court committed no abuse of discretion in admitting it, as the evidence was "particularly helpful to a clear understanding of the issues in the case”. Kokinakes, supra, p 655.
Defendant next argues that the trial court should have ruled as a matter of law that plaintiff did not suffer a serious impairment of body function. Under the no-fault statute, a person remains subject to tort liability for noneconomic loss arising from a motor vehicle accident if the injured person has suffered a "serious impairment of body function”. MCL 500.3135(1); MSA 24.13135(1). In Cassidy v McGovern, 415 Mich 483, 502; 330 NW2d 22 (1982), the Court held that the issue of serious impairment of a body function should be decided as a matter of law when: (1) there is no factual dispute regarding the nature and extent of a plaintiff’s injuries; or (2) there is such a dispute, but it is not material to the determination. This Court has applied this rule in cases where the trial was held prior to the Cassidy decision. McDonald v Oberlin, 127 Mich App 73, 75; 338 NW2d 725 (1983).
In the instant case, the parties’ proofs directly conflicted on the question of plaintiffs claimed injury. This dispute was immaterial to the issue only if the injury, as described by plaintiff and his medical witnesses, does not meet the statutory threshold for tort liability, since in considering a motion for directed verdict the trial court can view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. In re Acquisition of Virginia Park, 121 Mich App 153, 161; 328 NW2d 602 (1982).
Plaintiff called two medical witnesses, Drs. Steven Newman and Maxwell Newman. Dr. Maxwell Newman testified that plaintiff had sustained muscle tears in his back during the accident. The resulting scar tissue, accompanied by a diminution in the amount of elasticity in the surrounding area, limited plaintiffs range of motion. Using a "passive” range of motion test which he termed "totally objective”, Dr. Maxwell Newman found plaintiff’s trunk movement restricted by 20 to 30 percent. He found that this impairment restricted plaintiffs bending, lifting, twisting and turning. Dr. Steven Newman agreed with the diagnosis of Maxwell Newman.
This Court recently stated that:
"At this stage in its legal evolution, 'serious impairment of body function’ must be decided on a case-by-case basis. Cassidy v McGovern, 415 Mich 503. A few standards have developed, though, which will assist the courts. First, 'impairment of body function’ actually means 'impairment of important body function’. Cassidy v McGovern, 415 Mich 504. Second, by its own terms, the statute requires that any impairment be 'serious’. MCL 500.3135(1); MSA 24.13135(1), McKendrick v Pe trucci, 71 Mich App 200, 210; 247 NW2d 349 (1976). Third, the section applies only to 'objectively manifested injuries’. Cassidy v McGovern, 415 Mich 505.” Williams v Payne, 131 Mich App 403, 409; 346 NW2d 564.
Applying these standards, the trial court correctly denied defendant’s motion for a directed verdict. It is obvious that the plaintiffs ability to move his back is an important body function. Plaintiffs restricted ability to move his back is an objective manifestation of his injuries. Drs. Maxwell and Steven Newman both found that plaintiffs injury was permanent. Despite this evidence, defendant claims that plaintiff never stayed overnight in a hospital and continued to work after the accident. While these factors are relevant to the seriousness of plaintiffs injury, they do not per se preclude recovery. The trial court, upon consideration of defendant’s motion for directed verdict, properly viewed the evidence in a light most favorable toward plaintiff.
We next consider defendant’s final argument and plaintiffs initial argument on cross-appeal. Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by not granting a larger remittitur of the award for future work loss. The plaintiff on cross-appeal argues that the trial court erred in granting partial remittitur.
The standard for reviewing a trial court’s determination of whether to grant or deny remittitur was stated in Jones v Sanilac County Road Comm, 128 Mich App 569, 592; 342 NW2d 532 (1983):
"In reviewing a decision of the trial court to grant or deny a remittitur or new trial, this Court must determine whether there has been an abuse of discretion. Burnett v Mackworth G Rees, Inc, 109 Mich App 547; 311 NW2d 417 (1981). The remittitur power should be exercised with restraint. Courts are reluctant to disturb jury verdicts in personal injury cases and give great deference to the jury determination. Where the trial court finds no other errors in the trial, remittitur may only be ordered if the verdict is so excessive as to 'shock the judicial conscience’. Pippen v Denison Div of ABEX Corp, 66 Mich App 664; 239 NW2d 704 (1976).”
There was evidence to support the $23,000 award for work-loss damages. Plaintiff submitted his corporation’s tax return, which showed a decrease of income. The jury’s award of $42,500 for noneconomic loss was also proper. There is no formula to mathematically calculate pain and suffering. May v City of Grosse Pointe Park, 122 Mich App 295, 298; 332 NW2d 411 (1982).
The trial court only remitted the jury’s award for future losses. The jury awarded $275,000 which was lowered by the trial court to $100,000. An award of $100,000 for plaintiff’s future losses was proper. Plaintiff testified that his injury forced him to reduce his work schedule. Plaintiff also testified that he returned to an income level near that which he enjoyed prior to the accident. Plaintiff’s income could naturally be expected to rise, along with the general rate of inflation during the period in question. Considering these factors, the trial court did not clearly abuse its discretion by remitting the jury’s verdict. The award of $100,000 for future losses is supported by competent evidence.
Plaintiff’s final argument in his cross-appeal is that a local Wayne County Court Rule which limits attorney fee awards is unconstitutional. Plaintiff argues that his award for attorney fees was improperly limited by WCCR 403.16. This rule provides that, when a party becomes liable for actual costs because of the rejection of a mediation award, the party only becomes liable for a per diem attorney fee limited to the actual days spent during trial.
Rules of court are not exempt from constitutional tests. Wolodzko v Wayne Circuit Judge, 382 Mich 528, 531; 170 NW2d 9 (1969). The local rule which plaintiff attacks has been approved by the Supreme Court. Accordingly, this Court should defer to the Supreme Court’s judgment in this matter unless no state of facts reasonably may be conceived to justify the local rule. Wolodzko, supra, pp 533-534.
In Anderson v Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co, 411 Mich 619, 631; 309 NW2d 539 (1981), the Supreme Court observed that the Wayne County Circuit Court "has the most crowded civil docket of any court in the state”. By limiting attorney fees, the Supreme Court may have wished to discourage attorneys from bringing suit in Wayne County. Since this is a rational reason which supports enactment of the local court rule, the rule withstands constitutional scrutiny.
After carefully considering all of the issues presented, we have determined that they lack merit. The decision of the trial court is, therefore, affirmed.
Affirmed.
Defendant admitted liability under the owner’s liability statute. MCL 257.401; MSA 9.2101. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant appeals as of right from an order entered in the Oakland County Circuit Court which denied his motion to set aside a default and default judgment entered against him.
On August 23, 1982, plaintiff filed a complaint seeking quantum meruit recovery for legal services rendered on behalf of defendant. In Count I of the complaint, plaintiff alleged that it had a contingency fee arrangement with defendant providing that if plaintiff saved defendant any money in a $94,652.28 bankruptcy counterclaim action against him defendant would pay plaintiff 1/3 of such savings. The counterclaim against defendant was dismissed by the bankruptcy court on June 11, 1981.
In Count II of the complaint, plaintiff alleged that defendant had retained plaintiff in January, 1979, to settle a dispute defendant had with his landlord. Plaintiff claims that defendant promised to pay plaintiff "the reasonable value of [plaintiff’s] services in so representing and advising [defendant]”. The dispute with the landlord was settled by plaintiff, and plaintiff asserted in its complaint that the reasonable value of its services was $18,-000. This sum was reduced to $17,684.49 in the application for default judgment.
Defendant terminated plaintiff’s services on or about August 4, 1982. Thereafter, on September 7, 1982, Judge George E. Woods of the bankruptcy court set aside his earlier order dismissing the counterclaim against defendant. In so doing, Judge Woods permitted Allied Supermarkets, Inc., the countercomplainant in the bankruptcy action, to recover $94,652.28 from defendant, plus interest.
On September 13, 1982, a default was entered against defendant for the reason that defendant had not taken any action allowed him by law within the time prescribed by the court rules. Defendant had been served with a summons and complaint on August 23, 1982. Defendant was not notified of the entry of default.
On September 15, 1982, plaintiff filed an application for entry of default judgment against defendant, claiming damages of $49,235.25. No notice of this motion was sent to defendant or his attorneys, but, on September 15, defendant filed his belated answer to plaintiff’s complaint. A copy of the answer was sent to plaintiff.
On September 22, 1982, the trial court entered judgment by default against defendant, stating that defendant had failed to plead or otherwise defend against plaintiffs claims and that damages of $49,235.25 were proven "in open court”. No notice of this order or of its filing was sent to defendant or his attorneys.
On April 20, 1983, defendant filed a motion with the trial court to set aside the default and default judgment. On May 11, 1983, the trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing to determine if defendant had a meritorious defense. At the conclusion of that hearing, finding that defendant had not shown a meritorious defense, the circuit court denied the motion to set aside the default and default judgment.
Defendant asserts that the circuit court erred in denying the motion to set aside default and default judgment because he presented a reasonable excuse which constituted good cause for his failure to timely answer and because he showed that he had a meritorious defense. Deeb v Berri, 118 Mich App 556, 561; 325 NW2d 493 (1982); First Bank of Cadillac v Benson, 81 Mich App 550, 553; 265 NW2d 413 (1978); GCR 1963, 520.4.
We agree with the trial court’s conclusion that defendant failed to assert a meritorious defense. At the hearing to set aside the default and default judgment, defense counsel admitted that plaintiff was entitled to recover something in quantum meruit on Count II. Counsel’s admission of liability clearly establishes no defense.
As to Count I, defense counsel simply argued that judgment was premature as the bankruptcy litigation had not yet been concluded and defendant’s liability to plaintiff under the terms of the contingency fee agreement depended on the conclusion. However, counsel did not deny that, when defendant discharged plaintiff, the then status of the case was favorable for defendant and that plaintiiFs discharge made it impossible for the law firm to try to retain the favorable status of the case.
When an attorney with a contingent fee contract is wrongfully discharged (and defendant did not assert at the evidentiary hearing that plaintiiFs discharge was not wrongful), that attorney is entitled to compensation for the reasonable value of his services based upon quantum meruit recovery. Ambrose v Detroit Edison Co, 65 Mich App 484, 491-492; 237 NW2d 520 (1975). Thus, the fact that the bankruptcy litigation was not yet concluded did not constitute a meritorious defense.
Defendant also argues that the default judgment entered against him should be set aside because he did not receive notice of plaintiiFs application for judgment seven days before the hearing on this application. GCR 1963, 520.2(2) provides that if a party appears in an action, he is entitled to at least seven days’ notice before a hearing on any application for default judgment. Despite the conditional language of the rule, both this Court and the Supreme Court have said that notice of default should be sent to the party defaulted. White v Sadler, 350 Mich 511, 519; 87 NW2d 192 (1957); Deeb, supra, p 562.
In this case, defendant filed an answer on the same day as plaintiff filed its application for default judgment. A copy of this answer was served on plaintiff. However, plaintiff nonetheless failed to serve a copy of the default and application for default judgment on defendant.
Plaintiff contends that defendant did not make an appearance and, thus, was not entitled to notice of the application for default judgment. We disagree. Under the principles of Deeb, supra, defendant’s belated filing of an answer constituted an appearance. While this answer did not operate to set aside the default and was ineffective to put the question of liability in dispute until such time as it was set aside, it did constitute an action on the part of defendant which recognized the case as in a court of competent jurisdiction (that is, filing the answer constituted an appearance). Cf. Deeb, supra, pp 563-565. (Appearing at a deposition constituted an appearance for purposes of GCR 1963, 520.2[2].)
In this case, it must be acknowledged that defendant’s appearance was entered after plaintiff’s application for entry of default judgment had been filed. Nonetheless, upon receiving defendant’s answer, plaintiff was minimally required to then serve defendant a copy of the default and application for default judgment. GCR 1963, 107 provides in pertinent part:
"1. Service; When Required.
"(1) Unless otherwise specifically provided by this rule, every party who has filed a pleading, an appearance, or motion shall be served with a copy of every written paper subsequently filed in the action, including a default if one has been entered against him.” (Emphasis added.)
Given this rule and the proposition that a defaulted party should be served with notice of the default, we hold that the default judgment in this case must be set aside to extend defendant an opportunity to contest the amount of damages. Midwest Mental Health Clinic, PC v Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Michigan, 119 Mich App 671, 675; 326 NW2d 599 (1982). The default itself, however, stands and cements the issue of defendant’s liability. Midwest Mental Health, supra.
Defendant also contends that Lawrence Stockier assured defense counsel that no default would be entered if an answer was filed somewhat late. Based upon the alleged stipulation to allow the late filing, defendant asserts that the default should be set aside. We disagree. Attorney Stockier vehemently denies that any such agreement was entered into, the stipulation was not entered in open court, and defendant has not produced a writing subscribed by Stockier or another attorney with Stockler’s firm which allows late filing. Assuming, arguendo, the existence of the oral agreement, GCR 1963, 507.9 precludes its enforcement. See, also, Kibby v Rhoads, 29 Mich App 261, 274; 185 NW2d 117 (1970).
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction. No costs, neither party having prevailed in full. | [
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Allen, J.
Once again we are asked to determine whether a soft-tissue injury with either no or, at most, minimal medical manifestation constitutes "serious impairment of body function” under § 3135 of the no-fault insurance act. (MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135). The case comes to us on the following facts.
On November 24, 1979, the car in which plaintiff was riding as a passenger and which was being driven by plaintiff’s husband was rear-ended by a vehicle driven by defendant, Robert W. Schoolmeester. On February 23, 1982, some two years and three months after the first accident, plaintiff was involved in a second accident, when the car in which she was riding was hit in the rear. The vehicle in the second accident was driven by defendant James E. Groendyke and was owned by defendants Larry and Jacob Huffman. Plaintiff’s complaint against Schoolmeester was filed October 20, 1981, but was settled prior to entry of summary judgment on August 19, 1983, in favor of defendants Groendyke and Larry and Jacob Huffman. Plaintiff appeals as of right from the entry of summary judgment. Schoolmeester is not a party to this appeal.
Plaintiff did not seek medical treatment immediately after the first accident; however, she did go to a hospital emergency room two days later, where she was treated and released, complaining of pain. Thereafter plaintiff began seeing Dr. John Charles Colwill, an orthopedic surgeon, with the first visit being December 6, 1979. Plaintiff also began seeing her family physician, Dr. John N. Campbell, at regular intervals beginning January 29, 1980.
After her second accident, plaintiff was taken to Blodgett Hospital, where she was treated and released. Plaintiff continued to see both Dr. Campbell and Dr. Colwill. Plaintiff testified at her deposition that she was injured in the second accident in the same areas of her back and neck as she was injured in her first accident, with an increase in the pain. She also testified that there are things she can no longer do after the second accident which she could do after the first accident. After the second accident she started to break dishes because of a weakness in her hand, and now her daughter must set the table. Further, she drives less after the second accident than she could after the first. She also testified that after the second accident she could no longer crochet, which she could do a little bit of after the first accident.
Dr. Campbell first saw plaintiff after the second accident on March 9, 1982. He testified at his deposition that during the examination he noted that she had normal strength in her upper extremities, which also had normal sensation, she had normal range of motion in her neck, and there was a mild to moderate tenderness in her neck but the neck was not swollen. Dr. Campbell compared his notes of the examination prior to the second accident with those of the examination after the second accident. He found that the only change in plaintiff’s condition was that, prior to the second accident, she complained of mild pain and after the second accident she complained of mild to moderate pain. Dr. Campbell said that his notes do not reflect any change in body function after the second accident.
Dr. Campbell testified that plaintiff probably had a low threshold of pain and that her complaints of pain were not borne out by objective findings. Dr. Campbell’s diagnosis and treatment remained the same after the second accident. Dr. Campbell reviewed a copy of an x-ray which was taken at Blodgett Hospital immediately after the second accident. Dr. Campbell testified that the x-ray did not disclose any fractures and that the spine, including the neck, was normal. This was not contrary to his diagnosis of neck strain and back strain, as they are soft-tissue damage not detectable on x-ray. Finally, Dr. Campbell testified that plaintiff’s complaints, over time, were the same after the second accident as they were before the second accident.
Dr. Colwill first saw plaintiff after the second accident on March 10, 1982. Dr. Colwill found that plaintiff had a good range of movement in her neck, but with some tenderness. The tenderness was a longstanding complaint. He testified that he did not notice much change from before the second accident to after the second accident, and that his diagnosis of a neck strain and sprain remained the same. He testified that there were no objective findings of any additional problems after the second accident and he could find no "hard objective evidence” of plaintiffs physiologic problems.
The file contains a deposition of Dr. Thomas Allen. Dr. Allen diagnosed plaintiff as having "a loss of the normal cervical lordosis”. He testified that loss of lordosis is often associated with an irritation of the neck, such as a muscle spasm. He also noted that an x-ray disclosed "a suggestion of an evulsion fracture of the spinous process of the first thoracic vertebrae”, but could not determine exactly when the fracture occurred. The fracture was not tender and, therefore, in his opinion, was a more remote problem than the loss of lordosis. He also testified that plaintiff may have had a carpal tunnel syndrome, but that it was unlikely it would have been caused by the accident. Plaintiff had a normal range of motion of her neck during the examination. Dr. Allen found no muscle spasms, but he may have missed them due to plaintiff’s weight.
Dr. Campbell’s deposition was the only one available to the court at the time of the hearing. However, plaintiff’s counsel did bring the existence of the other depositions to the attention of the trial court, and at some length advised the trial court of Dr. Allen’s findings as testified to in his deposition. Thus, for purposes of this appeal, the findings of Dr. Allen and Dr. Colwill, as stated in their depositions, are considered part of the record on appeal. Given the facts as they appear in the several depositions, the single question before us is whether, as a matter of law, plaintiif did not sustain "serious impairment of body function”.
In Cassidy v McGovern, 415 Mich 483; 330 NW2d 22 (1982), the Supreme Court ruled that, in certain instances, the trial court might rule on the threshold issue of serious impairment of a bodily function as a matter of law, rather than referring that question to the trier of fact. In so ruling, the Supreme Court recognized that defining what would constitute those "certain instances” was not susceptible of a simple definition but would have to be developed on a case-by-case basis. Id., p 503.
However, the Court did set forth some guidelines for determining whether an injury met the threshold. The Court noted that pain and suffering is not recoverable per se, but only when it arises out of an injury which affects the functioning of the body. It also noted that an injury need not be permanent in order to be serious under the Cassidy standard. In looking at the facts of the cases before the Court in Cassidy, the Court found that bumps and bruises, as well as back and neck pain, which presented no problem after two months, did not constitute a serious impairment of body function under the Cassidy standard. It did find that a broken leg, since it impairs walking, is a serious impairment of body function under the Cassidy standard.
Three recent decisions of this Court have expanded upon the Cassidy guidelines. McDonald v Oberlin, 127 Mich App 73; 338 NW2d 725 (1983); Williams v Payne, 131 Mich App 403; 346 NW2d 564 (1984); Braden v Lee, 133 Mich App 215; 348 NW2d 63 (1984). In McDonald, plaintiff had been off work for a three-month period of time, was not confined to bed, was not incapacitated by her pain and discomfort, and was able to engage in normal activities which did not interfere with her normal life style. On appeal, we found no serious impairment of bodily function.
In Williams, plaintiff, Hattie Williams, sustained an injury to the base of her right thumb. The thumb was not fractured nor were there other medical abnormalities. She experienced pain, diagnosed as either a sprained ligament or as tendonitis. It was difficult for her to perform household tasks, but there were no specific chores she was unable to do. As in the instant case, her injuries were soft-tissue injuries and not subject to medical measurement. This Court found that while her injuries had an objective manifestation in the form of pain, the Court read Cassidy as requiring that the injuries, and not the pain, be medically substantiated through objective manifestation. Therefore, while Hattie Williams’ pain was manifested, her injuries were not objectively manifested under the Cassidy standard. Thus, pain which is not substantiated medically does not meet the threshold requirement for serious impairment of body function. In short, "pain and suffering is not sufficient to meet the threshold”.
Hattie’s husband, Abraham, was also injured in the accident. Abraham complained of pain in his left shoulder, legs and back. The examining physician did not notice any medical abnormalities, with the exception of a slight limitation of movement in the shoulder. Another physician testified that Abraham experienced limited movement in the hips and neck. Finally, Abraham testified that he had to be transferred to another job because he had difficulty in lifting and grasping with his left hand. This Court held that, while Abraham’s case for serious impairment of a body function was stronger than Hattie’s, his injuries fell short of the Cassidy threshold. There was no objective manifestation of his injuries. The Court noted that while "his injuries no doubt impaired his ability to work, x-ray results were negative and no neurological disorder was found”. 131 Mich App 411. Thus, this Court found that Abraham was left to his no-fault remedies for his noneconomic losses.
In Braden, plaintiff sustained injuries to his left hand and to his back, ligaments and other soft tissues. One month after the accident he began to experience numbness in his right hand. He returned to work four months after the accident against the advice of his personal physician and was treated for injuries to the left hand and accompanying pain. Following his return to work, he worked steadily but complained of pain in the left hand with morning swelling. He complained that he could not do certain household chores, such as raking leaves and sweeping, without pain. His own medical witness stated that he could not reach a definite diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis but it was a possible diagnosis. Defendant’s medical witness testified that he did not believe plaintiff was disabled and examination revealed no abnormality in plaintiffs hands. The trial court granted summary judgment to defendant. On appeal, we affirmed saying:
"Plaintiff was not incapacitated by his injuries nor did they interfere in any significant manner with his normal life style. Although plaintiff indicated that he continues to experience pain due to his injuries, recovery for noneconomic losses is not predicated upon serious pain and suffering but on objectively manifested injuries which affect the functioning of the body. Cassidy, supra, p 505. Plaintiff’s injuries were not sufficiently serious to meet the minimum threshold level for recovery. Nor do we find that plaintiff’s other injuries create a factual dispute which straddles the line demarcating those injuries which constitute serious impairment of body function and those which do not. Plaintiff’s injuries did not prevent him from performing those tasks related to his employment nor did they interfere with his general ability to live a normal life.” 133 Mich App 218-219. (Emphasis added.)
Based upon the guidelines set forth in the foregoing post-Cassidy cases, we conclude that plaintiffs injuries in the instant case do not meet the threshold required under the no-fault act. Plaintiffs attending physician, Dr. Campbell, testified at his deposition that there were no objective findings consistent with the pain that plaintiff complained of. Plaintiffs other attending physician, Dr. Col-will, also testified at deposition that there were no objective findings by him of plaintiffs injuries. Although a third physician, Dr. Allen, discovered a loss of the normal cervical lordosis, he testified that there were no objective findings of the cause of the loss of lordosis, with several potential factors. Further, Dr. Allen related plaintiffs weakness in the arm and hand to an elbow injury which plaintiff had sustained prior to the first automobile accident and believed it was unlikely that either automobile accident caused plaintiffs hand difficulties. It should also be noted that Dr. Allen found that plaintiffs neck injury did not prevent a normal range of motion.
Plaintiff argues that the loss of cervical lordosis, testified to in Dr. Allen’s deposition and since confirmed by an x-ray, meets the "medical manifestation” requirement imposed by Williams, supra. Further, plaintiff contends that, unlike the situation in Williams, plaintiffs life style in the instant case was substantially affected. We disagree on both grounds. Dr. Allen’s testimony regarding "medical manifestation” was so qualified and tentative that we find it insufficient for the purposes for which it was offered. As noted earlier, Dr. Allen found no objective findings of the cause of the lordosis. Further, he examined plaintiff only once; Dr. Campbell examined plaintiff over an extended period of time.
While there is testimony that plaintiff experienced difficulties in her daily life, i.e., dropping plates, inability to crochet, and difficulty in driving, we do not find that such difficulties interfered "in any significant manner” with plaintiffs normal life style, as required under this Court’s opinion in Braden. Further, nothing in the record suggests that plaintiff is unable to engage in gainful employment in an area which does not require lifting over the weight restrictions imposed by Dr. Campbell. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment for defendants.
Finally, we disagree that summary judgment should have been granted in favor of plaintiff. In addition to the reasons heretofore set forth for denying relief to plaintiff, the depositions of plain tiffs own physicians create great doubt as to whether her injuries were caused by the first accident or the second accident. We believe that there does exist a genuine issue of material fact as to which accident is responsible for plaintiff’s injuries, thus precluding summary judgment in favor of plaintiff. GCR 1963, 117.2(3).
Affirmed. Costs to defendants.
Normal cervical lordosis is the natural curvature of the neck.
Prior to Cassidy, the prevailing rule was that whether an injury constituted "serious impairment of body function” was a question of fact to be decided by the trier of fact, except in those infrequent instances where the trier of fact could not reasonably differ as to whether the injuries were so severe or so minimal that the Court itself could rule on the question as a matter of law. Abraham v Jackson, 102 Mich App 567, 570; 302 NW2d 235 (1980).
"Additionally, Mrs. Williams’ soft-tissue injuries were not subject to medical measurement. Thus, they are not 'objectively manifested’ in a scientific or medical context. The symptoms of her injuries, however, have found objective manifestation: pain makes certain activities difficult. The Cassidy opinion did not expressly designate which standard of manifestation to employ, objective medical measurements of injury or a patient’s complaints of pain substantiated only by the patient’s limited activities. We conclude that Mrs. Williams’ injuries are not 'objectively manifested’ within the meaning of Cassidy.” 131 Mich App 409-410. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant pled guilty to two counts of uttering and publishing, MCL 750.249; MSA 28.446, and to being an habitual offender, fourth offense, MCL 769.12; MSA 28.1084, and agreed to the late filing of the supplemental information charging him as an habitual offender in exchange for dismissal of charges of false pretenses with intent to defraud of property worth more than $100, MCL 750.218; MSA 28.415, and being an habitual offender, fourth offense, MCL 769.12; MSA 28.1084, on the same charge. The trial court first imposed and then vacated sentences of eight to tweleve years on each of the uttering and publishing convictions and then entered a sentence of twelve to thirty years on the habitual offender, fourth offense plea. The defendant appeals as of right.
The defendant first argues that the magistrate abused his discretion in binding him over to circuit court. The defendant’s failure to move to quash the charges in circuit court precludes appellate review of this issue. People v Eagen, 136 Mich App 524, 528; 357 NW2d 710 (1984). Cf., People v Schaffer, 129 Mich App 287, 289; 341 NW2d 507 (1983), lv den 419 Mich 860 (1984) (issue preserved with a motion to quash).
The defendant next argues that there was an insufficient factual basis in the record for the circuit court’s acceptance of his guilty plea on the uttering and publishing counts. A factual basis is sufficient if an inculpatory inference can be drawn from what the defendant has admitted, despite the fact that an exculpatory reference can also be drawn. Guilty Plea Cases, 395 Mich 96; 235 NW2d 132 (1975); People v Clark, 129 Mich App 119; 341 NW2d 248 (1983); People v Bradford, 144 Mich App 416; 375 NW2d 764 (1985).
Michigan’s uttering and publishing statute provides:
Any person who shall utter and publish as true, any false, forged, altered or counterfeit record, deed, instrument or other writing mentioned in the preceding section, knowing the same to be false, altered, forged or counterfeit, with intent to injure or defraud as aforesaid, shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not more than 14 years. [MCL 750.249; MSA 28.446.]
The following colloquy occurred at the defendant’s plea hearing:
The Court: What did you do?
Mr. Rashid: Well, I went in and I attempted to— well, I went in and opened the charge account in the name of another person whose name was Richard Mossman and identified myself as that person and signed an agreement with Meyers to open a charge account and make regular payments on it.
Mr. Spiekerman: Your Honor, may I ask a question or two?
The Court: Yes.
Mr. Spiekerman: You weren’t Richard Mossman, is that correct?
Mr. Rashid: No, I was not Richard Mossman.
Mr. Spiekerman: At the time you signed that agreement, you knew you were not—you knew that was a false agreement, is that correct?
Mr. Rashid: Correct.
Mr. Spiekerman: And based on that agreement, you did obtain a watch and a ring, is that correct?
Mr. Rashid: Correct.
Mr. Spiekerman: The People are satisfied.
The Court: You had no authority to use Mr. Rose or Mossman rather?
Mr. Rashid: No.
The Court: Am I right?
Mr. Rashid: Right.
The Court: You did that intending to defraud the store?
Mr. Rashid: Correct.
The defendant argues that the credit sale did not constitute forgery, but merely a misrepresentation of identity. In People v Hodgins, 85 Mich App 62; 270 NW2d 527 (1978), the Court held that the defendant did not commit forgery in using a check on an account that she opened with stolen identification in the name of another, but using her own funds. The charge of forgery in Hodgins was based on the fact that the defendant used one of the checks she had obtained from the bank when attempting to purchase a tv set, not on her opening of the account. Here the charges were based both on the use of the credit card and in the opening of the account. This case would instead be more closely analogous to People v Van Horn, 127 Mich App 489; 339 NW2d 475 (1983), in which this Court held that there was sufficient evidence of forgery in the defendant’s unauthorized transfer of funds from his uncle’s savings account into a new account, opened by the defendant in his uncle’s name, and the subsequent unauthorized withdrawal of funds from the new account by the defendant. However, the Van Horn Court held that the forgery was not complete until the defendant presented the withdrawal slip on the new account. Van Horn, supra, p 492.
Here the defendant also argues that there is no factual basis to establish that he signed a credit sales slip which, in effect, would complete the "withdrawal” from the credit account. However, the defendant did testify that, "based on that agreement,” he obtained the watch and the ring. We believe that it would be possible to infer that the transactions by which the defendant obtained the watch and the ring were ordinary credit purchases in which a credit sales slip was signed. In doing so, we believe that the instant case is indistinguishable from People v Hester, 24 Mich App 475; 180 NW2d 360 (1970), and People v Ford, 417 Mich 66; 331 NW2d 878 (1982), in which the act of forgery was the act of signing the credit sales slip on an account both opened by and in the name of another individual.
In a related issue, the defendant argues that there was no factual basis in the record for other charges withdrawn by the prosecution in exchange for the defendant’s guilty plea. In People v Majors, 104 Mich App 684; 305 NW2d 293 (1981), we required the prosecution to establish a factual basis for both unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle and receiving and concealing stolen property if it was suggested in the plea-taking procedure on remand that the defendant’s plea was in exchange for dropping either charge. Majors, supra, p 688. However, in Majors we held that the plea bargain was illusory because the prosecution could not have obtained a conviction on both charges. Here the defendant does not argue that his plea bargain was illusory in that sense. We decline to extend the relief provided in Majors to establish a general requirement that other crimes be supported by the record. It is sufficient if the record establishes that the defendant is guilty of the offense charged or the offense to which he or she has pled. MCR 6.101(F)(3)(a). In view of the fact that we find sufficient facts of record to estab lish the defendant’s guilt on the uttering and publishing counts, we find no merit in his contention that failure to establish the corpus delicti was a violation of his due process rights. People v Hampton, 407 Mich 354; 285 NW2d 284 (1979), cert den 449 US 885; 101 St Ct 239; 66 L Ed 2d 110 (1980).
The defendant next argues that the trial court erred by accepting his guilty plea on the habitual offender charge. The defendant argues that since the prosecution failed to file a supplemental information on the habitual offender charge within fourteen days of his arraignment, as required by People v Shelton, 412 Mich 565; 315 NW2d 537 (1982), the trial court lacked jurisdiction to accept his plea. The Court in Shelton did not consider whether the fourteen-day period allowed the prosecution was jurisdictional. The defendant argues that the fourteen-day period is analogous to a 180-day or speedy trial claim. This Court is currently split on whether a plea of guilty waives a speedy trial or 180-day claim. Compare People v Parshay, 104 Mich App 411, 414; 304 NW2d 593 (1981), lv den 411 Mich 1081 (1981) (nonjurisdictional and waived), with People v Davis, 123 Mich App 553, 558-559; 332 NW2d 606 (1983) (jurisdictional and not waived). However, we believe that the fourteen-day Shelton rule is more closely analogous to the twelve-day rule of MCL 766.4; MSA 28.922, which we have held to be nonjurisdictional and therefore waivable by a guilty plea. People v Dunson, 139 Mich App 511; 363 NW2d 16 (1984). As we explained:
The defect of not bringing defendant to a timely preliminary examination is not, however, jurisdictional. MCL 766.7; MSA 28.925 provides that the magistrate may adjourn or continue the examina tion beyond the 12-day limitation "for good cause shown” and explicitly states that "[a]n action on the part of the magistrate in adjourning or continuing any case, shall not cause the magistrate to lose jurisdiction of the case”. Thus, the Legislature has provided that in situations such as the one now before this Court, a delay beyond 12 days due to an adjournment does not deprive the magistrate of jurisdiction. In addition, the recorder’s court judge who accepted the guilty plea was not without jurisdiction to take the plea because a preliminary examination is not an absolute prerequisite to the court’s acquiring jurisdiction in light of the statutory provision permitting a defendant to waive his right to a preliminary examination. MCL 767.42(1); MSA 28.982(1); People v Hall, 97 Mich App 143, 147; 293 NW2d 742 (1980), aff'd 418 Mich 189; 341 NW2d 436 (1983).
The defect is also not one which would bar the trial of defendant. Even if a particular trial might be barred by the failure to hold the preliminary examination in a timely fashion, the state is still fully authorized to bring defendant to trial again. [Emphasis in original. Dunson, supra, p 513.]
The fourteen-day Shelton rule is, like the twelve-day rule, subject to exception. Shelton, supra, p 568. In addition, the fourteen-day Shelton rule is similarly based on the date of the arraignment. Shelton, supra, p 569. Since Shelton and People v Fountain, 407 Mich 96; 282 NW2d 168 (1979), were decided after the defendant’s conviction on the underlying charge, it is unclear whether the prosecution would be precluded from bringing the underlying charge again if the charge was voluntarily dismissed. However, as the Shelton Court explained:
The purpose of requiring a prosecutor to proceed "promptly” to file the supplemental information is to provide the accused with notice, at an early stage in the proceedings, of the potential consequences should the accused be convicted of the underlying offense. [Shelton, supra, p 569.]
Based upon that reasoning, we do not believe that Shelton itself would preclude the voluntary dismissal of the underlying charge and simultaneous refiling of both charges. Thus, we hold that the fourteen-day rule is nonjurisdictional and that defendant’s waiver of the issue was properly accepted by the trial court.
The defendant next argues that the trial court improperly engaged in sentence bargaining. It is clear that a trial court may not engage in negotiation of the plea bargain itself. People v Killebrew, 416 Mich 189, 205; 330 NW2d 834 (1982). However, a trial court may accept a plea agreement, including the sentence recommendation agreed upon by the prosecution and the defendant. Killebrew, supra, p 207. Here the trial court did no more than note the fact that it had accepted the plea agreement.
Finally, the defendant argues that the trial court violated the plea agreement by sentencing him to a prison term of more than five years. The plea agreement, as stated by counsel for the defendant, was as follows:
Mr. Rashid agreed to plead guilty if the sentence were not more than five years, and there was to be an order for good time under that, you then delayed sentence until October and made certain agreements with Mr. Rashid. Among those agreements were that if he committed a crime during the delayed period, you would then no longer be held to the five year agreement.
Sentencing was delayed. However, the defendant did commit another crime while sentencing was delayed. The defendant does not now challenge the fact that he had not yet been convicted of the crime, but we note that there was testimony of a confession by the defendant which he did not deny giving. The trial court properly considered that testimony in sentencing the defendant. People McCuaig, 126 Mich App 754, 762; 338 NW2d (1983), lv den 419 Mich 876 (1984).
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Cynar, J.
Plaintiffs, Paul Perry and his wife, Sharon Perry, filed a complaint against defendant, McLouth Steel Corporation, in Wayne Circuit Court alleging that plaintiff was injured while working on defendant’s premises. On October 17, 1984, the jury found that defendant was not negligent, and a judgment of no cause of action in favor of defendant was subsequently entered. On December 21, 1984, the circuit court judge entered an order denying plaintiffs’ motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, alternatively, a new trial. Plaintiffs appeal as of right.
Plaintiff was an ironworker employed by Michigan Boiler and Engineering Company, Inc. Defendant had contracted with Michigan Boiler to reline a blast furnace at defendant’s Trenton steel mill. While working at the mill in August, 1979, plaintiff slipped in an open trench and injured his knee. As a result of his injury, he was unable to return to work until December, 1981.
Evidence was presented at the trial that the air inside the mill was thick with "coke breeze” and that the floor was constantly littered with taconite pellets. Trenches, measuring approximately a foot deep, were built into the floor to collect water. When the coke breeze settled on top of the water in the trenches, the water became indistinguishable from the concrete floor and it was almost impossible to see the trench. For this reason, grates were required on top of the trenches. However, personnel were occasionally required to remove the grates in order to clean the trenches. While it was not established who removed the grate covering the trench into which plaintiff fell nor how long the grate had been missing, evidence was presented that Michigan Boiler’s contract with defendant did not extend to maintaining or repairing the trenches.
Plaintiffs’ claim proceeded to trial on three alternate theories: first, that defendant, as property owner, was negligent in maintaining the premises; second, that defendant had retained control over the work site; and third, that the work was inherently dangerous. Defendant’s theory of defense, as set forth in its trial brief, was that Michigan Boiler was in complete control of the work and that defendant could not be held legally responsible for Michigan Boiler’s negligence. In his opening statement, counsel for defendant argued that under McLouth’s contract with Michigan Boiler reasonable measures were taken to keep the premises safe. Counsel further stated that, under its contract, Michigan Boiler was "charged with the duty of looking after safety.”
At the conclusion of plaintiffs’ proofs, the trial court granted a directed verdict in favor of defendant on the issues of retained control and inherently dangerous activity. The court found that plaintiffs’ claim was "a straight negligence case” involving premises liability and that plaintiffs’ alternative theories were irrelevant. Accordingly, the parties’ closing arguments were limited to whether defendant had reasonably exercised its duties to plaintiff.
Following deliberations, the jury found that defendant was not negligent.
On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on an applicable jury instruction requested by plaintiffs. Under OCR 1963, 516.6(2), now MCR 2.516(D)(2), the trial court is required to give pertinent portions of the Michigan Standard Jury Instructions if they are applicable and accurately state the law. The trial court has discretion to determine the applicability of a requested sji. Johnson v Corbet, 423 Mich 304, 326-327; 377 NW2d 713 (1985). If the court determines that the instruction is applicable, it is required to instruct the jury accordingly. However, failure to give the instruction will not result in reversal unless failure to set aside the verdict would be "inconsistent with substantial justice.” 423 Mich 326; Cornforth v Borman’s, Inc, 148 Mich App 469; 385 NW2d 645 (1986).
Plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in failing to give SJI2d 19:10, which reads:
A possessor or occupier of [land/premises/a place of business] who> owes a duty to [name of plaintiff] may not delegate the responsibility to another and thus avoid liability.
The Note on Use following the instruction provides that the instruction should be given if an issue is raised at trial that the occupier or possessor of property has attempted to delegate its duty regarding the premises by either a lease agreement, a contract, or the employment of an independent contractor.
The trial court found that SJI2d 19:10 was inapplicable. The court found that the requested instruction only applied to those situations in which the premises owner attempted to deny that it had a duty to the plaintiff. The court distinguished between denying liability on the basis that defendant had delegated its responsibility to Michigan Boiler and, thus, owed no duty to plaintiff and denying liability on the grounds that defendant had exercised its duty of ordinary care:
If the defendant makes some attempt to argue
"Look we do not owe the duty of ordinary care because we had an arrangement with a third party that rid ourselves of it.” This instruction is designed to disabuse the jury of that notion. That isn’t what happened in this case. That is not what occurred.
The Defendant in this case made no such attempt, it contended that it had in fact exercised this duty of ordinary care and part of its response to fulfill its duty may have had to do with its relationship to the Plaintiffs own employer. But the mere fact that the Defendant’s factual defense refers to the relationship between itself and a party with whom it has contracted is not the same thing as saying that the Defendant has attempted to rid itself, to tell the jury that it has rid itself of ordinary care. Those are two quite different things.
We agree with the court’s interpretation of the instruction. A viable distinction can be drawn between a theory of defense which refers to the contractual relationship between the premises owner and contractor and a defense in which the property owner attempts to deny that it owed a duty of ordinary care. In our opinion, SJI2d 19:10 need only be given in those instances in which the defendant attempts to argue that it has delegated or rid itself of any duty owed to plaintiff, either by the terms of the contract or because any negligence was attributable to the contractor. However, that does not end our inquiry. We must still determine whether the court abused its discretion in finding that SJI2d 19:10 was inapplicable. Resolution of this question requires careful scrutiny of the record in order to determine whether McLouth raised the issue of delegation of duty during the trial.
Our examination commences with the testimony of Larry Mates, the only witness presented on behalf of defendant. Mates was employed as safety director for Michigan Boiler and worked in that capacity during the relining of the blast furnace. He testified that, according to the job specifications he was given by defendant, Michigan Boiler was "responsible for people and the safety of our people on that project.” In his capacity as safety director, Mates was present on the job twelve to fourteen hours a day. He supervised the area for safety problems and, if a danger was brought to his attention, Mates ensured that it was corrected. Additional safety measures included weekly safety meetings with various union stewards and a medical trailer on the job site.
Evidence regarding safety measures was also adduced during defendant’s cross-examination of John Kline. Kline was employed by Michigan Boiler as union steward for the iron workers. As union steward, Kline was responsible for examining the work area for safety hazards. If an unsafe condition arose, Kline would notify Mates; if the condition was extreme, Kline would stop the job.
Joseph Turek, chief engineer of McLouth in August, 1979, was called by plaintiffs as an adverse witness. Turek’s testimony was primarily directed to the question of control. He testified that McLouth retained Arnold and Associates to prepare the specifications for the job and supervise the quality of the work. Under the contract, Michigan Boiler was not responsible for the trenches. In response to a question posed by defense counsel, Turek stated that the contract did have a section dealing with safety and that it specified that Michigan Boiler was in charge of safety in the area in which it was working.
Theodore Main was also called as an adverse witness. Main was employed as supervisor of safety for McLouth. He testified that, while he normally inspected the blast furnace areas twice a week, he did not do so from June until August, 1979. When questioned by defense counsel, Main explained that he did not examine the area during this period because it was under the control of Michigan Boiler and the contractor was maintaining daily safety inspections.
Larry Hayes, a safety inspector, was called as an expert witness on behalf of plaintiffs. Hayes testified that he visited the job site in late 1981 or early 1982. He stated that an open drainage trench presented a "high risk hazard” to anyone in the workplace. In his opinion, defendant should have known of the hazárd. He also believed that continuing inspections should have been made by defendant in all areas of the facility and that defendant failed to take reasonable steps to guard against the hazard. Hayes concluded that, in his experience, it was an industry practice for the owner to inspect the floor for safety hazards.
On cross-examination, defense counsel inquired whether Michigan Boiler, which had been charged with inspecting for safety, should have been responsible for general "housekeeping” measures. Hayes reiterated his earlier answer that defendant, as owner of the premises, was responsible for general clean-up and safety measures.
We next turn our attention to defendant’s closing argument. In his argument, defense counsel described the instant case as a "negligence case, a premises liability case” and explained the relevant law as follows:
Now, the law says that someone in the position of my client, a property owner, premises owner, whether they own a house, a doll factory or in this case a steel mill, has some duties to someone in Mr. Perry’s position. That duty, ladies and gentlemen, is simply this, a duty of reasonable care, reasonable care under the circumstances to look out for conditions on the premises, to discover and reasonable care was required.
Mr. Schefman said he would prove that we rolled the dice as to Mr. Perry’s safety. The Judge will tell you the law which is this, if we used reasonable care, then we are not liable for money damages and that is what you are going to have to decide whether or not those facts line up that have been put into evidence to show that we failed to use reasonable care. The Judge will also indicate to you what the law is, that because the premises owner or property owner is not an absolute insurer, and by that, he means that every single thing that happens on the property on a house or steel mill is not necessarily going to result in an award of damages against the owner. You have to find, ladies and gentlemen, that there was a failure to use reasonable care.
Additionally, there has to be notice, the property owner knows or should know, if he didn’t know, did he take reasonable care to try and discover conditions, did he take reasonable care, that is what the case is, and that is the law.
Counsel then enumerated the steps defendant had taken to exercise care:
Ladies and gentlemen, that project was done under a contract and we brought Michigan Boiler in to do it and we paid 13 million dollars for this job and one of the things we got in that contract, we got Larry Mates, Director of Safety on that site from May to August, 12 to 14 hours a day. We had safety men around the clock 24 hours on that site, union stewards also looking out for safety, doing inspections; a nurse around the clock; and ambulance around the clock and does Mr. Schefman expect you to believe that was a gift, that that doesn’t cost?
. . . Mr. Mates has indicated, his understand ing and it is certainly his job, that when he is in an area, he is going to look out for any safety conditions, any, period. It would be foolish to make a list to check only safety on this, this, and this. We didn’t do that. What did we do? What did we do to him? He had weekly meetings, ladies and gentlemen, weekly meetings of the safety men and union stewards. Any problems with safety, let’s discuss them, let’s find them, let’s correct them, and that is reasonable care.
Finally, we examine the court’s instructions to the jury. As defense counsel predicted, the court instructed the jury on premises liability.
Now, in this particular kind of negligence case, and it is a negligence case brought against the possessor of the premises. Now, the law has encountered this kind of case often enough that it has supplied that standard of negligence, the general standard that I read to you and interpreted what that means in this particular negligence case; so, I will tell you what that standard is. It was the duty of the possessor of the premises in question, and in this case, the Defendant McLouth Steel to exercise reasonable care for the protection of an invitee, such as Mr. Perry was in this case. The possessor must warn the invitee of dangers of which he knows or has created, and must inspect the premises to discover possible dangerous conditions of which he does not know. He must take reasonable precautions to protect an invitee from dangers that are foreseeable. However, the possessor of the premises is not an insurer of safety of an invitee, and his duty is only to exercise reasonable care for an invitee’s protection; the mere existence of defect or danger is not enough to establish liability, unless it is shown to be such a character or of such duration that it would have been discovered by a reasonably careful person.
After reviewing the above, we are not persuaded that delegation of duty was raised as an issue in this case. While we recognize that defense counsel did on occasion suggest that Michigan Boiler was responsible for safety in the area, these references were isolated and often intertwined with the issue of control. Furthermore, defendant’s closing argument crystallized its theory of defense and successfully negated any suggestion that it had delegated its duty to plaintiff under the terms of its contract with Michigan Boiler. If the evidence presented during trial did create any confusion in the minds of the jurors regarding defendant’s legal duty, defense counsel’s argument coupled with the court’s instructions sufficiently dispelled any questions which were raised. In closing, defendant did not deny that a duty existed nor did it argue that any negligence which had occurred was attributable to the independent contractor. Rather, defendant readily acknowledged its own liability and articulated the measures it had taken to exercise its duty. We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to give the requested instruction.
Neither are we convinced that McCord v United States Gypsum Co, 5 Mich App 126; 145 NW2d 841 (1966), compels a contrary conclusion. In McCord, the defendant premises owner sought to introduce into evidence its contract with the independent contractor in order to establish that the contract had discharged the defendant’s duty to warn a business invitee of a dangerous condition on the premises. This Court agreed that the evidence was properly excluded: "It is generally agreed that the obligation as to the condition of the premises is of such importance that it cannot be delegated.” 5 Mich App 130, quoting Prosser, Torts (2d ed), § 61, p 404. We agree with the trial court that McCord deals with the question of a legal duty. Since we have found, as discussed above, that defendant did not deny the existence of a legal duty, we do not believe that the trial court’s decision was contrary to McCord.
Plaintiff also argues that the trial court erred in granting defendant’s motion for directed verdict on the issues of retained control and inherently dangerous activity. Plaintiff argues that inherently dangerous activity and retained control are factual issues to be decided by the trier of fact.
Although the trial court’s ruling on defendant’s motion for directed verdict is unclear, its subsequent actions effectively constituted a grant of the motion, and we will treat the issue accordingly. A defendant is entitled to a directed verdict if the plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie case. Young v E W Bliss Co, 130 Mich App 363; 343 NW2d 553 (1983). In considering defendant’s motion for a directed verdict, the trial court must view the evidence and all legitimate inferences therefrom in a light most favorable to the plaintiff. Ransford v Detroit Edison Co, 124 Mich App 537; 335 NW2d 211 (1983).
The doctrine of retained control was explained is Funk v General Motors Corp, 392 Mich 91; 220 NW2d 641 (1974). In Funk, the Supreme Court affirmed the general rule that a landowner is not responsible for injuries caused by a carefully selected contractor to whom he has delegated the task of erecting a structure. However, the Court went on to explain that if the owner retains control of the work or if, by rule of law or statute, the duty to guard against the risk is nondelegable, liability may be imposed on the owner for the contractor’s negligence.
"One who entrusts work to an independent contractor, but who retains control of any part of the work, is subject to liability for physical harm to others for whose safety the employer owes a duty to exercise reasonable care, which is caused by his failure to exercise his control with reasonable care.” Dowell v General Telephone Co of Michigan, 85 Mich App 84, 94; 270 NW2d 711 (1978), lv den 405 Mich 803 (1979), quoting 2 Restatement Torts, 2d § 414, p 387. In Dowell, this Court held that control was a close question and it was properly submitted to the jury, Dowell, supra, pp 94-95. In Warren v McLouth Steel Corp, 111 Mich App 496, 502-503; 314 NW2d 666 (1981), lv den 417 Mich 941 (1982), this Court held that a motion for directed verdict made by defendant on plaintiffs claim that defendant retained control over an independent contractor was properly denied where there was evidence that the work of the independent contractor was inspected daily by an employee of defendant, the contract and specifications for the job were written by defendant, and defendant retained the right to discharge the employees of the contractor under certain circumstances. See also Thon v Saginaw Paint Manufacturing Co, 120 Mich App 745, 750; 327 NW2d 551 (1982). However, this Court has also held that mere contractual control, safety inspections and general oversight do not constitute, as a matter of law, the necessary control to hold the owner vicariously liable. Miller v Great Lakes Steel Corp, 112 Mich App 122, 127; 315 NW2d 558 (1982). See, also, Erickson v Pure Oil Corp, 72 Mich App 330; 249 NW2d 411 (1976), lv den 400 Mich 859 (1977) (right to terminate anyone who did not comply with owner’s rules and regulations); Markward & Karafilis, Inc v Detroit Osteopathic Hospital Corp, 77 Mich App 728; 258 NW2d 161 (1977) (specification of safety requirements alone); Signs v The Detroit Edison Co, 93 Mich App 626; 287 NW2d 292 (1979), lv den 411 Mich 870 (1981) (inspecting for quality of the work).
In the instant case, the court directed a verdict on the retained control theory based on its finding that the theory was irrelevant to the case. At the hearing on the motion, the following exchange took place:
The Court: Why isn’t this just and ordinary case of premise liability? Funk versus General Motor [sic] talks about liability, vicarious liability of an owner, of an owner, their work done by someone that he hires.
Now, the work, if the contracting party here wasn’t doing anything that related to these trenches, as far as removal or replacing the covers, it seems to me that, unless I have missed something, this doesn’t involve the exemption from liability from which the Funk versus General Motor [sic] was involved.
Mr. Hoffman [Defendant’s Counsel]: I think, your Honor, may well be correct in that regard. The issue of inherently dangerous—I didn’t start this litigation.
The Court: Don’t you understand this is not a case where someone is trying to sue McLouth Steel on account of some activity of Michigan Boiler and Engineering Company?
Mr. Schefman [Plaintiffs’ Counsel]: That is right.
The Court: Then why, do you handicap yourself by raising these?
Mr. Schefman: I handicap myself, your Honor, because it was raised and their answers have been affirmative defense and I felt we had an obligation to meet it.
The Court: I think you have allowed yourself to be drawn into the wrong arena. You are fighting the battle on his turf. This is an ordinary premise liability case, I think, and I am just thinking outloud [sic] here.
The Court: Well, I don’t think this case, Funk versus General Motors, to tell you the truth is—
Mr. Schefman (interposing): Your Honor, I would move that defense be stricken.
Mr. Hoffman: It is not a defense.
The Court: All that matters is on what theory of liability you will submit the case to the jury.
Mr. Schefman: If I may make our position clear, your Honor, it is our position that it ought to be submitted to the jury on some theory and frankly Funk doesn’t apply, so why waste anymore time with it?
The Court: I don’t think it does. This is a waste, if I can rely on what you both tell me, that and the evidence, that this is a case where only the defendant was involved in maintaining this item, that the chances are that if anyone left the trench uncovered, it was the defendant, not Michigan Boiler and that this is a straight negligence case of the premise liability. This is a slip and fall case. Was that an unreasonable dangerous condition and did the defendant have actual or constructive knowledge of it?
Mr. Schefman: If that is the case, your Honor, I am happy to submit it to the jury on that basis.
The Court: Well, no other theories make any sense to me and I—
Mr. Schefman (interposing): Then you just simplify this case a great deal judge.
We agree with the trial court that the retained control theory was inapplicable to the facts in the case. Plaintiffs did not argue that defendant exercised its retained control of the work improperly, but, rather, their claim was based on the condition of the premises. Under plaintiffs’ theory of the case, defendant was not vicariously liable for the negligence of the contractor but rather was personally liable as owner of the premises. The retained control theory exists as an exception to the general rule regarding an owner’s liability for a contractor’s negligence. Neither the general rule nor the exception is relevant to plaintiffs’ premises liability theory. Plaintiffs’ attorney conceded below that the retained control theory was inapposite and indicated his agreement with the court’s analysis. Accordingly, we conclude that it was proper for the court to direct a verdict on the retained control theory.
Plaintiffs also argue that the court erred in granting a directed verdict on the issue of inherently dangerous activity. After hearing the parties’ arguments, the court concluded that plaintiff’s fall in the trench did not constitute an inherently dangerous activity. The court reasoned that the risk involved, a slip and fall, was an ordinary risk, "faced by all of mankind, everyday in some degree or another . . . .” Plaintiffs contend that the issue of inherent dangerousness is a question for the jury and is not a proper subject for directed verdict.
The inherently dangerous doctrine is closely related to strict liability. McDonough v General Motors Corp, 388 Mich 430; 201 NW2d 609 (1972). If the work is found to be inherently dangerous, the employer cannot delegate to the contractor the duty to see that the necessary care is taken and thereby escape liability. Id. In Dowell v General Telephone, supra, p 91, this Court defined the term "inherently dangerous” as that type of danger which inheres in an instrumentality or condition itself at all times, thereby requiring special precautions to be taken with respect to it in order to prevent injury.
In Funk v General Motors, supra, p 101, the Court stated that the determination of what constitutes a nondelegable duty presents a policy question as to whether the public interest warrants imposition upon a person who has delegated a task the duty to guard against the risks which are implicit in the performance of the task. Funk involved a construction job where the plaintiff, a journeyman plumber, was injured after he fell through an opening in the roof. In spite of the fact that plaintiffs job required him to climb onto the steel beams (albeit not the roof), the Court concluded that it was not an “unusual construction job.”
The risk—slip and fall—was not unique. Reasonable safeguards against injury could readily have been provided by taking well-recognized safety measures. The owner appears to have selected a responsible, experienced contractor. We are not persuaded that the imposition of enterprise responsibility on this owner, qua owner, is justified and, therefore, order a new trial as to General Motors because, although the jury could have properly returned a verdict against General Motors on the basis of its exercise of retained control, the jury may have found against General Motors as owner on the alternative theory of liability which should not have been submitted.” [392 Mich 110-111.]
Following Funk, this Court has had several opportunities to consider the inherently dangerous activity doctrine. In Dowell, supra, the plaintiff, a journeyman lineman, was injured while he was transferring telephone cables from an existing pole to a new pole. Conflicting evidence was presented regarding the condition of the old pole and the hazardous elements of the work. The Court held that whether the activity was “inherently dangerous” was a question of fact for the jury. Funk was distinguished as a case in which there was no evidence that the job was unusual. In Warren, supra, 111 Mich App 496, this Court noted that where evidence has been presented as to the hazardous elements of the job, whether or not the job is inherently dangerous is a question for the jury. See also Thon v Saginaw Paint, supra, 120 Mich App 745; Brown v Unit Products Corp, 105 Mich App 141; 306 NW2d 425 (1981), remanded on other grounds 414 Mich 956 (1982).
In this case, evidence was presented that trenches, measuring one foot wide and one foot deep, lined the floor of the work site. Once the trenches filled with water and "coke breeze,” they became virtually invisible. Steel plates were used to cover the trenches in order to guard against the danger the open trenches presented. Further, the evidence clearly indicated that the duty of maintaining and cleaning the trenches remained under the control of McLouth. Based upon this evidence, the jury could have concluded that the open trenches constituted a condition which was dangerous at all times and which required special precautions to be taken in order to prevent injury. Dowell, supra. We conclude that, since evidence regarding the hazardous elements of the job was presented, whether or not the activity was "inherently dangerous” was a question for the jury.
Furthermore, we do not find the danger presented by the open trenches comparable to an ordinary slip and fall. Unlike an ordinary slip and fall, "faced by all of mankind, everyday in some degree,” the risk faced by plaintiff was unique to the work site and inherent in the trench. Here, plaintiff was faced with the danger of falling into a "hole” of considerable size. The risk was compounded by the condition of the workplace which made it difficult even to see the trench and avoid the danger. Finally, because this was not an ordinary slip and fall, the instant case is distinguishable from Funk and the trial court was not required to direct a verdict on the issue of inherent danger. Because the jury may have found in favor of plaintiffs if the "inherently dangerous activity” theory of liability had been presented, a new trial is required.
Reversed.
G. T. Martin, J., concurred. | [
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R. C. Livo, J.
Respondents appeal from an order of the circuit court reversing their decision to terminate petitioner’s employment, and remanding with instructions to determine a sanction not to exceed a two-year suspension. Petitioner cross-appeals from the circuit court order upholding the determination that petitioner had violated Civil Service Rules 32.1(a) and (b), relating to conduct unbecoming a state employee and failure to carry out duties, respectively.
Petitioner was employed by the Michigan Department of Social Services as hearing officer in the Bureau of Administrative Hearings. The bureau provides administrative hearings to applicants for, or recipients of, public assistance who have been denied assistance or whose grants have been altered, reduced or terminated.
Pursuant to § 9 of the Social Welfare Act, MCL 400.9; MSA 16.409, the Director of the Department of Social Services originally issued all decisions upon the hearing record as to all hearings requested with respect to federally funded assistance programs. At that time, hearing officers issued only "recommended” decisions to the director.
On January 4, 1977, the director of the dss, because of the large number of hearing decisions required, transferred his authority to issue decisions to the hearing officers. In January, 1978, because of problems with respect to lack of uni formity of decisions coming from the bureau on the same or similar facts, the director implemented a rehearing system which authorized petitioner’s supervisor to order rehearings where errors of law might have been made in the original hearing decision. Under this system, the dss or the claimant could request that a case be reheard as to matters of law, and petitioner’s supervisor exercised his discretion to determine if a rehearing was in order. At that point, the case would be assigned to a different hearing officer, usually the deputy director of the bureau, who was bound to accept and utilize the findings of fact of the original hearing officer.
In September, 1979, one of petitioner’s decisions was ordered up for rehearing. On October 4, 1979, petitioner issued an order in the same case ordering his supervisor and the deputy director to cease and desist "now or in the future” from interfering in any way with the petitioner’s decisions, alleging that they had no authority to order rehearings of cases decided by petitioner. Attached to the order were two criminal statutes regarding state officials’ failure to enforce laws and neglect of duty, a page from the Code of Ethics for State Employees regarding unethical influencing of state proceedings, and several cases on administrative law dealing with corruption and bribery. Copies of the order were sent to petitioner’s supervisor, the Director of the Office of Legal Affairs, the Director of the Bureau of Income Assistance of the dss, the Governor, the Attorney General, the Governor’s legal advisor, the Kent County dss, most of the other hearing officers in the bureau, and the claimant in the case ordered up for rehearing.
On October 12, petitioner’s supervisor and the Director of the Office of Legal Affairs met with petitioner, the conflict was discussed, and petitioner was informed that if he acquiesced in his supervisor’s authority to order a rehearing, he would not be dismissed. Petitioner refused to acquiesce, whereupon he was informed that he would have to resign or be fired. Petitioner was dismissed on October 23, 1979, for conduct unbecoming a state employee and failure to carry out the duties and obligations of his office. Attached to the report was a memorandum from petitioner’s supervisor indicating the factual basis for dismissal, including insubordination and failure to impartially carry out his obligations as a hearing officer.
Petitioner appealed his decision through a fourth-step grievance hearing. The hearing officer rejected petitioner’s claim that "progressive discipline” mandated a sanction less than dismissal. He reasoned that petitioner’s insubordination made anything less than dismissal an ineffective remedy. Petitioner appealed the decision to the Employment Relations Board, which affirmed, and to the Civil Service Commission, which summarily affirmed on February 3, 1983. Thereafter, the decision was appealed to the circuit court. The circuit court rejected petitioner’s claim that a public-sector employee cannot be disciplined when he acts under a reasonable, good faith, although erroneous, belief that government conduct involving his duties is illegal. The lower court further held that Civil Service Rule 32.1(b) authorizing discipline for conduct unbecoming a state employee was not unconstitutionally vague as applied to petitioner.
However, the circuit court held that, under the circumstances of petitioner’s case, dismissal was inappropriate. The court reasoned that petitioner had served several years without breaking any regulations, and that his work record was totally free of reprimands, suspensions or demotions. The court found that the lack of any attempt at corrective discipline in these circumstances required reversal. The court remanded to the Employment Relations Board, stating that "any sanction imposed which exceeds two years’ suspension without pay would be arbitrary and capricious.”
We first address respondents’ sole claim on appeal.
i
Respondents contend that the decision of the Employment Relations Board was supported by competent, material and substantial evidence on the whole record and, therefore, must be affirmed. Const 1963, art 6, § 28.
Substantial evidence is such evidence as a "reasonable mind” would accept as adequate to support the decision. Parnis v Civil Service Comm, 79 Mich App 625, 629-630; 262 NW2d 883 (1977). A decision of the Civil Service Commission will be reversed only if the evidence firmly establishes that the agency abused its discretion by the action the agency took. Crider v Michigan, 110 Mich App 702, 716; 313 NW2d 367 (1981), lv den 414 Mich 953 (1982). Any ambiguities are to be resolved in favor of the commission’s decision. Werner v Macomb Co Civil Service Comm, 77 Mich App 533, 540-541; 258 NW2d 549 (1977), lv den 402 Mich 836 (1977).
Our review of the record leads us to conclude that a reasonable person could not accept as adequate the evidence supporting petitioner’s discharge.
Progressive discipline may be utilized at the discretion of the commission. See Golembiowski v Madison Heights, 128 Mich App 682, 688; 341 NW2d 793 (1983). This conclusion is premised on the fact that where an agency is given the discretion to "suspend or dismiss” an employee "for cause” this Court may review the record to determine if that discretion was abused, i.e., whether the agency action was arbitrary.
Section 32 of the Civil Service Rules promulgated in 1978 provides three "causes” for suspension or dismissal. The Civil Service Commission is bound to follow this rule, which it promulgated, of "for cause” discipline or suspension. Rand v Civil Service Comm, 71 Mich App 581; 248 NW2d 624 (1976). Here, the record is devoid of evidence that the department ever considered progressive discipline as an alternative to dismissal for petitioner’s egregious act of insubordination.
Civil Service Rule 32.1 permits dismissal or suspension for cause, impliedly in the discretion of the agency. This requires the agency to exercise its discretion and act reasonably in deciding between alternatives in any given factual situation.
A single incident of misconduct may be so gross and egregious as to warrant dismissal. However, where an employee’s previous record is unblemished, we believe that a department’s failure to consider progressive discipline renders its decision-making arbitrary. Here, where that dismissal was for misconduct indicting the very person who disciplined the employee, we must also conclude that failure to consider progressive discipline at least evidences caprice, caprice understandable in the circumstances here. This Court does not second guess departmental decision-making. Nonetheless, where an agency has the discretion to act in a certain manner, this Court must see that the discretion is exercised where appropriate, and not abused in the process of its exercise.
To the extent the record supports an inference that the department ruled out progressive discipline as a practical alternative because of petitioner’s stated intention not to accede to legitimate authority, we must again conclude that such an exercise of discretion is arbitrary and capricious.
In determining whether dismissal for improper conduct is an appropriate remedy in a governmental employment setting, there must be a balance struck between the rights of the employee and the need to have governmental operations run smoothly. Michigan State Employees Ass’n v Dep’t of Mental Health, 421 Mich 152, 164; 365 NW2d 93 (1984). Requiring a civil servant to verbally acknowledge departmental authority as a condition to keeping his job bears a reasonable relationship to the government’s interest in having its operations run smoothly. But neither petitioner nor his superiors could predict his future attitude and actions in that regard. In fact, where a department seeks an attitude change, progressive discipline would appear to be a preferred method in bringing about that change. Discharge premised on a refusal to give a statement of intent permits no such change and furthers no valid governmental purpose.
Admittedly, the misconduct here was wanton and wilful, and the record discloses that it disrupted the bureau. Therefore, we find the circuit court’s remand for entry of a disciplinary order not to exceed two years’ suspension without pay to be reasonable and supported by substantial evidence on the record. That order is affirmed.
ii
Petitioner contends that being disciplined for the conduct at issue violates public policy because his actions represented a good faith attempt to protect the due process rights of claimants.
It is difficult for this Court, which has never observed the demeanor of Mr. Battiste, to determine if he made his decision to proceed based on a good faith belief that the independence of the department’s hearing officers, and consequently the due process rights of claimants, had been threatened.
The independence of hearing officers is essential to the fair and impartial administration of any adjudicatory system for resolving disputes within a governmental agency. Accordingly, this Court would support good faith, appropriate attempts at insuring the independence of such officers.
However, in the instant case, any such good faith notwithstanding, Mr. Battiste proceeded in a wholly inappropriate manner. The issuance of an official-looking order, a copy of which was mailed to the claimant, which contravened and purported to set aside an order of his own superiors in a case in which Battiste had already fully performed his own function, was inexcusable. In this case of "whistle-blowing” gone amok, discipline for such conduct is not contrary to public policy, but, in fact, is mandated by public policy.
hi
In a similar vein, petitioner argues that he cannot be punished for asserting jurisdiction over the rehearing because such an assertion is, according to petitioner, mandated by the Administrative Procedures Act (apa), MCL 24.201 et seq.; MSA 3.560(101) et seq., and supported, at least analogously, by MCR 2.613(B). We find petitioner’s claim in this regard to be without merit.
Petitioner contends that §§ 79 and 87(3) of the apa, MCL 24.279; MSA 3.560(179), and MCL 24.287(3); MSA 3.560(187)(3), read in conjunction, require that the same hearing officer preside where a rehearing is ordered. Petitioner claims this result is buttressed by the policy behind MCR 2.613(B), which provides that no judgment or order of a circuit judge may be set aside by another circuit judge.
Section 79 of the apa provides for designated persons to serve as presiding officers in contested cases. It provides for assignment of another presiding officer in case of personal bias or where it is impracticable for the officer originally designated to preside to "continue the hearing.” Section 87(3) provides that "[a] rehearing shall be noticed and conducted in the same manner as an original hearing.” We reject petitioner’s contention that the same officer must preside over a rehearing unless biased or unless it is otherwise impracticable for him to preside at the rehearing.
Practically speaking, a presiding officer’s jurisdiction substantially ends upon rendition of his decision following the hearing over which he presided. Any rehearing ordered thereafter, in the discretion granted the agency by § 87(3), must be conducted with the same procedural safeguards of §§ 71-86 of the apa as applied to the original hearing, including a proper presiding officer and safeguards for removal and replacement of biased officers, or officers otherwise unable to preside. We decline to hold that § 87(3) requires that the same presiding officer preside at the rehearing. See Campbell v Marquette Prison Warden, 119 Mich App 377, 382-383; 326 NW2d 516 (1982).
Because § 87(3) of the apa specifically permits an agency to order rehearings, we reject petitioner’s reliance on the policy behind MCR 2.613(B), which prohibits one circuit judge from setting aside the judgment or order of another circuit judge in the absence of a disability of the latter. We believe that § 87(3) represents a clear legislative intent to permit such rehearings in administrative cases to take full advantage of the agency’s specialized expertise before jurisdiction is relinquished.
Petitioner argues that because a panel of this Court found the rehearing system utilized by the dss in the instant case contrary to the mandates of § 87(3), public policy dictates that he not be disciplined for protesting against that system. In an unpublished per curiam opinion, Newhof v Director, Michigan Dep’t of Social Services, (Docket No. 54274, July 15, 1981), this Court held that because the rehearing system utilized did not permit a claimant to present evidence or fully argue his case on rehearing, the system violated the mandate of § 87(3) that rehearings "be noticed and conducted in the same manner as an original hearing.”
The fact that the system violated the statute notwithstanding, petitioner has no colorable claim in this regard. As explained above, a rehearing need not be presided over by the same officer who presided at the original hearing. The Court in Newhof did not so hold. Thus, irrespective of petitioner’s claim of continuing jurisdiction and con trary to his allegation of unethical conduct, we find these claims to be without merit. The channels petitioner used to vent his protests were wholly inappropriate.
IV
Next, petitioner attacks Civil Service Rule 32.1(b) which states that "conduct unbecoming a state employee” constitutes proper ground for dismissal. Petitioner contends Rule 32.1(b) is void for vagueness because it fails to warn civil servants of the conduct it proscribes.
Regardless of how vague such a rule may be in the abstract, if petitioner’s conduct was clearly violative of that rule, his challenge will not be sustained. Parker v Levy, 417 US 733, 756; 94 S Ct 2547; 41 L Ed 2d 439 (1974); Rinaldi v Livonia, 69 Mich App 58, 65-66; 244 NW2d 609 (1976).
In Rinaldi, this Court relied substantially on the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Parker, supra. In Parker, the Court upheld the court martial of an Army physician under the "conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman” standard. The Court’s opinion emphasized three characteristics of the physician’s case in rejecting the "vagueness” challenge: (1) Prior construction of the regulation narrowed its scope and supplied "considerable specificity by way of examples of the conduct.” 417 US 754. (2) The regulations "by their terms or as authoritatively construed apply without question to certain activities, but whose application to other behavior is uncertain.” 417 US 755-756. (3) Because of the "reasons which differentiate military society from civilian society, . . . Congress is permitted to legislate both with greater breadth and with greater flexibility when prescribing the rules by which the former shall be governed than it is when prescribing rules for the latter.” 417 US 756.
Reviewing petitioner’s case, similar conduct was found to constitute conduct unbecoming a state employee in Moulton v Revenue Dep't, 67 Mich App 668, 670-671; 242 NW2d 473 (1976), lv den 397 Mich 832 (1976). In Moulton, the employee, after receiving an unsatisfactory service rating, wrote a letter to the Michigan Civil Service Commission and to the Governor accusing her superiors of lies, cover-ups, and embezzlement. Moreover, the petitioner in the instant case must have known that his actions in circulating his order to the claimant, hearing officers, and other state officials would defame and disrupt the department’s hearing system. In fact, petitioner confided in another hearing officer that he "was putting his job on the line.” Finally, as a quasi-judicial officer, petitioner should have realized the impropriety of circulating an "order” tacitly accusing agency superiors of unethical and criminal conduct.
Civil Service Rule 32.1 is not void for vagueness as applied to petitioner’s conduct.
v
Last, petitioner argues that discipline for his conduct violated his First Amendment rights to free speech. Petitioner cites Pickering v Bd of Ed, 391 US 563; 88 S Ct 1731; 20 L Ed 2d 811 (1968), and Pilarowski v Brown, 76 Mich App 666; 257 NW2d 211 (1977). Both are inapposite.
Both Pickering and Pilarowski involved the disciplining of employees for speech wholly unrelated to the employment relationship. The present case is more of the type envisioned by the United States Supreme Court in Arnett v Kennedy, 416 US 134, 162; 94 S Ct 1633; 40 L Ed 2d 15 (1974). Discipline was not directed "at speech as such, but at employee behavior, including speech, which [was] detrimental to the efficiency of the employing agency.” 416 US 162.
The order of the circuit court is affirmed. Accordingly, this matter is remanded to the Employment Relations Board for entry of an order in accordance with the circuit court opinion and order in the instant case.
The rehearing system utilized by the department was found to be unlawful in Newhof v Director, Dep’t of Social Services, (Docket No. 54274, July 15, 1981), an unpublished per curiam opinion of this Court. For reasons stated in Part in of this opinion, the fact is of limited relevance to this opinion.
Initially, the department had raised certain other allegations concerning petitioner’s job performance. However, those charges were withdrawn at the outset of the fourth-step grievance hearing, leaving only the insubordination and conduct unbecoming a state employee charges to be decided below.
We note that unpublished opinions of the Court of Appeals have no precedential value. MCR 7.215(C); Stine v Continental Casualty Co, 419 Mich 89, 94, n 2; 349 NW2d 127 (1984). | [
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C. Jobes, J.
Plaintiffs brought a dramshop action, MCL 436.22; MSA 18.993, and a common-law negligence action against the defendant school district and others. Plaintiffs alleged that the school district’s agent, an athletic booster organization, served alcoholic beverages to a visibly intoxicated person, Gerald L. Steffy, who later killed plaintiffs’ decedent, Jeanne A. Schmiedeknecht. The trial court held that plaintiffs failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and granted the school district’s motion for summary judgment. GCR 1963, 117.2(1). Plaintiffs appeal as of right. We reverse and hold that the principal of a retail licensee may be held vicariously liable under the dramshop provision of the Michigan Liquor Control Act, MCL 436.22; MSA 18.993.
Hamady Athletic Boosters Organization is a group of parents and interested persons who contribute money and promote the athletic teams at defendant school district’s only high school, Hamady High School. The school and the school district are located in Mt. Morris Township, in Genesee County. Jeanne A. Schmiedeknecht, the decedent, who was estranged from her husband, plaintiff Timothy E. Schmiedeknecht, and Gerald L. Steffy attended a "Las Vegas Night” fundraiser held by Hamady on February 21, 1982. The affair was held in a hall rented by Hamady and located in Mt. Morris Township. Steffy and decedent were at a bar earlier in the evening and arrived at the fundraiser with friends at approximately 7:00 p.m. They left some time between 12:00 and 1:00 A.M., stopping at the same bar again on the way home. Alcoholic beverages were sold at the fundraiser under a special one-day license issued by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, and gambling took place under a Millionaire Party License issued by the Michigan Lottery Commission. Plaintiffs allege that Steffy was visibly intoxicated throughout the evening. On returning to decedent’s home, decedent and Steffy went to the bedroom. An argument ensued and Steffy shot her with a shotgun. He then went to the basement and killed himself with the same gun.
Plaintiffs filed suit against Steffy’s estate, the bar, Hamady, and defendant school district. The complaint alleged violations of MCL 436.22; MSA 18.993 by the bar, Hamady, and the school district, in that Steffy was served alcoholic beverages, though already visibly intoxicated, and that this was the proximate cause of decedent’s death at Steffy’s hand. The complaint also alleged that Hamady was the school district’s agent. The school district denied any agency relationship.
Defendant school district moved for summary judgment. Considerable confusion ensued as to which court rule the motion was brought under. Ultimately, the court treated the motion as one brought under GCR 1963, 117.2(1), and ruled that plaintiffs had failed to state a claim against the school district based on an agency theory. The court ruled that plaintiffs may not proceed under the dramshop act against one other than the licensee, in this case, Hamady. The court also granted summary judgment in the school district’s favor on Count iv of plaintiffs’ complaint, finding that the dramshop act was plaintiffs’ exclusive remedy for injuries arising from the unlawful sale of alcoholic beverages to Steffy.
Plaintiffs argue that they have stated a claim against defendant school district because the school district may be held vicariously liable for its agent’s alleged violation of the dramshop act. The trial court granted the school district’s motion for summary judgment based on GCR 1963, 117.2(1). Therefore, for purposes of this appeal, we assume that Hamady is defendant school district’s agent.
MCL 436.22(5); MSA 18.993(5) provides in part:
A wife, husband, child, parent, guardian, or other person injured in person, property, means of support, or otherwise, by a visibly intoxicated person by reason of the unlawful selling, giving, or furnishing of intoxicating liquor to the person, if the same is proven to be a proximate cause of the injury or death, shall have a right of action in his or her name against the person who by the selling, giving, or furnishing the liquor has caused or contributed to the intoxication of the person or who has caused or contributed to the injury.
The class of persons who may be held liable under the dramshop act is to be determined by reference to those charged with the duty to refrain from supplying liquor to minors and visibly intoxicated persons. Guitar v Bieniek, 402 Mich 152, 165; 262 NW2d 9 (1978). Subsection (3) of MCL 436.22; MSA 18.993 prohibits a retail licensee from supplying liquor to minors or visibly intoxicated persons:
(3) A retail licensee shall not directly or indirectly, individually or by a clerk, agent, or servant sell, furnish, give, or deliver alcoholic liquor to a minor except as provided in this act, nor to a person who is visibly intoxicated. A retail licensee who violates this subdivision shall pay all actual damages that may be awarded to a person for injuries inflicted upon the person, the person’s property or means of support, or otherwise resulting from the selling, furnishing, giving, or delivering of alcoholic liquor to the person.
In Guitar v Bieniek, supra, the issue was whether a private rental hall could be held liable under the act. There, the liquor license and alcoholic beverages were obtained by the lessees but the keg beer, waiter, and facilities were provided by the rental hall. The Supreme Court concluded that the rental hall could not be held liable under the act because it was not within the class of persons charged with the duty to refrain from providing liquor.
Here, defendant school district similarly argues that because it was not a licensee prohibited from supplying liquor to intoxicated persons under MCL 436.22(3); MSA 18.993(3), plaintiffs cannot maintain an action against it under the dramshop act. We disagree because, unlike Guitar, plaintiffs’ theory is based on vicarious liability. Vicarious liability describes the existence of a relationship, not a cause of action. Because of this relationship, the principal is held responsible for the torts of its agent which are committed in the scope of the agency. Cronk v Chevrolet Local 659, 32 Mich App 394; 401; 189 NW2d 16 (1971), lv den 385 Mich 784 (1971). Nothing in the dramshop act appears to prevent the application of vicarious liability.
The existence of an agency relationship is a question of fact. Michigan Nat'l Bank of Detroit v Kellam, 107 Mich App 669, 678; 309 NW2d 700 (1981), lv den 413 Mich 870 (1982). Therefore, we reverse the summary judgment based on GCR 1963, 117.2(1), and remand for further proceedings.
We, however, agree with defendant school district that Count iv of plaintiffs’ complaint does not state a cause of action against it. It is clear that in this count plaintiffs are attempting to proceed on a common-law theory as an alternative to the dram-shop act. No common-law action exists for negligently selling alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person. A dramshop action is the exclusive remedy in such a matter. Browder v Int'l Fidelity Ins Co, 413 Mich 603, 613; 321 NW2d 668 (1982).
Plaintiffs argue that this Court recognized a common-law action for gross negligence or wilful, wanton, or intentional misconduct in Grasser v Fleming, 74 Mich App 338; 253 NW2d 757 (1977). In Grasser, the complaint alleged that a licensed liquor establishment sold alcohol to a known compulsive alcoholic contrary to a promise made by the tavern owner to refrain from serving that person. In the present case, plaintiffs did not al lege facts which would indicate that SteiFy was an alcoholic similar to the decedent in Grasser, nor that those involved in the fundraiser were on notice or had agreed not to serve SteiFy at the "Las Vegas Night.” Consequently, the Grasser exception does not apply in this case. See Barrett v Campbell, 131 Mich App 552, 558; 345 NW2d 614 (1983), lv den 419 Mich 877 (1984).
Plaintiffs also argue that Hamady’s violation of MCL 436.29; MSA 18.1000 constituted negligence per se, giving rise to a negligence cause of action apart from the dramshop act. In Michigan, however, MCL 436.22; MSA 18.993 is the exclusive remedy against licensees for the unlawful sale of intoxicants. Manuel v Weitzman, 386 Mich 157; 191 NW2d 474 (1971); Lucido v Apollo Lanes & Bar, Inc, 123 Mich App 267; 333 NW2d 246 (1983), lv den 417 Mich 1087 (1983).
The circuit court’s order granting summary judgment in defendant school district’s favor on Count iv of plaintiffs’ complaint is affirmed. The circuit court’s order granting summary judgment on Counts i and n is reversed and this case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Affirmed in part and reversed in part.
For purposes of the motion, plaintiffs stipulated that Hamady was the only named licensee.
We note that in Longstreth v Gensel, 423 Mich 675; 377 NW2d 804 (1985), the Supreme Court held that a civil cause of action, apart from the dramshoop act, exists for injuries or death caused by the furnishing of alcoholic beverages to a minor by a social host. The Court indicated, however, that MCL 436.22; MSA 18.993 would continue to be the exclusive remedy against licensees. | [
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J. T. Kallman, J.
This case requires us to determine whether suits against emergency medical technicians for negligent performance of their duties are subject to the two-year statute of limitations applicable to malpractice actions. Plaintiff Donald Natsch was injured in an automobile collision in 1981. The individual defendants, all employees of defendant City of Southfield, were called to the scene to render emergency aid. Defendant Philip is a firefighter and defendants Birkett and Meinecke are firefighters-paramedics.
In 1984, Donald Natsch filed his complaint, in which he alleged that the individual defendants failed to properly immobilize his head and neck when moving him from the scene of the accident, and that he consequently suffered an aggravation of a fractured cervical vertebrae. Plaintiff Gloria Natsch’s claim is a derivative one for loss of consortium.
The defendants moved for accelerated judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 116.1(5), now MCR 2.116(C)(7), based upon the two-year malpractice limitations period of MCL 600.5805(4); MSA 27A.5805(4). The circuit court denied the motion, and held that the three-year period for actions for personal injury applied. MCL 600.5805(8); MSA 27A.5805(8). We granted the defendants’ application for leave to appeal to consider whether the instant suit is a malpractice action within the scope of MCL 600.5838; MSA 27A.5838.
Section 5838(1) of the Revised Judicature Act, MCL 600.5838(1); MSA 27A.5838G), provides:
A claim based on the malpractice of a person who is, or holds himself out to be, a member of a state licensed profession, intern, resident, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, registered physical therapist, clinical laboratory technologist, inhalation therapist, certified registered nurse anesthetist, x-ray technician, hospital, licensed health care facility, employee or agent of a hospital or licensed health care facility who is engaging in or otherwise assisting in medical care and treatment, or any other state licensed health professional, accrues at the time that person discontinues treating or otherwise serving the plaintiff in a professional or pseudoprofessional capacity as to the matters out of which the claim for malpractice arose, regardless of the time the plaintiff discovers or otherwise has knowledge of the claim.
The extensive list of occupations and professions included in the statute reflects the Legislature’s intent to expand the class of individuals who may be sued for malpractice while also limiting the time in which suit may be brought. Adkins v Annapolis Hospital, 116 Mich App 558, 562; 323 NW2d 482 (1982), aff'd 420 Mich 87, 95; 360 NW2d 150 (1984).
The individual defendants maintain that they are "state licensed health professionals” included in the two-year provision. The plaintiffs rely on the doctrine of ejusdem generis and counter that only the specifically enumerated professions have the benefit of § 5838. The doctrine of ejusdem generis requires that a general word or phrase used in a statute, following an enumeration of specific things, be interpreted to refer to things of the same general character as those specified. However, the doctrine does not apply when it would defeat the plain purpose and intent of the Legislature. In re Mosby, 360 Mich 186, 192; 103 NW2d 462 (1960), Utica State Savings Bank v Village of Oak Park, 279 Mich 568, 573; 273 NW 271 (1937). We disagree with the plaintiffs’ suggestion that emergency medical technicians or paramedics are not within the same general class as those occupations listed in § 5838. Moreover, we cannot ignore the Legislature’s intent in including the broad category of "any other state licensed health professional.” Every word, sentence and section of a statute should be given effect. Soap & Detergent Ass’n v Natural Resources Comm, 415 Mich 728, 738; 330 NW2d 346 (1982). The statutory list of professions and occupations is not exhaustive. Adkins v Annapolis Hospital, supra.
The Revised Judicature Act does not define "state licensed health professional,” nor is there a statutory definition of "paramedic.” However, emergency medical technicians are defined in the Public Health Code as individuals who have met the requirements of approved emergency medical technician-ambulance courses and are licensed by the state. MCL 333.20701 et seq.; MSA 14.15(20701) et seq. They are authorized to render emergency medical services, but generally only under the instruction and supervision of a licensed physician, specially designated emergency room registered nurse, or certified advanced cardiac life support provider. MCL 333.20742; MSA 14.15(20742).
Article 15 of the Public Health Code defines health occupations and professions:
(1) "Health occupation” means a health related vocation, calling, occupation, or employment performed by individuals whether or not licensed or registered under this article.
(2) "Health profession” means a vocation, calling, occupation, or employment performed by individuals acting pursuant to a license or registration issued under this article. [MCL 333.16105; MSA 14.15(16105).]
Emergency medical technicians are not licensed under Article 15. Rather, they are regulated under Article 17 of the code, MCL 333.20707; MSA 14.15(20707), and are therefore engaged in a "health occupation” and not a "profession.”
Although the categorization of emergency medical technician services as a health occupation is in a separate statutory scheme from the malpractice limitations provision at issue here, we read the statutes in pari materia. Two or more statutes affecting a person or subject should be read to gether and each given effect if such can be done without repugnancy, absurdity, or unreasonableness. People v Smith, 423 Mich 427, 441; 378 NW2d 384 (1985), Micu v City of Warren, 147 Mich App 573, 582-583; 382 NW2d 823 (1985), lv den 425 Mich 877 (1986). Applying the legislative definition of "health profession” found in the Public Health Code, emergency medical technicians are not included as "state licensed health professionals” in § 5838 of the Revised Judicature Act.
However, we nevertheless conclude that emergency medical technicians are subject to the two-year malpractice limitation period of § 5838. Also listed by the Legislature in that provision is an "employee or agent of a hospital or licensed health care facility who is engaging in or otherwise assisting in medical care and treatment.” A "health care facility” is defined in the Public Health Code to include an ambulance operation or advanced mobile emergency care service. MCL 333.20106(1)(a); MSA 14.15(20106)(1)(a).
In the instant case, it is undisputed that the defendant City of Southfield is the owner and operator of its fire department’s life support and emergency services department, and that the individual defendants were employees of that department. The plaintiffs also acknowledge in their complaint that each of the defendants was engaged in emergency medical care of plaintiff Donald Natsch at the time the alleged tort occurred. Thus, the individual defendants were employees of a health care facility engaged or assisting in medical care, and the plaintiffs’ claims fall squarely within the purview of the two-year malpractice limitations period. Their complaint, filed nearly three years after the incident, was untimely and their claims were therefore barred. Accordingly, the circuit court is reversed and this case remanded for entry of judgment on behalf of the defendants.
Reversed and remanded. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff, Michael Grogan, appeals as of right from an order of the Schoolcraft Circuit Court granting the Second Injury Fund’s motion to intervene as a party plaintiff in an action plaintiff had filed against the defendants. The fund was allowed to intervene in order to protect its statutory lien against plaintiff’s tort recovery from the defendants for workers’ compensation benefits paid.
Plaintiff’s suit against the defendants arose out of a construction accident which occurred on October 1, 1980. Plaintiff was working on a construction project at Manistique Papers, Incorporated, when he fell from a scaffold. He sustained serious injuries and remains paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the fall.
After the accident, plaintiff began receiving workers’ compensation benefits from his employer’s insurer, the Michigan State Accident Fund. Since plaintiff was permanently disabled, the Second Injury Fund also voluntarily paid plaintiff total and permanent disability benefits beginning on January 1, 1981. See MCL 418.521; MSA 17.237(521). Plaintiff subsequently instituted a suit against the various defendants seeking tort recovery for his injuries. The Michigan State Accident Fund was allowed to join in plaintiff’s suit against the defendants on October 6, 1983, to protect its statutory lien against any recovery for workers’ compensation benefits paid to plaintiff as provided in MCL 418.827(1); MSA 17.237(827)(1). At a pretrial conference held in September of 1984, a structured settlement in the amount of $730,000 was agreed to between the plaintiff and the various defendants. The Michigan State Accident Fund received $106,000 as reimbursement for workers’ compensation benefits it had paid to plaintiff.
On October 19, 1984, the Second Injury Fund filed a motion to intervene in the plaintiff’s action, alleging that it possessed a lien against plaintiff’s settlement pursuant to the recently amended MCL 418.531; MSA 17.237(531). Subsection 3 of the amended statute became effective on May 8, 1984, prior to the settlement agreement in the present case, and provides that all funds, including the Second Injury Fund (fund), possess the right of reimbursement from any third-party recovery gained by a plaintiff to whom they have made compensation payments.
Following a hearing in the circuit court on February 15, 1985, the court granted the fund’s motion to intervene. The order provided that the fund possessed a lien on plaintiff’s settlement or judgment to the extent of disability payments made by it after May 8, 1984, and as to any future payments. On appeal, plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in allowing the fund to intervene and in granting it the right of reimbursement for compensation benefits paid after May 8, 1984, contending that to grant the fund such a right is an improper retroactive application of MCL 418.531(3); MSA 17.237(531)(3).
The Second Injury Fund claims a right to reimbursement for benefits paid plaintiff after May 8, 1984, pursuant to MCL 418.531(3); MSA 17.237(531)(3), which provides:
All of the funds under this chapter shall have a right to commence an action and obtain recovery under section 827.
Section 827(5), MCL 418.827(5); MSA 17.237(827)(5), states in relevant part:
In an action to enforce the liability of a third party, the plaintiff may recover any amount which the employee or his dependents or personal representative would be entitled to recover in an action in tort. Any recovery against the third party for damages resulting from personal injuries or death only, after deducting expenses of recovery, shall first reimburse the employer or carrier for any amounts paid or payable under this act to date of recovery and the balance shall forthwith be paid to the employee or his dependents or personal representative and shall be treated as an advance payment by the employer on account of any future payments of compensation benefits.
Based on the May 8, 1984, amendment to § 531, the Second Injury Fund now possesses the rights described in § 827(5) and thus has the right to reimbursement for benefits paid to an injured worker out of any third-party tort recovery the worker may receive. Prior to the amendment, the fund was not entitled to reimbursement from any third-party tort recovery. Mead v Peterson-King Co, 24 Mich App 530, 538; 180 NW2d 304 (1970), lv den 384 Mich 832 (1971). In this case, based on § 531(3), the Second Injury Fund seeks reimbursement for the amount of benefits paid to the plaintiff after enactment of the amendment. However, plaintiff contends that the fund is not entitled to any reimbursement because his injury and commencement of his suit against the defendants occurred prior to the effective date of the amendment, and that the statute may not be applied retrospectively.
As a matter of statutory construction, statutes are presumed to operate prospectively only, unless the Legislature has clearly expressed a contrary intent. Selk v Detroit Plastic Products, 419 Mich 1, 9; 345 NW2d 184 (1984). An exception to this rule is recognized where a statute is considered remedial or procedural in nature. Hansen-Snyder Co v General Motors Corp, 371 Mich 480; 124 NW2d 286 (1963). "[Statutes which operate in furtherance of a remedy or mode of procedure and which neither create new rights nor destroy, enlarge, or diminish existing rights are generally held to operate retrospectively unless a contrary legislative intention is manifested.” Franks v White Pine Copper Div, Copper Range Co, 422 Mich 636, 672; 375 NW2d 715 (1985).
In Shoup v Johns-Manville Sales Corp, 142 Mich App 189; 369 NW2d 470 (1985), this Court was previously asked to determine whether the amendment to § 531, MCL 418.531(3); MSA 17.237(531)(3), should be construed prospectively or retrospectively. The Court determined that the right to reimbursement granted in § 531(3) is more than a mere change in remedy or procedure. Shoup, supra, p 195. Rather, the Court reasoned that the amendment to the statute created a new right to seek money to which the fund was not previously entitled. Id. Therefore, the Court concluded that the statute should be given prospective effect only. We agree with the conclusion in Shoup that the amendment to § 531 should only be applied prospectively.
However, merely stating that § 531(3) must be applied prospectively does not resolve the controversy in this case. The fund argues that since it seeks reimbursement only for benefits paid after May 8, 1984, the statute is in fact being applied prospectively. Plaintiff disagrees and asserts that burdening him with any obligation to repay benefits constitutes a retroactive application of the statute, because his injury occurred before the amendment was passed.
In Franks, supra, our Supreme Court recently determined that the coordination of benefits provisions contained in MCL 418.354; MSA 17.237(354) could be applied to offset workers’ compensation liability to workers whose injuries predated the provision’s effective date, provided recovery was limited to periods of disability after the effective date of the statute. Franks, supra, p 664. Thus, the Court in Franks determined that the date that the benefits were paid triggered the coordination provision regardless of the date of the injury. The Court further rioted that merely because some of the requisites for a statute’s application are drawn from a time antedating its passage does not mean a statute is operating retrospectively. Franks, supra, p 669; Hughes v Judges’ Retirement Board, 407 Mich 75, 86; 282 NW2d 160 (1979). Therefore, in this case, although the injury which resulted in a $730,000 recovery against the defendants occurred prior to May 8, 1984, granting the fund a right of reimbursement in that recovery is not necessarily retrospective application of the statute.
The pertinent inquiry that must be made in the present case is what event or circumstances triggers the application of MCL 418.531(3); MSA 17.237(531X3). Plaintiff contends that the date of the injury is the crucial event, while the fund asserts recovery from the third party triggers the application of the statute. After considering the arguments made by parties to this case, we find the argument made by the Second Injury Fund to be persuasive.
Although the Legislature made the statute effective immediately on May 8, 1984, it did not clearly express what event was required to occur after the effective date in order to trigger application. We believe that when read in conjunction with subsection (5) of MCL 418.827; MSA 17.237(827), it appears that recovery against a third party triggers application of the statute. While it is true that it is the injury which allows an injured worker to recover workers’ compensation benefits, under § 827(5) it is not until recovery is obtained from a third party that the Second Injury Fund has a right to reimbursement. The statute does not limit its application only to cases where workers’ compensation payments are made to an employee for an injury sustained after the effective date of the statute, nor does it contain language indicating that it should not be applied when payments were made for an injury that occurred prior to the effective date. The Legislature’s failure to include such language leaves § 531 generally applicable to any recovery a plaintiff gains after the effective date, regardless of when his injury occurred.
Further, to apply § 531(3) to any third-party recovery gained after May 8, 1984, regardless of when the underlying injury occurred is also in accord with the primary purpose of § 827, to reimburse the workers’ compensation insurance carrier and prevent double recovery by an injured plaintiff. However, to avoid disturbing judgments long since considered final, we limit the fund’s right to reimbursement to situations, like the present case, where the plaintiff has gained his third-party recovery after § 531(3) became effective. Therefore, we conclude that the trial court did not err in allowing the Second Injury Fund to intervene as a plaintiff and in ruling that the fund was entitled to a lien upon plaintiff’s recovery for the amount of disability payments made on or after May 8, 1984.
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Per Curiam.
Daniel O’Neil (hereafter defendant) appeals from an order of the circuit court holding him in contempt of court, MCL 600.1701; MSA 27A.1701. The court ordered defendant jailed pursuant to the court’s summary punishment powers under MCL 600.1711(1); MSA 27A.1711(1), which permits punishment when contempt is committed in the immediate view and presence of the court.
Defendant was the attorney for Thomas Boynton, accused of armed robbery. At trial, defendant questioned a prosecution witness concerning whether he was a paid informant. The prosecutor objected, arguing that, unless the witness was paid to testify in the matter before the court, such questioning was irrelevant. The court discharged the jury for the day and argument was had before the bench. The court indicated that it agreed with the prosecutor’s position and asked defendant if he had evidence that the witness had been paid. Defendant responded that he had the preliminary examination testimony of a detective that the witness called and offered information on the case for $50. The court ruled that such evidence did not support an inference that the witness was a paid informant and again asked if defendant had evidence that the witness was paid for his testimony. Defendant responded that he believed that the witness was "being cut a plea bargain.” The court ruled that such evidence did not support the characterization of the witness as a "paid informant.” The judge again asked if defendant had evidence that the witness was "paid money or was given some gratuity to testify.” Defendant responded: "Some gratuity meaning a plea bargain?” Defendant characterized any difference between the two as "semantics.” At that point, the court ruled that because defendant had failed to present evidence to support his characterization of the witness as an informant, the line of questioning would not be permitted the following day. Defendant began to further question the order of the court, at which point the court declared that further discussion by defendant would result in a contempt order. Defendant stated that he did not understand the order and that he had an obligation to see that his client got a fair trial, at which point he was jailed for contempt.
To support a conviction for criminal contempt, two elements must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Michigan ex rel Wayne Prosecutor v Powers, 97 Mich App 166, 171; 293 NW2d 752 (1980). Those two elements are: (1) that the individual engage in a wilful disregard or disobedience of the order of the court, People v Matish, 384 Mich 568, 572; 184 NW2d 915 (1971), and (2) that the contempt must be clearly and unequivocally shown. Matish, supra.
This Court, in its review of contempt convictions, is sensitive to the delicate balance which must be maintained between the right of the trial judge to maintain discipline and decorum in his court and the right of counsel to fulfill to the ultimate the obligation of advocacy. People v Ravitz, 26 Mich App 263, 269-270; 182 NW2d 75 (1970).
Defendant claims that the scale weighs in his favor because there was no showing of a wilful disregard of the orders of the court and because there was no obstruction of justice. We disagree.
The contempt order at issue was the culmina tion of a colloquy between defendant and the court during which the court made clear several times the basis for its ruling that defendant would not be permitted to characterize the witness as an "informant.” Beyond that point, defendant’s assertions became merely argumentative, academic, and were in fact moot. By the time the court declared that further discussion would result in a contempt order, defendant, as counsel, had fully advocated his position. Violation of that ruling could not reasonably be said to have been in the name of advocacy. Instead, further contest of the ruling resulted in wholly unnecessary delay, constituted a waste of the court’s time, and amounted to an affront to the discipline and decorum of the court.
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiffs brought suit against defendants, the City of Detroit and the Board of Trustees of the General Retirement System of the City of Detroit, seeking a permanent injunction to prohibit the city from implementing a minimum age requirement for the receipt of vested pension benefits. Plaintiffs are made up of two collective bargaining units of city employees whose members did not adopt the city’s proposal regarding the minimum age requirement, the Association of Professional and Technical Employees and Senior Appraisers, Analysts and Accountants, and a certified class of individual city employees unrepresented by a labor organization, with the named members of that class being Thomas Kneeshaw, Robert Kropf and Thomas Monchak. The trial judge granted plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment under MCR 2.116(C)(10), formerly GCR 1963, 117.2(3), finding that there were no genuine issues of material fact and that plaintiffs were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The trial judge expressly found that the unilateral imposition of a minimum age requirement for the receipt of vested pension benefits impaired plaintiffs’ contractual rights to vested pension benefits, in violation of Const 1963, art 9, § 24, Const 1963, art 1, § 10 and US Const, art 1, § 10. Defendant City of Detroit appeals as of right.
The factual situation presented in this case is not in serious dispute. City employees currently receive pension benefits under one of two plans. Employees who commenced employment with the city prior to July 1, 1980, receive pension benefits under the "40 and 8” plan. Under the "40 and 8” plan, an employee can begin receiving pension benefits on the thirtieth anniversary of the date employment by the city commenced, if the employee has worked at least eight years as a city employee and has reached the age of forty prior to leaving the employment of the city. Employees who commenced employment with the city after July 1, 1980, receive pension benefits under the "10 and vesting” plan. Under the "10 and vesting” plan, an employee qualifies to receive pension benefits upon the thirtieth anniversary of the date employment by the city commenced if the employee has worked for the city for a period of at least ten years.
In a tentative contract agreement with all its employees, defendant city proposed to add an additional condition to an employee’s receipt of vested pension benefits. This condition provided that an employee could not receive his vested pension benefits until he had reached the age of sixty-two. All of the plaintiffs refused to adopt the tentative agreement. Defendant city then proposed an amendment to the city charter which would unilaterally impose the additional condition of any of the plaintiffs who did not resign by May 21, 1984. In response to the city’s proposed unilateral action, plaintiffs brought this action.
On appeal, defendant city asserts that the trial judge erred in finding that its unilateral imposition of the minimum age requirement violated Const 1963, art 9, § 24, which provides:
The accrued financial benefits of each pension plan and retirement system of the state and its political subdivisions shall be a contractual obligation thereof which shall not be diminished or impaired thereby.
Financial benefits arising on account of service rendered in each fiscal year shall be funded during that year and such funding shall not be used for financing unfunded accrued liabilities.
In making this assertion, defendant city argues that the "accrued financial benefits” protected by Const 1963, art 9, § 24 arise only upon an employee’s retirement and do not exist while the employee is still working. We find that defendant’s argument is without merit.
The history and purpose of Const 1963, art 9, § 24 were extensively discussed by the Michigan Supreme Court in an advisory opinion addressing the constitutionality of a proposed public act providing for an increase in the future pension plan contribution required from employees in the public school system who were eligible for federal social security benefits. The proposed increase in the required contribution was from three percent of the employee’s first $4,200 of compensation to five percent, an $84 increase. Under the proposed public act, the employees’ pension benefits would not be increased.
The Supreme Court, in determining what was meant by the phrase "accrued financial benefits,” noted that the intention of the framers of Const 1963, art 9, § 24 was to obviate the harsh rule that pensions granted by public authorities were not contractual obligations, but gratuitous allowances which could be revoked at will. The Court stated that the framers’ intent was apparent from the minutes of the constitutional convention, which provided in pertinent part:
Mr. Van Dusen: Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, this proposal by the committee is designed to do 2 things: first, to give to the employees participating in these plans a security which they do not now enjoy, by making the accrued financial benefits of the plant contractual rights. This, you might think, would go without saying, but several judicial determinations have been made to the effect that participants in pension plans for public employees have no vested interest in the benefits which they believe they have earned; that the municipalities and the state authorities which provide these plans provide them as a gratuity, and therefore it is within the province of the municipality or the other public employer to terminate the plan at will without regard to the benefits which have been, in the judgment of the employees, earned.
Now, it is the belief of the committee that the benefits of pension plans are in a sense deferred compensation for work performed. And with respect to work performed, it is the opinion of the committee that the public employee should have a contractual right to benefits of the pension plan, which should not be diminished by the employing unit after the service has been performed.[ ]
However, the Supreme Court went on to hold that the proposed public act, which only changed the future contribution rate, did not violate Const 1963, art 9, § 24. The Court concluded:
Under this constitutional limitation the Legislature cannot diminish or impair accrued financial benefits but we think it may properly attach new conditions for earning financial benefits which have not yet accrued. Even though compliance with the new conditions may be necessary in order to obtain the financial benefits which have accrued, we would not regard this as a diminishment or impairment of such accrued benefits unless the new conditions were unreasonable and hence subversive of the constitutional protection.
We do not consider the increase of $84 per year in the contributions to be paid by some employees to equalize their contributions with the contributions of other employees in the retirement system to have the effect of subverting the constitutional provision. [Emphasis added.]™
In the emphasized portion of the Court’s conclusion, the court implicitly acknowledged that "accrued financial benefits” had arisen as to services that had already been rendered by the employees, even though the employees had not yet retired and would have to continue making future contributions. The Court then found that the proposed increase in the contribution, required only in connection with future services, did not unreasonably diminish or impair these "accrued financial benefits” related to services rendered in the past.
Although we acknowledge that the advisory opinion is not binding precedent, we agree with the Supreme Court analysis of the constitutional term "accrued financial benefits” in the advisory opinion. The intention of the framers was not as defendant city argues in this case, merely to protect pension benefits of retirees, but was also to protect pension benefits related to work already performed by current employees. Thus, we find that the financial benefits of a pension plan accrue while the employee performs his work for the public employer.
Furthermore, unlike the proposed future contribution increase addressed in the advisory opinion, the defendant city’s proposed unilateral imposition of a minimum age requirement in this case directly diminishes and impairs plaintiffs’ "accrued financial benefits.” If defendant city were allowed to impose this minimum age requirement, it would substantially delay the receipt of pension benefits related to work already performed by plaintiffs. For example, an affidavit filed by an employee represented by one of plaintiff labor organizations reveals that if the minimum age requirement is imposed on his vested pension benefits, which are related to work he has already performed, receipt of these benefits will be delayed by more than thirteen years. Under the presently applicable "40 and 8” plan, the employee would be eligible to receive a vested pension of $734.78 on January 1, 1988, when he was forty-eight years old. However, under the proposed plan of defendant city, the employee would not be eligible to receive his vested pension benefits until December 8, 2001. During this period of more than thirteen years, the employee loses substantial vested pension benefits and may even forfeit his pension benefits if he dies during this period.
Based on this direct diminution and impairment of plaintiffs’ vested pension benefits related to work already performed by plaintiffs, we conclude that the trial judge properly found that defendant city’s proposed unilateral imposition of the minimum age requirement would violate Const 1963, art 9, § 24. Thus, plaintiffs were entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and the trial judge properly granted their motion for summary judgment.
In reaching our conclusion in this matter, we note that, on appeal, defendant city asserts that it gave each of the plaintiffs an opportunity to continue under the "40 and 8” plan if they would agree to pay an additional $175 per year. Defendant city failed to make this assertion in the trial court and does not provide any factual support i.e., affidavits, on appeal. However, even if this assertion was properly presented in this appeal, it would not change the result in this case. Contrary to defendant city’s arguments, the proposed $175 per year fee is not merely an increased contribution for future pension benefits, as was involved in the advisory opinion. Payment of the $175 fee in this case is required to preserve the "accrued financial benefits” that are protected by Const 1963, art 9, § 24. Thus, this $175 fee would constitute a direct diminution and impairment of vested pension benefits related to work already performed by plaintiffs and would also violate the state constitution. Therefore, the availability of the $175 fee opportunity does not allow defendant city to unilaterally impose the minimum age requirement as to plaintiffs’ previously earned and accrued pension benefits. Summary judgment to plaintiffs was proper in this case.
Affirmed.
Advisory Opinion re Constitutionality of 1972 PA 258, 389 Mich 659; 209 NW2d 200 (1973).
Id., pp 662-663.
1 Official Record Constitutional Convention 1961, 770-771; see also 389 Mich 663.
389 Mich 663-664.
Advisory Opinion re Constitutionality of 1972 PA 294, 389 Mich 441, 460, n 1; 208 NW2d 469 (1973). | [
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R. H. Bell, J.
Defendant appeals as of right from various portions of the parties’ judgment of divorce entered in the Kent County Circuit Court.
On September 9, 1982, after trial had commenced, the parties, through their attorneys, placed upon the record in open court an agreed settlement of all issues in this case, including the property division. Thereafter, on September 16, 1982, plaintiffs counsel forwarded a proposed judgment of divorce to defense counsel which was rejected as not being in compliance with the stated settlement.
By letter dated September 24, 1982, plaintiffs attorney informed defense counsel that she had met with the trial court and that it had instructed her to redraft the judgment of divorce in such a way as to cause several alterations from the parties’ settlement. Defense counsel was unaware that a meeting had occurred between the trial court and plaintiffs attorney until it was already a fait accompli. The court purportedly told plaintiffs counsel that all judgments were the court’s and "not that of the litigants’ attorneys”.
The parties agree that further negotiatons were thereafter undertaken, but proved unsuccessful in resolving the dispute. On October 15, 1982, defense counsel filed motions to disqualify the trial judge and for entry of judgment. Both motions were heard on October 22, 1982. The motion to disqualify was denied, and the court refused to enter defendant’s proposed judgment of divorce but, rather, entered the judgment of divorce drafted by plaintiffs counsel in accord with the court’s directions.
The judgment entered by the trial court differs from the terms of the settlement in several respects. The judgment of divorce provides that defendant’s right to exclusive possession of the marital home is contingent upon, among other things, his assumption of periodic repairs, painting, redecorating, and maintenance of the home and that his right to possession of the home will terminate upon his remarriage. The stipulated settlement included no agreement concerning maintenance and did not provide that defendant’s remarriage would terminate his right to live in the marital home. The judgment of divorce further provides that support for the parties’ minor child will continue until she reaches the age of 18 or until her graduation from high school, whichever occurs later. The parties’ settlement as specified orally on the record, however, included no provision for the continuation of child support beyond the minor’s eighteenth birthday. Finally, the judgment of divorce provides that defendant can claim the parties’ child as a dependent on his tax returns, but only if defendant has fully paid and satisfied all support obligations established by the judgment of divorce prior to the end of each calendar year. The stipulated settlement contained no conditions on defendant’s right to claim the parties’ child as a dependent.
Defendant first argues that the trial court had no authority to enter a judgment which differed from the settlement as stated on the record. We agree that the trial court erred by incorporating terms in the judgment of divorce which were not agreed to by the parties. The basis of our decision, however, is not that the trial court was without discretion to do anything other than accept the parties’ settlement but, rather, that it was without authority to alter the parties’ agreement absent the taking of testimony on the disputed issues, weighing the proofs, and rendering an opinion setting forth pertinent conclusions of law and findings of fact. GCR 1963, 517.1.
Property settlements in divorce cases are both lawful and to be commended. Buzynski v Buzynski, 369 Mich 129, 132; 119 NW2d 591 (1963). However, this is not to say that because the parties to a divorce action have agreed to a property settlement and proposed it to the court that the court must accept it. In essence, we concur with the trial court’s view that the power to enter a divorce judgment rests with the court, and the parties’ or counsels’ agreement cannot divest the court of its broad discretion to divide the marital estate upon the dissolution of the marriage.
Although specifically considering the parties’ agreement regarding child custody, this Court said in Puzzuoli v Puzzuoli, 3 Mich App 594, 598; 143 NW2d 162 (1966):
"It is frequently true that in divorce proceedings certain features of a judgment may be agreed to by the parties. However, these agreements do not bind the court respecting the granting of a divorce, unless approved by the court.”
Similarly, in Bowman v Coleman, 356 Mich 390, 392-393; 97 NW2d 118 (1959), which did not involve a divorce action, the Court said in dictum:
"It is self-evident, particularly as relates to custody and alimony matters in divorce cases and others of a similar character involving considerations beyond the mere rights of the parties, that they do not-have the power to control by agreement but determination must rest in the discretion of the court.”
See, also, 83 CJS, Stipulations, § 17, pp 38-39.
The view that a parties’ proposed settlement of a divorce action binds the court ignores the important interest of the state in ensuring the equitable distribution of the marital assets on the marriage’s dissolution and, in this and other similar cases, the interest of the state in ensuring the adequate care of a minor child. These are interests which can only be fully protected by allowing the court’s active participation in fashioning an appropriate judgment. While in the great majority of cases the parties’ agreement will be confirmed by the court, this is not invariably true.
The decisions relied upon by plaintiff, e.g., Tinkle v Tinkle, 106 Mich App 423; 308 NW2d 241 (1981), which stand for the proposition that a settlement of a divorce action shall not be disturbed in the absence of fraud, duress or mutual mistake, differ from this case in one crucial re spect. Here, it was the trial court which refused to confirm the parties’ proposed settlement, while in each of the cases cited by plaintiff one of the parties was attempting to alter the agreed-to settlement. The holdings of Tinkle and similar decisions impose substantial limitations on the ability of parties to renege on their agreements; we do not read these decisions as infringing on a court’s discretion to refuse to confirm a proposed settlement. Here, the trial court did not formally approve the proposed settlement at the time it was placed on the record, and it later decided that it could not enter a judgment of divorce in strict conformity with the parties’ agreement because of perceived inadequacies in the settlement.
Although the trial court has the authority to reject the parties’ proposed settlement of a divorce action, if it disagrees with some portion of the settlement, it may not enter a judgment of divorce, as it did here, in accordance with its views as if this were the agreed settlement of the parties. In this case, prior to the parties’ proposed settlement’s being placed on the record, only plaintiff had given testimony, and she had not yet been subject to cross-examination. When the trial court concluded that it could not enter a judgment in accordance with the proposed settlement, defendant had to be given the opportunity to present his case and to cross-examine plaintiff and her witnesses. Further evidence might have caused the trial court to reconsider the alterations he believed were necessary to make the proposed settlement equitable. In any case, the trial court here either based its alterations to the parties’ settlement on the testimony of plaintiff only or made these alterations without regard to the proofs. A judgment fashioned in either manner cannot be upheld if timely challenged.
Defendant also argues that after the trial court denied his motion for disqualification it erred in entering judgment before the motion was considered de novo pursuant to GCR 1963, 912.3(c). Plaintiif responds that defendant’s motion for disqualification was untimely. On the facts of this case, assuming, arguendo, that the motion was not timely filed, we nonetheless believe that the trial court should have referred the disqualification motion to another judge for a de novo decision prior to resolving the critical dispute remaining in the case. While in some circumstances it might not be improper for the trial court to continue with the proceedings prior to another judge’s ruling on the disqualification motion, this was not such a case. Defendant’s motion, even if deemed untimely, was not overly late. Moreover, the motion was not obviously frivolous, and nothing appears on the record which suggests that delaying entry of the judgment of divorce would have caused either the court or the parties any substantial inconvenience. On remand, prior to further proceedings on the merits of this case, defendant’s motion for disqualification shall be handled in accordance with GCR 1963, 912.3(c)(1).
Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant appeals the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB), awarding benefits to plaintiff. The case is before us by order of the Supreme Court, which remanded to the Court of Appeals in lieu of granting leave to appeal, 417 Mich 1065 (1983).
The undisputed facts in this case are contained in the WCAB opinion as follows:
"On June 11, 1976, plaintiff, an operator for defendant telephone company, finished her work for the day at defendant’s Plymouth office and proceeded immediately to her car. While in the company parking lot, which was located on defendant’s premises, she dropped her car keys. Thinking that she had retrieved them all, plaintiff got into her car and drove directly to a K Mart store located 1-1/2 to 2 miles from her office. After spending no more than ten minutes in that store, she returned to her car and attempted to place her purchase in the trunk. Having discovered that her trunk key was missing, she immediately returned to defendant’s parking lot to look for the key. While searching in the parking area, plaintiff slipped on loose gravel and fell, injuring her back. This incident, occurring within approximately 30 minutes of the cessation of plaintiffs employment for the day, was promptly reported to defendant. At hearing, the parties stipulated that plaintiff remains disabled because of her June 11, 1976 back injury.”
In a split decision, the WCAB found that plaintiff was injured in the course of her employment because the statutory presumption in MCL 418.301(2); MSA 17.237(301)(2) [now MCL 418.301(3); MSA 17.237(301X3), as amended by 1980 PA 357] applied. That section provided:
"(2) Every employee going to or from his work while on the premises where his work is to be performed, and within a reasonable time before and after his working hours, shall be presumed to be in the course of his employment.”
The WCAB found that plaintiff was on the employer’s premises within a reasonable time after working hours and that, despite the personal nature of her presence there and that she had temporarily left the premises, the § 301 presumption should apply.
Defendant argues in this appeal that the WCAB erred because plaintiff’s injury did not occur in the course of her employment. Plaintiff argues that the WCAB accurately applied the presumption that plaintiff’s disability occurred in the course of her employment, and, even assuming that the presumption is inapplicable, the injury still occurred in the course of plaintiff’s employment.
We find that there is no competent evidence to support the WCAB’s finding that the statutory presumption applies. Const 1963, art 6, § 28; MCL 418.861; MSA 17.237(861). While we do not disagree that this 30-minute period may be a "reasonable time” within the meaning of the statute, , we cannot find competent evidence, on these facts, that plaintiff was "going to or from work” when the accident occurred. Rather, plaintiff had left work, gone shopping, and then returned solely for the purpose of searching for her keys.
The WCAB majority also impliedly found that there was a sufficient nexus between plaintiffs employment and injury for this accident to have occurred in the course of plaintiffs employment with defendant. The WCAB relied upon Nemeth v Michigan Building Components, 390 Mich 734; 213 NW2d 144 (1973).
In Nemeth, the employee amputated the fingers on his left hand on a saw he was using for personal work 35 minutes after check-out time. The employer authorized this personal use of its equipment on its premises. The Court found that Nemeth’s accident was incident to his employment relationship because the employer’s agreement to allow Nemeth the use of the saw increased employee good will, a benefit to the employer. The Court held:
"There is a sufficient nexus between the employment and the injury in a case where an employee sustains an injury while using equipment provided by the employer on the employer’s premises so that recovery should be allowed even though the injury occurred after regular working hours and the equipment was being used for a purpose other than the manufacture of the employer’s products.” Nemeth, p 738 (footnote omitted).
We do not find Nemeth dispositive in this case.
An injury occurring to an employee on the employer’s premises is not per se compensable. Ledbetter v Michigan Carton Co, 74 Mich App 330, 334-335; 253 NW2d 753 (1977), lv den 401 Mich 829 (1977). Rather, a compensable injury is one that arises out of and in the course of employment. Id., MCL 418.301; MSA 17.237(301). The injury must result from the work itself, or from the stresses, the tensions, and the associations of the working environment, human as well as material. Crilly v Ballou, 353 Mich 303, 326; 91 NW2d 493 (1958). An injury arises out of the course of employment when it occurs as a circumstance of or incident to the employment relationship. McClure v General Motors Corp (On Rehearing), 408 Mich 191, 204; 289 NW2d 631 (1980).
We cannot find that the accident at issue in this case occurred within the course, the flow, the path, route, or channel of plaintiffs employment. Nemeth, supra. Rather, we agree with the dissenting WCAB member who found no nexus between this injury and plaintiff’s employment because plaintiff had already left work and begun to perform personal, nonwork-related activities prior to the accident. Defendant did not derive any special benefit from plaintiffs activities at the time the accident occurred. Nemeth, supra. Thus, we cannot find that plaintiffs injury was related to any special circumstance incident to plaintiff’s and defendant’s employment relationship.
Because we find that plaintiff’s injury did not arise out of the course of her employment, we reverse the WCAB decision and award. Because we reverse, we need not address defendant’s second argument on appeal.
Reversed. | [
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Per Curiam.
Following a jury trial in the Kent County Circuit Court, defendants were convicted of breaking and entering with the intent to break and enter, the information referring to MCL 750.110; MSA 28.305 (Count I), breaking and entering with the intent to commit larceny, MCL 750.110; MSA 28.305 (Count II), and possession of burglary tools, MCL 750.116; MSA 28.311 (Count III). Thereafter, defendant Hardiman was convicted by a jury of being a third-felony offender, MCL 769.11; MSA 28.1083 and MCL 769.13; MSA 28.1085, and defendant Wallace was convicted of being a second-felony offender, MCL 769.10; MSA 28.1082 and MCL 769.13; MSA 28.1085. Hardiman was sentenced to serve three terms of from 10 to. 20 years imprisonment, and Wallace was sentenced to serve three terms of from 2 to 15 years imprisonment. Each defendant’s sentences are to be served concurrently. Defendants appeal as of right.
A brief summary of the basic facts resulting in the convictions follows. Defendants entered a vacant, burned-out building at 721 Cherry, S.E., in Grand Rapids where they proceeded to break a hole into a common wall which this building shared with a convenience store. At the time they were apprehended, the hole in the wall was approximately one foot high and two feet wide. A machete, a hammer, and a lug wrench were found on the floor near defendants. When defendants were apprehended, they were wearing socks on their hands.
Defendants first contend that their convictions for breaking and entering with the intent to commit breaking and entering must be reversed because no such crime exists in Michigan. We agree. Felony breaking and entering pursuant to MCL 750.110; MSA 28.305 requires proof that the actor intended "to commit any felony, or any larceny therein”. Here, the prosecution failed to specify in Count I any intent except the intent to break and enter. Under MCL 750.115; MSA 28.310, breaking and entering without permission is a misdemeanor, and a defendant may not be convicted of a felony breaking and entering because he intended to commit a misdemeanor inside the building. Where an information charges no crime, the court lacks jurisdiction to try the accused, and a motion to quash the information or charge is always timely. People v Calvin, 60 Mich 113, 119-120; 26 NW 851 (1886).
The prosecution argues, however, that it is clear that Count I really charged defendants with breaking and entering with the intent to commit larceny and any defect in the information was merely technical. Even were we to accept this, argument, we would reverse the Count I breaking and entering conviction. From the evidence adduced at trial, it is clear that defendants intended to commit a single larceny in the party store and did not intend to commit a larceny in the vacant, burned-out building. Therefore, as defendants contend, Counts I and II of the information would be duplicative and convictions for multiple breaking and entering offenses violative of the prohibition against double jeopardy were we to treat each count as charging breaking and entering with the intent to commit larceny. Cf. People v Leverette, 112 Mich App 142; 315 NW2d 876 (1982) (where there is only one act of taking, the prohibition against double jeopardy precludes convictions for both unarmed robbery and unlawfully driving away an automobile), and People v Yarbrough, 107 Mich App 332; 309 NW2d 602 (1981) (convictions for armed robbery and felonious assault were impermissible where neither of two felonious assaults were completed prior to the consummation of the robbery).
Defendants next assert that their convictions must be reversed because the prosecutor committed misconduct by repeatedly asking questions which concerned inadmissible evidence. Assuming, arguendo, that the questions in issue were improper, they were clearly harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. People v Robinson, 386 Mich 551, 563; 194 NW2d 709 (1972).
The remaining two issues are raised only by defendant Hardiman by way of a supplemental brief submitted in propria persona. Defendant first contends that the trial court erred in allowing the prosecution to ámend the supplemental information during trial to correctly date one of his former convictions as February 15, 1974, rather than February 13, 1975, as charged. The trial court’s ruling on a motion to amend an information will not be reversed on appeal unless the defendant is prejudiced in the presentation of his defense. People v Mahone, 97 Mich App 192, 195; 293 NW2d 618 (1980). Here, when defense counsel complained that he was prepared to defend against a 1975 robbery conviction, and not a 1974 conviction, the prosecution suggested a continuance. Defendant, however, did not respond to this suggestion. Moreover, as the trial court noted, the supplemental information correctly listed the case number and nature of the conviction in dispute. We are not persuaded that defendant was prejudiced in his defense by the court’s decision to permit amendment of the supplemental information.
Defendant also contends that the trial court erred by imposing sentences in excess of those prescribed by statute. While the sentences would be invalid if, as defendant contends, he were sentenced for the substantive offenses of breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny and possession of burglary tools, he was in fact sentenced as a third-time felony offender. Under those circumstances, the sentences were within legal limits. MCL 769.11; MSA 28.1083.
Defendants’ convictions and sentences for breaking and entering with the intent to break and enter are reversed. Defendants’ remaining convictions and sentences are affirmed. | [
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Per Curiam.
On August 1, 1979, defendant was convicted by a jury of voluntary manslaughter and was thereafter sentenced to a prison term of from 10 to 15 years. Defendant then appealed as of right to this Court which reversed the case and remanded for entry of judgment of conviction of involuntary manslaughter. This Court additionally granted the prosecution the option of vacating that conviction and seeking a new trial. People v Newman, 107 Mich App 535; 309 NW2d 657 (1981). The Supreme Court denied application for leave to appeal to both parties on December 22, 1981, 412 Mich 890 (1981). On July 22, 1982, defendant filed a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for resentencing, alleging that the trial court had lost jurisdiction to either retry defendant or enter a conviction for involuntary manslaughter. On August 20, 1982, the trial court denied the motion to dismiss and granted the prosecution’s motion for resentencing. Defendant was sentenced to from 7-1/2 to 15 years imprisonment and appeals as of right.
Defendant first claims there was a violation of the 180-day rule, MCL 780.131; MSA 28.969(1). We disagree. Defendant’s reliance on People v Walker, 111 Mich App 641; 314 NW2d 721 (1981), is misplaced. The instant case is distinguishable from Walker in that in the case at bar there was no untried information pending and no rearraignment. We find the 180-day rule to be inapplicable herein.
Defendant additionally contends that the trial court failed to respond to defendant’s objection to portions of the presentence report and denied defendant his right of allocution. We have examined the record and briefs and find defendant had an adequate opportunity to exercise his right of allocution and the trial court adequately responded to defendant’s objections. GCR 1963, 785.12. We find no reversible error.
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Per Curiam.
Defendants appeal as of right from the trial court’s June 17, 1982, grant of summary judgment in plaintiffs’ favor.
On March 18, 1981, plaintiffs, municipal corporations and taxpayers, filed identical complaints in the Court of Claims and in Washtenaw County Circuit Court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. They alleged that plaintiff municipal corporations all provided fire protection services to all property within their boundaries, and that they were required by law to provide such service to all such property, whether public or private. State-owned property is located within the boundaries of each plaintiff municipal corporation. Each plaintiff municipal corporation had followed the procedure dictated in MCL 141.951 et seq.; MSA 4.208(1) et seq., for obtaining reimbursement for the costs of fire protection services provided to state facilities in fiscal 1980. Defendant Treasurer failed to draw warrants to make the requested payments, and defendant State of Michigan failed to appropriate monies with which to make such payments. Plaintiffs argued that defendants’ failure to reimburse them for the expenses of fire protection provided to state facilities under MCL 141.951 et seq.; MSA 4.208(1) et seq., was a violation of Const 1963, art 9, § 29, one section of the "Headlee Amendment”, and requested that the courts issue writs of mandamus directing defendants to make the required payments and issue declaratory judgments stating that defendants were in fact obliged to continue their reimbursements.
Defendants answered on April 24, 1981, stating as affirmative defenses that defendant Treasurer issued no warrants for fiscal 1980 under MCL 141.951 et seq.; MSA 4.208(1) et seq., because no appropriation had been adopted under the statutes, that fire protection was a purely local matter, and that the requested relief could not be granted without violating the doctrine of separation of powers.
On September 21, 1981, the Court of Claims case was consolidated with the Washtenaw County case in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court to be heard by Circuit Court Judge Ross W. Campbell as a Court of Claims judge.
Plaintiffs moved for summary judgment under GCR 1963, 117.2(2) on March 4, 1982, arguing that defendants had failed to state any valid defense. The trial judge granted this motion on June 17, 1982, finding that defendants’ actions violated Const 1963, art 9, § 29, and ordering defendants to take the necessary steps to prepare to make the required reimbursements under MCL 141.951 et seq.; MSA 4.208(1) et seq. This order was stayed pending this appeal.
Const 1963, art 9, § 29 provides that "[t]he state is * * * prohibited from reducing the state financed proportion of the necessary costs of any existing activity or service required of units of Local Government by state law”. This provision also requires the state to pay for the increase in costs incurred by units of local government due to any new activity or service required by the Legislature or another state agency.
This Court has not yet interpreted the meaning of the phrase "activity or service required * * * by state law” as used in the above provision. Under MCL 21.234(4); MSA 5.3194(604)(4), which implements this constitutional provision, however, "state law” is defined as "a state statute or state agency rule”. MCL 21.234(5)(h); MSA 5.3194(604)(5)(h) provides that a statute or rule allowing a local unit of government to perform an activity or service, but not requiring it, is not a "requirement of state law”.
Because it is dispositive, we address only the issue of whether the furnishing of fire protection services by plaintiff municipal corporations is an activity required by state law and hold that it is not.
Although charter townships and townships are authorized by statute to provide fire protection, MCL 41.181, 41.801, 42.13; MSA 5.45(1), 5.2640(1), 5.46(13), each of these statutes is clearly permissive rather than mandatory.
The home rule cities act, MCL 117.1 et seq.; MSA 5.2071 et seq., requires that such cities provide in their charters "[f]or the public peace and health and for the safety of persons and property”. MCL 117.30); MSA 5.20730). Nothing in the act, however, specifically requires that home rule cities provide fire protection. Indeed, fire protection has long been considered a purely local matter. Davidson v Hine, 151 Mich 294; 115 NW 246 (1908). This conclusion is also supported by other statutes which recognize that it is optional for cities to have fire departments. Section 4(1) of the Fire Prevention Code, MCL 29.1 et seq.; MSA 4.559(1) et seq., for example, provides in part:
"The chief of each organized fire department, or the clerk of each city, village, or township not having an organized Sre department, immediately after the occurrence of fire within the official's jurisdiction resulting in loss of life or property, shall make and file with the state fire marshal a complete fire incident report of the fire.” (Emphasis supplied.) MCL 29.4; MSA 4.559(4).
See also MCL 38.501; MSA 5.3351.
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Per Curiam.
Defendants appeal as of right from an order granting summary judgment to plaintiffs, based upon defendants’ failure to pay real estate taxes upon property purchased on a land contract. We affirm.
Defendants purchased the property on a land contract from plaintiffs in 1981. Under the terms of the contract, defendants were required to pay taxes to the taxing authority when due and show proof of such payment upon plaintiffs’ request. Defendants delayed paying the taxes and, on October 12, 1984, plaintiffs filed a complaint to foreclose the contract, alleging default in payment of overdue property taxes and waste.
On February 18, Í985, plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment, pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(3), now MCR 2.116(0(10). The amount of overdue taxes was not disputed. On May 7, 1985, after oral argument on plaintiffs’ motion, summary judgment was granted on the basis of defendants’ nonpayment of taxes. On appeal, defendants contend that summary judgment was improper since sufficient questions of fact relating to the payment of taxes existed to defeat the motion.
Defendants first argue that their reliance on the plaintiffs’ silence with regard to delaying the payment of real estate taxes raised a sufficient question of fact to defeat a motion of summary judgment. We disagree. Ordinarily, a subsequent modification of a contract for the sale of land must be in writing to be legally enforceable. MCL 566.108; MSA 26.908; Schultz v Silver, 323 Mich 454; 35 NW2d 383 (1949). Defendants do not assert a legally enforceable modification to the contract. At some point after entering into the contract, defendants discussed with plaintiff Andrew Sepesi the possibility of delaying the payment of taxes. No written modification to the original contract resulted from this discussion. No consideration for plaintiffs forebearance was offered or accepted. There is no claim that plaintiffs ever consented to the suggested modification; their assent was a necessary condition precedent to a valid contract setting aside the provisions of an expressed writ ten contract. Johnson v Douglas, 281 Mich 247, 256; 274 NW 780 (1937).
On appeal, defendants assert only that plaintiffs’ failure to object to their proposal constituted acquiescence to their actions, thus estopping plaintiffs from using the delayed tax payments as a basis for foreclosure. In support, defendants point to a general rule of estoppel found in Thompson v Enz, 385 Mich 103, 108; 188 NW2d 579 (1971). However, Thompson did not involve a foreclosure action nor any alleged modification of a written contract.
We conclude that defendants’ delayed payment of taxes, an alleged "reliance” upon plaintiffs’ failure to object, does not raise a sufficient question of material fact to defeat a motion for summary judgment. Defendants provide no basis for a legally enforceable modification. They assert no writing, mutual assent, or consideration to support their allegation. Nor do the facts support a finding of estoppel. There was no evidence of plaintiffs’ assent to the delay, nor of any benefit to plaintiffs arising from defendants’ actions. We, therefore, affirm the trial court on this issue.
We must next decide whether a failure to pay property taxes is a default sufficient to invoke the acceleration clause under the terms of a land contract. In granting summary judgment for plaintiffs, the lower court relied on Bishop v Brown, 118 Mich App 819; 325 NW2d 594 (1982). In Bishop, the Court was presented with facts similar to those in the instant case. The plaintiffs sought to foreclose the land contract, alleging that the defendants’ failure to pay certain taxes and failure to make timely payment to the plaintiffs constituted default. This Court found that the defendants’ failure to pay amounts owed directly to the plaintiffs was dispositive, but, in dicta, addressed the tax question. This Court stated that, for purposes of determining breach of contract, taxes are not past due until delinquent and that delinquency commences when the county treasurer may first impose a penalty for late payment. Bishop, supra, p 826. In addition, this Court stated that a provision in the contract allowing the plaintiff to pay any overdue tax and add the amount to the unpaid balance on the contract was not an exclusive remedy. Where the contract terms also provided for acceleration and foreclosure upon default, plaintiff could exercise either one of these remedies at his option. Bishop, supra, pp 827-828. The parties here do not dispute that the taxes were past due. Thus, for purposes of this issue we may assume that defendants were in breach.
Defendants correctly point out that the pertinent language of Bishop is dicta, however, the lower court was free to apply the conclusions of Bishop to these facts, there being no definitive precedent to the contrary. There is no basis for defendants’ assertions that in Bishop the Court failed to construe the contract as a whole, failed to construe any ambiguous terms against the drafting party, or failed to take into account the intent of the parties.
The pertinent clauses of the contract at issue are 3(c) and 3(g). Clause 3(c) provides:
(c) That if default is made by the Purchaser in the payment of any taxes, assessments or insurance premiums, or in the payment of the sums provided for in Paragraph 2(e), or in the delivery of any policy as herein before provided, the Seller may pay such taxes or premiums or procure such insurance and pay the premium or premiums thereon, and any sum or sums so paid shall be a further lien on the land and premises, payable by the purchaser to the seller forthwith with interest at the same delinquent rate applicable as set forth in Paragraph 1(b) hereof.
Clause 3(g) provides:
"(g) If default is made by the Purchaser and such default continues for a period of forty-five days or more, and the Seller desires to foreclose this contract in equity, then the seller shall have at his option the right to declare the entire unpaid balance hereunder to be due and payable forthwith, notwithstanding anything herein contained to the contrary.
As in Bishop, the clause pertaining to payment of taxes provides that upon default the seller may pay such taxes and add the sum to the unpaid balance. However, as in Bishop, we construe the clause as giving plaintiffs the option to pay the taxes or to foreclose and accelerate the unpaid balance upon default. In Bishop, the delayed payment of taxes constituted default. We agree with that result and hold that defendants’ failure to pay property taxes was a default sufficient to invoke the acceleration clause under the terms of the parties’ land contract.
Under MCL 600.3101; MSA 27A.3101, circuit courts have the jurisdiction to foreclose land contracts. Acceleration clauses in land contracts are valid and enforceable. Larson v Pittman, 3 Mich App 348; 142 NW2d 479 (1966). The institution of foreclosure proceedings is sufficient notice that the seller has elected to exercise the right to accelerate. No prior notice of the intent to foreclose is necessary. Dumas v Helm, 15 Mich App 148, 151; 166 NW2d 306 (1968).
In summary, we hold that the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to plaintiffs. Defendants’ failure to pay the property taxes which were due was a default sufficient to invoke the acceleration clause of the parties’ land contract. The institution of foreclosure proceedings was sufficient notice that the seller had elected to exercise the right to accelerate.
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Per Curiam:.
Defendant appeals by leave granted from an opinion and order of the Circuit Court for Tuscola County dated January 3, 1983, affirming defendant’s April 21, 1982, conviction in the district court for operating a junkyard for inoperable motor vehicles and scrap metal in violation of plaintiffs zoning ordinance. The parties stipulate that for purposes of this appeal, the facts shall be the facts set forth in the written opinion of the district court dated April 21, 1982.
On February 4, 1981, defendant purchased on land contract a parcel of property in Fremont Township. At the time of purchase, on that property were a large number of inoperable motor vehicles, inoperable washing machines, and scrap metal. Likewise, on the date of purchase, defendant was not licensed to operate a business of storing or selling junk cars or storing scrap metal despite the fact that in 1969 plaintiff had enacted a zoning ordinance pursuant to the enabling statute in effect at that time. That ordinance established an area where junkyards could be established, but the area designated for such use did not include the subject property, which, under the ordinance, was zoned as an agricultural-residential area. While variances are allowed under the ordinance, no variances for the subject property had been issued by the township and the record is barren of any request for such variance. On the date of trial, the number of junk vehicles on the subject property was much greater than on the date of the alleged offense.
Defendant does not deny that the ordinance in question was duly adopted by the township on March 27, 1969, pursuant to the provisions of 1943 PA 184, entitled "The Township Rural Zoning Act”, MCL 125.271 et seq.; MSA 5.2963(1) et seq., but argues that the ordinance was repealed upon amendment to the Township Rural Zoning Act by 1978 PA 637, effective March 1, 1979. It is defendant’s theory that the Legislature intended to repeal all prior township zoning ordinances by replacing them with a distinctly new and different statute. The issue raised appears to be of first impression.
The flaw in defendant’s theory is that 1978 PA 637 did not replace all sections of 1943 PA 184. Nine sections, one being § 26 which provided that existing township zoning ordinances shall remain in effect until a new ordinance is adopted, were left intact. Section 26 reads as follows:
"In the event any township shall have an ordinance adopted and in effect or shall have had a referendum authorizing an ordinance under the provisions of Act No. 302 of the Public Acts of 1937, prior to the effective date of this act, such ordinance or any ordinance hereafter adopted by reason of such referendum under the provisions of said Act No. 302 of the Public Acts of 1937 shall remain in full force and effect until a new ordinance is adopted and in effect under the provisions of this act, and any such ordinance shall be deemed to have been adopted as an ordinance under the provisions of this act, and shall be governed thereby.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Section 26, as quoted above, was enacted in 1947 PA 137, effective October 11, 1947. Defendant argues that since § 26 was not amended or reenacted in the 1978 amendment "it remains as it was in 1947 and saves only those ordinances in effect prior to October 1, 1947”. In order to come to this conclusion, one must read the words "prior to the effective date of this act” (underscored in the above) as meaning "prior to the effective date of this section”. The more logical interpretation is that the Legislature intended to save all township zoning ordinances which had been enacted prior to the amendatory act and that the words "this act” refer to the 1978 amendatory act, rather than the 1947 act. Further, as noted in the written opinion of the district court, § 26 provides no time limits and no mandatory provisions requiring a township with an existing ordinance to pass a new zoning ordinance. Of course, any provisions of a preMarch 1, 1979, local ordinance conflicting with the new statute would be of no effect.
It is next argued that § 9.05 of the ordinance is unconstitutional on its face because it is an unlawful delegation of legislative power. However, as noted by the appellee at oral argument, the charges against defendant under § 9.05 were dropped prior to trial and the case proceeded under § 14.01 of the ordinance for conducting a business on lands not zoned for the business so conducted.
We also reject defendant’s claim that the ordinance is unconstitutional because, in actuality, it totally prohibits junkyards in Fremont Township. Defendant argues that although the ordinance established an area where junkyards may be established, as a practical matter the area so designated is owned by either the Tuscola County Road Commission or the Village of Mayville and is being used for other purposes. Thus, defendant contends, as a practical matter zoning for junkyard purposes is totally prohibited. In an excellent review detailing the significance of the 1978 amendment to the township and city zoning statutes (Ternan, Amendments to the Zoning Enabling Acts: New Concepts and Procedures, 59 Mich BJ 100), the author states that the 1978 amendatory act for the first time included a provision against exclusionary zoning. In the case of townships, the provision referred to is § 27a, which reads:
"A zoning ordinance or zoning decision shall not have the effect of totally prohibiting the establishment of a land use within a township in the presence of a demonstrated need for that land use within either the township or surrounding area within the state, unless there is no location within the township where the use may be appropriately located, or the use is unlawful.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Assuming, arguendo, that the local units of government owning the land where junkyards could be established would refuse to give permission for such usage and, thus, that for practical purposes automobile junkyards are totally excludable in Fremont Township, such prohibition is still not invalid under §27a unless (1) the prohibition is township-wide in scope and (2) there is a demonstrated need for that land use within the township or surrounding area. Neither condition is established here. According to the trial court’s findings, which are the stipulated facts for purposes of this appeal:
"The only evidence on the record with respect to a demonstrated need for junkyards in Fremont Township is that there are at least two junkyards in Tuscola County, one of those yards being approximately 4 miles from Fremont Township and another perhaps 17 miles from Fremont Township. The court finds there is no showing of a demonstrated need for the use of defendant’s land as a junkyard on this record.”
Given the fact that Fremont Township’s population is only 1,500, that a junkyard for motor vehicles is but 4 miles distant, and another such yard is 17 miles away, and that defendant introduced no evidence of need for additional junkyards either within the township boundaries or the surrounding area, we are not persuaded that the ordinance constitutes exclusionary zoning within the intent and meaning of § 27a. In the absence of contrary evidence, zoning ordinances come clothed with every presumption of validity. Ed Zaagman, Inc v Kentwood, 406 Mich 137, 153; 277 NW2d 475 (1979).
Finding no error in the April 21, 1982, opinion and order of the district court, the opinion and order of the circuit court for Tuscola County dated January 3, 1983, is affirmed. No costs, a question of public importance being involved.
1943 PA 184, being MCL 125.271 et seq.; MSA 5.2963(1) et seq., and entitled “The Township Rural Zoning Act”.
The amendatory act did not refer to §§ 6, 7a, 8, 19, 21, 22, 26, 27, and 28 of the former statute and thus those sections were not repealed and remain an integral part of the act.
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Shepherd, J.
Defendants appeal from the trial court’s finding that state laws requiring certification of teachers in nonpublic schools, and mandating certain courses and curriculum standards in such schools, violate plaintiffs’ right to freely exercise their religious beliefs, US Const, Am I, and its order enjoining enforcement of the same as to plaintiffs. In his written opinion, the trial judge also held that the treacher certification requirement and state supervision of parochial schools cause "excessive government entanglement with religion” in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, supra. We disagree and reverse.
The Legislature has placed supervision of nonpublic schools within the authority of the defendant superintendent of public instruction:
"The superintendent of public instruction is hereby given supervision of all the private, denominational and parochial schools of this state in such matters and manner as is hereinafter provided. * * * It is the intent of this act that the sanitary conditions of such schools, the course of study therein, and the qualifications of the teachers thereof shall be of the same standard as provided by the general school laws of the state.” MCL 388.551; MSA 15.1921.
A person employed as a teacher in such a school is required to hold "a certificate such as would qualify him or her to teach in like grades of the public schools of the state”. MCL 388.553; MSA 15.1923. Certification requirements are determined by the State Board of Education, MCL 380.1531; MSA 15.41531, and are set forth in 1979 AC, R 390.1101 et seq. An applicant for a teaching certifi cate must have completed "not less than 40 semester hours in a program of general or liberal education”. R 390.1122(1), and must hold a bachelor’s degree from a college or university approved by the State Board of Education. R 390.1125(1). Provision is made for certification of applicants who attended accredited institutions in other states. R 390.1130, R 390.1154.
The compulsory education provision of the state School Code of 1976, MCL 380.1561(3)(a); MSA 15.41561(3)(a), reads in part as follows:
"A child shall not be required to attend the public schools in the following cases:
"* * * A child who is attending regularly and is being taught in a state approved nonpublic school, which teaches subjects comparable to those taught in the public schools to children of corresponding age and grade, as determined by the course of study for the public schools of the district within which the nonpublic school is located.”
Local school boards are charged with determining the courses of study to be pursued in each school district. MCL 380.1282; MSA 15.41282. The only nonpublic school courses specifically mandated by the state are Federal and State Constitution and Government and high school Civics. MCL 380.1166; MSA 15.41166. The state’s regulation of nonpublic school curricula consists of a simple review of the availability of various academic courses. The Department of Education has determined that plaintiffs’ schools offer courses comparable to those of public schools. The curriculum review does not include an evaluation of teaching techniques or course content.
Nonpublic schools are required to submit records of enrollment, courses of study and teacher qualifi cations upon demand by the state. A school’s failure to comply is "considered sufficient cause to suspend the operation of said school” following notice and a hearing before the state superintendent. MCL 388.555; MSA 15.1925, MCL 388.554; MSA 15.1924.
On December 8, 1980, plaintiffs filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief alleging, inter alia, the following:
(1) The plaintiffs include a teacher, pastor, parents, and churches who adhere to a fundamentalist Christian faith;
(2) Plaintiffs have established two Christian schools for their children;
(3) The schools "are Christian enterprises which are conducted as an integral part of [plaintiffs’] religious mission”;
(4) The schools "involve substantial religious activity and purpose” and do not divide instruction into religious and secular components and;
(5) The schools "employ teachers who are subject to the direction and discipline of religious authority which necessarily pervades the school”.
It is further alleged that the defendant superintendent had instituted proceedings to determine if the schools’ operation should be suspended for failure to meet statutory requirements and that plaintiffs had refused to comply for reasons of religious conviction, as compliance "would substantially limit and interfere with the religious mission of the churches”. Plaintiffs claimed that imposition of the curriculum and certification requirements would violate the free exercise clause of the First Amendment by depriving them of the liberty to carry out their religious mission of Christian education, without a compelling state interest in the imposition of such requirements. They also claimed that "the requirements necessitate excessive entanglement between government and religion”. Plaintiffs prayed for issuance of an ex parte temporary restraining order forbidding enforcement of the requirements, as well as permanent injunctive relief. The trial court granted the temporary restraining order the same day but vacated it on December 22, 1980, upon an agreement by defendants to refrain from further administrative action against plaintiffs pending the court’s final decision.
Defendants filed an answer and counterclaim on February 17, 1981, seeking mandatory injunctive relief against plaintiffs’ refusal to submit school records to the state. MCL 388.555. A six-day non-jury trial was held.
Both of the schools operated by plaintiffs offer a kindergarten through twelfth grade program. Each school offers courses in a wide variety of secular, academic subjects, including civics, American government, mathematics, English, and science. The schools employ some teachers who have complied with the certification requirement and some who have not. The State Department of Education annually requests reports from nonpublic schools on enrollment and teacher qualifications but plaintiffs refused to submit such records to the state during the 1979-1980 academic year.
Plaintiffs believe that sovereignty is a religious concept under which only God, not the state, is supreme over man. They believe any attempt by the state to control or license their educational "ministry” is an infringement on their religious liberty. The also object to state control over their school curricula because, according to plaintiffs, it could force them to teach objectionable matter or interfere with religious teaching. They believe that reporting student enrollment to the state is synonymous with state control. While their religion does not prevent them from hiring certified teachers, it forbids them from consenting to the state’s requirement that teachers in their schools be certified. Plaintiffs contend that the "humanistic” education courses which are requisite to obtaining certification conflict with their own biblical beliefs. In short, the plaintiffs are opposed to any effort by the state to dictate the qualifications of the teachers employed by, or courses taught in, their schools.
Plaintiffs called as witnesses two experts in the field of education, each of whom criticized teacher certification requirements as ineffective guarantors of adequate performance. One of these experts went so far as to state that certification actually produces mediocrity. Defendants’ expert witness testified that, without certification, there would be no safeguard against incompetence but admitted lacking knowledge of any study showing a correlation between certification and teacher performance.
The trial judge found the religious beliefs of plaintiffs to be sincere and that the state regulations at issue interfered with the practice of those beliefs. He concluded that "[defendants have failed to show that teacher certification is a reasonable or effective means to carry out a legitimate state purpose”. In addition, he held the curriculum standards invalid because they do not ensure uniformity in educational quality in the state but "merely [require] that nonpublic schools be as good as, or as bad as, the public schools in the district”. The trial judge noted the interest of local school districts "in maintaining enrollment in the public schools since each student lost [i.e., to parochial schools] means substantial loss of revenue for that district”. The court held also that the regulations cause excessive government entanglement with religion and, therefore, MCL 388.551 and 388.553 are unconstitutional. The court upheld the state’s authority to investigate the records of nonpublic schools, MCL 388.555, but ruled that the information thereby obtained "may be used for statistical and comparison purposes only”. The trial judge’s successor entered a judgment reflecting the trial judge’s written opinion.
I
The Curriculum and Teacher Certification Requirements Do Not Violate Plaintiffs’ Rights Under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof’. The free exercise clause was made applicable to the states in Gitlow v New York, 268 US 652; 45 S Ct 625; 69 L Ed 1138 (1925). In Sherbert v Verner, 374 US 398, 403-407; 83 S Ct 1790; 10 L Ed 2d 965 (1963), the Court applied a three-part inquiry to determine whether the government had impermissibly infringed upon the appellant’s right to practice her religious beliefs: first, whether the belief, or the conduct motivated by the belief, is religious in nature; second, whether the state regulation imposes any burden on the free exercise of religion; and third, whether some "compelling state interest” justified the burden placed upon the First Amendment right. 374 US 398, 406.
In applying the first part of the Sherbert test, it should be noted that "to have the protection of the Religion Clauses, the claims must be rooted in religious belief’. Wisconsin v Yoder, 406 US 205, 215; 92 S Ct 1526; 32 L Ed 2d 15 (1972). Writing for the majority in Murdock v Pennsylvania, 319 US 105, 109; 63 S Ct 870; 87 L Ed 1292 (1943), Justice Douglas rejected the notion "that any conduct can be made a religious rite and by the zeal of the practitioners swept into the First Amendment”. Here, however, defendants concede and the evidence is uncontroverted that plaintiffs’ objections to state regulation of their schools are firmly rooted in the fundamentalist doctrine to which they adhere. While not all Christian denominations share plaintiffs’ perceptions of the educational implications of their particular view of religion, it remains true that the fundamentalist doctrine of plaintiffs is a religious doctrine within the meaning of the term religion as found in the United States and Michigan Constitutions and any interference with plaintiffs’ beliefs by the state must satisfy the stringent demands placed upon the state before such interference can be constitutionally justified.
"The party alleging a First Amendment violation has the burden of proving that the regulation in question imposes a burden or restriction on the exercise of his or her religious beliefs.” Hough v North Star Baptist Church, 109 Mich App 780, 783; 312 NW2d 158 (1981). "Hence it is necessary in a free exercise case for one to show the coércive effect of the enactment as it operates against [the party] in the practice of [its] religion.” Abington School Dist v Schempp, 374 US 203, 223; 83 S Ct 1560; 10 L Ed 2d 844 (1963). The fact that a law does not compel a violation of conscience or that it applies to a general category of conduct does not end the inquiry. "A regulation neutral on its face may, in its application, nonetheless offend the constitutional requirement of governmental neutrality if it unduly burdens the free exercise of religion.” Yoder, supra, 406 US 205, 220; Thomas v Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division, 450 US 707, 717; 101 S Ct 1425; 67 L Ed 2d 624 (1981). Furthermore, the law may be invalid on this ground even though the burden is only indirect. Sherbert, supra, 374 US 398, 404.
In this case, plaintiffs claim the curriculum regulations and teacher certification requirement place an unlawful burden on the exercise of their beliefs, and the trial judge so held. It appears that plaintiffs’ schools fully comply with the curriculum standards demanded by defendants. Plaintiffs’ objection is based on the belief that the state has no right to regulate their school programs in any manner. However, the state does not seek to regulate the content of textbooks used or the manner in which courses are taught in the schools. We therefore believe that any burden on plaintiffs’ beliefs is not constitutionally significant. Similarly, the teacher certification rule has not prevented plaintiffs from hiring teachers who meet their specifications as well as the state’s qualifications. Persons who earn degrees from accredited, private colleges and universities may qualify for teacher certification. In addition, "an applicant may satisfy any educational requirement for certification by presenting evidence of an equivalent as determined by the state board”. 1979 AC, R 390.1152. Equivalence may be based on college graduation, scores on standardized examinations, or prior teaching experience. Id. Emergency, temporary permits may be issued for persons "with reasonable qualifications when failure to authorize the permit will deprive children of an education”. R 390.1145.
Plaintiffs have no religious objection to having their children taught by certified teachers. Once again, it is the very concept of state regulation which they abhor. There is no showing that compliance with the requirement would render the mission of their schools impractical or impossible.
Posed against this minimal burden is the state’s interest in the quality of education. "When state action results in a denial of one’s legitimate exercise of religious freedom, the state must show an overriding interest of the highest order to justify that action.” Fisher v Fisher, 118 Mich App 227, 231; 324 NW2d 582 (1982). This Court must "searchingly examine” the state’s interest and the detrimental effect that might result from exemption of plaintiffs from the regulation. Yoder, supra, 406 US 205, 221. "Even if a compelling secular interest is shown, the state will be permitted to intrude upon an individual’s religious freedom only if alternative, nonintrusive means are not available.” Fisher, supra, pp 231-232, citing Sherbert, supra, 374 US 398, 407.
The present state constitution declares that "[r]eligion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged”. Const 1963, art 8, § 1. This provision, "coupled with the fact that legislation in this State upon the subject of education has from the beginning been of the most liberal character, indicates a settled purpose on the part of the State to provide, foster, and protect educational facilities for all”. Dennis v Wrigley, 175 Mich 621, 625; 141 NW 605 (1913). "It has always been the policy of this State, as indicated by the provisions of its Constitution and a long line of legislative enactments, to encourage the cause of education.” Michigan Female Seminary v Secretary of State, 115 Mich 118, 120; 73 NW 131 (1897).
On several occasions, the United States Supreme Court has assumed that this strong state interest in the education of its youth extends to private as well as public schools. In Pierce v Society of Sisters, 268 US 510; 45 S Ct 571; 69 L Ed 1070 (1925), the Court stated:
"No question is raised concerning the power of the state reasonably to regulate all schools, to inspect, supervise, and examine them, their teachers and pupils; to require that all children of proper age attend some school, that teachers shall be of good moral character and patriotic disposition, that certain studies plainly essential to good citizenship must be taught, and that nothing be taught which is manifestly inimical to the public welfare.” 268 US 510, 534. (Emphasis added.)
"Since Pierce, a substantial body of case law has confirmed the power of the States to insist that attendance at private schools, if it is to satisfy state compulsory-attendance laws, be at institutions which provide minimum hours of instruction, employ teachers of specified training, and cover prescribed subjects of instruction.” Board of Education v Allen, 392 US 236, 245-246; 88 S Ct 1923; 20 L Ed 2d 1060 (1968) (citations omitted). The state "has a proper interest in the manner in which [private] schools perform their secular educational function”. 392 US 247. See, also, Lemon v Kurtzman, 403 US 602, 614; 91 S Ct 2105; 29 L Ed 2d 745 (1971); Everson v Board of Education, 330 US 1, 18; 67 S Ct 504; 91 L Ed 711 (1947); Meyer v Nebraska, 262 US 390, 402; 43 S Ct 625; 67 L Ed 1042 (1923).
The courts of other jurisdictions, when faced with similar issues, have held in favor of the state. See cases collected in 18 ALR4th 649 et seq. In State ex rel Douglas v Faith Baptist Church, 207 Neb 802; 301 NW2d 571 (1981), app dis, 454 US 803 (1981), a parochial school refused to request state approval on the ground that the state had no authority over its operation since it was an extension of a church ministry. The Nebraska Supreme Court, noting "the critical interest which the State has in the quality of the education provided its youth”, upheld the state’s teacher certification and curriculum requirements. 207 Neb 817; 301 NW2d 579. "Although parents have a right to send their children to schools other than public institutions, they do not have the right to be completely unfettered by reasonable government regulations as to the quality of the education furnished.” Id. The Nebraska laws relating to curriculum, like those at issue here, are "very minimal in nature”, requiring only that certain subjects be taught. "There is no effort to dictate in what manner that knowledge shall be imparted.” Id.
State v Shaver, 294 NW2d 883 (ND, 1980), also involved issues similar to those presented by the instant litigation, namely, the validity of state laws requiring teacher certification and mandating that certain courses be offered. The school in question employed no certified teachers and the people concerned with it were, for religious rea sons, "vehemently opposed to securing state approval required by state law”. 294 NW2d 893. However, the school’s curriculum, like plaintiffs’ here, met state requirements. Thus, the school opposed state regulation but did "not forbid compliance with any of the specific requirements” of state law. 294 NW2d 895. The North Dakota Supreme Court found the burden on free exercise of religion "minimal”. "The incidental burden on the free exercise of the parents’ religion as a result of the state approval requirement is justified under the circumstances by the state’s compelling interest in the regulation.” 294 NW2d 897. Accord, State v Rivinius, 328 NW2d 220 (ND, 1982), cert den, 75 L Ed 2d 948 (1983); Meyerkorth v State, 173 Neb 889; 115 NW2d 585 (1962), app dis, 372 US 705 (1963); New Jersey State Board of Higher Education v Shelton College, 90 NJ 470; 448 A2d 988 (1982).
There have been several cases in which statutes governing nonpublic schools were held invalid. However, the regulations under attack were so intrusive and all encompassing as to virtually abolish the distinction between public and private schools or render the existence of the latter impossible, thus depriving parents of their right to direct the education of their offspring under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Pierce, supra. In the case of Farrington v Tokushige, 273 US 284, 293-295; 47 S Ct 406; 71 L Ed 646 (1927), the statute governing foreign language schools prohibited their operation before "or during the hours while the public schools are in session”, forbade attendance in such schools for more than one hour per day or six hours per week, gave the State Department of Education authority to establish the complete cur ricula in the schools, and prohibited the use of any textbooks "other than as prescribed or permitted by the department”.
In State v Whisner, 47 Ohio St 2d 181; 351 NE2d 750 (1976), the Ohio Supreme Court held that the state’s standards relating to the operation of schools infringed upon the parents’ right to freely exercise their religion. The standards allocated instructional time "almost to the minute”, Wisner, p 206, and required "’all activities’ of a nonpublic school to conform to policies adopted by the board of education”. Whisner, p 207. Additionally, the state required religious schools to cooperate with elements of their surrounding communities. Whisner, p 209. Whisner was distinguished by the Court in Shaver, supra, 294 NW2d 898, which observed: "The Ohio minimum standards were self-contradictory and extreme in their effort to achieve equivalency in public and private education.”
There has been no showing in this case that the burden placed on plaintiffs’ schools by state regulation is as onerous as in the above-cited cases. The state does not regulate the manner in which courses are taught in the schools, require prior state approval of textbooks, or intrude upon the scheduling of classes in the schools. Certain courses must be offered but once the curriculum requirements are met the schools are free to infuse all courses with ther religious beliefs and they are free to offer whatever additional courses they wish. The laws "are not designed to interfere with any religious ritual or practice, and do not work a penalty against any theological position”. Gillette v United States, 401 US 437, 462; 91 S Ct 828; 28 L Ed 2d 168 (1971).
The plaintiffs cite Kentucky State Board for Elementary & Secondary Education v Rudasill, 589 SW2d 877 (Ky, 1979), cert den 446 US 938 (1980), in which the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the state’s teacher certification, textbook approval, and school accreditation requirements violated the Kentucky Constitution. The court relied solely upon a section of the state bill of rights providing that no man "be compelled to send his child to any school to which he may be conscientiously opposed”. 589 SW2d 877, 879. There is no similar section in the Michigan Constitution.
Plaintiffs contend that there is no evidence that teacher certification ensures high quality of instruction and their expert witnesses so testified at trial. Indeed, the effectiveness of certification in this regard is somewhat open to question:
"The certification process in most states involves the mere mechanical adding up of the credit hours the applicant has had in Education and in other subjects, no matter what their quality might be. If he is short of the stipulated amounts, regardless of any other possible qualifications, he cannot be certified (except in some cases as an 'emergency’ or 'substandard’ teacher). Thus are created those legendary and amusing anomalies of certification: the fact that Einstein could not be licensed to teach third-grade arithmetic, or that a learned Frenchwoman could not be admitted to teach French in any American public school, or that Leonard Bernstein would not be competent to teach music to any public school student, or that many professors of Education, those who teach teachers how to teach, could not themselves be licensed to teach in any public school.
"There is no very precise way of measuring the deleterious effects of the obtuse administration of certification laws, but a good deal of individual testimony exists, for what it is worth, to the effect that the brightest students find these laws a severe deterrent to entering teaching, as do many mature people who could bring to the classroom a lifetime of experience and accomplishment but who happen not to have any Education courses on their record and who cannot face the prospect of getting any. How well the licensing laws still fill their original function of saving the schools from incompetent teachers is not clear. The incompetent teacher today is a great deal more competent, with a great deal more education, than was the incompetent teacher in the early days of certification, when he might have no work beyond high school and often not that much. Today incompetence means chiefly the lack of Education courses. In view of the quality of teachers who are often certified today with a full complement of Education courses and then some, and in view of the quality of person who is often not certifiable despite a first-rate liberal education and demonstrated intellectual achievements — one wonders just what kind of incompetence public schools are now being saved from by the state departments of Education.” Koerner, The Miseducation of American Teachers (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1963), ch 7, pp 207-208. (Emphasis in original.)
Plaintiffs argue that a less intrusive means of guaranteeing educational quality is available, namely, standardized testing of students. However, the validity of such examinations is itself an issue and the tests may be administered too late to remedy the harm they are meant to prevent. We also note that standardized testing would very likely be designed to test secular subjects, would have a nonreligious orientation, and would enable the state to become as much or more involved with the manner of teaching courses as the existing regulatory scheme. As noted by the Court in Rivinius, supra, 328 NW2d 220, 229:
"We recognize that neither certified teachers nor standardized testing are perfect means to insure the end sought to be attained. Neither one is an exact science, but is concerned with probabilities. Each method which purports to measure learning can be questioned as to its validity.
"Standardized testing ordinarily does not result in the discovery of a deficiency in education until after the term, semester, or the school year is over, which would, in effect, result in a child wasting its period of time if the results of the standardized test indicated that the child’s education was deficient. We do not believe such a result would satisfy the state’s interest in educating its youth.
"Although we are cognizant that teacher certification may also have its deficiencies, we believe that teacher certification is an acceptable method of satisfying part of the constitutional mandate to the legislature to properly provide an education for its youth.”
The people of this state also have a strong interest in regulating various professions, including the teaching profession. "That the State through the legislature may provide for the licensure and regulation of professions * * * in which the public interest is very great, is not open to question.” Fowler v Bd of Registration in Chiropody, 374 Mich 254, 256; 132 NW2d 82 (1965). To require the state to prove conclusively that certification of the teaching profession guarantees excellent performance would severely inhibit its legislative authority. "The courtroom is simply not the best arena for the debate of issues of educational policy and the measurement of educational quality.” Shaver, supra, 294 NW2d 900. In Faith Baptist, supra, 207 Neb 816-817; 301 NW2d 579, the Nebraska Supreme Court noted as follows:
"We are not suggesting as an absolute that every person who has earned a baccalaureate degree in teaching is going to become a good teacher, any more than one who has obtained the appropriate training and education will become a good engineer, lawyer, beauty operator, welder, or pipefitter. However, we think it cannot fairly be disputed that such a requirement is neither arbitrary nor unreasonable; additionally, we believe it is also a reliable indicator of the probability of success in that particular field. We believe that it goes without saying that the State has a compelling interest in the quality and ability of those who are to teach its young people.”
The court below concluded that the curriculum standards do not further the state’s interest in education because they do not mandate statewide uniformity. The judge cited no authority for the proposition that uniformity is essential in order for a state regulation to pass constitutional muster. Michigan has followed a long tradition of local administration of public schools. "The policy of the State has been to retain control of its school system, to be administered throughout the State under State laws by local State agencies organized with plenary powers to carry out the delegated functions given it by the legislature.”' Lansing School Dist v State Board of Education, 367 Mich 591, 595; 116 NW2d 866 (1962). (Emphasis added.) "The Michigan educational structure * * * in common with most States, provides for a large measure of local control.” Milliken v Bradley, 418 US 717, 742; 94 S Ct 3112; 41 L Ed 2d 1069 (1974). The state holds a strong interest in local participation in educational policy making, as it "permits the structuring of school programs to fit local needs”, and encourages competition for excellence in education. Id.
Perhaps more importantly, the record reveals that plaintiffs would object to the state’s certification and curriculum requirements even if they were shown to be universally effective in the one instance, and uniform as to every detail in the other. Their First Amendment claim is based on a complete rejection of state authority, not on the failure or narrowness of application of any particular state policy. Like those in question in Shaver, supra, the Michigan standard "may be imperfect, [but] without the regulations the state would have no reasonable assurance that its recognized interest in providing an education for its youth is being protected”. 294 NW2d 900.
Indeed, we believe that this interest is not only "recognized” but it is of sufficient urgency to be classified as "compelling” within the constitutional standard that any intrusion upon religious practice can only be justified if there is a "compelling state interest”. Plaintiffs have urged that there is no compelling state interest in any of the specific state requirements involved in this case but this argument misplaces the emphasis. The issue is not whether there is a compelling state interest in any individual regulation but whether the individual regulations are reasonable means to give effect to a broader compelling state interest — in this case the provision of an education to all children. For the reasons stated herein, we believe the regulations are a reasonable exercise of state authority in the field of education.
II
The Curriculum and Certification Requirements Do Not Violate the First Amendment Establishment Clause Because They Do Not Necessitate Excessive Governmental Entanglement With Religion
The United States Supreme Court has applied a three-part test to determine whether a law violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. "[A] statute must have a secular legislative pur pose, must have a principal or primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, and must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion ” Wolman v Walter, 433 US 229, 236; 97 S Ct 2593; 53 L Ed 2d 714 (1977). (Citations omitted; emphasis added.) The issue here arises from the trial court’s terse conclusion that the teacher certification requirement and curriculum regulations violate the third portion of this test.
The Court stated as follows in Lemon, supra, 403 US 615:
"In order to determine whether the government entanglement with religion is excessive, we must examine the character and purposes of the institutions that are benefited, the nature of the aid the State provides, and the resulting relationship between the government and the religious authority.”
In a concurring opinion in Walz v Tax Comm, 397 US 664, 695; 90 S Ct 1409; 25 L Ed 2d 697 (1970), Justice Harlan noted the dangers arising from "government participation in certain programs, whose very nature is apt to entangle the state in details of administration and planning” of religious institutions.
It does not, however, follow that the state must abstain totally from regulatory contact with religious schools. "Some relationship between government and religious organizations is inevitable.” Lemon, supra, 403 US 614. "The test is inescapably one of degree.” Walz, supra, 397 US 674. "The State may require that schools that are utilized to fulfill the State’s compulsory-education requirement meet certain standards of instruction * * * and may examine both teachers and pupils to ensure that the State’s legitimate interest is being fulfilled.” Wolman, supra, 433 US 240. (Citations omitted.)
Plaintiffs argue that the requirements necessarily imply a substantial state scrutiny and investigation of their schools. To the contrary, the state’s curriculum review consists of a mere comparison of the courses offered in the schools to those in the neighboring public schools. Plaintiffs met these requirements with little difficulty. There is no continuous state involvement in the operation of the schools but only "occasional communication between the two entities”. Citizens To Advance Public Education v State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 65 Mich App 168, 179; 237 NW2d 232 (1975), lv den 397 Mich 854 (1976).
In New Jersey State Bd of Higher Ed, supra, 90 NJ 400; 488 A2d 988, 997, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected the argument that state licensure of degree programs in parochial institutions of higher learning violates the First Amendment. "The Establishment Clause permits minor, unobtrusive state supervision of religiously oriented schools.” See, also, Attorney General v Bailey, 386 Mass 367; 436 NE2d 139 (1982).
Regulation of plaintiffs’ schools does not entail "a comprehensive, discriminating, and continuing state surveillance”. Lemon, supra, 403 US 619. Accordingly, the teacher certification and curriculum requirements involve permissible state contacts with the religious schools.
Ill
The Use of Statistical Data
The trial court ordered that the information gathered from the schools pursuant to MCL 388.555; MSA 15.1925, "be used for statistical and comparison purposes only”. Since the court erred in concluding that the state’s regulatory scheme violated the First Amendment, there remains no justification for restricting the state in its use of the information. Therefore, the state may use statistical data gathered from plaintiffs in 'the same manner that such data are used vis-á-vis the public schools.
IV
The State’s Regulatory Scheme Is Not Unconstitutionally Vague
Plaintiffs contend that the curriculum requirements are unconstitutionally vague because they lack specificity as to what courses must be offered. As noted above, the state has largely delegated this task to local school authorities. MCL 380.1282; MSA 15.41282. In order to win state approval for purposes of the compulsory attendance law, a nonpublic school must offer courses "comparable” to those offered by the public schools in the district within which the nonpublic school is located. MCL 380.1561(3)(a); MSA 15.41561(3)(a).
The vagueness doctrine "helps to ensure that individuals are not held responsible by the state for conduct they could not reasonably understand to be proscribed”. State Board of Dentistry v Blumer, 78 Mich App 679, 683; 261 NW2d 186 (1977). The record reveals no difficulty in ascertaining the course of study in the public school district wherein plaintiffs’ schools are located. The state has already determined that plaintiffs’ schools meet the requirements. Moreover, given the pub- lie’s interest in local participation in formulation of educational programs, the standards are as reasonably precise as the subject matter permits. Dep’t of Natural Resources v Seaman, 396 Mich 299, 309; 240 NW2d 206 (1976). Accord, Bangor Baptist Church v State of Maine, 549 F Supp 1208, 1227-1228 (D Me, 1982); Scoma v Chicago Bd of Ed, 391 F Supp 452, 462-463 (ND Ill, 1974).
In any event, the requirements imposed upon plaintiffs’ schools are no more vague than those imposed upon the public schools and, as we have indicated elsewhere herein, plaintiffs’ objections are to any curriculum requirements at all. No matter how specific the curriculum requirements might be, plaintiffs would object to being subjected to them.
V
The Danger of Future Abuses by the State
Plaintiffs are concerned with the potential for abuses by local school boards but are unable to point to any that have actually occurred. Plaintiffs have the burden of showing an actual infringement of their rights. Hough, supra. The statutory scheme should not be invalidated merely because it may be susceptible to an unconstitutional interpretation. New Jersey State Bd of Higher Ed, supra, 90 NJ 490.
"[A] state statute should not be deemed facially invalid unless it is not readily subject to a narrowing construction by the state courts.” Erznoznik v City of Jacksonville, 422 US 205, 216; 95 S Ct 2268; 45 L Ed 2d 125 (1975). "Wherever possible an interpretation that does not create constitutional invalidity is preferred to one that does.” Traverse City School Dist v Attorney General, 384 Mich 390, 406; 185 NW2d 9 (1971); Royal Auto Parts v Michigan, 118 Mich App 284, 289; 324 NW2d 607 (1982). "[I]t is only when manifest assumption of authority and clear incompatibility between the constitution and the law appears, that the judicial power can refuse to excecute it.” People v Collins, 3 Mich 343, 348 (1854).
If those who have authority to administer the state’s education requirements do so in. an arbitrary or capricious manner or in a manner which limits plaintiffs’ rights to teach their religious doctrines, plaintiffs are free to challenge the propriety of such action. However, the mere existence of the right to impose teacher certification and curriculum requirements is not, in itself, an unconstitutional intrusion upon religious liberty.
Conclusion
The judgment of the Ingham County Circuit Court of January 12, 1983, is reversed except as provided herein. We specifically hold:
I. That the portion of 1921 PA 302, § 1, requiring the courses of study and qualifications of teachers in all private, denominational, or parochial schools to "be of the same standard as provided by the general school laws of the state” is constitutional as applied to the plaintiffs;
II. That 1921 PA 302, § 3, requiring all teachers employed in a private, denominational, or paro chial school with secular instructional responsibilities to hold a valid Michigan teacher’s certificate is constitutional as applied to the plaintiffs;
III. That the injunction restraining defendants from enforcing, as to plaintiffs, 1921 PA 302, § 3 and that portion of 1921 PA 302, § 1 which the trial court found to be unconstitutional in its opinion of December 29, 1982, is hereby vacated;
IV. That the information gained from plaintiffs under 1921 PA 302, § 5 may be used for the same purposes that such information is used with regard to the public schools and that such information may be used for purposes of approval of the plaintiff schools;
V. That defendants’ prayer for injunctive relief requiring the plaintiff churches and schools to submit for examination, through the use of the nonpublic school membership report or by personal examination, the records of enrollment of pupils attending their schools and the qualifications of their teachers teaching at such schools shall be granted.
This case is remanded to the trial court for issuance of an injunctive order consistent with this opinion.
No costs or attorney fees, a public question being involved.
At oral argument, we asked the Assistant Attorney General whether the plaintiffs’ schools may hire otherwise qualified, noncertified teachers who meet plaintiffs’ religious standards so long as such teachers undertook to qualify for certification subsequent to being hired. The Assistant Attorney General replied that he understood this to be so. We interpret R 390.1145 to authorize such a procedure if plaintiffs demonstrate any difficulty in obtaining religiously qualified personnel. As so interpreted, the statutory and regulatory scheme imposes no undue hardship on plaintiffs in seeking prospective teachers who share their fundamentalist religious views.
Here we may substitute for this language the following:
In order to determine whether the government entanglement with religion is excessive, we must examine the character and purpose of the institutions that are burdened, the nature of the burden which the state imposes, and the resulting relationship between the government and the religious authority.
Lest there be any misunderstanding, we are not saying that teacher certification and curriculum requirements are a necessary form of regulation of nonpublic schools. The Legislature might very well choose other means to assure conformity to minimum standards. We are merely saying that- the particular form of regulation chosen by the Legislature is constitutionally permissible. Having so ruled, our inquiry can go no further since it is not our function to pass upon the wisdom of legislation once we decide that it conforms to the Constitution. | [
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R. B. Burns,
P.J. Plaintiff appeals, and defendant General Tire cross-appeals, from a judgment entered on a verdict rendered in favor of plaintiff for $112,000 following a jury trial. Against the verdict, the trial court allowed a setoff of $13,000, representing a prior settlement with Colonial. On appeal, plaintiff challenges the setoff and General Tire challenges the verdict.
Plaintiff is engaged in the business of designing, manufacturing and selling packaging materials and systems. In the fall of 1978, General Tire solicited proposals for a packaging system to transport fiberglass front-end assemblies manufactured by General Tire for Ford Motor Company. Plaintiff, through its Power Pak, Inc., division, submitted an oral proposal for a system called a "power gondola.” Thereafter, several meetings were held, letters were sent to General Tire describing the system and setting out design revisions and, at one point, a prototype was submitted. The design which was eventually used took approximately one year to develop.
General Tire decided to use the system and, on May 25, 1979, issued a purchase order for fifty units, at $64.76 per unit, for a trial run. Due to engineering changes, the unit price was raised to $81.62, which was reflected in a June 13, 1979, change order. On June 19, a second change order was issued, altering the quantity from fifty units to a "Blanket Order,” with no expiration date. A third change order was issued on July 12, 1979, which set an expiration date of July 31, 1980.
In August of 1979, defendant Joseph Walsh, a salesman for plaintiff who had attended many of the meetings with General Tire, left his position with plaintiff and began working for a competitor, defendant Colonial. Almost immediately, Walsh contacted General Tire on behalf of Colonial Packaging and offered to sell to General Tire a virtually identical power gondola at a lower price. Evidence at trial indicates that Walsh had taken drawings and other documents with him regarding the power gondola when he left plaintiff’s employ and turned them over to Colonial. Moreover, Colonial also received an actual power gondola from General Tire.
In September of 1979, General Tire began purchasing units from Colonial as well as from plaintiff. Ultimately, General Tire began using returnable racks supplied by Ford and no longer used the gondolas. By that time, General Tire had purchased 1,831 units from plaintiff and 5,478 units from Colonial.
In December, 1980, plaintiff filed a six-count complaint in circuit court. Two counts were later dismissed by stipulation. Plaintiff filed an amended four-count complaint. Count i alleged unfair competition against Colonial and its president, defen dant Kenneth Spencer. Count n alleged breach of contract by General Tire. Count hi alleged tortious interference with contractual relations against Walsh, Spencer and Colonial. Finally, Count iv alleged unjust enrichment against Colonial and General Tire.
The case was submitted to mediation and, as a result, the claims against Colonial were resolved in the amount of $13,000. Thereafter, the claims against Spencer and Walsh were dismissed. The breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims against General Tire then proceeded to trial, resulting in the above-mentioned verdict.
On appeal, plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in allowing the $13,000 setoff against the verdict. We disagree. As a general rule, only one recovery for a single injury is allowed under Michigan law. The amount that a plaintiff recovers from one defendant is set off against a subsequent verdict obtained against a codefendant. Stitt v Mahaney, 403 Mich 711; 272 NW2d 526 (1978). See also Hall v Citizens Ins Co of America, 141 Mich App 676; 368 NW2d 250 (1985).
In Stitt, supra, a majority of the Michigan Supreme Court agreed with the opinion of dissenting Justice Williams as to the deductibility of an amount recovered from a codefendant. According to that opinion, however, in order to avoid double recovery and yet properly compensate the plaintiff, only the amount of the overlapping damages is set off; i.e., where recovery is had for an injury identical in nature, time and place, that recovery must be deducted from plaintiff’s other award.
In Stitt, the plaintiff, who was riding a motorcycle at the time, was injured in an automobile accident. The plaintiff was taken to the hospital where he was negligently treated for his injuries. The plaintiff brought suit against the driver of the automobile and against those responsible for his medical treatment. The plaintiff received a settlement on his claim against the driver. The issue before the Court was the deductibility of that settlement from the recovery obtained against the remaining defendants.
Justice Williams noted that, under Michigan law, the original tortfeasor (i.e., the driver) was liable and responsible for the damages resulting from two separate torts: the one caused by him in the initial tortious act (i.e., the accident), and the subsequent separate tort when the original injuries were negligently treated. The successive tortfeasors (those administering medical treatment) were liable only for the damages proximately caused by their own negligence. Justice Williams concluded that, to the extent the settlement represented recovery for the damages caused by the negligent medical treatment (the "overlapping” damages), the settlement was deductible from the amount recovered from the successive tortfeasors who administered medical care.
The issue regarding the deductibility of the amount of the deduction, if any, is a question of fact to be determined by the trier of fact.
Justice Williams stated:
... If the jury finds one or more of these defendants were negligent and their negligence proximately caused injuries to plaintiff, there are two different means by which they might determine damages. If the jury can determine a separate amount of damages which would compensate plaintiff for the injuries attributable solely to the negligent acts of these defendants, it must then determine whether the $7,021.41 settlement with the original tortfeasor represented not only compensation for the original injuries, but also compensation in whole or in part for the subsequent injuries. If the jury so finds, it must, before returning a verdict, deduct from any damages for which these defendants are found liable the portion of the original settlement which is found to compensate plaintiff for the subsequent injuries. If the jury finds that the amount of the original settlement compensated plaintiff solely for the original injuries and not the subsequent injuries caused by these defendants, it must return a verdict against these defendants for the total amount of damages due plaintiff for the injuries they caused.
On the other hand, if defendants are found liable to plaintiff but the jury is unable to specifically determine a separate amount of damages due as a result of defendants’ separate negligence, it must determine a total amount of damages due as a result of the total injuries from both torts, and then must allocate the percentage of these total damages attributable to the injuries caused by the original tortfeasor and the percentage attributable to the injuries caused by these defendants. If the amount of the original settlement exceeds in the amount of money the percentage of total damages attributable solely to the original tort, the amount of the original settlement must be deducted from the total damages to arrive at the amount due plaintiff from defendants. If the amount of the original settlement does not exceed the percentage of the total damages allocated solely to injuries from the original tort, then the amount for which defendants are liable is their percentage of the total damages. [Stitt, supra, pp 737-738, n 13.]
Stitt is not on all fours with the case at bar. Stitt involved a setoff as between tortfeasors, while the case at bar involves the setoff of a mediation award on a contract claim. However, 4 Restatement Torts, 2d, § 774A(2), p 55 suggests that there should be a setoff between judgments for breach of contract and the tortious interference with the contract:
In an action for interference with a contract by inducing or causing a third person to break the contract with the other, the fact that the third person is liable for the breach does not affect the amount of damages awardable against the actor; but any damages in fact paid by the third person will reduce the damages actually recoverable on the judgment.
Comment "e” to that section further addresses the issue:
The fact that the plaintiff may have a cause of action against the person who has broken his contract does not prevent recovery against the defendant who has induced or otherwise caused the breach, or reduce the damages recoverable from him. The defendant and the contract breaker are both wrongdoers (compare § 875), and each is liable for the entire loss that he has caused. Even a judgment obtained by breach of the contract if it is not satisfied does not bar or reduce recovery from the one who has caused the breach. But since the damages recoverable from breach of the contract are common to the actions against both, any payments made by the one who breaks the contract or partial satisfaction of the judgment against him must be credited in favor of the defendant who has caused the breach.
Conversely, an action or judgment against the one who causes the breach without satisfaction will not bar or reduce recovery from the one who breaks the contract; but to the extent that there is duplication of the damages any payments made by the tortfeasor must be credited in favor of one who has broken the contract. [4 Restatement Torts, 2d, § 774A, comment e, pp 56-57.]
We conclude that, to the extent that the award against Colonial duplicates the award against General Tire, a setoff was appropriate. However, the question of the existence of a duplication is not so easily settled.
An extensive comparison of the damage elements of the various claims is unnecessary. A comparison of the available damages for tortious interference with contract and for breach of contract reveals that partial duplication is theoretically possible. According to the Restatement, the elements of damages for tortious interference are:
One who is liable to another for interference with a contract or prospective contractual relation is liable for damages for
(a) the pecuniary loss of the benefits of the contract or the prospective relation;
(b) consequential losses for which the interference is a legal cause; and
(c) emotional distress or actual harm to reputation, if they are reasonably to be expected to result from the interference. [4 Restatement Torts, 2d, § 774A(1), pp 54-55.]
Similarly, in an action for a breach of a sales contract, the seller may recover the lost benefits of one contract (i.e., the lost profits) and incidental damages. MCL 440.2708; MSA 19.2708. Accordingly, there may be a partial overlap of damages.
However, we believe it is necessary to go beyond the theoretical damages and look at the actual damages sought and proved by plaintiff in the case at bar to determine the extent of the overlap of damages, if any. We begin by looking at the amended complaint. Under each of the four counts, plaintiff merely alleges that it was damaged in "an amount of at least $100,000.”
We now turn to the answers to interrogatories filed by plaintiff in response to interrogatories by General Tire and by Colonial. In its answers to General Tire’s interrogatories, plaintiff stated that its damages consisted of various expenditures, $80,000 for lost business opportunities, and the amount of Colonial’s profits. The items totaled more than $100,000. In answer to Colonial’s interrogatories on damages, plaintiff gave an identical list of expenditures, again sought $80,000 for lost business, and lost profits.
Both the complaint and the interrogatories indicate that, for whatever reason, plaintiff chose only to pursue its economic damages of actual costs, lost business, and lost profits. More importantly, it is clear to us that plaintiff sought the same items of damages against Colonial as it did against General Tire.
Accordingly, under the facts of this case, we conclude that, while in theory there could be a partial, rather than complete, setoff, in reality there was a complete setoff as plaintiff sought the same damages on all claims. Therefore, the trial court correctly awarded a complete setoff.
As to the cross-appeal and defendant’s claim that plaintiff’s breach of contract claim was barred by the statute of frauds, defendant argues that, since the contracts in this case were for a "blanket” order, no quantity term was stated in writing. Under MCL 440.2201; MSA 19.2201, the quantity term must be specifically stated. Lorenz Supply Co v American Standard, Inc, 419 Mich 610, 614-615; 358 NW2d 845 (1984).
However, in our opinion this case is analogous to In re Frost Estate, 130 Mich App 556; 344 NW2d 331 (1983). In Frost, there was a written sales agreement for the purchaser to take "all wood sawable.” The Court construed the word "all” to constitute a quantity term. 130 Mich App 560. Citing MCL 440.2202; MSA 19.2202, the Court further stated that, once a quantity term is stated, parol evidence may be introduced to explain or supplement the term. Id. The Court later stated:
Once a quantity term is found to exist in the agreement, the agreement need not fail because the quantity term is not precise. As § 2201(1) itself says: "A writing is not insufficient because it omits or incorrectly states a term agreed upon . . . .” As has been stated, the purpose of the required writing is to provide a basis for believing that oral evidence which is offered rests upon a real transaction. Once this purpose has been satisfied, i.e., the requirements of § 2201 have been fulfilled, the question to be resolved is whether parol evidence may be admitted in order to make the agreement sufficiently definite to be enforceable. [130 Mich App 561.]
We conclude that the term "blanket order” expresses a quantity term, albeit an imprecise one. Parol evidence may be taken on what quantity is intended by that term. In the case at bar, there was conflicting evidence on whether the term "blanket order” meant that defendant would purchase all required units from plaintiff and, if so, how many units that would be. Accordingly, it was properly left for the jury to determine what quantity, if any, was stated by the "blanket order” language of the purchase orders.
Defendant’s other argument on appeal is that the evidence on damages was insufficient and speculative, thus entitling it to a judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Where the goods in question in a breached sales contract represent specialty items, the measure of damages is that provided for in MCL 440.2708(2); MSA 19.2708(2). Detroit Power Screwdriver v Ladney, 25 Mich App 478; 181 NW2d 828 (1970). There is no doubt that the power gondolas were specialty items. MCL 440.2708(2); MSA 19.2708(2) provides as follows:
If the measure of damages provided in subsection (1) is inadequate to put the seller in as good a position as performance would have done then the measure of damages is the profit (including reasonable overhead) which the seller would have made from full performance by the buyer, together with any incidental damages provided in this article (section 2710), due allowance for costs reasonably incurred and due credit for payments or proceeds of resale.
Since it is known how many units were purchased from Colonial, 5,478, and Kowall testified with reasonable specificity as to the profit margin on each unit, the element of lost profits was sufficiently established. As for the recovery of start-up costs, there was specific testimony on the amount of such costs, being approximately $122,000. Plaintiff could recover that portion of the start-up costs which would have been recouped from the sale of the additional 5,478 units.
While it is not clear from the record how the start-up costs were to be amortized, there was testimony that plaintiff would have recovered all of the start-up costs during the first eighteen months of production. Plaintiff sought recovery of only two-thirds of this amount, or approximately $80,000, since the written agreement with General Tire covered only twelve months of production. That is, there was specific testimony that, had General Tire honored its blanket order for the twelve-month period specified by the purchase order, plaintiff would have recovered two-thirds of its start-up costs, or approximately $80,000.
The trial court properly denied defendant’s motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
Affirmed. No costs, neither side having prevailed in full.
The unjust enrichment count alleged that General Tire and Colonial Packaging were unjustly enriched "in an amount of at least $100,000.”
We caution, however, that a different factual scenario could have indicated a partial setoff and thus have required a remand to determine which portion of the mediation award should have been set off against the jury award.
That is, what portion of the unit price went towards covering the start-up costs. | [
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R. Robinson, J.
Plaintiff was 46 years old when, on October 12, 1976, he submitted an application for employment with defendant as a bus driver for defendant’s public transportation system, which serves southeastern Michigan. On April 21, 1977, plaintiff was given a pre-employment physical examination by Dr. Saul Margules, a physician selected by defendant. The examination was conducted in conformity with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, 49 CFR 391.41-391.49, as adopted by the Federal Highway Administration. Defendant’s policy was to follow these standards in its pre-employment physical examination of prospective bus drivers. Based on the examination, Dr. Margules determined that plaintiff suffered from high blood pressure, with a reading of 160/ 100, and from an arthritic back condition, diagnosed as marked hypertrophic arthritic lipping. As a result of these findings, Dr. Margules refused to certify plaintiff for the employment he sought.
On the day he failed the physical examination, plaintiff went to his private physician, Dr. Luis Nino, for an examination and treatment of the conditions found by Dr. Margules. On May 27, 1977, in a letter which plaintiff transmitted to defendant, Dr. Nino reported that, with medication, plaintiff’s blood pressure was then within normal limits, and the doctor opined that plaintiff’s moderate arthritis would not endanger the public safety by his driving a bus.
On June 16, 1977, plaintiff returned to Dr. Margules, of his own volition, and requested that he be given the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety physical "identical to the one that SEMTA employees took”. Dr. Margules, without recognizing plaintiff from his previous visit and without viewing an x-ray of his back, certified him as physically fit for employment as a bus driver.
Plaintiff had driven buses for the Detroit Streets and Railways from 1968 to 1970, and for the Detroit Board of Education from 1975 to 1979, both jobs requiring the passing of a physical examination similar to that administered by defendant. Plaintiff was employed as a commercial truck driver from 1979 to the date of the trial. During these employments, he experienced no driving problems associated with either blood pressure or arthritis.
Although defendant was made aware of the results of Dr. Nino’s examination, of Dr. Margules’s second examination, and plaintiff’s driving history, it refused to reconsider its refusal to employ him.
Had plaintiff’s problem involved only his blood pressure, it seems clear that this matter would have been resolved short of litigation, since defendant acknowledged that its practice was to hire examinees with high blood pressure who were able to bring it within normal limits through treatment and to process them through the next training class following their successful exam. The trial judge, therefore, correctly centered his attention on the arthritis problem. He applied the federal standard in common-carrier cases and found that there was a rational basis in fact for defendant’s refusal to hire plaintiff.
Plaintiffs challenge of the trial court’s decision raises two issues.
I
Did the trial court apply the correct standard in deciding claims under the Michigan Handicappers’ Civil Rights Act, MCL 37.1101 et seq.; MSA 3.550(101) et seq.?
Those portions of the statute which are pertinent to this inquiry state:
"(b) 'Handicap’ means a determinable physical or mental characteristic of an individual or a history of the characteristic which may result from disease, injury, congenital condition of birth, or functional disorder, which characteristic:
"(i) For purposes of article 2, is unrelated to the individual’s ability to perform the duties of a particular job or position * * MCL 37.1103; MSA 3.550(103).
"(1) An employer shall not:
"(a) Fail or refuse to hire * * * an individual because of a handicap that is unrelated to the individual’s ability to perform the duties of a particular job or position.” MCL 37.1202; MSA 3.550(202).
Plaintiff correctly argues that such a statute, being remedial in nature, is to be construed liberally rather than literally. 90 ALR3d 393, 393-394.
We also think that plaintiff has correctly assessed the legislative intent in enacting the handicappers’ act as mandating the employment of the handicapped to the fullest extent reasonably possi ble. See comments of Senator Faust, 1976 Senate Journal, p 590.
The appellate courts in Michigan have not heretofore had occasion to address the question of what criteria under the act justify a refusal to employ, and the act offers us no guidance other than the requirement that refusal to employ is justified if the individual’s defect is related to his ability to perform the duties of the job which he seeks. This does not tell us what standard of proof is necessary to establish the relationship.
We are not without guidance from other sources, however, and, without exception, when courts have had occasion to consider the standard necessary to justify a refusal to employ, they have established a different (and less onerous) standard for common-carrier employers than for other employers when the safety of others is at stake.
The rationale for imposing a more lenient standard upon common carriers than on other employers has been found by the courts in the higher standards of care which the law imposes on common carriers:
"Motor bus carriers, along with all common carriers, are charged both under considerations of public policy and by the operation of law with exercising an extraordinarily high standard of care for the safety of their passengers.” Usery v Tamiami Trail Tours, Inc, 531 F2d 224, 231 (CA 5, 1976).
The Federal Cases
Hodgson v Greyhound Lines, Inc, 499 F2d 859 (CA 7, 1974), and Usery v Tamiami Trail Tours, Inc, supra, examined the question of the appropriate standard within the context of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 29 USC 621 et seq. Diaz v Pan American World Airways, Inc, 442 F2d 385 (CA 5, 1971), examined the question as it arose under the sex discrimination ban of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 USC 2000e-2(a)(l), (e).
Both of these statutes contain an exception to otherwise discriminatory conduct by an employer "for bona fide occupational qualifications (BFOQ) reasonably necessary to normal operation of the particular business”, and much of the discussion in those cases dealt with whether the employer’s exclusion of the respective plaintiff from employment because of age (or sex) was a BFOQ reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the employer’s business. While this exception is not found in the state anti-discrimination statutes, there is language in these federal opinions which, as we shall see, has been adopted in the state cases. After emphasizing the fact that safe transportation of its passengers is the primary function of a common carrier, and that, therefore, the court’s concern goes beyond the welfare of the job applicant, the courts held that in order to earn the benefit of the exception, the employer had to prove that its discriminatory standard had "a factual basis” or, as further refined, "a rational basis in fact”.
"Greyhound must demonstrate that it has a rational basis in fact to believe that elimination of its maximum hiring age will increase the likelihood of risk of harm to its passengers.” Hodgson v Greyhound, supra, p 863.
Usery v Tamiami Trails, Inc, supra, emphasized with the following language the leeway granted to common carriers over other employers:
"The greater the safety factor, measured by the likeli hood of harm and the probable severity of that harm in case of an accident, the more stringent may be the job qualifications designed to insure safe driving.” Usery, supra, p 236.
The State Cases
In Boynton Cab Co v Dep’t of Industry, Labor & Human Relations, 96 Wis 2d 396; 291 NW2d 850 (1980), Eli Godfried was denied employment with plaintiff cab company because he had only one hand, the cab company relying on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations as justification for its hiring policy:
"(b) a person is physically qualified to drive a motor vehicle if he—
"(1) Has no loss of a foot, a leg, a hand or an arm”. FMCSR § 391.41.
When Godfried complained of discrimination under Wisconsin’s handicap statute, Ch 275, § 18, Laws of 1975, which states:
"111.32(5)(f). It is discrimination because of handicap:
"(1) For an employer * * * to refuse to hire * * * any individual * * * unless such handicap is reasonably related to the individual’s ability adequately to undertake the job-related responsibilities of that individual’s employment,”
the cab company defended under the following provision of the statute:
"111.32(5)(f). The prohibition against discrimination because of handicap does not apply to failure of an employer to employ * * * any person who because of a handicap is physically or otherwise unable to efficiently perform, at the standards set by the employer, the duties required in that job * * *.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the trial court and the Court of Appeals erred in imposing upon Boynton the burden of proving to a reasonable probability that its rule against employing one-handed drivers was necessary in light of its acknowledged obligations as a common carrier. The Court enunciated the following as the proper standard:
"We conclude that * * * the proper burden to be borne by Boynton was to show that its hiring standard bore a rational relationship to the safety obligations imposed upon a common carrier of passengers and that the standard used by Boynton was not the result of an arbitrary belief lacking in objective reason or rationale.” Boynton, supra, p 854.
In Lewis v Metropolitan Transit Comm, 320 NW2d 426 (Minn, 1982), George Wells was discharged from his employment as a bus driver for inability to meet the 20/40 visual acuity requirement of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations which the Transit Commission, like the employer in Boynton, supra, had adopted as its standard for employment. The driver claimed discrimination under the St. Paul Legislative Code, § 183.03 of which provides:
"Except when based on a bona fide occupational qualification, it shall be unlawful
"2. For an employer, because of * * * disability
"(b) to discharge * * * an employee;”
Section 183.02 further states:
"2. It is a defense to a complaint or action brought under this chapter that the person bringing the complaint or action suffers from a mental or physical disability which poses a serious threat to others.”
The Minnesota court treated the transit commission’s vision qualification as a BFOQ exception to the prohibition against employment discrimination and adopted the Hodgson, supra, standard:
"Where consideration for the safety of passengers and the public is involved, we adopt that standard articulated in Hodgson. In this case, a bona fide occupational qualification is established if there is a rational basis in fact to believe that elimination of the MTC vision standard would increase the likelihood of risk of harm to MTC passengers.” Lewis, supra, p 431.
Like the employers in the Wisconsin and Minnesota cases, defendant SEMTA, although not engaged in interstate commerce and therefore not subject to the federal highway regulations, has nevertheless adopted those regulations as its guide in establishing standards of physical fitness for its drivers. 49 CFR 391.41(b)(7) states that an individual is physically qualified to drive who:
"Has no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of * * * arthritic * * * disease which interferes with his ability to control and operate a motor vehicle safely.”
In the instant case we believe that the Michigan Legislature, by disqualifying from employment any individual whose defect can be shown to be related to the individual’s ability to perform a particular job, is providing essentially the same defense to an employer that, the federal and state acts which we have examined provide to employers in those jurisdictions. We recognize, as did the courts in those jurisdictions, the higher standard of care placed on common carriers. We recognize, too, as did those other courts, the catastrophic results that could flow from imposing too heavy a burden on the employer in a common-carrier case to justify its discriminatory standard. Based on these considerations, we believe that the trial judge was correct in looking at the conduct of the employer in this situation and in establishing as the burden of proof a rational basis in fact for the employer’s conduct. This burden is on the defendant. Once a plaintiff demonstrates that he is handicapped and was refused employment because of the handicap, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant to justify its action under 49 CFR 391.41(b)(7). Boynton, supra. Boynton further defined the employer’s burden:
"Boynton then had the burden of showing that God-fried was physically unable to efficiently perform the duties of a cab driver at the standard set by Boynton. This burden of proof encompasses two analytically distinct points: (1) Was Godfried physically able to perform the duties of a Boynton cab driver; and (2) would hiring Godfried be hazardous to the safety of passengers, other drivers, or the public; and, if so, would hiring sucia a driver violate the high standard of care required of Boynton as a common carrier.” Boynton, supra, p 856.
The Court in Boynton found that Boynton had sustained the above burden of proof by voluntarily adopting and relying upon the federal regulations as a hiring standard. By so holding, it rejected the contention that the common-carrier employer must come forth with specific proof that the employee was unable physically to perform the duties of the job sought.
At this point, Boynton and the case before us part company. Godfried was rejected for employment under a section of the federal regulations which unconditionally disqualified one for the loss of a hand. Defendant, here, rejected plaintiff under a section of the same regulations which disquali fies one for an arthritic condition which interferes with his ability to control and operate a motor vehicle safely. Merely demonstrating that plaintiff has arthritis in his spine is not enough. To satisfy the first prong of the test laid out in Boynton, defendant in our case must show that plaintiffs condition interferes with his ability to control and operate a bus safely. Defendant must further show that hiring plaintiff would be hazardous to the safety of passengers, other drivers, or the public and that hiring such a driver would violate the high standard of care required of defendant as a common carrier. Boynton, supra.
In reaching our conclusion, we are not unmindful of Wardlow v Great Lakes Express Co, 128 Mich App 54; 339 NW2d 670 (1983), which was recently decided by another panel of this Court. But we point out that the facts in that case did not raise an issue involving the safety of third persons. See the emphasis placed on this consideration by Judge Joiner in Tuohy v Ford Motor Co, 490 F Supp 258 (ED Mich, 1980).
II
Was the trial court’s decision on the facts contrary to the great weight of the evidence?
The evidence before the trial court on the relationship between plaintiffs arthritis and the job which he sought was conflicting. The burden, initially, was on the plaintiff to prove that he was a handicapped person within the meaning of the act and that this caused him to be denied employment. He accomplished this through the testimony of his medical experts by showing (1) that he had a physical defect and (2) that his defect was unrelated to his ability to perform the job he sought. He further proved that defendant had rejected him for employment because of his handicaps. This prima facie case having been made, the burden then shifted to defendant to justify its conduct. The trial judge correctly defined the burden of proof on this issue. While there is some ambiguous language concerning who bore that burden, he completed his opinion with the finding that "defendant had ample basis for refusing to hire plaintiff * * * and in concluding that his handicap was related to the individual’s ability to perform the duties of the bus driver for SEMTA”, thus properly placing the burden on defendant.
This Court will not set aside a trial judge’s findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. GCR 1963, 517.1.
The trial judge did not, in his findings of fact, specifically address the propriety of defendant’s physical requirements for employment (the second prong of the Boynton burden-of-proof requirement). It is, however, undisputed that, although defendant was not subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations because it was not engaged in interstate commerce, it had voluntarily adopted that portion of the regulations establishing physical standards for employment and had applied them in this case. Following Boynton, supra, and recognizing the expertise of the Federal Highway Administration which promulgated those regulations, we hold that this proof satisfies the second prong of the Boynton burden-of-proof requirement in that use of the federal regulation as a hiring standard, although not mandatorily imposed upon defendant, demonstrated a rational relationship to the safety obligations imposed upon a common carrier of passengers.
The trial judge did address the first prong of the Boynton burden-of-proof requirement, i.e., the ability of defendant, with his arthritic spine, to control and operate a motor vehicle safely. He considered plaintiffs good record over the years as a bus driver, the testimony of Doctors Mandel and Margules to the effect that plaintiff had a limitation in the range of motion in his lower spine due to arthritis, the testimony of Dr. Margules as to the importance of a full range of motion in this area to enable plaintiff to turn and look to the rear in order to evaluate safety conditions, and the greater expertise of Dr. Margules in the area of safe operation of buses and concluded that, because of his arthritis, plaintiff was unable to operate a bus safely. This finding was not clearly erroneous.
Affirmed. No costs, a public question being involved. | [
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Per Curiam.
On January 19, 1981, defendant pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit murder, MCL 750.83; MSA 28.278. The defendant was given credit for time served and ordered to serve five years probation. On December 13, 1983, the defendant was arrested and served with a notice of violating his probation for failing to report. Later that day, the defendant was arraigned and had counsel appointed. The assigned attorney discussed the case with the defendant that day. On December 14, 1983, the next day, the defendant pleaded guilty to violating his probation. Defendant was thereafter sentenced to a prison term of from twelve to twenty years and appeals as of right. We affirm.
The only issue raised on appeal is whether the defendant received inadequate notice of the probation violation hearing. There is a split of authority in this Court on the question of whether or not a guilty plea waives notice defects in probation violation cases. People v McNeil, 104 Mich App 24, 28; 303 NW2d 920 (1981). Even assuming that a guilty plea does not waive the notice issue, this Court finds the defendant’s arguments unpersuasive.
On occasion, panels of this Court have found notice of a probation revocation hearing of one day or less insufficient and a violation of due process. See, e.g., People v Gulley, 66 Mich App 112; 238 NW2d 421 (1975), lv den 396 Mich 850 (1976); People v Bell, 67 Mich App 351; 241 NW2d 203 (1976), lv den 397 Mich 807 (1976); People v Lawrence, 90 Mich App 73; 282 NW2d 247 (1979), lv den 407 Mich 851 (1979); People v Ojaniemi, 93 Mich App 200; 285 NW2d 816 (1979), lv den 408 Mich 904 (1980).
On other occasions, panels of this Court have found that one day’s notice of a probation revocation hearing was adequate. People v Broadnax, 98 Mich App 338; 296 NW2d 253 (1980); People v McNeil, supra.
We find the holding of Broadnax controlling here. The charge in this case, as in Broadnax, was a failure to report. As in Broadnax, this case presents a simple factual issue requiring minimal time for the defendant to gather information relevant to determining the existence of a viable defense. In contrast, in Bell and Gulley the charged violations could not be properly disputed without gathering witnesses and preparing a substantial defense. People v McNeil, supra, p 29. Unlike the instant case, Ojaniemi and Lawrence both involved situations where a defendant waived the assistance of counsel and pleaded guilty to a probation violation the same day he received notice of the charged violations. We are also cognizant of the fact that MCR 6.111(E)(1) now specifically provides that a defendant may plead guilty at his arraignment on a probation violation charge.
In this case, the defendant met with appointed counsel the day before he pleaded guilty and again the next day when he pleaded guilty. The trial court advised the defendant of a right to a hearing to contest the charges. The defendant, having been advised of that right, knowingly chose to plead guilty. There is no basis here on which to set aside that plea. Accordingly, the decision of the lower court is affirmed.
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Shepherd, P.J.
Respondent Department of Treasury appeals from a Jackson County Probate Court order requiring respondent to recompute the inheritance tax assessment on the estate of the decedent, Hugh Robert Mooney, Sr., to give Mooney’s natural sons, the sole beneficiaries of decedent’s estate, preferential tax treatment under MCL 205.202; MSA 7.562. We affirm, holding that a child who has been adopted out by its natural parent remains a lineal descendant entitled to preferred inheritance tax treatment under MCL 205.202; MSA 7.562.
The decedent was the natural father of two sons, Hugh and James, born during his marriage to Grace Hanna. The parents later divorced and the mother married Ralph T. Hanna, who adopted the two boys in 1974. On November 29, 1984, decedent died leaving a will dated June 2, 1972, which left the residue of his estate, totalling $177,609.88, in trust for the benefit of Hugh and James. The will provides that the corpus is to be distributed to his sons when the youngest reaches the age of twenty-four years.
Respondent calculated the Michigan inheritance tax on the basis that Hugh and James Hanna were not entitled to preferential tax treatment under subsections 2(1) and (3) of the taxation of inheritances act because they were adopted out by decedent. MCL 205.202; MSA 7.562. The probate court held that although Hugh and James had been adopted by their stepfather, they nonetheless remained lineal descendents of decedent and their bequests were therefore subject to preferential tax treatment. Under the court’s ruling, the two sons were considered "class a” beneficiaries and thus the bequest was taxed at a lower rate under subsections 2(1) and (3).
The issue on appeal is whether the natural sons of the decedent are entitled to preferred status under the inheritance tax statute in light of their adoption by their stepfather. MCL 205.202; MSA 7.562 creates two classes of persons for inheritance tax purposes, so-called "class a” and "class b” beneficiaries. Class A beneficiaries are granted a tax exemption on the first $10,000 devised and the excess above $10,000 is taxed at a lower rate than applicable to class b beneficiaries. MCL 205.202(1) and (3); MSA 7.562(1) and (3). Class A is composed of those persons with a certain relationship to the decedent (grandparents, parents, spouse, children, sons and/or daughters-in-law) and includes "lineal descendants] of the decedent grantor” and "person^] to whom the decedent grantor . . . stood in the mutually acknowledged relation of a parent . . . .” MCL 205.202(1). Other beneficiaries i.e., those without the requisite relationship to the decedent grantor as set forth in the statute, are considered class b beneficiaries and are taxed at a higher rate. MCL 205.202(5); MSA 7.562(5).
Subsection 1 identifies the persons deemed class a beneficiaries. It states:
Where the persons entitled to a beneficial interest in the property are the grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, husband, wife, child, brother, sister, wife or widow of a son, or the husband of a daughter, or to or for the use of a child or children adopted in conformity with the laws of this state or another state or country, of the decedent grantor, donor, or vendor, or for the use of a person to whom the decedent grantor, donor, or vendor stood in the mutually acknowledged relation of a parent, if the relationship began at or before the child’s seventeenth birthday and continued until the death of the decedent grantor, donor, or vendor, or to or for the use of a lineal descendant of the decedent grantor, donor or vendor, the transfer of property of the clear market value of $10,000.00 is exempt from all taxation under this act.
The precise legal question raised is whether Hugh and James Hanna, the natural children of the decedent, are considered "lineal descendants of the grantor” even though they were adopted by their stepfather. We conclude that Hugh and James Hanna are lineal descendants of the grantor as that term is commonly defined. A "lineal descendant” is not a new expression to the law or of doubtful import. It has a fixed and settled meaning, describing blood relatives in the direct line of descent. In re Smith Estate, 343 Mich 291, 298; 72 NW2d 287 (1955). As the devisees are lineal descendents, they are class a beneficiaries under the inheritance tax statute.
Respondent disagrees with this conclusion. It argues that § 2(1) of the taxation of inheritances act must be considered in pari materia with § 60(2) of the Michigan Adoption Code, MCL 710.60; MSA 27.3178(555.60). Section 60(2) provides that an adopted person shall become an heir-at-law of the adopting parent and shall no longer be an heir-at-law of the parent whose rights have been terminated. Thus had decedent died intestate, his two natural sons would not have inherited from his estate. Respondent argues that all of the persons listed as class A beneficiaries in the taxation of inheritances act are heirs-at-law and would be heirs under an intestate estate and, since Hugh and James have been removed as heirs-at-law under § 60(2) of the Adoption Code, they are therefore not within the class intended by the Legislature to obtain preferential treatment.
We disagree with respondent’s reasoning. Section 2(1) identifies various persons in particular relationships to the decedent as class A beneficiaries. It does not state that these persons must also be heirs-at-law. Instead it simply sets forth separate categories of beneficiaries entitled to the class A designation, including "lineal descendants.” It is a fundamental rule of statutory construction that "[i]f the language of [a] statute is clear, it is assumed that the Legislature intended the plainly expressed meaning, and the statute must be enforced as written.” Bailey v DAIIE, 143 Mich App 223, 225; 371 NW2d 917 (1985). Section 2(1) clearly includes lineal descendents and Hugh and James are lineal descendents of decedent. Their adoption by their stepfather cannot alter this biological relationship. Thus, the probate court correctly concluded that these beneficiaries were entitled to preferential tax treatment under subsections 2(1) and (3). We do not find this result absurd or unreasonable because of their similar status as class A beneficiaries under their stepfather’s estate if they should inherit from him. Section 2 does not limit the number of times a particular beneficiary may benefit by class A status. A single beneficiary could benefit repeatedly by the preferred status with respect to different decedents, qualifying repeatedly in different categories of even the same one. Accordingly, we affirm the probate court’s order that Hugh and James Hanna be taxed at the lower rate under subsections 2(1) and (3).
Affirmed.
Although this is a matter of first impression in Michigan, other states have reached the same result. See People v Estate of Murphy, 29 Colo App 195; 481 P2d 420 (1971); In re Estate of Cottrell, 15 Cal App 3d 88; 92 Cal Rptr 923 (1971). | [
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E. A. Quinnell, J.
In this action, plaintiff sought to recover for injuries allegedly caused by defendant’s failure to adequately repair the brakes of her automobile. The circuit court held that plaintiff had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, and defendant’s motion for summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(1) was granted. Plaintiff appeals as of right.
A motion for summary judgment under this subrule tests the legal sufficiency of the complaint. It must be resolved by treating as true all wellpled factual allegations and determining whether the claims made are so clearly unenforceable as a matter of law that no factual development could possibly justify a right to recovery. See, for example, Fuhrmann v Hattaway, 109 Mich App 429, 433; 311 NW2d 379 (1981). Plaintiffs complaint alleges that she took her automobile to defendant for inspection and repair of the brakes, that defendant in fact did not inspect or repair the brakes but represented to plaintiff that it had, that defendant expressly and implicitly represented to plaintiff that the brakes were in good operative condi tion, that plaintiff was involved in a collision caused by brake failure almost immediately after leaving defendant’s premises in her automobile, and that as a result of the collision plaintiff suffered various personal and property injuries.
Plaintiff relies on the Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Act, MCL 257.1301 et seq.; MSA 9.1720(1) et seq., and in particular on MCL 257.1336; MSA 9.1720(36), which provides:
"A facility that violates this act or who, in a course of dealing as set forth in this act or rules, engages in an unfair or deceptive method, act, or practice, is liable as provided in this act to a person who suffers damage or injury as a result thereof in an amount equal to the damages plus reasonable attorney fees and costs. If the damage or injury to the person occurs as the result of a wilful and flagrant violation of this act, the person shall recover double the damages plus reasonable attorney fees and costs.” (Emphasis added.)
The phrase "liable as provided in this act” is troubling. The only other substantive provision in the act concerning a cause of action on the part of a private person is MCL 257.1331; MSA 9.1720(31), which provides in part:
"A customer is entitled to recover any amount paid to an unregistered facility for the repair of a motor vehicle belonging to that customer.”
Conceivably, it could be argued that § 36 does not create a cause of action itself, but merely provides for penalties for flagrant violations of the act and for costs and attorneys’ fees, with recovery otherwise limited by § 31. However, such an argument fails to account for the significant differences in the language employed in the two sections. The primary purpose of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the Legislature. See, for example, Browder v International Fidelity Ins Co, 413 Mich 603, 611; 321 NW2d 668 (1982). Courts presume that the Legislature did not intend to do a useless thing and therefore give effect to every part of a statute if reasonably possible. Turner v Ford Motor Co, 81 Mich App 521, 526; 265 NW2d 400 (1978). Section 36 refers to "damage or injury” while § 31 allows recovery of any amount paid to an unregistered facility for repair of a motor vehicle, without regard to whether any damage or injury resulted from the repair. On the other hand, § 36 refers to "an unfair or deceptive method, act, or practice” while § 31 refers merely to "an unregistered facility”. Moreover, § 36 refers to "any person who suffers damage or injury” while § 31 refers merely to "a customer”.
Section 36 must be read as creating a cause of action separate and distinct from that created by § 31. Because of the signigicant differences in the terms employed in the two sections, a contrary result would mean that terms in the two sections would be given no effect. We conclude that "liable as provided in this act” refers to MCL 257.1337; MSA 9.1720(37), which establishes the vicarious liability of motor vehicle repair facilities for actions of certain individuals and of certain individuals for actions of facilities:
"(1) If a mechanic or mechanic trainee is employed by, or enters into a contract with, a motor vehicle repair facility, that mechanic or mechanic trainee for the purposes of a civil action brought pursuant to this act shall be considered to be an agent of the motor vehicle repair facility and the methods, acts, and practices of the mechanic or mechanic trainee shall be construed as the methods, acts, and practices of the motor vehicle repair facility.
"(2) A person who directly or indirectly controls a motor vehicle repair facility or its employees, as well as a general partner, officer or director of the facility shall be jointly and severally liable among themselves for a violation of this act, unless that person can demonstrate that he did not know, and in the exercise of reasonable care could not have known, of the existence of the facts by reason of which the violation occurred. There is a right to contribution as in cases of contract among persons so liable.”
Defendant relies on a section of the statute governing no-fault automobile insurance, MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135, which provides with certain exceptions for the abolition of tort liability arising from the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle. However, where two statutes are in conflict, the more specific statute, enacted subsequently to the more general statute, will prevail. In re Cole Estate, 120 Mich App 539, 548; 328 NW2d 76 (1982). The statute governing no-fault automobile insurance was enacted by 1972 PA 294, while the Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Act was enacted by 1974 PA 300. The latter statute is addressed more specifically to the problem of liability arising out of unfair or deceptive methods, acts, or practices by motor vehicle repair facilities. Therefore, in the event of any conflict between the two statutes in the context presented here, the latter statute will prevail.
We note that defendant is mistaken in relying on cases holding that MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135 prevails over provisions of the garage keepers’ liability act, MCL 256.541 et seq.; MSA 9.1721 et seq. Buckeye Union Ins Co v Johnson, 108 Mich App 46; 310 NW2d 268 (1981), lv den 414 Mich 873 (1982); Liberty Mutual Ins Co v Ins Co of North America, 117 Mich App 197; 323 NW2d 650 (1982) ; Michigan Mutual Ins Co v Carson City Texaco, Inc, 123 Mich App 240; 333 NW2d 235 (1983) ; Contra, Liberty Mutual Ins Co v Allied Truck Equipment Co, 103 Mich App 33; 302 NW2d 588 (1981). The cases which held that the no-fault statute prevailed all relied on the fact that the no-fault statute was enacted subsequently to the garage keepers’ liability act.
However, MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135 was not intended to abolish tort liability of motor vehicle repair facilities. In Citizens Ins Co of America v Tuttle, 411 Mich 536, 546-547; 309 NW2d 174 (1981), the Court explained an analogous problem as follows:
"[MCL 500.3135(2); MSA 24.13135(2)] abolishes tort liability arising from the ownership, maintenance or use only of vehicles for which the required no-fault insurance or other security has been obtained. The policy apparently expressed in so conditioning the abolition of tort liability upon the obtaining of no-fault coverage is that a person is to be relieved of tort liability only upon participating, through the payment of premiums, in a system for spreading the costs of compensating vehicular injuries without regard to fault. To extend the abolition of tort liability to non-motorist tortfeasors would be to incorporate into the no-fault system the costs of providing personal protection, insurance benefits to motorists, passengers and pedestrians injured by non-motorist tortfeasors without incorporating offsetting premiums from non-motorist tortfeasors, since non-motorist tortfeasors are not required to purchase no-fault insurance with respect to their conduct as non-motorists.
"Such extension would give a broader effect to § 3135’s abolition of tort liability than would be given its requirement that no-fault insurance be in effect. To the extent that the abolition of tort liability is broader than the requirement of no-fault coverage, the policy of limiting tort immunity to those who have participated in the spreading of the costs of motor vehicle accident compensation would be defeated. The non-motorist tortfeasor is the equivalent of the uninsured motorist and should be treated similarly. Both are outside the basic no-fault system of allocating the costs of accidents and both remain subject to tort liability.” (Footnotes omitted.)
Because motor vehicle repair facilities are not required to maintain no-fault insurance or other security, see MCL 500.3101; MSA 24.13101, such facilities are also outside the basic no-fault system of allocating the costs of accidents and, therefore, also remain subject to tort liability.
Finally, we note that MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135 does not bar actions based on breach of contract or breach of warranty. National Ben Franklin Ins Co v Bakhaus Contractors, Inc, 124 Mich App 510; 335 NW2d 70 (1983). Nonfeasance of a contractual obligation supports only an action on the contract; misfeasance of a contractual obligation or breach of a duty distinct from a contract can support an action on both tort and contract theories. Hart v Ludwig, 347 Mich 559; 79 NW2d 895 (1956). Here, plaintiffs complaint alleged a contractual relationship between the parties, and the allegations in the complaint are sufficient to support recovery on contract theories as well as on tort theories.
We hold that plaintiff stated claims on which relief could be granted under MCL 257.1336; MSA 9.1720(36) and under breach of contract and breach of warranty theories. The circuit court therefore erred by granting summary judgment for defendant.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We retain no jurisdiction. | [
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G. R. Cook, J.
Following a bench trial conducted in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court, defendant was convicted of breaking and entering an occupied dwelling with the intent to commit larceny. MCL 750.110; MSA 28.305. Defendant was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay costs and make restitution. Defendant now appeals as of right.
James Fidler and his wife discovered that their home in Ypsilanti Township had been broken into on March 13, 1982, at approximately midnight. Several items had been taken, including a television, two pairs of binoculars, and a cable television box. The police were called and the crime, including a description of the stolen items, was detailed on a briefing sheet which was read by on-duty sheriff’s deputies prior to the beginning of their shift each day.
On March 15, 1982, Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Deputy Lester Wallen, an 11-year police veteran, and his partner, Willis Chapman, were patrolling an area of Ypsilanti Township known for its high incidence of larcenies and break-ins. The officers noticed a car on Parkwood in front of an apartment building while driving northwest on Ford Boulevard. The car’s motor was running, but its lights were turned off. The officers could see people in the vehicle and noticed one person in the back leaning forward. This person’s shoulders would disappear from sight, and it was obvious to Deputy Wallen that this individual was attempting to place something underneath the seat.
As the officers approached, the subject vehicle began to move forward with its lights still off. Deputy Chapman motioned for the car to stop. As it stopped, Deputy Wallen recognized the driver of the vehicle as a person who had been involved in break-ins. He also recognized defendant from having previously arrested him for unrelated break-ins in Pittsfield Township.
Deputy Wallen got out of his patrol car and, using his flashlight, he looked through one of the stopped vehicle’s windows. He could see a portion of a black metal object in a garbage bag protruding slightly from underneath the driver’s seat. Deputy Wallen asked the vehicle’s three occupants to exit from the car. They were patted down for weapons, but none were found. Deputy Wallen then retrieved the garbage bag from the back seat and determined that the metal object he had observed was a cable television box. Deputy Wallen recalled that one had been listed as stolen on that evening’s briefing sheet.
After informing the occupants of the car of their Miranda rights, Deputy Wallen questioned them concerning the ownership of the cable television box. Each subject denied knowledge of the box, although at some point one of the passengers said that he had seen the box but did not know what it was.
The men were then taken into custody for further investigation. Deputy Wallen stated at trial that, while defendant and his companions were not informed that they were under arrest at that time, Deputy Wallen considered defendant to have been arrested for possession of stolen property over $100.
At the police station, defendant was again in formed of his Miranda rights. During a taped interview, defendant admitted that he and a cohort had broken into the Fidlers’ home and had stolen a television, two sets of binoculars, and a cable television box.
Defendant first contends that the police officers’ decision to stop the car in which he was riding violated his Fourth Amendment rights, citing Terry v Ohio, 392 US 1; 88 S Ct 1868; 20 L Ed 2d 889 (1968). Under Terry an investigatory stop is permissible if it is based upon specific, articulable facts which, when taken together with the rational inferences to be drawn from these facts, would lead a reasonable police officer to believe that criminal activity may be afoot. Probable cause is not required. People v Martin, 99 Mich App 570, 575-576; 297 NW2d 718 (1980), lv den 413 Mich 926 (1982).
In this case, the police possessed a reasonable suspicion of possible criminal activity at the time of the stop. The officers noted a parked vehicle in a high crime area with its lights off and its engine running. The occupant in the back seat was, in Deputy Wallen’s words, "obviously attempting to place something underneath the seat” and, when the patrol car approached the parked car, it began to move with its lights off. See People v Olson, 98 Mich App 207, 210-211; 296 NW2d 218 (1980), lv den 410 Mich 899 (1981).
Defendant next argues that even if the initial stop was constitutionally permissible, the subsequent intrusion into the automobile and the seizure of the cable television box was violative of the Fourth Amendment because the intrusion was not based upon probable cause. After the stop of the vehicle, the deputies obtained further information pertinent to a determination of whether probable cause to search existed. Deputy Wallen identified both the driver of the vehicle and defendant as having been involved in other break-ins. In addition, before he actually entered the vehicle which defendant occupied, Deputy Wallen could see the edge and corner of a metal box contained in a garbage bag underneath the driver’s seat. One of the passengers in the vehicle placed his feet over the box as if to hide it.
We conclude that, under the totality of the circumstances, the deputies had probable cause to conduct a search. The facts of this case are not dissimilar from those presented in People v Damaska, 404 Mich 391; 273 NW2d 58 (1978). One significant distinction is that in Damaska the officers noted that the name taped on the seized item, a calculator, was not defendant’s, while no comparable circumstance is presented here. However, this case also poses facts, not present in Damaska, leading to the conclusion that probable cause ex: isted, namely: (1) Deputy Wallen’s knowledge that two of the three occupants in the vehicle had been involved in break-ins in the past, (2) the furtive gestures of the back-seat passenger, (3) the efforts by this passenger to obstruct the cable television box with his feet, and (4) the vehicle’s occupants professed lack of knowledge of the box. As in Damaska, supra, p 394, the facts in this case "form an equally compelling combination” and mandate a finding of probable cause. An immediate search of the vehicle which defendant occupied was per missible as exigent circumstances existed. The automobile might never have been located again had the officers taken the time to obtain a warrant. Chambers v Maroney, 399 US 42, 51; 90 S Ct 1975; 26 L Ed 2d 419 (1970).
Defendant finally asserts that his arrest was improper because the police did not have probable cause to believe that he had committed a felony. Defendant’s argument is based upon: (1) the contention that the officers had no reason to believe the box was stolen and (2) Deputy Wallen’s testimony that he did not know how much cable television boxes were worth.
We find that Deputy Wallen did have probable cause to believe the cable television box was stolen. At the time of the arrest, in addition to the circumstances which supported the search of the vehicle, the deputies also knew that a cable television box of the type reported stolen by the Fidlers was in defendant’s possession. Moreover, the wire on the back of this box had been broken as if it had been "jerked” apart from where it was originally connected. While the totality of these circumstances did not constitute proof beyond a reasonable doubt, they certainly would allow a person of reasonable caution to believe that an offense had been committed. People v Rodriguez, 83 Mich App 606, 609; 269 NW2d 199 (1978).
Defendant further asserts that, since the deputies did not know what a cable television box was worth, he could not permissibly be arrested for a felony, and no misdemeanor was committed in the officers’ presence. See People v Ward, 73 Mich App 555, 557; 252 NW2d 514 (1977). We disagree. First, probable cause to arrest does not require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It was certainly not unreasonable for the deputies to assume that cable television boxes are worth more than $100 and, therefore, to believe that a felony had been committed by defendant. Second, assuming, arguendo, that probable cause to arrest for a felony was not possessed by the deputies, they could minimally conclude that a misdemeanor was being committed in their presence, namely, receiving and concealing stolen property with a value under $100.
Affirmed.
Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436; 86 S Ct 1602; 16 L Ed 2d 694; 10 ALR3d 974 (1966).
Defendant also argues at some length that the intrusion was not permissible as a protective search for weapons on less than probable cause because the police were not motivated out of concern for their safety. See People v Rosales, 406 Mich 624; 281 NW2d 126 (1979), cert den 444 US 1025 (1980). We decline to discuss the merits of this contention because the prosecution does not attempt to justify the search as one intended for the deputies’ protection. Instead, the prosecution argues that probable cause to search existed.
Deputy Wallen stated that he arrested defendant for receiving and concealing stolen property. Defendant later confessed to the break-in, however, and the charge was modified. | [
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Beasley, J.
Defendant, Michigan Department of Transportation, appeals as of right from a Court of Claims judgment which awarded plaintiffs $5.6 million in damages for negligence and intentional nuisance. Plaintiffs cross-appeal.
Plaintiffs, David and Susan McKee, brought suit on their own behalf and on behalf of their two children, Kimberly and Gregory, to recover for injuries received when their automobile struck a lighting standard located off the shoulder of 1-94 near the Frontenac overpass in the City of Detroit. The McKees were returning to their home in Grosse Pointe from Springfield, Illinois. The collision with the pole occurred at approximately 3:30 a.m. on May 15, 1974, when David McKee attempted to avoid hitting a disabled vehicle owned by Thomas Williams which had come to rest in the center and left-hand lanes of 1-94 with its lights out. It had been raining steadily and puddles of water had formed on the road.
According to David McKee’s testimony, immediately after the accident he noticed that Susan had been thrown from the car onto the pavement, Gregory was on the car floor with blood on his face, and Kimberly lay on the back seat, thrashing her legs. Kimberly was the most severely injured; much of the left hemisphere of her brain was destroyed when the light standard penetrated the car.
Plaintiffs claimed that defendant’s responsibility arose from negligent design and maintenance of the 1-94 shoulder, the lighting standard’s encroachment on the shoulder, and the failure to warn motorists of the lack of skid resistance in the right-hand lane due to the parabolic design of the road cross-section.
Plaintiffs alleged that the infrangible lighting standard was erected so as to encroach on the narrow shoulder and that this left an inadequate usable shoulder for foreseeable and intended emergency uses of the shoulder. Plaintiffs further contended that the shoulder and lighting standard designs were obsolete and in nonconformance with recognized highway design standards in 1957, when the plans for this section of the expressway were approved, and in 1958, when this section was opened to traffic.
After nearly ten months of trial, the court issued a 67-page opinion, concluding that the light pole’s placement on the shoulder, in conjunction with the other features, constituted a nuisance which had been intentionally erected and maintained by defendant. The court further concluded that the roadway was not reasonably safe and that defendant was negligent in three separate respects: (1) the inadequate width of the shoulder, (2) the encroachment of light poles on the shoulder, and (3) the failure to warn of the hazards of water accumulation in the right-hand lane due to its parabolic design. The trial court found that these acts were a proximate cause of the injuries sustained by plaintiffs and, therefore, found defendant liable for those injuries. Defendant appeals both the finding of liability and the amount of damages. Plaintiffs cross-appeal the court’s failure to award prejudgment interest.
Defendant first contends that the highway’s shoulder width and light pole placement are not actionable under MCL 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102). Defendant argues that the state’s liability for repair and maintenance of highways only includes "the improved portion of the highway designed for vehicular travel”. As shoulders were not designed for vehicular travel, defendant claims the light poles were . not hazardous to highway travel. Therefore, according to defendant, there can be no liability for the shoulder width and pole placement based on defendant’s statutory duty to repair and maintain highways.
The relevant part of MCL 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102) provides:
"Each governmental agency having jurisdiction over any highway shall maintain the highway in reasonable repair so that it is reasonably safe and convenient for public travel. Any person sustaining bodily injury or damage to his property by reason of failure of any governmental agency to keep any highway under its jurisdiction in reasonable repair, and in condition reasonably safe and fit for travel, may recover the damages suffered by him from such governmental agency. * * * The duty of the state and the county road commissions to repair and maintain highways, and the liability therefor, shall extend only to the improved portion of the highway designed for vehicular travel and shall not include sidewalks, crosswalks or any other installation outside of the improved portion of the highway designed for vehicular travel.”
The law is well established that the shoulders of a highway are designed for vehicular use and, thus, the state is obligated to maintain them in reasonable repair "so that they are reasonably safe for their intended use as adjuncts of the paved portion of the highway”.
Defendant next argues that, as a matter of law, shoulder width and light pole placement cannot be the proximate cause of plaintiffs’ injuries. Defendant cites Dawson v Postal Telegraph-Cable Co, and other cases in support. Dawson cited 82 ALR 395 as authority, stating that a company lawfully maintaining poles at or near a public highway is not liable to persons striking such " 'unless it is erected on the traveled portion of the highway or in such close proximity thereto as to constitute an obstruction dangerous to anyone properly using the highway, and the location of the pole is the proximate cause of the collision’ ”. 5Under the particular facts in Dawson, that court found the location of the poles was not the proximate cause of the injury. In the instant case, however, there was considerable testimony that if the light pole had been placed several inches farther back, the light pole would not have penetrated the passenger compartment.
The question of proximate cause is one of fact to be determined by the trier of fact. Under GCR 1963, 517.1, a finding of fact by a court sitting in a bench trial is clearly erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. As the testimony was such to support the court’s conclusion that, along with the width of the shoulder and the design of the roadway, the placement of the light pole was a proximate cause of the accident, we find no clear error.
Defendant’s third argument is that the duty to repair and maintain highways does not include altering existing highways or highway plans. As there was testimony that the design of the shoulder, including placement of the light poles, conformed with urban freeway standards at the time of design and construction, negligence cannot be found based on the plan or design, defendant contends. Further, defendant argues that, since I-94 was designed and constructed well in advance of the imposition of liability on the state for alleged defects, to impose liability for such is an improper retroactive application of a duty.
The statute in question, MCL 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102), was enacted in its present form in 1964, 1964 PA 170. Thus, contrary to defendant’s argument, tort liability for negligently maintained highways was in effect prior to 1974, when the accident occurred. The tort liability includes liability for failure to correct defects arising from the original design or construction of highways; a continuing duty to "maintain the highway in reasonable repair”. Furthermore, the trial court imposed liability on defendant based on a finding of nuisance, which, as a judge-made exception to governmental immunity, came into existence well before the accident in question. Thus, there is no retroactivity problem in the imposition of liability on defendant.
The liability issue in the within case concerns whether the highway was in reasonable repair and reasonably safe. Defendant may be held liable for design and construction defects of 1-94 even if the highway was in compliance with the standards existing when it was constructed in 1957. In addi tion, there was evidence that the design did not meet the 1957 standards.
Fourth, defendant claims that the trial court erred as a matter of law in holding defendant responsible under the nuisance theory. The trial court determined that the light pole location and shoulder width constituted both a nuisance per se and an intentional nuisance in fact, both of which constitute exceptions to governmental immunity. The court reasoned that:
"While a light pole, by itself, may not be a nuisance per se, an obstruction encroaching into a refuge and emergency lane on an interstate freeway is a nuisance per se. The result to the McKee family would have been the same if the obstruction was a bridge abutment, steel signpost, flagpole or any other roadside obstruction of like character. It is not a light pole that damaged the McKee family, it was the nature of the light pole, i.e., a fixed object encroaching into the emergency lane. A highway roadside obstruction is a structure whereby its very nature is a nuisance per se at all times and under any circumstances on 1-94, regardless if it is located at or near the Mt. Elliott overpass or the Frontenac overpass.”
As Justice Fitzgerald described in Rosario v City of Lansing, a nuisance per se is "' "an act, occupation, or structure which is a nuisance at all times and under any circumstances, regardless of location or surrounding” ’ ”. While we do not agree with the trial court that the light pole location and shoulder width constituted a nuisance per se under the above definition, we fail to find error in the court’s finding that the combined conditions on the roadway constituted a nuisance in fact. In support of this conclusion, the trial judge made detailed findings of fact. Among those noted were that, while the parabolic design of the road caused greater water accumulation in the side lanes, no signs were posted warning motorists of a need for decreased speed to avoid the risk of hydroplaning. There was detailed testimony on highway standards from defense experts, who noted that the recommended unobstructed shoulder width in 1957 was not less than ten feet wide and that the recommended width increased in successive years. The court found the usable shoulder to be six feet, three inches on this particular section of 1-94. There was also testimony from a Public Lighting Commission employee that the PLC could easily have complied with orders to set the light poles back from the pavement in 1957.
Liability was additionally based on the fact that the curb was a rolled, mountable curb. The light pole, according to testimony, encroached on the shoulder 13 inches but was only designed to do so by 11 inches. These and other fact-findings demonstrate that, based on the evidence, the court could correctly hold that the conditions constituted a nuisance in fact under the following definition given by Justice Fitzgerald in Rosario, supra:
"' "Nuisances in fact or per aecidens are those which become nuisances by reason of circumstances and surroundings, and an act may be found to be a nuisance as a matter of fact where the natural tendency of the act is to create danger and inflict injury on person or property.” ’ ”
The trial court noted that to come within the nuisance exception to governmental immunity the nuisance must be an intentional one: "If the creator intended to bring about the conditions which are found to be a nuisance it is an intentional nuisance.” The trial court further found that the placement of the poles was intended, saying:
"Since 1958, (the time the poles were located and exposed to traffic) the state has known that because of the inherently dangerous propensities of roadside obstacles, and the use the motoring public has made of the emergency or refuge lanes that the defect was a nuisance (i.e., had the natural tendency to create danger and inflict injury), and failed to abate it, all to the plaintiffs great injury and damage.”
The court also found defendant to be liable under MCL 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102) in creating the condition, failing to warn plaintiffs of the danger and failing to remove the danger. In Hall v Dep’t of State Highways, this Court enumerated some of the relevant factors for § 1402(102) liability:
"We do not view the above authorities as requiring the state to reconstruct a highway whenever a safety advancement is made. Rather, the focus of MCL 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102) is to require government agencies to maintain highways in ’reasonable repair’ and to provide roads which are 'reasonably safe and fit for travel’. The determination of reasonableness must necessarily be made by overview of the factors of a given case, such as the danger imposed by the defective article or lack of safety device, the increase in safety provided by the new device or design, the cost of repair or installation, and others.”
We believe that the trial court’s findings support the conclusion that defendant was liable under the statute. And, while the court failed to specifically assign proximate cause to the parabolic design of the road and to determine whether the design was unreasonably unsafe, because the court’s findings of intentional nuisance and negligence are supported by the record, we affirm the trial court’s determination as to liability.
The two final issues that must be considered concern damages. First, defendant contends that the lower court erred in its award of damages by awarding excessive damages with respect to the lost earning capacity to Kimberly McKee, by failing to reduce the damage award to its present value, by incorrectly ruling that no reduction need be made for taxes because the taxes would be offset by inflation, and by awarding excessive damages for noneconomic loss.
Testimony disclosed that the injury to Kimberly’s brain was extensive and that she was totally unemployable and required round-the-clock care as a result of the accident. There was also testimony that prior to the injury she was considered to have the genetic potential, environmental background, and intellectual capacity to attain a college education. Initially, the court awarded Kimberly a total of $5,124,160 for future wage loss, future medical treatment, and pain and suffering. This award was reduced to $4 million at a hearing held February 10, 1981. However, the court did not attribute the reduction to a reducing of the award to its present value.
In Precopio v Detroit, the Supreme Court held that damage awards in non-jury trials are governed by GCR 1963, 517.1, which tracks the language of the "clearly erroneous” rule of FR Civ P 52(a). The Court stated:
"In reappraising damage awards, this Court has followed a rule of just compensation based upon the evidence. To sustain his burden of proof, a plaintiff must establish injury and the appropriate compensation therefor with reasonable certainty.”
Precopio went on to hold that a reviewing court must offer " 'something more tangible than a difference of opinion as to amount’ before it sets aside a non-jury award as clearly erroneous”. Analogous cases may be considered to determine whether the amount awarded for pain and suffering was excessive.
Considering the evidence as a whole, we find that substantial testimony and findings of fact by the trial judge concerning Kimberly’s injuries support the award. Cases cited by plaintiffs indicate that the award was sufficiently within range with awards for equally serious, though dissimilar, injuries.
It is clear in Michigan that damages for future losses must be reduced to present value. Because a substantial portion of the award was for future compensation, we believe failure to reduce the award to present value pursuant to SJI 34.03 (now SJI 53.03) was error. The court’s opinion stated that "any normal reduction to present value is offset by inflation”. No finding was made as to the current inflation rate to illustrate that this was indeed the case.
In Freeman v Lanning Corp, this Court rejected the argument that the failure to make the reduction to present value was rendered harmless by inflation. SJI 53.03 prescribes the formula for reduction to present value. While inflation is a factor that may be considered in assessing damages, we do not believe a court may employ it to omit the present value reduction. This would have the effect of ignoring the instruction. We, therefore, remand for reduction to present value.
The final argument to be considered is plaintiffs’ counterclaim contending that it was error to refuse to award prejudgment interest pursuant to MCL 600.6013; MSA 27A.6013. We believe this argument to be without merit and deny the counterclaim.
In summary, we affirm the Court of Claims as to liability and, as to damages, remand in order that the proper reduction to present value be made.
Affirmed in part but remanded._
MCL 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102).
Johnson v Michigan, 32 Mich App 37, 39; 188 NW2d 33 (1971), lv den 385 Mich 762 (1971); see, also, Hall v Dep’t of State Highways, 109 Mich App 592, 602-603, fn 4; 311 NW2d 813 (1981), lv den 413 Mich 942 (1982); Cryderman v Soo Line R Co, 78 Mich App 465, 476; 260 NW2d 135 (1977), lv den 402 Mich 867 (1978).
265 Mich 139; 251 NW 352 (1933).
265 Mich 142.
Hall v Dep’t of State Highways, 109 Mich 592; 311 NW2d 813 (1981).
Tuttle v Dep’t of State Highways, 397 Mich 44, 46; 243 NW2d 244 (1976).
Since the law in this state recognizes that there may be many "proximate causes” of a particular occurrence, and since it is unnecessary to distinguish between major and minor or between significant and slight or between large and small proximate causes, we do not find error. For slight proximate causes, see cases with intervening intentional torts such as Weeks v Feltner, 99 Mich App 392; 297 NW2d 678 (1980) [Is the failure to repair a defective lock an equivalent proximate cause of the act of the rapist?]; Johnston v Harris, 387 Mich 569; 198 NW2d 409 (1972) [Is the failure to install adequate lighting and to repair a defective lock an equivalent proximate cause of the "mugging” of a tenant?]; Davis v Thornton, 384 Mich 138; 180 NW2d 11 (1970) [Is the failure to remove the ignition key an equivalent proximate cause of the stealing of the car and the running of the stolen car into another car?].
Hall, supra; Stremler v Dep’t of State Highways, 58 Mich App 620; 228 NW2d 492 (1975), lv den 404 Mich 815 (1979).
See Maki v East Tawas, 385 Mich 151; 188 NW2d 593 (1971); Rosario v City of Lansing, 403 Mich 124, 133; 268 NW2d 230 (1978).
403 Mich 124; 268 NW2d 230 (1978).
403 Mich 133, citing Bluemer v Saginaw Central Oil & Gas Service, Inc, 356 Mich 399, 411; 97 NW2d 90 (1959), citing with approval 66 CJS, Nuisances, § 3, pp 733-734.
403 Mich 133.
Hall, supra, 109 Mich App 605.
415 Mich 457, 465-466, fn 11; 330 NW2d 802 (1982).
415 Mich 470.
415 Mich 471.
Compare Pippen v Denison Division of Abex Corp, 66 Mich App 664; 239 NW2d 704 (1976), lv den 399 Mich 823 (1977), where $1.25 million was awarded to plaintiff for loss of his arm and $.5 million to plaintiff’s wife, and Radloff v Michigan, 116 Mich App 745; 323 NW2d 541 (1982), where almost $7.5 million was awarded where the 23-year-old plaintiff was rendered a quadriplegic as a result of injuries. However, it should be noted that Radloff has been remanded for reconsideration in light of Precopio v Detroit, 415 Mich 457; 330 NW2d 802 (1982). See 417 Mich 894; 330 NW2d 692 (1983).
Currie v Fiting, 375 Mich 440, 453-454; 134 NW2d 611 (1965); Freeman v Lanning Corp, 61 Mich App 527, 529; 233 NW2d 68 (1975); Harper v National Shoes, Inc, 98 Mich App 353, 357; 296 NW2d 1 (1979); Neal v Friendship Manor Nursing Home, 113 Mich App 759, 767; 318 NW2d 594 (1982).
See Tiffany v The Christman Co, 93 Mich App 267, 280; 287 NW2d 199 (1979).
Freeman, supra.
61 Mich App 531.
Henley v Michigan Dep’t of State Highways, 128 Mich App 214; 340 NW2d 72 (1983). | [
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Marilyn Kelly, J.
Defendant Farmers Insurance Exchange appeals as of right a circuit court order permitting recovery under a Farmers automobile insurance policy. The policy contains an "other insurance” clause. The clause purports to deny multiple recovery or "stacking” of insurance payments under more than one policy issued by the company. It limits the total dollar amount payable to the highest amount applicable under any one policy.
In September, 1986, defendant Ramon Garcia was driving an automobile insured by Farmers when he struck and killed plaintiffs’ thirteen-month-old son. The parties settled their suit through a consent judgment for $60,000. The judgment released Ramon from liability and preserved plaintiffs’ right to seek further recovery under other insurance policies.
At the time of the accident, Ramon lived with his father, Raul. Raul Garcia was also insured by Farmers. He maintained a policy which listed his own car, one not involved in the accident. The policy said it covered others in the household while driving vehicles in addition to the one named in the policy. Plaintiffs filed the instant action to recover $30,000, the limit under Raul Garcia’s policy.
Farmers denied liability based on the "other insurance” clause. This clause is found at paragraph 9 of the section entitled "Conditions.” It reads:
OTHER INSURANCE IN THE COMPANY
With respect to any occurrence, accident or loss to which this and any other insurance policy or policies issued to the insured by the Company also apply, no payment shall be made hereunder which, when added to any amount paid or payable under such other insurance policy or policies, would result in a total payment to the insured or any other person in excess of the highest applicable limit of liability under any one such policy.
After review of the policy including its "other insurance” clause, the circuit court issued an opinion and order allowing recovery and striking the clause as deceptive. It relied on Chief Justice Williams lead opinion in Powers v DAIIE, 427 Mich 602; 398 NW2d 411 (1986). The court held that the existence of the clause as an exclusion and its impact on liability were unclear. It ruled also that the clause defeated the reasonable expectations of the insured and that it was therefore void and unenforceable.
On appeal, Farmers argues that the trial court erred. We disagree and affirm.
The Powers decision is not binding upon us, as it was not a majority decision. However, we find the reasoning in Justice Williams’ opinion persuasive, as did the panel in DeMaria v Auto Club Ins Ass’n (On Remand), 165 Mich App 251, 254; 418 NW2d 398 (1987). The opinion sets forth six rules for construing automobile insurance policies:
1) "[Ejxceptions in an insurance policy to the general liability provided for are to be strictly construed against the insurer.”
2) An insurer may not "escape liability by taking advantage of an ambiguity . . .
" '[W]herever there are two constructions that can be placed upon the policy, the construction most favorable to the policyholder will be adopted.’ ”
3) An insurer must "so . . . draft the policy as to make clear the extent of nonliability under the exclusion clause.”
4) An insurer may not "escape liability by taking advantage of ... a forced construction of the language in a policy "[Technical constructions of policies of insurance are not favored. . . .”
5) "The courts have no patience with attempts by a paid insurer to escape liability by taking advantage of an ambiguity, a hidden meaning, or a forced construction of the language in a policy, when all question might have been avoided by a more generous or plainer use of words.”
6) "[N]ot only ambiguous but deceptive.” "[T]he policyholder must be protected against confusing statements in policies . . . .” [Citations omitted. 427 Mich 623-624.]
The trial court determined Farmers’ "other insurance” clause was deceptive and ambiguous after applying rules one and three. It noted the objectionable clause was listed under the "Conditions” section of the policy rather than under the "Exclusions” section. The court held it reasonable that the insured should expect to find exclusions under Exclusions. Powers, 628.
Review of the insurance policy and the clause in question convinces us that the "other insurance” clause violated not only rule three but also rule six.
With respect to rule three, Farmers failed to draft the policy so as to make clear under the Exclusions section the extent of nonliability intended. The "other insurance” clause does not appear under the Exclusions section. It is not even vaguely identified as an exclusion by placement under a captioned supplemental endorsement, as was a similar clause in DeMaria, supra. The "other insurance” clause in this policy appears under the Conditions section on the next to last page of the policy. It does not logically belong there, as it is much more an exclusion than a condition. This becomes apparent as one compares it with the other clauses in each section.
The other Conditions clauses include actions constituting acceptance of the agreement; a requirement that the accident must occur within the policy period; a requirement of written notice of loss; a provision against assignment; cancellation provisions; and a requirement of proof of loss. These clauses, unlike the "other insurance” clause, cover situations which give rise to coverage.
The Exclusions section includes clauses which deny recovery to injured persons entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits from the insured. The "other insurance” clause is analogous to this type of situation, where coverage is denied because of the existence of some other contingency.
Farmers has attempted to escape liability by inserting and then taking advantage of confusion in the phrasing of the "other insurance” clause. In so doing, it also violated rule six in Powers, supra. Rule one states that exceptions to general liability are to be strictly construed against the insurer. As between the insured and the insurer, the latter had complete control of the drafting of the policy. When writing the clause in question, it chose a long, wordy and complex sentence.
We believe the average person purchasing this insurance policy would have great difficulty under standing the "other insurance” clause. Such opaque use of language reminds us why insureds commonly despair of reading their policies in an effort to learn what they are getting. Farmers easily could have avoided any confusion in the "other insurance” clause by a plainer use of language.
The trial court’s final conclusion was that the insurance contract violated the reasonable expectations of the insured. It may be true that an insured cannot reasonably expect to stack his coverage. Bradley v Mid-Century Ins Co, 409 Mich 1, 57-58; 294 NW2d 141 (1980). We doubt it occurs to most people to consider if they could stack coverage when selecting a policy.
However in a broader sense, we find that an insured is not without some reasonable expectations when choosing insurance. One such expectation is that when one refers to the Exclusions section, one will find listed there the situations which the policy will not cover. See Powers, supra, pp 631-634. A situation in which more than one policy has liability for an accident falls in that category. Thus we agree that this Farmers insurance contract defeated the insured’s reasonable expectation that exclusions would appear in the Exclusions section.
Farmers had a duty to make the exclusions it chose clear to the people who pay for its insurance. Powers, supra, p 627. It violated that duty through the obfuscating use of language in the "other insurance” clause and by deceptive placement of the clause in the policy. We affirm the trial court’s ruling voiding the "other insurance” provision.
Affirmed.
Gribbs, P.J., concurred. | [
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Per Curiam.
Petitioners, a class of retired state police personnel, appeal as of right from an order of the Wayne Circuit Court affirming a decision of the Michigan Civil Service Commission which denied the petitioners’ claim for monetary compensation for unused "bank time.” After a careful review of the record, we affirm.
The facts necessary for this appeal are not in dispute. Prior to January 1, 1958, officers of the Michigan State Police did not receive overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of the standard minimum work week. After January 1, 1958, the Civil Service Commission issued a rule whereby police officers would be allowed to "bank” any hours worked over ninety-six hours in a two-week period. An officer could use this banked time only if he became ill or injured and had exhausted his available sick and vacation time.
In 1963, the Civil Service Commission discontinued the bank time policy and ordered that state police personnel be paid compensation or given comp time for all overtime worked. However, all banked time earned prior to 1963 was still available to those who had earned it. In 1974, petitioners filed an action in the Court of Claims against the Civil Service Commission and the Department of State Police seeking monetary compensation for all unused bank time earned from 1958 through 1963. On June 9, 1978, the Court of Claims issued an opinion in favor of the petitioners, awarding them compensation for unused bank time. However, this Court subsequently vacated that judgment and remanded the case to the Civil Service Commission for an administrative hearing, finding that petitioners had failed to exhaust their administrative remedies.
On remand, the parties agreed to nonbinding arbitration in lieu of an administrative hearing. On August 19, 1982, the arbitrator denied the petitioners’ grievance. After reviewing the record, the arbitrator concluded that retired police personnel were not entitled to compensation for unused bank time because nothing contained in the Civil Service Commission’s rules or the bank time policy itself suggested that such compensation was ever intended. The decision of the arbitrator was af firmed by the Employment Relations Board of the Civil Service Commission and the Wayne Circuit Court.
On appeal, petitioners argue that the circuit court erred by enforcing the decision of the Employment Relations Board of the Civil Service Commission that they were not entitled to monetary compensation on retirement for unused bank time. Generally, judicial review of an administrative decision is limited to whether the decision is authorized by law and supported by competent, material and substantial evidence on the record. Const 1963, art 6, § 28; Iams v Civil Service Comm, 142 Mich App 682, 692-693; 369 NW2d 883 (1985). Under this standard, the Civil Service Commission’s action in this case must be upheld if it is supported by such evidence as a reasonable mind would accept as adequate to support the decision. Parnis v Civil Service Comm, 79 Mich App 625, 629; 262 NW2d 883 (1977). Further, deference should be given to an agency’s interpretation of its own rules. See, Nicholas v Michigan State Employees Retirement Bd, 144 Mich App 70; 372 NW2d 685 (1985). Only if the decision of the commission is not authorized by law or amounts to arbitrary action will this Court reverse. Iams, supra.
In this case, petitioners argue that the commission’s rules and the adoption of the bank time policy impliedly indicate that the commission intended to compensate state police personnel for overtime worked and, therefore, retired state police employees should be paid for their unused bank time. Thus, to properly resolve this appeal, a review of the relevant rules relative to overtime compensation is necessary.
In part, petitioners base their theory of recovery upon Rule x of the Civil Service Commission, which was adopted in 1941 and in effect when the bank time policy was adopted. The rule reads as follows:
Hours of Service.
Forty (40) hours of actual attendance on duty shall constitute a minimum work week, and forty-eight (48) hours of actual attendance on duty shall constitute a maximum work week for every full-time employee in the state civil service. The exact number of work hours in a particular division of state government shall be determined by the appointing authority and the director within the limits of this rule. The provisions of this rule shall be complied with as rapidly as the operating conditions of each agency of state government shall permit.
It shall be the duty of the director to enforce this rule and when he finds the same has been violated, to order the appointing authority to comply therewith, and to withhold all salary payments for the agency concerned until full compliance has been made.
Several other directives were issued by the Civil Service Commission after the enactment of Rule x concerning overtime compensation. In December of 1947, the commission issued the following directive:
To All Appointing Authorities:
Effective also on January 1, 1948, the 40-hour week enjoyed by most state employees will be extended to those institutions where a longer work week is now in effect. We realize of course that it may be a matter of some time before operating and labor market conditions will permit the institution of an actual 40-hour work week. In the meantime, payment for necessary overtime will have to be made. However, we should like to keep the overtime payment problem to a minimum and suggest that the following criteria be applied before any overtime payment is requested:
1. Wherever possible, the hours of employees working in excess of 40, shall be reduced to 40 a week, thus eliminating the problem of overtime entirely.
2. In those instances where it is impossible to reduce hours without reducing standards of service, employees working in excess of 40 shall be compensated for overtime by equivalent time off at some later period.
3. When operating conditions are such that it is not feasible to permit employees working over 40 hours to take off equivalent time, such employees shall be reimbursed for hours in excess of 40 a week at straight time rates.
4. Overtime payment, when necessary, shall apply only to employees in grade levels n and below.
Further, on January 28, 1948, effective February 1, 1948, the Civil Service Commission issued a supplemental directive which reads as follows:
To: All Appointing Authorities
Subject: Revised method of paying State Employees effective February 1, 1948
Note: Any hours worked in excess of the regular schedule of either 80, 88, or 96 hours, must be compensated for on a supplemental overtime payroll
Note: Please call to the immediate attention of the Civil Service Department any regular work schedule which does not conform to the above code
Despite Rule x and the other directives of the commission concerning compensation for overtime, by 1948 the state police were still working more than forty-eight hours per week without any overtime compensation or comp time arrangement. It appears, however, that all other state classified employees were receiving some type of compensation for overtime worked in excess of forty-eight hours. Effective January 1, 1958, the Civil Service Commission adopted the "bank time” policy for state police personnel in lieu of overtime compensation. The policy was unique to the state police. The policy provided:
Such time is recorded and "banked”, and if a Trooper who has earned bank time should exhaust his earned sick leave, he may then draw on this "banked time” and continue to receive compensation although he is ill and not working.
In 1963, the bank time system was abandoned and an overtime/comp time policy was established. However, all bank time was still available for those who had earned such time.
Petitioners argue that the Civil Service Commission and the Department of State Police violated Rule x and the directives requiring the payment of overtime. Petitioners maintain that, to redress this problem, the respondents in 1958 established the bank time policy. Petitioners further maintain that the respondents again violated the overtime directives by banking overtime hours instead of compensating for them, and therefore retired state police personnel should now be paid for these overtime hours at the time of retirement. However, respondents contend that from 1958 to 1963 no rule mandated the payment of overtime and that there was never any understanding that enlisted state police personnel were to receive monetary compensation for unused bank time.
The arbitrator ruled that Rule x merely set the parameters of weekly hours, and did not intend to address compensation for overtime. Further, the arbitrator determined that the directives of the Civil Service Commission pertaining to overtime were not intended to apply to the state police. Based on the testimony of various witnesses, the arbitrator concluded that the state police were historically perceived as a separate group having distinguishably greater working hours, and that they were compensated for such additional hours in their base salary. Finally, the arbitrator reasoned that, had the Civil Service Commission intended that such payment be made, the bank time policy would have specifically and expressly addressed that subject.
In our opinion, the decision of the arbitrator and the Employment Relations Board of the Civil Service Commission is authorized by law and supported by competent, material and substantial evidence. Both sides agree that the bank time policy does not on its face provide for monetary compensation for unused bank time.
Petitioners are arguing that it would be fair to compensate them for unused bank time because other classified state employees received overtime compensation. Petitioners attempt to infer a right to compensation in their particular case based on the general policy of compensating state employees for overtime. However, petitioners can point to no rule which actually required the state to compensate them. In fact, the individuals who devised the bank time policy testified that compensation was to be paid for overtime only under the conditions enumerated in the policy itself and all testified that monetary payment for unused bank time was never contemplated by either the Department of State Police or the Civil Service Commission.
The record reveals that the state police were traditionally treated differently in terms of overtime because it was common for them to work longer hours. Officials from the Civil Service Commission testified that the longer hours worked by state police was a factor in determining their pay rates. Further, from 1958 to 1963, no rule of the Civil Service Commission made the payment of overtime compensation mandatory. Thus, the record supports the conclusion that it was never intended that retired state police officers would be compensated for unused bank time.
We also disagree with the petitioners’ argument that the policy of not paying for unused bank time was arbitrary and capricious. The refusal to compensate retired state troopers for bank time, when no policy mandated such payment, was a valid economic decision and in compliance with Civil Service Commission rules as applied to the state police. We cannot say that the rules were arbitrary and capricious. Since petitioners can point to no rule or directive of the Civil Service Commission which suggests that it was intended that they be compensated for unused bank time, the circuit court did not err in affirming the decision of the commission.
Finally, we note that the issues raised by respondents in this appeal are not properly before this Court because no cross-appeal was filed. See MCR 7.207. In any event, since we have ruled against the petitioners on the substantive issue concerning their right to compensation, the issues raised by respondents need not be considered.
Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court affirming the decision of the Civil Service Commission is affirmed.
Affirmed. No costs, a public question being involved. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff, Bay County Executive Gary Majeske, appeals as of right from an order of the Bay Circuit Court dismissing a complaint seeking relief in the form of a declaratory judgment, a writ of mandamus and a preliminary injunction against defendants, Bay County Board of Commissioners and Bay County Prosecuting Attorney George Mullison. We reverse the order of dismissal issued by the circuit court and hold that the Bay County Board of Commissioners had no authority under the county civil counsel act, 1941 PA 15, MCL 49.71 et seq.; MSA 5.824 et seq., to eliminate the Bay County Department of Corporation Counsel, which had earlier been created in accordance with the optional unified form of county government act, 1973 PA 139, MCL 45.551 et seq.; MSA 5.302 (51) et seq.
The record reveals that in 1979 the Bay County electorate adopted an optional unified form of county government with a county executive, as permitted in the optional unified form of county government act. Pursuant to MCL 45.554(1), 45.555, 45.556; MSA 5.302(54)(1), 5.302(55), 5,302(56), on the date that the unified form of county government became effective many preexisting boards and departments were abolished and the Bay County Board of Commissioners (the board) became the governing body of the county with statutorily specified powers. In accordance with MCL 45.559; MSA 5.302(59), plaintiff, Gary Majeske, was elected county executive. Pursuant to MCL 45.563; MSA 5.302(63), the board passed a resolution establishing various departments to perform specific county functions, including the Department of Corporation Counsel. The function of this department was to "perform as provided by law all civil law functions and provide property acquisition services for the county as provided by law.” MCL 45.563(e); MSA 5.302(63)(e). As were all of the newly created departments, the Department of Corporation Counsel was subject to the authority of the elected county executive.
Sometime in 1980 or 1981 a dispute arose in Bay County concerning the distribution of county payroll checks. The county executive sought the advice of the corporation counsel, but apparently rejected that advice and retained outside counsel. Thus, when the county’s circuit and probate courts and prosecutor’s office filed a lawsuit against the board and the county executive regarding the 1982 county budget, the board and the county executive had separate counsel. In response to this situation, the board appended a stipulation to the county budget act resolution for 1982 stating that "civil counsel shall serve at the pleasure of the Board of Commissioners” and adopted a resolution providing that, pursuant to § 71 of the county civil counsel act, 1941 PA 15, MCL 49.71; MSA 5.824, the board "[s]hall employ an attorney to represent [certain elected county officials, including the county executive] in civil matters, as a defendant, when neither the prosecuting attorney or [sic] county corporation counsel is able to represent the particular officer.” This prompted the county executive to file suit against the board requesting relief in the form of a declaratory judgment, a writ of mandamus and a preliminary injunction. The county executive maintained that he controlled the Department of Corporation Counsel and that the board had attempted, without authority, to thwart his efforts to exercise that control. This Court, affirming the ruling of the Bay Circuit Court, held that "[t]he trial court correctly determined that because Bay County had chosen to adopt a Department of Corporation Counsel, by the terms of the optional unified form of county government act, that department automatically came under the control of the county executive.” Bay Co Executive v Bay Co Bd of Comm’rs, 129 Mich App 707, 716; 342 NW2d 96 (1983).
In August, 1982, while the appeal from the ruling of the Bay Circuit Court was pending before this Court, the board passed a resolution purporting to eliminate the Department of Corporation Counsel and "to place the County civil legal functions back into the Prosecutor’s office.” After this Court affirmed the ruling of the Bay Circuit Court in an opinion issued in October, 1983, the county executive, in December, 1983, filed the present lawsuit in the Bay Circuit Court. Among the conclusions of the circuit court in the present lawsuit on issues presented by way of stipulation of the parties was the holding that the board had the authority, under MCL 49.71, 49.153; MSA 5.824, 5.751, to eliminate the Department of Corporation Counsel without the necessity of complying with the procedures set forth in MCL 45.564; MSA 5.302(64). In essence, the circuit court found that the ability of the board to employ an attorney to represent the county in civil matters as provided in § 1 of the county civil counsel act supersedes the necessity of the board to comply with procedures for transferring functions of a county department as required in § 14 of the optional unified form of county government act. In part, the circuit court held:
[The board] did have the right to eliminate the Department of Corporation Counsel by returning the function to the prosecutor under the discretion granted them [sic] in MCLA 49.71. With respect to this department only, they [sic] did not have to comply with MCLA 45.564 because another statute superseded.
We disagree.
The language of the statutory provisions most relevant to the matter now at issue appears below.
The prosecuting attorneys shall, in their respective counties, appear for the state or county, and prosecute or defend in all the courts of the county, all prosecutions, suits, applications and motions, whether civil or criminal, in which the state or county may be a party or interested. [MCL 49.153; MSA 5.751.]
The board of supervisors of any county by a majority vote of the members-elect may employ an attorney to represent the county in civil matters, whenever the board determines that the prosecuting attorney is unable to properly represent the county. Such attorney shall receive such compensation as shall be determined by the board of supervisors. [MCL 49.71; MSA 5.824.]
An optional unified form of county government shall have all functions, except when otherwise allocated by this act, performed by 1 or more departments of the county or by the remaining boards, commissions, or authorities. Each department shall be headed by a director. Subject to the authority of the county manager or elected county executive the following departments and their respective directors may be established and designated to be responsible for performance of the functions enumerated:
(e) The department of corporation counsel if adopted shall perform as provided by law all civil law functions and provide property acquisition services for the county as provided by law. [MCL 45.563; MSA 5.302(63).]
Except as to a department headed by elected county officials or the board of county road commissioners, the board of county commissioners may:
(a) Upon a majority vote and the affirmative recommendation of the county manager or elected county executive, and following a public hearing, the board may consolidate departments completely or in part, or may transfer a function from 1 department to another; or the board may, upon the affirmative vote of % of its members and following a public hearing, consolidate departments completely or in part, or may transfer a function from 1 department to another.
(b) Create additional departments.
(c) Require the county manager or elected county executive to serve as director of a department. [MCL 45.564; MSA 5.302(64).]
The first two of these statutes derive from the prosecuting attorney act, 1846 RS 14, and the county civil counsel act, 1941 PA 15, respectively, while the second two derive from the more recently enacted optional unified form of county government act, 1973 PA 139.
A reading of the first two statutes makes clear that, normally, a county’s prosecuting attorney is obligated to represent the county in all civil legal matters unless the county’s board of commissioners determines that the prosecuting attorney is unable to properly represent the county. A reading of the second two statutes, in the context of the optional unified form of county government act, makes clear that if a county has adopted an optional unified form of government superseding its existing form of government, a Department of Corporation Counsel may be established. If such a department is established, it is obligated to perform all civil law functions for the county. We note, moreover, that if a Department of Corporation Counsel is not established, the county’s prosecuting attorney is obligated to continue to represent the county in all civil matters, subject to the exception provided in MCL 49.71; MSA 5.824, permitting the board of commissioners to retain outside counsel upon determining that the prosecuting attorney is unable to properly represent the county. Finally, we observe that, while the optional unified form of county government act does not specifically empower a county board of commissioners to eliminate a department once it has been created, a board is authorized, after compliance with certain procedures, to consolidate departments completely or in part, or to transfer a function from one department to another. A board may perform such consolidations or transfers either after having obtained the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members following a public meeting or after having obtained the affirmative vote of a majority of its members following a public meeting, accompanied by a recommendation of the county executive.
In the present case, the board created five departments, including a Department of Corporation Counsel, after the county adopted an optional unified form of county government. In 1982, when the board passed its resolution purporting to eliminate the Department of Corporation Counsel and directing that all of the county’s civil law matters be handled by the county’s prosecuting attorney, the procedures set forth in the optional unified form of county government act for consolidating departments or transferring functions among departments were not followed. As already noted, the circuit court in this case agreed with the board that such procedures need not have been followed because the board was able to eliminate the Department of Corporation Counsel under the authority of MCL 49.71; MSA 5.824.
It is well recognized that statutes in pari materia, i.e., statutes relating to the same subject but enacted at different times, must be construed to preserve the intent of each and, if possible, to ensure that the effectiveness of one does not negate the effectiveness of the other. Gooden v Transamerica Ins Corp of America, 166 Mich App 793, 804; 420 NW2d 877 (1988). Such a construction of the statutes in this case is possible. We find that the circuit court erred in concluding that the board could eliminate the Department of Corporation Counsel, thus returning the function of representing the county in civil law matters to the county’s prosecuting attorney under the authority of MCL 49.71; MSA 5.824, and that compliance by the board with the procedures set forth in MCL 45.564; MSA 5.302(64) was not required in this case.
The optional unified form of county government act provides a scheme for organizing a new order of county government. A Department of Corporation Counsel may, but need not, be created for the performance of the county’s civil law functions. If such a department is created, it must be structured and treated like any other department. Bay Co, supra, p 715. If it is not created, the county board of commissioners may continue to have the prosecuting attorney handle the county’s civil matters, or may, in appropriate circumstances, employ outside counsel. MCL 49.71; MSA 5.824. The "if adopted” language contained in MCL 45.563(e); MSA 5.3Q2(63)(e) refers to adoption of a department under the original [or subsequent, see MCL 45.564(b); MSA 5.3Q2(64)(b)] reorganization plan and acknowledges that a county may prefer not to adopt a Department of Corporation Counsel but instead choose to continue to have the county’s prosecuting attorney or, in appropriate circumstances, outside counsel handle the county’s civil law matters.
In this case, the board passed a resolution creat ing a Department of Corporation Counsel within the county’s unified form of government. That department, adopted under the optional unified form of county government act, was entitled to the protections of that act. Pursuant to MCL 45.563; MSA 5.302(63), the department was subject to the authority of the county executive and could have been consolidated completely or in part with another department or have had its function transferred to another department only if the procedures set forth in MCL 45.564; MSA 5.302(64) were followed by the board. Once the department was created, the board was constrained to act in accordance with the terms of the act under which the department was created and, therefore, no longer had the ability under MCL 49.71; MSA 5.824 to eliminate the department or to employ outside counsel. Thus, the statutes under examination do not conflict but, rather, are applicable in different circumstances. If, after an optional unified form of county government has been adopted and a Department of Corporation Counsel has been established, a board of commissioners desires to limit, reduce, transfer or consolidate the department’s statutorily instituted functions, it must do so in accordance with the terms of the optional unified form of county government act. A new form of county government having been chosen under the optional unified form of county government act, the county board of commissioners was obligated to abide by the terms of the act under which the new form of county government was instituted. To hold otherwise would constitute a judicial encroachment in an area well defined by legislative design by enlarging the statutorily prescribed powers of boards of county commissioners in counties which have adopted an optional unified form of government. This we are unwilling to do. As noted long ago by Francis Bacon in Of Judicature: "Judges ought to remember that their office is jus dicere, and not jus dare; to interpret law, and not to make law, or give law.”
The two remaining issues raised on appeal by the county executive are not properly before us for review. The first of these issues, stated in the county executive’s appellate brief as "[w]hat is the scope of the responsibilities of the Department of Corporation Counsel?” was never actually decided by the circuit court, the latter finding this issue moot in light of its ruling that the board acted properly in eliminating the Department of Corporation Counsel under the authority of MCL 49.71; MSA 5.824. Our review is limited to issues actually decided by the trial court. Michigan Mutual Ins Co v American Community Mutual Ins Co, 165 Mich App 269, 277; 418 NW2d 455 (1987). Moreover, the second of these remaining issues, stated in the county executive’s appellate brief as "[d]id [the optional unified form of county government act] establish an executive branch of county government?” is also not properly before us for review. First, the issue is moot in light of our resolution of the first issue raised on appeal, i.e., in light of our finding that the board was not empowered to eliminate the Department of Corporation Counsel without following the procedures applicable to such action set forth in the optional unified form of county government act. Second, the county executive himself, in his appellate brief, concedes that this issue is "not central to the instant dispute.” Finally, even if, for the sake of argument, we grant that the act is authority for the establishment of an executive branch of county government—a proposition which seems dubious indeed— the question still remains whether such an executive branch would have the inherent power, under the circumstances presented in this case, to retain its own legal counsel. This question was specifically eschewed by the circuit court. In its written opinion in this case, the circuit judge stated:
I am not sure whether a county executive branch, if it existed, would carry inherent powers —cases seem to indicate no—but I have not researched the issue sufficiently to make a finding. Finally, whether or not an executive branch is part of county government, and whether or not that branch has inherent powers, this line of reasoning does not mandate that [the county executive] have his own civil counsel.
In closing, we note that the county executive ends his appellate brief with a "request for legal fees.” It seems that the request is for legal fees incurred in this appeal rather than in the lower court since the circuit court has already declared the county executive entitled to have "his attorney fees and costs . . . borne by the County”—a declaration which has not been challenged on appeal. No explicit authority requires an award of actual attorney fees for services on appeal. Temborius v Slatkin, 157 Mich App 587, 604; 403 NW2d 821 (1986). Because the county executive has already been declared entitled to attorney fees and costs incurred at the trial level and because the major issue raised on appeal concerns the construction of statutory provisions which hitherto have not been the object of judicial clarification, we are not inclined in this case to find the county executive entitled to attorney fees incurred on appeal.
The order of the circuit court dismissing the county executive’s complaint is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings. We do not retain jurisdiction. Costs to the county executive.
Reversed and remanded. | [
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Weaver, J.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from a circuit court order dismissing his complaint for paternity, custody, support, and visitation and from the circuit court’s order denying his motion for rehearing. We reverse and remand.
i
Plaintiff alleges paternity of the minor child, Shawn Matthew Stewart, who was born to defendant Paula Marie Stewart on September 22, 1986. Three children were conceived and born to Paula Stewart during her marriage to defendant Albert D. Stewart, including the minor child whose paternity is here challenged. In February of 1988, Paula Stewart filed for divorce, which action is still pending.
Plaintiff initially filed a paternity action in 1986. On February 17, 1988, the circuit court directed that blood tests be taken of the parties and of the minor child. On March 29, 1988, the action was dismissed for lack of progress when plaintiff was allegedly unable to obtain sufficient funds for the blood testing directed by the court.
On May 6, 1988, plaintiff filed another complaint for child custody, support, and visitation, alleging paternity and requesting joint legal custody. Plain tiff subsequently filed a motion for blood tests, alleging that he had obtained the funds for blood testing and wished to proceed to judgment. Pursuant to a hearing on June 13, 1988, at which both defendants appeared and wherein the trial court refused to allow a record to be taken of plaintiff’s paternity claims, the trial court dismissed plaintiff’s action. The court’s basis for dismissal was that plaintiff had no standing to sue under either the Paternity Act, MCL 722.711 et seq.; MSA 25.491 et seq., or the Child Custody Act of 1970, MCL 722.21 et seq.; MSA 25.312(1) et seq., because there was no disagreement between the two defendants as to paternity and because the child, having been conceived and born during the marriage, was presumed to be a child of the marriage and not a "child born out of wedlock.”
On June 28, 1988, plaintiff moved for rehearing, alleging that paternity of the child was a rebuttable presumption and again requesting blood tests. Plaintiff asserted that the mother had acknowledged his paternity and that it was not possible for defendant Albert Stewart to be the father because he had undergone a vasectomy. On August 11, 1988, the trial court refused to allow plaintiff’s offer of proof, refused to allow blood tests, and denied rehearing. Plaintiff appeals as of right.
ii
On appeal, plaintiff asserts that he has a legal right to seek to establish paternity even though the child was conceived and born during the mother’s marriage to another man. We agree. Both Michigan’s Paternity Act and Child Custody Act provide a basis for plaintiff’s action to establish paternity.
Plaintiff had a right to attempt proof of paternity under Michigan’s Paternity Act. The Paternity Act allows the father or putative father of a "child born out of wedlock” to request an order of filiation in the circuit court of the county in which the child or the mother resides or is found. MCL 722.714(6); MSA 25.494(6). In 1980 and 1986 the statute was amended so that it now defines "child born out of wedlock” not only as a child born to an unmarried woman but also as a "child born or conceived during a marriage but not the issue of that marriage.” MCL 722.711(a); MSA 25.491(a).
In Syrkowski v Appleyard, 420 Mich 367; 362 NW2d 211 (1985), a surrogacy case, the Michigan Supreme Court found that the language of the Paternity Act clearly bestowed jurisdiction on the circuit court over an action to identify the father of a child born out of wedlock, even though the child was conceived and born during the mother’s marriage to another. Id. at 375. The plaintiff in this case challenged paternity of the minor child as a child born out of wedlock even though conceived and born during the marriage and also requested blood tests and attempted to make an offer of proof. Therefore Syrkowski governs the result here. Accordingly, plaintiff had standing to attempt proof of paternity under the Paternity Act, over which matter the circuit court had jurisdiction. Id.
Plaintiff also had standing to assert paternity under the Child Custody Act. See Bohman v Boyce, 145 Mich App 197, 199; 377 NW2d 387 (1985). Despite the fact that the two defendants Stewart did not disagree with each other regarding paternity, plaintiff’s request for joint custody and visitation clearly demonstrates the existence of a "colorable dispute” under the Child Custody Act as to custody of the minor child. Id.
Reversed and remanded to allow plaintiff an opportunity to develop a record concerning paternity of the minor child. We do not retain jurisdiction. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff Alfio Caradonna was injured in an automobile accident on October 14, 1981, when his car was rear-ended by a car owned by defendant Jerry Krygiell and driven by Kenneth Arpiño. In this suit for noneconomic losses under the no-fault act, defendant’s liability was predicated solely on the automobile owners’ liabil ity statute, MCL 257.401; MSA 9.2101. In a pretrial ruling, the trial court determined that as a matter of law defendant impliedly consented to Arpino’s use of his vehicle, and thus could be held liable for plaintiffs noneconomic losses if proven. Following trial, however, the jury returned a verdict of no cause of action, finding that plaintiff had not sustained a serious impairment of body function. Plaintiffs appeal as of right. Defendant cross appeals by leave granted the trial court’s pretrial ruling on his liability. We conclude that the trial court erred in determining that defendant could be held liable for plaintiff’s injuries, if any, under the owners’ liability statute. Accordingly, we do not reach plaintiffs’ claims on appeal.
Due to lack of space at his own residence, defendant kept the car involved in the subject accident in the parking area of the condominium complex where his girlfriend, Mary Ann Arpiño, resided. Defendant gave Ms. Arpiño the keys and asked her to move the car occasionally in order to make it look like it was being driven. While defendant did not offer use of the car to Ms. Arpiño, neither did he restrict her from driving it. Ms. Arpiño kept the keys on a hook in her kitchen.
Kenneth Arpiño, Ms. Arpino’s son, came to visit Ms. Arpiño from California while on leave from the Navy approximately one week prior to the accident. Kenneth was expressly told by Ms. Arpiño that he was not to drive her car or defendant’s car.
On the date of the accident, Kenneth took defendant’s keys from the Arpiño residence without permission while Ms. Arpiño was working. Defendant had never given Kenneth permission to drive the car. Neither defendant nor Ms. Arpiño was aware that Kenneth was driving the car until after the accident.
The owners’ liability statute, MCL 257.401; MSA 9.2101, provides in relevant part:
The owner of a motor vehicle shall be liable for any injury occasioned by the negligent operation of such motor vehicle .... The owner shall not be liable, however, unless said motor vehicle is being driven with his or her express or implied consent or knowledge. [Emphasis added.]
The operation of a motor vehicle by one who is not a member of the family of the owner, as here, gives rise to a rebuttable common-law presumption that the operator was driving the vehicle with the express or implied consent of the owner. Fout v Dietz, 401 Mich 403, 405; 258 NW2d 53 (1977).
In this case, the trial court determined that defendant had impliedly consented to Kenneth’s use of defendant’s car. The court relied on Cowan v Strecker, 394 Mich 110; 229 NW2d 302 (1975), and Delaney v Barnett, 63 Mich App 639; 234 NW2d 741 (1975), for its decision.
In Cowan, the defendant owner had given her car to a friend with specific instructions that no one else was to drive it. Contrary to this limitation, the friend allowed her son to drive the car without the defendant’s knowledge. The plaintiff was injured in an accident while the friend’s son was driving the defendant’s car. The Supreme Court held that the defendant was liable for the plaintiff’s injuries. The Court reasoned that when the defendant consented to her friend’s driving the car, she consented to assume the risks attendant to surrender of control of the car. The fact that the owner had placed a limitation on her consent was deemed irrelevant.
Delaney involved similar facts. There, a car rental company leased a car to Mr. Davis pursuant to a written agreement which prohibited allowing anyone under twenty-one years old to drive the car. Davis loaned the car to a twenty-year-old, who struck the plaintiff. This Court held that the rental company was liable for the plaintiffs injuries under the owners’ liability statute. Noting that the only difference between Delaney and Cowan was that in Delaney the owner’s attempt to limit consent was in writing, the Delaney panel concluded that the rental company’s restricted consent was invalid under Cowan.
Cowan and Delaney are both factually distinguishable from the instant case. In both Cowan and Delaney, the owner gave a permittee consent to operate his car, and the permittee then gave a third party permission to drive the owner’s car. In this case, unlike in Cowan and Delaney, the driver of this defendant’s motor vehicle did not have permission to drive from either defendant owner or his permittee. The uncontradicted testimony of Ms. Arpiño was that she specifically told Kenneth Arpiño that he could not drive defendant’s car and that he took the car contrary to her instructions and without her knowledge. Defendant’s car was effectively a stolen vehicle at the time of the accident.
In Fout v Dietz, 75 Mich App 128; 254 NW2d 813 (1977), aff'd 401 Mich 403; 258 NW2d 53 (1977), a friend of the defendant owner took the keys from the defendant’s bedroom while he slept, and subsequently had an accident with the defendant’s car. The defendant had previously forbidden his friend from driving the car. In affirming this Court’s conclusion that the defendant could not be held liable under the owners’ liability statute, the Supreme Court held that the common-law presumption of consent of the owner to the driving of the vehicle at the time of the accident was clearly rebutted. 401 Mich 406-407.
We are of the opinion that Fout controls here. Kenneth Arpiño had no permission whatsoever to drive defendant’s automobile, and had in fact been expressly forbidden from driving the vehicle by defendant’s permittee, Ms. Arpiño. The trial court apparently believed that, because Ms. Arpiño kept the car keys in the kitchen, she impliedly consented to Kenneth’s driving defendant’s car. We cannot agree. Under that logic, persons would impliedly consent to social guests taking silverware from the dining room table or books from a living room shelf—a proposition with which no reasonable person could agree. Moreover, the court’s reasoning suggests that one must affirmatively hide keys in order ever to establish nonconsent, an equally unreasonable proposition. Simply put, keeping keys in a kitchen does not imply consent to take a car, especially when one has been expressly told not to take a car.
As in Fout, we conclude in this case that, taking all the facts into consideration, the evidence adduced in the trial court clearly rebuts any inference that Kenneth Arpiño used defendant’s automobile with his or Ms. Arpino’s express or implied consent when the vehicle was involved in the accident which injured plaintiff. As defendant did not consent, he was as a matter of law not liable for plaintiffs injuries. In light of this conclusion, we need not reach plaintiffs’ claims of error relating to the jury’s verdict.
Reversed and remanded for entry of judgment in favor of defendant. We do not retain jurisdiction. | [
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Per Curiam.
In October, 1985, plaintiff brought suit against defendant, claiming breach of an implied contract to rehire and discrimination in violation of the Michigan Handicappers’ Civil Rights Act, MCL 37.1101 et seq.; MSA 3.550(101) et seq. In January, 1988, the Lenawee Circuit Court granted defendants’ motion for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(0(10) on all of plaintiff’s theories of liability. Plaintiff appeals as of right, claiming that the trial court improperly granted summary disposition and that the Wayne Circuit Court improperly granted a change of venue to Lenawee County.
Plaintiff was afflicted with polio at the age of three and as a result he has weakness in his right arm and some restrictions as to movement involving that arm. In November, 1981, plaintiff began work on the second shift at defendant General Motors’ Adrian plant as a general production worker. Plaintiff worked at this position until he was laid off in January, 1982. After the layoff, plaintiff telephoned Gregory Dumars, the personnel manager at the plant, regarding the possibility of recall. Plaintiff claims that Dumars specifically told him that he would be rehired when the other employees were rehired.
In August, 1983, all of the employees who were laid off with plaintiff were rehired, except one person who had joined the military. When plaintiff found out that the others were recalled and he was not, he again contacted Dumars. Dumars told plaintiff that he was not rehired because he would not make a good employee._
The trial court granted defendants’ motion for summary disposition on all three of plaintiffs theories of liability under MCR 2.116(0(10). In deciding a motion under this rule, the trial court must review the entire record to determine if there is factual support for the plaintiffs claims. In reviewing the evidentiary record, the plaintiff must be given the benefit of any reasonable doubt in deciding whether a genuine issue of fact exists. Before judgment may be granted, the court must be satisfied that it is impossible for the claim asserted to be supported by evidence at trial. Peterfish v Frantz, 168 Mich App 43, 48-49; 424 NW2d 25 (1988). The appellate court in its review is liberal in finding that a genuine issue of material fact exists. Dumas v Auto Club Ins Ass’n, 168 Mich App 619, 626; 425 NW2d 480 (1988).
As to the handicap discrimination claim, we find that the trial court erred in granting summary disposition. In order to establish a prima facie case of discrimination, plaintiff had the burden of establishing that (1) he had a handicap, (2) he was qualified for the job, and (3) despite his qualifications he was not rehired. The only issue which appears to be disputed is the third prong: whether plaintiff was not rehired despite his qualifications or, in other words, because of his handicap. Carden v General Motors Corp, 156 Mich App 202, 210-211; 401 NW2d 273 (1986). In order to satisfy this third prong, plaintiff must show an intent to discriminate because of his handicap. Id., pp 211-212. Discriminatory intent may be inferred from the evidence presented. Jenkins v Southeastern Michigan Chapter, American Red Cross, 141 Mich App 785, 794; 369 NW2d 223 (1985).
Seventeen of the nineteen employees hired at the same time as plaintiff and who worked in the same department were rehired by defendant. The only person, other than plaintiff, who was not rehired had joined the military at the time of rehiring. Although defendant Dumars submitted an affidavit that stated that five of the seventeen people rehired had physical limitations requiring lifting restrictions, there is no other evidence from which to determine that the limitations and restrictions of these other employees correlated with plaintiffs restrictions.
The trial court noted that Dumars and three of plaintiffs supervisors stated that plaintiff was discharged because he was cocky and had a bad attitude. However, there was nothing written in plaintiffs file to indicate this problem nor was there any indication that plaintiff had ever been told that he had an attitude problem affecting his work. As noted by the trial court: "Given that and nothing more, it could raise at least a suspicion that the handicap was the cause” of plaintiffs not being recalled. We agree with the trial court that these circumstances at least raise an issue of fact as to the existence of discrimination.
In reviewing a motion for summary disposition, the trial court must carefully avoid making findings of fact under the guise of determining that no issue of material fact exists. Ceplin v Bastian-Blessing Div of Golconda Corp, 90 Mich App 527, 531; 282 NW2d 380 (1979). In finding that there was no room for an inference that plaintiffs discharge was in any way related to his handicap, the trial court in effect resolved the factual dispute as to whether defendants’ proffered reasons for not rehiring plaintiff were true and not a pretext for discriminatory action. The trial court improperly granted summary disposition of this issue.
However, we agree with the trial court that plaintiff failed to support his claim for breach of an implied contract and promissory estoppel.
Plaintiff was a member of the United Auto Workers Union at the time he was laid off. Under the express terms of the collective bargaining agreement then in effect and which covered his employment, General Motors did not have a contractual duty to rehire plaintiff. Where an express contract is in force, a contract which covers the same subject cannot be implied in law. Steele v Cold Heading Co, 125 Mich App 199, 203; 336 NW2d 1 (1983).
Even if we assumed that an implied contract could be enforced here, plaintiff has not presented evidence from which we could imply or deduce the existence of an implied contract. See Temborius v Slatkin, 157 Mich App 587, 596; 403 NW2d 821 (1986). His sole factual basis is comments by Du-mars regarding the possibility of rehire. However, plaintiff’s own deposition testimony indicates that Dumars’ statements to plaintiff were mere expressions of opinion rather than promises or assurances that plaintiff would be recalled. These comments do not justify implying or deducing that a separate contract existed.
Similarly, without evidence of a promise, there is no basis for plaintiff’s promissory estoppel theory. Malik v William Beaumont Hospital, 168 Mich App 159, 172; 423 NW2d 920 (1988).
The final issue concerns the change of venue to Lenawee County. The trial court’s decision to grant a change of venue is a discretionary one which will be reversed only where there is a plain abuse of discretion. Kohn v Ford Motor Co, 151 Mich App 300, 305; 390 NW2d 709 (1986).
Defendants met their burden of making a persuasive showing of inconvenience by demonstrating that the alleged discrimination occurred in Lenawee County and that the plaintiff, the wit nesses and the relevant records were located in Lenawee County. Change of venue for the convenience of the parties and witnesses was properly granted. MCR 2.222; Kohn, supra, pp 305-308.
Affirmed in part and reversed in part. | [
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Shepherd, J.
The principal issues raised in this appeal relate to the nature and sufficiency of proof required to establish a claim of adverse possession against a cotenant and against the State of Michigan. We hold that a claim of adverse possession may be made against the state and that the proofs in this case were sufficient to establish the claim.
Plaintiff originally sought damages from Burton Abstract and Title Company under a title insurance policy covering Mackinac Island property which had been deeded to plaintiff and to which defendant State of Michigan also claimed record title to a 41/63 interest. Defendant state was subsequently added as a third-party defendant on November 15, 1979, on defendant Burton Abstract’s motion. On March 28, 1981, plaintiff filed its first amended complaint which named the state as a defendant and raised the claim of adverse possession. On January 8, 1981, St. Paul Title Insurance Company was substituted for Burton Abstract as defendant. After a separate trial on the issue of adverse possession, the trial court ruled that defendant state had lost the 41/63 undivided interest it held in the parcel of land involved as the result of plaintiff’s adverse possession of the property. Defendant state now appeals as of right.
The disputed parcel consists of 36.6 acres with 2,280 feet of waterfront. Defendant state obtained its 41/63 interest in the disputed parcel between the years 1923 and 1927. Plaintiff’s predecessors in title include, inter alia: Stonecliffe Development Company; Humbard Christian Development Center, Inc.; Mackinac College; Stonecliffe Associates; Oxford Group, Moral Re-Armament, MRA, Inc., of Michigan (MRA of Michigan); and Oxford Group, Moral Re-Armament, MRA, Inc., of New York (MRA of NY). These predecessors in title trace their claims to various warranty deeds executed and recorded as early as 1946. Plaintiff’s interest was acquired in 1977 from its most recent predecessor.
The result of the deeds to plaintiff and its predecessors is that plaintiff now has record title to 100 percent of the property tracing its title back to 1946. As indicated, the state can show record title to a 41/63 interest dating from the period 1923 to 1927. The state acknowledges that plaintiff can legitimately claim an interest in 22/63 of the parcel. The plaintiff now claims that the remaining 41/63 belongs to it by reason of adverse possession.
The acts which plaintiff claims gave rise to adverse possession began in 1959 (some 13 years after plaintiff’s predecessors acquired record title) when one of plaintiff’s predecessors in interest, MRA of NY, cleared a ten-foot wide path along the property line separating the disputed parcel from lands owned by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission and erected a barbed wire fence thereon. The area around the fence was annually cleared of brush. A picnic site was also cleared which MRA used several times annually for its own picnics, each attended by 50 to 70 persons. An MRA employee testified by deposition that he asked picnicking trespassers to leave on several different occasions. "No trespassing” signs were posted on the fence. Students of Mackinac College, also one of plaintiff’s predecessors in interest, used the disputed parcel for cross-country skiing starting in 1966 or 1967.
Plaintiff and its predecessors also paid property taxes on 100 percent of the parcel. An attorney for MRA of NY testified that, although MRA received some tax statements showing that it owned only 22/63 of the disputed parcel, tax officials told MRA to ignore the fraction and taxed MRA as a 100 percent owner. After conducting a title search, MRA uncovered information indicating that the state had record title to an undivided portion of the parcel. Its attorney advised MRA at that time to erect the barbed wire fence and not to contact the state with regard to its record title interest in the property in the belief that a state claim would not be valid. Plaintiff and its predecessors continued to pay 100 percent of the property taxes on the parcel until approximately 1980 when plaintiff informed the appeals board of the local taxing authority that the state claimed a portion of the disputed parcel. By this time, if plaintiff were permitted to claim title by adverse possession, such a claim had already ripened.
In 1964, after considerable bargaining, the state acquired from MRA an avigation easement over the disputed parcel in connection with the construction of the Mackinac Island Airport. During negotiations, the state apparently did not assert or discuss its ownership interest in the parcel. As a result of defoliation of the property caused by the state in creating the easement, a washout occurred which damaged the land. After MRA threatened a lawsuit and following further negotiations, defendant state reached a settlement with MRA and paid restitution for the damaged land. Again, the state’s ownership interest was not mentioned nor, apparently, was the amount of damages reduced by a proportion equal to the state’s interest in the land.
Defendant state’s use of the disputed parcel consisted of its maintenance of a state road which traversed the entire island near the shoreline and cut through the disputed parcel and maintenance of a picnic site next to the road in an area known as "Brown’s Brook”. The park was described as being smaller than the trial courtroom and contained one picnic table and a barbecue grill. Maintenance by the state included, at least since 1956, clearing brush and resetting stones at the park.
At the close of proofs, the trial court concluded that plaintiff had established by clear and positive proof the essential elements of adverse possession. In its opinion, the trial court concluded that the state had actual notice of plaintiffs claim to the disputed parcel since at least 1959, based upon the fact that plaintiffs predecessor in title, MRA of NY, had installed a fence; that two monuments placed in the ground by the state along one boundary of the disputed parcel indicated the boundary to lie between private land and state park property; and that the state had failed to assert its interest in the disputed parcel during negotiations concerning the avigation easement and damages caused to the parcel as the result of the washout.
The trial court also concluded that, even if the state did not have actual notice of plaintiffs claim to the disputed parcel, plaintiff had established that it had openly, notoriously, visibly, exclusively, and hostilely possessed the parcel in such a manner as to raise a presumption of knowledge by the state based upon the testimony indicating that MRA had: installed and maintained the fence; established a picnic site; informed unauthorized persons that they were trespassing on private property; and paid property taxes as the 100 percent owner of the disputed parcel. The trial court also recognized that one cotenant could hold property adversely to another and pointed out that the record was devoid of any evidence indicating that the state had exercised any concurrent rights of possession in the disputed parcel. The trial court further recognized that a private party could adversely possess against the state pursuant to Caywood v Dep’t of Natural Resources, 71 Mich App 322; 248 NW2d 253 (1976).
The trial court’s ruling did not effectively award the road or the Brown’s Brook picnic area to plaintiff for, as plaintiff indicated at trial, plaintiff made no claim of title to the state road or to the attached picnic area.
On appeal, defendant state argues that the trial court erred in finding that plaintiff had adversely possessed the property sufficiently to acquire full title and in ruling that plaintiff, a private party, could adversely possess against the state. We disagree and affirm.
I
Defendant state argues that its maintenance of the state road and Brown’s Brook picnic site negate plaintiff’s claim of exclusive possession. In fact, argues defendant, both parties made similar use of the property. Nor did the actions of the local taxing authority or the placement of boundary markers show adverse possession by plaintiff, according to defendant. Furthermore, it is contended, defendant’s failure to mention its interest in the property during negotiations for the avigation easement and the washout damages was irrelevant to the adverse possession issue since defendant was under no duty to communicate its interest to plaintiff and only a small part of the parcel was involved in those negotiations. Therefore, given the added burden placed upon plaintiff by the fact that the state was its cotenant, the proofs were insufficent to show adverse possession.
The general test for establishing adverse possession was described by this Court in Caywood, supra, pp 331-332:
"In order to secure title by adverse possession, the claimant’s possession must be actual, visible, open, notorious, exclusive, continuous, uninterrupted for the statutory period and under color or claim of right. Burns v Foster, 348 Mich 8; 81 NW2d 386 (1957); Rose v Fuller, 21 Mich App 172; 175 NW2d 344 (1970); Whitehall Leather Co v Capek, 4 Mich App 52; 143 NW2d 779 (1966). Whether adverse possession is established depends upon the facts of each case and the character of the premises. Burns v Foster and Whitehall Leather Co v Capek, supra. Acts of ownership which openly and publicly indicate an assumed control or use consistent with the character of the premises are sufficient. Monroe v Rawlings, 331 Mich 49; 49 NW2d 55 (1951); Rose v Fuller, supra. The doctrine of adverse possession is strictly construed. The party alleging title by adverse possession must prove the same by clear and positive proof. Burns v Foster and Rose v Fuller, supra. An adverse claimant is permitted to add his predecessors’ periods of possession if he can establish privity of estate either by mention of the disputed lands in instruments of conveyance or orally at the time of transfer. Siegel v Renkiewicz Estate, 373 Mich 421; 129 NW2d 876 (1964); Arduino v City of Detroit, 249 Mich 382; 228 NW 694 (1930). Equity cases are reviewed de novo. The trial judge’s findings of fact, however, will not be overturned or modified unless they are clearly erroneous or the reviewing court is convinced it would have reached a different result had it occupied the position of the trial court. Roberts v Duddles, 47 Mich App 601; 209 NW2d 720 (1973); Ogorek v Loisell, 33 Mich App 245; 189 NW2d 738 (1971).” (Footnote omitted.)
Where a party claims adverse possession against a cotenant, the burden is greater and additional rules become applicable. First, acts of possession by a cotenant will be presumed to be done consistently with the title of the other cotenant rather than adversely. Croze v Quincy Mining Co, 199 Mich 515, 518; 165 NW 786 (1917); Dunlop v Twin Beach Park Ass’n, Inc, 111 Mich App 261, 265; 314 NW2d 578 (1981). The rationale underlying this presumption is the rule that every cotenant is entitled to possess and use every part of the whole property. Merritt v Nickelson, 407 Mich 544, 555; 287 NW2d 178 (1980) (concurring opinion by Moody, J.). Second, the burden of proof on a cotenant claiming title to property adversely to another cotenant is much greater than the burden placed on one who has no such interest in the property. Croze, supra; Dunlop, supra, p 264. This higher burden relates specifically to proof of hostility and notoriety. Croze, supra, pp 518-519; Dunlop, supra, p 265.
Findings of fact made by the trial court will not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. GCR 1963, 517.1. We find none of the trial court’s findings of fact to be erroneous. The trial court found that an avigation easement had been granted by MRA to the State of Michigan and the Mackinac Island State Park Commission on July 14, 1964, in which the state identified MRA as the owner of the real property subject to the easement. The trial court also found that, during negotiations, defendants treated MRA as the owner of the real property subject to the easement and made no claim whatsoever to any undivided interest in the parcel. The trial court also found that plaintiff had paid 100 percent of the taxes on the land in question, that MRA had erected a fence along the boundaries of the land in 1959, that portions of the land had been maintained and developed by plaintiff and its predecessors, that boundary markers erected in approximately 1912 were located at each end of the fence and were inscribed "State” or "State Park” on one side and "PC 2” or "PC 2 Boundary”, and that tax records described the state’s undivided interests to be a parcel known as Private Claim One rather than Private Claim Two, by which the disputed parcel was known, although the metes and bounds of both parcels were described in the same terms.
We must agree with defendant state, however, that a portion of the trial court’s conclusions of law were erroneous. Certain of plaintiffs actions were not necessarily indicative of exclusive, hostile possession of the parcel insofar as a cotenant was concerned, contrary to the trial court’s conclusions. In particular, we are not convinced that, standing alone, the fence which was erected in 1959 and the picnics and skiing enjoyed by plaintiffs predecessors were sufficient to apprise the cotenant state of plaintiffs adverse possession. However, any error in these conclusions is harmless because we are convinced that the state was sufficiently put on notice of plaintiffs claim to exclusive control over the land in 1964 when the avigation easement was acquired (more accurately, as early as the start of negotiations, although the date on which negotiations began does not appear in the record before us). The state’s failure to indicate its own interests during those negotiations or in the document itself was a clear indication that the state itself believed plaintiff to be the sole owner of the land. This is made even more evident by the state’s payment of restitution to plaintiff for the washout which resulted after the state had obtained the easement.
The statutory 15-year possessory requirement in-' order to show adverse possession is still met, even if the period began to run with the creation of the avigation easement, since that event occurred on July 14, 1964, and the state was not made a party to this action until November, 1979. We believe that this event (the granting of the easement), particularly when considered in conjunction with the remaining hostile and open acts (including erection of the fence, payment of taxes and care and maintenance of the land), sufficiently validate plaintiffs claim to the land as sole owner.
We also conclude that the remaining findings of the trial court, and the conclusions drawn therefrom, were not clearly erroneous and the elements of adverse possession were proven. Clearly plaintiffs possession of the property was exclusive and uninterrupted for at least the required 15-year period. The only use made of the land by defendant state was its maintenance of the state road and the Brown’s Brook picnic area. While the trial court made no findings of fact or conclusions of law as to either of those specific areas, the record indicates that plaintiff was not claiming title to that portion of the parcel, apparently believing that defendant state had acquired a prescriptive right many years prior to the events in question. We conclude that, while prescriptive rights may merge with a later acquired property interest in land (see von Meding v Strahl, 319 Mich 598, 605; 30 NW2d 363 [1948]), the state’s use of the land remained a prescriptive easement for purposes of plaintiffs claim of adverse possession in the instant case, primarily because the state, as has been shown, in no way indicated that it was aware of its ownership interests in the balance of the parcel. Its maintenance functions as regarded the road and picnic area apparently remained con stant over time regardless of changing ownership interests and in no way varied from the state’s maintenance of the same road as it traversed other property on the island, whether publicly or privately owned. Thus, we cannot say that defendant state’s maintenance efforts constituted "use” of the parcel so as to avoid plaintiff’s claim of exclusive and uninterrupted possession.
It is uncontested that possession by plaintiff and its predecessors was actual and continuous as was appropriate to the land’s character for the statutory 15 years. Furthermore, the elements of visible, open, and notorious possession were properly found to be satisfied in the instant case. The trial court made clear in its conclusion that it was aware that the parties were cotenants. While it did not discuss each of the factors or facts with a view to the heavier burden borne by a cotenant who wishes to prove adverse possession, we agree with the ultimate conclusion that adverse possession was successfully proven here. As discussed previously, we do not believe that plaintiff’s erection and maintenance of a fence, its maintenance of the land, or its use of the land for picnics and skiing are events which are sufficient, in and of themselves, to successfully show open and notorious possession against a cotenant. However, these incidents, when coupled with plaintiff’s continued payment of 100 percent of the taxes and its listing on county tax rolls as 100 percent owner of the correctly and specifically listed property and, more importantly, defendant state’s constructive acknowledgment of plaintiff as the sole owner for purposes of the avigation easement and compensation for the washout, combined to show that defendant state had notice of plaintiff’s claim of sole ownership of the property. This notice is what the required elements of adverse possession are in tended to provide and the purpose that the greater burden upon a cotenant is intended to serve. In the instant case, there is no indication from the record that the state was ever aware during the 20 years preceding this lawsuit that it possessed an interest in this disputed parcel.
Since we cannot conclude that the findings and conclusions made by the trial court were clearly erroneous, we affirm the trial court’s ruling that plaintiff proved its claim of adverse possession against defendant state.
II
Defendant state next argues that title may not be acquired by adverse possession against the state. In support of its position, the state cites several Supreme Court opinions: Young v Thendara, Inc, 328 Mich 42; 43 NW2d 58 (1950); Staub v Tripp, 248 Mich 45; 226 NW 667 (1929); Grand Rapids Trust Co v Doctor, 222 Mich 248; 192 NW 641 (1923); Merritt v Westerman, 165 Mich 535; 131 NW 66 (1911).
Contrary to these opinions, however, is MCL 600.5821(1); MSA 27A.5821(1) which provides:
"No action for the recovery of any land shall be commenced by or on behalf of the people of this state unless it is commenced within 15 years after the right or title of the people of this state in the land first accrued or within 15 years after the people of this state or those from or through whom they claim have been seised or possessed of the premises, or have received the rents and profits, or some part of the rents and profits, of the premises.”
In Caywood, supra, this Court, relying on the above quoted statute, Caywood, supra, p 328, held that a claim of title by adverse possession can be asserted against the state. Caywood, supra, p 331. This conclusion was reached after a thorough discussion of prior relevant case law. Caywood, supra, pp 327-331.
We concur in the analysis utilized and the conclusion reached in Caywood, as did the trial court in the instant case. As this Court pointed out in Caywood, state land cannot be acquired by adverse possession unless there is legislation to the contrary. Caywood, supra, p 327. In Michigan, however, there is such legislation which, for whatever reason, was ignored by the Supreme Court in the cases cited by defendant. We conclude, therefore, that Caywood reached the correct result in allowing adverse possession against the state. See, also, Chamberlain v Ahrens, 55 Mich 111; 20 NW 814 (1884).
We would caution, however, that Chief Judge Danhof offered, in his concurrence in Caywood, what we consider to be a well-founded qualification in cases where an individual claims adverse possession against the state: "[g]reater notoriety may be required to give rise to a rational presumption of notice as against a governmental unit than as against an individual.” Caywood, supra, p 336. While agreeing with this principle, we find the additional burden to be satisfied in the present case: defendant state was aware that plaintiff and its predecessors claimed ownership of the land and at least constructively treated or acknowledged plaintiff as the sole owner. We deem the extra burden as to notice to therefore have been met in the present case.
Conclusion
Plaintiff established by clear and convincing evidence that it had adversely possessed the disputed parcel of land against its cotenant. Plaintiff was not precluded from adversely possessing the land simply because its cotenant was the State of Michigan.
Affirmed.
No costs, a public question being involved.
The general adverse possession statute is MCL 600.5801; MSA 27A.5801. The statute relating to a claim of adverse possession against the state is MCL 600.5821; MSA 27A.5821. | [
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Hood, J.
The prosecutor appeals as of right from the trial court’s grant of defendant’s motion to set asidg his guilty plea to a charge of being an habitual offender, fourth offense. The prosecutor here raises an issue of first impression: Can a conviction of operating a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, third offense— which by statute is treated as a felony rather than a misdemeanor—also serve as the underlying felony for an habitual offender charge. We agree with the trial court that it cannot.
Defendant originally pled guilty to ouil, third offense, MCL 257.625(6); MSA 9.2325(6), and habitual offender, fourth offense, MCL 769.12; MSA 28.1084. The prior felonies were procurement of a controlled substance and two convictions for larceny in a building. His sentence of three to five years in prison for the ouil conviction was vacated and he was sentenced to three to fifteen years in prison on the habitual offender conviction. As a fourth offender, he could have been sentenced to life. Appellate counsel for defendant filed a motion to withdraw the pleas on a number of grounds. Counsel argued that defendant’s constitutional rights were violated because the ouil penalty— normally a ninety-day misdemeanor—was enhanced to a felony by statute because it was a third offense and then enhanced again by application of the habitual offender supplement.
The trial judge granted defendant’s motion and dismissed the habitual offender charge. Defendant was resentenced to l /^ to 5 years in prison on the ouil conviction.
Under the Vehicle Code, a person convicted of operating a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment of not more than ninety days or a fine. MCL 257.625(1) and (4); MSA 9.2325(1) and (4). Under subsection (5) of §625, a second conviction within seven years increases the fine and the possible prison term to not more than a year. Subsection (6) of § 625 provides that if there is a third offense within ten years the person is guilty of a felony:
A person who violates subsection (1) or (2) or a local ordinance substantially corresponding to subsection (1) or (2) within 10 years of 2 or more prior convictions, as defined in subsection (5), is guilty of a felony. As part of the sentence, the court shall order the secretary of state to revoke the operator’s or chauffeur’s license of the person.
Section 902 of the Vehicle Code provides its own penalty for a felony: imprisonment of one to five years or a specified fine. MCL 257.902; MSA 9.2602.
The habitual offender statute, fourth offender, contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, provides for enhanced punishment if "a person has been convicted of 3 or more felonies . . . and that person commits a subsequent felony within this state . . . .” MCL 769.12; MSA 28.1084.
While defendant raised his claim as a constitutional one of double jeopardy, similar claims challenging the application of the habitual offender •statute have been resolved as statutory interpretation issues. If the statutes are both viewed as enhancement provisions, application of both is not permissible. See People v Thornsbury, 148 Mich App 92, 96-98; 384 NW2d 88 (1985).
There are basically two approaches to the question before this Court.
The first, which supports the prosecutor’s position, is that all the Court has to do is read and apply the plain meaning of the statutes. If the Legislature meant to exclude the ouil felony from habitual offender enhancement it could have done so.
Under the plain meaning rule, if the language used by the Legislature is clear and unambiguous, no judicial interpretation of the statute is permitted. Wymer v Holmes, 429 Mich 66, 76; 412 NW2d 213 (1987). Applying this rule to our case, the habitual offender statute clearly provides for enhancement upon conviction for a subsequent felony, any felony. The information here clearly indicates that defendant was charged with a felony as defined under the Vehicle Code and, therefore, the habitual offender supplement is appropriate.
Furthermore, as argued by the prosecutor, this result is bolstered by the doctrine of expressio unius est exclusio alterius (expression of one thing is the exclusion of another). In other words, since the habitual offender statutes specifically express an intent to exclude their application only when a major controlled substances offense is involved, the Legislature must have meant to include (exclude from exclusion) any other felony.
This theory has been used in other habitual offender cases, primarily involving crimes which could only be committed by a convicted felon, such as prison escape or assault on a prison guard. In these cases, the Court allowed the sentence imposed for that crime to be supplemented under the habitual offender statute. The language governing these cases first appears in People v Shotwell, 352 Mich 42, 46; 88 NW2d 313 (1958): "Since the legislature did not except escaping prison from our second offender statute we can only infer that it intended the latter statute to apply to all felonies.” See also People v Staples, 100 Mich App 19, 23; 299 NW2d 1 (1980) (prison escape statute and habitual offender statute); People v Baskin, 145 Mich App 526, 539-541; 378 NW2d 535 (1985) (conviction for assault on prison guard and habitual offender enhancement).
If we were to apply this line of reasoning to the ouil statute, then habitual offender enhancement is clearly available and the habitual offender charge should not have been dismissed since the habitual offender statute clearly applies to all felonies and since it does not specifically exclude the ouil felony. However, we find the second approach to be the better and more persuasive resolution of this issue.
The second approach views the Vehicle Code as addressing a separate concern, ouil convictions, and determining that an appropriate penalty for a third ouil conviction is to enhance the ouil misdemeanor to a felony with an increased prison term and fine and loss of driver’s license. The habitual offender enhancement provision conflicts with the Vehicle Code enhancement provision. Where a specific statute conflicts with a general statute, enforcement of the specific one—in this case the Vehicle Code—is preferred.
The general rule of statutory construction that applies here is that if two statutes appear to be in conflict the specific statute prevails as an exception to the general one. Wayne Co Prosecutor v Wayne Circuit Judge, 154 Mich App 216, 221; 397 NW2d 274 (1986). The Legislature is not to be presumed to have intended a conflict. Id. This specific-general rule was applied in People v Edmonds, 93 Mich App 129, 135; 285 NW2d 802 (1979), in finding that a defendant could not be sentenced both as an habitual offender and under the sentence augmentation provisions of the controlled substances act. In general, the motor vehicle sentencing provisions are specific terms that control more general sentencing provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Wayne Co Prosecutor, supra.
Our habitual offender enhancement cases have mentioned the specific-general rule, but none have found that a conflict existed so that the habitual offender enhancement was precluded. E.g., People v VanderMel, 156 Mich App 231, 234-235; 401 NW2d 285 (1986); People v Voss, 133 Mich App 73, 78; 348 NW2d 37 (1984).
Two cases from other jurisdictions were found which applied this rule in situations similar to ours. Both cases found that application of a specific enhancement provision for subsequent driving while intoxicated convictions precluded operation of a general, habitual offender enhancement provision.
The case factually closest to ours was decided by the Supreme Court of Arkansas. In Lawson v State, 295 Ark 37; 746 SW2d 544 (1988), defendant was convicted of driving while intoxicated. At the time of trial, defendant had three prior dwi offenses within three years. The Arkansas dwi enhancement statute provided for a prison term of one to six years and, as in Michigan’s statute, provided that defendant "shall be guilty of a felony.” Arkansas’s habitual offender statute, like Michigan’s, provided for an enhanced prison term if the defendant had been previously "convicted” of "a felony.” Defendant had at least four prior convictions not related to dwi at the time of trial. He was sentenced as an habitual offender to a prison term of eight to twelve years. The dwi statute would have imposed a prison term of one to six years. As in Michigan, the prior dwi offenses were misdemeanors.
The Arkansas court found that the statutes could not be stacked because the dwi statute, as a special act, excluded operation of a general act on the same subject, sentence enhancement. Simi larly, the Nebraska Supreme Court refused to apply both its habitual offender statute and an ouil statute which provided for a harsher prison term for third or subsequent offenses. State v Chapman, 205 Neb 368; 287 NW2d 697 (1980). The court recognized that the weight of authority is against the "double penalty enhancement” which would result if both the specific offense statute and the habitual offender statute are applied.
In both Chapman and Lawson, it was significant that the motor vehicle crimes became felonies solely by virtue of the fact that the act was repeated. In condemning further enhancement of this type of felony, Lawson relied in part on the American Bar Association Standards for Criminal Justice which condemn using a repeated misdemeanor as a predicate felony for habitual offender enhancement. The aba condemns the practice as not contributing to the establishment of a "bright-line” standard which would distinguish the dangerous offender. 295 Ark 42. Chapman also noted a separate aba standard that condemned the enhancement of a felony term on the basis of prior misdemeanors on the rationale that misdemeanors by nature do not threaten the security of the public to the same extent as felonies. 205 Neb 371. This need to distinguish the dangerous offender echoes the purpose of our habitual offender statutes which is to punish incorrigible criminals, the professional criminal and the hard-core recidivist who does not reform his or her ways. People v Stoudemire, 429 Mich 262, 266; 414 NW2d 693 (1987); People v Jones, 171 Mich App 720, 726; 431 NW2d 204 (1988).
The purpose to be accomplished by a statute is relevant when a court must construe the statute. Stoudemire, 429 Mich at 266; People v Honeycutt, 163 Mich App 757, 761; 415 NW2d 12 (1987). Here, we are being asked to construe whether the term "felony” in the habitual offender statute was meant to encompass the felony here: one defined under a separate legislative program and an act which became a felony only by virtue of repetition. "Once legislative intent is discerned, it must be given effect, even if doing so might appear to conflict with the letter of the statute.” Stoudemire, 429 Mich at 266.
The Vehicle Code does not have a stated purpose. The ouil statute itself evidences an intent to keep people who operate vehicles while intoxicated off the highways by imposing prison terms, fines and the suspension or revocation of the operator’s license. MCL 257.625; MSA 9.2325. By doing so, the statute apparently seeks to reduce the carnage on the highways for which intoxicated persons are responsible. Wolney v Secretary of State, 77 Mich App 61, 68-69; 257 NW2d 754 (1977). Where a driver has not responded to prior misdemeanor punishments, the prison term accompanying the enhanced ouil felony conviction may be the impetus needed to effect change. People v Haker, 158 Mich App 570, 577-578; 405 NW2d 204 (1987).
Also relevant is the statutory scheme of the Vehicle Code and whether the application of habitual offender enhancement would somehow defeat the Legislature’s intent in establishing the ouil scheme of punishment. Honeycutt, 163 Mich App at 760. The increasing punishments for subsequent ouil convictions are all contained in one statute, arguably indicating the increased nature of the punishments intended by the Legislature. The penalties for ouil convictions include not only fines and jail terms, but also suspension or revocation of the driver’s license, arguably indicating a focus on the particular offense of impaired driving rather than criminal conduct. The ouil punishments appear in the Vehicle Code, not in the Penal Code. The Penal Code deals separately with the more serious results that could arise from drunk driving, i.e., manslaughter due to operation of a vehicle, MCL 750.325; MSA 28.557.
Given the separate purpose and punishment provided for ouil, there is a real question whether the Legislature intended to expose defendant to possible life imprisonment for a third ouil offense. Not to minimize the severity of drunk driving, it would not appear that the Legislature intended to punish the drunk driver with the same prison term as the hard-core, recidivist felon. We find, therefore, that both the purpose and the scheme of the ouil statute evidence a legislative intent to treat the ouil separately and preclude habitual offender enhancement.
The ouil statute enhances the penalty applicable to the incorrigible drunk driver. That is a specific goal separate from the habitual offender statute’s general goal of punishing incorrigible, repeat felons. Since the ouil statute has already enhanced the punishment due defendant, further enhancement is not appropriate. The trial court did not err in dismissing the habitual offender charge.
Affirmed.
See, also, Carroll v Solem, 424 NW2d 155 (SD, 1988).
While not controlling, it should be noted that this Court in Thornsbury, 148 Mich App at 97, recognized Chapman as a case involving two sentence enhancement statutes. Defendant in Thorns-bury had tried to use Chapman to argue he was doubly punished when the prosecutor chose to charge the felony of larceny in a building instead of the misdemeanor of shoplifting and then also filed an habitual offender supplement. However, that Court found Chapman inapposite because only one sentence enhancement statute was applied to Thornsbury. | [
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Per Curiam.
Respondent was adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for receiving and concealing stolen property with a value over $100, MCL 750.535; MSA 28.803, and violation of a curfew, pursuant to an ordinance of the City of Detroit. He was committed to the custody of the Department of Social Services until his nineteenth birthday. He now appeals and we affirm.
Prior to the filing of the delinquency petition for receiving and concealing stolen property, defendant had admitted responsibility to a prior delinquency petition that alleged possession of cocaine. See MCL 333.7401(1) and (2)(a); MSA 14.15(7401X1) and (2)(a). At a January 7, 1988, dispositional hearing on the possession of cocaine petition, the probate court referee adjourned the matter so that the probate judge handling the receiving and concealing petition could do the disposition on both charges if he were so inclined. The referee indicated that, if the probate judge did not do the disposition on the possession of cocaine petition, respondent was to appear in front of the referee on the same day as the disposition on the receiving and concealing petition for disposition on the possession petition.
On February 9, 1988, the probate judge held a dispositional hearing on the receiving and concealing charge and committed the respondent to the custody of the Department of Social Services. The dispositional order in the lower court file only refers to a disposition on the receiving and concealing and curfew violation petition. It does not appear from the file that any disposition was ever entered on the possession of cocaine petition.
Respondent’s sole issue on appeal is that the probate court failed to obtain a sentencing information report or an updated clinical evaluation before ordering the disposition. We conclude that respondent’s argument is without merit. MCR 5.943(C)(1) provides that the probate court may consider all relevant and material evidence, including oral and written reports, at the dispositional hearing. It does not, however, mandate the consideration of any particular report. Furthermore, respondent does not cite this Court to any authority for the proposition that the probate court is obligated to prepare and consider any particular report, including a sentencing information or clinical evaluation report as argued by respondent. All authority cited by respondent refers to reports which must be considered in the sentencing of an adult criminal in an adult proceeding. See MCL 771.14; MSA 28.1144. The flaw in respondent’s argument is that this case does not involve a proceeding brought pursuant to the Code of Criminal Procedure, but one brought pursuant to the juvenile code. Respondent cites no authority, nor are we aware of any such authority, requiring the preparation and use of these reports in a proceeding brought under the juvenile code. Furthermore, it is apparent from the record that the probate court did possess some form of reports at the time of disposition as the judge did refer to the use of these reports in arriving at the disposition and counsel did acknowledge having the opportunity to read those reports. Accordingly, we conclude that respondent’s argument is without merit.
We note that the record does not reflect that there has ever been a disposition on the petition concerning respondent’s possession of cocaine. Accordingly, we only affirm the disposition with respect to the receiving and concealing of stolen property and curfew violation. If petitioner desires to have a disposition on the possession of cocaine petition, it may petition the probate court for a dispositional hearing.
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M.J. Shamo, J.
This case is the consolidation of three appeals as of right. In the first case, defendant Linda Zezulka appeals the jury verdict of $1,000,000 in favor of John Joseph Hickey, Jr., personal representative of the estate of John Joseph Hickey, III, deceased. In the second case, Michigan State University appeals the $650,000 Court of Claims verdict in favor of John Joseph Hickey, Jr., personal representative of the estate of John Joseph Hickey, III, deceased. And in the third case, defendants Michigan State University, Richard Bernitt and Ferman Badgley appeal the trial court’s refusal to award defendants attorney fees. We affirm.
In the early morning hours of October 3, 1982, decedent John Joseph Hickey, III, a student at msu, was driving along Harrison Road on the campus of msu when officers of MSU’s Department of Public Safety observed Hickey driving errati cally. After Officer Linda Zezulka stopped Hickey’s vehicle, she noticed that Hickey appeared to be intoxicated. Hickey did not have a driver’s license because his license had been suspended. He was given sobriety tests and then taken into custody.
Hickey was taken to the East Lansing Police Department for a Breathalyzer test. At the East Lansing Police Department, Officer Zezulka perceived Hickey to be in a jocular mood and noted that Hickey was kidding around with the officers. The results of the Breathalyzer test showed blood alcohol levels of 0.15 and 0.16 percent.
After the Breathalyzer test, Officer Zezulka radioed Department of Public Safety Lt. Meyer for permission to take Hickey to the Ingham County Jail. Lt. Meyer denied Zezulka’s request and directed her to take Hickey to the MSU Department of Public Safety for processing and to have his photograph taken.
After Hickey’s photograph was taken, Officer Zezulka placed Hickey into the Department of Public Safety’s holding cell 171 at about 3:20 a.m. Hickey was advised that he would soon be taken to the Ingham County Jail. Officer Zezulka did not remove any articles from Hickey’s person. No one else was placed in the cell with Hickey. Holding cell 171 was one of three detention cells in MSU’s Department of Public Safety building. Cell 171 had a nine to ten foot high ceiling and a concrete bench along one side. Above the bench was a heater with a metal mesh that was supported by four metal brackets which extended one to two inches from the wall.
After placing Hickey in the holding cell, Officer Zezulka carried on with her other duties. Zezulka spent some of the time in the processing room which was across the hall from the holding cell. It was Zezulka’s responsibility to check on Hickey because no other officer was assigned to watch Hickey while he was in the cell. Zezulka did not check on Hickey until she was instructed to take him to the Ingham County Jail.
At about 3:57 a.m., Zezulka entered Hickey’s cell and observed Hickey hanging from the heating device. Hickey had used his belt and socks to fashion a noose and hung himself from one of the brackets on the heating unit. Hickey was pronounced dead on arrival at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan.
Plaintiff John Hickey, Jr., as personal representative of his deceased son’s estate, brought an action against msu in the Court of Claims. Plaintiff also brought a separate action against Ferman Badgley, the police commander of the MSU Department of Public Safety, Richard Bernitt, MSU’s Director of Public Safety, and Linda Zezulka. The parties stipulated to the two cases being consolidated for trial.
At the end of the jury trial in this matter, the jury found defendants Badgley, Bernitt and Zezulka to be negligent. However, the jury found only Zezulka’s negligence to be a proximate cause of Hickey’s death. The jury additionally found that Zezulka violated Hickey’s civil rights. The jury awarded plaintiff a verdict of $1,000,000 against Zezulka. The jury rendered a verdict of no cause of action against Badgley and Bernitt. The trial court later denied Zezulka’s motion for a new trial, judgment notwithstanding the verdict and remittitur.
In the Court of Claims case against msu, the trial judge found in favor of defendant msu on plaintiff’s civil rights claim under 42 USC 1983. However, the trial judge found that defendant msu’s building was defective or dangerous and awarded plaintiff $650,000. Defendants Badgley, Bernitt and msu petitioned the trial court for attorney’s fees pursuant to 42 USC 1988, because they prevailed on plaintiffs civil rights claim. On May 20, 1987, the trial court entered an order denying defendants’ petition for attorney fees.
i
Msu argues that it is protected from liability by governmental immunity.
All government agencies are immune from tort liability when they are engaged in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function. Ross v Consumers Power Co (On Rehearing), 420 Mich 567; 363 NW2d 641 (1984). Msu is a governmental agency under the governmental immunity act. MCL 691.1401(c); MSA 3.996(101)(c).
An exception to the governmental immunity doctrine exists when the facility in question constitutes a defective public building. MCL 691.1406; MSA 3.996(106). In providing this exception to governmental immunity, the Legislature intended to impose a duty to maintain safe public buildings. Reardon v Dep’t of Mental Health, 430 Mich 398; 424 NW2d 248 (1988). In order for the public building exception to apply, the injury must result from a defect or dangerous condition of the building itself. Id. A dangerous or defective condition of a fixture may support a claim of liability under the public building exception to governmental immunity. Velmer v Baraga Area Schools, 430 Mich 385; 424 NW2d 770 (1988). A building may be dangerous or defective because of improper design, faulty construction, or the absence of safety devices. Bush v Oscoda Area Schools, 405 Mich 716, 730; 275 NW2d 268 (1979); Reardon, supra, pp 409-410. The trier of fact is to determine whether a part of a building is defective in light of its as signed uses and whether the defect is a proximate cause of the injuries sustained. Bush, supra, p 732; Lockaby v Wayne Co, 406 Mich 65, 76-77; 276 NW2d 1 (1979).
In the instant case, the Court of Claims judge found that the exposed bracketed heating device over the bench in the holding cell was a proximate cause of decedent’s death. The court also found that the absence of a detoxification cell constituted a building defect in light of the assigned use of the cell. The court further determined that msu had knowledge of the defective condition and failed to take action to protect those confined in the detention cell.
Findings of fact by the trial judge may not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. MCR 2.613(C). A finding is clearly erroneous where, although there is evidence to support the finding, the reviewing court is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. Tuttle v Dep’t of State Hwys, 397 Mich 44, 46; 243 NW2d 244 (1976).
After reviewing the record, we are convinced that the lower court did not err in finding a defect in MSU’s Department of Public Safety buildirif which was a proximate cause of decedent’s death.
This Court has previously upheld a trial court ruling that the lack of a detoxification cell constituted a building defect, Davis v Detroit, 149 Mich App 249; 386 NW2d 169 (1986), lv den 426 Mich 856 (1986), and that the bar on a cell door could constitute a defect in a public building. Young v Ann Arbor, 119 Mich App 512; 326 NW2d 547 (1982), (On Remand), 147 Mich App 333; 382 NW2d 785 (1985), lv den 425 Mich 862 (1986). Significantly, our Supreme Court in Reardon, supra, p 413, cited with approval its pre-Ross decision in Lockaby, supra (building exception applica ble where plaintiff alleged lack of padding in cell where he was being held), and stated that the case may be harmonized with the ruling in Reardon that an injury must result from a defect or dangerous condition of a public building. See also Kent Co Prosecutor v Kent Co Sheriff (On Rehearing), 428 Mich 314, 327, n 13; 409 NW2d 202 (1987).
We note that in Reardon, and the companion case of Schafer v Ethridge, our Supreme Court determined that the public building exception did not apply under the facts of those cases. 430 Mich 417. A similar conclusion was reached by this Court in Gunn v Northville State Hospital, 171 Mich App 669; 430 NW2d 815 (1988) (assault/rape of mental patient at hospital by other unsupervised patients). However, in these cases, the complained-of injuries were the result of assaultive acts of intervening third parties rather than any dangerous or defective condition of the building itself. In the instant case, there was no assaultive act by an intervening third party which caused decedent’s death.
The finding that Zezulka’s negligence was a proximate cause of decedent’s death does not preclude a finding that msu’s building defect was also a proximate cause of decedent’s death. It is well established that there may be more than one proximate cause of an injury. Brisboy v Fibreboard Corp, 429 Mich 540, 547; 418 NW2d 650 (1988); McMillian v Vliet, 422 Mich 570, 577; 374 NW2d 679 (1985); Kirby v Larson, 400 Mich 585, 605; 256 NW2d 400 (1977). See also Williamson v Dep’t of Mental Health, 176 Mich App 752; 440 NW2d 97 (1989); Davis v Detroit, supra, pp 262-264.
The public building exception to governmental immunity was properly applied in this case and the judgment of the Court of Claims against msu is affirmed.
II
Linda Zezulka argues that her actions are entitled to governmental immunity. Lower level government officials, employees, and agents are immune from tort liability only when they are (1) acting during the course of their employment and acting, or reasonably believe they are acting, within the scope of their authority, (2) acting in good faith, and (3) performing discretionary, as opposed to ministerial, acts. Ross, supra, pp .633-634. The Ross Court stated that "the distinction between 'discretionary’ and 'ministerial’ acts is that the former involves significant decision-making, while the latter involves the execution of a decision and might entail some minor decision-making.” Ross, supra, p 635.
In Young v Ann Arbor (On Remand), 147 Mich App 333; 382 NW2d 785 (1985), lv den 425 Mich 862 (1986), this Court held that a police chiefs failure to follow department rules and regulations was negligence of a ministerial nature. Accordingly, this Court ruled that the defendant police chief was not entitled to governmental immunity. In the instant case, Linda Zezulka was engaged in ministerial acts entailing only minor decision-making when she arrested and incarcerated John Joseph Hickey, III. Zezulka’s actions merely constituted an obedience to orders and regulations and performance of her duties as a campus police officer. Unfortunately for Zezulka, her decisions not to remove decedent’s belt and not to look in on decedent while he was in the detention cell do not constitute discretionary acts. These acts entail only minor decision-making and are ministerial acts. Accordingly, the trial court correctly ruled that Zezulka is not entitled to governmental immunity since she was engaged in ministerial, and not discretionary, acts.
Linda Zezulka also argues that she is entitled to good faith or qualified immunity against plaintiffs claim pursuant to 42 USC 1983. However, qualified or "good faith” immunity is an affirmative defense that must be pleaded by a defendant official. Harlow v Fitzgerald, 457 US 800, 815; 102 S Ct 2727; 73 L Ed 2d 396 (1982); Gomez v Toledo, 446 US 635; 100 S Ct 1920; 64 L Ed 2d 572 (1980). Zezulka’s failure to plead the defense of qualified immunity in this case constitutes a waiver of that defense. Moreover, even if the qualified immunity defense had been pled by Zezulka, qualified immunity is not available in this case because Zezulka was not performing a discretionary act. Harlow, supra, p 818; Gordon v Sadasivan, 144 Mich App 113, 121; 373 NW2d 258 (1985).
hi
Zezulka argues that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on comparative negligence, intervening or superseding cause, and deliberate indifference. Zezulka objected to the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury regarding comparative negligence and regarding intervening or superseding cause. Zezulka did not object to the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury on deliberate indifference. Without an objection to the trial court’s instructions, appellate review is foreclosed unless the complaining party has suffered manifest injustice. B & M Die Co v Ford Motor Co, 167 Mich App 176, 183; 421 NW2d 620 (1988). We find Zezulka waived her right to appeal on the issue of whether the trial court should have instructed the jury as to deliberate indifference since no objection was made concerning the lack of the instruction at trial. MCR 2.516(C); B & M Die Co, supra; see also Roberts v City of Troy, 773 F2d 720, 723 (CA 6, 1985).
Zezulka requested standard jury instructions on comparative negligence and intervening or superseding cause. Zezulka objected to the lack of these instructions. A trial court’s failure to give a requested standard jury instruction as required by MCR 2.516(D)(2) does not mandate reversal unless failure to vacate the jury verdict would be "inconsistent with substantial justice.” Johnson v Corbet, 423 Mich 304, 327; 377 NW2d 713 (1985).
First, Zezulka requested the standard jury instruction which defines comparative negligence, SJI2d 11.01. The note on use to SJI2d 11.01 states that this "instruction should be given where there is a question for the jury as to the negligence of one or more of the plaintiffs.” In this case, there was no negligence on the part of the plaintiff. The decedent, in an intoxicated and apparently irrational state, took his own life. There is no evidence to support that the decedent was negligent. Thus, the trial court did not err in refusing to give the requested instruction to the jury. On this basis, the jury verdict is not inconsistent with substantial justice.
Second, Zezulka requested the standard jury instruction relating to an intervening or superseding cause, SJI2d 16.04. This Court has held that an "intervening cause does not break the connection between the defendant’s negligence and the injury if the intervening event was foreseeable.” Wymer v Holmes, 144 Mich App 192, 198; 375 NW2d 384 (1985), aff'd 429 Mich 66 (1987). In the instant case, it was foreseeable that the decedent could harm himself or others if his belt remained in his possession. This is exactly why the MSU Department of Public Safety had a rule which required that all potentially harmful objects be removed from a prisoner’s possession before being placed in a detention cell. Thus, the trial court did not err in refusing to give the requested instruction. Certainly, the jury verdict is not inconsistent with substantial justice based on this allegation of error.
IV
Linda Zezulka argues that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the rules and regulations of the Michigan Department of Corrections and by instructing the jury that violation of those rules constitutes evidence of negligence. A decision whether to admit certain evidence rests within the sound discretion of the trial court, and that decision will not be set aside absent an abuse of discretion. Schanz v New Hampshire Ins Co, 165 Mich App 395, 405; 418 NW2d 478 (1988). When reviewing a trial court’s decision to allow the jury to be presented with certain evidence, this Court will not assess the weight and value of the evidence, but will only determine whether the evidence was of such a nature that it could be properly considered by the jury. Schanz, supra.
In Young v Ann Arbor, supra, 119 Mich App 517-518, this Court ruled that, pursuant to MCL 791.262; MSA 28.2322, the Department of Corrections’ rules and regulations apply to local holding facilities and that the trial court in that case erred by not instructing the jury on the Department of Corrections’ rules and regulations, stating:
There is no reason to believe that the Legislature intended such authority to extend only to local facilities which detain charged or convicted persons for more than 48 hours, that which distinguishes a "jail” from a "lockup.” We conclude that the Legislature intended to give the department the authority to supervise and inspect all local penal institutions, however specifically designated. We hold that the statutory term "local jail” was meant to encompass any facility operated by a unit of local government for the physical detention of persons charged with or convicted of a criminal offense. This includes, at least, city and county jails and local lockups.
Defendants argue that, even if the department has the authority to promulgate rules for lockups, such authority does not extend to a "holding cell” which is not within a lockup, such as the cell where plaintiff’s decedent died. A "holding cell” is defined by the department as:
"... a cell used to hold 1 or more persons temporarily while awaiting processing, booking, court appearance or discharge.” 1979 AC, R 791.502(4).
Since we conclude that the department has authority to supervise, inspect, and promulgate rules for all local penal facilities, we find it unnecessary to determine whether the Ann Arbor facility was specifically a "lockup” or a "holding cell.” The department’s rules clearly apply to a lockup and to a holding cell within a lockup. See 1979 AC, R 791.511(1) and R 791.557. It would be inconsistent to hold that the department’s rules apply to a holding cell within a lockup, as specifically defined by the rules, but not to a holding cell within a local penal facility which does not meet the specific definition of a jail or lockup. Inmates confined to a holding cell should be given the same rights and protections regardless of the label placed on the holding facility.
Furthermore, if the department’s rules mandatorily apply only to lockups, and not to holding cells which are not contained in lockups, then those persons who are merely detained temporarily while awaiting processing would be afforded less protection than inmates convicted of criminal offenses who are confined in lockups. We decline to give legal sanction to defendants’ "holding cell” versus "lockup” exercise in verbal gymnastics when the result would be to deny equal care to those citizens who, if anything, are entitled to greater protection. It has repeatedly been held that the state owes a higher degree of care to those incarcerated in its jails who have not been tried than to those who have already been convicted of criminal offenses. People v Bland, 52 Mich App 649, 656; 218 NW2d 56 (1974).
We note that MCL 791.262; MSA 28.2322 was amended in 1984 to remove local detention facilities from the regulatory and supervisory authority of the Department of Corrections. However, in Davis v Detroit, supra, this Court stated that the amendment had prospective application only. Thus, the rules and regulations of the Department of Corrections were effective in 1982 and should have been applied in this case. Accordingly, the trial' court did not abuse its discretion in allowing those rules and regulations into evidence.
The trial court instructed the jury that a violation of the rules of the Department of Corrections was "evidence of negligence” and constitutes the prescribed minimum standard for certain facilities. After objection by defense counsel, the trial court clarified the instruction and repeated that "such violation is evidence of negligence.” This instruction did not result in unfair prejudice to Zezulka such that the failure to vacate the jury verdict would be "inconsistent with substantial justice.” As noted above, the Department of Corrections’ rules and regulations applied to this situation and this case. Even if we were to hold that those rules and regulations did not apply in this case, the rules of the MSU Department of Public Safety required that if a prisoner has objects that he could use as weapons against himself or others, such objects must be removed from his person before lockup. Therefore, Zezulka’s failure to comply with the rules of the Department of Corrections or the rules of the MSU Department of Public Safety was evidence of negligence. The trial court did not err in giving this instruction to the jury.
v
Zezulka argues that the trial court erred by permitting testimony regarding the Court of Claims action against msu to be interjected into the jury action against Zezulka. "Cases in the court of claims may be joined for trial with cases arising out of the same transaction or series of transactions which are pending in any of the various trial courts of the state.” MCL 600.6421; MSA 27A.6421. A decision whether to admit certain evidence rests within the sound discretion of the trial court, and that decision will not be set aside absent an abuse of discretion. Schanz, supra.
In the instant case, the parties stipulated to the consolidation of the Court of Claims action and the circuit court action. At the jury trial, the parties presented evidence to the jury that was relevant to both the circuit court and the Court of Claims actions. Evidence that was relevant only to the Court of Claims action was kept on a separate record and was not presented in front of the jury. Testimony regarding the alleged building defect was elicited outside the presence of the jury. Additionally, the trial judge instructed the jury at the beginning and the end of trial not to consider any evidence regarding a possible building defect because that was a matter for the court to decide. Testimony regarding the physical layout of the msu facility was heard by the jury, but such testimony was relevant to both the circuit court and the Court of Claims actions.
Zezulka failed to object to any of the allegedly improper testimony that was introduced to the jury. Further, on appeal Zezulka fails to point out testimony that was presented to the jury that the jury should not have heard. Based on a review of the trial transcript, we cannot say the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the evidence to be heard by the jury.
VI
Zezulka argues that the trial judge had improper contact with the jury during deliberations. In Michigan there is a strict rule prohibiting communication with a deliberating jury outside of the courtroom and outside of the presence of counsel. See People v Cain, 409 Mich 858; 294 NW2d 692 (1980), rev’g 94 Mich App 644; 288 NW2d 465 (1980); Zaitzeff v Raschke, 387 Mich 577, 579; 198 NW2d 309 (1972); People v Kangas, 366 Mich 201, 206-207; 113 NW2d 865 (1962). A party need not establish prejudice before a new trial is granted. People v Lyons, 164 Mich App 307, 310; 416 NW2d 422 (1987).
Zezulka has not shown that the trial judge entered the jury room during deliberations in the instant case. At a post-trial hearing on this issue, the presiding judge (who was not the same judge who tried the case originally) found that there was no proof to substantiate any allegations that the trial court engaged in ex parte communications with the jury during deliberations. The record on appeal supports the ruling of the hearing judge. Therefore, Zezulka does not deserve a new trial based on this allegation of error.
VII
Zezulka and msu argue that, because of a combination of errors at trial, they did not receive a fair and impartial trial. Although individual errors may not establish prejudice, they may, in combination, equal substantial prejudice compelling a reversal. Haynes v Seiler, 16 Mich App 98, 103-104; 167 NW2d 819 (1969), lv den 382 Mich 754 (1969).
We have not found a combination of errors which equal substantial prejudice that in turn would compel a reversal. Based on the record, Zezulka and msu received fair trials in the circuit court and the Court of Claims respectively.
VIII
Msu, Bernitt and Badgley argue that the trial court abused its discretion when it denied their petition for attorneys fees pursuant to 42 USC 1988. 42 USC 1988 provides in pertinent part that in "any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of [§ 1983] the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party ... a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.” The prevailing defendant in a civil rights case may recover attorneys fees only if the trial court, in its discretion, determines that the suit was vexatious, frivolous or brought to harass. Young v Barker, 158 Mich App 709, 726; 405 NW2d 395 (1987), lv den 429 Mich 857 (1987).
The trial court properly denied defendants’ petition because plaintiffs action was not vexatious, frivolous or brought to harass. In the instant case, plaintiff prevailed on claims of negligence and 42 USC 1983 violations against Zezulka. Plaintiff prevailed on a defective building claim against defendant msu, even though the Court of Claims found in favor of msu on plaintiffs § 1983 claim. The jury found that defendants Badgley and Bernitt were negligent but that their negligence was not a proximate cause of decedent’s death. Thus, Badgley and Bernitt prevailed on the § 1983 claim against them and received no cause of action on a negligence claim against them. Viewing the circuit court and Court of Claims verdict as a whole, all of the defendants were negligent in some manner and one defendant, Zezulka, violated decedent’s civil rights pursuant to 42 USC 1983. Based on these lower court findings, it is apparent that plaintiffs action was not vexatious or frivolous. Therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendants’ petition for attorneys fees.
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Sawyer, J.
This case involves the Jefferson/Conner Industrial Revitalization Project under which plaintiff would acquire approximately 380 of the plan’s 640 acres of land by purchase or condemnation and transfer the property to Chrysler Corporation for construction of a new automobile assembly plant pursuant to the Economic Development Corporations Act, MCL 125.1601 et seq.; MSA 5.3520(1) et seq. The trial court entered orders which affirmed the Detroit City Council’s determination of necessity and the existence of a public purpose for the project and the use of condemnation and which ordered the property surrendered to plaintiff on January 15, 1988. Defendants now appeal by leave granted and we affirm.
The city council adopted a resolution of necessity on February 18, 1987, finding both the project and the taking necessary and essential to the interest of the public peace, health, safety and welfare in order to provide and maintain jobs and assist economic development in Detroit. Plaintiff filed its condemnation action on May 18, 1987, claiming it is authorized and empowered to acquire the property for the Jefferson/Conner Project. Defendants answered on June 22, 1987, claiming that the intended use of the property was private, that there was no public necessity for the project or this taking, that there was not an adequate hearing on the necessity, that the necessity proceeding was held without notice, and that the purchase offers were not made in good faith.
On appeal, defendants raise several attacks to the condemnation action. We believe, however, that the essential question involved in this matter is whether plaintiff can use its power of eminent domain to take the property from defendants and transfer it to Chrysler Corporation, a private entity. Defendants argue that the use of the power of eminent domain to transfer property from one private entity to another is an abuse of power which should not be permitted by the courts. While we agree with defendants that the use of the power of eminent domain by plaintiff in the case at bar, as well as in other similar situations, is unconscionable, the doctrine of stare decisis constrains us to affirm the decision of the trial court.
The controlling decision in these eminent domain cases is Poletown Neighborhood Council v Detroit, 410 Mich 616; 304 NW2d 455 (1981). In Poletown, the Supreme Court, by a five-to-two vote, sanctioned the City of Detroit’s use of the power of eminent domain to take private property for the purpose of turning that property over to General Motors Corporation for use in the building of an automobile assembly plant through the use of an economic development corporation. In the case at bar, defendants urge us to adopt the dis senting opinions of Justices Fitzgerald and Ryan. While we agree with those opinions, the doctrine of stare decisis requires us to follow the majority decisions of the Supreme Court, even when we disagree with them. Edwards v Clinton Valley Center, 138 Mich App 312, 313; 360 NW2d 606 (1984).
In his dissent in Poletown, supra at 660, Justice Ryan presaged the fallout from the Poletown decision:
My disagreement with my colleagues in the majority, while vigorous, is nonetheless respectful. Vigorous, because I think the unintended jurisprudential mischief which has been done, if not soon rectiñed, will have echoing effects far beyond this case, and respectful because the crushing burden of litigation which this Court must address daily did not afford adequate time for sufficient consideration of the complex constitutional issues involved within the two-week deadline the Court set for itself for submission, consideration, and decision of the case. [Emphasis added.]
Justice Ryan then goes on at length in a well-reasoned, articulate opinion addressing the constitutional invalidity of the majority’s decision. A dissenting opinion was also filed by Justice Fitzgerald, who also explained at some length the flaws in the majority’s reasoning.
While we shall not endeavor to improve upon the efforts of Justices Fitzgerald and Ryan in assailing this abuse of the power of eminent domain, we do concentrate on this issue in the hope that the Supreme Court will again take the matter up and correct the wrong done in the Poletown decision.
In any event, as much as we would wish the Supreme Court to overrule Poletown, we are com pelled to apply it until the Supreme Court does so. Although defendants in the case at bar attempt to distinguish this case from Poletown, we do not believe that such a distinction exists. Defendants argue that Poletown does not apply to the case at bar because, in the present case, Chrysler Corporation has not entered into a binding commitment with the City of Detroit to construct the project following the city’s use of the power of eminent domain to acquire the property. Defendants argue that, absent such a binding commitment, the use of eminent domain to acquire the property is inappropriate. However, a careful reading of the Poletown decision reveals that such a binding commitment is unnecessary in order to allow the city to make use of eminent domain. Justice Ryan, in his dissenting opinion, quoted at length a letter from General Motors to the city which indicates that, in Poletown, General Motors had not yet committed itself to the city to engage in the project, but only promised to enter into a mutually satisfactory development agreement upon the city’s satisfaction of gm’s site criteria requirements. See Poletown, supra at 653-654, n 6.
Defendants also raise a number of arguments which take the position that the proper procedures were not followed in this action, either by plaintiff in preparing for the condemnations or by the trial court in the instant proceedings. Specifically, defendants cite the city council’s alleged failure to hold a full adversarial hearing with respect to the issue of the necessity for the project, a failure by the city to give notice and an opportunity to be heard by the property owners on the issue of the taking of their property, a failure to comply with the requirements of the Economic Development Corporations Act, a denial by the trial court of a trial by jury on the issue of necessity, as well as a general due process challenge to the procedures required by statute. Defendants also challenge evidentiary rulings by the trial court and the factual findings of the trial court in granting a directed verdict in favor of plaintiff. Defendants’ various claims are without merit and we do not believe it necessary to discuss the arguments in detail. Rather, we believe that defendants’ arguments on these issues represent a last-ditch effort to avoid the injustices caused by plaintiff’s decision to seize their property for the benefit of Chrysler Corporation. Suffice it to say that while it does not appear that the City of Detroit was particularly concerned with respecting the property rights of defendants, and it did maneuver so as to minimize any effective challenge by defendants, it does appear from the record that the minimum requirements of the statutes and due process considerations were met in this case.
In sum, we believe that plaintiff is permitted to take the defendants’ property and turn it over to Chrysler Corporation in light of the decision in Poletown, supra, and that the procedures employed in doing so met the minimum legal requirements. However, we do agree with defendants that the Poletown decision was incorrect and we urge the Supreme Court to take this matter up and overrule Poletown and restore the constitutional protections of private property.
The decision of the circuit court is affirmed. However, the orders of the trial court are stayed for fifty-six days following the entry of this opinion to permit defendants to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. No costs, a question of public importance being involved.
Affirmed._
Technically, of course, the trial court could not grant a directed verdict in favor of plaintiff inasmuch as this was a bench trial. | [
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Marilyn Kelly, J.
The City of Huntington Woods appeals as of right from an order of the Oakland Circuit Court dismissing its complaint against Ajax Paving Industries, Inc., pursuant to MCR 2.116(0(10). This lawsuit arose out of a paving contract between the parties. Huntington Woods sought damages for intentional and innocent misrepresentation and enforcement of an engineer’s award. The circuit court ruled the cause was barred, because the City had not filed its original claim with the engineer within the time limit set in the contract. We reverse and reinstate the complaint.
On May 25, 1984, Ajax agreed to do certain work in accordance with the plans and specifications of the City’s Asphalt Paving Program. The written agreement provided a two-stage procedure in the event of disputes. Under §§9.11 and 9.12 , all requests for contract changes had to be submitted within thirty days after occurrence of the event giving rise to the request. The engineer was the initial interpreter and judge. His decision was a condition precedent to the exercise of any other contractual rights or remedies.
Sections 16.1 and 16.2 provided the opportunity for arbitration. A demand for arbitration had to be made within thirty days of the engineer’s written decision. If it was not made, the decision became final and binding.
In July, 1984, a contract revision was agreed to. The use of sod was substituted for seed and mulch in certain locations. The City was to pay for the sod and receive a credit for the seed and mulch not purchased. Ajax submitted figures showing the cost of the sod and, in due course, a change order was issued substituting sod at $4.20 per square yard.
On September 17, 1984, the engineer was inadvertently sent a copy of the sod subcontractor’s invoice. It showed the price to Ajax was only $3.30 per square yard of sod. Nonetheless, in January 1986, the City paid Ajax $96,467.70 for the sod (22,968.5 yards X $4.20)._
The City claims that it first realized it had been overcharged on March 27, 1986. On April 3, it gave notice to Ajax and to the engineer of its claim under §§ 9.11 and 9.12 of the contract in the amount of $65,460.22. Ajax made no response. The engineer rendered a written decision in favor of the City on July 2, 1986. Ajax did not appeal by filing for arbitration within thirty days or at any time thereafter. Also, Ajax did not pay.
The City filed its circuit court complaint on August 19, 1987. Ajax moved for an order compelling arbitration or, in the alternative, for summary disposition based on no genuine issue of material fact. The judge denied the motion to compel, holding that Ajax had received notice of the engineer’s decision and had long since allowed the time within which to demand arbitration to elapse. She also dismissed the City’s complaint, because Huntington Woods neglected to file its claim with the engineer within thirty days of receiving actual notice of the overcharge.
We find that the engineer’s decision became final and binding when neither the City nor Ajax demanded arbitration within thirty days after receiving it. Because the decision was allowed to become final, it is tantamount to an arbitration award and should be so treated by the court in determining the scope of review.
We take judicial notice that the alternate dispute resolution mechanism found in the parties’ contract is common in the construction industry today. One of its principal purposes is to provide a speedy and relatively simple and inexpensive method of resolving differences which inevitably arise in the course of construction. The lower court’s failure to treat the engineer’s decision as a final arbitration award has effectively rewritten the contract and substituted for the agreed-upon method of dispute resolution, a much more lengthy, expensive and cumbersome one.
Our courts have long been supportive of arbitration agreements and have discouraged efforts to circumvent their objectives. To that end, we have narrowly construed the authority of the judiciary to review arbitration awards. We have held that, even if such an award is clearly erroneous on the facts, it is not subject to reversal by the courts. Lanzo Construction Co v Port Huron, 88 Mich App 443, 449; 276 NW2d 613 (1979).
The Supreme Court has -held that timeliness of the arbitration claim itself is a procedural matter which should be left to the arbitrator. Brown v Holton Public Schools, 397 Mich 71; 243 NW2d 255 (1976). In going behind the award and ruling on the question of the timeliness of the City’s claim to the engineer, the court exceeded its proper scope of review.
Ajax argues that, if the circuit court were wrong in its reasoning, it nonetheless made the right decision. It contends the court could have treated the engineer’s decision as an arbitration award and properly dismissed the complaint pursuant to MCR 3.602(1) which provides:
An arbitration award filed with the clerk of the court designated in the agreement or statute within one year after the award was rendered may be confirmed by the court, unless it is vacated, corrected, or modified, or a decision is postponed, as provided in this rule.
Ajax acknowledges it did not raise this issue before the appeal to this Court. It contends however that the City’s failure to seek timely judicial enforcement deprived the circuit court of subject matter jurisdiction. It cites no authority for this position.
Subject matter jurisdiction is the right of the circuit court to exercise judicial power over and to try matters of the particular class and character of the one pending. In re Chambers’ Estate, 333 Mich 462, 468-469; 53 NW2d 335 (1952). MCL 600.5025; MSA 27A.5025 gives the circuit court jurisdiction to enforce an arbitration award. It does not place a time limit on the enforcement. MCR 3.602(1) imposes a procedural time limitation, but failure to follow it does not oust the circuit court of jurisdiction. See DAIIE v Gavin, 416 Mich 407, 422-423; 331 NW2d 418 (1982).
It is true that more than a year passed between the award and the filing of the complaint. However, Ajax waived the issue by its failure to plead or raise the defense before the trial court. Limitation defenses, like many affirmative defenses, are deemed waived if not raised in a party’s first responsive pleading. MCR 2.111(F)(3)(a). Liddell v Detroit Automobile Inter-Ins Exchange, 102 Mich App 636, 654; 302 NW2d 260 (1981).
The trial judge did not explain why she dismissed the misrepresentation claims. Based on that omission together with our resolution of the previous issues, we conclude that the judge erred in dismissing those claims as well.
Reversed and remanded. This court does not retain jurisdiction.
Article 9 - Engineer’s Status During Construction ....
Decisions on Disputes:
9.11. engineer will be the initial interpreter of the requirements of the Contract Documents and judge of the acceptability of the Work thereunder. Claims, disputes and other matters relating to the acceptability of the work or the interpretation of the requirements of the Contract Documents pertaining to the performance and furnishing of the Work and claims under Articles 11 and 12 in respect of changes in the Contract Price or Contract Time will be referred initially to engineer in writing with a request for a formal decision in accordance with this paragraph, which engineer will render in writing within a reasonable time. Written notice of each such claim, dispute and other matter will be delivered by the claimant to engineer and the other party to the Agreement promptly (but in no event later than thirty days) after the occurrence of the event giving rise thereto, and written supporting data will be submitted to engineer and the other party within sixty days after such occurrence unless engineer allows an additional period of time to ascertain more accurate data in support of the claim.
9.12. When functioning as interpreter and judge under paragraphs 9.10 and 9.11, engineer will not show partiality to owner or contractor and will not be liable in connection with any interpretation or decision rendered in good faith in such capacity. The rendering of a decision by engineer pursuant to paragraphs 9.10 and 9.11 with respect to any such claim, dispute or other matter (except any which have been waived by the making or acceptance of final payment as provided in paragraph 14.16) will be a condition precedent to any exercise by owner or contractor of such rights or remedies as either may otherwise have under the Contract Documents or by Laws or Regulations in respect of any such claim, dispute or other matter.
Article 16 - Arbitration
16.1. All claims, disputes and other matters in question between owner and contractor arising out of, or relating to the Contract Documents or the breach thereof (except for claims which have been waived by the making or acceptance of final payment as provided by paragraph 14.16) will be decided by arbitration in accordance with the Construction Industry Arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association then obtaining subject to the limitations of the Article 16. This agreement so to arbitrate and any other agreement or consent to arbitrate entered into in accordance herewith as provided in this Article 16 will be specifically enforceable under the prevailing law of any court having jurisdiction.
16.2 No demand for arbitration of any claim, dispute or other matter that is required to be referred to engineer initially for decision in accordance with paragraph 9.11 will be made until the earlier of (a) the date on which engineer has rendered a decision or (b) the tenth day after the parties have presented their evidence to engineer if a written decision has not been rendered by engineer before that date. No demand for arbitration of any such claim, dispute or other matter will be made later than thirty days after the date on which engineer has rendered a written decision in respect thereof in accordance with paragraph 9.11; and the failure to demand arbitration within said thirty days’ period shall result in engineer’s decision being final and binding upon owner and contractor. If engineer renders a decision after arbitration proceedings have been initiated, such decision may be entered as evidence but will not supersede the arbitration proceedings, except where the decision is acceptable to the parties concerned. No demand for arbitration of any written decision of engineer rendered in accordance with paragraph 9.10 will be made later than ten days after the party making such demand has delivered written notice of intention to appeal as provided in paragraph 9.10.
Section 9.11. See n 1, supra. | [
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Gillis, P.J.
Defendant appeals as of right from the trial court’s order denying his motion for elimination of alimony on the basis of Walker v Walker, 155 Mich App 405; 399 NW2d 541 (1986). Defendant also appeals the trial court’s award of attorney fees to plaintiff on these motions. We remand.
The parties were married on November 30, 1951, and the consent judgment was entered on September 27, 1985. Defendant was fifty years old when the divorce judgment was entered. Both plaintiff and defendant were employed by General Motors Corporation. Plaintiff was receiving disability benefits from gmc at that time. Under the divorce judgment, defendant was to pay plaintiff $150 per week in alimony until she died or remarried. Under the property settlement portion of the divorce judgment, plaintiff received the marital home, the parties’ other property and the trailer thereon, most of the marital furniture, a 1978 Pontiac automobile, her bank accounts and $3,000. Defendant received a 1983 and a 1984 Cadillac Seville, a 1983 Chevrolet pickup truck, a 1977 Browning boat, limited marital furnishings, his bank accounts and his gmc stock. Each party also received his or her gmc pension benefits free and clear of any claim of the other party.
On August 6, 1986, defendant moved to eliminate his obligation to pay alimony as of September 1, 1986, the date he retired from gmc. Defendant argued that under the terms of the divorce judgment he should receive his pension benefits free and clear from any claim of plaintiff and that his obligation to pay alimony should cease because he had no other source of income.
At the hearing on defendant’s motion, defendant claimed that he was told to take an early retirement because gmc was attempting to reduce its work force. Defendant also claimed that he received $1,800 per month in pension benefits and that plaintiff received $1,050 per month in gross income from gmc as disability pay. Plaintiff had not yet elected to take her pension.
Plaintiff stated that gmc paid her $937.78 per month in disability; however, gmc was deducting $40 per month until she paid $3,000 for some training she had received. Plaintiff argued that defendant’s early retirement was not contemplated by the parties and that defendant should not be able to avoid paying the agreed-to alimony obligation because he had chosen to retire early. Plaintiff also argued that defendant had income from the stock he was awarded and that the court should consider defendant’s ability to continue to earn income because he was only fifty-one years old.
The court agreed with plaintiff, holding that defendant had agreed to pay her $150 per week in alimony. The court also awarded plaintiff $150 in attorney fees.
Defendant moved for rehearing on the basis of this Court’s opinion in Walker, supra. In Walker, the defendant-husband moved to modify his obligation to pay alimony in light of the fact that he was planning on retiring and, therefore, his income would be reduced. The parties’ judgment of divorce was entered on June 17, 1980, and the defendant’s motion was made in 1985. Under the terms of the divorce judgment, the defendant received his pension and retirement benefits free and clear of any claim by the plaintiff. The trial court denied the defendant’s motion. This Court reversed and remanded, noting that, absent fraud, mistake or unconscionable advantage, consent judgments cannot be set aside or modified without the parties’ consent. This Court then held that, because the plaintiff had agreed that the defendant’s pension benefits were to be awarded to him as part of their property settlement, she could not claim that they should be reclassified as income in determining his ability to pay alimony. Walker, supra.
At the hearing on defendant’s motion for rehearing, plaintiff again argued that defendant’s decision to retire early was voluntary and that she was deceived when she entered into the property settlement because she believed that she would receive alimony for fifteen years until defendant retired at age sixty-five. Defendant argued that there was no misrepresentation regarding the property settlement and that plaintiff traded her interest in defendant’s pension benefits for the parties’ real estate.
The trial court held:
The Walker case is really aimed at someone coming in after the fact, and wanting a piece of the pension, which is not the case here. Here, I can recall the parties very well being in open court, and there was a lot of negotiations. The parties contemplated the possible retirement, and that was even discussed. It was part of the contemplation of the parties in arriving at this divorce settlement that was placed on the record.
The alimony was based upon an ability to pay both then, and if in fact he took retirement, subsequently. This was not something that has arisen all of a sudden today. This was a matter that preceded the judgment. It is not a change of heart. This is not now suddenly deciding, well, here he has a pension, we want part of that. The property settlement would probably have been completely different if — because of the health of the wife and so forth, it was necessary that some provision be made for her, and therefore the property was divided as it was.
The court still feels he has the ability to support his wife just as he did at the time, and when what was originally decreed, and therefore deny the motion for rehearing.
The trial court then awarded plaintiff $150 in attorney fees.
We disagree with the trial court’s implication that Walker was intended to apply only where the nonemployee spouse seeks alimony after the em ployee spouse begins to receive his pension. As noted from the Walker facts discussed above, the defendant was paying alimony before he retired and sought to eliminate his obligation thereafter. Moreover, we agree with the reasoning in Walker. We note that the trial court must determine the respective rights of the parties in pension benefits accrued during the marriage. MCL 552.18(1) and 552.101(4); MSA 25.98(1) and 25.131(4). Hence, it must be assumed that, when the trial court awards a spouse his or her pension benefits free and clear of claims of the other spouse as part of the property settlement, the other spouse has received sufficient property to offset the value of the pension awarded. We agree with Walker that to reclassify this property award as income for purposes of determining alimony would allow the spouse not receiving the pension to obtain part of an asset which was already awarded to the pension-receiving spouse and for which the spouse not receiving the pension had already obtained offsetting property.
On remand, the trial court shall determine whether the parties contemplated defendant’s early retirement at the time their divorce judgment was entered. If the trial court finds that they did and that defendant’s only source of income is his pension, its earlier orders should be set aside and defendant’s obligation to pay alimony eliminated. On the other hand, if the trial court finds that the parties did not contemplate defendant’s early retirement, its orders are affirmed because defendant and plaintiff would have been mistaken as to when defendant was to retire or because defendant would acquire an unconscionable advantage by his early retirement. We note that in the event the trial court orders are affirmed, defendant remains free to move to modify the amount of his alimony payments, rather than to eliminate them, given that his income is much less now that he is retired.
In order to prevent this problem from arising in the future, we publish this opinion to alert attorneys and trial courts of the need to fully consider the ramifications of awarding one party his or her pension as part of a property settlement free and clear from the other party’s claims in light of the fact that the party receiving the pension may opt for or be forced to accept early retirement. Remanded. We retain no further jurisdiction.
H. R. Gage, J., concurred. | [
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Per Curiam.
The people appeal as of right from a May 22, 1987, circuit court order directing that the claimant, John C. King, be permitted to act as his own surety in this forfeiture proceeding under MCL 333.7523; MSA 14.15(7523). We reverse.
The underlying facts are not material to the issue on appeal. On April 4, 1987, Detroit police officers seized $8,141 from the claimant and, then, determined that the property is subject to forfeiture under MCL 333.7521(l)(f); MSA 14.15(7521)(l)(f). In accordance with MCL 333.7523(l)(a); MSA 14.15(7523)(l)(a), the police department subsequently sent a notice of seizure and intent to forfeit to the claimant, explaining that if the claimant chose to challenge the forfeiture of the property he must file a claim and post a bond of $250 plus sureties within twenty days of receipt of the notice.
Thereafter, the claimant posted the statutory bond and affidavit of pecuniary responsibility required by § 7523(l)(b), naming himself as both the claimant and the surety. The police department rejected the claimant’s offer to be his own surety and, because of this rejection, the claimant filed a motion for return of the property.
Following a hearing, the trial court entered an order directing that the claimant be permitted to act as his own surety and that the claimant’s property be returned to him if the police department did not accept the claimant as a surety within five days.
Section 7523(l)(b) provides:
Any person claiming an interest in property which is the subject of a notice under subdivision (a) may, within 20 days after the receipt of the notice or of the date of the first publication of the notice, file a claim with the local unit of government or the state expressing his or her interest in the property. Upon the filing of the claim, and the giving of a bond to the local unit of government or the state in the amount of $250.00 with sureties approved by the local unit of government or the state conditioned that in case the property is ordered forfeited by the court the obligor shall pay all costs and expenses of the forfeiture proceedings, the local unit of government or the state shall transmit the claim and bond with a list and description of the property seized to the attorney general, the prosecuting attorney for the county, or the city or township attorney for the local unit of government in which the seizure was made who shall promptly institute forfeiture proceedings after the expiration of the 20-day period.
A suretyship contract requires three parties: the principal, the obligee and the surety. Moore v Capital National Bank of Lansing, 274 Mich 56, 61; 264 NW 288 (1936). The surety is one who undertakes to pay money or to do any other act if his principal fails therein. See definition of "surety,” Black’s Law Dictionary, and Ellis v Phil lips, 363 Mich 587, 596; 110 NW2d 772 (1961). Because of the nature of the suretyship relationship, an individual cannot be his own surety. Ford Motor Credit Co v Machias Ford, Mercury, Inc, 509 A2d 658, 659 (Me, 1986), and State Bd of Equalization v Naylor, 100 Cal App 3d 974, 979; 161 Cal Rptr 280 (1980).
A word or phrase in a statute is to be given its plain and ordinary meaning. Winiecki v Wolf, 147 Mich App 742, 744-745; 383 NW2d 119 (1985). A plain and unambiguous statute is to be applied, and not interpreted, because such a statute speaks for itself. Lansing v Lansing Twp, 356 Mich 641, 648-649; 97 NW2d 804 (1959); Winiecki, 744.
The language of § 7523(l)(b) which requires the claimant to give a $250 bond "with sureties approved by the local unit of government or the state” is plain and unambiguous. Giving this phrase its. plain and ordinary meaning, it is clear that the claimant had to give a bond with sureties. Because the claimant could not be his own surety, the trial court erred by ruling that the claimant be permitted to act as his own surety.
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Hood, P.J.
On May 20, 1985, following a bench trial before Detroit Recorder’s Court Judge Robert L. Evans, defendant, Randall Upshaw, also known as Randolph Upshaw, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, MCL 750.321; MSA 28.553. This Court reversed in an unpublished opinion per curiam, decided March 25, 1987 (Docket No. 88718), finding the verdict to be against the great weight of the evidence. Upon remand, the case was again assigned to Judge Evans, and defendant again waived his right to a jury trial. The people’s motion to disqualify Judge Evans was denied by Judge Evans in an order entered on June 30, 1987, and the motion was then referred to Chief Judge Dalton A. Roberson, who also denied it by an order entered the same day. The people appealed to this Court. We now affirm.
The people argue that, as an automatic rule, a judge who sat as the factfinder at the first trial should be disqualified from sitting as the factfinder in the retrial. The people reason that a judge who has heard and weighed the evidence, and rendered a verdict, has necessarily prejudged the facts such that he or she cannot be a fair and impartial trier of fact when the same charges are tried in the new trial._
In order to disqualify a judge under MCR 2.003(B)(2), actual bias or prejudice must be shown. Impullitti v Impullitti, 163 Mich App 507, 514; 415 NW2d 261 (1987). Merely proving that a judge was involved in a prior trial or other proceeding against the same defendant does not amount to proof of bias for purposes of disqualification. People v White, 411 Mich 366, 386; 308 NW2d 128 (1981); Emerson v Arnold (After Remand), 92 Mich App 345, 353; 285 NW2d 45 (1979) (where the same judge conducted the summary disposition hearing and the bench trial). However, some panels of this Court, in cases involving circumstances not identical to the present, have expressed concern or caution when the judge serves as factfinder in the first trial. See Clemens v Bruce, 122 Mich App 35, 37; 329 NW2d 522 (1982), quoting Crampton v Dep’t of State, 395 Mich 347, 351; 235 NW2d 352 (1975), reh den 396 Mich 956 (1976); People v Lowenstein, 118 Mich App 475, 482, n 1; 325 NW2d 462 (1982), lv den 414 Mich 947 (1982).
Perhaps it is inevitable that suspicion about Judge Evans’ impartiality would arise when Judge Evans sits for the second time as the factfinder in defendant’s trial. However, suspicions do not constitute proof of partiality or prejudice. The people cite People v Gibson (On Remand), 90 Mich App 792; 282 NW2d 483 (1979), lv den 408 Mich 868 (1980), in which the trial judge’s statements at a codefendant’s bench trial indicated that the judge had made a prejudgment as to the guilt of the yet-to-be-tried defendant. Gibson is distinguishable since nothing in the record indicates that Judge Evans’ verdict in the first trial amounted to a prejudgment of the verdict in defendant’s second trial. As the Gibson Court itself stated, "[i]t is the trial judge’s prejudgment, rather than an exercise of his judgment, which requires disqualification in the present case.” 90 Mich 797, n 2.
In Crampton, supra, our Supreme Court stated that a judge may be disqualified without a showing of actual bias in situations where, inter alia, the judge or decisionmaker "might have prejudged the case because of prior participation as an accuser, investigator, factfinder or initial decisionmaker.” 395 Mich 351. However, the Crampton Court itself concluded that disqualification appeared to be necessary only when the adjudicators had personally conducted the initial investigation, amassed evidence, and filed and prosecuted the charges. In addition, the judicial exception to the general rule requiring actual bias outlined in Crampton has never been included as a ground for disqualification under MCR 2.003(B). We decline to adopt a rule of automatic disqualification solely because a judge has sat as a factfinder in a prior trial. We find that, unless there are special circumstances which increase the risk of unfairness, disqualification of a trial judge as factfinder in the second trial is not required solely because the trial judge sat as factfinder in the first trial. This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that the party the most at risk, namely, defendant, is apparently satisfied with the assignment of Judge Evans, and has waived his right to a jury trial.
The standard of review is whether the court abused its discretion in denying the motion for disqualification. People v Bero, 168 Mich App 545, 549; 425 NW2d 138 (1988). We hold that the circumstances presented here do not require automatic recusal of the trial judge, and that there was no abuse of discretion.
Affirmed.
Cynar, J., concurred. | [
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Sullivan, J.
Plaintiffs Detroit News and Detroit Free Press appeal as of right a June 15, 1987, circuit court order dismissing their complaint for superintending control. Plaintiff Booth Newspapers, Inc., doing business as the Jackson Citizen Patriot, appeals by leave granted the same circuit court order which also denied its emergency appeal of a district court order. These appeals were consolidated. We reverse.
This case arises out of the May 8, 1987, district court suppression order closing the preliminary examination of Edward C. Hill to the public and press. Hill was a prison inmate at the State Prison of Southern Michigan who was accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a corrections officer at the prison. Upon the request of the victim’s family and the accused, the district court closed the accused’s preliminary examination under MCL 750.520k; MSA 28.788(11).
A few days before the preliminary examination, the Jackson Citizen Patriot made a motion to intervene, in district court, in order to challenge the suppression order. After a hearing was conducted, the district court took the matter under advisement. In the meantime, prior to the district court’s decision, all the plaintiffs filed a complaint for superintending control in circuit court, requesting that the court vacate the district court’s suppression order. Plaintiffs’ argument to both the district and circuit courts was that MCL 750.520k; MSA 28.788(11), the statute on which the district court relied in closing the preliminary examination, is unconstitutional. US Const, Ams I, XIV.
On the morning of the preliminary examination, the district court ruled that MCL 750.520k; MSA 28.788(11) is constitutional and refused to lift the suppression order. Later that same day, the circuit court addressed plaintiffs’ complaint for superintending control, but considered the complaint as to the Jackson Citizen Patriot as an application for an emergency appeal. The circuit court upheld the district court’s suppression order in the order from which plaintiffs now appeal.
The accused’s preliminary examination was closed under MCL 750.520k; MSA 28.788(11), which provides:
Upon the request of the counsel or the victim or actor in a prosecution under sections 520b to 520g [codifying various types of criminal sexual conduct and respective penalties] the magistrate before whom any person is brought on a charge of having committed an offense under sections 520b to 520g shall order that the names of the victim and actor and details of the alleged offense be suppressed until such time as the actor is arraigned on the information, the charge is dismissed, or the case is otherwise concluded, whichever occurs first.
This statute implicitly requires that, upon a proper request, the preliminary examination be closed to the public. In re Midland Publishing Co, Inc, 420 Mich 148, 159, n 13, 175; 362 NW2d 580 (1984). Plaintiffs contend that this statute violates the First Amendment as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. We agree.
Our Supreme Court previously upheld the constitutionality of MCL 750.520k; MSA 28.788(11) in In re Midland Publishing, supra, wherein the Court held that the public has no common-law or constitutional right of access to preliminary examinations. Id., pp 162, 164. In concluding that the public has no common-law right of access to preliminary examinations, the Court relied on the historical analyses of prior United States Supreme Court cases. In concluding that the public has no federal constitutional right of access to preliminary examinations, the Court cited the Fifth Amendment reference to "presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury” and, then, noted that "[s]ince grand jury proceedings have historically been conducted in the absence of the public, there is no precedent for the United States Supreme Court, pursuant to an historical analysis, to extend the public’s First Amendment right of access to probable cause determinations.” Id., p 174.
However, the United States Supreme Court subsequently held that a First Amendment right of access, in fact, applies to preliminary hearings as conducted in California. Press-Enterprise Co v Superior Court, 478 US 1, 13; 106 S Ct 2735; 92 L Ed 2d 1 (1986) (Press-Enterprise II). In Press-Enterprise II, the accused’s forty-one-day preliminary hearing was closed to the public upon the accused’s request under a California statute which required such proceedings to be open unless "exclusion of the public is necessary in order to protect the defendant’s right to a fair and impartial trial.” Id., p 4. The transcripts of the preliminary hearing were not released until the accused waived his right to a jury trial.
Two "complementary considerations” are emphasized when determining whether a First Amendment right of access attaches to the criminal proceeding at issue: (1) "whether the place and process have historically been open to the press and general public,” and (2) "whether public access plays a significant positive role in the functioning of the particular process in question.” Id., p 8. If the particular proceeding at issue passes these tests of "experience and logic,” a qualified First Amendment right of public access attaches.
The Press-Enterprise II Court found that preliminary hearings conducted before neutral and detached magistrates have traditionally been open to the public and that preliminary hearings as con ducted in California are sufficiently like a trial to justify the conclusion that public access to them is essential to the proper functioning of the criminal justice system. Id., pp 10-12. Because preliminary hearings as conducted in California pass the tests of "experience and logic,” a qualified First Amendment right of access applies. Id., p 13.
Because a qualified First Amendment right of access applies to preliminary examinations, the proceedings cannot be closed unless "specific, on the record findings are made demonstrating that 'closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest.’ ” Id., pp 13-14, citing Press-Enterprise Co v Superior Court, 464 US 501, 510; 104 S Ct 819; 78 L Ed 2d 629 (1984). If the interest asserted is the accused’s right to a fair trial, the preliminary hearing shall be closed only if specific findings are made showing that (1) there is a substantial probability that the accused’s right to a fair trial will be prejudiced by publicity that closure would prevent, and (2) reasonable alternatives to closure would not adequately protect the accused’s fair trial right. Press-Enterprise II, p 14.
Preliminary hearings as conducted in California are substantially similar to those conducted in Michigan. See, for example, Press-Enterprise II, p 12; People v Bellanca, 386 Mich 708; 194 NW2d 863 (1972); People v Charles D Walker, 385 Mich 565, 575; 189 NW2d 234 (1971); People v Thomas, 96 Mich App 210, 216; 292 NW2d 523 (1980). Therefore, under Press-Enterprise II, a qualified First Amendment right of access applies to preliminary examinations as conducted in Michigan. Because closure is mandatory under MCL 750.520k; MSA 28.788(11) upon the request of the victim or the accused without first requiring specific findings to be made, the statute is unconstitutional on its face as violative of the public’s First Amendment right of access. See Globe Newspaper Co v Superior Court, 457 US 596; 102 S Ct 2613; 73 L Ed 2d 248 (1982).
Perhaps in anticipation of this conclusion, the district court balanced the competing interests involved in this case. It found that the accused’s right to a fair trial and protecting the victims of a crime are legitimate and compelling governmental interests and that these interests have a higher value than the news media’s First Amendment right of access.
However, under MCL 750.520k; MSA 28.788(11) and the terms of the district court’s order, the suppression was to be lifted, at the latest, when the accused was arraigned on the information. At that time, the transcript of the preliminary examination would be made available. Hence, the extent of the closure would not even prevent pretrial publicity and pretrial publicity is what the district court was trying to avoid for the benefit of both the accused and the victim’s family. Moreover, voir dire was available as a reasonable alternative to eliminate any prejudice to the accused. Finally, in order to protect the victim’s family, the district court could have closed only that part of the preliminary examination in which the victim’s husband testified.
Because the suppression order did not serve the interests sought to be protected and, even if it did, it was not narrowly tailored and because a reasonable alternative existed which would have protected the accused’s fair trial right, the circuit court should have lifted the district court’s suppression order. Accordingly, we reverse.
Reversed.
Because the accused’s preliminary examination and arraignment on the information have already been conducted and because the transcript of the preliminary examination was apparently released following the arraignment on the information, the issue on appeal appears moot. However, we will consider it if it is of public signifi canee and is likely to recur, yet evade judicial review. Press-Enterprise Co v Superior Court, 478 US 1, 6; 106 S Ct 2735; 92 L Ed 2d 1 (1986); In re Midland Publishing Co, Inc, 420 Mich 148, 151-152, n 2; 362 NW2d 580 (1984). Plaintiffs might be subjected to a similar suppression order and, because criminal proceedings are typically of short duration, such an order will likely evade review. Press-Enterprise, 478 US 6. Therefore, we will consider the issue. | [
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McDonald, P.J.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of assault with intent to commit armed robbery, MCL 750.89; MSA 28.284. Defendant later pled guilty to habitual offender, third offense, MCL 769.11; MSA 28.1083, and received a sentence of 80 to 120 years in prison. Defendant appeals from his conviction and sentence as of right. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
Defendant first claims error in the trial court’s imposition of an 80 to 120 year prison sentence. We agree.
Defendant was sentenced as a third-felony offender under the habitual offender act, which provides:
If the subsequent felony is punishable upon a first conviction by imprisonment for life, then the court, except as otherwise provided in this section or section 1 of chapter 11, may sentence the person to imprisonment for life or for a lesser term.
Under the "lifer law,” a person sentenced to life or a term of years may become eligible for parole in ten years. MCL 791.234(4); MSA 28.2304(4). However, a person convicted and sentenced for a crime listed in "Proposal b” is not eligible for parole until he has served the minimum sentence, less any disciplinary credits. MCL 791.233b; MSA 28.2303(3). Assault with intent to commit armed robbery is a Proposal b offense. MCL 791.233b(d); MSA 28.2303(3)(d).
In People v Johnson, 421 Mich 494, 497-498; 364 NW2d 654 (1984), our Supreme Court held that "Proposal b” only applied to indeterminate sentences:
Accordingly, when a statute authorizes the imposition of a sentence of "life or any term of years” it allows the imposition of a fixed sentence —life—or an indeterminate sentence — any number of years. We observed in People v Blythe, 417 Mich 430, 434-435; 339 NW2d 399 (1983), that the Legislature viewed the phrase "life or any term of years” as descriptive of the maximum sentence only. The sentence concepts "life” and "any term of years” are mutually exclusive and a sentencing judge may (in the appropriate case) opt for either but not both.
In the present case, defendant’s sentence of 80 to 120 years in prison means he will not be eligible for parole as soon as if he had been sentenced to life imprisonment. In effect, defendant has been sentenced to life without parole, since the minimum sentence of eighty years far exceeds his life expectancy.
Although there is a conflict in this Court on whether it shocks the conscience to sentence people to terms of years greater than their life expectancies, that is not the issue in this case.
The instant case involves a sentence imposed pursuant to the habitual offender act which specifically mandates a sentence of life imprisonment or any "lesser term.” Thus, as defendant was neither sentenced to life imprisonment nor a lesser term, 80 to 120 years exceeding defendant’s life expec tancy, defendant’s sentence must be vacated and the case remanded for resentencing.
Defendant’s remaining issues pertain to alleged errors which occurred during defendant’s trial. Although we find them to be without merit, we will address each one briefly.
Defendant first claims the trial court erred in requiring defendant to wear ankle restraints in the courtroom during trial. We disagree.
In order to justify reversal based on the presence of shackles or restraints during trial, the defendant must show that prejudice resulted. People v Herndon, 98 Mich App 668; 296 NW2d 333 (1980). In the instant case, the record indicates defendant was an escape risk because of previous escapes. Moreover, no objection was made to the presence of the restraints during trial. Prior to trial, defense counsel merely requested an attempt be made to cover the restraints to prevent the jury from viewing them. Thereafter, the trial judge inspected the restraints and stated on the record, after turning the locking device to the back side and adjusting defendant’s pant legs, that the restraints did not show.
We find no prejudice because there was reason to believe defendant was an escape risk and the leg restraints were unobtrusive. See People v Jankowski, 130 Mich App 143; 342 NW2d 911 (1983).
Defendant next claims error in the admission of evidence of three prior convictions for purposes of impeachment.
MRE 609 governs the determination whether evidence of prior convictions is admissible to impeach a witness. MRE 609 was recently amended by our Supreme Court in People v Allen, 429 Mich 558; 420 NW2d 499 (1988). Although the amended rule did not become effective until March 1, 1988, and is, therefore, inapplicable to the instant case, the Court’s clarification of the balancing test employed under the old rule was given limited retroactive effect and does apply.
Since the prior convictions in the present case are theft related, the wording of the theft "balancing test” portion of the new rule is directly relevant to the present case:
If it is a theft crime and it is punishable by more than one year’s imprisonment, the trial judge would exercise his discretion in determining the admissibility of the evidence by examining the degree of probativeness and prejudice inherent in the admission of the prior conviction. For purposes of the probativeness side of the equation, only an objective analysis of the degree to which the crime is indicative of veracity and the vintage of the conviction would be considered, not either party’s need for the evidence. For purposes of the prejudice factor, only the similarity to the charged offense and the importance of the defendant’s testimony to the decisional process would be considered. The prejudice factor would, of course, escalate with increased similarity and increased importance of the testimony to the decisional process. Finally, unless the probativeness outweighs the prejudice, the prior conviction would be inadmissible. [429 Mich 605-606.]
The trial court ruled that evidence of 1980 convictions of breaking and entering of an occupied dwelling and larceny from a building along with a 1986 conviction for grand larceny were admissible for impeachment purposes. The defendant did not testify. The prosecution presented a strong case for conviction. Having reviewed the trial court’s decision to allow evidence of the defendant’s prior convictions under the clarified balancing test, we find no abuse of discretion.
Defendant last claims the prosecutor improperly vouched for a witness’ credibility during closing arguments and, therefore, a new trial is required.
Defendant’s failure to object to the alleged error at tried precludes review of the issue by this Court absent a miscarriage of justice. People v Dalessandro, 165 Mich App 569; 419 NW2d 609 (1988). We find no such miscarriage of justice.
Defendant’s conviction is affirmed, his sentence vacated, and the matter remanded for resentencing.
Gillis, J., concurred.
See People v Martinez, 147 Mich App 94; 382 NW2d 741 (1985), and People v Harden, 166 Mich App 106; 420 NW2d 136 (1988), for cases finding that such sentences do not "shock the conscience.” Contra, see, People v Oscar Moore, 164 Mich App 378; 417 NW2d 508 (1987). | [
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Per Curiam.
Respondent Viola Baldridge appeals as of right from a Wayne County Probate Court order which terminated her parental rights in her children, James and William Jarrell. We affirm the order with respect to William, but reverse it with respect to James.
Respondent’s first claim is that James should have been dismissed from the case pursuant to the parties’ stipulation. At the beginning of the adjudication hearing on a petition which requested that the court take permanent custody of the children, petitioner moved to remove James from the petition and dismiss the proceedings with regard to him. The attorneys for respondent, the children’s father and the children concurred. The hearing referee stated that he would take the motion under advisement and deal with it when the case was completed. The motion was never again mentioned by the referee, who concluded that respondent’s parental rights in James and William should be terminated pursuant to MCL 712A. 19a, subds (b), (e), and (f); MSA 27.3178(598.19a), subds (b), (e), and (f). The probate court denied respondent’s petition for review, apparently without considering this issue.
Except for questions of law, courts are ordinarily bound by litigants’ stipulations. In re Finlay Es tate, 154 Mich App 350, 357-358; 397 NW2d 307 (1986) , lv gtd 428 Mich 909 (1987). Petitioner concedes that respondent is correct on this issue. We agree. The referee should have removed James from the petition and dismissed the proceedings with regard to him, pursuant to the parties’ stipulation. The order terminating respondent’s parental rights and placing the children in the permanent custody of the probate court is reversed with regard to James.
Respondent’s second claim is that the termination of her parental rights was not supported by clear and convincing evidence. The statutory grounds for the termination of parental rights must be established by clear and convincing evidence. In re Schejbal, 131 Mich App 833, 836; 346 NW2d 597 (1984). A clearly erroneous standard is used to review a probate court’s findings in termination of parental rights proceedings. In re Cornet, 422 Mich 274, 277; 373 NW2d 536 (1985); In re Sterling, 162 Mich App 328, 343; 412 NW2d 284 (1987) . The record demonstrates that the probate court’s findings were not clearly erroneous. Clear and convincing evidence supported the termination of parental rights under MCL 712A. 19a, subds (b), (e), and (f); MSA 27.3178(598.19a), subds (b), (e), and (f).
Affirmed with respect to William, reversed with respect to James and remanded. | [
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Murphy, J.
Plaintiff brought this action for declaratory judgment to determine which insur anee company was responsible for Irene Riddering’s defense in any judgment rendered in an action brought by James and Mary Kay Jaarsma for damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident. The parties stipulated to the facts as established in the depositions of the parties and witnesses and to the existence and terms of the three policies of insurance.
The underlying basis of this action involved a one-car motor vehicle accident occurring on or about May 4, 1985, just after midnight. Just before the accident, Mary Kay Jaarsma was driving herself, Ms. Riddering and three other individuals home from a party held at a friend’s house. Ms. Jaarsma was driving the vehicle, sitting in the driver’s seat, while Ms. Riddering occupied the front passenger seat. The other three passengers were all sitting in the back seat of the Jaarsma vehicle. Ms. Riddering appeared to be fairly intoxicated that night.
There was some discussion that the group would go to Ms. Riddering’s house for breakfast and Ms. Jaarsma was driving in that general direction. As Ms. Jaarsma was driving, she either passed the street needed to get to Ms. Riddering’s house or Ms. Riddering decided she wanted to go somewhere else. At that point Ms. Riddering grabbed the top of the steering wheel away from Ms. Jaarsma with both hands and turned it sharply to the left. Ms. Riddering maintained a hold on the wheel for approximately thirty seconds and, as a result of Ms. Riddering’s actions, the vehicle went off the road, through some bushes and collided with a tree. The injuries sustained by the two front seat passengers were quite severe, including numerous fractures.
At the time of the accident, the Jaarsma vehicle was insured through State Farm Mutual Automo bile Insurance Company. Ms. Riddering was covered by her father’s automobile policy through Farm Bureau General Insurance Company of Michigan. Ms. Riddering was also residing in her parents’ home and, therefore, was included under her parents’ homeowner’s policy with Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company.
Although Farm Bureau instituted the present action only to ascertain its duty to defend and its liability under the automobile policy issued to Ms. Riddering’s father, the parties agreed that the trial court, for the sake of judicial economy, should decide what liability, if any, each of the insurers had under its respective policy.
On December 17, 1986, this action was submitted to the trial court for decision. The court ruled that neither Farm Bureau nor State Farm was responsible for Ms. Riddering’s defense under their respective automobile insurance policies. A partial judgment was entered, based upon the trial court’s ruling from the bench, for State Farm and Farm Bureau. The coverage question posed by Pioneer State regarding its homeowner’s policy was taken under advisement. On March 18, 1987, the trial court issued its supplemental opinion on the question pertaining to Pioneer State’s homeowner’s policy, finding that policy did, in fact, cover Ms. Riddering’s actions. The trial court’s supplemental opinion was ultimately reduced to a declaratory judgment and it is from this judgment that Pioneer State appeals as of right.
On appeal, Pioneer State attempts to challenge the lower court’s rulings relative to State Farm’s and Farm Bureau’s responsibilities to either the injured party, Ms. Jaarsma, or Ms. Riddering. However, Pioneer State did not file a cross-claim in the action below against State Farm or Farm Bureau. As such, Pioneer State was not an ag grieved party under the court’s ruling as it pertained to State Farm and Farm Bureau. The only aggrieved parties under this ruling were Ms. Jaarsma or Ms. Riddering. It is well recognized that "one party can not claim another party’s appellate opportunities.” Kewin v Bd of Ed of the Melvindale-Northern Allen Park Public Schools, 65 Mich App 472, 483; 237 NW2d 514 (1975). See also Winters v National Indemnity Co, 120 Mich App 156, 159; 327 NW2d 423 (1982); MCR 7.203(A).
Since we lack jurisdiction to review arguments raised by Pioneer State pertaining to the automobile policies of State Farm and Farm Bureau, we limit our review to issues raised by Pioneer State that involve the interpretation of Pioneer State’s homeowner’s policy and the court’s ruling regarding the insurance policy.
Pioneer State seeks to avoid liability under its homeowner’s policy, claiming that certain exclusions under its policy should apply because Irene Riddering was operating or using the Jaarsma vehicle at the time of the accident or that Irene Riddering’s intentional conduct excludes her from coverage under the policy. The trial court disagreed and so do we.
The trial court in its opinion ruled as follows:
Admitting that Miss Riddering is an insured for purposes of personal liability coverage under its homeowner’s policy, Pioneer relies on the following two exclusions:
"This policy does not apply:
"1. Under Coverage e — Personal Liability and Coverage f — Medical Payments to Others:
"a. to bodily injury or property damage arising out of the ownership, maintenance, operation, use, loading or unloading of:
"2. Any motor vehicle owned or operated by, or rented or loaned to any Insured;
* * *
"f. to bodily injury or property damage which is either expected or intended from the standpoint of the Insured.”
The Court cannot conclude that when a passenger without invitation or excuse grabs the steering wheel out of the driver’s hand she can reasonably be described as operating or using the vehicle for purposes of the first exclusion. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v White [60 Or App 666; 655 P2d 599 (1982)]; West American Insurance Company v Silverman, 378 So 2d 28 (Fla App, 1979).
Nor is it reasonable to conclude that such a passenger, by all testimony intent only on turning the vehicle around, intended bodily injury for purposes of the second exclusion. Putnam v Zeluff, 372 Mich 553 [127 NW2d 374] (1964); Morrill v Gallagher, 370 Mich 578 [122 NW2d 687] (1963); Vermont Mutual Insurance Company v Dalzell, 52 Mich App 686 [218 NW2d 52] (1974). The assault and battery and intentional trespass cases relied upon by Pioneer are not apposite.
We have been unable to find any reported Michigan cases which address the issue of whether the grabbing of a steering wheel by a passenger constitutes the "operation” of a motor vehicle. Our research indicates that there is a split of authority in other jurisdictions. Two states which have considered similar conduct have determined that operation occurred. See United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co v Hokanson, 2 Kan App 2d 580; 584 P2d 1264 (1978); State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co v Larsen, 62 111 App 3d 1; 18 Ill Dec 582; 377 NE2d 1218 (1978). On the other hand, two other states have held that grabbing the steering wheel by a passenger did not constitute "operating” a motor vehicle. See West Bend Mutual Ins Co v Milwaukee Mutual Ins Co, 384 NW2d 877 (Minn, 1986); State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co v White, supra.
We are persuaded by the logic of the two latter opinions and believe that such reasoning should be applied to the facts of this case.
In State Farm v White, supra, the defendant was a back seat passenger of an automobile along with three other persons. While riding in a vehicle traveling along a highway at about fifty-five miles per hour, the defendant reached over the driver’s seat, grabbed and yanked on the steering wheel and said, "Let’s get crazy.” As a result, the driver lost control and struck a median. The defendant sought coverage under her parents’ homeowner’s policy. The policy had language very similar to the policy in this case, excluding coverage for injuries and damages arising out of the use of a motor vehicle operated by an insured. The court in that case concluded that coverage under the homeowner’s policy was in fact available because the defendant was not operating or using the vehicle, but interfered with the driver’s use:
The point of the foregoing illustrations is to demonstrate that what Miss White was doing was interfering in the operation of a motor vehicle, not "operating” it. She was not sitting in the operator’s seat; she did not have her foot on, or even have access to, either the brake or the accelerator. All the controls of the auto, other than the means of direction, were being physically controlled by Miss Morgan. By no stretch of the imagination was Miss White "operating” a motor vehicle in the usual and accepted sense of the word. [60 Or App 672.]
We are particularly persuaded by the logic of the court’s opinion in the above case. Operation includes more than simple control as Pioneer State seems to argue on appeal. While Ms. Riddering did exercise some control over the vehicle by grabbing the steering wheel, steering is only part of operating a vehicle. Operation necessarily includes the additional functions of controlling the gas and brake pedals and all other components necessary to make a vehicle run. Operation includes control over all the parts that allow the vehicle to move, not just the steering function. Obviously, one cannot operate a vehicle only with the steering — there must be acceleration to get anywhere and there must be braking to stop the vehicle, along with control over other key components, such as the engine.
We can reach no other logical conclusion on the facts of this case than that Ms. Riddering interfered with the operation of the vehicle while it was being operated by Ms. Jaarsma. Ms. Jaarsma unequivocally testified at her deposition that Ms. Riddering’s actions were a surprise and without consent or permission and the trial court so found. It logically follows that Ms. Riddering’s actions, in order to constitute operation or use, had to be with Ms. Jaarsma’s consent or permission, because Ms. Jaarsma was operating the. vehicle at the time while occupying the driver’s seat. Without this needed consent, Ms. Riddering’s actions did not constitute operation of the vehicle, but, rather, interference with its operation.
Pioneer State further argues that under previous decisions from this Court "use” is to be broadly construed, citing Michigan Mutual Liability Co v Ohio Casualty Ins Co, 123 Mich App 688; 333 NW2d 327 (1983). Pioneer State, however, fails to recognize the distinction between construing language in an insurance policy broadly to effectu ate legislative policy and the basic rule of insurance contract construction that policy language creating exclusions from coverage are to be strictly construed against the insurer. Kalamazoo Aviation, Inc v Royal Globe Ins Co, 70 Mich App 267, 270; 245 NW2d 754 (1976), lv den 399 Mich 871 (1977). Consistent with this rule, the terms "operation” and "use” should be narrowly interpreted against the insurance company that prepared the contract.
We believe the trial court properly decided that Ms. Riddering’s actions constituted neither use nor operation of the vehicle under Pioneer State’s homeowner’s policy, but, rather, constituted interference with Ms. Jaarsma’s operation of the vehicle. The trial court correctly concluded that Pioneer State had a duty to defend and account for any judgment up to policy limits rendered against Ms. Riddering.
Likewise, we believe the trial court correctly decided that the facts in this case would not support a finding that Ms. Riddering intended the injury to Ms. Jaarsma; therefore, coverage under the policy should not be excluded simply because the facts may have supported the conclusion that Ms. Riddering intended the act which precipitated the injury. Vermont Mutual Ins Co v Dalzell, 52 Mich App 686; 218 NW2d 52 (1974), lv den 392 Mich 803 (1974).
Although there was testimony in this case that Ms. Riddering intentionally grabbed the steering wheel, there was no testimony or even allegation that she intended to cause harm to the passengers, including herself. Moreover, the "expected” language in the exclusionary clause also does not save this exception for Pioneer State. There was no support on the record for the argument that Ms. Riddering expected the car to go off the road and cause injuries. It also is not reasonable to infer that, by her grabbing the steering wheel, the injuries sustained by Ms. Riddering and the other passengers were the natural, foreseeable, expected and anticipatory result. See State Farm Fire & Casualty Co v Jenkins, 147 Mich App 462, 467-468; 382 NW2d 796 (1985).
In summary, the trial court did not err in concluding that Pioneer State’s exclusion for intentional acts did not apply to Ms. Riddering. Pioneer State did not support its position that the injuries caused by Ms. Riddering were either intended or expected.
Affirmed. | [
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Per Curiam.
In the case at bar, the trial court entered an order compelling discovery of certain business documents held by Michigan National Bank. Plaintiff is the brother and business partner of defendant Louis Eyde, the latter being married to defendant Kathleen Eyde. Defendants are currently involved in a divorce action and defendant Kathleen Eyde (hereinafter defendant) has sought discovery of certain business documents concerning the business ventures between plaintiff and Louis Eyde. Plaintiff filed the instant action to prevent the discovery of these documents, seeking to keep confidential those documents which relate to his business ventures, including those ventures in which he is involved with Louis Eyde. The trial court entered an order compelling discovery but establishing a number of safeguards designed to prevent the disclosure of confidential matters and to prevent discovery of documents which relate only to plaintiff and are not relevant to defendant’s determination of the value of the marital estate in her divorce action against Louis Eyde. We affirm.
Plaintiff and Louis Eyde have substantial inter ests in real estate and businesses conducted in corporate, partnership, and trust forms. The Eyde brothers also have various interests in businesses as officers, directors, shareholders, and fiduciaries. Plaintiff and Louis Eyde are involved in approximately twenty different jointly owned business entities.
Defendant began discovery of Louis Eyde’s assets through financial institutions. In October, 1985, defendant served subpoenas duces tecum on several financial institutions seeking copies of all applications for credit, all documents indicating original evidence of debt, payment schedules, security descriptions, credit reports, appraisals, loan committee evaluations and related documents, and all financial statements filed subsequent to January 1, 1982, "by or on behalf of Louis J. Eyde, individually, jointly, or as an officer, owner, partner or other representative of any entity with which he is associated, including but not limited to [various Eyde brothers ventures].” The subpoenas also sought all "documents showing account numbers, type of accounts, current balances, the name of authorized signatories as to all accounts of whatever nature held in the sole name of Louis J. Eyde
On November 14, 1985, plaintiff George F. Eyde brought this suit to quash defendant’s subpoenas pending a hearing. Plaintiff claimed that defendant’s subpoenas violated his privacy interest in his business records and interfered with his business relations with third parties.
The parties eventually consented to two orders for confidentiality entered in both plaintiff’s action and defendant’s divorce action, which were entered on June 13 and 17, 1986. These orders provided that plaintiff be given advance notice of discovery requests, that plaintiff was entitled to be present at discovery proceedings and given an opportunity to review records in advance, that plaintiff might object to and withhold documents pending a court ruling regarding their discoverability, that records be reviewed only by parties or counsel, that no confidential records be disclosed without an order of the court upon prior notice to the other parties, and that all arguments regarding confidential records be held in camera.
Defendant deposed Michigan National Bank and attempted to secure the Eyde brothers’ business records held by the bank on June 24, 1986. Plaintiff and plaintiff’s counsel reviewed the documents prior to the deposition. Plaintiff’s attorney objected to and withheld fifty-five documents from this deposition. Eleven of these documents were personal documents solely concerning plaintiff, while the other withheld documents were financial statements relating to business projects owned by Louis Eyde. Plaintiff’s counsel also prevented any testimony by the deposed bank officer regarding Louis Eyde’s net worth. Plaintiff’s attorney continuously objected that the loan officer’s opinion would be based upon the withheld confidential business documents.
Defendant moved to compel discovery of these withheld documents on October 22, 1986. Defense counsel agreed that eleven of the documents were personal to plaintiff and need not be discovered but argued that the remaining records were relevant and not privileged because they contained financial statements relating to business projects owned by Louis Eyde. Defense counsel argued that those documents were necessary because discovered documents showed wildly different versions of Louis Eyde’s net worth: a financial statement given to a lending institution and signed by Louis Eyde gave his net worth at forty-two times the net worth stated by Louis Eyde in a financial statement given to defendant. Additionally, defendant had no description of any of the real estate owned by Louis Eyde.
On December 3, 1986, the court granted defendant’s motion for discovery of the requested documents because they were relevant, reasoning that unraveling "the intricate web of complex business enterprise is not so easy without more complex discovery.” The court did exclude the eleven documents which were held to be personal to plaintiff. On April 22, 1987, the court entered an order granting defendant discovery of the other forty-four requested documents. Defendant now appeals from this order.
On March 23, 1987, the court entered an order for a special master to be appointed for the purposes of receiving testimony and conducting hearings to determine the identity and value of the marital estate. The court extended discovery to June 30, 1987, and ordered that an evidentiary hearing be scheduled after that date.
At an April 23, 1987, hearing, the court extended the June 13 and 17, 1986, confidentiality orders to cover all financial information received. The court ordered that future hearings regarding financial information be held in camera or in an empty, locked courtroom, and that motions regarding financial information will be kept in a separate confidential file.
After obtaining the April 22, 1987, order to compel discovery, defendant again presented a subpoena to Michigan National Bank requesting the forty-four previously withheld documents. The deposition was set for April 30, 1987. Plaintiff sought an emérgency appeal to this Court to stay the deposition. On May 1, 1987, this Court stayed the lower court’s discovery order pending further action. On May 14, 1987, this Court granted plaintiff leave to appeal and continued the stay pending appeal.
Trial courts have considerable discretion in granting or denying a motion to compel discovery. Davis v O’Brien, 152 Mich App 495, 505; 393 NW2d 914 (1986). A circuit court’s decision to grant or deny a discovery motion will be reversed on appeal only if there has been an abuse of that discretion. Marchand v Henry Ford Hospital, 398 Mich 163, 169-170; 247 NW2d 280 (1976); Ravary v Reed, 163 Mich App 447, 456; 415 NW2d 240 (1987). In Spalding v Spalding, 355 Mich 382, 384-385; 94 NW2d 810 (1959), the Court defined an abuse of discretion:
[T]he result must be so palpably and grossly violative of fact and logic that it evidences not the exercise of will but the perversity of will, not the exercise of judgment but defiance thereof, not the exercise of reason but rather of passion or bias.
Michigan has a strong historical commitment to a far-reaching, open and effective discovery practice. Daniels v Allen Industries, Inc, 391 Mich 398, 403; 216 NW2d 762 (1974). Discovery rules are to be liberally construed in order to further the ends of justice. Id. The modern tendency is to broaden the scope of discovery when necessary to facilitate preparation, to guard against surprise, and to expedite justice. Fassihi v St Mary Hospital of Livonia, 121 Mich App 11, 15; 328 NW2d 132 (1982).
The general rule is that any document which is relevant and not privileged is freely discoverable upon request. Davis, supra at 502-504. MCR 2.302(B)(1) provides:
Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action.
There is no requirement that there be good cause for discovery of relevant and nonprivileged documents. Davis, supra at 503-504.
Louis Eyde’s business records and banking records were relevant to the subject matter involved in defendant’s divorce action. The financial status of defendant’s husband is material and relevant to the subject matter of defendant’s divorce. Tomlinson v Tomlinson, 338 Mich 274, 281; 61 NW2d 102 (1953). The husband’s assets in a corporation or other businesses are considered part of the marital estate. See Villadsen v Villadsen, 123 Mich App 472, 473-476; 333 NW2d 311 (1983). Defendant’s discovery so far has been inadequate to determine the true value of Louis Eyde’s assets; financial statements now in defendant’s possession vary widely in their estimate of Louis Eyde’s net worth. The documents already in defendant’s possession do not include relevant financial information regarding all of Louis Eyde’s known business entities. Plaintiff’s counsel had effectively blocked any estimate of Louis Eyde’s net worth by deposed bank officials. Thus, the documents at issue are relevant and necessary to determine the extent and value of defendant and Louis Eyde’s marital estate.
Louis Eyde’s financial records held by Michigan National Bank are not privileged. Documents containing records of depositor’s accounts are business records of the bank and are not private papers of the depositor. See United States v Miller, 425 US 435; 96 S Ct 1619; 48 L Ed 2d 71 (1976). There is no legitimate expectation of privacy in such bank records which would give plaintiff standing to challenge the subpoena issued to the bank. Miller, supra at 443; see also Bush Development Corp v Harbour Place Associates, 632 F Supp 1359, 1364 (ED Va, 1986).
However, despite plaintiff’s lack of an expectation of privacy in bank records, the court may restrict discovery in order to prevent annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense. MCR 2.302(C). MCR 2.302(C)(8) provides that a Court may order
that a trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information not be disclosed or be disclosed only in a designated way.
The Supreme Court has held that such a protective order assuring the confidentiality of discovered materials adequately protected a party’s right to privacy in those materials. Tomlinson, supra at 280-281. This Court favors allowing discovery of documents and allowing the court to edit any confidential information from those documents in camera; this will preserve the one party’s expectation of privacy and furnish the other party with the required information. Fassihi, supra at 16.
Any possible interest that plaintiff has in Louis Eyde’s business and financial records is protected by the circuit court’s three orders for confidentiality. These orders provide notice of what will be discovered, an opportunity to view in advance and withhold documents pending a court determina tion of discoverability, that the documents will be held confidential and may not be copied without a court order, that hearings dealing with financial information will be held in camera or in a locked, empty courtroom, and that all motions regarding financial information will be kept in a closed, confidential file. Additionally, the court’s March 23, 1987, order to appoint a special master should minimize the inconvenience of discovery for all parties. Although plaintiff does have some interest in keeping his financial information private, defendant requires that same information to determine the extent and value of the marital estate in her divorce case. Thus, the proper approach is to issue a MCR 2.302(C) confidentiality order to protect plaintiffs interests rather than to deprive defendant of adequate discovery.
In sum, the court did not abuse its discretion in ordering discovery of the withheld documents.
Affirmed. Defendant-appellee may tax costs.
One member of this panel, Judge Kelly, has expressed discomfiture with the fulsome language in Spalding and has called its definition of what constitutes an abuse of discretion "overly restrictive.” People v Holmes, 132 Mich App 730, 750; 349 NW2d 230 (1984) (Kelly, J., concurring). He is not alone. See, for example, People v Martin, 147 Mich App 297, 300-301; 382 NW2d 726 (1985); Guzowski v Detroit Racing Association, Inc, 130 Mich App 322, 329-331; 343 NW2d 536 (1983). See also People v Talley, 410 Mich 378, 396-397; 301 NW2d 809 (1981) (Levin, J., concurring): “Spalding’s hyperbolic statement... is simplistic and misleading . . . .” | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant pled guilty to possession of cocaine less than fifty grams with intent to deliver, MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(iv); MSA 14.15(7401)(2)(a)(iv). Before accepting the plea, the trial court informed defendant that it would stay within the guidelines’ recommended minimum sentencing range of thirty to forty-two months. Defendant was then sentenced to from forty-two months to twenty years imprisonment, and his subsequent motion for resentencing was denied. Defendant appeals as of right, raising procedural issues in support of his claim that he is entitled to resentencing. We affirm.
Defendant claims that the procedure by which the probation officer, rather than the trial court, actually scored the sentencing information report violated Administrative Order No. 1984-1, 418 Mich lxxx, and the Administrative Procedures Act (apa), MCL 24.201 et seq.; MSA 3.560(101) et seq. Having failed to bring this issue to the attention of the trial court, this issue is not properly preserved for appeal. People v Kisielewicz, 156 Mich App 724; 402 NW2d 497 (1986).
In any event, the sentencing guidelines are merely a tool utilized by the sentencing judge in the difficult task of imposing sentence. People v Terry James, 142 Mich App 19, 21; 368 NW2d 892 (1985). The guidelines do not create substantive rights, People v Porter, 169 Mich App 190; 425 NW2d 514 (1988), although a defendant is entitled to raise challenges to the accuracy of the sir. People v Walker, 428 Mich 261, 266; 407 NW2d 367 (1987). Sentencing remains a discretionary task, and the appropriate approach is to individualize the sentence to the offender. People v Adams, 430 Mich 679; 425 NW2d 437 (1988). The manner by which the trial court here reviewed the sir, allowed for objections to its accuracy and completed the sir by recording the sentence imposed was sufficient compliance with Administrative Order No. 1984-1. Further, the probation officer’s scoring of the sir did not violate the apa since the probation officer has a specific duty to make a sentencing recommendation. MCL 771.14(2)(d); MSA 28.1144(2)(d); 1979 AC, R 791.9910(l)(g). It would not be useful to the trial court to consider a sentencing recommendation without information on how the probation officer arrived at the recommended sentence, and it would not be reasonable for the probation officer to make a sentencing recommendation without considering the guidelines. The probation officer’s scoring of the sir is, thus, inherent in his duty to make a specific recommended disposition.
The trial court, in addition to considering the guidelines, articulated that it was individualizing the sentence to the offense and the defendant, that it had gathered and considered information on defendant’s background, and that it had considered the criteria for sentencing, i.e., defendant’s potential for rehabilitation and the protection of society. The issues raised by defendant do not demonstrate an abuse of discretion and, having considered the entire record, we can find no abuse. Thus, defendant is not entitled to resentencing.
Defendant also claims that he is entitled to resentencing because he was not present at the hearing on his motion for resentencing and did not have an opportunity to allocute at that hearing. Although the scoring of the sir was modified at the hearing, it did not change the guidelines’ recommended range and, contrary to defendant’s claim on appeal, defendant was not resentenced. Instead, the trial court noted that the range was exactly the same as that required for the sentence imposed, then denied the motion for resentencing.
In order to justify resentencing, there must be a showing that the sentence imposed was invalid. Wayne Co Prosecutor v Recorder’s Court Judge, 164 Mich App 740, 748; 417 NW2d 594 (1987). Defendant’s objection to his not being present at the motion hearing does not demonstrate that the sentence was invalid. Since defendant was not resentenced, no right of allocution arose. Further, a postsentencing hearing on the scoring of the sir is not a critical stage and, in any event, the record contains no indication of prejudice. See People v Alcorta, 147 Mich App 326; 383 NW2d 182 (1985), lv den 425 Mich 876 (1986), and People v Billington, 116 Mich App 220, 232; 323 NW2d 343 (1982).
We conclude that the sentence of from forty-two months to twenty years, as originally imposed and tailored to fit the special circumstances of the defendant, was not rendered invalid by the scoring change at the motion hearing. Compare to People v Porter, supra. Accordingly, defendant is not entitled to resentencing.
Affirmed.
Adminstrative Order No. 1984-1 applies to this case pursuant to the extension provided by Administrative Order No. 1985-2, 420 Mich Ixii. | [
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Weaver, J.
Plaintiffs appeal as of right from an order of the Court of Claims granting summary disposition in favor of defendants pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(7) and (10). We affirm.
i
On December 29, 1983, plaintiff Brian Montgomery was injured when plaintiffs’ snowmobile struck an automobile at the intersection of a snowmobile trail and Powell Mill Road in Iron County. Plaintiffs had been operating their snowmobile on a trail running along an abandoned grade on a railroad right-of-way owned by the Chicago & Northwestern Transportation Company and maintained by the Iron Range Snowmobile Association, a private snowmobile club.
Following plaintiffs’ initiation of this suit in the Court of Claims, the Department of Natural Resources moved for summary disposition alleging the defenses of governmental immunity, MCL 691.1401 et seq.; MSA 3.996(101) et seq., and the recreational use act, MCL 300.201; MSA 13.1485. The Court of Claims at first denied the motion as well as defendant’s motion for reconsideration. However, after joining this suit with other pending actions involving the same accident, the court granted defendant’s motion for summary disposition upon its renewed request.
ii
On appeal to this Court, plaintiffs argue that summary disposition was improperly granted because the recreational use act, MCL 300.201; MSA 13.1485, is inapplicable under the facts of this case. We disagree.
The recreational use act provides that a landowner is not liable for injuries to a person using his land for outdoor recreation unless that person has paid a valuable consideration or the injuries were caused by the landowner’s gross negligence or wilful and wanton misconduct. MCL 300.201; MSA 13.1485. The recreational use act has been applied to government-owned land. McNeal v Dep’t of Natural Resources, 140 Mich App 625, 630-631; 364 NW2d 768 (1985).
Here, it cannot be said that defendant was grossly negligent, since plaintiffs have not demonstrated that defendant was negligent subsequent to plaintiffs’ own acts of negligence. Burnett v City of Adrian, 414 Mich 448, 461; 326 NW2d 810 (1982) (Moody, J., concurring).
Nor can it be said that defendant engaged in wilful and wanton misconduct. Wilful and wanton misconduct arises from: (1) knowledge that a situation requires the exercise of ordinary care and diligence to avert another’s injury; (2) a defendant’s ability to avoid the injury by exercising such care and diligence; and (3) intent to harm or indifference to harm tantamount to a willingness that it occur. Id. at 455-456 and n 2 (opinion of the Court). The first and second elements amount to no more than ordinary negligence. It is the third element which raises the act to the level of wilful and wanton misconduct. Id.
In this case, plaintiffs’ allegations are merely those of ordinary negligence and do not demonstrate that defendant’s actions rose to the level of wilful and wanton misconduct. Plaintiffs’ com plaint alleged that defendant negligently and carelessly failed to place warning signs and stop signs along the snowmobile trail and at the intersection where the accident occurred; that the trail was negligently and carelessly designed, causing snow banks to acccumulate; and that defendant failed to plow the snow properly. We agree with the Court of Claims that these allegations, while falling within the ambit of ordinary negligence, do not rise to the standard imposed for wilful and wanton misconduct.
hi
Plaintiffs also contend that the snowmobile was a "motor vehicle” and the snowmobile trail a "public highway” within the meaning of the public highway exception to the governmental immunity statute, MCL 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102).
We agree that a snowmobile may be defined as a motor vehicle because it is not propelled by human power. See MCL 257.79; MSA 9.1879. See also MCL 257.4; MSA 9.1804; Roy v Dep’t of Transportation, 428 Mich 330, 340; 408 NW2d 783 (1987). However, we do not believe that the Legislature intended a snowmobile trail to be considered a "public highway” within the meaning of the public highway exception to governmental immunity.
Except for certain limited and carefully defined circumstances, we note that the Michigan Vehicle Code specifically proscribes the operation of a snowmobile on a public highway, land used as an airport or street, or on a public or private parking lot. MCL 257.1512; MSA 9.3200(12). Therefore we conclude that the snowmobile trail was not a "public highway” within the meaning of the exception to governmental immunity, MCL 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102).
Because defendant’s snowmobile grant program, mandated by MCL 257.1504; MSA 9.3200(4), meets the definition of a governmental function under Ross v Consumers Power Co (On Reh), 420 Mich 567, 620; 363 NW2d 641 (1984), the lower court properly granted summary disposition on the basis of governmental immunity.
Our finding that the Court of Claims was correct in granting summary disposition to defendant on the basis of the recreational use statute, and our finding that plaintiffs’ claim is also barred by the defense of governmental immunity, obviates the need to address the remaining issues.
Affirmed.
These circumstances include: (1) travel to the extreme right in single file; (2) necessity of crossing a bridge or culvert after stopping and yielding the right of way; (3) necessity of getting from one area to another, but only if the snowmobile crosses at right angles to the highway after stopping and yielding the right of way; (4) travel on a county road not normally snowplowed for vehicular traffic; (5) in emergency under authority of a local law enforcement officer; (6) government-approved prearranged special events of limited duration; (7) local ordinance allowing snowmobile egress and ingress. MCL 257.1512(a) through (h); MSA 9.3200(12)(a) through (h). | [
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McDonald, P.J.
* Plaintiff appeals by leave granted on remand from the Supreme Court a May 26, 1987, order and opinion of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board which dismissed plaintiffs petition for total and permanent disability against defendants Chrysler Corporation and the Second Injury Fund (sif).
The facts are undisputed. Plaintiff was originally hired in 1952 to work for Chrysler in Michigan. Following a layoff in 1957, plaintiff was offered, and accepted, a transfer to Chrysler’s Newark assembly plant in Delaware where he worked until 1978.
On November 24, 1978, plaintiff petitioned for workers’ compensation benefits alleging a July 24, 1973, personal injury, and disablement on June 20, 1978, from occupational disease. Plaintiff was a Delaware resident at this time. Although Chrysler disputed plaintiffs right to benefits, it entered into a settlement agreement on April 28, 1980, to pay weekly benefits of $94. The agreement specified it was not to be determinative of the parties’ rights under the Michigan Worker’s Disability Compensation Act (wdca). The order implementing this agreement reflected plaintiffs Wilmington, Delaware, address.
On June 27, 1980, plaintiff filed the instant petition against Chrysler and the sif alleging total and permanent disability under the wdca. This petition also reflected plaintiff’s Wilmington, Delaware, address. The parties agreed that plaintiff was under a Michigan employment contract but he was not a resident of Michigan at the time of the injury, and that the injury occurred outside Michigan.
Chrysler and sip moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction over the parties. The motion to dismiss was granted by the hearing officer and affirmed by the wcab in a September 11, 1986, order and opinion.
Plaintiff applied for leave to appeal with this Court, which was denied in an order dated November 26, 1986. Plaintiff then applied for leave to appeal with the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court remanded the matter to this Court for consideration as on leave granted, 428 Mich 898 (1987).
On appeal plaintiff claims the wcab erred in finding that Michigan lacks jurisdiction over the parties and in dismissing plaintiff’s petition. We disagree.
MCL 418.845; MSA 17.237(845) states:
The bureau shall have jurisdiction over all controversies arising out of injuries suffered outside this state where the injured employee is a resident of this state at the time of injury and the contract of hire was made in this state. Such employee or his dependents shall be entitled to the compensation and other benefits provided by this act.
This Court has previously held that § 845 of the wdca is clear and unambiguous and plainly states that in order for the Bureau of Workers’ Disability Compensation to acquire jurisdiction over an out-of-state injury, the injured employee must both be a resident of Michigan at the time of injury and have concluded a contract for hire in Michigan. Wolf v Ethyl Corp, 124 Mich App 368; 335 NW2d 42 (1983). See also Bell v F J Boutell Driveaway Co, 141 Mich App 802; 369 NW2d 231 (1985). In a carefully reasoned opinion, the Wolf Court distinguished the Roberts v I X L Glass Corp, 259 Mich 644; 244 NW 188 (1932), decision as inapplicable to the current mandatory workers’ compensation statute.
The Roberts decision interpreted similar language from the 1912 Michigan workers’ voluntary compensation statute and held that, if the contract of employment was entered into in Michigan, a subsequent out-of-state injury was compensable regardless of the residency of the parties. Roberts, supra. Because of the different nature of the 1912 Workers’ Compensation Act, the Wolf Court held the Roberts decision to be inapplicable to the plain language of the Michigan wdca. We agree with the reasoning contained in the Wolf decision and find that a person must be a resident of the state at the time of injury and be subject to the terms of an employment contract entered into in Michigan. Thus, since plaintiff freely admits he was not a Michigan resident at the time of the injury, the Bureau of Workers’ Disability Compensation does not have jurisdiction over the parties and the wcab properly dismissed plaintiff’s petition.
Although plaintiff asserts such an interpretation of the statute violates his constitutional rights under the privileges and immunities clause of Article IV of the United States Constitution, plaintiff has failed to provide this Court with any argument or authority supporting this contention. We therefore consider the issue abandoned. Provincial House, Inc v Dep’t of Social Services, 167 Mich App 1; 422 NW2d 241 (1988).
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Sawyer, J.
Plaintiffs brought an action to quiet title to certain property located on the shores of Big Chief Lake (formerly known as Trout Lake) located in Republic Township, Marquette County. Following a bench trial, the trial court entered a judgment of no cause of action. Plaintiffs now appeal and we reverse.
The difficulties in this case arise from two complicating factors. First, there appears to be an error in the original plat of the township as recorded by the United States Surveyor General on March 8, 1849, following the original government survey of the area. Second, the shoreline of Big Chief Lake has shifted somewhat since that original 1849 survey to the extent that a portion of the property in dispute, which was under water according to the 1849 plat, is now dry land. Thus, the instant dispute involves two separate, though interrelated, questions: (1) what is the original boundary line as deeded by the United States government to the purchasers of the land; and (2) how must the originally platted boundary line be reformed today to adjust for the changing shoreline.
The heart of this dispute involves the original boundary line between what was platted as Government Lot 2 and Government Lot 3 in Section 8 of Township 45 North, Range 30 West (Republic Township). Government Lot 2 lies along the westerly shore of what is now known as Big Chief Lake while Government Lot 3, to the south of lot 2, lies along the southwest corner of the lake and included a peninsula which jutted to the north into the lake. The two lots share a small portion of a common boundary line. Specifically, a portion of the southern boundary line of Government Lot 2 on the east side of that lot is also a portion of the northern boundary line of Government Lot 3 on the west side of that lot. This common boundary line roughly falls upon the dividing line between the northwest 14 and the southwest 14 of Section 8. Indeed, the resolution of the dispute at bar centers on the question whether that common boundary line should exactly conform to the boundary line, as determined by modern survey, between the quarter-sections or whether it deviates somewhat from the quarter-section boundary line. For the reasons to be discussed below, we conclude that the proper boundary line is the one as established in the original plat and which deviates from the "true” quarter-section line as determined by current surveys.
The essence of the trial court’s findings is that the east-west quarter-section line determined by modern survey more accurately represents the true quarter-section line than the boundary line between Government Lots 2 and 3 as depicted in the original plat. In so concluding, the trial court referred to 43 USC 752 for the proper method in determining the location of section, half-section and quarter-section boundary lines. The trial court then concluded that the property lying north of the actual quarter-section line belonged to Government Lot 2 and the land lying south of the quarter-section line belonged to Government Lot 3. Since defendants’ title to the disputed property follows a chain of title from Government Lot 2 while plaintiffs’ claim derives from title to Govern ment Lot 3, the trial court ruled in favor of defendants.
We would have no difficulty in agreeing with the trial court’s conclusion had the property been deeded from the United States government by use of a metes and bounds description, rather than by "lot” designation. That is, the trial court would be correct had the deeds to Government Lot 3 referred not to "lot 3” but described the lot in metes and bounds, such as "the northeast Í4 of the southwest Yk of section 8,” the approximate legal description of lot 3 if the quarter-section line is taken as the northern boundary. Not only does the original government deed convey the property at issue by reference to their lot numbers, "According to the Official Plat of the Survey of the said Land returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General,” the deeds to the parties at bar also conveyed with reference to lot numbers. Plaintiff Louis Gregory took title to the property by a deed dated May 21, 1945, from his predecessor in title, the Jas. B. Goodman Company, to certain property including "Lot Number Three” of Section 8. Furthermore, the deed received by defendants from their predecessor in title conveys an interest in a "parcel of land being part of Government Lot 2,” followed by a metes and bounds description of the parcel being conveyed inasmuch as lot 2 was not conveyed to defendants in its entirety. Indeed, it appears that metes and bounds descriptions were not used in the conveyance of the disputed property until Government Lot 2 first became subdivided and it was necessary to describe the conveyance of less than the whole lot.
As our Supreme Court noted in Poch v Urlaub, 357 Mich 261, 275; 98 NW2d 509 (1959), where land is disposed of by reference to an official plat, the boundary lines shown on the plat control:
In 5A Thompson on Real Property, §2721, p 1132, it is said:
"When government lands have been disposed of in conformity to a line appearing on an official plat of the government survey, approved by the surveyor general, the location of the line shown on the official plat is controlling.”
See also Cragin v Powell, 128 US 691, 696; 9 S Ct 203; 32 L Ed 566 (1888); Woodbury v Venia, 114 Mich 251, 257; 72 NW 189 (1897).
In the case at bar, the original official plat clearly shows the boundary line between Government Lot 2 and Government Lot 3 intersecting the lake at a point on the southwest side of the lake on an inlet or bay of the lake. The quarter-section line as determined by modern survey is to the south of the platted boundary line and does not intersect where that bay is represented on the original plat by the meander line. Since the original plat controls, we cannot accept the quarter-section line as determined by the current survey as the true boundary line between Government Lots 2 and 3; rather, we must employ the originally platted boundary line which is shown as running from the quarter-section monument to a point on the meander line which depicts a bay or inlet on the southwest side of Big Chief Lake immediately to the west of a small peninsula which was platted as part of lot 3. Thus, the true boundary between Government Lot 2 and Govern ment Lot 3 would correspond with the line shown on our illustration as the platted boundary line between the two lots from the 1849 plat.
Having concluded that the originally platted boundary is the appropriate boundary between Government Lot 2 and Government Lot 3, we may make some initial observations. Referring to our illustration at the end of this opinion, accepting without deciding that the meander lines depicted on that illustration for both the original shoreline and the boundary between the two lots are reasonably accurate, we can make some initial determinations of the title of the property at issue. First, all of the property lying south of the platted boundary line, and south of the original shoreline east of where the shoreline meets the boundary line, is a part of Government Lot 3 and, therefore, belongs to plaintiffs since they are now the owners of Government Lot 3. Second, all land lying north of the platted boundary line, and to the west of the original shoreline north of the point where the original shoreline meets the platted boundary line, belongs to Government Lot 2.
Thus, with respect to the lot designated in our illustration as a, the land lying in lot a north and west of the original shoreline meander line (on the northwest side of the bay as platted in 1849) belongs to defendants under their deed from their predecessor in title who owned Government Lot 2. That portion of lot A and lot b lying south and east of the original shoreline meander line (the southern and southeastern shore of the bay depicted by the 1849 plat) belongs to plaintiffs under their deed to Government Lot 3. Similarly, all of lot c belongs to plaintiffs under their deed to Government Lot 3 since it lies either entirely within the original peninsula as depicted on the plat as belonging to Government Lot 3 or because a small amount of accreted land is involved which was entirely an outgrowth from the original shoreline of Government Lot 3.
There remains to be determined the ownership of the central portion of lot A and northern portion of lot b which, although now dry land, was apparently under water at the time of the preparation of the 1849 plat. To determine ownership to this land, we must turn to the rules of dividing accreted land along lakeshores. Since the property in question originated with a grant by the federal government, we must begin with examining the nature and extent of that grant. As noted above, the official government plat is part and parcel of the grant of land by the federal government. Where that plat shows, as it does in the case at bar, a lot being bounded by the meander line of a lake, the grant of land was to the water’s edge. Furthermore, the federal government did not retain any rights to the land lying beneath the surface of the water. Rather, the disposition of the lake bed is made with reference to the applicable local state law. Hardin v Jordan, 140 US 371, 380-381; 11 S Ct 808; 35 L Ed 428 (1891). See also United States v Lane, 260 US 662; 43 S Ct 236; 67 L Ed 448 (1923).
It is well-settled in Michigan law that the title of a riparian land owner extends to the middle line of the lake or stream of inland waters. Cutliff v Densmore, 354 Mich 586, 590; 93 NW2d 307 (1958); The Grand Rapids Ice & Coal Co v The South Grand Rapids Ice & Coal Co, 102 Mich 227, 236; 60 NW 681 (1894); Booker v Wever, 42 Mich App 368; 202 NW2d 439 (1972). The method to be employed in determining the ownership of lands formed by accretion varies somewhat depending on the shape of the body of water involved. In Weisenburger v Kirkwood, 7 Mich App 283, 291; 151 NW2d 889 (1967), this Court outlined the three methods to be utilized in the appropriate cases:
6 Thompson on Real Property (1962 Replacement), § 3078, 1965 Supp, p 18, states:
"Various methods of division of lake beds have been used. If the lake is circular the shoreline is the base and the center line is the vertex of a triangle. If the lake is oblong the lines are drawn perpendicular to a median center. If neither of these methods are possible, the lake bed is divided in proportion to the shoreline owned. The theory on all events is that the shore owners take rat-ably.”
Thus, it is necessary to determine which of the three shape categories Big Chief Lake falls within: circular, oblong, or irregular. While it would appear to us that Big Chief Lake is of irregular shape, we leave it to the trial court on remand to make the initial determination of which category Big Chief Lake falls within and to apply the applicable rules based upon that determination. We do, however, offer some brief comments on the methods of dividing accreted land for guidance to the trial court and the parties. This Court described the method for dividing a circular lake in Aalsburg v Cashion, 14 Mich App 91, 100; 165 NW2d 309 (1968), which in essence is drawing a line from the point where the boundary line met the original lakeshore to the center of the lake. With respect to an oblong lake, the method to be employed is similar to that used in dividing a stream or river. That is, a line is drawn from the point where the boundary line met the original shoreline to the center line of the lake (or stream) as nearly perpendicular as possible. See Weisenburger, supra; A M Campau Realty Co v Detroit, 162 Mich 243, 245; 127 NW 365 (1910).
Finally, turning to the division of accreted land on an irregular lake, the method becomes somewhat more complex. In dividing the new land, the trial court must apportion the accretion between the two adjoining landowners so that their relative portions of new shoreline correspond to the relative portions of their old shoreline. See Cutliff, supra at 590; Booker, supra at 375; Weisenburger, supra at 291. Thus, if two adjoining property owners originally owned a shoreline, the first owner owning two-thirds of the total and the second owning one-third of the total, the new shoreline developed through accretion would be divided between those two property owners by running a line from the point where their common boundary line originally met the shoreline to a point on the new shoreline such that the first property owner still retains two-thirds of the shoreline and the second property owner retains one-third of the shoreline. Of course, the trial court must take into account the individual vari anees of the shoreline to be divided and draw it the best it can so as to equitably divide the accreted land proportionately between the parties.
In sum, in the case at bar, plaintiffs are entitled to that property which was originally platted as Government Lot 3 in the original, official plat filed by the Surveyor General’s office. See Poch, supra. Defendants are entitled to that property deeded to them by the owner of Government Lot 2 which falls within what was originally platted as Government Lot 2. With respect to the lands created by accretion lying in what we have depicted as lot a and lot b in our illustration, the trial court must apportion that land by drawing a line from the point where the originally platted boundary line meets the original shoreline as represented by the meander lines on the original plat to a point on the currently existing shoreline consistent with one of the above-outlined methods. That is, the extended boundary line must either lie along a line drawn from a point the platted boundary line met the original shoreline to the center of the lake if Big Chief Lake is determined to be circular, along a line drawn from the point the original boundary line met the original shoreline perpendicularly to the center line of Big Chief Lake if it is an oblong lake, or, if it is an irregular lake, to a point along the new shoreline which the trial court has determined proportionately divides the new shoreline in the same proportion to the amount of shoreline the parties originally owned under the government plat. Finally, we would note that the best scenario would be for the parties to be able to agree upon the boundary line themselves to be drawn from the point in which the original platted boundary line met the original shoreline to an agreeable point on the currently existing shoreline.
Since we have determined that the trial court erred in its original determination of the boundary line between the parties, we believe it unnecessary to address the parties’ argument relative to adverse possession and the doctrine of acquiescence.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction. Plaintiffs may tax costs.
For the reader’s convenience, we have appended to this opinion a drawing of the disputed property. The long dashed line depicts the boundary line between Government Lots 2 and 3 as platted. The short dashed line depicts the shoreline as platted, while the thick solid line depicts the current shoreline. We have divided the disputed area into the areas labelled a, b, and c, each of which runs from the quarter-section line to the current shoreline. This quiet-title action only concerns areas a and b. Furthermore, while our illustration is based upon the exhibits contained in the lower court record, the drawing was prepared by a member of this Court’s staff and, accordingly, is only an approximate indication of where boundary lines lie or are claimed to lie. The illustration is intended only to assist the reader in understanding the dispute and this illustration is not necessarily a precise depiction of where the indicated lines actually lie.
Defendants apparently received deeds to what we have referred to as lots A and b in our illustration from the owner of Government Lot 2. Lot c has never been separately deeded; plaintiffs claim it through their deed to Government Lot 3.
We would note that title to what we have referred to as lot c in our illustration would, under the trial court’s reasoning, lie with the current owner of the remainder of Government Lot 2 since that parcel has never been deeded off and plaintiffs’ claim to lot c would be invalid. However, the validity of title to lot c is not at issue in this case.
That description would be approximate because a portion of the boundary line would be uneven due to it bordering Big Chief Lake.
We again caution, however, that our representation in the illustration is not a final finding of fact binding as law of the case. Rather, the diagram is included for illustration purposes only. The trial court is free on remand to make such further findings of fact or take such additional evidence as it may deem appropriate and necessary to determine the exact placement of that original meander line shown on the 1849 plat as the boundary between the two lots. We do stress, however, that that meander line is not the quarter-section line determined by modern survey. Furthermore, that meander line which forms the boundary between the two lots must intersect with the meander line which depicts the original shoreline of Big Chief Lake as platted in 1849. That intersection also occurs to the west of the peninsula depicted by that plat.
In this opinion, we use the term "accretion” in a generic sense rather than using the more precise terms of alluvion and reliction. See Cutliff, supra at 588. It would appear, however, that the shore line in the case at bar changed and added new land by the process of reliction due to a general lowering of the level of Big Chief Lake. See "reliction,” Black’s Law Dictionary (5th ed). Nevertheless, since the precise method is not material to the resolution of this case, we will use the term "accretion” in a generic sense. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was convicted, following a jury trial, of delivery of less than fifty grams of a controlled substance. MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(iv); MSA 14.15(7401)(2)(a)(iv). Defendant was thereafter sentenced to a term of from five to twenty years in prison. At sentencing, the trial court also sentenced defendant on an unrelated plea-based perjury conviction, imposing a consecutive sentence of from five to fifteen years. She now appeals and we affirm the conviction but vacate the sentence.
Defendant was visiting a friend, Thomas Cross, who, at the time of the instant offense, was a resident of the Macomb County Jail. In connection with her visit, defendant brought a bag of clothing for Cross. While defendant was visiting with Cross, a sheriffs deputy examined the contents of the bag and discovered a suspicious looking pair of undershorts. The deputy found something in the waistband of the undershorts, so she cut it open, and found a small package of yellowish powder which proved to be 1.03 grams of oxycodone, commonly known as Percodan, a controlled substance. Defendant’s defense was that she was unaware that the oxycodone was in the waistband of the undershorts and that she was merely an innocent intermediary.
At trial, defendant cast suspicion on her sister, Sue Hartwig. Defendant testified that Hartwig admitted to her her own guilt in the matter. Furthermore, Sylvia McCracken, defendant’s mother, testified that Hartwig had been a friend of Cross’ for about nine years and that, prior to the date of the offense, she had seen Hartwig sewing and mending men’s undershorts. Furthermore, she testified that, approximately one week after defendant was arrested, Hartwig disappeared. Sylvia McCracken also testified that Hartwig made some inculpatory statement to her following defendant’s arrest.
Defendant first argues that the trial court erred in refusing to admit the testimony of a particular witness, Attorney James M. Hacker, who would have testified that he had spoken with Sylvia McCracken and Sue Hartwig following the offense. A separate record was created, wherein Attorney Hacker testified that he spoke with McCracken and Hartwig approximately four days after the offense while on business at the probate court. McCracken and Hacker spoke of the offense, with Hacker indicating that it was a serious matter and that he was of the opinion that the authorities were going to arrest defendant and he then went on to question McCracken and Hartwig about what had happened. According to Hacker, Hartwig was unresponsive and she "folded her hands and clasped them in front of her, hung her head, shifted her weight from foot to foot and wouldn’t look me in the eye.” The trial court ruled Hacker’s testimony inadmissible, concluding that the testimony was irrelevant and that it would only serve to have the jury speculate as to the meaning of Hartwig’s actions relative to Hartwig’s own potential involvement in the offense. On appeal, the parties direct their attention to the question whether the testimony would be admissible under the hearsay rule as being a declaration against penal interest. MRE 804(b)(3). However, we believe that the question whether Hacker’s testimony would fall within that exception to the hearsay rule is irrelevant.
If defendant is correct that Hartwig’s conduct constitutes a nonverbal statement which was against her penal interest, then it would follow that that testimony was not inadmissible under the hearsay rule. However, the mere conclusion that the testimony is not precluded by the hearsay rule does not mean that it is otherwise admissible or inadmissible. Similarly, the prosecution bases its argument upon the premise that Hartwig’s conduct does not constitute a nonverbal statement and, therefore, the hearsay rule is inapplicable. If true, then the inapplicability of the hearsay rule does not resolve the question whether the evidence is otherwise admissible. It merely causes us to conclude that there was no statement and, therefore, we cannot look to the hearsay rule to determine if the testimony is inadmissible.
Rather, we believe the relevant inquiry is that to which the trial court directed its attention, whether the testimony is relevant. Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible. MRE 402. To be relevant, evidence must have the tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. MRE 401. Similarly, relevant evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. MRE 403.
In the case at bar, we agree with the trial court that Hacker’s testimony is irrelevant. Hacker merely testified that Hartwig acted in a particular manner while the instant offense was being discussed. However, we fail to see how that testimony would prove or disprove defendant’s involvement in the instant case. First, it would require speculation to conclude that Hartwig was acting in the manner she was out of guilt, rather than, say, shyness. Furthermore, we, as well as the jury, would also be forced to speculate that Hartwig’s "guilty” conduct was based upon knowledge of her own involvement and of defendant’s innocence. Hartwig may have been upset with defendant’s difficulties with the authorities, or her own guilt, if any, may have been conspiratorial in nature. That is, both defendant and Hartwig may have been involved in the delivery of the controlled substance, thus explaining Hartwig’s conduct without exculpating defendant. Absent some foundation to explain why Hartwig acted as she did, her conduct is not relevant inasmuch as it does not tend to prove or disprove defendant’s involvement in the offense. Furthermore, even if relevant, we believe it properly excludable on the ground that it would merely serve to confuse or mislead the jury by requiring it to strain to speculate on the meaning of Hartwig’s conduct. See MRE 403. _
For the above reasons, we conclude that the trial court properly excluded Hacker’s testimony.
Defendant next argues that she is entitled to resentencing because the trial court fixed her minimum sentence under the mistaken belief that the Department of Corrections would put her back on the streets in four to six months regardless of the minimum sentence imposed. At sentencing, the trial court made the following statement:
What’s ludicrous about us sitting over here and talking about what minimum sentence should be imposed is I’m sure the State Corrections Department is going to have her out in the streets in four to six months. I’ll bet money on it, that they place her in a residential home program, no matter what sentence I give her. If I gave her the maximum on the perjury of ten to fifteen years, if I gave her the maximum on the delivery of Percodan, she is going to be out on the street in four to six months.
At that point, defense counsel suggested that he was not certain if the trial court’s comment was correct and went on to ask the judge to exercise compassion. The trial court responded that it was going to impose a sentence that it believed was proper and proceeded to impose consecutive sentences less than the statutory maximum on both the perjury and the drug convictions. After the pronouncement of the sentences, defense counsel inquired of the trial court, by way of clarification, as to whether the sentences were to be concurrent or consecutive and the trial court reconfirmed the sentences were to be consecutive, noting that "she’ll still be out in the streets in six months.”
Defendant correctly points out in her brief that the trial court was gravely mistaken in its belief that defendant would be eligible for community placement within four to six months. Rather, defendant will have to serve over seven years in prison under her current sentences before becoming eligible for parole. With respect to community placement before parole, under the most advantageous conditions, she cannot be eligible for community placement until she is within two years of her minimum out-date. See 1987 AACS, R 791.4410(2). Thus, even accepting defendant’s calculation of her earliest parole date, which, as noted above, may be overly optimistic, and that she would be eligible for community placement when she becomes within two years of that parole date, defendant will have to serve at least five years, seven months and nineteen days before becoming eligible for community placement. This is far in excess of the trial court’s belief that defendant would be placed in the community within four to six months of sentencing.
Furthermore, a sentencing judge may not consider the effects of good-time or disciplinary credits in reaching his sentencing decision. People v Fleming, 428 Mich 408; 410 NW2d 266 (1987). Thus, the trial court could not consider when defendant would be eligible for community placement even if its calculations were accurate.
Nonetheless, the troublesome aspect of this case is that it is not entirely clear from the trial court’s comments what effect, if any, the trial court’s mistaken belief about defendant’s eligibility for community placement did, in fact, have on the trial court’s sentencing decision. The prosecutor suggests that, because the trial court imposed sentences which were significantly less than the permissible statutory maximum, the trial court’s observations concerning Department of Corrections policy were, at most, gratuitous. In other words, the prosecutor contends that what actually occurred was the court sentenced defendant to what it thought was an appropriate term but, at the same time, stated its displeasure with the perceived policy of the Department of Corrections of letting its inmates out of prison too early.
While this contention may be an accurate assessment of the trial court’s true thoughts, we are not certain that the sentencing judge’s mistaken beliefs concerning defendant’s eligibility for community placement had no effect on the court’s sentencing decision. That is, the trial court may not have put the appropriate amount of judicial effort into the sentencing decision and carefully weighed the sentencing factors because of its belief that it was essentially irrelevant what sentence was imposed. Even more troublesome is the trial court’s statement that it did not matter that defendant received consecutive rather than concurrent sentences because she would be eligible for community placement within six months anyway. If the trial court had properly recognized when defendant became eligible for community placement, it may have more carefully weighed the sentenc ing decision and may have chosen concurrent rather than consecutive sentences.
Normally, we would be inclined to remand this matter to give the trial court the opportunity to make a clear record on whether it considered the issue of community placement in reaching its sentencing decision. However, since we will conclude in the next issue that resentencing is necessary because of a misscoring of the sentencing guidelines, we believe it most appropriate to leave the current issue unresolved. Rather, we direct the trial court on resentencing not to base its sentencing decision upon the mistaken belief that defendant would be eligible for community placement within six months, nor to consider the effects of good-time and disciplinary credits as directed by Fleming, supra.
Turning to the scoring question, defendant argues that she was improperly assessed four points for Offense Variable 8 on the Sentencing Information Report. The instructions for the scoring of Offense Variable 8 are as follows:
O.V. 8 PROFESSIONAL/ORGANIZED CRIME OR RING
4=offender is a member of professional/organized crime or ring_
0=no membership by offender
Instructions:
A. Score "4” if the offense is part of a pattern of criminal activities over a period of time from which the offender has derived a substantial portion of his or her income and/or if the instant offense is directly related to membership in an organized criminal group.
B. The degree of sophistication of the group is not so important as is the fact of existence, which can in part be inferred from the length of time the organization has been in operation.
C. This may include a juvenile gang.
D. Presence of multiple offenders should not automatically be defined as constituting an organized criminal group.
This Court discussed the appropriate manner in which to score Offense Variable 8 in People v Emma Johnson, 144 Mich App 497, 501; 376 NW2d 122 (1985), where the defendant was convicted of an offense falling under the fraud category of the sentencing guidelines:
From reading this offense variable, we find that there are two separate means of arriving at a score. First, the court must decide whether the defendant "derived a substantial portion of his or her income” from the criminal activities involved. Second, the court must decide whether "the instant offense is directly related to membership in an organized criminal group”. If either the first or the second prong, or both, is found to be true, then the court assesses 4 points against the defendant under o.v. 8. Furthermore, because the judge must actually consider whether "the offense is part of a pattern of criminal activities over a period of time ... ”, Fraud o.v. 8 permits the sentencing judge to consider other criminal activity for which no conviction resulted so long as the information regarding this activity is accurate, not objected to, and is related to the present offense.
We begin by noting that defendant has properly preserved the scoring issue by bringing an "effective challenge” in the trial court at the time of sentencing, thus shifting the burden to the prosecution to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the facts are as the prosecution asserts in support of the scoring. People v Walker, 428 Mich 261, 268; 407 NW2d 367 (1987). However, where the record of the trial or of the plea proceeding contains evidence supporting or opposing a proposed decision in the scoring of a variable, the scoring of that variable is within the discretion of the sentencing judge in deciding whether to entertain further proofs. Id. We agree with defendant that the prosecution has not established the appropriate factual basis for assessing four points under Offense Variable 8. At sentencing, the probation officer was present and explained the scoring of the offense variable. He based the assessment of four points on the fact that there allegedly was a highly organized ring distributing drugs and that defendant had an intimate, longstanding association with the alleged ringleader, Thomas Cross, and noted that the grand jury had indicted her not only for perjury but also conspiracy to deliver cocaine and the delivery of cocaine. Those two drug offenses were dismissed as part of the plea bargain of the perjury count.
While it might be true that there was an organized drug ring of which defendant’s boyfriend was the leader, we are aware of no evidence, nor was any such evidence presented at sentencing, that defendant derived a substantial portion of her income from her activities in that drug ring. More importantly, as defendant has continually stressed, defendant’s current conviction does not arise as part of her membership in the drug ring. That is, defendant’s current conviction is not for the delivery of a controlled substance to a customer but from a noncommercial transaction in which she delivered the controlled substance to her boyfriend while he was incarcerated. Thus, any membership by defendant in an organized crime ring is irrelevant to the instant offense.
Since the prosecution did not bring forth any evidence at sentencing that defendant derived a substantial portion of her income from her membership in this alleged crime ring and because defendant’s membership in the ring, if she was a member, was not directly related to the instant offense, the assessment of four points under Offense Variable 8 was inappropriate. Moreover, we reject the prosecutor’s argument that any error in the scoring of the sir is harmless since the trial court departed from the recommendation of the sentencing guidelines. While it is true that the trial judge departed from the sentencing guidelines, we cannot conclude that the error in the scoring of the guidelines was harmless. Had the guidelines been accurately scored, resulting in a lower recommendation under the guidelines, the trial court may well have imposed a lower sentence, even though that sentence might also have departed from the recommendations. That is, while the trial court might believe that a departure from the guidelines is called for in the instant case, the correct recommendation of the guidelines might nevertheless influence the size of the departure and the actual sentence imposed. Accordingly, we conclude that resentencing is in order.
For the above reasons, we affirm defendant’s conviction but remand the case for resentencing at which the trial court shall consider a properly scored sir and shall not consider its beliefs as to Department of Corrections policy regarding community placement. We further direct that the matter be assigned to a different judge for resentencing. We do not retain jurisdiction.
Of course, if we were to reject the prosecutor’s argument that the conduct was not a nonverbal statement but accept the argument that the statement was not against penal interest, the testimony would be inadmissible under the hearsay rule. That is, the evidence would be inadmissible if we were to conclude that there was a nonverbal statement but the statement was not against penal interest. However, we need not resolve this inquiry because, if the statement is not against penal interest, then it would also be inadmissible on the grounds of relevancy. Accordingly, we may return to our analysis of the admissibility of the testimony regardless of the determination of the hearsay question.
Although not ruled upon by the trial court or discussed by the parties, we would comment that attorney Hacker’s testimony might also constitute impermissible testimony by a lay witness. MRE 701. That is, Hacker was not qualified as an expert in the interpretation of body language to indicate guilt or innocence. Accordingly, we are not certain that Hacker could give testimony which, in its essence, was his personal opinion that Hartwig was acting in a guilty manner.
In her brief, defendant suggests that, even under the most advantagous circumstances in which she earns the greatest amount of good time, special good time, disciplinary credits and special disciplinary credits, she will have to serve a minimum of seven years, seven months and nineteen days before becoming eligible for parole. Our rough calculation suggests that she will have to serve slightly more than that, approximately seven years and eleven months before becoming eligible for parole. See MCL 800.33; MSA 28.1403 for calculation of good time and disciplinary credits. However, the difference in our calculations is not relevent to the question at bar.
Defendant’s brief suggests that she could be classified as a drug trafficker and, therefore, would not be eligible for community placement under the terms of Rule 791.4410(l)(cXv). Although defendant was convicted of delivery of a controlled substance, given the amount involved, we are not convinced that she would be classified as a drug trafficker under the administrative rule. However, it does not affect our analysis whether she is available for community placement two years before her parole date or not. Accordingly, we will assume for the purpose of discussion of this issue that she will be eligible for community placement two years before her earliest parole date.
We recognize that the trial court’s comments may reflect not a lack of correct information concerning the statutes and regulations governing community placement, but of a cynical view of the Department of Corrections’ observance of those laws and regulations. That is, the trial court might be basing its decision or comments on the belief that correction officials place convicts in community placement programs prior to becoming eligible under the applicable regulations. Even if this is true, it is not appropriate for the trial court to speculate on such conduct by the corrections department and alter its sentencing patterns based upon such beliefs. Rather, the trial court must sentence based upon the belief that the department properly follows the applicable statutes and regulations and leave it to the appropriate officials to enforce those statutes and regulations if the corrections department does, in fact, violate them. See Fleming, supra. | [
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Per Curiam.
The Agricultural Commodities Marketing Act (acma or Commodities Act), MCL 290.651 et seq.; MSA 12.94(21) et seq., authorizes Michigan agricultural commodities producers to form marketing programs to promote their products. Pursuant to the regulations, the producers may establish advertising and market development programs, conduct research, disseminate market information, set quality standards, inspect and grade commodities, institute surplus controls and provide for payment to producers according to established grades. See generally Old Orchard Brands, Inc v Dep’t of Agriculture, 152 Mich App 274, 275-276; 393 NW2d 608 (1986), lv den 426 Mich 873 (1986). Such programs must be renewed by referendum every five years. MCL 290.671; MSA 12.94(41)._
The act provides that the Director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture must give notice of a public hearing on a proposed marketing program or proposed amendments to an existing program after receiving a petition signed by the lesser of twenty-five percent or two hundred of the producers of an agricultural commodity. See MCL 290.660(a); MSA 12.94(30)(a). The director is required to make findings and issue a recommendation, based on the hearing record, within forty-five days of the close of the hearing.
The Michigan Cherry Commodity Committee was approved by the requisite number of cherry producers in a referendum conducted in March, 1972. The cherry program was renewed by a referendum in 1977. The instant case involves a challenge to the referendum in 1982 to continue the program and to increase the assessment on cherry production.
Shortly following a February 19, 1982, public hearing, the Director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture issued his findings and recommendation based on evidence presented at the public hearing. The director found that increasing supplies of Michigan cherries are expected in the next few years and that per capita consumption of cherries in the United States has been declining. The director further found that other commodity promotion programs have promotion and advertising budgets far in excess of the promotion budget for Michigan cherries and that the increased cost of the promotional programs have limited the ability of Michigan cherry producers to affect the market. The director further found that nearly one hundred percent of the proposed assessment increases, if passed, would be devoted to increasing promotional efforts. The director recommended that the amendment to the Michigan cherry pro motion development program, which would increase per ton assessments against producers, be put to the producers and ordered a referendum held.
The recommended program, or in this case amendment, goes into effect if "more than 50% by number of those voting representing more than 50% of the volume of the affected commodity produced by those voting assent to the proposal.” MCL 290.661(1); MSA 12.94(31)(1).
In 1982 there were two issues confronting cherry producers. The first was the standard fifth year renewal of the program. The second question concerned a proposed increase in the rate of the cherry assessment. A referendum was conducted from April 5 to April 19, 1982. During the week of April 5, 1982, plaintiffs’ counsel contacted the Attorney General and objected to the referendum claiming the ballot was defective and the findings issued by the director were not in compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act, MCL 24.201 et seq.; MSA 3.560(101) et seq.
The alleged ballot defect was that voting was to be based upon volume of cherries "sold,” as opposed to "produced.” Although not concurring with plaintiffs that the ballots were facially defective, the Attorney General agreed that there was a possibility for the ballot to be misunderstood by the electorate.
Subsequent to being so advised by the Attorney General, the Director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture decided to resubmit the question to cherry producers in a revised ballot. The returned April ballots were sealed and, on May 5, 1982, a revised ballot was mailed to all cherry producers. The second ballot asked for volume in number of tons "produced.”
Plaintiffs commenced this action on May 5, 1982, alleging various violations of the acma in the conduct of the referendum. The court denied a preliminary injunction. The May ballots were counted and the cherry referendum passed among those submitting ballots by a very large margin.
On June 13, 1983, the trial court issued its opinion, finding that the public hearing, findings of fact and conclusions of law issued by the Director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture were supported by the administrative record and in concert with the Administrative Procedures Act. With respect to the ballots, the trial court ruled that the department lacked authority to impound the April, 1982, ballots and ordered that the first ballots be tabulated and the results submitted to the court.
Thereafter, the April, 1982, ballots were tabulated and the director reported to the trial court in August, 1983, results indicating an overwhelming approval of continuing the cherry program and increasing the assessment.
In December, 1983, another hearing was held in Berrien Circuit Court. Plaintiffs sought reconsideration of the court’s prior ruling on the adequacy of the director’s findings and recommendations. Plaintiffs further sought a determination on the validity of the two ballots.
The trial court issued an opinion some fifteen months later, in February, 1985, which concluded that plaintiffs were entitled to have the court determine the validity of the ballots. Plaintiffs were denied other relief.
Defendants next moved to have the trial judge disqualified for bias. That motion was eventually declared moot due to his retirement. In November, 1986, plaintiffs moved to amend their complaint and for summary disposition. The new trial judge denied plaintiffs’ motion for summary disposition, denied plaintiffs’ motion to amend the complaint, and granted summary disposition in favor of defendants on the basis of MCR 2.116(I)(2), which allows the court to grant summary disposition in favor of the opposing party where that party is so entitled.
i
Plaintiffs first argue on appeal that their motion to amend the complaint was improperly denied in the absence of prejudice to defendants. The court rule states that leave to amend "shall be freely given” when justice so requires. MCR 2.118(A)(2). Nevertheless, the trial court does not abuse its discretion in refusing to permit an amendment when the amendment would be futile. Ben P Fyke & Sons v Gunter Co, 390 Mich 649, 656; 213 NW2d 134 (1973); Ray v Taft, 125 Mich App 314, 324; 336 NW2d 469 (1983). The additional paragraphs plaintiffs seek to add to the complaint were already pled in the original complaint. The new allegations add nothing new although, in some cases, plaintiffs have gone into slightly greater detail in their allegations. To add allegations which merely restate allegations already made is futile. We affirm the trial court’s denial of plaintiffs’ motion to amend.
ii
Plaintiffs next argue that the director failed to properly carry out the referendum by established rules promulgated under the Administrative Procedures Act and, more specifically, the apa’s definition of "rule” contained in § 7 of the apa and, therefore, that the referendum was void. We note initially that the provisions of the Commodities Act have been deemed sufficiently detailed and specific to pass constitutional due process muster. See Dukesherer Farms, Inc v Director of the Dep’t of Agriculture (After Remand), 405 Mich 1, 29-30; 273 NW2d 877 (1979). Plaintiffs initially argue that there is no definition of "volume”; that the director’s use of "ton” as the volume measurement is not guided by a department rule complying with the apa. Section 12 of the Commodities Act provides that "[t]he director shall establish procedures for determination of volume for the conduct of referendums.” We believe the issue of how "volume” is measured is one of arithmetical importance only. Plaintiffs do not dispute that tonnage is the standard business unit of measurement for cherry production. We do not see error in the director’s failure to adopt a rule on volume.
Plaintiffs next argue that the director erred in permitting producers to vote on the basis of their highest tonnage produced in any one of three years, 1979, 1980 and 1981. Plaintiffs argue that such a decision was a policy of the director which fell within the definition of "rule” under the apa and therefore required compliance with that act prior to its adoption.
Defendants concede that the statute does not have a specific voting provision, but argue that the voting requirement is grounded in the Commodities Act. Section 12 specifically provides that a "producer” is entitled to one vote. "Producer” is defined in § 2 of the act:
(b) "Producer” means a person engaged in the business of producing, or causing to be produced for any market, an agricultural commodity in quantity beyond that person’s own family use, and having a value at first point of sale of more than $800.00 for the agricultural commodity in any 1 growing and marketing season within the last 3 years.
Defendants claim the voting requirement flows from the definition.
We believe the voting standard is a reasonable interpretation of the statutory language although not the only interpretation possible. Plaintiffs do not allege any arbitrary action on the part of the director such as changing the standard from year to year in order to favor one group or another. Plaintiffs do not argue that the standard was adopted to favor one group or another. The standard has been consistently used in past referendums. Furthermore, plaintiffs cannot point to any way in which they have been damaged by the method used. Because the voting standard is grounded in the statute, we believe no rule was necessary.
Plaintiffs also argue that the referendum was conducted without rules promulgated under the apa. Plaintiffs questioned the method of determining who should be sent ballots, verification and disqualification procedures, and the contents of the ballot itself. The act itself governs the conduct of the referendum, including the necessary percentage to pass a proposal, MCL 290.661; MSA 12.94(31), and who is entitled to vote, see § 12 of the act, and includes requisite definitions, see § 2 of the act. There apparently is no mystery as to the director’s disqualification standards as they would seemingly apply to any election: ballots not signed, ballots not voted, and ballots failing to indicate volume produced so that the ballot can be given appropriate weight.
Plaintiffs next complain that the act requires rules and regulations for the marketing program and disbursement of funds. In fact, there are such rules. See 1979 AC, R 285.301.1 — 285.301.40.
m
Plaintiffs next argue that the acma provides for voting procedures on the basis of volume "produced.” The first ballot was mislabeled and was marked tons "sold.” Since the amount produced could well have been substantially different from the amount of cherries sold, plaintiffs argue that the first ballot was in violation of the statute. Therefore, that ballot should not have been used as a basis for continuation of the program and the increased assessment levied against plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also argue that the second ballot was sent out beyond the forty-five-day time limit imposed by the statute and beyond the five-year period in which renewal of the program must take place.
The act requires the director to issue a recommendation approving or disapproving the proposed marketing program within forty-five days of the public hearing. If the director recommends a particular marketing program, a referendum of affected producers is required within forty-five days of the recommendation. The recommended program goes into effect if "more than 50% by number of those voting representing more than 50% of the volume of the affected commodity produced by those voting assent to the proposal.” MCL 290.661(1); MSA 12.94(31)(1). All marketing programs under the act are subject to a renewal referendum each fifth year of operation. MCL 290.671; MSA 12.94(41). In this case, the initial ballot was conducted from April 5 through April 19, 1982. Plaintiffs’ counsel contacted the Attorney General and indicated the alleged problem with the ballot language. The Attorney General apparently advised the director that the ballot could be misleading. The director then ordered a second referendum, held in May, 1982. Both votes resulted in overwhelming approval of the renewal and new proposed assessment.
The trial court initially concluded that the director was without statutory power to order the second ballot. A subsequent trial court opinion indicated that the plaintiffs were entitled to have a court determine the validity of the ballots. Summary judgment was granted defendants on the issue in a subsequent hearing by a successor judge.
We initially conclude that the first trial judge was in error when he stated that the director could not issue a second ballot. When a potentially misleading error was pointed out to the director, he immediately moved to send out a subsequent ballot. No prejudicial delay was involved. The corrected ballots were sent to the identical voters. We find no error in the procedure followed by the director.
Although the subsequent balloting fell outside the forty-five-day time limit, the initial ballot was within the time limit. We believe the director’s correction of the error amounted to substantial compliance with the forty-five-day limit. Furthermore, nothing in the statute provides that the program must be renewed within five years of the date of the previous renewal. The statute only requires that marketing programs are subject to a renewal referendum each ñfth year of operation. MCL 290.671; MSA 12.94(41). We believe the director has complied with the statute here.,
iv
Finally, plaintiffs challenge the findings of fact made by the director from the public hearing and published in his recommendation. Generally, ad ministrative decisions are to be affirmed if they are supported by material, competent and substantial evidence on the record as a whole. Const 1963, art 6, § 28; MCL 24.306(l)(d); MSA 3.560(206)(l)(d). Substantial evidence is such evidence as a "reasonable mind” would accept as adequate to support the decision. Parnis v Civil Service Comm, 79 Mich App 625, 629-630; 262 NW2d 883 (1977). An administrative decision is subject to reversal by the courts of this state only where the evidence firmly establishes that the agency has abused its discretion by arbitrary action. Crider v Michigan, 110 Mich App 702, 716; 313 NW2d 367 (1981), lv den 414 Mich 953 (1982).
As pointed out by the trial court, eighteen of the nineteen persons attending the public hearing spoke in favor of the proposed assessment increase and that the proposal be submitted on a referendum vote. There was substantial testimony to support each of the findings made by the director. We therefore find that the decision was supported by the record and affirm the trial court’s ruling.
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Per Curiam.
Defendants appeal as of right from the opinion and order of the Oakland Circuit Court which held that plaintiff was entitled to the full value of a home which defendants insured and which had been burned down by plaintiffs estranged husband (now ex-husband). We reverse.
The home in question was owned by plaintiff and Donald Szalay as tenants by the entirety and was insured by defendant Homeowners Insurance Company, a subsidiary of defendant Auto-Owners Insurance Company. Although they were married at the time of the fire (February 11, 1984), plaintiff and Szalay were legally separated and were in the process of obtaining a divorce. The house was vacant, as plaintiff was residing with her brother and Szalay was living with his parents. Szalay apparently set the fire intentionally, causing extensive damage to both the home and the personal property therein.
The parties stipulated that total damage to the real property was $21,221.60 and that total damage to the personal property belonging to plaintiff and her son was $16,779.10. Pursuant to a compromise settlement, defendants paid plaintiff fifty percent of the real property loss plus one hundred percent of the personal property loss. The compromise settlement acknowledged plaintiffs right to file a supplemental claim for the remainder of the real property loss (i.e., $10,610.53), subject to any policy defenses.
On July 19, 1985, a judgment of divorce was granted to plaintiff upon Szalay’s default. The judgment provided that any proceeds from the sale of the home, less closing costs, would be divided equally. The judgment also provided that each party shall be awarded, free from claims of the other, the net proceeds received as a result of their respective efforts to collect on the fire loss.
Plaintiff commenced this suit in the Oakland Circuit Court on January 24, 1986. A later, first amended complaint alleged wrongful retention of insurance proceeds (count i), breach of the insurance contract (count ii), and two other claims which are not pertinent to this appeal. Thereafter, plaintiff moved for partial summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(9) and (10) as to counts i and ii. A hearing on the motion was held on October 15, 1986, at the conclusion of which plaintiff was granted partial summary disposition and awarded the whole of the insurance proceeds for the property damage to the home. An order to that effect was entered on October 17, 1986.
The sole issue raised in this appeal is a legal one: whether an innocent coinsured spouse, who holds property as a tenant by the entirety, may recover insurance proceeds of more than one-half the amount of property damage, but not exceeding policy limits, caused by the wrongful acts of the other coinsured spouse. That question seems to be an issue of first impression in this state._
The vast majority of jurisdictions which have addressed this issue, and which have allowed any recovery at all, have held that the innocent spouse may only recover one-half of the insurance proceeds, up to the policy limits. See, e.g., Nationwide Mut Fire Ins Co v Pittman, 82 NC App 756; 348 SE2d 350 (1986); Maravich v Aetna Life & Casualty Co, 350 Pa Super 392; 504 A2d 896 (1986); Republic Ins Co v Jernigan, 719 P2d 331, 334 (Colo App, 1985); Krupp v Aetna Life & Casualty Co, 103 AD2d 252; 479 NYS2d 992 (1984); Fuston v Nat'l Mut Ins Co, 440 NE2d 751 (Ind App, 1982); Commercial Union Ins Co v State Farm Fire & Casualty Co, 546 F Supp 543 (D Colo, 1982); St Paul Fire & Marine Ins Co v Molloy, 291 Md 139; 433 A2d 1135 (1981); Lovell v Rowan Mut Fire Ins Co, 302 NC 150; 274 SE2d 170 (1981); Economy Fire & Casualty Co v Warren, 71 Ill App 3d 625; 28 Ill Dec 194; 390 NE2d 361 (1979); Winter v Aetna Casualty & Surety Co, 96 Misc. 2d 497; 409 NYS2d 85 (1978); Steigler v Ins Co of North America, 384 A2d 398 (Del, 1978). See also Delph v Potomac Ins Co, 95 NM 257; 620 P2d 1282 (1980) (community property state). See, generally, Anno., Right of innocent insured to recover under ñre policy covering property intentionally burned by another insured, 11 ALR4th 1228.
Unfortunately, most of the above-cited cases, while adequately explaining why an innocent coinsured should not be precluded from any recovery, have been deficient in explaining why the recovery should be limited to one-half the property damage (or the amount of the policy, whichever is less). However, in Molloy, supra, the Maryland Court of Appeals gave the following explanation, which we find persuasive:
Since "[w]e have regarded the rights of husband and wife [to be] separate under the contract, . . . both logic and justice require that the amount recoverable be likewise allocated,” so that the innocent spouse be compensated for one-half the damages within the limits of the policy. Steigler, supra, 384 A2d at 402. Permitting recovery of more would necessitate reliance on the "oneness” legal fiction of marital property which we rejected in determining that the parties here enjoy and assume several, not joint, contractual rights and obligations. Moreover, an award greater than one-half would allow the innocent spouse to recover in excess of that to which she would be entitled upon severance of the tenancy by the entirety, whether by divorce or other action of the parties. [291 Md 153-154.]
In our research, we could find only one case involving tenants by the entirety wherein the plaintiff was adjudged able to recover the whole of the insurance proceeds. In American Economy Ins Co v Liggett, 426 NE2d 136 (Ind App, 1981), the Indiana Court of Appeals for the Third District held that an innocent wife could recover the full value of property damage caused by a fire intentionally set by her husband, who perished in the blaze. We find Liggett to be of dubious jurisprudential value, though, since it was limited to the specific facts of the case. Indeed, the Indiana court expressly stated that a different rule may be necessary where the guilty spouse survives the arson: "The law’s legitimate concern that a wrongdoer not profit by his wrong is not a factor in this case and there is no reason to deny the innocent plaintiff a full recovery, (a different rule may need to be fashioned where the guilty spouse survives).” 426 NE2d 144. That prediction eventually proved to be true, as answered by the Indiana Court of Appeals for the First District in Fuston, supra. In that case, the court allowed an innocent wife to recover one-half of the insurance proceeds where the guilty husband was still living. 440 NE2d 752-753. In finding this result consistent with Liggett, the Fuston court held:
If the innocent spouse were denied any recovery, one could visualize situations in which one spouse, the sole owner of a piece of property, might convert the title to tenancy by the entireties thinking himself insured and later suffer a devastating loss due to the arson of the other spouse. By permitting the innocent spouse to recover one half, we are attempting to reduce his loss while denying any benefit to the guilty spouse. Furthermore, we are of the opinion that under the rule enunciated in Liggett, the trial court could determine on a case by case basis whether the guilty spouse will benefit and take measures to prevent it. [440 NE2d 754.]
For the case at bar, we believe the better rule is that an innocent coinsured spouse, who owns property as a tenant by the entirety, may recover one-half the amount of the property damage (not to exceed the policy limits) caused by a fire deliberately set by the other coinsured spouse. Such a rule, which has been adopted in the vast majority of cases addressing the issue, is consistent with our Supreme Court’s holding in Morgan, supra, and avoids the disparate application of the "oneness” theory underlying tenancy by the entirety (i.e., denouncing the theory so as to preclude insurers from avoiding all liability but resurrecting it to allow full recovery to the innocent insured). Here, the trial judge erred in permitting plaintiff to recover the whole value of the property damage. Her recovery should have been limited to one-half the insurance proceeds.
Reversed.
Defendants do not claim that plaintiff is precluded from any recovery because the property was owned as a tenancy by the entirety. They recognize that our Supreme Court’s decision in Morgan v Cincinnati Ins Co, 411 Mich 267; 307 NW2d 53 (1981), will allow an innocent spouse, in such cases, to recover for property damage caused by the other spouse. See Cottrell v Clark, 126 Mich App 276, 279, n 1; 337 NW2d 58 (1983). Unfortunately, Morgan did not decide whether the amount of the innocent spouse’s recovery should be limited to one-half of the damages — the question presented herein.
Many states apparently adhere to the position that no recovery can be had because the husband and wife hold the property as "one” —the acts of one spouse are therefore imputed to the other. See discussion in Maravich v Aetna Life & Casualty Co, 350 Pa Super 392; 504 A2d 896 (1986). Those states which allow recovery have done so under alternate legal theories. Some states hold that the innocent spouse’s interest is in the insurance proceeds (i.e., personalty) not the real estate. Since personal property cannot usually be held by the entirety, the spouse is held to have a divisible interest therein as a tenant in common. See, e.g., Lovell v Rowan Mut Fire Ins Co, 302 NC 150; 274 SE2d 170 (1981). Other states construe the insurance contract as creating separate and divisible rights in each named insured. See, e.g., St Paul Fire & Marine Ins Co v Molloy, 291 Md 139; 433 A2d 1135 (1981). And yet other states, applying principles of equity and public policy, have held that the guilty spouse’s fraud is several and separate and, therefore, the innocent spouse may recover regardless of the joint or severable nature of their interests in the insured property. See, e.g., Howell v The Ohio Casualty Ins Co, 130 NJ Super 350; 327 A2d 240 (1974). We need not decide which theory or theories is the better reasoned since the Supreme Court in Morgan, supra, has already ruled that some recovery is allowed and since we find the same result is reached under all theories.
In Howell, supra, the plaintiff recovered the full amount of the property damage. However, the defendant apparently paid this voluntarüy and not because it was directed to do so by the court. The case of Hildebrand v Holyoke Mut Fire Ins Co, 386 A2d 329 (Me, 1978), is cited in Liggett, supra, as allowing the wife full recovery. Having reviewed Hüdebrand, we cannot say that conclusion is correct. Although Hildebrand never expressly stated that recovery would be limited to one-half the property damage, there is no indication that full recovery was allowed. In fact, the matter was remanded for further proceedings on the issue of damages. | [
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Per Curiam.
Pursuant to a plea agreement defendant pled guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCL 750.520b(l)(f); MSA 28.788(2)(l)(f), and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, MCL 750.84; MSA 28.279. Defendant appeals as of right from his forty to seventy-five year prison sentence on the criminal sexual conduct conviction. We affirm.
On appeal defendant alleges he should be resentenced as his sentence shocks the conscience and because it violates the "term of years or life” intent of People v Oscar Moore, 164 Mich App 378; 417 NW2d 508 (1987). However, we note that in People v Harden, 166 Mich App 106; 420 NW2d 136 (1988), another panel of this Court strongly disagreed with the Moore opinion, and held that a crime punishable by imprisonment for "life or any term of years” is punishable, as the words state, by imprisonment for any term of years. We agree with the reasoning contained in the Harden opinion, and therefore find no error in the court’s sentencing defendant to from forty to seventy-five years in prison.
We also reject defendant’s claim that the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing. The sentencing judge properly exercised discretion as to the determination of the proper sentence and followed the procedural requirements for departure from the guidelines. We have reviewed the sentence imposed and find that it does not shock our conscience.
Affirmed. | [
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On Remand
T. M. Burns, P. J.
In the early morning hours on August 23, 1972, defendant was stopped by Michigan State Police Trooper Allen Engstrom for speeding on 1-94 in Berrien County, Michigan. Defendant was the driver of the vehicle, and there was one other male passenger. A routine registration check run on the car revealed that the license plate did not match the vehicle. Trooper Engstrom testified that under these circumstances it was his practice to ask the driver if he knew the contents of the trunk. Upon being so questioned, defendant replied that he knew the trunk’s contents and that he would show the trooper what was in the trunk. When defendant opened the trunk, Trooper Engstrom noticed a leather shaving kit and inquired of its contents. According to Trooper Engstrom, the defendant then opened up the kit, which revealed a small vial containing a white powdery substance. Subsequent tests determined that the substance was heroin.
The defendant took the stand and admitted that he opened the trunk of the car for Trooper Engstrom. One major area of disagreement centered around ownership of the shaving kit. While Trooper Engstrom had testified that the defendant had informed him that the kit was his, defendant denied ownership of the aforementioned kit. The trial court decided this credibility question against the defendant and found him guilty as charged. He was sentenced to a term of 16 months to 4 years in prison.
Defendant appealed as of right and in our initial decision in this case, reported at 59 Mich App 304, 229 NW2d 426 (1975), we reversed, holding that since defendant was not informed of his right not to submit to a warrantless search, he was entitled to a new trial at which the evidence seized would be suppressed.
Thereafter, the Supreme Court granted plaintiff’s application for leave to appeal, and in a memorandum opinion reported at 394 Mich 456, 457-458; 231 NW2d 637, 638 (1975), the Court said:
"The Court of Appeals, relying on People v Chism, 390 Mich 104; 211 NW2d 193 (1973), and People v Zeigler, 358 Mich 355; 100 NW2d 456 (1960), reversed, holding that a defendant must be informed of his right not to submit to a warrantless search. 59 Mich App 304; 229 NW2d 426 (1975). In this, the Court of Appeals erred. Schneckloth v Bustamonte, 412 US 218; 93 S Ct 2041; 36 L Ed 2d 854 (1973), and People v Reed, 393 Mich 342; 224 NW2d 867 (1973), hold that the accused need not necessarily be informed of his right to refuse to consent to a search as a precondition to a valid consent. 'The law today is that knowledge of the right to refuse is but one factor in the totality of circumstances to be examined in construing the reasonability of a search.’ People v Reed, supra, pp 362-363.
"[T]his matter is remanded to the Court of Appeals for redetermination in accordance with Schneckloth v Bustamonte, supra, and People v Reed, supra, of whether the state demonstrated that the claimed consent was 'in fact "voluntary” ’ and not 'the product of duress or coercion, express or implied’.”
Pursuant to the order of the Supreme Court, we have reconsidered the question of whether defendant voluntarily consented to the search in light of the principles announced in Schneckloth and Reed. After reviewing the entire record in this case we conclude that the consent given by defendant was not "the product of duress or coercion, express or implied” and accordingly, that the evidence was properly admitted at trial.
In this case the trooper testified and the defendant admitted that he consented to the search of both the trunk and the shaving kit. There is nothing in the record to support defendant’s claim that the atmosphere surrounding the search was coercive. Defendant’s only reason for saying that the consent was not voluntary lies in his alleged fear of trouble were he to refuse the trooper permission to search. However, there is no reason to believe, under circumstances such as are presented in this case, that the response to a policeman’s question is presumptively coerced. Therefore, this fear, standing alone, cannot be regarded as rendering the search invalid, especially when, as here, the police officer is not put on notice that the consent is not freely and voluntarily expressed. The trooper in this case was entitled to rely on the defendant’s unequivocal expression of consent. Having relied on it, he cannot now be faulted for not obtaining a warrant before conducting the search of the trunk and shaving kit.
Having found no evidence of coercion or duress, we conclude that defendant’s consent to the search in question was voluntary. Accordingly, we hold that under the facts and circumstances of this case, the search was reasonable, and that it was not error for the trial court to admit the fruits of that search into evidence.
Affirmed.
Judge Michael Carland, not participating. | [
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Quinn, P. J.
Intervening defendant, hereinafter defendant, appeals from the April 14, 1975 opinion and order of the trial court which held zoning amendment Z-20-73 of the City of Lansing null and void and permanently enjoined its implementation. Defendant city did not participate in the appeal, although originally it was the only defendant in the action. Plaintiffs are residents of the Miller-Marscott area of the city and were among those founding the Miller-Marscott Advisory Committee, hereinafter committee, on January 8, 1973. The committee was formed to promote "an overall development plan for the entire neighborhood” and to oppose "rezoning on a piecemeal basis by developers”.
April 9, 1973, defendant petitioned the planning board of the city for the rezoning of his eight-acre parcel from one-family residential to community unit plan. The latter permits higher density concentration and is more profitable to the developer. Defendant’s petition proposed 94 units on the eight acres.
Working together, the committee and the planning board drafted a document known as the Miller-Marscott Master Plan. This was adopted by the city council December 10, 1973 as an amendment to the city master plan. On the same date, after a public hearing, the planning board recommended that the council reject defendant’s petition because it was not in accord with the master plan which set a maximum of 70 units for the area involved. After a hearing, the council in effect rejected the petition by returning it to the planning board.
Defendant revised his petition by proposing 88 units. After a hearing September 3, 1974, the planning board again recommended rejection, and the council rejected the revised plan November 4, 1974.
November 12, 1974, the council reconsidered the revised petition of defendant and voted approval of 80 units. This action was vetoed by the mayor, but the veto was overridden by the council.
January 28, 1975, plaintiffs filed the present action in the form of a six-count complaint, five of the counts setting forth separate theories of attack on the approval of Z-20-73 by the council. The trial judge found for plaintiffs on the theory advanced in count 2; namely, approval by the council without prior approval by the planning board was contrary to the ordinance and was of no effect. Having thus disposed of the action, the trial court never reached the other four issues, nor do we, John Deere Co v Wonderland Realty Corp, 38 Mich App 88; 195 NW2d 871 (1972).
In reaching his decision, the trial judge relied on the following language of § 36-7 of the ordinance entitled Community Unit Plan:
"If the board approves the plans, they, together with the recommendation of the board shall then be submitted to the city council for consideration and approval.”
He further found that §§ 36-5.1 and 36-15, which give the council authority to pass a zoning regulation without planning board approval by a three-fourths vote of all members of the council were inapplicable. He reasoned that these sections were part of a general ordinance, and since § 36-7 was part of a specific ordinance, it controlled.
The application of a specific statute as opposed to a general one requires that a conflict or inconsistency exist between the statutes, Messer v Averill, 28 Mich App 62; 183 NW2d 802 (1970). Section 36-7 says nothing about action by the council if the planning board disapproves the plan. Hence, we find § 36-15 applicable and controlling. The council vote was 7-1, which met the three-fourths requirement of § 36-15 and sustained the approval of the 80 unit plan.
Reversed and remanded for consideration of the issues presented by counts 1, 3, 4 and 5 of the complaint. Defendant may recover his costs. | [
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Per Curiam.
This appeal arises out of an automobile accident occurring on September 4, 1971. Plaintiff filed a complaint in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court against numerous defendants including the defendant City of Kalamazoo on August 27, 1974, for injuries sustained as a result of the accident. Prior to trial, defendant city made a motion for accelerated judgment, GCR 1963, 116.1(5), on the theory that the applicable two-year statute of limitations, MCLA 691.1411(2); MSA 3.996(111)(2) had run. The trial court granted the motion, and plaintiff now appeals that decision.
The statute under which accelerated judgment was granted, MCLA 691.1411; MSA 3.996(111), provides:
"(1) Every claim against any governmental agency shall be subject to the general law respecting limitations of actions except as otherwise provided in this section.
"(2) The period of limitations for claims arising under section 2 of this act shall be 2 years.
"(3) The period of limitations for all claims against the state, except those arising under section 2 of this act, shall be governed by chapter 64 of Act No. 236 of the Public Acts of 1961. P.A. 1964, No. 170, § 11, Eff. July 1, 1965.” (Emphasis supplied.)
It is undisputed that this case arose under § 2 of the governmental liability act, MCLA 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102), that section which allows recovery against a governmental unit for injuries resulting from a negligently maintained highway.
On appeal, plaintiff asserts that the fact that the statute of limitations applicable to suits brought against governmental units under § 2 is shorter than the limitation period for all other claims against governmental units under § 3 constitutes a denial of equal protection and of due process. We find dispositive of plaintiff’s equal protection claim the holding of this Court in Busha v State Highway Dept, 51 Mich App 397; 215 NW2d 567 (1974), lv granted 391 Mich 816 (1974), appeal dismissed by stipulation October 15, 1974. In Busha, we specifically rejected the same contention. Because plaintiff has presented no argument to dissuade us from our holding in Busha, we reject her claim for the reasons detailed therein.
Relying principally on the case of Grubaugh v City of St Johns, 384 Mich 165; 180 NW2d 778 (1970), plaintiff next contends that the two-year statute of limitations denied her due process of law. We disagree. Grubaugh, supra, is distinguishable from the instant case for two reasons. First, the Grubaugh decision dealt with a notice provision, not with a statute of limitations. The two types of provisions have differing objectives. Notice provisions are designed, inter alia, to provide time to investigate and to appropriate funds for settlement purposes. Carver v McKernan, 390 Mich 96; 211 NW2d 24 (1973). Statutes of limitation are intended to prevent stale claims and to put an end to fear of litigation. Second, Grubaugh was decided strictly on its facts. The Court there found a denial of due process to have occurred when a 60-day notice provision under the general highway statute barred a claim by a plaintiff who, because of his injuries, was incapacitated from giving notice within the required time limit. This was held to be an arbitrary and capricious application of the notice provision.
Plaintiff here has presented us with no cogent showing that the statute of limitations has operated arbitrarily or capriciously in barring her cause of action. It has long been the law that, in creating a right, the Legislature may place reasonable restrictions on the exercise of that right. Bement v Grand Rapids & Indiana R Co, 194 Mich 64; 160 NW 424 (1916). In giving plaintiff the right to sue the state, Minty v Board of State Auditors, 336 Mich 370; 58 NW2d 106 (1953), the Legislature placed a time limit on plaintiff’s exercise of that right. We cannot see how this time limit is arbitrary or capricious.
Affirmed. Costs to defendant. | [
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After Remand
Per Curiam.
This cause was remanded to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing in accordance with the mandates of People v Robinson, 390 Mich 629; 213 NW2d 106 (1973). We ordered the trial judge to require the prosecution to produce or explain why he could not produce an indorsed witness, one Angela Nash. See People v Wingfield, 62 Mich App 161 (1975).
Pursuant to our order, a hearing was held in the Genesee County Circuit Court at which Angela Nash appeared and gave testimony regarding her knowledge of the incidents surrounding the alleged crime. She testified under oath that she had no personal knowledge of the acts of the defendant on the date the crime was alleged to have taken place. She further testified that she was not with the defendant at any time on that particular date.
The trial judge thereupon denied a new trial because, based on the witness’s testimony, he opined that no miscarriage of justice occurred by the failure to produce Angela Nash at trial.
Our order allowed defendant the right to file an additional, brief within 15 days after the trial court’s decision. More than a month having elapsed and no further pleadings having been filed, we consider the matter on the records and briefs as submitted.
We agree with the trial judge’s conclusion that no miscarriage of justice occurred by the failure to produce witness Nash at trial. The order denying a new trial is therefore affirmed. We concur with the reasoning of our prior decision in all other respects.
Affirmed. | [
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O’Hara, J.
Plaintiff filed a complaint the actionable part of which was that:
"The design of the tire jack was negligently performed by defendant.”
Apparently, or at least it is claimed, the jack malfunctioned and plaintiff was seriously injured as a result thereof.
This incident occurred on November 21, 1969. Suit was started June 19, 1974.
Defendant filed a motion for accelerated judgment raising the defense of the three-year statute of limitations.
In a responsive affidavit plaintiff averred:
"1. His cause of action arose from a crushing injury to his skull occurring November 21, 1969, when a truck fell on his head.
"2. He did not discover the negligent design of a tire jack until on and after January 29, 1973, when the investigations of his attorney revealed the possible direct relation between the design of the jack and the mechanics of the jack’s collapse. ” (Emphasis supplied.)
There is no point in this Court again discussing ad nauseam the nuances of difference in a tort action and the "amalgam of tort and contract concepts” said to make up causes of action variously designated "product liability”, "breach of implied warranty of fitness” and similar names.
The fact that plaintiff in a counter affidavit made reference to discovery by his attorney of the "possible direct relation between the design of the jack and the mechanics of the jack’s collapse” does not affect his pleaded cause of action. The complaint is of a simple tort action based on negligence. That cause of action, if any, accrued on the date of his injury, November 21, 1969.
Absent certain exceptions as to disabilities, not here relevant, plaintiff had 3 years to find out or obtain adequate assistance in investigating the claimed relationship between the injury and the alleged negligent design.
It would be an extremely dangerous rule of law that the accrual date of a cause of action is held in abeyance indefinitely until a prospective plaintiff obtains professional assistance to determine the existence of a possible cause of action. Under such a theory, no limitations period would ever be binding.
The Supreme Court summed this all up as follows:
"It is not necessary that a party should know the details of the evidence by which to establish his cause of action. It is enough that he knows that a cause of action exists in his favor, and when he has this knowledge, it is his own fault if he does not avail himself of those means which the law provides for prosecuting or preserving his claim.” Kroll v Vanden Berg, 336 Mich 306, 311; 57 NW2d 897 (1953).
Plaintiff knew on the date of his injury that the tire jack was involved.
However sympathetic we may be to one severely injured we cannot rewrite the law to create assert-able causes of action when they are barred by statute.
The order granting accelerated judgment on the grounds asserted is affirmed. Costs to the appellee.
The jack in question was designed and manufactured by defendant and supplied to purchasers of its half-ton pick-up trucks.
MCLA 600.5805(7); MSA 27A.5805(7).
For example, see Parrish v B F Goodrich Co, 46 Mich App 85; 207 NW2d 422 (1973), lv granted, 390 Mich 779 (1973). | [
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R. B. Burns, J.
Defendant appeals from a Wayne County Circuit Court jury verdict of $50,000 in favor of plaintiff. We affirm.
Plaintiff’s action results from the circumstances of his employment at defendant’s Rouge Complex Frame Plant. Plaintiff, a white man, began working as a welder in department 5266 of the plant on October 23, 1970. His seniority dated from 1966, and, excepting two years of Army service, he had been continuously employed with defendant until the events precipitating this action.
On December 10, 1970, an altercation developed between plaintiff and his foreman over the quality of plaintiffs work. The foreman escorted him to the Labor Relations Office where Mr. Perczak, a Ford labor representative, and Mr. Walter Rosser, a union representative, were present. The foreman stated that he wanted plaintiff "disqualified”, and left without saying why. Plaintiff admitted to Perczak that he had "gotten a little hot under the collar”, explaining that he was being treated at the VA Hospital for periodic bouts of nervous anger derived from his harrowing experiences in Vietnam.
Perczak referred plaintiff to Ford’s medical department, where he was examined by a Dr. Harris who recommended that plaintiff’s physical and emotional problems were such that he be "remove[d] from arc welding and place[d] in major assembly”. Perczak and Rosser discussed the situation, with Rosser suggesting that plaintiff be assigned to less strenuous work in departments 5262 or 5264. On December 14, 1970, plaintiff was transferred to 5264. On January 1, 1971, plaintiff began a four- to six-week stay in the hospital, suffering from glomerulonephritis, a degenerative kidney disease. He returned to work in mid-February and was placed under a medical restriction prohibiting heavy lifting or excessive bending.
During his employment in 5264, plaintiff decided to run for the union office of building guide and became a candidate therefor on the slate of the Democratic Action Team, a caucus headed by Walter Rosser. This slate was made up of all black candidates with the exception of plaintiff and one other man. It was opposed by an all-black Frame Plant Aggressive slate headed by Mr. Grady Glenn, UAW Local 600 Unit Chairman. Over 90 per cent of the employees of the plant were black.
Rosser and Glenn discussed plaintiff’s transfer to 5264 two times during the campaign. Glenn accused Rosser and Perczak of giving plaintiff preferential treatment in that transfer, and stated, as testified to at trial, that he, Glenn, "would have that God-damned honky transferred back to 5266 if it was the last thing that he did”. Pursuant to this promise, Glenn approached Mr. Harold Ball, Ford’s Labor Relations Supervisor for the plant’s hourly personnel, and registered a complaint. He claimed that plaintiffs transfer was motivated by racial considerations and was an attempt to defeat him (Glenn) in his bid for reelection as unit chairman. He also claimed that the transfer failed to comply with union contracted nonpromotional bid procedure. No grievance by any worker had ever been filed regarding plaintiffs job assignment.
In the latter part of April, Mr. Ball transferred plaintiff back to 5266 without informing him of the reason for this transfer. It was apparently immediately subsequent to this retransfer that a campaign leaflet authored by Grady Glenn appeared in the shop. This leaflet, introduced in evidence as plaintiffs exhibit 8, reads in relevant part:
"Let’s take Walter Rosser, a candidate for president and present bargaining committeeman. Brother Walter, who politicked throughout unit negotiations, saw fit to have an employee transferred to Department 5264 from 5266 because of 'nervousness.’ This employee just happened to be a 'white’ employee. This employee just happens to be running for building guide on Walter Rosser’s slate, presumably to pull the white vote. We have had brothers in department 5266 with worse problems than nervousness. Why couldn’t any of them come out.”
Shortly after his retransfer to 5266, plaintiff was assigned to work on the carousel, a job involving the type of lifting and bending that he was prohibited from doing. He was then laid off for inability to perform assigned duties. While on lay-off he survived the primary election but was defeated in the run-off election in late May, 1971.
On April 26, 1971, plaintiff filed a grievance challenging his retransfer and subsequent lay-off. On May 6, 1971, plaintiff filed a complaint with the Michigan Civil Rights Commission (CRC) alleging racial discrimination. On August 9, 1971, plaintiff’s grievance was settled in his favor. He was reinstated with partial payment of lost wages in the amount of $934. Mr. Ball testified that the grievance was settled because he had not been aware of plaintiff’s physical restriction at the time of retransfer, and because there were at that time employees in 5264 with less seniority than plaintiff.
On October 23, 1971, plaintiff filed suit in Wayne County Circuit Court alleging racial discrimination in employment based on the same incident. On December 21, 1971, the CRC issued a notice of disposition of plaintiff’s complaint, responding to the August reinstatement as a "satisfactory resolution” of the matter. The CRC terminated its investigatory process without determining the question of racial discrimination.
On August 17, 1973, Ford made a pretrial motion for summary judgment on the ground that the disposition of plaintiff’s CRC complaint barred the circuit court action. This motion was denied. After the jury verdict in favor of plaintiff, defendant filed alternative motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial. These motions were denied. Defendant appeals asking that the trial court judgment be vacated and entered for defendant, or that a new trial be granted.
Defendant’s contention that this action is barred by the CRC "disposition” is largely without merit. The language of Pompey v General Motors Corp, 385 Mich 537, 560; 189 NW2d 243, 255 (1971), is clear:
"We hold that plaintiff can maintain a civil damage action for redress of his statutorily created civil right to be free from discrimination in private employment, and that this remedy may be pursued in addition to the remedial machinery provided by statute.”
The Supreme Court intended Pompey to be read broadly for the general proposition that a "plaintiff may avail himself of a cumulative judicial remedy in vindication of this specific civil right”. 385 Mich at 551. Thus was the CRC found not to have exclusive jurisdiction over claims of racial discrimination. The same concern for cumulative remedies is inherent in Michigan Civil Rights Commission v Clark, 390 Mich 717; 212 NW2d 912 (1973), where the Court struck down a statute enabling a respondent to divest a complainant of his access to CRC jurisdiction by providing for preemptive removal to the courts.
Similar in thrust is the recent opinion of the United States Supreme Court in Alexander v Gardner-Denver Co, 415 US 36; 94 S Ct 1011; 39 L Ed 2d 147 (1974). The Court held that an arbitration decision pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement did not operate as a bar to an action for racial discrimination in employment brought under Title VII. In so holding the Court noticed a long-standing legislative intent "to accord parallel or overlapping remedies against discrimination”. 415 US at 47. Significantly, Alexander was brought following a complaint by that plaintiff before the Colorado Civil Rights Commission which was referred to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and dismissed for lack of cause.
The provision of the 1963 Constitution establishing the CRC, article V, § 29, states that "[n]othing contained in this section shall be construed to diminish the right of any party to direct and immediate legal or equitable remedies in the courts of this state”. Article I, § 2 expresses the paramount policy of the state against racial discrimination. The above cases indicate that in this most important context the access of an aggrieved individual to a judicial remedy should be both cumulative and alternative.
Further, it is of factual significance in this case that the "disposition” of the CRC did not include anything resembling an actual adjudication of the discrimination charge. This disposition can best be seen as a mere recognition of the August reinstatement, and scarcely the "final determination” to which defendant alludes. The trial court was correct in denying the motions brought on this ground.
Defendant next contends that its. motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial should have been granted for failure by plaintiff to establish a prima facie case. The appropriate standard for review is stated in Anderson v Gene Deming Motor Sales, Inc, 371 Mich 223, 229; 123 NW2d 768, 771 (1963):
"It is a well-settled principle that on review of a trial court’s refusal to grant a motion for a directed verdict or judgment non obstante veredicto, the facts are reviewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff.”
And, "[i]f, when so viewed, there is any evidence which was competent and sufficient to support the jury’s determination, said determination should not be disturbed”. Taft v J L Hudson Co, 37 Mich App 692, 698; 195 NW2d 296, 299 (1972).
Defendant introduced evidence to show that plaintiff was retransferred for failure to comply with a nonpromotional bid procedure. Plaintiff introduced evidence in support of his contention that the retransfer was a product of racial consciousness deriving from the charges of Mr. Glenn. Harold Ball gave testimony at trial indicating that he was aware when retransferring plaintiff of the racial aspect of the election and of plaintiffs role therein. Evidence was also adduced to indicate various instances in which transfers in and out of 5264 were effected without particular consideration of seniority, and to show that there were black employees in 5264 at the time with less seniority than plaintiff. It is noted that defendant itself chose to transfer plaintiff to 5264 on medical grounds, and that no fellow employee had complained about this situation.
In short, plaintiff and defendant advanced two competing theories as to Ford’s motivation in the retransfer. Plaintiffs circumstantial evidence is just as competent as direct evidence. "When viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff”, the body of the evidence is sufficient for reasonable men to differ, and the question was properly presented to the jury. No error.
Defendant further ascribes two evidentiary rulings by the trial court as reversible error; specifically, admission over objections of Glenn’s "Goddamned honky” statement and of the campaign circular constituting plaintiffs exhibit 8.
Defendant contends that exhibit 8 is "irrelevant, prejudicial, and inflammatory”, maintaining that the language of the circular shows that it was distributed after plaintiffs retransfer, and thus, while probative of the state of mind of Grady Glenn, it could not shed light upon the motives of Ford, i.e., Harold Ball. While there is no firm evidence that Ball read this document prior to the retransfer, he did testify at trial that he had seen union literature and that Glenn had raised the issue of racial discrimination in demanding the retransfer. The circular is evidence that Glenn’s charges were racial in nature, and it is evidence as to the atmosphere in which Ford was motivated to make the retransfer. In White v Bailey, 10 Mich 155, 156 (1862), the Court stated:
"Where the motive of a person for doing an act out of the ordinary course of events is a legitimate subject of inquiry, under the issue, all the surrounding circumstances and influences that might have contributed to or caused such motive may be inquired into.”
It is settled that a trial court’s determinations of relevancy will only be reversed for a clear abuse of discretion. People v Howard, 391 Mich 597; 218 NW2d 20 (1974), Wilhelm v Detroit Edison Co, 56 Mich App 116; 224 NW2d 289 (1974). No clear abuse has been shown here. Defendant’s claim as to the "prejudicial and inflammatory” nature of this document is supported only by the additional reference to irrelevancy. Defendant has failed to convince that the circular is irrelevant.
Defendant also considers Glenn’s "God-damned honky” statement to Rosser to be irrelevant on largely the same ground, noting that Ford and not Rosser had responsibility for the retransfer. Again, the statement is evidence as to the motivation of Glenn in seeking the retransfer, and plaintiff’s theory of the case is built upon Ford’s awareness of and acquiescence in this motivation. We cannot find an abuse of discretion in the trial court’s admission of this statement for the consideration of the jury. That jury has made its determination.
The judgment is affirmed.
Civil Rights Act of 1964; 42 USCA 2000e et seq. | [
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Quinn, J.
Plaintiffs’ complaint sought recovery of damages for personal injuries and property damage arising out of a collision between defendant’s automobile and the automobile of Farrid Haddad. By a separate count, Ratiba Haddad sought recovery of damages for loss of consortium. Defendant moved for accelerated judgment on the basis that plaintiffs’ exclusive remedy was under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. This motion was granted; the plaintiffs’ motion for rehearing was denied, and accelerated judgment entered. Plaintiffs appeal on a single issue, namely:
Is plaintiffs’ exclusive remedy under MCLA 418.301; MSA 17.237(301)?
The accident occurred April 17, 1972 at about 3:40 p.m. on the premises of Ford Motor Company where both Farrid Haddad and defendant were employed. Farrid Haddad was on his way to work for the 3:30 shift and defendant was on his way home after his shift had ended. The accident happened near the Ford engine plant where Farrid Haddad had driven his brother to work. Farrid Haddad was returning to Specialty Foundry Rouge Plant where he worked. Both the foundry and engine plant are part of the large Rouge Plant Complex.
Plaintiffs claim that the Workmen’s Compensation Act is not their exclusive remedy because the accident did not occur on the premises of Farrid Haddad’s employer and the accident did not arise out of Farrid Haddad’s employment because he was on a personal errand.
MCLA 418.301(2) reads:
"Every employee going to or from his work while on the premises where his work is to be performed, and within a reasonable time before and after his working hours, shall be presumed to be in the course of his employment.”
Whatever Farrid Haddad was doing prior to the accident, at the time thereof, he was "going to work”, and we reject the personal errand argument.
Under a literal reading of "on the premises where his work is to be performed”, the statute would not include Farrid Haddad. However, the statute is to be construed liberally, Fischer v Lincoln Tool & Die Co, 37 Mich App 198; 194 NW2d 476 (1971). In Fischer, plaintiff was injured on a public sidewalk abutting his employer’s property and his workmen’s compensation award was affirmed. In Ladner v Vander Band, 376 Mich 321; 136 NW2d 916 (1965), plaintiff was injured by a fellow employee in a plant parking lot across the street from the place of employment. The workmen’s compensation remedy was held to be exclusive.
If on the facts of this case, Farrid Haddad was seeking workmen’s compensation benefits and his employer resisted the claim on the basis that Haddad was not on the premises where his work was to be performed, it is clear that Haddad would prevail. Liberal construction applies whether the employee is seeking benefits under the act or resisting application of the exclusive remedy provisions of the act to his cause of action. As to Farrid Haddad’s claim for personal injury damages, the trial court correctly held that workmen’s compensation is the exclusive remedy and we affirm on that claim.
Plaintiffs’ complaint contained a claim for property damage and the wife’s claim for loss of consortium. As to the wife’s claim for loss of consortium, it is barred by MCLA 418.131; MSA 17.237(131). We find that there is no provision in the Workmen’s Compensation Act applicable to plaintiffs’ claim for property damage, and, as to it, accelerated judgment was improper.
Affirmed as to Farrid Haddad’s claim for personal injury and Ratiba Haddad’s claim for loss of consortium. Reversed and remanded as to the claim for property damage. Neither side has prevailed, so we award no costs. | [
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Allen, P. J.
On March 21, 1974, defendant was convicted by jury of breaking and entering a building with intent to commit larceny. MCLA 750.110; MSA 28.305. He was sentenced to a 6-1/2 to 10-year prison term, and appeals of right. One of several assignments of error* raised by defendant requires reversal. The dispositive question, the nature of which foregoes the need for detailed recitation of the facts, is whether the trial judge must determine the issue of entrapment in trials held after the decision in People v Turner, 390 Mich 7; 210 NW2d 336 (1973).
In Turner, supra, our Supreme Court adopted the objective test for entrapment as enunciated by Justice Stewart in his dissent in United States v Russell, 411 US 423; 93 S Ct 1637; 36 L Ed 2d 366 (1973). The objective standard dispenses with the element concerning defendant’s criminal predisposition, and focuses on the conduct of the involved police — whether their acts have gone beyond the simple offering of a chance to commit crime. Under this theory, moreover, the defense of entrapment is an issue to be decided by the trial judge:
"Phrased another way, the question is whether — regardless of the predisposition to crime of the particular defendant involved — the governmental agents have acted in such a way as is likely to instigate or create a criminal offense. Under this approach, the determination of the lawfulness of the Government’s conduct must be made — as it is on all questions involving the legality of law enforcement methods — by the trial judge, not the jury.” Russell, supra, at 441
Numerous panels of this Court have paid homage to the procedure of requiring that the trial judge resolve the question of entrapment. People v Fraker, 63 Mich App 29; 233 NW2d 878 (1975), People v Zeegers, 61 Mich App 546; 233 NW2d 76 (1975), People v Habel, (On Rehearing), 53 Mich App 399; 220 NW2d 74 (1974).
In the instant case, the trial court submitted the question of entrapment to the jury:
"In your deliberation on this matter you may consider that, provided they do not entrap a person, law enforcement officers or their agents in their work are justified in using stealth, strategy, deception and undercover activity, and in merely affording opportunities or facilities for the commission of crime. Thus, law officers or their agents may engage in conduct that is likely, when objectively considered, to afford a person ready and willing to commit the crime, an opportunity to do so. But when their involvement in criminal activities goes beyond the mere offering of such an opportunity, and when their conduct is of such a kind that could induce or instigate the commission of a crime by one not ready and willing to commit it, then regardless of the character or propensities of the particular person induced, entrapment has occurred.”
The earlier cited cases are indicative of the fact that the trial court erred in submitting the question of entrapment to the jury. Nonetheless, the people argue that the initial decision recognizing this procedural requirement, People v Habel, supra, was not decided until after the instant defendant’s trial. Hence, the proposition announced in Habel and its progeny are not controlling, because Habel is not retroactive. The argument misses the mark, since the retroactivity vel non of Habel is of no moment. The decision in Habel does not stand for any newly announced principle; it merely articulates and follows the mandate implicit in Turner that the judge, not the jury, must decide the question of entrapment:
"Although our Supreme Court in Turner, supra, was persuaded by the dissenting opinion of Justice Stewart in adopting the objective theory of entrapment, it did not provide an answer to the procedural question of whether the judge or jury determines entrapment.
"The Supreme Court of Michigan has determined that the courts of this state are to be bound by the test of entrapment set forth in a dissenting opinion of the United States Supreme Court. The only logical conclusion to which this panel can come is that our Supreme Court must have intended that the language of Justice Stewart, above quoted, should also prevail on the issue of the judge-jury matter.” (Emphasis added.) Habel, supra, at 400-401.
That this is precisely what the Supreme Court intended is evident from the recent decision in People v Auer, 393 Mich 667; 227 NW2d 528 (1975).
In holding that Turner is to be accorded prospective application, the Court, through J. W. Fitzgerald, J., speaks to the judge-jury question:
"The existence of entrapment was submitted to the jury under instructions. The people’s principal witness, Pamela Dinsmore, gave testimony, the thrust of which was to indicate that the criminal intent to sell marijuana originated in the mind of the defendant. While defendant and his witnesses contradicted this account, the question was jury-decided adversely to defendant. There was no entrapment as a matter of law, the question properly being for the jury under applicable pre-Turner law.” (Emphasis added.) Auer, supra, at 677-678.
Turner pre-dated instant defendant’s trial by approximately six months. Even absent the guiding hand of the Habel Court, this Court concludes that post-burner entrapment issues are required (under Turner) to be resolved by the trial judge. It would be incredible to hold that Habel’s existence, which we think correctly interprets what Turner mandates, may serve to bar affording defendant relief.
The people maintain that even if Turner stands for the view that a judge must determine the issue of entrapment, defendant’s conviction should not be reversed, absent a showing of prejudice. We disagree.
Reversed and remanded for new trial.
D. F. Walsh, J., concurred.
Defendant maintains that the following statements by the prosecutor during closing argument constitute reversible error:
"And now a fourth one, members of the jury, he comes here before you under oath and he says, 'Yes, that’s right, I was there, and I did more than I told Detective Fiedler. I helped them carry the stuff, but it wasn’t my fault. Heck, I just shot up heroin.’
"What’s the greatest purge this country has right now, members of the jury? Drugs. And here is a man who has used several different kind by his own admission under oath to you. What kind of credibility can we give to a person like this?
"And then he comes and he tells us, yes, I did it, but it’s not my fault, because I shot up heroin and didn’t know what I was doing and Fisher was making me. Can we believe this type of testimony coming from this type of person, who says he makes his living playing pool and golf, and since May through October or longer hasn’t worked at all? Where did he get his money and how did he get his money, members of the jury? I think one of the ways was probably shown by his ability to so easily get into this place and steal from another person. No consideration or respect for his fellow man’s property. He comes here and now using last, and I won’t describe what I think of the type defense he’s using, blaming it on Fisher. Blaming it on somebody else. Blaming it on somebody else who — if it wasn’t Fisher, he’d be blaming it on somebody else.
"Sure David Fisher would rather be somewhere else, rather than sitting on that witness stand exposing himself to the drug element that Sheline belonged to and perhaps placing his life in jeopardy, because he’s got to go back to Toledo and live among these people.
"I don’t think that the Defendant seemed very scared there when I was cross-examining him. In fact, I noted on numerous occasions a smile, or, what might be more accurately termed a smirk, on his face. He didn’t seem to be nervous or jittery. He seemed to be pretty relaxed. Every time that he gave an answer that sounded pretty good to him, it showed on his face. He didn’t look like somebody who was scared up there admitting a crime as they would have us think. His testimony was not like Wiser’s.”
At the least, the prosecutor was straddling the fence which separates advocacy from error. No objection was raised to the argument below, however. Further, the trial court instructed the jury that "[Y]ou may consider the arguments, statements and remarks of the lawyers, but not as being either the evidence or the law in this case. You should disregard anything said by a lawyer which is not supported by the evidence or by your own general knowledge and experience.” We opine that the comments were not so prejudicial as to constitute a miscarriage of justice. People v Auer, 393 Mich 667; 227 NW2d 528 (1975).
No matter which test one applies — the reasonably effective assistance of counsel standard set forth in Beasley v United States, 491 F2d 687 (CA 6, 1974), or the sham or farce standard of People v Degraffenreid, 19 Mich App 702, 710; 173 NW2d 317 (1969) — it is evident that defendant failed to show he was denied the effective assistance of counsel, although counsel was far from superlative, most especially with respect to obtaining process against a defense witness.
Defendant’s contention that the district courts lack jurisdiction to bind over criminal defendants to circuit court was rejected by the Supreme Court in People v Milton, 393 Mich 234; 224 NW2d 266 (1974).
It is doubtful that the above instruction would withstand the Turner objective standard even if one assumed that submission of the question to the jury was appropriate. The introduction of the issue of predisposition, despite the disclaimer in the last phrases of the above charge, was improper. Where an instruction includes both an incorrect and a correct statement of the law, the jury will be presumed to have followed the erroneous portion. People v Gilbert Johnson, 52 Mich App 560; 218 NW2d 65 (1974).
Habel was decided on May 29, 1974; defendant’s trial commenced on March 15, 1974. Turner was decided on September 18, 1973.
None of the cases decided since Habel involved the question presently before the Court. In Zeegers, the Court reversed on other grounds, and noted that upon retrial, the question of entrapment should be decided by the trial judge. In Fraker, the defendant’s trial came after the decision in Habel.
Even if a showing of prejudice were necessary, we believe it existed in the instant case. Defendant took the stand at trial, and admitted his involvement in the charged offense. Under the traditional standard of entrapment — pre- Turner — admission of guilt is deemed a prerequisite to raising the defense of entrapment. People v Bersine, 48 Mich App 295, 299; 210 NW2d 501 (1973). Since the adoption of the objective standard, however, a defendant apparently will not have to take the witness stand in the presence of the jury and admit his guilt. It would appear that a hearing, similar to a Walker hearing, will be held in the jury’s absence. If defendant is successful in his entrapment defense, he will be entitled to a dismissal. If the court rules against defendant, the trial will proceed without the jury being apprised of the testimony by defendant during the proceedings should he choose not to testify. Because the Court cannot say for certain that instant defendant would have waived his privilege against self-incrimination and would have taken the witness stand (and admitted his guilt) had a proper hearing on the determination of entrapment been held, we think that sufficient showing of prejudice does exist. | [
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O’Hara, J.
This case is before us a second time by reason of our order of remand reported at 47 Mich App 536, 541; 209 NW2d 698 (1973):
"Plaintiff is entitled to back pay from September 30, 1969, the date all pending indictments against him were dismissed.
"Reversed, no costs.
"All concurred.”
On remand the issue raised was how much "back pay” plaintiff was entitled to. The circuit judge entered a judgment in the amount of $49,-922 plus some $9,601.71 in interest. Subsequently, an amended judgment was entered. The latter judgment did not affect either of the above two provisions.
From this judgment defendant filed a motion in this Court.
The motion was treated as an application for leave to appeal from the amended judgment and leave was granted.
Plaintiff-appellee contends this question is res judicata because the decision in 47 Mich App 536, supra, ordered back pay. We think not. The question is not whether appellee is entitled to back pay but how much back pay. The determination of that issue is implicit in the order of remand.
Thus we come to the first of the two essential legal questions. Is appellant city entitled to the benefit of the doctrine of mitigation (or otherwise stated, whether the City of Highland Park may reduce the amount of damages recoverable by the plaintiff by whatever sums the plaintiff has earned or could have earned in other employment following his discharge as a policeman)?
The precise statutory language which is the source of the present controversy is as follows:
"In event that the civil service commission fails to justify the action of the removing officer then the person sought to be removed shall be reinstated with full pay for the entire period during which he may have been prevented from performing his usual employment * * * (Emphasis supplied.) MCLA 38.514; MSA 5.3364.
It would avail nothing to cite copiously from the impressive number of cases cited pro and contra in the parties’ briefs and discuss the nuances of the various statutes, ordinances and classes of employees involved. Judge (now Justice) Levin said it all in Hamtramck Civil Service Commission v Pitlock, 44 Mich App 410, 414-415; 205 NW2d 293 (1973):
"He is further entitled to back pay for the entire period of wrongful discharge, amounting to normal wages which he would have received while working in his regular employment, less wages actually earned during that period. "(Emphasis added.)
By this opinion we are not bound as our panels may and not infrequently do disagree. However, by the holding in Shiffer v Gibraltar Schools, 393 Mich 190; 224 NW2d 255 (1974), we are bound. It is a majority opinion of the Supreme Court.
"Having in mind the pattern of like remedial legislation * * * , we cannot ascribe to the Legislature a purpose of awarding such large amounts without regard to actual economic loss * * * .” (Emphasis supplied.) 393 Mich at 199.
The Shiffer opinion, quoting from McCormick, Damages, § 33, p 127, took considerable care to explain the rationale of the mitigation doctrine and its broad applicability to a multitude of different situations. We quote the relevant portions:
"The rights protected by the mitigation doctrine are not just those of contracting parties, commercial liti gants, tort victims or tortfeasors but, rather, the rights of all society: 'Legal rules and doctrines are designed not only to prevent and repair individual loss and injustice, but to protect and conserve the economic welfare and prosperity of the whole community.’
"Mitigation of damages is, thus, the 'machinery by which the law seeks to encourage the avoidance of loss’.” 393 Mich at 198.
We note further that the concluding portion of the order of remand contained the following instructions:
"(i) to deduct from the 'salary’ Shiffer would have earned all wages he actually earned .that he would not have earned if he were employed as a teacher, and (ii) to consider any evidence the school district offers that Shiffer, through exertion of proper efforts, could have earned more.” 393 Mich at 209.
We are aware of the split in holdings among the other states, but we perforce follow our Supreme Court. We read this to be that the terms "full pay for the entire period”, "all back pay” and any variations thereof are all subject to the Michigan adopted common law doctrine of mitigation and mean "net back pay”. See Shiffer, supra.
However, plaintiff asserts one other basic argument. He claims that since he is a policeman he is a "public officer” and as to him the mitigation doctrine does not apply. In this contention we also take a contrary view.
A public officer in the general everyday acceptance of the term is a special classification of those involved in government at what may be described as in an executive classification, whether his elevation to that status is elective or appointive. His compensation is fixed by legislative action, state or local. He does not collectively bargain for his wages or working conditions, and in no case that we know of are his duties and the standard of performance therefor agreed on by labor contracts. We think this is what Chief Justice Cooley meant by what he said in 1879:
"An office is a special trust or charge created by competent authority. If not merely honorary, certain duties will be connected with it, the performance of which will be the consideration for its being conferred upon a particular individual, who for the time will be the officer. The officer is distinguished from the employee in the greater importance, dignity and independence of his position; in being required to take an official oath, and perhaps to give an official bond; in the liability to be called to account as a public offender for misfeasance or non-feasance in office, and usually, though not necessarily, in the tenure of his position.” Throop v Langdon, 40 Mich 673, 682-683 (1879).
We recognize authority to the contrary but we opt to follow what we think was the thrust of his definition. If appellee as a policeman is a "public officer” of Highland Park, then every state policeman is a "public officer” of the State of Michigan. We reject the contention.
Under the mandate of Shiffer, supra, we reverse and vacate the modified judgment granting lost pay without mitigation.
We remand the cause to. the trial court for determination of "net loss of pay” under the authority of Shiffer.
We retain no jurisdiction and award no costs, a public question.
T. M. Burns, P. J., concurred.
We note that our holding here is in some respects arguably at variance with Parker v Township of West Bloomfield, 60 Mich App 583; 231 NW2d 424 (1975). | [
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Allen, J.
The trial court, sitting without a jury, found defendants guilty of extortion by accusation. MCLA 750.213; MSA 28.410. On September 28, 1973, the trial court sentenced Plamondon to five years’ probation, and sentenced Blazier to two years’ probation.
This case arises out of an incident which occurred January 31, 1973, when defendants entered the home rented by Uwe Wagner, a self-confessed drug dealer in Honor, Michigan. Defendants came to collect $3,000 which Wagner apparently owed Blazier in exchange for 25 pounds of marijuana which Blazier had sold to Wagner in the first part of January, 1973. Defendants threatened Wagner, stating that his failure to pay the $3,000 would result in Wagner suffering broken arms and legs. Defendants further threatened Wagner that they would expose him as a "rip-off artist” and would inform various governmental agencies that Wagner was an opium pusher. Plamondon apparently told Wagner to come up with the money by Valentine’s Day, and directed Wagner’s attention to the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Various personal articles of Wagner’s, including his stereo speakers, his social security card, alien registration card and draft registration card, as well as a water pipe, some clothing and some other pipes utilized in the consumption of various controlled substances, were taken by defendants as "collateral” for the money which Wagner allegedly owed Blazier.
The day after defendants departed from Wagner’s home, Wagner contacted an attorney who arranged protective custody for Wagner in the Antrim county jail. Subsequent thereto, he dis cussed what had occurred with a state police officer who in turn contacted officers from the state police headquarters in East Lansing. On February 26, 1973, Wagner, at the suggestion of Detective Sergeant Robert F. Ward of the intelligence section of the Michigan State Police, telephoned Plamondon to discuss Plamondon’s role in the affair and Wagner’s apparent ability to pay the defendants shortly. Another phone call was made February 27, at which time the same matters were discussed. Both calls were made by Wagner from Sgt. Ward’s room 133 in the Foxhouse Motel located in Traverse City and while Officer Ward was present.
Both of the above phone calls were tape recorded, and the tapes were played at trial and admitted into evidence over defense counsel’s objection. Sgt. Ward placed an induction coil onto the earpiece of the telephone, and the recording was fed into a tape recorder. While the officer, who was present in the motel room, could hear Wagner speak, he had to replay the tape to hear what Plamondon was saying, and did so immediately after the call was completed. Ward testified that after meeting Wagner during the afternoon of February 26, he suggested that the taped telephone calls be made to Plamondon. Ward had been assigned to the case on February 23, and after speaking with Wagner, decided that the proper thing to do would be to call Plamondon who, based upon Wagner’s recital of the event, seemed to be the person in charge.
The above facts have framed defendants’ initial claim on appeal, namely, whether defendants’ right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, US Const, Am IV and Const 1963, art 1, § 11, was violated when tapes of those two tele phone conversations between defendant and the complaining witness Wagner were admitted into evidence, where the conversations were obtained without obtaining prior judicial authorization in the form of a warrant. This case presents a second claim of error — that defendants were the victims of a discriminatory and politically-based prosecution in light of the history of the relationship between various state law enforcement agencies and members of defendants’ political organization (Rainbow People’s Party), the resources expended and devoted to the investigation and prosecution of defendants, and the decision by the prosecutor not to pursue enforcement actions against Wagner, the informant, but rather pursuing this case against defendants.
Relying upon Katz v United States, 389 US 347; 88 S Ct 507; 19 L Ed 2d 576 (1967), defendants argue that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the tapes and transcripts thereof of two telephone conversations had between Wagner and defendant where, without prior judicial authorization, the State Police monitored a phone call (at Wagner’s end of the line) and recorded the same. The prosecutor responds, and relies upon United States v White, 401 US 745; 91 S Ct 1122; 28 L Ed 2d 453 (1971), for the proposition that the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures is inapplicable to such a situation. Research has disclosed that our Court has previously declined to apply Katz to the warrantless eavesdropping and recording of a telephone call made with the cooperation of a police informant or the complaining witness. People v Drielick, 56 Mich App 664, 667; 224 NW2d 712 (1974), People v Rappuhn, 55 Mich App 52, 59-60; 222 NW2d 30 (1974), lv den, 393 Mich 808 (1975), and People v Karalla, 35 Mich App 541, 545; 192 NW2d 676 (1971), lv den, 386 Mich 765 (1971). Further, our Court in People v Bruno, 30 Mich App 375, 382-383; 186 NW2d 339 (1971), applied the pre-Katz decision of Rathbun v United States, 355 US 107; 78 S Ct 161; 2 L Ed 2d 134 (1957), to find no violation of defendant’s rights. Recently, the Michigan Supreme Court found that the warrantless monitoring of a conversation between defendant and an informant who was equipped with a radio transmitter under his shirt and who transmitted the conversation to police officers violated defendant’s right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and in particular bottomed its decision upon Michigan’s constitutional protection against the same, Const 1963, art 1, § 11. People v Beavers, 393 Mich 554; 227 NW2d 511 (1975). However, that opinion limited itself to prospective application, and we are thus unable to specifically predicate our decision upon it.
At the outset , of our discussion, we note that Rathbun, supra, was not a constitutional case, but rather was based upon a specific Federal statute which was concerned with the interception and divulging of communications. A subsequent decision dealing with the same statutory provision, 47 USC 605, found error in light of the facts therein, but specifically noted that the Fourth Amendment claim was not decided and that the opinion was limited to the statutory grounds. Lee v Florida, 392 US 378, 379; 88 S Ct 2096, 2097; 20 L Ed 2d 1166 (1968). Thus, the Lee-Rathbun line of cases cited in Bruno, supra, would be inapplicable to a constitutional claim.
In Katz, supra, the public telephone booth from which defendant had made a telephone call was "bugged” and law enforcement officials were able to listen to and record defendant’s words. In the course of its discussion, Katz, supra, noted that "What a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection.” 389 US at 351; 88 S Ct at 511; 19 L Ed 2d at 582. The Court said that Katz, making a telephone call in a public telephone booth, had a right to "rely upon the protection of the Fourth Amendment”, and that he was "entitled to assume that the words he utter[ed] into the mouthpiece [would] not be broadcast to the world”. 389 US at 352; 88 S Ct at 511-512; 19 L Ed 2d at 582. Katz, supra, further noted that the Fourth Amendment governed "the recording of oral statements * * * ”, and that the government’s use of an electronic device to listen to and record defendant’s statements "violated the privacy upon which he justifiably relied while using the telephone booth”, and therefore was found to be "a 'search and seizure’ within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment”. 389 US at 353; 88 S Ct at 512; 19 L Ed 2d at 583. Katz, supra, noted that electronic surveillance did not come within the specific exceptions to the warrant requirement (incident to arrest, hot pursuit), pointed out that the nature of the police activity "preclude[d] its use pursuant to the suspect’s consent”, consent and rejected the argument that electronic surveillance of a phone booth constituted a separate exception to the warrant requirement. 389 US at 357-358; 88 S Ct at 514-515; 19 L Ed 2d at 585-586.
United States v White, 401 US 745, 746-747; 91 S Ct 1122, 1123; 28 L Ed 2d 453, 456 (1971), upon which the prosecutor relies, involved the use, by a government informant, of a radio transmitter concealed on his person which transmitted conversa tions entered into between defendant and the informant to government agents who could overhear the conversations by monitoring the frequency of the transmitter. Mr. Justice White, speaking for himself and three other justices, rejected the argument that Katz, supra, precluded the admission into evidence of the agent’s testimony regarding the overheard conversations. In the course of his discussion, Mr. Justice White referred to the "misplaced confidence” decision of Hoffa v United States, 385 US 293; 87 S Ct 408; 17 L Ed 2d 374 (1966), which afforded no Fourth Amendment protection to defendant engaged in a personal confrontation with an informant barren of electronic surveillance equipment, Lewis v United States, 385 US 206; 87 S Ct 424; 17 L Ed 2d 312 (1966), involving a personal encounter between defendant and a nonelectronically equipped narcotics agent who concealed his identity to purchase narcotics from defendant, and Lopez v United States, 373 US 427; 83 S Ct 1381; 10 L Ed 2d 462 (1963), which also involved a personal meeting between defendant and a government agent who was equipped with a pocket tape recorder but who had been invited to defendant’s office and with whom defendant spoke voluntarily. Relying upon the above, Justice White concluded that because police agents acting by themselves could participate in warrant-less activities, the mere introduction of electronic aids should not carry the case to the proportions of a Fourth Amendment violation. 401 US at 751-753; 91 S Ct at 1126-1127; 28 L Ed 2d at 458-460.
Because White, supra, was decided some four years after Katz, supra, it would appear at first blush that the monitoring in the case before us was not a violation of Fourth Amendment protection. For reasons which we now spell out in detail, we do not agree. Mr. Justice Harlan wrote the major dissenting opinion in White, supra, and in the course thereof distinguished the. "misplaced confidence” situation from the problem in which a third party, unknown to defendant, may be listening to the conversation. 401 US at 776-777; 91 S Ct at 1138; 28 L Ed 2d at 472-473. This monitoring was not present in the cases referred to in Justice White’s opinion. We have seen that in Hoffa, supra, the informant personally met with defendant then repeated the conversation to police officers. Lewis v United States, supra, also involved a personal encounter and no electronic surveillance. Defendant therein knowingly invited the agent into his home to engage in a narcotic transaction. While a pocket tape recorder was involved in Lopez v United States, supra, defendant therein specifically consented to speak to the agent in person. Harlan stated that On Lee v United States, 343 US 747; 72 S Ct 967; 96 L Ed 1270 (1952), could "no longer be regarded as sound law”, 401 US at 769; 91 S Ct at 1134; 28 L Ed 2d at 468, and subsequently referred to the general proposition that "official investigatory action that impinges on privacy must typically, in order to be constitutionally permissible, be subjected to the warrant requirement”. 401 US at 781; 91 S Ct at 1140; 28 L Ed 2d at 475. Harlan noted the distinctions between the situation in White, supra, and the Lopez, Lewis, Hoffa cases, which we have noted above, and concluded that the citizens of our country should not be burdened with "the risks of the electronic listener or observer without at least the protection of a warrant requirement”. 401 US at 784-786; 91 S Ct at 1142-1143; 28 L Ed 2d at 477-478.
Mr. Justice Harlan’s views as to the purpose of the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement, bear a resemblance to a statement made by former Justice Cooley in Weimer v Bunbury, 30 Mich 201 (1874), a civil suit involving a public levy upon the petitioner’s property. In the course of rejecting the argument that Const 1850, art 6, § 26, a predecessor to Const 1963, art 1, § 11, had been violated when the petitioner’s property had been seized and levied upon, Justice Cooley said that the purpose of this constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures:
"was to make sacred the privacy of the citizen’s dwelling and person against everything but process issued upon a showing of legal cause for invading it”. 30 Mich at 208.
In light of the well-established purpose of Michigan’s constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and former Justice Harlan’s discussion of the Federal protection against the same, we are prepared to state that our Court should adhere to Harlan’s rather than White’s views on this question. Michigan is not bound by plurality opinions of the United States Supreme Court, it having been stated that where there is no agreement by a majority of the United States Supreme Court on the ground of a decision, that decision is not binding precedent for subsequent cases. People v Anderson, 389 Mich 155, 170; 205 NW2d 461 (1973). As noted earlier, Mr. Justice White and three other justices specifically agreed with his Fourth Amendment analysis, whereas Justice Black concurred in the judgment of the case.
Further support for our conclusion that we should not be bound by Mr. Justice White’s opinion is the fact that the White, supra, decision necessarily had to be premised on pr e-Katz, supra, law. In fact, Mr. Justice White, the three other' members who previously joined him, as well as Mr. Justice Brennan who specifically concurred in the result in light of Desist v United States, 394 US 244; 89 S Ct 1030; 22 L Ed 2d 248 (1969), specifically said that White, supra, which involved electronic surveillance which occurred in late 1965 and early 1966, previous to the December 18, 1967 date of the Katz, supra, decision, had to be bound by pre-Katz, supra, law in light of the Desist opinion which had held that Katz, supra, was not retroactive. 401 US at 754; 91 S Ct at 1127; 28 L Ed 2d at 460. The Court in White, supra, had to apply the pre-Katz decisions, most notably On Lee, supra. Our case involves electronic surveillance which occurred subsequent to the date of the Katz, supra, decision, and we find that the result in White, supra, premised upon pr e-Katz, supra, law, to be inapplicable to our case. See Holmes v Burr, 486 F2d 55, 71 (CA 9, 1973) (Hufstedler, J., dissenting), cert den, 414 US 1116; 94 S Ct 850; 38 L Ed 2d 744 (1973).
As to the merits in the present case, we make the following observations. Unlike the "face-to-face” situations found in the previously distinguished cases relied upon by Mr. Justice White, defendant herein did not know that Police Officer Ward, seated in the officer’s motel room with Wagner, was monitoring and recording defendant’s telephone call with Wagner. While Wagner, an admitted drug dealer, of course cooperated with the police to obtain this incriminating evidence against defendant, defendant was obviously, by the nature of electronic surveillance and the goal of this operation, not apprised of what was going on. It would seem absurd to find that defendant had somehow consented to this activity. To say that Wagner’s consent would suffice would seem to run afoul of the rule in Stoner v California, 376 US 483; 84 S Ct 889; 11 L Ed 2d 856 (1964), wherein it was held that the hotel manager could not consent to a search of a guest’s room. That person’s Fourth Amendment protections were personal and could not be waived by a hotel manager. Wagner obviously "knowingly exposed” his words to the officer and the tape recorder, but Plamondon did not.
Our decision not to adhere to the approach of Mr. Justice White’s opinion, but rather to follow the principle of Katz, supra, does not in any way preclude the use by police of this 'important law enforcement tool. Rather, our opinion merely requires that a warrant be issued by a judicial officer after a showing of probable cause has been made. While perhaps the facts herein could support such a finding, ex post facto justifications or rationales which might have supported the issuance of a warrant previous to the wiretapping, cannot be used to save the case from a finding of error. Katz, supra, 389 US at 356; 88 S Ct at 514; 19 L Ed 2d at 585. Because the officers failed to secure a warrant previous to engaging in this sort of activity, we find that defendants’ right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures was violated and that reversible error was committed when the tapes and transcripts of the overheard conversations were introduced into evidence. Defendants are therefore entitled to a new trial.
The second claim of error contains two assertions: first, that the decision to prosecute defendants, and the mariner in which the prosecution was handled, was done so with an "evil eye” and an "unequal hand”, contrary to the principles of Yick Wo v Hopkins, 118 US 356; 6 S Ct 1064; 30 L Ed 220 (1886), and second, that defendants’ rights of free speech and association, US Const, Am I and Const 1963, art 1, §§ 3 and 5, were also violated because their prosecution was politically motivated and that it had a chilling effect not only upon defendants themselves but upon their political organization as well.
Defendants’ first contention is without merit. It is, of course, well established that constitutional provisions forbid discriminatory enforcement of laws and the prosecution for the alleged violations thereof. However, a violation of equal protection will not be found unless the decision to prosecute was based upon religion, race, or some other arbitrary or invidious classification. Defendants have failed to make an affirmative showing that the decision to prosecute them was premised upon such a classification, and we must find that this part of their argument is without merit. See Sponick v Detroit Police Department, 49 Mich App 162, 205-206; 211 NW2d 674 (1973), and cases cited therein, and People v Smyers, 47 Mich App 61, 66-67; 209 NW2d 281 (1973), lv granted, 391 Mich 766 (1974), and cases cited therein as well. Thus, the balance of our opinion will be concerned with defendants’ assertion that their rights of speech and political association were violated when they were charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit extortion, extortion, and conspiracy to commit criminal usury, faced trial on all but the armed robbery counts, and were convicted by the trial court, sitting without a jury, of one count of extortion by threat of accusation. MCLA 750.213; MSA 28.410.
Defendants have referred the Court to a number of Federal decisions in which courts have found discriminatory prosecutions in violation of First Amendment freedoms, and have urged that we apply the principles of those cases to the instant problem. In United States v Crowthers, 456 F2d 1074, 1076 (CA 4, 1972), defendants, participants in an Episcopal "Mass for peace” on the Pentagon concourse, were arrested for violating GSA regulations regarding disorderly conduct and the distribution of handbills. It was established that other religious services had been held on the concourse, and that the participants therein had not faced arrest where those services were in support of the armed forces or the health of the president. Further, there had been band recitals, a vice presiden tial speech, and a presentation by the West Point Choir, all of which were as loud, if not louder than the noise generated by defendants’ "Mass for peace”. Crowthers reversed defendants’ convictions on the grounds that they were selectively prosecuted or subjected to the unequal and oppressive application of the regulations. 456 F2d at 1078-1079. Crowthers said that the government could not pick and choose between those who could demonstrate and utilize the facilities of the concourse and those who could not. Unlike defendants in Crowthers, defendants were not subject to the unequal or oppressive application of the extortion laws, and defendants have failed to present any evidence disclosing the state government’s favorable view of some extortionists while pursuing the prosecution of instant defendants.
Likewise, United States v McLeod, 385 F2d 734, 739-740 (CA 5, 1967), which incidentally was premised upon 42 USC 1971 rather than the Constitution, held that the above statute was violated when voting registration volunteers in Selma, Alabama were subject to harrassment by local officials and were arrested while they were engaged in various voter registration activities. The Court found that there had been a well-established pattern of "baseless arrest”, 385 F2d at 741 and, as in Crowthers, supra, the defendants in McLeod were engaged in protected First Amendment activities when they were subjected to the baseless law enforcement. Such was not the case before us.
In United States v Steele, 461 F2d 1148, 1150 (CA 9, 1972), four vocal and active critics of the United States government’s census were arrested and prosecuted for their refusal to answer questions asked by the census taker. These persons, active in the census resistance movement in Ha waii, were able to establish that other persons, who also refused to answer but who were less vocal and less public in their expression of displeasure with the census, were not subjects of prosecution. Unlike defendants in Steele, who were able to obtain relief, defendants herein, while advocates for the legalization of marijuana and active participants in the Rainbow People’s Party, were prosecuted for crimes unrelated to the exercise of their rights of free speech and association. Defendants were not prosecuted, in this case, for using, possessing, or selling marijuana, or for advocating the same, but rather were prosecuted for extortion.
In United States v Falk, 479 F2d 616, 619 (CA 7, 1973), a leader in the Chicago area draft resistance was subject to prosecution for failure to carry his draft card, a violation of 50 USC App 462, and his refusal to submit for induction. Falk noted the general rule that discriminatory prosecution based upon defendant’s exercise of First Amendment freedoms is forbidden, 479 F2d at 620, and referred to the fact that defendant, contrary to established selective service policy not to prosecute those who failed to carry a draft card, was singled out for prosecution. 479 F2d at 621.
While in the instant case the Attorney General’s Department was involved in the prosecution of defendants, rather than the local prosecutor, that action was justified on the grounds that there was no elected local prosecutor at the time involved in this case. Further, none of the factors discussed in Falk were involved in our case, and once again we must refer to the fact that defendants’ acts of extortion were unrelated to any protected First Amendment activity.
In United States v Berrigan, 482 F2d 171, 176- 177 (CA 3, 1973), the Court found no discriminatory prosecution of defendants who had sent letters in and out of prison and who had been charged with conspiracy to kidnap Henry Kissinger, destroy the underground heating system in Washington, D. C., and raid draft boards. Despite the fact that about 100 FBI agents had been waiting outside of a church to capture the brother of one of the defendants, that agents had engaged in surveillance of one of the defendants and that the director of the FBI had made public his personal views of the incident, the Court found that defendants’ activities and plans were outside the parameters of the First Amendment and that they failed to establish their claim of discriminatory prosecution. 482 F2d at 177-179. Likewise, despite the fact that the Michigan State Police and the Attorney General’s office were involved in the prosecution of defendants, that these officers cooperated with the Ann Arbor police department in the arrest of defendants, that a res gestae witness was interviewed in Massachusetts and that an aerial photograph was taken of the scene of the arrest, we find that defendants’ claim that they were subject to discriminatory prosecution is without merit. Although active in the Rainbow People’s Party and advocates for a number of anti-establishment causes, their prosecution was basically limited to a violation of the state’s criminal law prohibiting extortion, and defendants have failed to show that other alleged extortionists with pro-establishment viewpoints were not subjects of prosecution.
Examination of the trial court’s opinion discloses that the trial judge acquitted defendants on a number of charges, found them guilty only of extortion by accusation, pointed out that the At torney General was needed in Benzie County due to the lack of a local elected prosecutor, noted that the Rainbow People’s Party was not on trial, that the issue of marijuana was not on trial, and analyzed the specific facts involved in the case in the course of reaching his conclusions. Further, at sentencing, the trial court stated that defendants’ political views had nothing to do with the sentence, and specifically said that they may engage in political activities while on probation. There is no merit to defendants’ claim that they were discriminated against in this case.
Reversed and remanded for new trial pursuant to our resolution of the first issue.
D. E. Holbrook, Jr., J., concurred.
See Mr. Justice Black’s concurrence, premised upon his dissent in Katz, supra, in which he felt that the Fourth Amendment was inapplicable to "eavesdropping” and that one’s words could not be seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. 389 US 347, 364-365; 88 S Ct 507, 518-519; 19 L Ed 2d 576, 589-595, cited at 401 US at 754; 91 S Ct at 1127; 28 L Ed 2d at 460.
See People v Chism, 390 Mich 104, 134-138; 211 NW2d 193 (1973), and cases cited therein, for a discussion of the problem of third-party consent to a search of jointly owned and/or jointly occupied premises. In the course of its discussion of the issue, Chism noted that Hoffa, supra, Lopez, supra, involving face-to-face encounters and the application of the "misplaced confidence” doctrine, were somewhat analogous to a joint owner/occupier consenting to a search and seizure, on the grounds that both situations included an "assumption of the risk” that the third party "would divulge the secret or property to someone else”. 390 Mich at 136, fn 24.
Unlike Lopez, supra and Hoffa, supra, the instant case involves the presence of a "surreptitious third ear”, 401 US at 784; 91 S Ct at 1142; 28 L Ed 2d at 477 (Harlan, J.), which had gained access to words spoken by Plamondon in his home by attaching an electronic device to a telephone receiver used by Wagner in a motel room. The instant situation, in particular the use of electronic monitoring, the lack of face-to-face encounter, and the absence of a joint owner/ occupier relationship, precludes a finding that Wagner’s consent to the monitoring and recording obviated the necessity of prior judicial authorization for this police procedure.
Our holding conflicts with that of our Court’s previous cases on this issue, supra. However, splits of authority do arise in our Court, and one panel is not necessarily bound by the holdings of other panels. See Miller v Midwest Foundry Corp, 57 Mich App 761, 769; 226 NW2d 721 (1975) — proper interest amount on workmen’s compensation award, People v Pence, 42 Mich App 215, 216-217; 201 NW2d 275 (1972) — use of juvenile record by sentencing judge. | [
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D. E. Holbrook, P. J.
On November 21, 1973, a jury convicted defendant of armed robbery, contrary to MCLA 750.529; MSA 28.797. On January 17, 1974, defendant was sentenced to 8 to 25 years in prison. Defendant has consistently maintained his innocence. He appeals his conviction as of right.
On August 24, 1973, several men robbed a Benton Harbor tavern at gunpoint. Neither the bartender nor any of the patrons who were in the bar at the time of the robbery were able to identify defendant as one of the holdup men. As a matter of fact, one of the witnesses testified that defendant "wasn’t one of them”. While the fingerprints of some of the other suspects were found in the alleged get-away car, defendant’s fingerprints were not found. The only evidence linking defendant to the crime in question was an unsigned typewritten confession. Defendant took the stand in his own behalf, entered an alibi defense, and denied ever making the statements contained in the confession. Defendant admitted having a conversation with the officer in question on the date the confession was allegedly made, but he claims that conversation was restricted to promises of leniency for defendant’s younger brother should defendant decide to make a statement. The question of the admissibility of the conversation was decided at a Walker hearing well in advance of trial; but the admissibility of the conversation is not the subject of this appeal. We are here concerned with the manner in which the purported confession was introduced into evidence.
At trial, the detective who allegedly took the statement from defendant was allowed to read it into the record verbatim under the "past recollection recorded” exception to the hearsay rule. Defendant makes several allegations of error concerning the application of the doctrine of past recollection recorded to the facts of this case. We are constrained to agree with one of defendant’s allegations, and feel that it requires reversal. Defendant correctly contends that a proper foundation was not laid to allow the admission of this statement as evidence as a past recollection recorded. The rule in Michigan is stated in Jaxon v Detroit, 379 Mich 405, 413; 151 NW2d 813, 816 (1967):
"To qualify a writing otherwise objectionable as hearsay to be admitted in evidence as a past recollection recorded, a proper foundation must be laid. That foun dation should consist in the following: (a) a showing that the witness has no present recollection of the facts, (b) a showing that the witness’ memory is not refreshed upon reference to the document, (c) a showing that the document is an original memorandum made by the witness from personal observation, (d) a showing that the document was prepared by the witness contemporaneously with the event and was an accurate recording of the occurrence and, (e) a showing that the substance of the proffered writing is otherwise admissible.”
Applying the rule in Jaxon, the Michigan Supreme Court in People v Rodgers, 388 Mich 513, 519; 201 NW2d 621, 624 (1972), said:
"The written memorandum was read to the jury. This constituted its admission in evidence. This was error. The writing was prepared by the Detective Taylor, out of court and was not signed by the witness King. The writing was hearsay. It was an extrajudicial statement (by Taylor) offered to prove the truth of the thing said (that King had spoken the words imputed to him).
"There was nothing to prevent Taylor from testifying verbally. He could have related his conversation with King. If he could not recall the conversation, he could have been shown the memorandum to refresh his memory. If he could not then testify without the aid of the memorandum, the written memorandum might then have been introduced in evidence and read to the jury provided a proper foundation was laid.”
Thus, the first requirement in laying a foundation for the past recollection recorded exception is that the witness have no present recollection of the facts. People v Banks, 50 Mich App 622, 625; 213 NW2d 817, 818 (1973). This was never shown in the case before us:
”Q. [by assistant prosecutor]. And do you recall each and every question you may have asked the defendant and each and every answer he gave?
"A. [by police officer Popp]. No, sir, not offhand.
”Q. Do you have a copy of the record you made of that conversation with the defendant with you?
[A. Yes, sir, I do.
"Q. O.K. 1 ask you do you have it with you?
"A. Yes, sir, I do.
”Q. Would you remove it, please?
"A. Yes, sir.
”Q. All right. At this time 1 will ask you to look at that record, officer, and I will ask you whether by looking at it you can recall each and every question and answer just by look at it?
’A. Not just by looking at it, sir, not enough to testify in a court of law.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Obviously, there is a big difference between having no recollection whatever and recalling "each and every question and answer”. Few humans are blessed with total recall. Fortunately, our courts do not demand total recall of witnesses; nor will they allow a document to be read into evidence merely because a witness cannot remember perfectly the conversation the document embodies.
Had it been established that the witness had no recollection of the conversation in question, the next step in laying a foundation would have been to show that a reading of the document would not refresh his memory. The question is not whether a reading of the document will, in the witness’s own opinion, refresh his memory "enough to testify in a court of law”. He should have been questioned in order to determine whether or not be could testify without the aid of the memorandum after he had read it.
Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
Bronson, J., concurred. | [
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After Remand
D. E. Holbrook, P. J.
Our previous opinion in this case is found at 60 Mich App 690; 233 NW2d 26 (1975). Therein we remanded in accord with GCR 1963, 820.1(5) for a hearing in accord with People v Robinson, 390 Mich 629; 213 NW2d 106 (1973). We said therein at 60 Mich App 698; 233 NW2d at 30:
"It shall be the obligation of the trial judge to require the prosecutor to produce or explain why he cannot produce Edrita Roth át such hearing, and why she was not produced at trial. If [Miss] Roth is produced she shall be examined regarding her knowledge of the crime of which defendant was convicted.”
The remand hearing was held May 28, 1975, and several witnesses testified. Jack Billingsley, a Grand Rapids police officer, testified as follows concerning the failure to produce Edrita Roth, an indorsed res gestae witness, at the trial:
"Q [defense attorney]: To answer my question though, prior to January 7, if that is the date, January 7, 1974, two days before trial, prior to January 7 you had made no attempt to serve the subpoenas?
"A. Not that I recall.
"Q. Specifically with respect to Edrita Roth you had made no effort to serve the subpoena?
'A. Not that I recall.
”Q. When you went out to the bank on January 7, 1974, someone told you that Edrita no longer worked there?
’A. Yes.
"Q. You don’t recall who informed you of that?
’A. I don’t remember specifically who that was.
”Q. To the best of your recollection someone simply said she lived in Seattle?
'A. Whether it was a manager or another teller, I don’t remember.
”Q. Did you talk to her employer to find out her home address?
'A. I talked — going back to my standard procedure, if I find someone out of town—
"Q. Well, Officer, in all due respect, I want you to try to recall your memory of this case.
'A. To say specifically if I remember talking to them at this point in time, I do not.
”Q. You have no recollection then of attempting to serve the subpoena on Edrita Roth at any home address in the Grand Rapids area?
’A. I don’t recall having a home address on them, sir.
"Q. Well, do you recall what you did to try to obtain a home address on them?
"A. As I recall, I went to the bank and received the information from that point. I don’t recall if I had any other information or not.
”Q. Would it be fair to say then, Officer, that you went to the bank approximately two days prior to the scheduled trial to serve the subpoena on Edrita Roth?
’A. Yes.
”Q. Would it further be true that someone at the bank, the person whom you are not sure whether it was a manager or coemployee, informed you that she lived in Seattle, Washington?
'A. Yes.
"Q. Is it further true that after that you did nothing to attempt to serve the subpoena other than to advise the prosecutor’s office of the situation?
'A. As I recall, yes.
”Q. You did nothing to contact any of her family?
'A. I don’t recall that, no.
”Q. You did nothing to try to locate the home address for Edrita Roth in the Grand Rapids area?
'A. I may have, but I don’t recall doing so.
“Q. Do you recall talking with anyone other than one person who said to you that she now lived in Seattle, Washington?
’A. As I recall there were two other people subpoenaed. Whether I discussed with each of those or both of those, at this point in time, I don’t remember.
"Q. Were you given any directions by the prosecutor’s office as to further efforts that you should undertake to serve Edrita Roth?
'A. None that I remember.
”Q. Do you recall making any telephone conversations or telephone calls to anyone to try to locate Edrita Roth?
"A. None that I can recall.
”Q. Officer, are you familiar as a server of subpoenas that the statute which authorizes one to secure the attendance of a witness who resides in the sister state? [sic.]
"A. No, I am not.
”Q. You made no efforts then I take it to request from the trial court a certificate or a subpoena for purposes of service of this subpoena on Edrita Roth in the state of Washington?
'A. On no cases do I handle any mail or subpoenas to persons outside of the city. It is done by the prosecutor or the city attorney or whoever handles the subpoenas originally.
"Q. In this particular case then, to answer my question, you did not apply to the court for the issuance of the subpoena for out of the state service?
’A. No, I did not.
”Q. To your knowledge did any one else in this particular case?
’A. Not to my knowledge.”
It is obvious that the prosecution failed to follow the statutory procedure for securing the out-of-state witness’s attendance at the trial, and further, that the people failed to exercise the degree of due diligence required. People v Harrison, 44 Mich App 578; 205 NW2d 900 (1973), People v Nieto, 33 Mich App 535; 190 NW2d 579 (1971).
The trial judge also ruled on the remand to the circuit court that the testimony of Edrita Roth, the res gestae witness, would be merely cumulative. There was no additional testimony taken at the remand hearing of witnesses who observed the occurrence concerning the alleged crime. In our previous opinion we determined that there was no evidence presented at trial that Edrita Roth’s testimony would be merely cumulative.
We also note that the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Craig S. Neckers, testified as follows at the remand hearing concerning efforts to obtain Edrita Roth’s presence at the remand hearing:
”Q Iby Mr. Johnston, assistant prosecuting attorney. Mr. Neckers, would you state your full name for the record, please.
"A. Craig S. Neckers.
"Q. How are you employed?
"A. I am an assistant prosecuting attorney for the County of Kent.
"Q. For how long have you been an assistant prosecuting attorney for Kent County?
’A. A little short of a year.
"Q. In that capacity, have you had occasion to work extensively on the appellate case load of the prosecutor’s office?
’A. Yes, I have.
”Q. And among the cases handled by you, was there included the matter here before the court the case of the People against Walter R. Kimble?
’A. That is correct.
”Q. Did you brief and argue this case in the Court of Appeals?
'A. I briefed it. I believe we submitted it on briefs and did not orally argue it.
”Q. Subsequent to the rendition of the opinion of the Court of Appeals on April 25, 1975, did you take steps towards preparing for the remand hearing we are holding at this particular time?
’A. Yes, I did. On the second of May of 1975, after discussing with Mr. Murphy how we were going to go about the logistics of this particular matter, I called the personnel office of the Central Bank here in town and I spoke to a man in the personnel office by the name of Mr. Beal, I believe, and I questioned him as to a last known address in the city of Grand Rapids for Edrita Roth.
"He checked his files in the personnel office of the Central Bank and informed me that he had no such address in the city of Grand Rapids; that he had no last known address for Edrita Roth period.
"He further informed me, however, that he did have the name, address and telephone number of Miss Roth’s parents, and he gave that to me as Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Roth, 555 Plumb Street in Wyandotte, Michigan, and gave me the telephone number.
"Q. Did you make an effort to reach Edrita Roth through the last known address of her parents pursuant to the information you obtained from Mr. Beal?
’A. Yes, I did. On several occasions on the second of May, precisely according to the — to some notes that I made, six telephone calls on that date, in the morning, through the afternoon, I telephoned the parents’ number in Wyandotte, Michigan, and was successful late in the afternoon in speaking with Mrs. Arthur Roth, Edrita’s mother.
"She informed me that her daughter indeed was married, and that she travels with her husband wherever he goes and she told me that he travels from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Waterloo, Iowa.
"She further informed me that Edrita calls home ever [sic] week and Mrs. Roth assured me she would let me know where I could reach her or have Edrita call me as soon as possible.
"I gave her my telephone number in the prosecutor’s office.
"Q. Now, having obtained that information, what did you do next in your efforts to locate Edrita Roth?
'A. That telephone conversation transpired on the second of May. I heard nothing from Edrita or her mother for several days, and on the eighth, on two different occasions I attempted to reach the telephone number in Wyandotte and received no answer. On the 12th again and on the 13th also I telephoned the number in Wyandotte and received no answer. On the 20th of May, however, I called at approximately 11:00 o’clock in the morning, the parents’ telephone number in Wyandotte and spoke once again with Edrita’s mother, Mrs. Arthur Roth. She indicated that she had indeed spoken with Edrita Roth on some prior occasion and she informed me that Edrita had tried to call me at the number that I had given her in the prosecutor’s office and had had some difficulty. It ended up with her speaking to someone in the police department. She had tried to get my number at home and had been unable to do so.
"She further informed me that upon talking with Edrita about this case, and about the information I had given her, that Edrita was without knowledge or couldn’t remember anything what had transpired on the third of July, 1973, at the Central Bank that we talked about.
’Mr. Murphy [defense attorney]: Objection, its hearsay.
'Mr. Johnston: I think most of this is. What I am trying to get at the nature of our efforts to find the witness and what happened here. I am not really attempting to prove anything the witness knows.
"Having obtained this information on May 20, did you have any further contact in your efforts to locate Edrita Roth?
"A. Well, Mrs. Roth informed me that Edrita was to come home over the Memorial Day weekend, and that she anticipated her arrival in Wyandotte on Saturday, I believe the 24th of May. I gave her my telephone number here in the Hall of Justice at the Prosecutor’s Office and also gave her my home phone number in Grandville. I asked that she please call me when she arrived either Saturday night or Sunday morning, and I asked specifically that she call me at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.
"On May 25, 1975, which was last Sunday, at approximately 9:15 a.m. I received a call at my home from Mrs. Arthur Roth indicating that her daughter had not come home, that she did not know where she was; that she had absolutely no contact with her in the prior five days; that being from the 20th of May to the 25th, and she did not know where she was. I also should indicate that I wrote a letter on the 20th of May to Edrita Roth, in care of her parents, and sent it to the address that I had for her parents, indicating a little bit of what this matter entailed and asking her to please contact me.
"I have heard nothing from Edrita Roth and never had any direct contact with Edrita Roth.
”Q. Did the letter that you wrote come back to you at all?
"A. No, I never received the letter. The letter was received as far as I know.
”Q. In other words, it wasn’t returned undelivered to the prosecutor’s office?
"A. No, it wasn’t.
"Q. And this is the extent to this particular moment of your contact, with the Roth family and the attempt to locate Edrita Roth?
"A. That is correct.
"Mr. Johnston: I have no further questions of the witness.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. MURPHY:
"Q. Mr. Neckers, did you do anything other than make telephone calls and send one letter in attempting to locate Edrita Roth?
"A. No, I did not.
"Q. When you were informed that Edrita Roth was to go to her parents home in Wyandotte, Michigan, for the weekend of May 24, 1975, did you take any steps to procure a subpoena to have served at that address on Edrita Roth for the purposes of this hearing today?
"A. No, I did not.
"Q. Have you utilized the forces of the police agencies in attempting to locate Edrita Roth?
"A. Not at all.
"Q. Now, with respect to your telephone conversation with Mr. Beal, where he indicated the name of Edrita’s parents, their address and telephone number, would it be fair to conclude that that same information was available on January 7, 1974?"
"A. I would assume it would be, but I certainly have no direct knowledge of that.
"Q. But he did get this information from her employment file?
"A. I believe so.
"Q. And if I understand correctly you learned in your conversations with Edrita’s mother that she calls home every weekend?
"A. She informed me that she had a regular habit of calling her at least once a week.
"Q. Did you ask her mother what her address was?
"A. I asked her mother if there was anywhere that Edrita could be reached. She told me that she is on the road 24 hours a day, seven days a week and there is absolutely no fixed address where Edrita Roth can be reached.
"Q. Did you ask her where she reaches her daughter in case of an emergency?
"A. She told me that her daughter calls her. She does not call her daughter.
”Q. She advised you that she did not know of an address for her daughter?
"A. That is correct.
"Q. This was after you told her who you were and what your purpose was?
"A. That is correct. She was informed, Mrs. Roth was informed when I spoke with her, all three times that I spoke with her, who I was and why I wanted to speak with her daughter or at least get in contact with her daughter.”
It is also obvious that the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney did not see fit to obtain a subpoena for Edrita Roth’s appearance in court, nor did he find out her married name, nor her husband’s employer, which would have possibly greatly aided in obtaining the res gestae witness’s appearance at the remand hearing.
Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
Bronson, J., concurred. | [
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