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V. J. Brennan, J.
Defendant was convicted on July 2, 1974, in Detroit Recorder’s Court of larceny by conversion under $100 in violation of MCLA 750.362; MSA 28.594. He brings this appeal as a matter of right. We affirm.
Defendant was an employee of the Wayne County Road Commission. He was instructed by his supervisor on May 21, 1974, to deliver certain guardrails which had been removed from a section of 1-94 to the Wyoming yard of the Wayne County Road Commission. An employee of a private junkyard in Detroit testified that on that day a Wayne County Road Commission truck with two occupants entered the junkyard and sold certain metal guardrails and were given a receipt therefor. When asked by the prosecuting attorney if he saw the person in court who had sold him the guardrails, the witness replied, "I can’t identify anybody.”
The testimony of an expert witness tended to show that the signature on the receipt was that of the defendant. A police officer testified that, after being advised of his rights, the defendant made an oral confession.
Defendant brings several allegations of error. Defendant contends that plaintiff failed to establish the corpus delicti aliunde the confession, and that the admission of the confession was, therefore, error. Defendant next contends that the receipt from the junkyard was erroneously admitted into evidence because of the absence of proper authentication as a business record qualifying as an exception to the hearsay rule. Defendant fur ther contends that documents which were admitted to serve as a standard of comparison for the handwriting expert to use in identifying the signature of defendant on the receipt were not authenticated by any foundation which would show that the specimen signatures were genuine.
The corpus delicti of a crime may be established by circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences. People v Allen, 390 Mich 383; 212 NW2d 21 (1973), Peterson v Oceana Circuit Judge, 243 Mich 215; 219 NW 934 (1928). In the instant case, the defendant’s supervisor ordered the defendant to load the guardrails onto a Wayne County Road Commission truck, and to deliver the guardrails to the "Wyoming yard” of the Commission. The supervisor observed the defendant loading the guardrails as ordered. An employee at a private junkyard in Detroit testified that later the same day a Wayne County Road Commission truck entered the junkyard, loaded with guardrails and occupied by two men who sold the guardrails, and signed a receipt for the money received. A reasonable inference to be drawn at this point is that property of the Wayne County Road Commission had been unlawfully converted. The patent unwillingness of the witness to attempt to identify the occupants of the truck (duly noted by the trial judge) does not bear on the question of the corpus delicti, because it is elementary that the identity of the perpetrators of a crime is not an element of the corpus delicti. We find, therefore, that the evidence submitted and reasonable inferences therefrom were sufficient to establish the corpus delicti aliunde the confession. Accordingly, it was not error to admit the confession of the defendant as evidence against him.
Defendant contends that the receipt was not properly authenticated as a business record. The record shows that the court suggested to the prosecutor that he ask the witness who kept and produced the receipt if it was the receipt he gave. The witness responded, "That particular item, there, that’s part two of a three-part copy. That’s the third part, right. The original goes to the people that brought the stuff in.” We think that this statement by the witness was sufficient reasonably to convince the court that the document was entitled to be admitted as a business record exception to the hearsay rule. Whether or not a sufficient foundation has been laid for the admission of evidence is a matter addressed to the discretion of the trial court and its determination as to this matter should not be lightly set aside. People v Krulikowski, 60 Mich App 28; 230 NW2d 290 (1975), Champion v Champion, 368 Mich 84, 97; 117 NW2d 107, 109 (1962).
Finally, defendant contends, in substance, that the use of timesheets purportedly signed by defendant as a standard of comparison by an expert witness to show that it was defendant who signed the receipt at the junkyard was error because a proper foundation had not been laid establishing that it was in fact the defendant whose signature appeared on the timesheets. Upon careful examination of the record we find that defendant did not preserve this error for appeal. While defendant did make a general objection to the admission of the documentary evidence when first offered, and later argued that the evidence did not "tie up the defendant with any crime * * * ”, we find that the defendant did not object with enough specificity to give the court notice of his grounds, so as to afford the court opportunity to cure or obviate the error. People v Kowalek, 296 Mich 714; 296 NW 856 (1941), People v Hallman, 299 Mich 657; 1 NW2d 28 (1941). Brown v Brown, 338 Mich 492, 503; 61 NW2d 656, 661 (1953), cert den, 348 US 816; 75 S Ct 26; 99 L Ed 644 (1954). The record gives no indication that the plaintiff was unable to produce a witness who could have testified to the genuineness of the defendant’s signature on the timesheets if defendant had clearly objected on this ground. We will not consider on appeal error which, upon proper objection, might have been cured in the court below.
Having examined defendant’s other allegations of error, we find them to be harmless. Defendant is not entitled to a perfect trial, only to a fair one. Michigan v Tucker, 417 US 433, 446; 94 S Ct 2357, 2365; 41 L Ed 2d 182, 194 (1974).
MCLA 769.26; MSA 28.1096 provides,
"No judgment or verdict shall be set aside or reversed or a new trial granted by any court of this state in any criminal case, on the ground of * * * improper admission or rejection of evidence * * * unless in the opinion of the court, after an examination of the entire cause, it shall affirmatively appear that the error complained of has resulted in a miscarriage of justice.”
The Michigan Supreme Court has consistently followed this policy. People v Howard, 391 Mich 597; 218 NW2d 20 (1974), People v Kregger, 335 Mich 457; 56 NW2d 349 (1953), People v Cooper, 328 Mich 159; 43 NW2d 310 (1950), People v Hawks, 206 Mich 233; 172 NW 405 (1919). We agree. People v Keiswetter, 7 Mich App 334; 151 NW2d 829 (1967), People v Carr, 2 Mich App 222; 139 NW2d 329 (1966).
Affirmed.
Bronson, P. J., concurred. | [
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Danhof, P. J.
Plaintiff Hercules Drawn Steel Corporation (hereafter Hercules) brought this action seeking a declaratory judgment to determine the rights under a contract between the plaintiff and defendant Doran Electric Company, Inc. (hereafter Doran). The trial court dismissed the complaint. The plaintiff appeals. We affirm.
On June 9, 1967, the parties entered into a contract pursuant to a decision by the plaintiff to move its operations from Detroit to Livonia, Michigan. Within the scope of the work as defined by the contract, the contractor was to "disconnect equipment in existing plant to prepare for moving”. The contract further specified that the contractor was to "disconnect power and control wiring and dismantle conduit connections and panel mounting as required for equipment in the Owner’s existing plant. This work is to assist in preparation for moving equipment to new plant.” The defendant agreed to these provisions, which were contained in a form supplied by the plaintiff entitled "Specifications for Electrical Work for New Plant” and which became part of the contract between the parties.
On November 16, 1967, Robert Oster was injured while trying to dismantle a wooden shed located in the plaintiffs plant. The shed was used to house electrical circuitry. Oster was not an employee of either of the parties. He had to have permission from a Hercules foreman to enter the plant. Oster and William Cischke, an off-duty employee of the plaintiff, wanted the wood from the shed to make improvements to Oster’s house. Cischke had received permission from the plaintiff to take the wood. While the two were dismantling the shed between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., Oster received burns from the electrical wiring contained therein.
The defendant neither knew about nor authorized the work done by Oster and Cischke. While Doran employees did remove rectifiers from disconnect switches located in the shed and did leave power in the line to the switches on the day of the accident, the fuses were taken out of the switches and the switches were turned to the "off” position. All the defendant’s employees had left the plant after the 3 p.m. quitting time. Furthermore, the defendant was not obligated under the contract to remove the shed. Removal of the shed was the plaintiffs responsibility.
Robert Oster subsequently brought suit against Hercules for the injuries received. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Oster against Hercules for the breach of several duties that Hercules owed Oster.
Plaintiff Hercules brought the present action seeking recovery from the defendant under provisions of the contract between the parties. The relevant provisions are those relating to indemnification and insurance. Under both, the defendant becomes obligated to the plaintiff for injuries arising out of or resulting from the performance of the work of the defendant under the contract.
The trial court ruled that the parties had entered into the above-mentioned contract. However, the trial court held the indemnification and insurance provisions were "neither applicable or [sic] enforceable to or against the defendant-contractor, Doran Electric Company, Inc. as to the occurrence and events set forth in plaintiff’s complaint”.
The issue presented is whether the trial court erred in ruling that the indemnification and insurance provisions of the contract between Hercules and Doran were not applicable to the occurrence and events set forth in the plaintiff’s complaint.
The present case necessarily involves interpretation of the contract between the parties. The case law provides the applicable rules of interpretation for this contract.
The court in Vanden Bosch v Consumers Power Co, 56 Mich App 543, 558; 224 NW2d 900 (1974), stated:
"Indemnity clauses are construed most strictly against the party who drafts them and the party who is the indemnitee. Klann v Hess Cartage Co, 50 Mich App 703; 214 NW2d 63 (1973), Geurink v Herlihy Mid-Continent Co, 5 Mich App 154; 146 NW2d 111 (1966), Meadows v Depco Equipment Co, 4 Mich App 370; 144 NW2d 844 (1966), Baker Contractor Inc v Chris Nelsen & Son, Inc, 1 Mich App 450; 136 NW2d 771 (1965).”
The intent of the parties is an important factor as noted in Gary Boat Club, Inc v Oselka, 31 Mich App 465, 471-472; 188 NW2d 127 (1971), lv den 385 Mich 770 (1971):
" 'We are well aware of the settled rules of law, so well established that citation of authority therefor is unnecessary, that it is not the province of the court by construction or by the addition of words or punctuation to remake the contract of the parties or to find a meaning not intended. Where ambiguity exists, however, it is the duty of the court to determine, if possible, the true intent of the parties by construction of the instrument.’ Fox v Detroit Trust Co, 285 Mich 669, 677 [281 NW 399] (1938).
"In determining this 'true intent’ the trial court should consider the language employed, the subject matter, and the surrounding circumstances under which the parties entered into the agreement; it should effectuate the intent of the parties when the agreement was consummated. Kellogg v Kellogg Toasted Corn Flake Co, 212 Mich 95 [180 NW 397] (1920); Montgomery v Central National Bank & Trust Co of Battle Creek, 267 Mich 142 [255 NW 274] (1934).”
Finally, Wembelton Development Co v The Travelers Insurance Co, 45 Mich App 168, 172; 206 NW2d 222 (1973), stated:
"Courts will not interpret a contract in a manner which would impose an absurd or impossible condition on one of the parties.”
The pertinent provisions of the contract in the present case relating to indemnification and insurance were supplied by the plaintiff. Furthermore, the party sought to be protected as an indemnitee was the plaintiff. Therefore, the contract will be strictly construed against the plaintiff. Vanden Bosch v Consumers Power Co, supra.
The defendant is liable for injuries arising out of or resulting from its work under the contract. What the parties intended to be the work of the defendant becomes determinant. The defendant was to disconnect the electrical equipment as the plaintiff proceeded to move its operations from its then existing plant to the new location in Livonia. On the day of the accident, the Doran employees had finished their work for the day and left. The injury to Oster did not arise out of or result from that work. The injury arose out of and resulted from a venture entirely divorced from the defendant’s task. Oster and Cischke were dismantling the shed, not with any relation to or purpose of aiding the transfer of electrical equipment from the old to the new plant, but with the purpose of taking wood for Oster’s own personal use. The defendant neither authorized nor knew of this independent venture. Further, the contract in no way indicates even the possible existence of such independent projects, let alone the possibility that the defendant will be held liable for them. A review of all the surrounding facts and circumstances as well as a thorough reading of the entire contract indicates that the parties did not intend at the time they entered into the contract to hold the defendant liable for injuries arising out' of activities so unrelated to the contract itself.
The trial court was not in error, but correctly determined that the indemnification and insurance provisions were neither applicable to nor enforceable against Doran Electric Company, Inc.
Affirmed. Costs to the defendant. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was found guilty by a jury of armed robbery, MCLA 750.529; MSA 28.797, and sentenced to. life imprisonment. He appeals, raising five issues for our consideration.
First, defendant, who raised the defense of insanity, claims that the trial court erred reversibly by refusing to admit into evidence two signed psychological evaluations of defendant, contained in a probate court file. He argues that these evaluations were admissible under the business records exception to the hearsay rule. MCLA 600.2146; MSA, 27A.2146. Although People v Kirtdoll, 391 Mich 370, 390; 217 NW2d 37 (1974), held that "records admissible in evidence under the business entry statute [MCLA 600.2146; MSA 27A.2146] are admissible in criminal as well as civil cases”, that case did nothing to change the law in Michigan as to what evidence can qualify under the statute. Opinions or diagnoses do not qualify. Bond v Greenwood, 34 Mich App 41; 190 NW2d 731 (1971). Therefore, without having to reach the question of whether People v Kirtdoll, supra, is retroactive, we find that the trial court, in this case, properly excluded the psychological evaluations of defendant.
Secondly, defendant argues that the unresponsive and unobjected-to answer of a state witness to a question by defense counsel, revealing defendant’s prior incarceration, constituted reversible error. The statement elicited by defense counsel’s question was inadmissible but certainly not the result of prosecutorial bad faith. See People v Wallen, 47 Mich App 612; 209 NW2d 608 (1973). Nevertheless, the question we must answer is whether the prejudicial effect of this remark has resulted in manifest injustice. See People v Duncan, 55 Mich App 403; 222 NW2d 261 (1974). We find this to be a situation where the prejudicial effect of the incompetent testimony could have been cured by an admonition by the trial judge, see United States v Smith, 403 F2d 74 (CA 6, 1968), and does not mandate reversal.
Next, defendant would have us find that the prosecutor’s closing argument improperly focused upon issues broader than defendant’s guilt or innocence, thereby encouraging the jury to decide the case on irrelevant factors. The only remark properly preserved for appellate review was supported by the evidence and did bear some relationship to whether defendant knew what he was doing. People v Cowell, 44 Mich App 623; 205 NW2d 600 (1973). Any prejudicial propensities of the statements not objected to at trial but complained of on appeal could have been curtailed by curative instructions by the trial court. People v Sesson, 45 Mich App 288; 206 NW2d 495 (1973), lv den, 389 Mich 801 (1973).
Fourth, defendant challenges the trial court’s sua sponte instruction regarding defendant’s failure to testify. This was not error. People v Robert Hall, 56 Mich App 10; 223 NW2d 340 (1974).
Finally, defendant’s contention that the district courts lack criminal jurisdiction has been rejected by the Supreme Court in People v Milton, 393 Mich 234; 224 NW2d 266 (1974).
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M. J. Kelly, J.
Defendant was convicted of second-degree murder in the strangulation slaying of one Peggy Ann Smith. Jury verdict was entered on April 30, 1973, and defendant’s appeal of right followed in due course. The appeal cites four instances of allegedly reversible error. We take up only the last claim of error because it requires reversal and the other claimed errors will probably not arise again on retrial.
The body was found on December 1, 1972. Between that date and February 15, 1973, this 17-year old defendant was questioned by the police five times without receiving Miranda, infra, warnings. Three of these sessions took place after the investigation had focused on the defendant. There were two more occasions when the defendant was given Miranda warnings. These sessions took place at the state police post in Bay City, where he had been brought for a polygraph test. On each occasion, that is on the sixth occasion and on the seventh occasion, he confessed.
Prior to trial a Walker hearing was held on a defense motion to suppress confessions obtained after the Miranda warnings were given on February 16, 1973. The trial court held the two confessions admissible on the strength of testimony by the detective in charge that in his opinion the investigation had not focused on the defendant until February 16th. The earlier five interviews were then held to be routine police procedure. The. trial court allowed the confessions in evidence that resulted from interrogations six and seven but it also allowed statements obtained in the earlier interviews.
On review of a Walker hearing an appellate court is required to review the entire record and independently determine voluntariness. People v Robinson, 386 Mich 551; 194 NW2d 709 (1972), People v Inman, 54 Mich App 5; 220 NW2d 165 (1974). We reverse here as "we are left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake was committed”. People v Scott, 44 Mich App 462; 205 NW2d 291 (1973), People v McGillen #1, 392 Mich 251; 220 NW2d 677 (1974).
The first interview was conducted at the Midland police station when the defendant came to be interviewed in answer to a telephone call from the officer in charge. At that time exculpatory explanations by defendant included a statement that he had been in Tawas for the preceding ten days working on a truck. On later occasions he gave the names of four alibi witnesses to support his story.
On the second occasion, which occurred on January 31, 1973, the defendant was in custody on an unrelated matter. The detective in charge of the Smith murder was also assigned to a theft case which involved a juvenile and he went to the county jail on January 31, 1973, to interview defendant Brannan with regard to the juvenile theft case. Two conversations took place on January 31st. About the first conversation, after the statement was taken concerning the juvenile, the detective testified as follows:
"Q. Was the Peggy Smith matter mentioned that time?
'A. Yes. Just before I left.
"Q. What did you say?
’A. I asked him if he had any other information about the Peggy Smith matter.”
The detective then went on to say that Brannan was not a firm suspect at that time. However, the perspective changed later that day.
The deceased was found with a portion of a clothesline rope around her neck; the local newspaper had printed that "an autopsy report indicates Mrs. Peggy Smith, 35, was — at 707 West Buttel Street, died of strangulation from a clothesline, Prosecutor Edward G. Durant said today”. On the second visit to the defendant of January 31st, the detective went to query defendant about the rope because he had been informed by defendant’s mother that she was missing 50 feet of clothesline rope. Still he did not give Miranda warnings. This is the officer’s testimony:
”Q. What time would be the first time you saw him?
’A. Approximately 8:30, 9 o’clock in the morning.
"Q. And the second time, please, sir?
'A. I think about 2:30 in the afternoon.
”Q. The reason going back the second time?
'A. I had received some information that day.
"Q. Information pertaining to Mr. Brannan?
”A. Yes.
”Q. And pertaining to the Peggy Smith matter?
’A. Yes.
"Q. Information making him a suspect?
’A. Information which I felt checking back with him to see if he could give me any clarification on.
”Q. What did you say to Mr. Brannan when you went in the second time on the 31st, being the third time you talked to him about the Peggy Smith matter, is that correct?
•A. Yes.
”Q. What did you say to him this third time when you went in?
'A. I asked him if he was still willing to take the polygraph.
"Q. And his reply?
’A. He said that he didn’t think he wanted to; that he’d have to check with a lawyer.”
This should have stopped the interrogation forthwith as Miranda requires that if a suspect indicates in any manner and at any stage of the process he wishes to consult with an attorney, there can be no questioning. Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436, 477; 86 S Ct 1602; 16 L Ed 2d 694; 10 ALR3d 974 (1966), People v Ansley, 18 Mich App 659, 667; 171 NW2d 649 (1969). But even after the red flag was thrown by defendant’s reference to a lawyer the detective persisted:
”Q. All right. Did you say anything else to him?
"A. He was advised of the fact that I had found some rope or had thought I had found where the rope had come from.
“Q. Well, tell me what you told him.
"A. I told him — I told him that I had had a report of some missing rope. I didn’t know whether it tied in or not, but I wanted to talk to him about it.
”Q. Missing rope from who?
'A. From his mother.
”Q. And what else did you tell him?
"A. Nothing. He told me where he had been and who he had been with.
"Q. Had you advised him of his rights at this time?
’A. No.
”Q. This is the third time that he was — talked to you regarding the Peggy Smith matter and you still hadn’t advised him of any kind of rights?
'A. That’s correct.
"Q. Now, the mother told you that she had clothesline rope that was missing, is that correct?
’A. Yes.
"Q. And this clothesline rope, was it similar or dissimilar to the rope that was found around the deceased’s neck?
’A. This I don’t know.
"Q. Well, I am not asking you to speak scientifically. I am merely saying, were they? Did you see the rope around the deceased’s neck?
* * *
”Q. Were you told what kind of rope it was, sir?
"A. I was told, yes.
”Q. And what kind of rope did they tell you?
'A. White cotton clothesline rope.
' Q. And what kind of rope did Mrs. Brannan say was missing?
"A. That is what she said she was missing.
”Q. What is that?
'A. The white cotton or some white cotton clothesline.
"Q. And at this time you knew this. Had you knew that Mr. Brannan knew Mrs. Smith? Is that correct?
"A. Yes.”
Not only did the officer proceed with his questioning on January 31st, but again approximately a week later he went to see defendant again in the county jail:
”Q. And the reason you went to see him this time, sir?
’A. To see what his lawyer had said about a polygraph.
"Q. Did he tell you who his lawyer was?
'A. Yes.
"Q. Who did he say?
'A. Oscar Baker, Jr. I believe.
”Q. And his reply?
’A. He said that his lawyer had told him not to.
”Q. Did you see him again?
'A. Yes.
"Q. And when was this?
’A. On the 15th of February.
"Q. By the way, did you check to see if he really had a lawyer?
’A. On the 15th of February I attempted to, yes.
”Q. All right. Prior to the 15th of February did you check to see if he had a lawyer?
”A. No.”
Again he was questioned and again he was not given the Miranda warnings even though he was in custody, the investigation had clearly focused on him, and in a previous interrogation he had mentioned that he wanted to talk to his lawyer. Furthermore, by this time the detective had done some checking on the alibi and found out it was very questionable:
”Q. Now this would be the fifth time you talked to him. At this time did you advise him of any rights?
"A No.”
It’s true, as the dissent points out, that defendant was taken to Bay City on the 15th to take a polygraph on an unrelated charge. However it’s important to note that the detective in charge of this case traveled to Bay City specifically to talk to defendant about his alibi in this case. He testified that he first attempted to reach Oscar Baker, Jr. at his office but was told by the attorney’s secretary that he was in Midland. The officer then made his trip to Bay City and interrogated defendant anyway.
The fact that a police officer states that the investigation had not focused on the defendant at this time ignores the reality of the situation and strains credulity. The defendant had been an admitted acquaintance of the deceased; he had given a shaky alibi in prior interrogations and his mother was missing the kind of rope the deceased was strangled with. Palm prints of the defendant had been obtained at the scene of the crime. He must have been a prime suspect.
As previously noted, exculpatory statements made by the defendant on January 31st and February 15, 1973, were admitted into evidence. This is also a violation of the letter and spirit of Mi randa. No distinction is made between exculpatory and inculpatory statements in the crucial Miranda language found at 384 US 436, 444; 86 S Ct 1602, 1612; 16 L Ed 2d 694, 706:
"Our holding will be spelled out with some specificity in the pages which follow but briefly stated it is this: the prosecution may not use statements, whether exculpatory or inculpatory, stemming from custodial interrogation of the defendant unless it demonstrates the use of procedural safeguards effective to secure the privilege against self-incrimination. By custodial interrogation, we mean questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.4”
Footnote 4 adds:
"4. This is what we meant in Escobedo [Escobedo v Illinois, 378 US 478; 84 S Ct 1758; 12 L Ed 2d 977 (1964)] when we spoke of an investigation which had focused on an accused.”
The Miranda opinion continues (384 US 436, 477; 86 S Ct 1602, 1629; 16 L Ed 2d 694, 725):
"The principles announced today deal with the protection which must be given to the privilege against self-incrimination when the individual is first subjected to police interrogation while in custody at the station or otherwise deprived of his freedom in any significant way.”
We do not offer any mathematical formula. We do not say that four in-custody interrogations vitiate any subsequent statement or confession obtained following the giving of proper Miranda warnings on a sixth or later occasion. We say only that under the totality of circumstances existing on this record, the warnings given prior to the sixth interrogation at the door to the polygraph lab, did not satisfy the letter or spirit of the Miranda commandment, and that the people have not sustained the heavy burden of demonstrating "that the defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his privilege against self-incrimination and his right to retained or appointed counsel”. Escobedo v Illinois, supra, 490 n. 14.
We reverse and remand for new trial barring the exculpatory or inculpatory statements or confessions made by the defendant during his in-custody interrogations numbered two through seven as here discussed. Information obtained during the first interrogation while the defendant was a willing visitor to the station house and not in custody is not barred.
Bronson, J., concurred.
People v Walker (On Rehearing), 374 Mich 331; 132 NW2d 87 (1965). | [
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D. F. Walsh, P. J.
Plaintiffs sought an injunction to restrain the police trial board from conducting a hearing relating to the plaintiffs’ refusal to obey an order to answer a question at a previous trial board hearing. The trial court denied the injunction and plaintiffs appeal by leave granted.
The facts are stipulated. On April 6, 1976, a trial board was convened to investigate allegations that Officers Kelly and Jennings negligently permitted the escape of two prisoners from Wayne County jail. During that hearing Officer Jennings gave the following response to a question regarding the escape.
"Q. Officer Jennings, directing your attention to February 1, 1976, at about nine o’clock on that date, do you have that date in mind?
"A. Yes.
"Q. Did anything unusual occur on that date?
"A. I refuse to answer on the grounds said answer may tend to incriminate me and cause me to lose my appointment as a Deputy Sheriff in the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, and may cause me to lose my position as a police officer in the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department.”
Officer Kelly gave an identical response to a similar inquiry. Both officers repeated that response when a superior officer ordered them to answer the question.
The issue before us is whether the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination prohibits the dismissal of a public employee who asserts that privilege in refusing to answer questions specifi cally, directly and narrowly related to the performance of his or her official duties.
Our resolution of the issue has its foundation in two decisions of the United States Supreme Court. The first is Garrity v New Jersey, 385 US 493; 87 S Ct 616; 17 L Ed 2d 562 (1967), the second is Gardner v Broderick, 392 US 273; 88 S Ct 1913; 20 L Ed 2d 1082 (1968).
In Garrity the Court held that self-incriminatory statements procured under the threat of discharge could not be used in subsequent criminal proceedings against the declarants. In Gardner the Court reversed the dismissal of a policeman for exercising his Fifth Amendment privilege because the dismissal was based solely on the officer’s refusal to waive the immunity to which he would have been entitled under Garrity. However, the Court made the following statement:
"If appellant, a policeman, had refused to answer questions specifically, directly, and narrowly relating to the performance of his official duties, without being required to waive his immunity with respect to the use of his answers or the fruits thereof in a criminal prosecution of himself, Garrity v State of New Jersey, supra, the privilege against self-incrimination would not have been a bar to his dismissal.” (Footnotes omitted.) (Emphasis added.) Gardner v Broderick, supra, at 278.
See also Uniformed Sanitation Men Association, Inc v Commissioner of Sanitation of the City of New York, 392 US 280; 88 S Ct 1917; 20 L Ed 2d 1089 (1968).
In light of the foregoing, therefore, we now hold that if a public employee refuses to answer questions specifically, directly, and narrowly relating to the performance of his or her official duties, without being required to waive the protection afforded by Garrity v New Jersey, supra, the privilege against self-incrimination does not bar his or her dismissal. Seattle Police Officers Guild v City of Seattle, 80 Wash 2d 307; 494 P2d 485 (1972), Silverio v Municipal Court of the City of Boston, 355 Mass 623; 247 NE2d 379 (1969), cert den 396 US 878; 90 S Ct 151; 24 L Ed 2d 135 (1969).
Our review of the record before us persuades us that the questions plaintiffs refused to answer related specifically, directly and narrowly to the performance of their official duties. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to issue an injunction.
Affirmed. No costs, a public question. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals from an order granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment for failure to state a claim and failure to obey an order of the court requiring plaintiff to file a more definite statement.
The case arises out of the breach of an agreement to form a partnership. According to plaintiffs complaint, he had been offered employment with a competitor of defendant. When he told defendant he intended to accept the offer, defendant offered plaintiff a partnership interest in the new store he was opening. Plaintiff accepted, and the parties signed an agreement to form a partnership upon the purchase of the store. Plaintiff turned down the offer from defendant’s competitor. After the store had been opened approximately 6 months, defendant, without consulting plaintiff, sold the store and terminated plaintiffs employment.
Plaintiff then commenced this lawsuit. The complaint was filed, defendant answered and moved for a more definite statement. The motion was granted. Plaintiff did not file a more definite statement but did file a more detailed complaint and a bill of particulars. Defendant moved for summary judgment which the trial court orally granted at the close of the hearing. Before the order was signed, however, plaintiff requested leave to file an amended complaint. The trial court denied the request, stating that summary judgment had already been granted. Plaintiff was informed that his sole basis for relief was a motion to set aside the judgment. That motion was also denied.
The first issue in this case is whether summary judgment had been granted before plaintiff made the motion to amend his complaint. Although a judgment may become effective merely upon its oral pronouncement by the trial court, the normal rule is that a judgment does not become effective until signed. Tiedman v Tiedman, 400 Mich 571, 576; 255 NW2d 632 (1977). In order for an oral pronouncement to become binding as a judgment, the terms of the judgment must be read into the record, and the judge must declare that such statement is to be given immediate effect as a judgment without any further action or signing of a written judgment. Tiedman, at 577. A review of the record in this case clearly shows that the trial court’s oral pronouncement did not possess these characteristics. Summary judgment, therefore, did not become effective before plaintiff moved to file, his amended complaint.
Motions to amend must be "freely given when justice so requires”. GCR 1963, 118.1. Moreover, a denial of such a motion, although discretionary, must be supported by specific findings as to why justice would not be served by the amendment. Ben P Fyke & Sons v Gunter Co, 390 Mich 649; 213 NW2d 134 (1973). No such findings were given in the present case. Therefore, the motion to amend the complaint should have been, and hereby is, granted. GCR 1963, 820.1(7).
An examination of this amended complaint, however, discloses that summary judgment is appropriate for various of the counts presented.
Count II, alleging that defendant tortiously interfered with plaintiff’s contractual relationship, fails to state a cause of action because plaintiff never alleged that he actually entered into a contract with defendant’s competitor. There was no contract: consequently, defendant could not have tortiously interfered with it.
Count III, alleging interference with plaintiff’s prospective economic advantage, also does not state a claim. The cause of action in such a claim rests not with the person induced, but with the person losing the services of the one induced. See Restatement of Torts, § 766, Comment k. Therefore, defendant’s competitor might conceivably have a cause of action against defendant for inducing plaintiff away from him, but plaintiff as the party induced, not the party protected, has no cause of action under this doctrine.
Plaintiff has no cause of action for wrongful discharge. The employment contract was terminable at will. An employee’s detrimental reliance in foregoing another employment opportunity in order to accept the offered employment does not estop the employer from terminating his employment contract. The action of plaintiff in rejecting the offer of employment from defendant’s competitor was only a necessary incident in placing himself in a position to accept defendant’s offer. Lynas v Maxwell Farms, 279 Mich 684; 273 NW 315 (1937). Therefore, summary judgment is appropriate on the wrongful discharge count.
Summary judgment is not appropriate, however, on Counts I and V of plaintiff’s complaint which seek damages for loss of partnership profits. The parties entered into an agreement to become partners upon the purchase of the clothing store mentioned in the agreement. Once the store was purchased, the partnership came into existence. Defendant’s unilateral sale of the store, the sole property of the partnership, caused its wrongful dissolution, making defendant liable to plaintiff for damages caused by the dissolution. The amount of these damages, if any, is a question of fact and not an appropriate subject for summary judgment for failure to state a claim.
Finally, the defendant responded to plaintiff’s complaint before moving for a more definite statement. GCR 1963, 115.1 clearly states that such motions must be made prior to responding to the objectionable pleading. Having failed to do this, defendant is precluded from filing the motion, and the granting of the motion by the trial court was therefore erroneous and will not serve as a basis for summary judgment.
Plaintiff is allowed to file his amended complaint. We reverse and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Defendant attempts to distinguish Tiedman, supra, by claiming that it involved a consent judgment which is not a judgment act but an act between the parties needing consent as to substance and form before becoming valid. See, Norton Shores v Carr, 59 Mich App 561; 229 NW2d 848 (1975). Defendant contends that although a written judgment was necessary in Tiedman because of its consensual nature, no such document is needed in the present case which involves a judicial decree. Defendant misconstrues Tiedman. Tiedman involved more than a consensual property settlement. Tiedman held that the divorce itself was not effective without a written judgment. Although property settlements may be consensual, the act of decreeing the parties divorced is not. The parties may not merely file for divorce and then consent to a divorce judgment without participation of the court. A decree of divorce needs judicial imprimatur to be effective. See GCR 1963, 728.2(2). Therefore, the judgment in Tiedman related to a judicial act, not merely an act between the parties. As such it is not distinguishable but instead controlling. | [
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Allen, P. J.
We are asked to determine whether a 3-2 split decision of the Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, denying plaintiff benefits for an interim 31-month period (April 30, 1970, to December 2, 1972) on grounds that plaintiff refused to perform favored work, should be affirmed.
Plaintiff commenced work for defendant in. 1951 and, in May 1971, filed a petition claiming an occupational disablement as of July 1969, from severe lung congestion caused by working in atmospheric pollutants. Following hearings held before him in the summer and fall of 1972, Hearing Referee Robert Martin issued an opinion November 8, 1972, holding that plaintiff was disabled from July 8, 1969, to April 30, 1970, but terminated benefits at that point for the following reasons:
"No compensation is ordered payable from April 30, 1970 to date because plaintiffs medical witness, Dr. Hopkins, felt that plaintiff should have tried the proffered work to see whether he could have done it. Plaintiff’s second medical witness, Dr. Shapiro, felt that any area in the plant would contain irritating airborne particles. Unfortunately neither of the doctors had the benefit of having viewed the proffered work area. The particular area appears to be essentially free of airborne particles although it is not free from the odor of rubber. The proffered employment has been on October 9, 1971 been [sic] inspected by the hearing referee and found to be 'clean’. The proffered employment, however, is not as easy as it would seem from descriptions given. There appears to be considerable exertion required in the unrolling of the inner rag; also the pocket checker, at the time of observation, was constantly, though not hurriedly, moving about the work area.
"Plaintiff should present himself for work and attempt the proffered employment. Until such time as he does he is entitled to no further compensation. If, and when plaintiff does attempt to return to work he shall be entitled to compensation for partial disability as set forth in the statute.”
No appeal was taken from Referee Martin’s decision, but 24 days following the date of that decision, plaintiff reported at defendant company and attempted to perform the favored work. Claiming he was unable to do such work, he left two weeks later and, on January 22, 1973, filed another petition for hearing. On March 28, 1973, he again returned to defendant company and again was unable to perform the favored work and left some two weeks later. Hearings were held by administrative law judge Morris Zwerdling who, on July 11, 1975, found that plaintiff was unable in 1972 to do the favored work offered by defendant company and entered an open award for future payments but denied compensation for the period here in dispute. Defendant then appealed to the Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board which unanimously agreed that plaintiff was entitled to an open award from December 11, 1973. However, three members held that for the 31-month period from April 30, 1970, to December 2, 1972, plaintiff, by unreasonably failing to perform work proffered in good faith within his capacity to perform and by failing to appeal Referee Martin’s decision, was not entitled to compensation. Two members held that Referee Martin did not either expressly or by implication find that plaintiff was able to perform the proffered work but instead merely suspended the compensation which otherwise would be payable for that period until plaintiff presented himself and attempted to perform such work. Since at the second hearing plaintiff’s proofs showed he was unable in 1972 to perform the work proffered, the two members concluded he was entitled to compensation for the 31-month period. On appeal to us, only the question of whether or not plaintiff was entitled to benefits during the intervening period between the date of suspension by referee Martin and plaintiff’s attempts at favored work is at issue.
The correct answer to the narrow issue posed above lies in which of two possible meanings is to be given to Referee Martin’s holding cited earlier. Did Referee Martin find (a) favored work was offered, (b) plaintiff refused to try such work, and (c) plaintiff was capable of performing such favored work? Or did the referee only find (a) and (b) but withheld decision on condition (c) pending plaintiff’s return to try such favored work at which time it would then be determined whether plaintiff was able to perform such work as of April 30, 1970? The Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board majority reads the referee as holding the first interpretation, and the minority construes the referee as intending the second position. The doctrine of res judicata applies to workmen’s compensation proceedings. Hlady v Wolverine Bolt Co, 393 Mich 368, 375; 224 NW2d 856 (1975). But in workmen’s compensation proceedings "for the doctrine of res judicata to bar a subsequent proceeding, the precise issue of fact or law must have been at issue and decided in the preceding litigation”. White v Michigan Consolidated Gas Co, 352 Mich 201, 211; 89 NW2d 439 (1958). Case authority and res judicata, therefore, would support the majority position if it is determined that Referee Martin found conditions (a), (b) and (c) above.
There is no question in our minds that the referee found conditions (a) and (b). But we agree with the WCAB minority that the referee merely withheld judgment on plaintiff’s ability to perform the favored work. And we know of no law which compels an irrevocable forfeiture of compensation benefits where the employee refuses the favored work in the absence of an express finding that the favored work was within the employee’s then physical capabilities. In fact, it is the employer who ultimately bears the burden of showing that the proffered work is within the employee’s physical capacity. In Kolenko v United States Rubber Products, Inc, 285 Mich 159, 162; 280 NW 148 (1938), our Supreme Court stated:
"The burden was on the defendant to show that it offered plaintiff work which she could perform. Obviously her physical handicap excluded labor that would require the use of her injured arm. Plaintiff was under no obligation to comply with the unreasonable and arbitrary demand of defendant that she accept whatever work the company thought suitable for her.” (Emphasis supplied).
Admittedly, several cases cited by defendant as controlling held that an injured employee who refuses an offer of favored work which the employee is capable of performing is not entitled to workmen’s compensation benefits. Pigue v General Motors Corp, 317 Mich 311, 318; 26 NW2d 900 (1947), Lynch v Briggs Manufacturing Co, 329 Mich 168, 172; 45 NW2d 20 (1950), Hope v Welch Grape Juice Co, 46 Mich App 128, 129; 207 NW2d 476 (1973). The trouble is that no decision speaks to the legal consequences of an employee’s refusal to try favored work when there is no evidence one way or the other of whether or not the employee has the physical ability to perform such work. As defendant correctly inquires, how can the employer sustain its Kolenko burden of proof of the physical ability of the employee to perform the job offered if the employee flatly refuses to try? Under such circumstances, again assuming there is no other evidence one way or the other as to the employee’s ability to perform the favored work, does refusal result in an automatic forfeiture of benefits? We think not but do opine that such refusal should be favorably considered and weighed in favor of the employer in the determination of whether the employer has carried its burden of proof.
In the instant case there has been no determination whether plaintiff was physically capable — in 1970 — of performing the proffered work. All that has been determined is that in 1970 he should have tried it and that in 1972 he was incapable of performing it. True, in the hearing before Referee Martin, one of plaintiff’s medical witnesses stated plaintiff should have tried the favored work but a second medical witness felt any area of the plant would contain irritating substances. In view of this conflict in testimony and the referee’s own personal inspection of the plant from which he concluded that the proffered employment "is not as easy as it would seem from the descriptions given”, and that "considerable exertion is required”, it appears to us that Referee Martin did weigh plaintiff’s refusal to attempt the proffered work in favor of the employer but nevertheless concluded that, until further evidence was produced in the form of plaintiff’s return and attempt to perform the favored work, the employer had not carried its burden of proof. Under Kolenko, supra, the employer must carry the burden of proof that the offered work is within the employee’s capabilities of performance. Certainly, the referee’s admittedly ambiguous opinion failed to make clear that the employer has carried that burden of proof. Since Referee Martin did not make a finding that plaintiff was physically capable of performing the favored work — this being condition (c) described earlier — res judicata does not govern. To this extent we agree with the minority opinion of the Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board.
Nevertheless, we cannot agree with the minority’s automatic assumption that plaintiff was unable to perform the work offered in 1970 because he was unable to perform it in 1972. Some 2-1/2 years elapsed between the 1970 job offer and December 2, 1973, when plaintiff attempted the pocket checker job. The record more than adequately supports the unanimous conclusion of the Appeal Board that in late 1972, plaintiff was unable to withstand the dust, exertion and strain required in either the pocket checker or flipper job positions. Testimony by Dr. Avrin, a witness for plaintiff, and by Dr. Barrett, defendant’s only medical witness, suggested that plaintiff’s condition worsened between late April 1970 and late 1972. It does not follow and we cannot agree with the minority opinion that merely because the transcript supports a conclusion that in 1972 plaintiff was physically unable to cope with the favored work offered, he was likewise physically unable to do so in April 1970 when the same type of favored position was first offered. In our opinion there can be no solution to the problem posed without a finding of fact as to whether or not the employee was capable of doing the proffered work at the time it was offered in April 1970. We therefore reverse that portion of the decision of the Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board which denied plaintiff benefits for the 31-month interim period here involved and remand to the board with instructions that the board make an appropriate finding of fact as to whether plaintiff was capable of performing the favored work when it was offered in April 1970.
The Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board also split on the question of whether plaintiff would be barred from compensation until January 22, 1972, under the one-year back rule, MCLA 418.833; MSA 17.237(833), assuming, arguendo, that res judicata would not apply. The majority stated that the one-year back rule would govern and the minority concluded that it would not. We agree with the minority. The statute applies where the claimant is seeking "further compensation” as distinguished from compensation originally sought but which is withheld pending further determination. For the reasons hereinbefore set forth as to why res judicata does not apply we find that in the present situation plaintiff was not asking "further compensation”.
Reversed and remanded to the Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board for further findings in accordance with this opinion. No costs, neither party having prevailed in full.
"Referee Martin’s decision, whether right or wrong, stopped plaintiffs compensation until he attempted the proffered employment: 'Plaintiff should present himself for work and attempt the proffered employment. Until such time as he does, he is entitled to no further compensation.’ In the absence of any appeal, this ruling became final fifteen days after its entry: i.e.: by November 24, 1972. Instead of appealing, plaintiff chose to attempt the proffered work commencing December 2, 1972. The issues of defendant’s good faith in offering work, defendant’s burden to show work within plaintiffs capacity to perform, and plaintiffs unreasonable failure to accept the proffered work were included in that final unappealed judgement and compensation was thus waived by plaintiff for the period from April 30, 1970, until he proved his inability to perform and became entitled to compensation when he left the proffered work December 17.” Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board Addendum Opinion dated February 28, 1977.
The suspension of benefits technique employed by Referee Martin violated Kolenko. If he was unable to find that plaintiff could perform the work, he should have found that plaintiff could not do so because defendant had the burden of proof on this question. This technique should be avoided in future cases.
Findings of fact by the Appeal Board must be accepted as true. But in the present case such "findings” were made by a minority of the Appeal Board. Furthermore, having examined the record we find no testimony directly pertaining to plaintiffs capacity in 1970 to perform the work offered in 1970. Findings unsupported by any evidence are not binding on an appellate court. Thomas v Griffin Wheel Co, 8 Mich App 35, 42; 153 NW2d 387 (1967).
Plaintiff first tried working as a pocket checker but gave that position up because of chest pain and difficulty in breathing. March 28, 1973, plaintiff was offered a "flipper’s job” which he worked at until April 12, 1973, but gave up primarily because it required lifting 75 to 100 pounds for each roll of rubber and placing them on a truck.
On this point, the comprehensive opinion of member Richardson, speaking for the majority, states:
"However, Dr. Barrett did have a strong clinical impression that plaintiff has heart disease (not indicating whether related to pulmonary disorder) and suffers from symptoms of inadequate circulation of the heart muscle. Thus, if there has been any change of plaintiffs condition since 1972, it has apparently been a worsening, not an improvement thereof.” (Emphasis added.) | [
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H. L. Heading, J.
Defendant was charged with two counts of felony murder in the death by fire of her two young children. She was found guilty by a jury of two counts of second-degree murder, MCLA 750.317; MSA 28.549, and was sentenced to terms of 10 to 20 years imprisonment. She now brings this appeal as of right.
The charges against defendant arose out of a nighttime fire which destroyed the mobile home in which she resided with her husband and children. Defendant and her husband were able to escape, but their two sons, ages two and three, were killed in the blaze. The fire was discovered when defendant’s husband, Lester Roeder, awoke around 11 p.m. on January 24, 1976, to find the bedroom filled with smoke and intense heat. He awakened defendant, and they made their way to the door of the trailer. They ran to a neighboring house to raise the alarm, then returned to try to rescue their children. All efforts to enter the trailer failed, and when the first fire engine arrived at approximately 11:18 p.m., the house trailer was engulfed in flames.
On-the-scene investigation by Detective Lapp of the Midland County Sheriff’s Department, undertaken while the fire was being extinguished, revealed a large hole in the living room floor. Sergeant Hofmann, an arson investigator for the Michigan State Police, testified that the type of hole observed by Detective Lapp was caused by a large amount of combustible material lying on the floor. On the basis of information supplied by Lester Roeder, Sergeant Hofmann concluded that no large piece of furniture could have caused the hole. He therefore formed the opinion that the fire was started at the site of the hole in the living room floor by someone piling up combustible material and lighting it.
Defendant’s husband testified that no large piece of furniture or other combustible object had been located at the site of the hole in the living room; defendant, however, testified that she thought a large, stuffed animal belonging to the children was sitting there on the evening of the fire. Lester Roeder also testified that defendant had admitted to him that she was awake and moving about through the trailer approximately 15 minutes prior to the fire; defendant, however, testified that she was up and about more than one hour prior to the discovery of the fire, and then returned to bed. On the basis of Lester Roeder’s testimony, Sergeant Hofmann testified that, in his opinion, the fire was intentionally set.
I
Defendant’s first claim of error concerns the admission of evidence of a fire which occurred approximately three weeks before the fire which claimed the lives of defendant’s children. The earlier fire took place at the home of defendant’s parents, and was limited to a mattress in an upstairs bedroom. At the time the fire was discovered, only defendant and her family were in the house, defendant and her husband in the living room and the children in a downstairs bedroom.
Over defendant’s objection, the trial court admitted testimony by a fireman who was called to the scene to extinguish the mattress fire that he could find no cause for it and that defendant seemed calm. Lester Roeder testified that the fire was discovered shortly after he returned from an errand. Sergeant Hofmann was also permitted to testify that in his opinion the mattress fire was caused by a human agency, although he could not say it was intentionally set.
The trial court held the evidence of the mattress fire admissible under MCLA 768.27; MSA 28.1050, which provides:
"In any criminal case where the defendant’s motive, intent, the absence of, mistake or accident on his part, or the defendant’s scheme, plan or system in doing an act, is material, any like acts or other acts of the defendant which may tend to show his motive, intent, the absence of, mistake or accident on his part, or the defendant’s scheme, plan or system in doing the act, in question, may be proved, whether they are contemporaneous with or prior or subsequent thereto; notwithstanding that such proof may show or tend to show the commission of another or prior or subsequent crime by the defendant.”
Construing the statute, this Court said in People v Bledsoe, 46 Mich App 558, 560; 208 NW2d 545 (1973):
"[E]ven when evidence of prior acts is admissible under this statute, an objection calls for an exercise of discretion to determine whether any probative value is outweighed by potential prejudice.” Accord, People v Corbeil, 77 Mich App 691; 259 NW2d 193 (1977).
The factors to be considered in determining whether probative value is outweighed by potential prejudice were set out in People v Oliphant, 399 Mich 472, 489-490; 250 NW2d 443 (1976):
"Relevant and material evidence may still be excluded from a trial if the probative value is substantially outweighed by its unfairly prejudicial effect. In determining admissability the court must balance many factors including: the time necessary for presenting the evidence and the potential for delay; how directly it tends to prove the fact in support of which it is offered; whether it would be a needless presentation of cumulative evidence; how important or trivial the fact sought to be proved is; the potential for confusion of the issues or misleading the jury; and whether the fact sought to be proved can be proved in another way involving fewer harmful collateral effects.” (Footnote omitted.)
The fact, in support of which the evidence of another suspicious fire was offered, can only be either defendant’s intent to burn the trailer or her scheme, plan or design in so doing, both of which negative the possibility that the trailer fire was accidental. While either of these is an important fact not easily susceptible of proof, upon which little other evidence was offered, the tendency of the evidence to prove either of these facts is so slight, while the likelihood that the jury would use the evidence for an improper purpose or would attach undue weight to it is so great, that the potential for prejudice clearly outweighs the probative value of this evidence.
The probative value of the mattress fire is, in fact, very slight. The only evidence that the fire in the mattress was intentionally set was the testimony of the fireman on the scene that he could find no cause for it, leading the arson expert to the conclusion that a human agency must have caused it, whether intentionally or accidentally. The only evidence that the mattress fire was set by defendant was the fact that she was present in the house when it occurred. This is in stark contrast to the usual case which arises under MCLA 768.27; MSA 28.1050, in which there is ample evidence that a similar offense has been committed and direct or strong circumstantial evidence that defendant was the perpetrator. Cf. People v Spillman, 399 Mich 313; 249 NW2d 73 (1976), People v Allen, 351 Mich 535; 88 NW2d 433 (1958).
To permit the jury to find that the mattress fire was a like act of defendant, two inferences must be taken from the evidence presented: first, that the fire was intentionally set; and second, that defendant set it. There was no direct evidence to establish either of these points. The chain of reasoning which must be constructed to reach the conclusion that the mattress fire was a similar act of defendant is so attenuated as to render the probative value of the evidence negligible. That its prejudicial effect was conversely great is obvious; as defendant points out, the prosecutor made much of the earlier fire in his argument. Under the circumstances, we conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the evidence of the prior fire.
II
Defendant’s next allegation of error concerns the rebuttal testimony of a prosecution witness, Mrs. Wenzel. Defendant testified at trial, and during cross-examination was asked by the prosecutor whether she had shown Mrs. Wenzel, who was her landlady, a scrapbook containing a newspaper article about the fire in her parent’s home. Defendant denied having done so. Over the objection of defendant, the prosecutor was permitted to recall Mrs. Wenzel to the stand to testify in rebuttal that defendant had, in fact, shown her a scrapbook containing such an article.
On appeal, defendant contends that Mrs. Wenzel’s testimony was improper rebuttal, citing People v Bennett, 393 Mich 445; 224 NW2d 840 (1975). We agree. The Supreme Court in Bennett, supra, 449-450, expressly condemned the device used by the prosecutor here, saying:
"Rebuttal is limited to the refutation of relevant and material evidence — hence evidence bearing on an issue properly raised in a case.
"Such issue of course could be one raised in the prosecutor’s case in chief or one raised by way of defense, and evidence on either would be subject to rebuttal.
"But here, where the prosecutor did not offer this evidence in his case in chief, which he would have had to do if this were to be regarded as an admission or part of a scheme, it did not bear on an issue raised by the people.
"Neither does it bear on an issue raised by the defense.
"The device of eliciting a denial of some statement not properly in the case at the time of denial will not serve to inject an issue.
"Both the statement and the veracity of the witness are then collateral matters and the cross-examiner is bound by the response. People v Hillhouse, 80 Mich 580; 45 NW 484 (1890). We hold that Williams’ testimony was not proper rebuttal.”
In the case at bar, no evidence about the scrapbook was presented either in the prosecutor’s case in chief or in the defendant’s case. The entire issue of the fire at the home of defendant’s parents was a collateral matter. Defendant was being tried on charges arising out of the fire which occurred at her mobile home, not the earlier fire at her parents’ house. Whether or not defendant kept a clipping about the earlier fire has no probative value on the question whether defendant intentionally burned her trailer home. As a collateral matter, the subject of the scrapbook concerning the earlier fire is appropriate neither for substantive rebuttal nor for extrinsic impeachment of defendant’s testimony. People v Bennett, supra, People v McGillen #1, 392 Mich 251; 220 NW2d 677 (1974).
Ill
Finally, we discuss defendant’s contention that the trial court erred in refusing to charge the jury on the lesser included offense of manslaughter upon defendant’s timely request. We agree that failure to give the requested instruction was error.
Manslaughter is a lesser included offense of first-degree murder, and the trial court must so instruct the jury upon request if there is evidence in the record, however slight, which would support a manslaughter conviction, People v Paul, 395 Mich 444; 236 NW2d 486 (1975), People v Van Wyck (On Rehearing), 76 Mich App 17; 255 NW2d 754 (1977).
"[W]here a defendant is charged with first-degree murder in the perpetration of a felony, and where there is evidence that indicates that the killing was not done with malice, the trial court may instruct the jury as to the lesser included offenses of first-degree murder, including manslaughter. In other words, the question whether the defendant acted with malice, (i.e., the intent to kill either actual or implied) is left to the jury even in cases in which the killing occurred during the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate a felony.” People v Fountain, 71 Mich App 491, 504; 248 NW2d 589 (1976).
Defendant testified that she tried several times to rescue her children, evidence which, if believed, could justify a jury finding that she lacked the malice necessary to elevate manslaughter to murder.
Additionally, defendant testified that she had emptied an ashtray into a wastebasket, and be lieved that the fire resulted from that'act, which the jury might find was gross negligence and therefore manslaughter. People v Carter, 387 Mich 397; 197 NW2d 57 (1972).
Defendant’s other claims of error are without merit.
Reversed and remanded for a new trial. | [
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R. B. Burns, P. J.
This appeal involves the interpretation of the Michigan Employment Security Act, MCLA 421.1 et seq.; MSA 17.501 et seq.
I do not think I can improve on the opinion written by the Circuit Judge, Michael G. Harrison, and we hereby adopt his opinion.
"This matter is brought as an appeal by Plaintiff, General Motors Corporation (GM), from a decision of the Appeal Board (Board) of Defendant Michigan Employment Security Commission (MESC).
"At issue is the applicability of 1971 PA 231, ' § [1] [MCLA 421.20a; MSA 17.521(1)] which became effective January 3, 1972, to certain contested unemployment benefits chargeable to GM. These benefits, totaling $1,571,647.00, were paid between 1968 and 1971 and appropriate appeals taken with respect thereto. All payments at issue were made prior to June 30, 1972, and not finally adjudicated as of August 31, 1972.
"GM maintains that the provisions of 1971 PA 231, § [1], should be applied to these contested benefits. The Board, in its decision of May 6, 1975, liability appeal No. L73-2434-1435, concluded to the contrary. If GM’s contention is correct, the above sum would be placed in the 'suspense account’ created by 1971 PA 231, § [1], rather than GM’s 'rating account.’ The rating account, created by 1971 PA 231 [MCLA 421.20(a); MSA 17.521(1)] is the basis upon which employer assessments for unemployment compensation are determined. The effect is a substantial reduction in GM’s 1973 unemployment compensation assessment.
"The Board’s decision rests on the theory that subsection 20(a) [MCLA 421.20(a); MSA 17.521(a)] controlled all benefit payments up until the effective date of section 20a [MCLA 421.20a; MSA 17.521(1)]. The Board concluded that to decide otherwise would amount to retroactive application of [s]ection 20a without a clear indication of such legislative intent. This lack of intent, according to the Board, was demonstrated through the Legislature’s failure to modify or repeal subsection 20(a), when 1971 PA 231 was enacted.
"The Court concludes that the benefit payments at issue in this matter should be charged to the section 20a suspense account for the calculation of GM’s 1973 contribution rate rather than the subsection 20(a) rating account. The basis of this decision rests on the operation of Michigan law prior to California Department of Human Resources [Development] v Java, 402 US 121; 91 S Ct 1347; 28 L Ed 2d 666 (1971) and the legislative response to that decision. The Court is of the opinion that the intent of the Legislature requires full application of section 20a to all contested benefits as of June 30, 1972.
"Prior to Java, supra, the statutory scheme as to the calculation of an employer’s contribution rate substantially revolved around subsections 20(a) and 32(c) [MCLA 421.32(c); MSA 17.534(c)]. Subsection 20(a) provided for paid benefit charges against the contributing employer’s rating account in the quarter paid and the procedure to be applied when these charges were determined by MESC to have been improperly levied. That subsection read:
" 'Benefits paid shall be charged against the employer’s rating account as of the quarter in which such payments are made. If the [commission determines that any benefits paid and charged against an employer’s rating account were improperly paid, an amount equal to the charge based on such benefits shall be credited to the employer’s rating account and correspondingly charged to the solvency account as to the current period or, in the discretion of the [c]ommission, the credit to the employer’s rating account may be made as of the date of the charge. Any such benefits paid to an individual as a result of an employer’s failure to provide the [commission with separation, employment and wage data as required by Section 32 shall be considered as benefits properly paid to the extent that such benefits are chargeable to such noncomplying employer.’ [MCLA 421.20(a); MSA 17.521(a)]. "Subsection 32(c) provided:
" 'The claimant or any other interested party may file an application with [an] office of the [commission for a redetermination in accordance with the provisions of [s]ection 32a * * * . In the event that such an application for redetermination is filed, [the] payment of beneñts * * * shall be withheld pending the [ñnal] disposition of such matter on redetermination or [o]n appeal therefrom.’ (Emphasis added) [MCLA 421.32(c); MSA 17.534(c)],
"The last sentence of subsection 32(c) was of particular significance as it protected the employer against inflated charges made upon the rating account by suspending payment of benefits in instances where the employer challenged MESC determinations. So long as no benefits were being paid, no additions were made to the rating account as provided for in subsection 20(a). Consequently, the employer’s contribution rate for any year reflected only those payments which were finally determined. Subsections 20(a) and 32(c) were not to be read independently of one another, but in concert and served a specific function.
"In Java, supra, the California statute providing for a stay in payments pending appeal, similar to subsection 32(c), was successfully challenged on the ground that the statute violated § 303(a)(1) of the Federal Social Security Act, in that it failed to deliver unemployment benefits into the hands of the unemployed 'when due.’ The United States Supreme Court ruled that benefits must commence immediately following any affirmative determination of eligibility so long as both the employer and employee had the opportunity to participate in the determination. Java was limited to the issue of the commencement of payments and did not address the means of calculating the contribution made by the employer. The result was that the last sentence of subsection 32(c) was clearly contrary to § 303(a)(1) of the Social Security Act. Michigan law was thus left with an unenforceable provision which had served as the employer’s safeguard against excessive contribution charges on the employer’s rating account.
"The Michigan Legislature responded immediately with the passage of 1971 PA 231 which, among other provisions, included the addition to 1936 PA 1 (ex sess) of section 20a and subsection 27(a)(1) and the repeal of the last sentence of subsection 32(c).
"The added section 20a read:
" 'Benefits paid on or prior to June 30 of any year, under a determination, redetermination or decision which is the subject of timely protest or appeal under this act, on which final disposition has not been made by August 31 of such year, shall be charged to a suspense account within the fund as of the immediately preceding June 30 and credits issued to the appropriate employer’s account as of that date. As of the date of final disposition of the protest or appeal, such benefit payments shall be transferred from the suspense account as a charge to the appropriate employer’s rating account if the final disposition allows benefits, or otherwise to the solvency account as benefit overpayments. [MCLA 421.20a; MSA 17.521(1)]’
"The new subsection 27(a)(1) provided:
" 'Whenever] a determination, redetermination, or decision is made that benefits are due an unemployed individual, [such] benefits shall immediately become payable from the fund, and continue to be payable to the unemployed individual, subject to the limitations imposed by his monetary entitlement, as long as he continues to be unemployed and to file claims for benefits, until [: (i)] the determination, redetermination or decision is reversed, [or (ii)] a determination, redetermination [or decision] on a new issue holding the individual disqualified or ineligible is made, or [iii] a new separation issue arises resulting from subsequent work. [MCLA 421.27(a)(1); MSA 17.529(a)(1)]’
"Subsection 32(c), as revised, read:
" 'The claimant or any other interested party may file an application with an office of the [commission for a redetermination in accordance with the provisions of [section 32a. [MCLA 421.32(c); MSA 17.534(c)]’
"Under the revised statutory scheme the procedure and sequence of events became as follows: The employee applies for benefits with MESC and an initial determination of eligibility is made pursuant to subsection 32(a). If it is found that the applicant is eligible, subsection 27(a)(1) provides that the benefit payments commence immediately. Subsection 32(c) allows the employer to take an appeal from the determination made pursuant to subsection 32a, but benefit payments continue uninterrupted. This brings into operation section 20a which established the suspense account in which accrued charges for contested benefits 'paid on or prior to June 30 of any year’ have been paid but 'which final disposition has not been made by August 31 of such year.’ Only upon final disposition of the particular matter in favor of the employee will an addition be made to the employer’s rating account, thereby affecting his contribution rate for that year. The effect of an appeal, therefore, is to place the rating account in the identical posture it had under pre Java subsection 32(c). By use of the suspense account technique, the substance of the law remained unchanged with regard to a pending appeal.
"In General Motors Corporation v Unemployment Compensation Commission, 321 Mich 724, 727; 34 NW2d 497 [, 498] (1948), the Supreme Court stated:
"' The primary rule governing the interpretation of statutes is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the [legislature.’
Clearly, legislative intent is not always expressly stated. It then becomes the responsibility of the courts to discern such intent. It is apparent to the Court that in the instant situation the legislative intent was manifested in its expeditious reaction to Java by passage of the amendatory provisions for contested benefits. This evidences an intent to maintain to the greatest degree possible a system of unemployment compensation whereby an employer is taxed only on those benefits finally determined to be properly charged to the employer. In People v Gould, 237 Mich 156, 163; 211 NW 346 [348] (1926), the Michigan Supreme Court stated:
" 'It is an old and well recognized rule that, when omissions, defects or imperfections in a previously existing law have been supplied or corrected in subsequent legislation, they should be liberally construed for the advancement of the remedy and suppression of the mischief against which they are directed.’
The Michigan Court of Appeals recently reiterated this rule in [The E.F. MacDonald Co v Department of] Treasury, 62 Mich App [626, 632]; 233 NW2d 678 [682] (1975):
" '[I]t is a rule of statutory construction that amending legislation should be liberally construed so as to correct defects in previous statutes.’
"MESC contends that subsection 20(a) and section 20a are mutually [exclusive and that subsection 20(a) is applicable only up until the effective date of section 20a, January 3, 1972. It is the opinion of the Court, however, that this is not the reason subsection 20(a) was not repealed or modified by 1971 PA 231 as maintained by MESC. Each provision serves a distinct purpose. Subsection 20(a) provides for the charging of the rating account in the quarter paid so long as charges are attributable to that account, i.e., where no appeal is pending. Section 20a provides for the establishment and charging of such benefits upon final disposition.
"A patent inequity will result if section 20a is not applied to the payments in issue. GM does not seek to have its prior year’s contribution rates recalculated. Rather it seeks to have its 1973 contribution rate calculated under the statutory provisions in effect for the year 1973. Section 20a provides that’ [b]enefits paid on or prior to June 30 of any year, under a determination, redetermination or decision which is the subject of timely protest or appeal under this act, on which final disposition has not been made by August 31 of such year, shall be charged to a suspense account * * * .’ As of June 30, 1972, $1,571,647.00 in benefits had been paid chargeable to GM, for which as of August 31, 1972, there had not been a final disposition. Such payments clearly fit into a liberal construction of section 20a.
"The Court concludes that the 1973 contribution of GM should be calculated only as to those charges not under appeal as of June 30, 1972, and not finally decided as of August 31, 1972.
"Appropriate adjustments shall be made for subsequent years.”
Affirmed. No costs, a public question involved. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiffs-appellants filed a complaint in Ingham County Circuit Court on March 16, 1976, claiming that they had paid a $93,009.80 property tax assessment under protest to defendant township on February 16, 1976. The complaint requested a refund of the taxes paid. Defendant answered the complaint and filed a motion for accelerated judgment on the ground that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter. The motion contended that exclusive jurisdiction of such matters had been conferred upon the Michigan Tax Tribunal by the provisions of the act creating the tribunal. On July 9, 1976, the trial court entered its opinion and order granting defendant’s motion for accelerated judgment. Plaintiffs appeal from this order as of right.
Plaintiffs commenced this action under a provision of the General Property Tax Act, MCLA 211.53; MSA 7.97. That section of the act provides that a person may protest within 60 days of payment any tax or special assessment which is paid. A person may, within 30 days after such protest, sue the township or city for the amount paid and recover, if the tax or special assessment is shown to be illegal. However, the Tax Tribunal Act en acted in 1973 contains contrary provisions. MCLA 205.735(2); MSA 7.650(35)(2) requires suit to be brought within 30 days and contains no provision for a protest within 60 days as is contained in the General Property Tax Act.
The Tax Tribunal Act also contains several provisions divesting the circuit courts of jurisdiction over suits for a refund. While the General Property Tax Act permits a taxpayer to seek a refund of taxes paid by filing suit in the taxpayer’s local circuit court, MCLA 211.53; MSA 7.97, the Tax Tribunal Act gives exclusive and original jurisdiction to the Tax Tribunal, MCLA 205.731; MSA 7.650(31). Under MCLA 205.741; MSA 7.650(41), one who could have proceeded before the state tax commission or a circuit court before enactment of the Tax Tribunal Act, must now proceed before the tribunal. MCLA 205.774; MSA 7.650(74) abolishes the right to sue for a refund other than in proceedings before the tribunal.
Plaintiffs contend that because of these provisions which are contrary to the General Property Tax Act, the Tax Tribunal Act, MCLA 205.701 et seq.; MSA 7.650(1) et seq., violates Const 1963, art 4, § 25, which provides:
"No law shall be revised, altered or amended by reference to its title only. The section or sections of the act altered or amended shall be re-enacted and published at length.”
Plaintiffs claim that it was the intent of the Legislature to amend the General Property Tax Act; that since there was no republication of that act, the Tax Tribunal Act is unconstitutional.
Our Supreme Court scrutinized the constitutional provision involved here in Advisory Opinion re Constitutionality of 1972 PA 294, 389 Mich 441; 208 NW2d 469 (1973), which dealt with the "no- fault” insurance act. The opinion provides valuable guidelines and a useful framework for an analysis of the Tax Tribunal Act and its validity under Const 1963, art 4, § 25.
In examining any constitutional provision and § 25 of article 4 in particular, two considerations are paramount. The first is a simple reading of the language to determine its meaning.
"The language of § 25 is quite clear. It says succinctly and straightforwardly that no law (meaning statutory enactment) shall be revised, altered or amended by reference to its title only. The constitutional language then proceeds to state how it shall be done (i.e., the section[s] of the act in question shall be amended by reenacting and republishing at length).
"Section 25 is worded to prevent the revising, altering or amending of an act by merely referring to the title of the act and printing the amendatory language then under consideration. If such a revision, alteration or amendment were allowed, the public and the Legislature would not be given notice and would not be able to observe readily the extent and effect of such revision, alteration or amendment.” 389 Mich at 470.
Examination of the Tax Tribunal Act shows that no law was revised, altered or amended merely by title. No other law is mentioned in the act. Plaintiffs argue, however, that a section or sections of the General Property Tax Act have been altered or amended without reenactment and publication at length as required by the constitution. To review this claim, we look for guidance to the second consideration suggested by the Supreme Court for examining constitutional provisions. The Court has advised that we direct our attention to an analysis of precedent. "How have the courts interpreted this language?” 389 Mich at 470.
In Constitutionality, 1972 PA 294, supra, the Supreme Court quoted extensively from the opinion of Justice Cooley in People v Mahaney, 13 Mich 481 (1865), which construed the predecessor of Const 1963, art 4, § 25. A constitutional provision, Cooley said, must receive a reasonable construction with a view to giving it effect. 13 Mich at 497. The Supreme Court in 1973 quoted with approval Justice Cooley’s wise observations concerning the meaning of § 25.
" 'If, whenever a new statute is passed, it is necessary that all prior statutes modified by it by implication should be re-enacted and published at length as modified, then a large portion of the whole code of laws of the state would require to be republished at every session, and parts of it several times over, until from the mere immensity of the material, it would be impossible to tell what the law was * * * .
" 'An amendatory act which purported only to insert certain words, or to substitute one phrase for another in an act or section which was only referred to but not republished, was well calculated to mislead the careless as to its effect, and was, perhaps, sometimes drawn in that form for that express purpose. Endless confusion was introduced into the law, and the constitution wisely prohibited such legislation.’ ” 13 Mich at 496-497, cited in 389 Mich at 471-473.
After advising that the no-fault insurance law did not violate these standards, the Supreme Court again quoted Mahaney:
" 'But an act complete in itself is not within the mischief designed to be remedied by this division and cannot be held to be prohibited by it without violating the plain intent.’ (p 497.) (Emphasis added.)” 389 Mich at 473.
The Tax Tribunal Act is an act complete in itself, falling squarely within the rule set forth by Justice Cooley in Mahaney. It creates a tax tribunal, defines its jurisdiction and provides a complete procedure by which the final decisions, findings, rulings, determinations or orders of taxing authorities relating to assessment, valuation, rates, allocation or equalization under property tax laws or proceedings for a refund or redetermination of tax may be considered by the tribunal.
The "mischief designed to be remedied” by art 4, § 25, misleading the public and the Legislature as to the intent of the legislation, is not present in this case. The Tax Tribunal Act falls within the general tax law and is easily discoverable. It does not confuse or mislead: it states what it purports to do in explicit language.
Plaintiffs’ reliance on Mok v The Detroit Building and Savings Association No 4, 30 Mich 511 (1875), and Alan v Wayne County, 388 Mich 210; 200 NW2d 628 (1972), is misplaced. In its advisory opinion, the Supreme Court distinguished the two cases with an analysis applicable to the present case. Mok involved amendments by reference that were patently contrary to the constitution, unlike the matter in the Tax Tribunal Act. The Tax Tribunal Act does not "alter or amend the statute by reference or by striking out or insertion of words without reproduction of the statute in its amended form”. 389 Mich at 475. The confusing cross referencing between statutes objected to in Mok is not required by the Tax Tribunal Act.
Alan v Wayne County, supra, is also distinguishable. There the offending statutory language was not an amendment by implication: Justice Williams noted that fact in Alan itself and the Supreme Court relied on Justice Williams’ language in its advisory opinion. Alan differs significantly from Mahaney and other cases where the amendment by implication has been considered and held valid.
In its advisory opinion, Constitutionality, 1972 PA 294, supra, at 477, the Supreme Court concluded its discussion of Const 1963, art 4, § 25 with language appropriate for the present case.
"Amendments by implication are an inevitable byproduct of the legislative scheme of government. It boggles the mind to contemplate the laws which would be rendered unconstitutional ab initio and the avalanche of litigation which would follow were we to construe § 25 in so extended a manner as to find unconstitutional its effect upon 1972 PA 294.”
A reasonable interpretation of the constitutional provision requires our holding that the Tax Tribunal Act, MCLA 205.701 et seq.; MSA 7.650(1) et seq., does not violate Const 1963, art 4, § 25. Accordingly, the circuit court did not have jurisdiction over this matter and the judgment granting defendant its motion for accelerated judgment is affirmed.
J. J. Kelley, J., concurred. | [
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Per Curiam.
Interstate Brands Corporation brought this action to enjoin defendant, Way Baking Company, from using the trademark "Holsum” in a loosely defined area called the Lansing territory and to recover damages for Way’s use of that trademark. The trial court, sitting without a jury, found that plaintiff Interstate was using the trademark "Holsum” as a defensive measure to stifle competition from Way and denied the requested relief. Plaintiff appeals the trial court’s decision as of right.
In 1929 the W. E. Long Company first registered the "Holsum” trademark in Michigan. It has since been continuously renewed by Long. Defendant Way is a baking company based in Jackson, Michigan. Way began using the "Holsum” mark in Jackson in 1955 as a licensee of Long.
The Roskam Baking Company was plaintiffs predecessor in the Lansing area. Roskam began operations in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area in the 1930’s and did not expand outside of the Grand Rapids area till 1960. In approximately 1945, Roskam commenced use of the name "Holsum” to designate its bakery products being sold in Grand Rapids.
In 1949 Roskam attempted to register the trademark in Michigan but registration was refused because defendant’s assignor, W. E. Long, objected on the basis of its prior registration. Later, Long withdrew its objections and permitted registration of the mark by Roskam "in the territory in which Roskam [was then] * * * marketing bread and bakery products under the trade name 'Holsum’ ”, i.e., the Grand Rapids area. The trademark was renewed by Roskam and assigned to Interstate Brands in 1973 when Roskam sold plaintiff all its assets. The registration contained no geographical limits.
Roskam moved into the Lansing area in 1960 and sold, among other brands, Holsum bread, without objection from defendant. In 1964 defendant Way briefly introduced its product in the Lansing market area under the name "Holsum”, but withdrew its product after Roskam objected.
In February, 1974, shortly after the sale of assets by Roskam to plaintiff, defendant began selling bread under the "Holsum” brand in the Lansing area. The trial court found that before defendant’s reentry into the Lansing area, from 1970 to 1973, plaintiff had been phasing out the name "Holsum” in favor of the name "Butternut”. For those years, the court found, the sale of Holsum bread by Roskam amounted to less than 5% of Roskam’s sales. "[After] defendant’s re-entry, plaintiffs Holsum product * * * reappeared sporadically”.
The trial court accepted the version of events given by defendant’s witness, a present employee of Way and a former employee of plaintiffs predecessor, Roskam. It found that before defendant’s reentry into the Lansing market area with its Holsum product in 1974, "retail shelves in plaintiffs outlets [had] been bare of its Holsum product * * * . There is no evidence that plaintiff intends in the future to increase its use of the trade name Holsum, and the plaintiff offered no evidence of legitimate business reasons tending to show a lack of intent to abandon the name.”
At the outset, we recognize that the standard by which we review the trial court’s findings of fact is contained in GCR 1963, 517.1 which provides:
"Findings of fact shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. In the application of this principle, regard shall be given to the special opportunity of the trial court to judge the credibility of those witnesses who appeared before it.”
We must view the trial court’s conclusions on trademark usage as findings of fact not to be easily disturbed.
Trademark rights arise out of appropriation and use. Generally, the right belongs to one who first appropriates and uses the mark. United Drug Co v Theodore Rectanus Co, 248 US 90; 39 S Ct 48; 63 L Ed 141 (1918). But mere adoption of a particular mark is inadequate. Rights grow out of usage. Trade Mark Cases, 100 US 82; 25 L Ed 550 (1879), Hanover Star Milling Co v Metcalf, 240 US 403; 36 S Ct 357; 60 L Ed 713 (1916).
Usage must satisfy good faith requirements. Pretense or pro forma use is not an acceptable substitute for bona fide use. O’Connor & Gordon, Inc v Handicraft Publications, Inc, 206 Misc 1087; 136 NYS2d 558 (1954). Sham transactions designed merely to satisfy the trademark laws are not acceptable. Blue Bell, Inc v Jaymar-Ruby, Inc, 497 F2d 433 (CA 2, 1974).
What constitutes sufficient bona fide use can only be determined on a case by case basis because the equities of each situation must be carefully balanced. See Chandon Champagne Corp v San Marino Wine Corp, 335 F2d 531 (CA 2, 1964). In a particular case, it is the function of the fact finder to balance the equities and determine how a party is making use of a trademark.
The trial court found plaintiff’s use of the trademark "Holsum” to be defensive. We realize that in a sense every use of a trademark is defensive. A trademark is a potent weapon in the competitive contest, Callman, The Law of Unfair Competition, Trademarks, and Monopolies, § 65, p 3 (3d ed, 1969), which operates as a guarantee to the trademark owner against deprivation of his profit. Macmahan Pharmacal Co v Denver Chemical Mfg Co, 113 F 468 (CA 8, 1901). It protects the owner’s good will against the sale of another’s products as his. United Drug Co v Rectanus, supra, at 97.
While a certain amount of defensive use attaches to every use of a trademark, use of a mark solely for a defensive purpose is not bona fide. The owner of a trademark may not make a negative and merely prohibitive use of a trademark. It confers no monopoly in a proper sense. United Drug Co v Rectanus, supra, at 97-98. Usage is neither sufficient nor bona fide when contrived for trademark maintenance purposes. The good faith commercial use requirement is inconsistent with a plan of minimal sales devised for a trademark maintenance program. La Societe Anonyme des Parfums Le Galion v Jean Patou, Inc, 495 F2d 1265 (CA 2, 1974).
" 'Trademark rights are not created by sporadic, casual, and nominal shipments of goods bearing a mark. There must be a trade in the goods sold under the mark or at least an active and public attempt to establish such a trade. Absent these elements, no trademark can be created or exist.’ ” Jean Patou, supra, at 1274, citing Clairol, Inc v Holland Hall Products, Inc, 165 USPQ 214 (Trademark Trial and App Bd, 1970).
In Jean Patou, the court determined that any purely defensive use of a trademark is insufficient to obtain enforceable rights in the product.
In a parallel case, Morton Salt Co v G S Suppiger Co, 314 US 488; 62 S Ct 402; 86 L Ed 363 (1942), it was held that defensive use of a patent to restrain competition was so adverse to public policy that equity would deny relief. The court stated that misuse of a trademark, that is, a use which subverts public policy, would force a court of equity to deny plaintiff relief in a trademark infringement case.
Because the equities of each case must be balanced individually, it is proper to consider all the purposes a particular trademark serves to ascertain if a defensive use is mingled with a bona fide use. These bona fide uses include the functions of designating goods as the product of a particular trader, providing security to a particular business, and acting as a guarantee against deception of the public.
In this case, the trial court found plaintiff’s use to be solely a defensive measure to which there were no counterbalancing bona fide uses. We cannot say that the finding was clearly erroneous. Interstate’s sales of Holsum bread were sporadic, the court found, and its Holsum bread was only placed on shelves where defendant sold its product. No bona fide function of a trademark was served. Plaintiff was selling the bread solely as part of a trademark maintenance program designed to stifle competition. Such usage was not in good faith.
Plaintiff attempts to distinguish the instant case on the ground that Interstate Brands was not attempting to make an initial acquisition of rights to a trademark as were the parties in Jean Patou and other cited cases. The distinction is of no moment. The acts a party undertakes to establish a trademark and the acts a party undertakes to maintain a trademark are subject to the same requirements of good faith use. It defies logic to hold that a party may not engage in pro forma use to gain the rights initially, but that once those rights are gained, it may rely on pretense as a substitute for bona fide use. Such an absurd rule would be unfair to competitors and to the public. Cases which require bona fide usage do not depend for their holdings upon when the trademark is used but upon how it is used. A sham usage is unacceptable whether one is trying to acquire trademark rights or to preserve the rights.
We hold that the use of a trademark solely for a defensive, negative purpose is insufficient to maintain enforceable rights in that trademark. The trial judge found that plaintiffs use of the "Holsum” trademark was for defensive purposes to stifle competition. We cannot say his finding was clearly erroneous.
Affirmed. Costs to defendant. | [
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R. B. Burns, P. J.
Plaintiff appeals a declaratory judgment entered in favor of defendant. The trial judge held that defendant had the right to be subrogated to plaintiffs third-party tort claim. We affirm.
Plaintiff, an employee of defendant, was working as a pedestrian member of a sign maintenance crew installing road signs. He was struck by an automobile driven by Gail M. O’Grady and sustained serious injuries.
Defendant paid plaintiff workmen’s compensation benefits of approximately $20,000.
Plaintiff instituted a third-party negligence action against Ms. O’Grady for noneconomic loss under the no-fault automobile insurance act, MCLA 500.3135(1); MSA 24.13135(1). The suit was settled for $25,000 and defendant now claims its right of subrogation.
The major thrust of plaintiff’s argument is that under "no fault” he may only recover for his noneconomic loss, while his compensation carrier in effect is subrogated for its payment for plaintiffs economic losses.
Such a result does not seem equitable. However, in Pelkey v Elsea Realty & Investment Co, 394 Mich 485; 232 NW2d 154 (1975), the Supreme Court allowed the defendant to be subrogated for plaintiffs pain and suffering, a noneconomic loss. We are bound by the Pelkey decision.
Affirmed. Costs to defendant.
W. R. Brown, J., concurred. | [
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Per Curiam.
This is an original proceeding in the Court of Appeals pursuant to GCR 1963, 714.1. The Board of County Road Commissioners of Oakland County seeks a judgment of mandamus against the Michigan State Highway Commission and associated personnel, compelling them to forthwith complete the construction of Northwestern Highway in accordance with the terms and conditions of a contract executed by the parties on March 7, 1957. By its own language the contract is to remain in effect for 25 years from that date. On October 1, 1976, this Court issued an order directing defendants to show cause why the relief sought in plaintiffs complaint should not be granted.
To finance construction of the 37.8-mile highway, the State Highway Commissioner sold tax bonds worth $25,000,000 at public sale on April 9, 1957, pursuant to MCLA 252.61; MSA 9.1094(11). In order to complete the financing, the Oakland County Board of Road Commissioners agreed to share the costs of construction. Each year the county, carrying out the terms of the 1957 contract, has contributed $90,000 to the construction fund from its share of state taxes on motor vehicle fuels.
By 1962, a 5.5-mile segment of the highway, extending from the north end of James Couzens Highway in the City of Detroit northwesterly to Telegraph Road (U.S. 24), had been constructed. Most of the proceeds derived from the sale of the bonds was expended in this construction, despite the original expectation that the entire highway could be constructed for $37,000,000. By this action for mandamus plaintiff asks the Court to order the state highway commission to complete the remainder of the highway forthwith.
The primary issue confronting the Court is the propriety of a writ of mandamus in this situation. Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, not to be entertained lightly. It may issue only under limited circumstances. Dettore v Brighton Township, 58 Mich App 652; 228 NW2d 508 (1975). Though the rule is generally phrased in terms which require that plaintiff have no adequate remedy at law, Hunt v State Highway Commissioner, 350 Mich 309; 86 NW2d 345 (1957), the actual rule severely restricts the use of mandamus. "The general principle which governs proceedings by mandamus is, that whatever can be done without the employment of that extraordinary remedy may not be done with it. It only lies when there is practically no other remedy.” Ex parte Rowland, 104 US 604, 617; 26 L Ed 861 (1881).
In Michigan, Clarke v Hill, 132 Mich 434; 93 NW 1044 (1903), contains a complete recital of the rule.
"Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, and is recognized as such. We have often held that it is inappropriate where there is another adequate remedy in law or in equity; and, as it is never supposed to be issued where there is not a clear legal right, it can hardly rest upon the ground that the right is undisputed. * * * To sustain the jurisdiction contended for would be to make the summary remedy by mandamus the substitute for an action or suit in a large class of cases.” 132 Mich at 435-436. (Emphasis supplied.)
See, also, Booker v Grand Rapids Medical College, 156 Mich 95; 120 NW 589 (1909), and Clark v Peninsular Building and Loan Association, 268 Mich 584; 256 NW 556 (1934).
The Board of County Road Commissioners has adequate remedies, both legal and equitable. If plaintiff wants some of the money it raised for the highway returned to it but is satisfied not to have the highway completed, it may sue for damages in the Court of Claims. If plaintiff wishes the highway completed, it may file a suit for specific enforcement of the contract. When there is a plain, direct and adequate alternative remedy, courts will not permit the use of a writ of mandamus. Coffin v Board of Education of Detroit, 114 Mich 342; 72 NW 156 (1897). Because plaintiff here has such alternative remedies, the issuance of the writ is inappropriate.
Even were we to concede that plaintiff lacked adequate alternative remedies, we would still be forced to conclude that mandamus is improper in this case. Mandamus lies only when there is a clear legal duty incumbent on the defendant and a clear legal right in the plaintiff to the discharge of such duty. Miller v Detroit, 250 Mich 633; 230 NW 936 (1930). The specific act sought to be compelled must be of a ministerial nature, that is, prescribed and defined by law with such precision and certainty as to leave nothing to the exercise of discretion or judgment. Taylor v Ottawa Circuit Judge, 343 Mich 440; 72 NW2d 146 (1955), Bills v Grand Blanc Township, 59 Mich App 619; 229 NW2d 871 (1975), State Board of Education v Garden City School District, 62 Mich App 376; 233 NW2d 547 (1975).
We cannot find that the act here at issue leaves nothing to the exercise of discretion or judgment. The extensive powers and duties of the state highway commission, contained in MCLA 247.807; MSA 9.216(7), necessitate the continual use of discretion and judgment.
Oklahoma’s Supreme Court, in a case factually similar to this, considered the nature of a state highway commission’s functions. In Board of Commissioners of Harmon County v State Highway Commission, 163 Okla 207; 23 P2d 681 (1933), bonds worth $75,000 had been issued to furnish part of the funds to construct a road. After part of the road was built along the designated route, the Federal Bureau of Highways demanded that the remainder be built on a route north of the original route. Because noncompliance would have resulted in the loss of Federal funding, the state highway commission complied. The county board of commissioners sued for specific performance of the contract and for an injunction prohibiting construction along the new route, or, in the alternative, to have its $75,000 returned.
The Oklahoma court held that plaintiff was not entitled to specific performance of the contract. In so holding, the court relied upon the fact that, in spite of the contractual duty the highway commission had undertaken, its functions still involved a measure of discretion which could not be relinquished.
"While the state highway commission could by contract create a duty to plaintiff, the state highway commission could not contract away to plaintiff its discretion in reference to the discharge of its duties to the remaining citizenship of the state. * * * The state highway commission has the discretion in the first instance to determine as to the location and improve ment of highways. It has the right to determine that it will construct a certain highway, or that it will not. If it concludes to build a certain highway, and before doing so there arises or intervenes a duty to the state as a whole, or an emergency, or change in conditions, or circumstances of such serious proportions as is disclosed by the record in this case, surely the state highway commission must be accorded the right to postpone, or if reasonably and in good faith deemed necessary, to abandon such project, even though a promise may have been made to a board of county commissioners to complete such project.” 23 P2d at 684-685.
In a later case, Board of Commissioners of Canadian County v State Highway Commission, 176 Okla 207; 55 P2d 106 (1936), the Oklahoma court, relying on the decision in Harmon County, held that the highway commission could not be required by mandamus to construct a highway which it may justifiably refuse to construct. Again, the court based its holding on the state highway commission’s right to exercise discretion. While the commission’s action was contrary to its contractual duty, it was in keeping with its paramount duty to the state as a whole.
The fiscal ability to construct needed roads and highways in Michigan is limited. As the Oklahoma court has recognized, determination of what needs are critical or require priority treatment is a function within the discretionary authority of the state highway commission, provisions of lawful contracts notwithstanding.
Michigan is not without cases analogous to this. In Stephenson v The Common Council of the City of Detroit, 213 Mich 668; 181 NW 1001 (1921), our Supreme Court refused to affirm the issuance of a writ of mandamus when the acts of the municipal officials which plaintiff sought to compel were held to be discretionary. "The duties of the officers of the city are quasi-judicial or in a sense legislative. Judgment and discretion are to be used. These duties will not be controlled by mandamus.” See, also, Toan v McGinn, 271 Mich 28; 260 NW 108 (1935), and Taylor v Ottawa Circuit Judge, supra.
The duties of the state highway commission are comparable to the duties of the city officers in Stephenson. The commission must utilize judgment in exercising its functions; it possesses the discretion to decide if and how, in the best interests of the state, it will perform. Plaintiff board seeks to compel an act which is not of a mere ministerial nature. Consequently, defendant does not have the type of clear legal duty it must have if the writ is to issue.
Nor does plaintiff have the clear legal right to performance which mandamus requires. We note first that mandamus will not be granted to compel public officers to perform a duty assumed by contract, unless mandated by statute. 52 Am Jur 2d, Mandamus, § 75, p 397, Miller v Imperial Water Co, 156 Cal 27; 103 P 227 (1909), Clark v Peninsular Building and Loan Association, supra.
The statutes on which the board of county road commissioners bases its right to have Northwestern Highway completed are inadequate grounds on which to issue a writ of mandamus. The board contends that because the bonds were sold pursuant to MCLA 252.61; MSA 9.1094(11), it has the right to immediate completion of the highway. That statute says in part:
"For the purpose of providing funds for the immediate construction and completion of the project or projects contemplated by said contract or contracts, either the state highway commissioner or any county, city or village that is a party to such contract or contracts is authorized to borrow money and issue its negotiable dedicated tax bonds * * * (Emphasis supplied.)
Aside from the problem of whether the word "immediate” modifies only "construction” or both that word and "completion”, there is nothing in the statute which suggests that it was intended to give the county any substantive right to "immediate construction and completion” as against the state. Rather, the statute addresses itself to the right to borrow money and issue bonds. This Court cannot give a statute an interpretation never intended by the Legislature.
The board of county road commissioners also, relies upon MCLA 247.661a; MSA 9.1097(lla) which directs that any additional monies in the state trunk line fund arising from the 1973 increase in fuel taxes shall be used first for the construction or reconstruction or the payment of bonds for several enumerated highways. The segment of Northwestern Highway not yet completed is one of many listed. Again, we find no language in the statute which even implies that it was intended to give the board of county road commissioners any substantive right to compel the state highway commission to forthwith complete Northwestern Highway.
Mandamus is not the proper remedy in this case: the board of road commissioners has adequate alternative remedies. Moreover, mandamus will not lie to compel a discretionary act, such as the decision by the state highway commission to construct a highway. No "clear legal duty” to finish the highway devolves upon defendant. Plaintiff board possesses no "clear legal right” to compel the state highway commission to complete Northwestern Highway forthwith. The writ of mandamus is denied.
In certain instances mandamus will lie though the action sought to be compelled is discretionary. A court can order a public officer to carry out acts of a ministerial nature despite the fact that they require a measure of discretion. Cf. cases cited in Lundberg v Corrections Commission, 57 Mich App 327, 329; 225 NW2d 752 (1975). Mandamus also lies if public officers have acted arbitrarily and unjustly and have abused their discretion. Arizona State Highway Commission v Superior Court of Maricopa County, 81 Ariz 74; 299 P2d 783 (1956). Neither of these circumstances is here present.
We are not presented with a precise claim for specific performance in this case but, in effect, that is what plaintiff seeks — and we reject— in this suit for mandamus. The inherent discretionary nature of the state highway commission’s functions as discussed in the body of the opinion is the basis for not allowing specific performance of the contract. This was the basis on which the Oklahoma court rejected plaintiffs claim for specific performance in Board of Commissioners of Harmon County v State Highway Commission, supra. There the court held the highway commission could not sacrifice the state’s paramount interests to those of the county board of road commissioners with whom the highway commission had contracted. See, also, Jackson v State Highway Department, 164 Ga 434; 138 SE 847 (1927), and State of Missouri ex rel State Highway Commission v Hammel, 372 SW2d 852 (Mo, 1963).
In Harmon County, after rejecting the claim for specific performance, the court considered the question of reimbursement of the $75,000 plaintiff county had paid to the defendant highway commission. It was decided that the fairest solution would be to remand for a determination of what had been paid, but not used, for that part of the originally designated highway which had been abandoned. That amount would be refunded to the county. In the present case, a determination of damages in accord with the method specified in Harmon is a fair and feasible solution. | [
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Allen, J.
Plaintiff filed suit for a declaratory judgment to declare null and void a certain agreement dated July 25, 1972, between the parties under which plaintiff was prohibited from leasing to a competing supermarket the space which defendant had formerly leased from plaintiff under a lease agreement dated December 5, 1962. Defendant filed a cross-complaint to enjoin plaintiff from leasing or permitting use of the space in question to a competing food supermarket. Following a nonjury trial, the trial judge issued a written opinion on March 10, 1976, holding that the July 25, 1972, agreement remained in full force and effect, dismissing plaintiff’s complaint and grant ing defendant’s cross-complaint for an injunction. Plaintiff appeals of right.
I. Facts
Plaintiff is a Michigan corporation whose only business is that of constructing and leasing buildings. By lease dated December 5, 1962, plaintiff leased to defendant 15,000 square feet of the 45,-000 square foot Bobenal Building at the corner of Mission and Preston , Streets in Mount Pleasant. The lease term was 15 years with two renewal options of 5 years each and rent was three-quarters of one percent of gross sales but with a minimum of $21,000 per year. The remaining 30,000 square feet of space was occupied by a Yankee Department Store under a lease from Bobenal.
During 1971, defendant commenced building its own shopping center located some two or three blocks south of the Bobenal Building and on the opposite side of Mission Street. The principal building of the new center contained 50,000 square feet, of which plaintiff commenced occupying 20,-000 square feet, and a department store the remaining 30,000 square feet. Nothing in the 1962 lease specifically precluded Giant from opening another store in Mount Pleasant though plaintiff contends that, by implication, Giant was precluded from such action.
After the new center opened, defendant continued operations in both locations but business at the Bobenal shopping center began to decline and the párties commenced negotiating with one another. The nature of these initial negotiations is disputed. Defendant contends it desired to keep stores at both sites on Mission Street but plaintiff claims defendant proposed to give up the grocery option provided Bobenal would consent to use of the space for Giant’s general offices — a proposal which plaintiff rejected. Be this as it may, negotiations continued, finally terminating in the agreement of July 25, 1972. This agreement cancels the lease dated December 5, 1962, and on which there remained approximately 5-1/2 years of the initial term and two renewal options of 5 years each. The salient provisions of this agreement read as follows:
"WHEREAS, the parties desire to terminate said lease and the First Party to vacate said premises without further liability for the rents due thereon after vacation;
"NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby agreed that the said lease dated December 5, 1962, is terminated on the following terms and conditions:
1. That the First Party shall vacate said premises no later than 60 days from the date hereof.
2. That if First Party vacates the leased premises within said 60-day period, Second Party shall not lease or permit the use of, said leased premises, or that portion of the land above described which is occupied by the Yankee Department Store, or any part of said leased premises or land, as a food super market for a period of 10 years from the date hereof.
3. That First Party shall, at its own expense, remove all of its fixtures and equipment within said 60-day period and repair any damage done to the premises by such removal.
4. That First Party shall pay the minimum monthly rents due under the terms of said lease and proportionately to the date of vacation.
5. That the First Party shall furnish to Second Party a statement of gross receipts as per the terms of the lease and pay to Second Party any percentage rent due under said lease — the rent to be proportional for the proportions of the lease year the First Party has had possession.
6. That if First Party fails to vacate the leased premises within said 60-day period, Second Party shall be free to lease to a food super market, and the above prohibition shall be void.”
Within the 60-day period referred to above, defendant vacated the premises, taking with it all of its fixtures and equipment. However, during the course of the vacating, defendant removed a downspout which handled water from the roof and failed to replace it. That night — Friday, August 25, 1972 — and the following morning a heavy rain fell, as a result of which water entered the building saturating the floors of both the Giant and the Yankee areas. The surplus water was quickly mopped and swept away by defendant’s maintenance crew and the floor area was scrubbed and cleaned by a professional janitorial contractor. Nevertheless, some tile was loosened or lost, though the amount of the loss was disputed. By letter dated September 15, 1972, plaintiff notified defendant that the water had caused considerable damage, that plaintiff would make the repairs and would look to defendant for payment. Five days later, by letter dated September 20, defendant informed plaintiff that it had vacated the premises and, except for normal wear and tear, denied any responsibility for alleged damage to the building. In turn, by letter dated October 17, Bobenál acknowledged receipt of Giant’s letter of September 20, and stated that Bobenal would make the repairs and replacements to the floor and submit the cost to defendant.
Finally, on October 30, 1972, the parties exe cuted a simple one-paragraph termination of lease agreement reading as follows:
"This is to certify that that certain Lease Agreement dated December 5, 1962, covering part of a building on property described as: * * * has been terminated, and the second party has taken possession of the premises in accordance with the terms of a certain Agreement dated July 25, 1972.”
Plaintiff thereafter leased the vacated space to Zodys who, as successor to Yankee, took over the entire Bobenal Building. No claim for damages was ever made by Bobenal nor was a bill sent for reimbursement for the cost and installation of the tile or other repairs. In fact, nothing further on the subject transpired between the parties until Zodys went bankrupt shortly before Christmas 1974, and defendant heard that plaintiff was negotiating a lease with Kroger for the vacated space. On May 13, 1975, defendant wrote plaintiff directing attention to plaintiff’s covenant of July 25, 1972, not to lease to a supermarket for 10 years. On May 21, 1975, plaintiff replied, stating that inasmuch as Giant had not made the repairs for damage caused when defendant vacated the space, "the entire agreement is vitiated” and plaintiff would proceed "as if the writing of July 25, 1972, did not exist”. Shortly thereafter, plaintiff filed its complaint for a declaratory judgment determining that the agreement of July 25, 1972, was null and void. Defendant answered and filed a counterclaim to enjoin Bobenal from using or permitting the use of the subject premises for supermarket purposes.
II. Statement of Issues
Four basic issues emerge from the factual situa tion described: (1) Did Giant breach the 1962 lease by opening up another store across the street? (2) Did the trial court err in finding that Giant had fully or substantially performed the covenant to repair the premises it vacated and that Bobenal, in accepting the benefits of Giant’s performance, waived any right to refuse to honor the noncom-petition covenant? (3) Was Giant’s covenant to repair as set forth in § 3 of the agreement independent of Bobenal’s covenant not to lease to a competing food market as set forth in § 2 of the agreement? (4) Was the agreement of July 25, 1972, void under the statute prohibiting contracts by which any person agrees not to engage in any business, MCLA 445.761; MSA 28.61?
III. Discussion of Issues
(1) Did Giant breach the basic lease when it opened up a second shopping center and occupied another store across the street? This issue was not addressed by the trial court and is raised for the first time on appeal. Citing Slidell Investment Co, Inc v City Products Corp, 202 So 2d 323 (La App, 1967), Lippman v Sears, Roebuck & Co, 44 Cal 2d 136; 280 P2d 775 (1955), Professional Building of Eureka, Inc v Anita Frocks, Inc, 178 Cal App 2d 276; 2 Cal Rptr 914 (1960), and Simhawk Corp v Egler, 52 Ill App 2d 449; 202 NE2d 49 (1964), plaintiff argues that even though the 1962 lease contained no express provision that Giant must continue to do business in the space leased, the courts today find an implied covenant within a lease that the lessee will continue business in the premises leased for the full lease term. Where such a covenant is found, express or implied, the lessee may not close down the leased shop (or alternatively move to another shop) and pay the minimum rent, but must continue to operate the business in the space first leased. Plaintiff states the rule too broadly. Absent evidence that the minimum rental is insignificant the courts generally do not imply a covenant to continue operations. 2 Powell, Real Property, § 242[2], pp 372.27-372.28, 372.31(14), 372.32(8). The cases cited by plaintiff, supra, are distinguishable since, unlike the case before us, the minimum rent was either small or obviously inadequate ($284 per month Lippman; $250 per month, Simhawk). Factually more like the instant case are Kroger Co v Bonny Corp, 134 Ga App 834; 216 SE2d 341 (1975), and Stop & Shop, Inc v Ganem, 347 Mass 697; 200 NE2d 248 (1964).
In Kroger, defendant, owner of a shopping center, entered into a 15-year lease with Kroger in December 1973. Rental was $2,253 per month plus 1 percent of sales in excess of $2,704,000 per year. In December 1973, when two years still remained on the basic term, Kroger closed its store, opening another in a new shopping center one-and-one-half miles away but continued to pay the base rent and sought to obtain a sub-tenant for the vacated premises. During the first 12 years, sales were insufficient to invoke the percentage rent but, in the last (13th) year, increasing sales yielded $4,688.73 above the stipulated minimum rent. Claiming that the court should imply a covenant that the tenant had a duty to continue operations, the lessor sued for damages and for an injunction against allowing Kroger to vacate the store pro vided it continued to pay the minimum rent. The court rejected plaintiffs contention stating:
"The general rule is, as there abstracted from Cousins Invest. Co v Hastings Clothing Co, 45 Cal App 2d 141; 113 P2d 878 (1941), and Masciotra v Harlow, 105 Cal App 2d 376; 233 P2d 586 (1951), that 'covenants would be implied only where the implication must arise from the language used or was indispensable to effectuate the intention of the parties, and that when the rental to be received under a lease is based on a percentage of the gross receipts of the business, with a substantial minimum, there is no implied covenant that the lessee will operate its business in the leased premises throughout the term of the lease.’ 38 ALR2d Anno, pp. 1115, 1116.” (Emphasis supplied.) 134 Ga App at 838-839.
In Stop & Shop, Inc, the lessee was a supermarket under a 13-1/2 year lease with a minimum rental of $22,000 a year and a further rent of 1-1/4 percent of gross sales exceeding a certain amount. Lessee continued operating the business for nine years but then proposed to cease operations but continue to pay the basic rent. During the period of occupancy the lessee had opened two competing grocery markets, one within 1/2 mile and the other within one mile of the leased premises. The court refused to rule against the lessee by implying a covenant to continue operations. Further, the court based its opinion on the substantial minimum rental of $22,000, and distinguished Lippman and Anita Frocks as cases where the minimum rental was not substantial. In the case before us, there is nothing in the record to indicate that $21,000 a year minimum rental was unsubstantial. Only in the last two years of defendant’s 10-year occupancy were sales sufficient to invoke the percentage rent. To us, this suggests that the basic rent was not unsubstantial. Accordingly, we find no error on this issue.
(2) Did the trial court err in ñnding that Giant had fully or substantially performed the covenant to repair and that Bobenal, in accepting the beneñts of Giant’s performance, waived any right not to honor the non-competition covenant? Plaintiff claims that the trial court did not look closely at the testimony concerning the condition of the tile after the flooding and therefore erred in finding that the defendant had fully or substantially performed the agreement of July 25, 1972. We totally disagree. The record discloses that within two days, defendant mopped and swept away the water, then promptly followed up by hiring a reputable janitorial firm to clean the floors. No complaint as to the condition of the floor or the necessity of purchasing new tiles was made at the time. No complaint was made October 30, 1972, when the parties executed the termination of lease agreement. In fact, no complaint was made for the following two-and-one-half years and no demands for payment were pressed against the defendant. Not until Zodys went bankrupt did plaintiff assert that defendant had failed to abide by the agreement of July 25, 1972. However, our determination that defendant did at least substantially perform is based on more than Bobenal’s long delay in advancing the claim. We predicate our decision on a full reading of the record which quite convincingly shows to us that the decision to retile the entire floor was made not because of water damage but because of a combination of factors including Zodys desire to have new tile, and the presence of marks and lines resulting from normal wear and tear or showing the location of check-out counters, gondolas and other heavy equipment. In addition, there were extensive places — under the wall dividing Giant from Zodys and refrigerator trenches— where no tile had been laid. None of these factors which led to a decision to retile had any relationship to the flooding which occurred when defendant vacated the premises. We find no error on this issue.
(3) Was defendant’s covenant to repair, contained in the lease termination agreement, independent of plaintiff’s covenant not to compete? Volume 17A CJS, Contracts, §344, pp 330-336 identifies the guidelines for determining whether covenants within a contract are dependent or independent as (1) The intention of the parties, as evidenced by the contract language, subject matter and object to be attained; (2) the inherent justice of the situation; (3) the relative materiality of the breached covenant; (4) order of time of performance of the respective covenants; (5) whether the breached covenant was only part of the consideration to be given and was compensable in damages and was incidental to the main purpose of the contract. Application of these guidelines to. the situation disclosed in the transcript persuades us that the trial court correctly determined that the covenants were independent. Thus, assuming, arguendo, that Giant breached its covenant to repair, such breach does not release plaintiff from its covenant to not lease to a supermarket for 10 years.
The contractual language specifically ties the lessee’s obligation to vacate within 60 days to the lessor’s obligation not to lease to a competitor. This appears in paragraph 2 and again in paragraph 6. The obligation to repair stands separate and alone in paragraph 3. Inherent justice weighs in the lessee’s favor because of plaintiff’s extended delay on notifying defendant it had somehow breached the agreement. Had plaintiff made this claim in October when the termination of lease document was presented for signature the defendant would not have signed or, alternately, would have resolved the conflict at that time. Historically, a breach of a covenant to repair is compensable in damages. Anno: Measure and Items of Damages for Lessee’s Breach of Covenant as to Repairs, 80 ALR2d 983. Damages are recoverable equal to the cost of repairs, National Bank of Detroit v Voigt Estate, 357 Mich 647; 99 NW2d 504 (1959), plus loss of rent during the time required to make the repairs. Anno, supra, § 21, pp 1031-1032. Responding to questions by the Court, witnesses for the plaintiff clearly stated that plaintiff’s primary concern was that Giant vacate the building, and not that repairs be completed by September 25, 1972. Finally, the two covenants in question were not to be performed concurrently, a factor which weighs strongly in favor of finding the covenants independent. 6 RCL 860. We find no error in the trial court’s conclusion of law that the covenants in issue were independent of one another.
(4) Is the lessor’s covenant not to rent the premises for supermarket purposes for ten years in violation of 1905 PA 329 as amended by 1917 PA 171 (MCLA 445.761, 445.766; MSA 28.61, 28.66)? At oral argument the main thrust of plaintiff’s claim of error was directed to this issue. The entire building presently stands vacant and unrented, manacled from rental, according to counsel for plaintiff, by the covenant contained in the agreement of July 25, 1972, that for a period of ten years from the date of said agreement no portion of the entire building — either the 15,000 square feet then occupied by Giant Super Markets, Inc., or the 30,000 occupied by Yankee-Zodys— could be leased to or used as a food supermarket. This covenant, says plaintiff, is in violation of MCLA 445.761, 445.766; MSA 28.61, 28.66, which read as follows:
"Sec. 1. All agreements and contracts by which any person, co-partnership or corporation promises or agrees not to engage in any avocation, employment, pursuit, trade, profession or business, whether reasonable or unreasonable, partial or general, limited or unlimited, are hereby declared to be against public policy and illegal and void.”
"Sec. 6. This act shall not apply to any contract mentioned in this act, nor in restraint of trade where the only object of restraint imposed by the contract is to protect the vendee, or transferee, of a trade pursuit, avocation, profession or business, or the good will thereof, sold and transferred for a valuable consideration in good faith, and without any intent to create, build up, establish or maintain a monopoly; nor to any contract of employment under which the employer furnishes or discloses to the employe a list of customers or patrons, commonly called a route list, within certain territory in which such employe is to work, in which contract the employe agrees not to perform similar services in such territory for himself or another engaged in a like or competing line of business for a period of 90 days after the termination of such contract or services.”
We agree with the plaintiff that a superficial reading of the quoted provisions would lead to the conclusion that the agreement in the present case is barred by § 1 and not excepted by § 6. But the Supreme Court has reached just the opposite conclusion and we are bound to follow that holding.
In Gasses v Razk, 219 Mich 500; 189 NW 37 (1922), the plaintiff leased a building for use as a poolroom. During the term of the lease, the defendant landlord persuaded the plaintiff to surrender her leasehold. Part of the consideration for the surrender was the landlord’s promise that he would not allow another poolroom to operate on the premises until after the cancelled lease would have expired according to its terms. When the landlord breached his promise, the plaintiff sued and won an injunction against operation of a poolroom in the building. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court order and expressly held that MCLA 445.761; MSA 28.61 did not prohibit a termination agreement which limited future uses of the leased premises. The Court expressly noted that the agreement was designed to protect an established clientele and did not threaten to create a monopoly of the poolroom business in the community. Similarly, we see no danger that the agreement in the present case will tend to create a monopoly of the supermarket business in Mount Pleasant.
The Gasses Court reasoned that an owner or lessee of property had a near absolute right to determine how the property may be used and can retain a portion of that power after sale or surrender by imposing conditions on the transfer. Plaintiffs attorney argues that Gasses is no longer controlling since it was based on policy considerations which are no longer controlling. The advent of the modern shopping center with its sophisticated market and intense rivalries, counsel claims, demands a modification of Gasses. Even if we agreed with this argument, we could do no more than advise counsel to ask the Supreme Court to overrule its 1922 decision. For the present, we are bound to follow that holding. Next, plaintiff contends that if Gasses is controlling it controls only to preclude rental to a competing food chain for the 15,000 square feet formerly occupied by the defendant but would not preclude rental for supermarket purposes of the remaining 30,000 square feet formerly occupied by Yankee-Zodys. The argument is ingenious and technically correct. Yet we must disagree. Article XXX, Section 1, of the lease dated December 5, 1962, gave the tenant veto power over who might occupy the adjoining space. Thus, defendant had as much control of the occupancy of all 45,000 square feet as did the lessee in Gasses where the Supreme Court said:
"In November, 1920, when defendant requested plaintiff to surrender the lease she was in possession and entitled to the possession of the store for 25 months. She could grant or refuse his request. She had absolute control of the occupancy of the store for 25 months. If she chose she could consent to surrender her rights upon condition that the premises should not be used for a pool room during the balance of her lease. She had the same right to determine the kind of business that should be carried on in the store during the 25 months as defendant had when he leased it to her. She finally did consent on that condition and defendant promised in writing that he would accept the possession of the premises upon that condition.” (Emphasis supplied.) 219 Mich at 502.
Even without the provision appearing in Article XXX, Section 1, the realities of the situation, where two separate businesses are operating in one building, made it only natural for defendant to insist that the restriction as to future leases cover the entire premises. Under these circumstances we view the Bobenal agreement not to lease as a reasonable provision to protect Giant’s interest in exchange for surrendering its lease.
The plaintiff also argues that the agreement should be voided by MCLA 445.701; MSA 28.31, Michigan’s original anti-trust statute, or MCLA 750.151; MSA 28.348, a criminal statute which prohibits combinations in restraint of trade. We reject application of both statutes since they appear aimed at larger scale agreements which would pose legitimate threats of monopoly. If the narrowly targeted 1905 PA 329, supra, is not applicable to the present case, then neither of the other two statutes should be applied. Plaintiffs invocation of the criminal statute appears inconsistent in light of plaintiffs proposed interpretation of the 1962 lease — an interpretation rejected by us in Section III(l) of this opinion. If we had agreed that the lease prohibited the defendant from opening its second store, both plaintiff and defendant would have been subject to criminal prosecution under the plaintiffs interpretation of MCLA 750.151; MSA 28.348.
Finally, the plaintiff argues that the July 25, 1972, agreement should be declared void under common-law principles designed to enforce Michigan’s public policy of discouraging agreements in restraint of trade. Gasses v Razk, supra, requires rejection of this argument. If the Supreme Court declines to apply a specific statute, it is not likely to apply a vague public policy. See also Staebler-Kempf Oil Co v Mac's Auto Mart, Inc, 329 Mich 351; 45 NW2d 316 (1951), and Sun Oil Co v Trent Auto Wash, Inc, 379 Mich 182; 150 NW2d 818 (1967).
IV. Conclusion
The judgment entered by the trial court is affirmed.
" * * * In view of your position, we have had no alternative but to proceed with the repair and replacement of the floor and we will submit the cost of the same to you and expect payment. If no payment is forthcoming, then suit will be necessary.” (Emphasis supplied.)
At trial, plaintiff did introduce into evidence invoices showing $2,956.68 paid for new tile and $891.25 for the installation thereof.
"Of late, courts have proved more willing to imply a covenant to operate in percentage lease situations. Originally, it was held that no covenant would be implied where the lease contained a stated, guaranteed minimum rental. This absolutist position was subsequently modified to the extent that a covenant to operate could be implied if the minimum rental fixed by the lease was insubstantial.” 2 Powell, Real Property, supra, at 372.27.
According to the record, only 10,000 square feet of the 15,000 square feet occupied by Giant were tiled. When Zodys expanded into the former Giant space the entire area was tiled.
Our holding that defendant did substantially perform makes it unnecessary to discuss the second part of the issue raised, viz: — did plaintiff waive its right to refuse to honor the non-competition covenant. We would be inclined to hold that the October 30, 1972, document — apparently drafted by the plaintiffs attorneys — waived any cldim that the defendant had breached the July 25, 1972, termination agreement. The July agreement provided that the lease would be terminated on the happening of several conditions, including satisfactory repair of the premises by the defendant. The October 30 document stated that the lease had been terminated "in accordance with the terms of a certain Agreement dated July 25, 1972”. The plaintiff was aware of the extent of the water damage when it signed the October 30 document.
In response to this argument, defendant’s counsel notes that nothing in the agreement prohibits the building from being rented to non-supermarket tenants and that the building remains vacant only because plaintiff has an offer from a supermarket concern which plaintiff wishes to accept.
“The landlord agrees that they will not use or permit the property owned by them which adjoins the demised premises to be used for a general or discount department store or variety or limited price store without the approval of the lessee, (or any other stores)”. (Emphasis supplied.) The portion underlined was added in handwriting and initialed by the parties. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was charged in Count I with improper lane usage and, in Count II, with making an unlawful gesture in a public place in violation of § 30-62 of the Code of Ordinances for the City of Oak Park. At trial without a jury in the district court he represented himself in propria persona and was found guilty on both counts. He was fined $30 plus $4 costs on Count I and given a suspended sentence on Count II. An appeal on Count II was taken to the circuit court which, on December 18, 1975, issued an opinion sustaining the validity of the ordinance and affirming the conviction. A delayed application for leave to appeal was denied by this Court on July 14, 1976, but, on March 24, 1977, the cause was remanded by the Michigan Supreme Court with instructions that it be considered by this Court.
The alleged making of an unlawful gesture occurred July 25, 1975, when defendant was driving west on 9-Mile Road approaching its intersection with Coolidge, with the intention of making a left-hand turn into a filling station located on the southeast corner of the intersection. In making the left turn, defendant crossed a solid yellow line, nearly striking the left rear door of a vehicle ahead which was properly shifting lanes, preparing to turn left on Coolidge. The vehicle ahead was an unmarked police car driven by a police officer in civilian clothes. The officer testified that as he braked to avoid a collision he looked over his left shoulder and saw defendant give "what is commonly known as the finger, by extending his index finger upward, and his lips were observed to move in what he believed to be an obscene utterance”. The officer also testified that he was "insulted” by the gesture. Defendant testified that at the moment the car ahead slammed on its brakes the driver turned around and mouthed "something in a very rude manner” to which defendant "re sponded spontaneously with the alleged obscene gesture”. Neither driver articulated what the respective obscene or rude lip movements appeared to be.
The city ordinance which is the sole issue in this appeal reads:
"It shall be unlawful for any person to insult, accost, molest, or otherwise annoy, either by word of mouth, sign, or motion, any person in any public place.” (Emphasis supplied.) Oak Park Code of Ordinances, § 30-62.
Defendant claims that the ordinance is unconstitutional by reason of vagueness and overbreadth. The circuit judge sustained the constitutionality of the ordinance by limiting the scope of the ordinance to that of "fighting words” as defined in Chaplinsky v New Hampshire, 315 US 568, 572; 62 S Ct 766, 769; 86 L Ed 1031, 1035 (1942). That case defined "fighting words” as words "which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace”.
But for the "fighting words” construction given it by the respected circuit judge, the ordinance in question would be unconstitutional by reason of overbreadth and vagueness. This conclusion is dictated by Coates v Cincinnati, 402 US 611; 91 S Ct 1686; 29 L Ed 2d 214 (1971), and United Pentecostal Church v 59th District Judge, 51 Mich App 323; 214 NW2d 866 (1974). In each case, as here, the ordinance in dispute prohibited conduct which, inter alia, was annoying to others. In each case the Court struck down the ordinance because what is annoying to some people is not annoying to others and, as a result, men of common intelligence must guess at its meaning. The identical infirmity appears in the present ordinance and is augmented by the equally vague word "insult”. People are insulted by varying forms of expression and, depending upon the circumstances, identical words (or equivalent gestures) can be insulting or annoying depending on the circumstances with and in which they are made.
The Chaplinsky construction was recently employed by this Court to sustain a city ordinance which on its face was equally or even more vague than the ordinance in the case before us. People v Klein, 67 Mich App 556; 242 NW2d 436 (1976). In that case a request by defense counsel for an instruction to the jury that a conviction could not occur unless the jury found that the language used amounted to fighting words, as that term was defined in Chaplinsky, had been denied by the trial court. On appeal, our Court reversed, stating that under the interpretation of the trial court defendants could be convicted if the language were only grossly vulgar or profane rather than language which, under the circumstances in which it was used, would incite an immediate breach of the peace. Accordingly, the Court did not strike down the ordinance but reversed the conviction and remanded to the trial court for retrial.
This panel also adopts the Chaplinsky construction and sustains the ordinance in dispute. Since the trial judge did use the "fighting words” construction the determinative issue arises of whether the offending gesture was one which, under the circumstances in which it was given, would incite an immediate breach of the peace.
We have carefully reviewed the brief transcript of the district court trial and are satisfied that, though defendant’s action Was immature and obviously offended the officer’s pride, it was not conduct which, under the circumstances in which it was given, would lead to a breach of the peace. Defendant was unaware and had no reason to know that the driver of the other vehicle was a police officer. Obviously, the gesture was not intended to provoke or insult the police. Nor was the gesture deliberately made to provoke a breach of the peace. Instead, it was a spontaneous reaction to a sudden emergency which commonly occurs each day. In such minor stress circumstances, many drivers utter profane words — a normal reaction in the everyday traffic congestion. Indeed, the transcript discloses that the officer, far from being aggravated to fight was only "insulted”. Admittedly, the defendant testified that the officer had a "menacing” look and that when the officer approached to give him a ticket he thought there would be a fight. It was this testimony which led the trial court to conclude that the gesture was tantamount to fighting words. However, a close reading of the testimony discloses that the "men acing” look came before and in fact provoked the offending gesture. Thus, we must conclude that under the circumstances of this case, as a matter of law, the gesture did not amount to fighting words. The situation is distinguishable from Klein, supra, where the utterance was so obviously hard core that a jury question was presented.
" * * * [WJords may or may not be 'fighting words,’ depending upon the circumstances of their utterance. It is unlikely, for example, that the words said to have been used here would have precipitated a physical confrontation between the middle-aged woman who spoke them and the police officer in whose presence they were uttered. The words may well have conveyed anger and frustration without provoking a violent reaction from the officer. Moreover, as noted in my previous concurrence, a properly trained officer may reasonably be expected to 'exercise a higher degree of restraint’ than the average citizen, and thus be less likely to respond belligerently to 'fighting words’ ”. (Emphasis supplied.) Lewis v City of New Orleans, 415 US 130, 135; 94 S Ct 970, 973; 39 L Ed 2d 214, 220 (1974). Justice Powell, concurring in result.
In sustaining the Oak Park ordinance, this Court does not intend to condone or open the door to the gesture of "the finger” in all future occurrences. Defendant and the public are admonished that in other circumstances and conditions, such conduct is punishable under the ordinance. Given the right circumstances, the law may retaliate, not with its finger but with its long arm.
Reversed.
The extended middle finger or digitus impudicus is a phallic symbol. Its use as a semiotic insult is of ancient origin. Diogenes is reported to have insulted Demosthenes with it. Bauml and Bauml, Dictionary of Gestures, Scarecrow Press (1975), p. 71.
"At that point I saw this car pull in front of me, slam on his brakes, turn around and mouth something at me. Whether he was swearing at me, whether he was just saying good day, I don’t know. He mouthed something to me in a very rude manner, to which I responded spontaneously with the alleged obscene gesture. This was my reaction to anybody who swears at me and it’s a reaction that come completely spontaneous.”
The distinction between vagueness and overbreadth is discussed in People v Purifoy, 34 Mich App 318, 320; 191 NW2d 63 (1971).
"It shall be unlawful for three or more persons to assemble, except at a public meeting of citizens, on any of the sidewalks, street corners * ** * and there conduct themselves in a manner annoying to persons passing by, or occupants of adjacent buildings.” Coates, supra, at 611. (Emphasis supplied.)
"It shall be unlawful for any person to make * * * any noise which either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others, within the limits of the City.” Pentecostal Church, supra at 325. (Emphasis supplied.)
Pontiac Ordinance No 728, § 2A(20a) prohibited the use of "indecent, profane, or obscene language in the presence of others”. The offensive language in dispute was an utterance "God damned mother fucking police”.
For an excellent analysis of United States Supreme Court decisions involving overbreadth, vagueness and fighting words see, Yarbrough, The Burger Court and Freedom of Expression, 33 Washington & Lee Law Review 37, 37-58 (1976). | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals an accelerated judgment granted to the defendant under GCR 1963, 116.1(4).
Plaintiff commenced this action in Macomb County Circuit Court seeking recovery on two notes in a contract action. Accelerated judgment was granted and the action dismissed on April 25, 1977, because defendant had commenced a prior action in Wayne County Circuit Court against the plaintiff and the payee on the notes, seeking to‘ have the notes declared null and void because of fraud. The issue presented is whether this was a proper basis for the trial court to grant accelerated judgment under GCR 1963, 116.1(4) ("another action is pending between the same parties involving the same claim”).
We hold accelerated judgment was improper under the instant facts. We order, however, that the Macomb County lawsuit be held in abeyance until termination of the litigation in Wayne County by final order at the circuit court level.
Michigan provides for permissive joinder of counterclaims. GCR 1963, 203.2. Plaintiff declined to file any counterclaims in the Wayne County litigation. Plaintiff was then free to maintain a separate independent action in Macomb County against defendant, even though the action could have been set up as a counterclaim in Wayne County. Karakas v Dost, 67 Mich App 161, 172-173; 240 NW2d 743, lv den, 396 Mich 869 (1976), citing Restatement, Judgments, § 58, p 230. Res judicata would not apply. Cf. Sahn v Brisson, 43 Mich App 666, 671; 204 NW2d 692 (1972).
There is a split of authority, however, on whether or not the second lawsuit may be held in abeyance pending disposition of the first lawsuit. 1 Am Jur 2d, Abatement, Survival, & Revival, § 33, p 73, provides:
"Thus, some courts have determined that since the causes of action in suits for cancellation, reformation, or rescission and those for enforcement of rights under a contract are not the same, and the relief sought is not the same, such suits are not ground for abatement of a second action although they are both founded on the same contract. In other jurisdictions it is held that though a suit to cancel a contract and a suit to enforce 'the contract or recover damages for its breach are not based on the same cause of action and do not seek the same relief, nonetheless, a suit for cancellation will abate a later suit based on the provisions of the contract, on the basis that if the contract is invalid there is nothing on which to base the second action.”
Since the Michigan court rules "are to be construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action”, GCR 1963, 13, we order the Macomb County lawsuit stayed until the Circuit Court in Wayne County passes on the validity of the notes. We follow the rule set forth in 1 Am Jur 2d, Actions, §§ 92-94, pp 621-622, which provides in part:
"Where the rights of parties to the second action cannot be properly determined until the questions raised in the first action are settled the second action should be stayed.”
The order of the Macomb County Circuit Court granting an accelerated judgment to defendant is reversed. Under the authority of GCR 1963, 820.1(7), the Macomb County Circuit Court action is held in abeyance pending the outcome of the Wayne County Circuit Court action on the validity of the instant notes.
No costs, neither party having prevailed in full. | [
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T. M. Burns, J.
This is a medical malpractice action. A vasectomy was performed on plaintiff Clinton V. Banks by one of the defendant doctors in the Livernois Clinic on an outpatient basis on March 5, 1971. Complications, including a large hematoma, arose after the surgery. The physical problems required that plaintiff be hospitalized and that he undergo further surgery in late March of 1971. Plaintiffs claim of malpractice relates to the surgical procedure and the postoperative care given by these defendants. The jury returned a verdict of no cause of action and plaintiff appeals.
I
Plaintiff challenges the fact that a urologist was allowed to testify about the standard of care for a general practitioner or answer hypothetical questions about breach of that standard. Such testimony is allowed if the specialist knows the standard of care to which he testifies. Siirila v Barrios, 398 Mich 576; 248 NW2d 171 (1976), Callahan v William Beaumont Hospital, 400 Mich 177; 254 NW2d 31 (1977).
The urologist did not answer questions about the one area he admitted he was unfamiliar with— prescribing medicine over the phone. The remainder of his testimony was properly admitted on the trial court’s finding that the doctor was familiar with the appropriate standard of care.
II
Plaintiff claims on appeal that Dr. Harvey Lewis should not have been allowed to testify because he was not listed on the pretrial summary, GCR 1963, 301.10, and that if properly called, his testimony should have been limited to a denial that he had discussed vasectomies with plaintiff’s expert. Plaintiff’s expert, when asked about the basis of his opinion, had testified that he had discussed vasectomies with other doctors, including Dr. Lewis.
Under the rule, a trial court’s decision to allow an unlisted witness to be called is largely a matter of discretion. Murphy v Sobel, 66 Mich App 122; 238 NW2d 547 (1975), Jamison v Lloyd, 51 Mich App 570; 215 NW2d 763 (1974), lv den, 392 Mich 771 (1974). The court’s discretion extends as well to the scope of testimony given by the unlisted witness. There was no abuse of that discretion here.
III
Over plaintiffs objection that they were inadmissible under MCLA 600.2146; MSA 27A.2146, the trial court admitted records from the Lafayette Clinic which included history and diagnosis. The trial court was correct in accepting these records. The evidence was used to test the credibility of plaintiffs expert (who had relied on these records in making his diagnosis) and to impeach plaintiffs testimony concerning the effect the surgery had on his sex life. Schwartz v Triff, 2 Mich App 379; 139 NW2d 907 (1966), lv den, 378 Mich 720 (1966), Osberry v Watters, 7 Mich App 258; 151 NW2d 372 (1967). The records were not introduced to prove the truth of the matters recorded, but rather, to impeach.
Plaintiff also challenges the admission of a portion of the records from Metropolitan Hospital. The facts contained in these records were corroborated by Dr. Kohler, the subsequent treating physician who testified for plaintiff. There was no reversible error on this point. Shinabarger v Phillips, 370 Mich 135; 121 NW2d 693 (1963).
IV
Plaintiff also challenges the trial court’s refusal to give a requested instruction on breach of contract. The allegations which supported the breach of contract count were repeated in the count alleging negligence. The jury found no negligence. The complaint and proofs did not support the requested instruction on breach of contract. Howell v Outer Drive Hospital, 66 Mich App 142; 238 NW2d 553 (1975), lv den, 397 Mich 871 (1976).
V
Plaintiff claims he was entitled to an instruction that the absence of a notation in defendants’ records could be considered as evidence that the event did not occur. The Supreme Court recently rejected this contention. Siirila, supra, at 594-597. Plaintiff’s attorney was allowed to argue the effect of the missing notation to the jury. That is all he was entitled to do.
VI
Plaintiff claimed at trial that he had not consented to Dr. Lerman’s attempt to drain the hematoma on March 24. In instructing on this point, the trial court stated:
"If you find that the operation performed by the Defendant on March 24, 1971 was performed without the patient’s consent, then the Defendants committed an act of assault and battery for which they are liable in damages as I shall further explain.
"I should say, in this respect, too, that a patient may give consent to the operation in a number of ways. He may expressly consent by oral agreement or by signing a formal written permission or he may give implied authority by his conduct.”
Plaintiff argues that the instruction so far as it included implied consent was erroneous.
If a physician treats or operates on a patient without consent, he has committed an assault and battery and may be required to respond in damages. Likewise, if consent has been given but the scope of the consent is exceeded, there has been an assault and battery. Franklyn v Peabody, 249 Mich 363; 228 NW 681 (1930). The necessary consent may be express or implied, however.
Courts have resorted to the fiction of implied consent to justify an emergency procedure where there is no opportunity to obtain actual consent. But, the same term has been used to describe the consent inferred from the patient’s action of seeking treatment or some other act manifesting a willingness to submit to a particular course of treatment. See cases collected in Anno: 56 ALR2d 695, §§ 2, 3.
The court’s instruction in this case dealt with the second type of implied consent. The testimony given by plaintiff on cross-examination would support such an instruction. The jury could reasonably infer from that testimony that plaintiff, by presenting himself for further treatment, continuing to complain of the swelling and pain, and because of the different circumstances and acts by the doctor from plaintiff’s previous visits where only an examination had been performed, had given his implied consent to the procedure which followed. The instruction was proper. Kritzer v Citron, 101 Cal App 2d 33; 224 P2d 808 (1950). See also, Mims v Boland, 110 Ga App 477, 481-483; 138 SE2d 902, 906-907 (1964).
Shulman v Lerner, 2 Mich App 705; 141 NW2d 348 (1966), relied upon by plaintiff, does not require a different result. The question in that case was not whether the issue had been properly presented to the jury, but rather, whether the circuit court, sitting as a trier of fact, had erroneously concluded that no consent could be implied. This Court merely held that the lower court’s conclusion was not clearly erroneous.
VII
The other allegations of error made by plaintiff have been examined and found not to require reversal.
Affirmed. Costs to appellees.
The complaint also included a derivative claim for Mrs. Banks. Plaintiff is used in the singular to describe both claims throughout this opinion.
Plaintiff places no reliance on Wayne County Circuit Court Rule 12.1. | [
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V. J. Brennan, J.
The wife of plaintiff Bennie L. McNeal was killed during a fight which occurred inside the Kroger Food Store in Flint, Michigan. Plaintiff filed a wrongful death action in the circuit court of Genesee County. On January 6, 1977, the trial court granted defendant Kroger Company’s motion for summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(1) on grounds that Kroger did not owe the decedent a duty to protect against the kind of sudden and unforeseeable injury occurring here.
Defendant based its motion on GCR 1963, 117.2(1), failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Such a motion accepts as true all factual allegations well pleaded by the plaintiff. Sanders v Clark Oil Refining Corp, 57 Mich App 687; 226 NW2d 695 (1975), Martin v Fowler, 36 Mich App 725; 194 NW2d 524 (1971).
Plaintiff alleged that defendant Kroger failed to prevent the death of decedent by failing to react in time to commotion which resulted from the fight preceding decedent’s death. However, this position depends upon the fact that defendant actually owed plaintiff a duty relative to this kind of occurrence and harm. We agree with the trial court that the conduct of decedent’s assailant was so extraordinary that defendant as a matter of law could not be held responsible for providing the kind of protection which would have avoided her death. Consequently, though defendant may have owed a duty of reasonable care to plaintiff as a business invitee, that duty did not extend to the extreme and totally unforeseeable behavior decedent’s assailant demonstrated by the act of his shooting her. See Holloway v Martin Oil Service Inc, 79 Mich App 475; 262 NW2d 858 (1977).
The trial court was justified in determining as a matter of law that no duty arose on the part of defendant Kroger and consequently that granting summary judgment was appropriate for failure to state a cause of action. GCR 1963, 117.2(1). As a matter of policy, we do not believe that commercial businesses should be required to answer for the type of bizarre consequence faced by defendant in this case, even though plaintiff’s complaint clearly and correctly characterized plaintiff herself as a business invitee. Defendant assumed a duty of reasonable care as to her. Defendant did not assume a dúty to protect her against the kind of behavior her assailant demonstrated and the consequences of that behavior. We see a real line between the duty to plaintiff and the unforeseeable consequences of her assailant’s behavior. We take this opportunity to draw that line.
The grant of summary judgment to defendant by the trial court is sustained.
Affirmed.
Judge Quinn did not participate.
In the majority of urban communities, both large and small businesses could not bear the heavy insurance burden which would be required to protect against this extraordinary kind of liability. Some of our big cities have more than their share of destructive and violent persons, young and old, who roam through downtown department stores and other small retail businesses stealing and physically abusing legitimate patrons. Guards are placed in the stores but those activities continue. We fear that to hold businessmen liable for the clearly unforeseeable third-party torts and crimes incident to these activities would eventually drive them out of business. | [
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N. J. Kaufman, J.
Plaintiff, Hubert Beach, ap peals as of right from an order issued by Washtenaw County Circuit Court holding that three petitions for referenda submitted by plaintiff were invalid and that defendant City of Saline, therefore, had no duty to submit the propositions contained therein to the electorate.
The relevant facts, which were stipulated by the parties, are as follows. On October 11, 1976, the Saline City Council adopted a resolution authorizing the city attorney to prepare and file with the State Boundary Commission the papers necessary for the annexation to the city of approximately 160 acres of property owned by Robert F. Tefft. To date, no action has been taken by the State Boundary Commission on Saline’s annexation petition.
On November 23, 1977, the city obtained an option to purchase the Tefft property. Two months later, the city council adopted a resolution exercising the option, conditioned upon an agreement by Tefft to extend the option’s term in the event referendum proceedings were commenced pursuant to § 7.9 of the Saline City Charter.
On February 22, 1978, plaintiff filed with the city clerk three petitions for referenda on issues relating to the Tefft property purchase and annexation. The proposed referenda will, for the purposes of this opinion, be referred to as Propositions A, B, and C. The texts of the three propositions are as follows:
Proposition A. "Shall the City of Saline purchase that certain parcel of land as authorized by a resolution of the City Council of Saline adopted on January 23, 1978, consisting of 160 acres, more or less, located in Section 30 in Pittsfield Township, fronting on Textile Road as described in said resolution?”
Proposition B. "Shall the City of Saline annex Section 30 of Pittsfield Township, Washtenaw County, State of Michigan?”
Proposition C. "Shall the City of Saline abide by and continue its long established policy to provide sewer and/or water services only to property within the city limits, except those properties outside the city limits presently receiving service?”
The Saline city attorney advised the city clerk by letter that all three petitions were invalid. The Washtenaw Circuit Court, in its opinion and order, related that in the opinion of the city attorney:
"(a) Proposition 'A’ was invalid because the resolution conditionally exercising the option to purchase the Tefft property as an 'administrative’ action and thus, under West v Portage, 392 Mich 458; 221 NW2d 303 (1974), not subject to the power of referendum.
"(b) Proposition 'B’ was untimely under section 7.9 of the Saline City Charter because it had not been filed within 30 days of the October 11, 1976 resolution which authorized the filing of the City’s annexation petition with the State Boundary Commission.
"(c) Proposition 'C’ was invalid because it made no reference to any action taken by the City.”
On May 1, 1978, the city council adopted a resolution unconditionally exercising its option to purchase the Tefft property. On the same date, plaintiff filed suit against the city, seeking to enjoin it from closing its purchase of said property and seeking a writ of mandamus commanding the city clerk to submit all three propositions to the electorate. On May 12, 1978, the sale of the property to the city was closed. Three days later, the city council adopted a resolution to annex the Tefft property pursuant to MCL 117.9(8); MSA 5.2088(8).
The action filed by plaintiff was consolidated for trial with a suit filed by the Township of Pittsfield in regard to the same resolution. On November 26, 1979, after hearing oral arguments, the Washtenaw County Circuit Court issued an opinion and order in favor of defendant city, from which plaintiff now appeals. The Pittsfield Township complaint was dismissed with prejudice, and that decision is the subject of a separate appeal.
On appeal, plaintiff raises four issues which we shall address seriatim. Plaintiff first contends that a resolution of a home rule city authorizing the purchase of real estate is the proper subject of a referendum under the home-rule act and city charter provisions. Our analysis of this issue must begin with the home-rule act, MCL 117.4i(6); MSA 5.2082(6), which sets forth permissible charter provisions for home rule cities such as Saline. The act states: "Each city may in its charter provide: * * * For the initiative and referendum on all matters within the scope of its powers * * *.” Section 7.9 of the Saline city charter provides, in pertinent part:
"Initiative and referendum procedures shall be available, to the full extent permitted by law, including but not limited to section 4(i) of 1909 Public Act 279, as amended, to all matters within the scope of the powers of the city exercised by the city council or by any board, commission department or agericy thereof, except as hereinafter provided. * * * Services essential to the peace and safety of the city, emergency services, receipt and expenditure of regular budgeted items, and purchases of less than $5,000.00 shall be excepted from the initiative and referendum procedures herein established.”
By its express terms, it would appear at first glance that the Saline charter permits a referendum on the resolutions in question. Because the cost of the land is well over $5,000, application of the rule of expressio unius est exclusio alterius suggests that such purchase is properly subject to referendum. See Van Sweden v Van Sweden, 250 Mich 238, 241; 230 NW 191 (1930). This conclusion, however, would fail to take into account the historical meaning of the word "referendum”. West v City of Portage, 392 Mich 458, 462-464; 221 NW2d 303 (1974). Because "referendum”, by definition, only has application to legislative action, a referendum on the city’s purchase of the Tefft property was not available.
" 'Actions of a legislative body which are administrative or executive in nature are generally not subject to initiative and referendum * * *. Resolutions and ordinances of municipal bodies, if not in fact legislative, are not subject to referendum.’ 42 Am Jur 2d, Initiative and Referendum, § 11, p 659.”
See also Rollingwood Homeowners Corp, Inc v City of Flint, 386 Mich 258, 268; 191 NW2d 325 (1971), in which the Court stated: "There is nothing inherently legislative about a decision to acquire real estate”.
It is plaintiffs contention that, since a majority of justices did not support the Levin opinion in West, supra, McKinley v City of Fraser, 366 Mich 104; 114 NW2d 341 (1962), which broadly interpreted a similar referendum provision, requires that a referendum on the purchase of land be permitted. While technically only three justices supported the majority opinion in West (Justice, now Chief Justice, Coleman concurring only in the result), it appears to this Court that the majority opinion is an accurate interpretation of the law in this area. The broad sweep of McKinley, supra, was certainly limited by West.
"The unlimited sweep of McKinley would authorize an initiative or referendum on the most mundane executive matter: whether a particular secretary or clerk is to be hired or terminated, whether the garbage is to be collected on Monday or Tuesday, and whether male municipal employees may wear shortsleeved shirts in summer time and female employees wear pantsuits at any time.
"We recently had occasion to observe that 'for practical reasons, the people’s power or right of referendum has usually been subjected to certain constitutional restrictions.’ For reasons historical and practical and in implementation of the apparent intent of the Legislature, the rights of intiative and referendum under the home-rule act are limitd to legislative measures.” West, supra, 466. (Footnotes omitted.)
While the City of Saline’s decision to purchase property was certainly not "mundane”, it was, nevertheless, essentially administrative. See Rollingwood Homeowners Corp, Inc, supra. Therefore, the trial court correctly ruled that such action was not subject to a referendum.
Plaintiff next alleges that the trial court committed reversible error in ruling that plaintiff’s proposition regarding annexation was untimely as a referendum petition. Plaintiff’s petition was filed more than a year after the city’s resolution authorizing annexation was made. It is plaintiff’s argument in this regard that the 30-day time limit in § 7.9 of the Saline City Charter is not a limit on the filing of petitions for referendum but only a prerequisite to the suspension of the municipal action toward which the referendum is directed.
Section 7.9 of the charter of the City of Saline states in pertinent part:
"Initiative and referendum procedures shall be available to the full extent permitted by law, including but not limited to section 4(i) of the 1909 Public Act 279, as amended, to all matters within the scope of the powers of the city exercised by the city council or by any board, commission, department or agency thereof, except as hereinafter provided. The effect of any such action shall be suspended pending referendum if, within thirty (30) days after official public notice thereof, a petition shall be filed with the city clerk, signed by not less than ten per cent (10%) of the registered electors of the city, protesting said action and requesting referendum thereon.”
Section 7.5 of the same charter states:
"If within thirty days after the passage of any ordinance by the council a petition shall be filed with the city clerk protesting against the ordinance, or any part of it, the protested ordinance or part shall be suspended from going into operation, and where an ordinance has already gone into effect as an emergency measure, its further operation shall be suspended. At the next meeting of the council after certification by the clerk of the sufficiency of a petition, the council shall vote upon whether the protested ordinance or part shall be repealed. If not repealed by the council, it shall be submitted to the electors at the next regular city or state election or primary, or at a special election which may be called for this purpose at the discretion of the council; and unless approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon, it shall stand repealed.”
The plain meaning of both these sections is that a petition seeking referendum must be filed within 30 days after official public notice of the action sought to be subjected to referendum. The language of the provisions simply will not bear the reading put forth by plaintiff. Indeed, § 7.9 does authorize suspension of the action sought to be reviewed by referendum. However, the 30-day time limit clearly does not relate only to the possibility of suspension. Plaintiffs arguments to the contrary must be rejected.
Plaintiffs third allegation is that the trial court committed reversible error in ruling that plaintiff’s proposition regarding the extension of utility services was untimely as a referendum petition. We agree with the trial court’s decision that plaintiffs Proposition C, supra, was invalid. There was no action which could have been reviewed by this referendum. Because Proposition C refers to no action taken by the city within 30 days prior to February 22, 1978, the date on which the petition was filed, it was properly rejected by the trial court as being untimely.
As his final issue on appeal, plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in ruling that plaintiffs propositions regarding annexation and the extension of utility services were improper in form as initiative petitions.
Plaintiff contends that, in rejecting his petitions as initiatives, the trial court not only eviscerated § 7.9 of the city charter but unduly limited § 7.6 as well. Plaintiff acknowledges that § 7.6 mandates that, if an ordinance is proposed, its full text must be included in the petition. However, plaintiff argues that, since the initiative process is not limited to ordinances, propositions B and C should have been viewed as opportunities to initiate discontinuance of annexation proceedings and continuance of the city’s utility policy. We find plaintiffs argument in this regard interesting, but unpersuasive.
Section 7.6 of the Saline City Charter states in pertinent part:
"Initiative petitions shall contain the purported ordinance in full and initiative and referendum petitions alike shall name five persons as a committee to represent the signers.”
Because plaintiffs propositions B and C do not contain the text of any proposed ordinance, they were correctly rejected by the trial court.
We do believe that the right of the people to be heard should be jealously guarded. We do not, however, believe that our decision in this case is an abridgement of this right. As we have noted, the suit brought by the Township of Pittsfield is presently the subject of a separate appeal in this Court. Furthermore, no action has as yet been taken by the State Boundary Commission on the City of Saline’s annexation petition. Since the Boundary Commission is subject to this state’s Open Meetings Act, MCL 15.261 et seq.; MSA 4.1800(11) et seq., the people have the opportunity to make their voices heard when the Commission convenes to discuss the resolution at issue.
It is, therefore, our opinion that the resolution in question, being administrative in nature, was not a proper subject for referendum and that the trial court committed no reversible error in its rulings regarding plaintiffs petitions. The opinion and order of the trial court are, therefore, affirmed. No costs, a public question being involved.
MCL 15.263(5); MSA 4.1800(13)(5) provides:
"A person shall be permitted to address a meeting of a public body under rules established and recorded by the public body. The legislature or a house of the legislature may provide by rule that the right to address may be limited to prescribed times at hearings and committee meetings only.” | [
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Bashara, J.
Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of Wisconsin (hereinafter Employers Mutual) and Michigan Mutual Auto Insurance Company (hereinafter Michigan Mutual) appeal a declaratory judgment holding them liable to Arnold J. Ahonen on insurance policies. Ahonen appeals the trial court’s ruling that Employers Mutual is not liable on a second policy and that Wolverine Insurance Company (hereinafter Wolverine) is also not liable.
Ahonen owned a 184-horsepower motor boat from 1967 to 1974. He sold the boat in 1974. Approximately a year later, the boat exploded, injuring six people. The injured parties sued Ahonen, alleging that he negligently installed a gas line and filter in the boat while he owned it, which was the proximate cause of the explosion and resulting injuries.
At the time Ahonen owned the boat (but not at the time of the explosion), he held the following insurance policies:
(1) Wolverine Boatowners Policy
(2) Employers Mutual Homeowners Policy
At the time the explosion occurred (but not at the time he owned the boat), Ahonen possessed the following insurance:
(3) Michigan Mutual Homeowners Policy
(4) Employers Mutual Personal Umbrella and Medical Expense Policy
Ahonen sought indemnification and legal representation for the principal action from the three insurance companies. All three insurers denied liability and the present suit was commenced to determine which policies, if any, covered the accident.
The trial court, after thorough examination of the policies, briefs and law, held that Wolverine and Employers Mutual were not liable on the policies which were in effect at the time Ahonen owned the boat (policies 1 and 2). It was also ruled that Michigan Mutual was liable for representation and indemnification of Ahonen in the principal action under homeowners policy 3. Finally, the court adjudged Employers Mutual responsible for indemnification of Ahonen under the umbrella policy 4, in the event the damages exceeded the amount of the Michigan Mutual policy.
All parties, except Wolverine, appeal the judgment.
Insurance policies, like other contracts, are matters of agreement and the job of the court is to construe the language of the contract as a whole, in order to effectuate the intent of the parties. Murphy v Seed-Roberts Agency, Inc, 79 Mich App 1, 7-8; 261 NW2d 198 (1977), Eghotz v Creech, 365 Mich 527, 530; 113 NW2d 815 (1962). Where ambiguities exist, the contract will be given the construction which is more favorable to the insured and ambiguous exclusions will be strictly construed against the insurer. DeLand v Fidelity Health & Accident Mutual Ins Co, 325 Mich 9; 37 NW2d 693 (1949), State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co v Ruuska, 90 Mich App 767, 777-778; 282 NW2d 472 (1979), lv gtd 407 Mich 948 (1979). Therefore, each policy will be examined in order to properly review the trial court’s judgment.
Wolverine Boatowners Policy
The policy contained the following pertinent clauses:
"Liability Coverage: To pay on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of:
"1. Bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death resulting therefrom, hereinafter called 'Bodily Injury’ sustained by any person;
"arising out of the ownership, maintenance or the use of the insured property * * *
"The Company shall defend any suit alleging such damages which are payable under the terms of this Policy, even if any of the allegations of the suit are groundless, false, or fraudulent; but the Company may make such investigation and settlement of any claim or suit as it deems expedient.”
Under "GENERAL CONDITIONS”, the policy provides:
"Policy Period: The policy period shall be for the term shown in the Declarations under 'Policy Period.’
"Transfer of Interest: This insurance shall be void in case this Policy or the interest insured thereby shall be sold, assigned, transferred or pledged without the previous consent in writing of the Company.”
We believe that the transfer of interest clause quoted above is unambiguous and needs no judicial construction. Since Ahonen admittedly did not seek or receive consent to sell the boat, the policy was voided by the sale. Therefore, the trial court did not err in holding that the Wolverine policy does not cover the accident.
Employers Mutual Homeowners Policy
Employers Mutual provided the following pertinent coverage to Ahonen under the homeowners policy:
"COVERAGE E — PERSONAL LIABILITY:
"(a) Liability: To pay on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury or property damage, and the Company shall defend any suit against the Insured alleging such bodily injury or property damage and seeking damages which are payable under the terms of this policy, even if any of the allegations of the suit are groundless, false or fraudulent; but the Company may make such investigation and settlement of any claim or suit as it deems expedient.
"COVERAGE F — PERSONAL MEDICAL PAYMENTS: To pay all reasonable expenses incurred within one year from the date of accident for necessary medical, surgical, X-ray and dental services, including prosthetic devices, and necessary ambulance, hospital, professional nursing and funeral services, to or for each person who sustains bodily injury caused by accident.
"(a) while on the premises with the permission of an Insured, or
"(b) while elsewhere if such bodily injury (1) arises out of the premises or a condition in the ways immedi ately adjoining, (2) is caused by the activities of an Insured, * * *.
"COVERAGE G — PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY: To pay for loss of property of other caused by an Insured. 'Loss’ means damage or destruction but does not include disappearance, abstraction or loss of use.”
The following special exclusion was included as to Coverages E and F:
"* * * to the ownership, maintenance, operation, use, loading or unloading of * * * (2) watercraft owned by or rented to an Insured while away from the premises, if with inboard motor power exceeding fifty horsepower * * * >>
Another clause excluded liability "(i) under Coverage G, to loss (1) arising out of the ownership, maintenance, operation, use, loading or unloading of any land motor vehicle * * * or watercraft”.
If the negligent act and the accident had occurred at the same time and while the policy was not in effect, there would be no question that Ahonen could not recover under the homeowners policy. Lombardi v Metropolitan Life Ins Co, 271 Mich 265, 270; 260 NW 160 (1935). However, this state has not previously considered the applicability of a liability insurance policy where the negligent act occurs during the policy period but the damages do not occur until after the policy has been cancelled. We have reviewed cases from other jurisdictions which have considered the question. The majority of them hold that the time when the complainant is damaged, rather than the time of the negligent act, is the point at which responsibility accrues under an indemnity policy. See 57 ALR2d 1385 and the cases cited therein. We adopt the general rule as being correct and hold that since the damages did not arise until after the Employers Mutual homeowners policy had been cancelled, it did not cover the accident. Cf., Remmer v Glens Falls Indemnity Co, 140 Cal App 2d 84; 295 P2d 19; 57 ALR2d 1379 (1956), and National Aviation Underwriters, Inc v Idaho Aviation Center, Inc, 93 Idaho 668; 471 P2d 55 (1970).
In addition, it is clear that the parties intended to exclude coverage of accidents that arose out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a watercraft. Indeed, Ahonen recognized the fact that the homeowners policy did not insure against boating accidents when he purchased the Wolverine boatowners policy.
As aptly stated by the trial court:
"[I]f liability were imposed on [Employers Mutual] because the negligent acts were performed during the policy period, it would also then appear that the exclusion of the owned watercraft would apply, since at the time of those acts the watercraft was owned by the insured.”
Michigan Mutual Homeowners Policy
The trial court held that the following clauses in the policy render Michigan Mutual liable for the accident:
"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 or property damage, to which this insurance applies, caused by an occurrence. This Company shall have the right and duty, at its own expense, to defend any suit against the Insured seeking damages on account of such bodily injury or property damage, even if any of the allegations of the suit are groundless, false, or fraudu lent, but may make such investigation and settlement of any claim or suit as it deems expedient.
"1. 'bodily injury’: means bodily injury, sickness or disease, including care, loss of services and death resulting therefrom.
"5. 'occurrence’: means an accident, including injurious exposure to conditions, which results, during the policy term, in bodily injury or property damage.”
The following exclusion is also found in the policy:
"This policy does not apply:
"1. Under Coverage E — Personal Liability and Coverage F — Medical Payments to Others:
"a. [This exclusion covers liability arising out of aircraft, motor vehicles, and recreational motor vehicles.]
"b. to bodily injury or property damage arising out of the ownership, maintenance, operation, use, loading or unloading of any watercraft;
"(1) owned by or rented to any Insured if the watercraft has inboard or inboard-outboard motor power of more than 50 horsepower or is a sailing vessel (with or without auxiliary power) 26 feet or more in overall length.”
Michigan Mutual contends that the trial court erred in holding that the exclusion did not apply since Ahonen did not own the boat at the time the accident occurred. We disagree. The term "arising out of the ownership * * * of any watercraft” is ambiguous in that it is not clear whether the insured must have owned the boat at the time of the accident for the exclusion to apply. Construing the ambiguity against the insurer, and keeping in mind that the time the damages arise is the cru cial focal point, we hold that the exclusion applies only where the insured owns or rents the boat at the time of the occurrence. DeLand, supra, and State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co, supra. Since the damages arose during the life of the policy and no exclusion is applicable, the trial court correctly held that Michigan Mutual is required in indemnify Ahonen for the boating accident under the homeowners policy. Remmer, supra, and National Aviation Underwriters, Inc, supra.
Employers Mutual Umbrella Policy
The policy provides:
"1. Coverage — Part I.
"The company agrees to indemnify the insured for: "(a) all sums in excess of either the amount recoverable under the underlying insurance as set out in the declarations, or, as respects each occurrence not covered by said underlying insurance, the amount stated in the declarations as the 'retained limit,’ which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay, either by adjudication or compromise, as damages because of personal injury or property damage caused by an occurrence, and
"(b) all expenses incurred by the insured or the company;
"all of which is hereinafter called 'loss’.”
The following definition is included in the policy:
"The word 'occurrence’ means an event including injurious exposure to conditions which results, during the policy period, in personal injury or property damage neither expected nor intended from the standpoint of the insured.”
The policy covers the underlying insurance policies as follows:
"6. Underlying Insurance. The policy or policies designated in the declarations as underlying insurance shall be maintained in full force and effect by the named insured during the currency of this policy, except for any reduction in the available insurance solely by reason of payment of claims during the period of this policy as a result of occurrence, accident, sickness or disease. Failure of the named insured to comply with this condition shall not invalidate this policy, but in the event of such failure the company shall only be liable hereunder to the insured to the same extent as it would have been liable had the named insured complied with said condition.”
The policy excluded losses due:
"to the ownership, maintenance, operation, use, including loading or unloading of watercraft owned by or rented to an insured, while away from premises owned by, rented to or controlled by an insured, if with inboard motor power exceeding 50 horsepower, or if a sailing vessel with or without auxiliary power and 26 feet or more in over-all length, unless (1) the insurance therefor is provided by an underlying policy described in the declarations as of the effective date of this policy, or (2) notice is given to the company within ten days following the date of acquisition of such new watercraft and additional premium is charged.”
Employers Mutual asserts there was no underlying policy for the boat described in the declaration or notice of the ownership of the boat, thereby rendering the general exclusion language applicable. The trial court agreed that exceptions (1) and (2) of the exclusion did not apply. However, it held the exclusion was ambiguous in that it did not specify when Ahonen must own the boat. The trial judge concluded that Employers Mutual must indemnify Ahonen in the event the damages exceed the amount of the Michigan Mutual homeowners policy.
For the same reasons stated above in holding Michigan Mutual liable under its homeowners policy, we find that Employers Mutual insured Ahonen against the boating accident under the umbrella policy. The policy exclusion does not state whether the "owned by or rented to” requirement must exist at the time of the accident. Strictly construing the exclusion, we hold that since Ahonen did not own the boat at the time the accident occurred, the exclusion is inapplicable and the trial court’s ruling is correct. DeLand, supra, and State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co, supra.
Due to our affirmance of the judgment, the question of preservation of rights by Employers Mutual is moot. The question of attorney fees and costs to Ahonen has not been determined by the trial court and has been expressly reserved until after decision by this Court. Therefore, we decline to rule on the issue, leaving the matter to the trial court.
Affirmed; costs awarded to Wolverine against Ahonen. No costs to the other parties, no litigant having prevailed in full. | [
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D. C. Riley, P.J.
This case involves a contested claim for $12,000, against the estate of Nick C. Hatjioannou. The claim was heard by a referee who, after hearing testimony on two separate occasions, submitted a report to the probate judge on April 9, 1979, recommending that the claim be allowed.
The facts are essentially as follow. Decedent’s father is the claimant. On January 4, 1972, Nick’s father signed a statement for the Michigan Liquor Control Commission representing that he was loaning Nick $12,000 for the purpose of purchasing a Class C licensed business. The loan was to be secured by a second mortgage on the home of Nick and his wife, the executrix of the estate and appellant herein. On June 9, 1972, Nick and his wife executed a mortgage and mortgage note payable to claimant. The note was payable in five years, in the amount of $12,000. No rate of interest was stated.
After having heard the proofs, the referee determined that the estate failed to establish the repayment or other satisfaction of the debt owed by the decedent to the claimant. In his final report, the referee recommended that the entire claim of $12,000 should be allowed. The probate judge approved this report, and it is from his final order that the estate appeals.
Appellant’s chief contention, raised first in the probate court and now raised again for our consideration, is that the referee failed to file his final report within the time period mandated by statute and that, consequently, his decision was void for lack of jurisdiction.
The starting point of our inquiry is MCL 708.3; MSA 27.3178(413) which provides, in relevant part, as follows:
"In the event that any claim or offset is contested or disputed, or subject to proofs, the probate judge or the referee, as the case may be, may adjourn the hearing on claims as originally fixed by order of the court until such time as the disputed matter can conveniently be heard, giving reasonable notice of such adjournment to the fiduciary and the claimant. A referee shall file with the probate court within 20 days following the close of the hearing on claims his report thereon, including a full statement of facts with respect to any disputed claims or offsets and his recommendations for the allowance or disallowance in whole or in part of all such claims or offsets and notice of the date of filing of such report by the referee shall be given to the fiduciary and the claimants affected, in the case of disputed and contested claims or offsets.”
This statute was repealed, effective July 1, 1979; however, similar language now appears in the Revised Probate Code, MCL 700.702; MSA 27.5702.
In the instant case, the probate court judge appointed the referee on December 13, 1977. The referee noticed the matter for hearing on January 26, 1978, but, at the request of counsel, adjourned the matter until March 31, 1978, at which time testimony was taken. Additional testimony was taken on May 5, 1978. It is at this juncture that the parties disagree. According to the referee’s report, the May 5, 1978, hearing was adjourned without date, at the request of counsel, to permit counsel to submit additional documentary evidence and memoranda of law. The referee closed the hearing on April 1, 1979, and filed his report on April 9, 1979. In an affidavit, the referee stated that he made no representations as to the date on which the claims hearing would be closed. In addition, at no time between May 5, 1978, and April 9, 1979, did any party come forward and indicate to the referee that a specific date had been set for closing the hearing and for filing the report.____
While the appellee essentially agrees with the referee’s position, as outlined above, the appellant argues that the May 5, 1978, hearing was adjourned until May 20, 1978, that the last submission to the referee occurred on June 9, 1978, and that, therefore, the referee’s report filed April 9, 1979, was untimely.
The unequivocal language of the statute provides the probate judge or referee, as the case may be, with the authority to grant adjournments when they are deemed necessary. What scant case authority that exists on this issue supports this broad authority. As the Court held in Campau v Brown, 48 Mich 145, 147; 11 NW 845 (1882):
"There is no rule preventing a referee from making such adjournments as convenience seems to require, so long as he does not otherwise overstep the duties imposed by law or practice.”
The referee’s report and statement indicate that appellant never objected to the delay in closing the hearing and never requested a date for resumption or closing of the hearing. Further, the record reflects that the referee was recovering from serious injuries during the relevant time period and that the hearing itself was one of, as the referee terms it, "unusual difficulty”, as it involved an emotional interfamily dispute. Because of these circumstances, this Court can only conclude that the prolonged adjournment did not overstep "the duties imposed by law or practice”.
We also note that the applicable statute does not articulate any set time period for closing the hearing but, instead, leaves this to the sound discretion of the probate judge or referee. We reject, as unworkable, appellant’s contention that a hearing should be considered closed when all of the evi dence is taken and all of the arguments are concluded. The problem with that kind of hindsight approach is that it is only apparent that the taking of evidence and argument have been concluded after the case is closed. For example, in the instant case, although oral testimony was concluded on May 5, 1978, additional documentary evidence, as well as legal briefs, were submitted subsequently. We conclude that the hearing was not closed until the referee ruled that there would be no further evidence or argument, which he did in effect on April 1, 1979. Since he filed his report by April 9, 1979, he did not controvert the 20-day statutory limit.
Having rejected appellant’s initial claim that the referee’s report was untimely, we need not reach the second issue presented.
Affirmed.
Costs to appellee.
MCL 708.3; MSA 27.3178(413).
The parties to this appeal were directed by the court to brief the question of whether or not a probate court order allowing a claim in a decedent’s estate is a final order appealable as a matter of right to the Court of Appeals pursuant to MCL 600.861; MSA 27A.861.
In In re Swanson Estate, 98 Mich App 347; 296 NW2d 256 (1980), this Court held that an order denying a claim in a decedent’s estate was a final order appealable as a matter of right under MCL 600.861; MSA 27A.861. In the instant case, the Rules Committee panel has likewise determined that an order allowing the claim is a final order appealable as a matter of right to this Court.
The new provision reads, in pertinent part, as follows:
"(2) Within 20 days after the close of the hearing on the contested claims, the referee shall file with the court a report thereon, including a full statement of facts with respect to a claim and offsets .and his recommendations for the allowance or disallowance in whole or in part of the claims and offsets. Notice of the date of filing of the report shall be given to all interested persons. Parties aggrieved by the recommendations may file objections to the report with the court within 10 days after notice of the filing of the report.” MCL 700.702(2); MSA 27.5702(2). | [
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Beasley, J.
Defendant, William Russell Huff, was convicted by a jury of larceny in a building in violation of MCL 750.360; MSA 28.592. After being sentenced to five years probation, with the first six months in the county jail, he appeals as of right.
Defendant’s chief argument on appeal is that the trial court erred in responding to his motion in chambers to prohibit any reference to a previous conviction for a similar offense. The trial court ruled:
"THE COURT: * * * The Defendant has made a Motion In Limine to prevent the Prosecutor from cross examining, if he takes the stand, on an issue of prior felony conviction.
"We discussed it in Chambers. It appears that the Defendant has a conviction. I assume it’s valid and that would be for larceny in a building.
"I’ve indicated in our opinion showing a conviction of that crime in a case where the Defendant is charged with the same type of crime, would be of such prejudicial nature that the jury would not be able to properly follow our instructions with that. That type of information could only be used for impeachment purposes and not in chief. It would be most difficult for them to follow.
"The Prosecutor, however, is suggesting, if that be the case, and the Defendant takes the stand, that he will not be committed to appear before the jury as though he had never had a conviction, and they, therefore, ask that they be permitted to ask him if he does not have a felony conviction on a given date and location, but not the details thereof.
"So, I’ve indicated I’ll grant your motion insofaras [sic] a reference to any specific conviction, Mr. Williams.
"MR. WILLIAMS: Your Honor, although that’s a better suggestion than allowing the actual prior charge to be brought before the jury, which is, of course, as pointed out, the same conviction that he’s being tried for today, we feel that any reference to any prior felony would be prejudicial to the Defendant’s rights to a fair trial and that in effect he would have to have the option in his own mind not testifying in his defense which would be against a fair trial or taking the stand and having the Prosecutor bring up the fact that he has a prior felony conviction which, in my opinion, would be prejudicial to the jury being impartial in this case. And we have cited People versus Jackson, which does allow the Court to exercise his discretion.
"And evidently, the Michigan Rules of Evidence or Rule 609 still have not actually overruled the idea of People versus Jackson, that the Court does have discretion to completely eliminate the idea of allowing the Prosecutor to bring up the prior felony conviction.
"So for that reason, we would Move that the Court exclude any reference whatsoever to a felony. But in the alternative, to take up the Prosecutor’s suggestion, and if it’s allowed in, to only be in the way of a felony and not of a specific felony.
"THE COURT: The objection is that there should not be any evidence at all of a prior conviction, which would mean that the Michigan Rule of permitting such impeachment would be wrong. If it would apply to that concept, then it’s applicable to all convictions and I’m not the one to say that that policy decision shouldn’t be made, but even People versus Jackson indicates to the contra. And certainly MSA [sic] 609 indicates that it’s a study [sic] conviction of the Supreme Court that impeachment by this method is perfectly proper.
"So in view of that, unless there is some specific reason given why we shouldn’t permit the Prosecutor to ask the question of whether or not there was a prior felony conviction, we would authorize him to do that and not go into detail of that conviction.
"MR. WILLIAMS: Thank you, Your Honor.”
On trial, defendant did testify and the assistant prosecutor did ask him whether he had been convicted of a felony in another county in 1975.
In this case, a woman in a laundromat placed her wallet on a washing machine. She saw defendant walk past her in the aisle and then, while she was loading clothes in the washer, she saw defendant’s hand reach out to the machine where her wallet was and then noticed her wallet was gone. She immediately went to where she had placed her wallet and when she found it was gone, she complained to the laundry manager. When defendant came out of the rest room where he had gone, the manager asked him if he had taken the wallet. He denied that he had. While the proofs pointed strongly toward defendant, they were not overwhelming. In some respects, the case could be said to hinge upon a one-on-one credibility issue.
The issue is, under the circumstances of this case, did the trial judge abuse his discretion by permitting the prosecution to impeach defendant by asking defendant whether he had been convicted of a felony in another county in 1975, but leaving with defendant the option of whether or not to specify the felony. We hold there was no abuse of discretion and affirm.
On January 5, 1978, effective March 1, 1978, the Supreme Court adopted the Michigan Rules of Evidence, Rule 609 of which, entitled Impeachment by Evidence of Conviction of Crime, covers the issue raised by defendant. Since defendant’s trial commenced April 25, 1978, MRE 609 controls. While the preamble provides that these rules of evidence are binding on Michigan courts, the Court invites challenge as to the wisdom of any rule, providing:
"In adopting these rules, the Court should not be understood as foreclosing consideration of a challenge to the wisdom, validity or meaning of a rule when a question is brought to the Court judicially or by a proposal for a change in a rule. * * * While these rules are binding on Michigan courts, the Court does not intend to preclude evidentiary objection in the trial court based on a challenge to the wisdom, validity or meaning of a rule and development of a separate record so as to properly present the challenge for review by this Court.”
Since defendant did not avail himself of this procedure, we assume defendant accepts and we find he is bound by MRE 609. Specifically, we hold this is not a case where defendant attacks and seeks to amend MRE 609 so as to preclude absolutely any and all use of prior convictions to impeach as to credibility. We interpret MRE 609 to require the trial judge to exercise his discretion to decide whether the probative value of admitting evidence of previous convictions on the issue of credibility outweighs any possible prejudicial effect. MRE 609 provides:
"(a) General rule. For the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness, evidence that he has been convicted of a crime shall be admitted if elicited from him or established by public record during cross-examination but only if
"(1) the crime was punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year under the law under which he was convicted, or the crime involved theft, dishonesty or false statement, regardless of the punishment, and
"(2) the court determines that the probative value of admitting this evidence on the issue of credibility outweighs its prejudicial effect.”
Applying MRE 609 here, we note defendant’s prior conviction of larceny in a building meets both requirements of MRE 609(a)(1), i.e., the maximum sentence exceeds one year and it is an offense involving theft and, perhaps, dishonesty. In addition, the prior larceny conviction occurred within the 10-year period delineated in MRE 609(b).
The discretion vested in the trial court to determine whether the probative value of admitting evidence of a prior conviction on the issue of credibility outweighs its prejudicial effect is, however, hedged in by limitations. E.g., in the within case, the trial court interpreted People v Baldwin to preclude admission in evidence for impeachment purposes of a conviction of a similar offense.
While a fair inference from Baldwin may be as the trial court indicated, the narrow holding was that it is reversible error for a trial court to hold, in exercising the discretion described in People v Jackson, that a previous conviction for an identical or similar offense is a factor favoring admission of such impeachment evidence. Baldwin holds nothing more. This is one limitation upon the trial court’s discretion.
In applying MRE 609(a), the underlying propositions should be remembered.
In a criminal case, a prior felony conviction is not substantive evidence that the defendant committed the offense for which he stands trial; thus, a prosecutor may not offer evidence that the defendant was previously convicted of a felony as part of his case in chief. The reason for this conclusion is that while a person who has previously committed a felony is more likely to commit a subsequent felony than one who has not, the mere probability is not, under the law, substantive evidence of commission of the offense. Thus, as part of a prosecutor’s case in chief, such evidence is irrelevant and immaterial.
In this connection, it is well to remember that from time immemorial a basic police technique in solving crime has been to investigate those within the area at the time of the offense who are known to have committed similar crimes. The reason behind the investigative procedure is plain enough, namely, that a person who has been convicted of committing a felony is far more likely to repeat and commit another crime than someone who has not. Current studies support this conclusion, although there are differences of opinion as to the reasons for recidivism.
Investigatory techniques are quite different than bases for admissibility of evidence. The fact that a person committed a felony yesterday, or last year, is not substantive evidence that he is the one who committed the felony under investigation today, even though it is far more likely that he committed the offense than one who has never committed such an offense before. Thus, as indicated, the prosecution is not entitled to offer evidence, as part of its case in chief, that a defendant has been previously convicted of a felony._ _
The rules of evidence explicitly support this proposition:
"(b) Other crimes, wrongs, or acts. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, scheme, plan, or system in doing an act, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident when the same is material, whether such other crime, wrongs, or acts are contemporaneous with, or prior or subsequent to the crime charged.”
If a defendant testifies in his own defense, he, like any other witness, swears or affirms that his testimony will be true. In so doing, he places his reputation for truth and veracity in issue. As soon as he testifies, his character for truth and veracity and credibility are in issue.
A distinction must be drawn between general character and specific traits of character such as truth and veracity. This distinction is clearly drawn in People v Bouchee, where, after observing that the modern tendency has been to limit the inquiry to character evidence bearing solely on the witness’s truthfulness, the Court said:
"We hold, therefore, that character evidence offered to impeach or support a witness’s credibility, other than evidence of prior conviction for crime, must be limited to the particular character trait of truthfulness or untruthfulness.” (Footnote omitted.)_
While the general Michigan rule is that taking the witness stand places the witness’s credibility-in issue and impeaching evidence is limited to that concerning the particular character trait of truthfulness, the use of evidence of prior conviction of a felony to impeach a witness falls in a special category which is now delineated in MRE 609. Once his character for truth and veracity is placed in issue, then testimony regarding that character trait is relevant.
It has long been the rule in Michigan that in a criminal case testimony of defendant’s good character is always admissible. Hamilton v The People is authority for that proposition. Of similar thrust is People v Mead. An accused party who is of good reputation is always entitled to the benefit of such proof.
More recently, in Hawley v United States, the court said:
"Evidence of good character or reputation of one charged with crime is always admissible. It is competent as evidence tending to generate a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the offense charged.”
In Shimon v United States, indicating defendant may put in evidence as to his good character, the court said:
"The term 'character’ witness is, of course, a misnomer, for it is reputation not character which is then the issue.”
The court also noted that a witness may not testify as to specific facts, but only as to general repute.
These cases must be viewed together with MRE 404(a), which provides:
"(a) Character evidence generally. Evidence of a person’s character or a trait of his character is not admissible for the purpose of proving that he acted in conformity therewith on a particular occasion, except:
"(1) Character of accused. Evidence of a pertinent trait of his character offered by an accused, or by the prosecution to rebut the same; * *
MRE 608(a) must also be considered, which provides:
"(a) Reputation evidence of character. The credibility of a witness may be attacked or supported by evidence of reputation, but subject to these limitations: (1) the evidence may refer only to character for truthfulness or untruthfulness, and (2) evidence of truthful character is admissible only after the character of the witness for truthfulness has been attacked by reputation evidence or otherwise.”
We do not believe that these rules of evidence were intended to reverse the long-standing rule that permits a defendant in a criminal case to testify that he has never been convicted of a felony. Rule 404 is limited in its application to the situation where the purpose of offering the evidence is to show that a person acted in conformity with the particular character trait on a particular occasion. One rationale in support of the proposition that Rule 608 does not modify the long-standing rule is that when the prosecution charges a defendant with commission of a crime and offers proof to support the charge, then a sufficient attack has been made upon the defendant’s charac ter to justify permitting him to testify and offer testimony regarding his good character, namely, that he has not been convicted of a felony.
Thus, in general we conclude that evidence that a defendant has not been convicted of a previous felony is relevant, material and admissible. It is one fact in support of a conclusion that he is possessed of good character and that his testimony is worthy of belief.
Where a defendant testifies in his own defense, evidence that he is not of good character and is not worthy of belief would appear to be equally relevant, but this relevance is tempered and modified by MRE 404 and MRE 608, as indicated. Under MRE 609, when the evidence takes the form of a conviction of a previous felony, while perhaps equally relevant, such evidence is not necessarily admissible.
At this point, it should be noted that where evidence of a previous felony conviction is admitted, the following jury instruction is always required to be given:
"There is evidence that the defendant has [a] prior criminal conviction[s]. This evidence is to be considered by you only insofar as it may affect the defendant’s credibility [believability] as a witness. It must not be considered by you as evidence of his guilt of this crime, nor should it be considered by you as increasing the probability of his having committed the crime.”
The evidence of a previous felony conviction is not always admissible because it is felt that there is a great risk that a jury will fail to follow the court’s instruction and will treat the evidence as substantive proof of guilt. There is also a feeling that a jury will consider that since defendant has already committed a felony he is a "bad guy” and should be punished regardless of the substantive evidence in the case at hand.
It should be noted that these conclusions must, of necessity, rest upon speculation since there is no foolproof way to know how or whether a jury (or a particular juror) reaches a decision. The fear or concern in law which gives rise to these decisions and rules is usually alluded to as fear of "prejudicing” the jury and is a fear that the juror will translate the probability into substantive evidence of commission of a crime and perhaps convict a defendant where there otherwise is insufficient substantive evidence of guilt. For these reasons, Michigan courts have, by both rules of evidence adopted by the Supreme Court and by case law, greatly limited the use of prior felony convictions to impeach a defendant’s credibility.
In some respects, these exclusionary rules run counter to current trends which place greater confidence in jurors. By all odds, jurors are better informed, better educated and more sophisticated than in earlier times. The trend is against holding evidence back from juries out of fear that they will be unable to understand. Permitting career felons to hide behind a judicially erected wall of silence and keeping from jurors facts regarding their character based upon speculation that it will confuse jurors in deciding guilt or innocence is not universally believed to be either wise or fair. There is some difference of opinion on this subject and leaving trial judges an area of discretion, as MRE 609 seems to do, is a desirable compromise.
In the within case, in applying MRE 609(a)(2), the trial judge gave effect to People v Baldwin, supra, and held that the fact that defendant’s previous felony conviction was also for larceny in a building was a factor militating against permitting it to be used to impeach. But he believed that it was unfair to permit defendant to testify and by silence to leave the jury with the impression that he had no previous felony conviction. We believe that his concern was justified.
The previous conviction for larceny in a building was relevant to the issue of defendant’s credibility. Larceny in a building involves theft and dishonesty. Where, as here, there was in part a one-on-one credibility issue, the jury was entitled to assess defendant’s credibility in the light of the relevant facts, including the fact defendant had been previously convicted of a felony. Clearly, there was proper probative value attached to defendant’s previous and recent conviction of larceny in a building.
We agree with the trial judge that to have permitted the defendant to testify without the jury knowing he had been convicted of a felony would not have produced a fair trial in this case. So the trial judge sought a compromise. To avoid the effects held undesirable in Baldwin, supra, and yet to avoid misleading the jury regarding the true facts pertaining to defendant’s reputation for truth and veracity, he permitted the prosecution to impeach by asking defendant if he had been convicted of a felony in 1975, but without specifying the felony.
On appeal, defendant argues that this was unfair because the jury may have speculated that he had been previously convicted of a much more serious and heinous crime, for example, criminal sexual conduct, first degree. He says then the jury might conjecture that he was a really bad person and find him guilty without regard to the truth of his denial. The answer to this argument is that if he, in fact, did fear that scenario he had the option to reveal to the jury that his previous conviction was for larceny in a building. He reasons (as in Baldwin, supra) that in that case the jury might convict him on the unfair basis that because he did it before he did it again. The answer to that argument is that where his previous oifense involves dishonesty, theft or false statement, he loses the benefit of Baldwin as here interpreted by the trial court.
The end result of following defendant’s position is to permit defendant to testify without the jury knowing he was previously convicted of a felony. As indicated, we, like the trial judge, are reluctant to permit such a result. In this case, we believe the method elected by the trial judge was the most fair and reasonable to both sides of the alternatives available to him. Where a defendant testifies in his own defense, his character for honesty is placed in issue and evidence of past conviction of a felony is relevant. While precautions should be carefully taken to instruct the jury that such evidence goes only to credibility and is not substantive evidence, we doubt that juries are going to convict innocent defendants as a result of this procedure. By the same token, we do not believe juries should be misled into believing such defendants have no previous criminal record.
In these speculations as to how jurors will react, we would prefer to err on the side of giving the jury all of the relevant facts with a correct and proper instruction on the law. In this case, we believe it would be more unfair for this victim of crime, who has no criminal convictions, to have her credibility matched against the credibility of defendant without the jury knowing that defen dant has less than three years earlier been convicted of a felony (when, in fact, defendant’s earlier felony involved theft and dishonesty), than for defendant to run the risk that he will be prejudiced by the jury believing that he is a "bad man” by virtue of his previous felony conviction and, thus, is guilty of the felony with which he is charged. We do not find the trial court’s solution to be an abuse of discretion.
We also believe prosecutors must be prevented from overemphasizing or repeating evidence of previous felony convictions. We would not be inclined to permit a prosecutor to cross-examine a defendant in detail regarding the facts and circumstances and the nature and the details of a previous felony conviction. This poses a far greater danger of prejudicing a jury than permitting the one question regarding a previous conviction that was permitted here.
We recognize that on this issue there is a split of authority on this Court. Since we here deal with a matter of speculation over what goes on in the minds of jurors, it is not surprising that there is a difference of opinion.
The position we take here has found support in other states. For example, in State v Adams, where defendant was charged with abortion and murder based on abortion, he testified on direct examination to four previous abortion-type convictions. Upon cross-examination, he was again asked by the prosecutor about the convictions, including a reference to the nature of the offense (abortion). The court overruled these objections and from those rulings defendant appealed.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court, at 436-437 said:
"This court has consistently held that proof of a former conviction of a defendant in a criminal action may be received but that nothing except the mere fact of conviction may be shown. * * * Such testimony has been permitted solely for the purpose of going to the credibility of the witness. * * *
"When the defendant admitted upon his direct examination that he had been previously convicted the entire purpose of the rule permitting proof of previous convictions had been accomplished and there was no occasion or need for either the defendant or the district attorney to go into further detail. * * * The purpose of the rule is not to prejudice the minds of the jury by showing that the defendant had been guilty of another crime, particularly, as in this case, the same crime for which he was on trial.”
In Sebastian v Kentucky, the Kentucky court said:
"For impeachment purposes, Rutherford could be asked whether or not he had been convicted of a felony, but not the nature of the felony.”
We interpret MRE 609(a)(2) to place discretion in the trial court to weigh the probative value against the prejudicial effect. We believe that is where it belongs. In so doing, we fully indorse the following definition of discretion:
"We have held repeatedly, and we again hold, that we will not interfere with the discretion of the trial chancellor in these cases unless a clear abuse thereof is manifest in the result reached below. The kind of determination before us requires a weighing of human and economic factors of the utmost complexity, a weighing that can best be accomplished at the local level, not in these chambers. * * * Where, as here, the exercise of discretion turns upon a factual determination made by the trier of the facts, an abuse of discretion involves far more than a difference in judicial opinion between the trial and appellate courts. The term discretion itself involves the idea of choice, of an exercise of the will, of a determination made between competing considerations. In order to have an 'abuse’ in reaching such determination, the result must be so palpably and grossly violative of fact and logic that it evidences not the exercise of will but perversity of will, not the exercise of judgment but defiance thereof, not the exercise of reason but rather of passion or bias.”
Regarding the Michigan cases, we note People v Jones rested on the two cases of Luck v United States and Gordon v United States, both decided in intermediate Federal appellate courts. In Gordon, the court said:
"Luck also contemplated that it was for the defendant to present to the trial court sufficient reasons for withholding past convictions from the jury in the face of a statute which makes such convictions admissible. * * * The underlying assumption was that prior convictions would ordinarily be admissible unless this burden is met. 'The trial court is not required to allow impeachment by prior conviction every time a defendant takes the stand in his own defense.’ ” (Footnote omitted.)
The Gordon opinion went on to say that to bar the use of previous convictions as impeachment the court must find that the prejudice far out weighs the probative relevance to credibility. The court then further said:
"The burden of persuasion in this regard is on the accused; * * *.” (Emphasis added.)
We would also note that the leading Michigan case of People v Jackson, supra, cites and places heavy reliance upon the cited Federal cases of Gordon and Luck, supra. Under these circumstances, we believe that People v McCartney, People v Killebrew and People v Jones, supra, are in error in holding that the burden of proof is on the prosecution to establish that the probative value outweighs the possible prejudicial effect. We suggest that the rule is to the contrary, as indicated from the above quotations from Gordon.
In People v Crawford, the Court adopted a three part test for deciding when a criminal record should be excluded from evidence. The three factors to be weighed are first, the nature of the prior offense, namely, did it involve an offense which directly bears on credibility. Clearly, in this case, the previous offense bore on credibility. Second, the question posed is whether it is for substantially the same conduct for which the defendant is on trial. Clearly, in this case, it is because the offenses are the same, namely, larceny in a building. Thus, coming to the third test, there is a stand-off. The third test is the effect on the decisional process if the accused does not testify out of fear of impeachment by use of the prior conviction.
In this case, the defendant did testify and did tell the jury his side of the story. Consequently, by the standards of Crawford, we believe that the within procedure adopted by the trial judge was not clearly erroneous.
In summary, we hold the trial judge correctly applied MRE 609. He exercised his discretion and found the probative value of admitting evidence of the prior conviction on the issue of credibility outweighed any possible prejudicial effect on the jury, interpreted Baldwin, supra, to prohibit him from specifying the previous felony because it was for the same offense which defendant was charged with committing here, namely, larceny in a building, and exercised his discretion to permit inquiry of whether defendant had been convicted of a felony in 1975, while leaving defendant with an option whether to reveal what the prior felony conviction was for. Evidence of defendant’s 1975 felony conviction was relevant to the issue of defendant’s credibility, and it was neither an abuse of discretion nor clearly erroneous to so rule.
In conclusion, we find there was no abuse of discretion in permitting the prosecution to impeach the defendant by asking him whether he had been, three years previously, convicted of a felony, where defendant was given the option of whether or not to specify the felony.
We hold defendant’s other claims of error to be without merit.
Affirmed.
G. R. Deneweth, J., concurred.
MRE 609(a)(2) was amended effective May 14, 1980, to read as follows:
"(2) the court determines that the probative value of admitting this evidence on the issue of credibility outweighs its prejudicial effect and articulates on the record the factors considered in making the determination.”
405 Mich 550; 275 NW2d 253 (1979).
391 Mich 323; 217 NW2d 22 (1974).
Glaser, The Effectiveness of a Prison & Parole System, (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co, 1964), Ch 3, Preprison Influences on Recidivism, p 49, provides:
"The extent of the offender’s prior criminal record and the likelihood of his becoming a recidivist are directly correlated. * * *
"* * « [N]0 matter how one counts the volume of prior felony involvement, the failure rate tends to increase as the magnitude of prior criminality increases. However, the effects of prior criminality and of age seem to counteract each other. After a certain point, an increase in prior sentences, which is directly related to recidivism, also means an increase in age, which is inversely related to recidivism. This may explain the tendency of recidivism rates to stop increasing appreciably with additional prior felony convictions after the first two or three, although there is a sharp increase from none to one prior conviction.”
MRE 404(b).
See, People v Bucsko, 241 Mich 1; 216 NW 372 (1927), and People v Mitchell, 402 Mich 506; 265 NW2d 163 (1978). See also, Proposed Criminal Jury Instructions 5:2:05 — 5:2:08, and commentary following.
400 Mich 253, 268; 253 NW2d 626 (1977).
29 Mich 195 (1874).
50 Mich 228, 233; 15 NW 95 (1883).
133 F2d 966, 972 (CA 10, 1943).
122 US App DC 152; 352 F2d 449 (1965).
Proposed Criminal Jury Instruction 3:1:08; 2 Gillespie, Michigan Criminal Law and Procedure (2d ed), § 906.5, Form No. 419.46, p 774.
People v Hollis, 96 Mich App 333; 292 NW2d 538 (1980), People v Van Dorsten, 96 Mich App 356; 292 NW2d 134 (1979), People v Vincent, 94 Mich App 626; 288 NW2d 670 (1980), People v Garth, 93 Mich App 308; 287 NW2d 216 (1979), People v Jones, 92 Mich App 100; 284 NW2d 501 (1979).
257 Wis 433; 43 NW2d 446 (1950).
436 SW2d 66, 69 (Ky App, 1968).
Spalding v Spalding, 355 Mich 382, 384-385; 94 NW2d 810 (1959).
People v Jones, supra.
121 US App DC 151; 348 F2d 763 (1965).
127 US App DC 343, 346; 383 F2d 936, 939 (1967).
60 Mich App 620; 231 NW2d 472 (1975).
61 Mich App 129; 232 NW2d 329 (1975).
83 Mich App 35; 268 NW2d 275 (1978). | [
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T. M. Burns, P. J.
The defendant State Boundary Commission appeals as of right a June 1, 1979, lower court order reversing a decision of that defendant which approved two petitions seeking to annex land from the plaintiff Township of Coldwater and attach it to the intervening defendant, City of Coldwater.
In April and in June of 1972, various land owners in the Township of Coldwater filed petitions with the State Boundary Commission to have their properties annexed to the City of Cold-water. The annexation petitions, which were unrelated and which involved separate proposed annexations, were assigned docket numbers 72-AP-4, 72-AP-5 and 72-AP-8 by the commission. Public hearings on petitions 72-AP-4 and 72-AP-5 were conducted by the commission on September 26, 1972, and a public hearing on 72-AP-8 was held on February 13, 1973.
Plaintiff Township of Coldwater, from whom the proposed annexed lands were to be ceded, objected to the petitions for several reasons, chief of which was that the proposed annexations purportedly violated the principle of legal contiguity. However, the defendant commission resolved the problem of contiguity by adding more land to the parcels described in petitions 72-AP-5 and 72-AP-8, a process referred to as "adjusting-in”. The commission conducted no additional public hearings and provided no notice to the land owners affected by the adjusting-in prior to approving the revised annexation petitions on March 29, 1973.
On May 24, 1973, plaintiffs instituted the action at bar, challenging the commission’s approval of the three annexation petitions. On December 12, 1975, the parties stipulated to holding the resolution of this case in abeyance pending a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court in the case of Midland Twp v State Boundary Comm, 401 Mich 641; 259 NW2d 326 (1977), appeal dismissed 435 US 1004; 98 S Ct 1873; 56 L Ed 2d 386 (1978).
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Midland Twp, defendant commission moved for summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(1). Although plaintiffs did not formally move for summary judgment, in their answer to defendant commission’s motion they prayed for summary relief. After taking briefs and considering the arguments of the parties, the lower court rendered a decision on June 1-, 1979, affirming the annexation of the parcel described in petition 72-AP-4 and reversing the commission’s decisions on petitions 72-AP-5 and 72-AP-8. With regard to the latter two annexation petitions, the court held that the commission could not add significant portions of land to an annexation plan without first giving notice and offering a public hearing to land owners affected by the adjusted-in process. Accordingly, the court remanded the latter two petitions to the commission and instructed it to hold appropriate hearings. Finally, the court established a rule whereby the commission may not revise by more than 10% the amount of land described in an annexation petition without first giving notice to affected land owners and holding a supplemental hearing. The defendant commission now appeals.
The State Boundary Commission was created by 1968 PA 191; MCL 123.1001 et seq.; MSA 5.2242(1) et seq. Originally vested with jurisdiction over incorporation and consolidation petitions, in 1972 the commission was given power over petitions to annex land to a home rule city. 1972 PA 362. This 1972 amendment to the state boundary commission act brought the powers of the commission into conformity with the provisions of § 9 of the home rule cities act, MCL 117.9; MSA 5.2088. Subsection 2 of § 9 of the home rule cities act, MCL 117.9(2); MSA 5.2088(2), provides:
"Except as provided in subsections (1) and (8) [MCL 117.9(1) and (8); MSA 5.2088(1) and (8)], a petition or resolution for annexation of territory shall be filed in the Lansing office of the state boundary commission. The commission, after determining the validity of the petition or resolution, shall hold a public hearing in or reasonably near the area proposed for annexation. The commission in processing and approving, denying or revising a petition or resolution for annexation shall have the same powers and duties and be in accordance with and subject to the provisions of Act No. 191 of the Public Acts of 1968 [the state boundary commission act], relating to petitions which propose incorporations.”
Equally pertinent to our consideration of this case is § 10(1) of the state boundary commission act, MCL 123.1010(1); MSA 5.2242(10)(1). It provides:
"After the public hearing on a proposed incorporation and review thereof by the commission, the commission may deny the proposed incorporation, approve the petition or revise the boundaries of the area proposed for incorporation and approve the proposal as revised.”
Although the language of this statute speaks in terms of "incorporation” proceedings and not "annexation” ones, it applies equally to both. This fact was made quite clear in Midland Twp, supra, 677, where, in interpreting § 10 of the state boundary commission act, the Supreme Court held: "The commission, in exercise of its broad-ranging power and discretion, may revise the boundaries set forth in a petition to include any land that might originally have been included in the petition or to exclude land that was included.”
Although the state boundary commission act requires the commission to determine the legal sufficiency of an annexation petition and to conduct a public hearing on the petition if it is sufficient, the act does not specifically address the rights of adjusted-in property owners:
"At least 60 days but not more than 220 days after the filing with the commission of a sufficient petition proposing incorporation, the commission shall hold a public hearing at a convenient place in the area proposed to be incorporated. At the public hearing the reasonableness of the proposed incorporation based on the criteria established in this act shall be considered.” MCL 123.1008(3); MSA 5.2242(8)(3).
The commission must notify interested parties of the public hearing by publishing notification in an area newspaper at least seven days before the date of the hearing, by sending notification by certified mail to clerks of the townships affected at least 30 days before the date of the hearing and by giving notice in the manner required by the Open Meetings Act, MCL 15.261 et seq.; MSA 4.1800(11) et seq. See, MCL 123.1008(4); MSA 5.2242(8X4).
The commission argues that it has fulfilled all of its statutory obligations under these statutes. That is, it has examined the annexation petitions, which it found to be sufficient, and has held public hearings on each of them. Plaintiffs, however, argue that the public hearings were insufficient to comply with the applicable statutes because the owners of property in the territory adjusted-in to the annexation petitions never received any notice that their land would be so affected and the records of the public hearings are devoid of any mention of the adjusted-in territory. Thus, even if the affected property owners had attended the public hearings, they would have neither realized that their property was subject to annexation under the petitions nor been prompted to testify regarding the reasonableness of the annexation proposal. Plaintiffs further argue that, as a consequence, the commission never had before it sufficient evidence to make the determination on the reasonableness of the annexation proposal under the criteria set forth in § 9 of the state boundary commission act. MCL 123.1009; MSA 5.2242(9). We are persuaded that plaintiffs are correct.
Section 8 of the state boundary commission act creates a right of property owners to be heard at the public hearings. The clear legislative intent behind the requirement that the commission hold a public hearing is to insure that the commission will gather appropriate information before reaching a determination on the merit of an annexation proposal under the criteria of § 9 of the act. Section 8, therefore, pertains not only to the rights of an individual property owner to be heard at the public hearing, it also affects the informational basis of the decision-making process. Simply stated, the commission cannot fulfill its obligation to consider the criteria set forth in § 9 of the act without giving due regard to the testimony of interested property owners who wish to be heard on the annexation proposal.
Within the time limits for holding public hearings under § 8(3) of the act, the commission has sufficient time to hold supplemental hearings where the rights of property owners will be substantially affected by the adjusting-in of territory to an annexation petition. Moreover, we note that the commission’s own rules authorize it to conduct supplemental hearings to consider outward revisions of the boundaries in an annexation proposal. See, 1974 AACS R 123.71(2).
Therefore, we affirm the holding of the lower court remanding annexation petitions 72-AP-5 and 72-AP-8 to the commission for the purpose of holding appropriate supplemental hearings on them at which property owners affected by the adjusting-in of territory to these petitions will have a right to be heard.
We reverse, however, the lower court holding that, in all future annexation petition proceedings where the commission revises the boundaries of affected land by more than 10%, it must hold supplemental public hearings. A property owner, whose land is located in an adjusted-in area, must be given an opportunity to be heard on the annexation petition regardless of whether the total adjustment is less than 10%, approximately 30%, as was the property in 72-AP-5, or over 100%, as was the territory in 72-AP-8. The Legislature did not provide for a 10% figure in drafting the state boundary commission act, and it would be inappropriate for the courts of this State to do so.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Plaintiffs have not appealed that portion of the lower court opinion affirming the annexation of the property described in petition number 72-AP-4. Therefore, our decision here in no way affects the legal status of that property.
See, Township of Owosso v City of Owosso, 385 Mich 587; 189 NW2d 421 (1971). | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff, a nonprofit corporation composed mainly of riparian land owners, brought the underlying suit to enjoin the defendants, new residents on 47 residential lots in White Sands Estates subdivision, Antrim County, from having access to Torch Lake through a 42-foot-wide strip of land.
In an action tried in 1976, the trial court held, contrary to plaintiff’s argument, that beneficial use of the access strip could be vested in the subdivision lot owners and also that the plaintiff had failed to sustain its burden of proving an alleged common plan of development which made the defendants’ use unreasonable. Its ruling was af firmed in Three Lakes Ass’n v Kessler, 91 Mich App 371; 285 NW2d 300 (1979).
This appeal is from the trial court’s order denying to plaintiff an award of attorney fees and costs and from the order denying a rehearing of the argument for fees and costs. This appeal is based upon the following arguments: (1) plaintiff should be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs pursuant to GCR 1963, 313.3 by virtue of defendants’ refusal to admit the truth of matters of fact that were subsequently proven by plaintiff; (2) pursuant to GCR 1963, 111.6, defendants’ denial of certain allegations was unreasonable and so plaintiff should be awarded the cost of proving the allegations including reasonable attorney fees; (3) GCR 1963, 526.1 entitles plaintiff, as prevailing party, to recover its costs; (4) the Michigan environmental protection act, MCL 691.1203; MSA 14.528(203), entitles plaintiff to attorney fees and other costs; (5) based on (1) through (4), above, plaintiff’s motion for rehearing on the question of fees and costs should have been granted.
We affirm the trial court’s order denying plaintiff’s reasonable expenses and attorney fees and the order denying a rehearing on the matter.
Plaintiff’s requests for admissions came 11 days before the start of the trial. The action had been initiated nearly three years earlier. The defendant responded to the requests before the start of the trial, and it is the defendants’ denials of 22 of the 52 requests for admissions upon which plaintiff seeks the costs and attorney fee award.
GCR 313.3 gives reasonable expenses including attorney fees to the party whose requests for admissions of the truth of a matter of fact under GCR 312 are not admitted where the requesting party proves the fact at trial.
The defendants did not strictly comply with GCR 312.1. They made general denials of the requests for admissions, did not claim a lack of knowledge which prevented them from admitting or denying, and did not object to the propriety of the requests. The trial judge ruled that the lack of strict compliance was excused because the requests were served only 11 days before trial, even though the case was filed over two years earlier. The judge may have assumed that, in light of the time frame, the plaintiff already would have prepared the bulk of its case.
In some instances, the plaintiff did not present evidence at trial to prove the statements contained in the requests. In other instances, defendants contested at trial the matters contained in the admission requests. Other requests were not or could not have been within the knowledge of the defendants or were of such a general nature to be irrelevant.
The trial judge denied the plaintiffs request for expenses under GCR 313.3. In denying plaintiffs request for GCR 313.3 expenses, the judge noted that many of the plaintiffs requests for admissions did not involve matters of fact as contemplated by GCR 313.3. He also noted that many of the requests for admissions ran contrary to his ultimate findings of fact so that it was plainly not unreasonable for the defendants to deny these requested admissions.
Fredericks v General Motors Corp, 48 Mich App 580, 588; 211 NW2d 44 (1973), lv den 390 Mich 805 (1973), indicates that GCR 313.3 is only applicable to denials of matters of fact and not to matters of opinion.
Plaintiffs in Greenspan v Rehberg, 56 Mich App 310, 328-329; 224 NW2d 67 (1974), denied that covenants contained in a land contract between the defendants and the plaintiffs were binding on the plaintiffs. The trial court awarded the defendants costs under GCR 313.3 based on the evidence presented at trial that proved that the covenants were binding on the plaintiffs. This Court, in reversing the award of costs under GCR 313.3, stated:
"In 2 Honigman & Hawkins, Michigan Court Rules Annotated (2d ed), p 27, the author states that such admissions may dispose of matters over which there is no serious dispute, and hence avoid waste of time and preparation and a trial on unnecessary proofs. However, the author also states that unless a matter is completely free of controversy, it is not likely that a formal request for admissions will prove successful
"An examination of the demands for admission of fact submitted to the plaintiffs discloses that the 'facts’ which the defendants sought to have the plaintiffs admit were, in reality, not 'facts’ but were elements of the defendants’ claim.
"It is stated in 2 Honigman & Hawkins, Michigan Court Rules Annotated (2d ed), p 234:
" 'The mere fact that the matter was proved at the trial does not, of itself, establish that the denial in response to the request for an admission was unreasonable.’ ”
Defendants’ denials of the requests for admission were not unwarranted in the sense that they were unreasonable so that the defendants should be liable for the plaintiff’s costs of proving these allegations. Accordingly, the trial court, in the instant case, did not abuse its discretion in denying attorney fees pursuant to GCR 1963, 313.3.
Plaintiff’s motion for costs and attorney fees under GCR 111.6 was also properly denied.
GCR 1963, 111.6 states:
"Unwarranted Allegations and Denials. If it appears at the trial that any fact alleged or denied by a pleading ought not to have been so alleged or denied and such fact if alleged is not proved or if denied is proved or admitted, the court may, if the allegation or denial is unreasonable, require the party making such allegation or denial to pay to the adverse party the reasonable expenses incurred in proving or preparing to prove or disprove such fact as the case may be, including reasonable attorney fees.”
Plaintiff cites Forster v City of Pontiac, 56 Mich App 415; 224 NW2d 325 (1974), in support of its position on this issue. The holding in that case indicates that the decision to award expenses under GCR 111.6 rests within the discretion of the trial juge and that there must be some bad faith to justify the award. See also Lindhout v Ingersoll, 58 Mich App 446, 454; 228 NW2d 415 (1975).
We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s denial of the motion for expenses and fees under GCR 111.6.
Next, GCR 1963, 526.1 provides that costs shall be awarded as a matter of course to the "prevailing party” in an action. The trial court, in the present case, ruled that neither party substantially prevailed and so neither was entitled to taxable costs pursuant to GCR 526.1.
This Court has indicated in numerous opinions that no costs would be awarded because neither party had prevailed in full. See Lovitt v Concord School Dist, 58 Mich App 593, 603; 228 NW2d 479 (1975), overruled on other grounds in Galli v Kirkeby, 398 Mich 527, 536, 544; 248 NW2d 149 (1976), Eberhard Manufacturing Co v Brown, 61 Mich App 268, 273; 232 NW2d 378 (1975). See also Farr v Farr, 63 Mich App 741, 746; 235 NW2d 31 (1975).
In its decision on plaintiffs appeal on the substantive issues in the present case, this Court awarded "[n]o costs, neither party prevailing fully”. Kessler, supra, 378. The Court declined to award costs for appeal when it upheld the right of the defendants to convey riparian rights in the access strip but remanded the case so that the trial court could determine an appropriate means of enforcing the restrictions that had been placed on the use of the access strip.
We decline to follow the Federal cases that would award costs to a party who was successful on only a part of his claims. See United States v Mitchell, 580 F2d 789 (CA 5, 1978). We find that plaintiff in the instant case did not receive all the relief it sought. Because the plaintiff did not substantially prevail, it should not receive a GCR 526.1 expenses award.
Certain portions of this, action were brought under the Michigan environmental protection act, MCL 691.1201 et seq.; MSA 14.528(201) et seq. Section 3(3) of that act provides that costs, including attorney fees, may be awarded if the interests of justice require. We agree with the argument that MCL 691.1203(3); MSA 14.528(203X3) is a statutory exception to GCR 526.1. However, the trial court determined that the interests of justice did not require an award of fees to the plaintiff. The judge noted that there was no indication of great disparity of wealth on the part of the parties and no great disparity in equities. The court went on to state:
"The Plaintiffs tended to look upon the developer as a threat to the environment and particularly to the quality of the water of Torch Lake, and the Defendant viewed the Plaintiff perhaps as persons who attempted or as an organization that attempted to intervene and interefere with the conduct of a lawful business. Certainly while the interests of protecting the environment are laudable, the position of neither party could be or was fully acquitted in the decision of the Court.
"The Court could not and did not find that all land development operations are inherently evil or wrong or that there is any impropriety in a profit motivation. The Court likewise certainly did not find that the plaintiff constituted a meddling group without sincere interests in their — in the water quality of Torch Lake.”
Despite evidence on the record as to the insolvency of Three Lakes Association, the judge indicated that he would not alter his decision, particularly in view of the fact that there was evidence that the plaintiff association was composed of persons owning riparian lands from whom the plaintiff could attract contributions.
In Taxpayers & Citizens in the Public Interest v Dep’t of State Highways, 70 Mich App 385; 245 NW2d 761 (1976), this Court stated that the award of costs and fees under MCL 691.1203(3); MSA 14.528(203)(3), is within the broad and unfettered discretion of the trial court. This Court, on appellate review, will only look to see if such discretion has been exercised and, if so, abused.
We find that the trial court recognized its broad discretion in ruling on the award of costs. The court did not abuse that discretion by ruling that the equities were not completely with either party, so no costs should have been awarded.
Finally, as there was no showing by the plaintiff that a rehearing on the motion would render a different result, the motion for rehearing was properly denied.
Affirmed. Defendants may tax costs. | [
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H. E. Deming, J.
Defendant Second Injury Fund appeals from a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board upholding plaintiff’s claim for total and permanent disability benefits.
On June 25, 1976, plaintiff was awarded compensation benefits for the loss of industrial use of his left leg in a work-related accident which occurred on August 13, 1973. Neither his employer, Cadillac Gage, nor its insurer, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, appealed from that award. On July 28, 1976, plaintiff filed a supplemental petition seeking benefits for total and permanent disability from the Second Injury Fund based on the loss of industrial use of his left leg and the alleged prior loss of his left eye. The administrative law judge rendered his decision on December 13, 1977, in favor of plaintiff, ordering the Second Injury Fund to pay compensation benefits beginning on the date defendants Cadillac Gage and Fireman’s Fund concluded payments on the June 25, 1976, award. Defendant Second Injury Fund appealed this decision to the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board, and oral argument took place on January 4, 1979. At that time, defendant Cadillac Gage, plaintiffs employer, admitted that plaintiff had suffered the alleged prior eye loss. On April 30, 1979, the appeal board ruled that the Fund was bound by the employer’s admission regarding plaintiffs eye injury and affirmed the award.
The Fund claims in this appeal that the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board was required to review the evidence and make findings of fact on the eye loss question and erred by ruling that the Fund was bound by the employer’s admission. We agree and hold, based on the specific facts of the instant case, that the employer’s admission did not bind the Second Injury Fund.
Plaintiff relies on White v Weinberger Builders, Inc, 397 Mich 23; 242 NW2d 427 (1976), in claiming that the employer’s admission in the present case was binding on the Fund because the Fund’s liability is derivative of the employer’s liability. White involved four separate employees whose claims for compensation benefits were disputed by their respective employers. In each case, the employers’ liability was terminated when it entered into a redemption agreement with the claimant whereby the employer agreed to pay a lump sum in settlement of the claim, without admitting liability. See, MCL 418.835; MSA 17.237(835). Each claimant subsequently petitioned the Second Injury Fund seeking differential benefits under § 521(2) of the Worker’s Disability Compensation Act, MCL 418.521(2); MSA 17.237(521)(2). The Fund denied liability on the ground that the liability of the employers, a prerequisite to recovery of differential benefits, had not been admitted or determined in a hearing. The hearing referee and the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board agreed, and an appeal to this Court followed. In White v Weinberger Builders, Inc, 49 Mich App 430; 212 NW2d 307 (1973), this Court held that the establishment of employer liability, either by admission or adjudication prior to redemption, is an absolute prerequisite to Second Injury Fund liability. The Supreme Court affirmed. Both opinions contain language indicating that the Fund’s liability is derivative of that of the employer.
We do not believe White is controlling in the present case, which does not involve the differential benefits provision of the act. Derivative liability and a passive role for the Second Injury Fund make sense where the employer and its insurer have a sufficient stake in the outcome of the case to resist a dubious claim. The instant case does not present such a situation since only the Second Injury Fund would have been required to pay benefits for total and permanent disability if plaintiff prevailed. By admitting that plaintiff had a preexisting disabling eye injury, the employer did not render itself "liable” for any additional benefits. We hold that the employer’s admission, which may have been motivated by such factors as a desire to promote employee relations or avoidance of the cost of further litigation, does not deprive the Second Injury Fund of the right to appeal the administrative law judge’s decision. The Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board erred by failing to address the merits of the appeal.
Reversed and remanded. | [
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D. C. Riley, P. J.
Defendant, convicted by a Detroit Recorder’s Court jury of armed robbery in violation of MCL 750.529; MSA 28.797, was sentenced to 15 to 30 years imprisonment and appeals as of right.
One witness testified that on January 23, 1979, at approximately 8 p.m., while in a supermarket parking lot, defendant robbed her at gunpoint, stealing her jewelry, checkbook and various pieces of identification. The prosecution produced a second witness, under the similar acts statute, who testified that on February 17, 1979, while entering her automobile at a Detroit shopping center, defendant robbed her at gunpoint and stole her automobile. Both victims positively identified the defendant as their assailant at separately held lineups, and he was further identified by both at trial.
A third witness, representing a shopping mall in Sterling Heights, testified to an incident he witnessed on February 19, 1979, in one of their stores. He observed defendant in the presence of two women, one of whom was writing a check while the other helped defendant handle merchandise. The woman writing the check possessed identification bearing the name of the victim who had been robbed on January 23, 1979, and indeed signed the check in the victim’s name. At that time, the two women, along with the defendant, were arrested.
Defendant sought to rebut this prosecution evidence by offering alibi witnesses. A part-time teacher for the Detroit Board of Education testified that defendant was enrolled in her class and was present to pick up his grades on January 23, 1979, sometime between the hours of 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Additionally, a classmate of defendant testified that she was present at the school to pick up her grades, saw the defendant, had a conversation with him at a nearby restaurant, and thereafter was driven home by the defendant. She testified that this occurred between the hours of 7:30 and 10 p.m. on January 23, 1979.
Defendant’s first assertion of error is that the trial judge erred in permitting, over objection, testimony of two police officers concerning the circumstances surrounding the victims’ out-of-court identification of defendant.
In People v Sanford, 402 Mich 460; 265 NW2d 1 (1978), the Supreme Court, in three separate opinions, analyzed the impact of MRE 801(d)(1) on prior Michigan law concerning the admissibility of third-party identification testimony. The identification in Sanford was not arranged by the police, as it was in the instant case; rather, it was initiated by the complaining witness, who spptted the defendant in a store the day after he was assaulted and called the police. The Supreme Court split on the question of how far the new rule goes in allowing third-party identification testimony.
Justices Williams, Moody and Coleman held that the trial judge had acted properly in admitting testimony from a police officer that was limited to the circumstances surrounding the identification procedure. Although the plurality recognized the dangers inherent in permitting third parties to bolster identification testimony given by the identifier, citing People v Anderson, 389 Mich 155; 205 NW2d 461 (1973), they concluded that the trial court has discretion to admit such testimony "when limited to the circumstances surrounding the event”. Sanford, supra, 491-492.
Justices Ryan and Fitzgerald went further in analyzing the outer limits of MRE 801(d)(1). Although they, too, agreed that the officer’s testimony was admissible, they disagreed with the plurality’s characterization of that testimony. According to them, the officer’s testimony went beyond a narrative of the circumstances surrounding the identification and consisted of a repetition of the witness’s words and included a description of the witness’s assertive conduct. Justices Ryan and Fitzgerald resolved that, despite what the plurality said, the officer’s testimony in Sanford went "beyond the limited range of the facts and circumstances of the identification”. Sanford, supra, 497. Nevertheless, they concluded that the adoption of MRE 801(d)(1) permitted the admission of such testimony "under certain limited circumstances”. Sanford, supra, 497.
Justices Kavanagh and Levin disagreed that MRE 801(d)(1) was meant to open the doors so widely to what had previously been inadmissible hearsay: "MRE 801(d)(1) was not designed to permit testimony by persons other than the identifying witness.” Sanford, supra, 499-500.
In the wake of Sanford, perhaps all that can be said is that the exact parameters of MRE 801(d)(1) on third-party identification testimony remain unsettled. This Court, nevertheless, has previously rejected the prosecutor’s argument that MRE 801(d)(1) excludes the statements at issue from the definition of hearsay. People v Hoerl, 88 Mich App 693, 701-702, fn 5; 278 NW2d 721 (1979), People v Washington, 84 Mich App 750, 755-756; 270 NW2d 511 (1978). Although the rule has been interpreted as permitting a witness to testify concerning his or her own identification, this Court has not yet held that the rule allows a third party to testify concerning the identification of another. Cf., People v Adams, 92 Mich App 619; 285 NW2d 392 (1979).
We believe an important distinguishing factor between Sanford and the instant case is that here the police arranged the circumstances under which the identification was made. Until the Supreme Court clarifies what those "certain limited circumstances” are alluded to in Sanford, under which third persons may testify regarding prior identification, we hold that they should be confined to relating the circumstances surrounding the identification and should not, as here, be permitted to repeat the statement of identification. This is especially true where, as here, a central issue at trial is identification and where the third party is a police officer, whose testimony may be given undue weight by the jury.
While we conclude that it was error to permit the officer to repeat the statement of identification, we also conclude that it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. As stated in People v Hoerl, supra, this Court has often held that the erroneous admission of hearsay testimony is harmless where the same facts are shown by other competent testimony. People v Vargas, 50 Mich App 738, 741-742; 213 NW2d 848 (1973), lv den 392 Mich 815 (1974), People v Harrison, 49 Mich App 546; 212 NW2d 278 (1973), lv den 392 Mich 779 (1974), People v Dykes, 37 Mich App 555; 195 NW2d 14 (1972). Here, as in Hoerl, both witnesses identified the defendant at trial and both testified that they had identified defendant at lineups. This testimony renders the error harmless.
Next defendant argues that the trial court erred by admitting evidence that defendant was present at the Sterling Heights shopping mall with two women, one of whom possessed property that was identified as belonging to the victim of the robbery for which defendant was tried. The propriety of admitting this evidence has already been decided by this Court in a previous interlocutory appeal. Pursuant to an order of this Court, we vacated the trial court’s order suppressing the evidence and ruled that it was competent, citing People v Delgado, 404 Mich 76; 273 NW2d 395 (1978), People v Duncan, 402 Mich 1; 260 NW2d 58 (1977), People v Spillman, 399 Mich 313; 249 NW2d 73 (1976).
It is a well-settled rule that once a legal issue has been decided on one appeal, it may "not be raised again in a subsequent appeal after proceedings held on remand to the lower court”. People v Paintman, 92 Mich App 412, 416; 285 NW2d 206 (1979). See also, Allen v Michigan Bell Telephone Co, 61 Mich App 62; 232 NW2d 302 (1975), People v Radowick, 63 Mich App 734; 235 NW2d 28 (1975). Since defendant may not now collaterally attack our prior ruling, we hold that defendant’s second contention is without merit.
Defendant’s final claim of error relates to the trial court’s failure, over objection, to instruct the jury that alibi, if established, is a perfect defense. CJI 7:2:02. The trial judge did instruct the jury that if they had a reasonable doubt whether the defendant was present at the time and place of the crime charged, that they should find defendant not guilty. CJI 7:2:01. Explaining his reasoning for not instructing on the perfect alibi avenue of relief, the judge said: "I am in disagreement on the committee’s, the choice of that language. I believe that it’s much too strong as a language. I will not give it.”
People v Erb, 48 Mich App 622, 630; 211 NW2d 51 (1973), stated that "[a]n instruction to the jury concerning the defense of alibi must clearly explain that this defense offers two avenues of relief for the defendant”. One avenue is that founded on clear proof of the alibi. This has been termed a perfect defense. The second avenue of relief is that founded on reasonable doubt that the defendant was present at the time that the crime was committed. Although the judge in Erb did not give the perfect defense instruction, this Court did not reverse, despite the "must clearly explain” language, because the instruction given "adequately advised the jury that, should any reasonable doubt exist as to the presence of the defendant at the scene of the crime, he should be acquitted”. 48 Mich App 622, 631. Thus, Erb did not announce a clear rule that both avenues of relief must be instructed on or error is committed. However, it does not appear that defendant in Erb requested the perfect defense instruction or objected to the court’s failure or refusal to give it.
In People v Adams, 66 Mich App 616; 239 NW2d 683 (1976), lv den 396 Mich 849 (1976), an alibi instruction was given and defendant stated he was satisfied therewith. On appeal, however, defendant claimed the court’s failure to give the perfect defense instruction was error in light of Erb, supra. This Court held that manifest injustice did not result from the failure to instruct as to the perfect defense:
"In the present case, the court did instruct on the 'reasonable doubt’ aspect of the defense but did not mention the 'perfect defense’ avenue. This second avenue, in effect, informs the jury that if they believe a defendant’s evidence, then the alibi defense is absolute and they must find the defendant not guilty. Viewed in this light, the 'perfect defense’ avenue can be considered as a logical extension of the 'reasonable doubt’ standard, since the jury’s finding that a defendant was somehwere else would by necessity also raise a reasonable doubt as to his presence at the scene of the crime. Contrariwise, if the jury found that the evidence did not establish the 'perfect defense’, they could nevertheless still find the evidence sufficient to raise a reasonable doubt as to the defendant’s whereabouts at the time in question.
"Applying these factors to the present case, we find that the above instruction, albeit erroneous, does not warrant a reversal on this ground.
"As previously noted, a jury finding that the greater 'perfect defense’ aspect existed would by definition also require a finding that the lesser 'reasonable doubt’ standard existed, but not vice versa. Thus, a jury instruction which stresses only the lesser standard does not prejudice a defendant to the same degree as would an instruction stressing only the greater standard, since a finding by a jury of the lesser is all that is necessary in order to reach a verdict of not guilty. Consequently, the failure to instruct on the greater, at least in the absence of an objection, does not result in sufficient prejudice to constitute a showing of manifest injustice.” 66 Mich App 616, 618-619. (Footnote omitted.)
We do not read Erb, Adams, or People v Burden, 395 Mich 462; 236 NW2d 505 (1975), as unequivocally requiring instruction on both "avenues of relief’ whenever an alibi instruction is requested. Rather, Adams merely held that "at least in the absence of an objection”, the failure to instruct on the perfect defense "does not result in sufficient prejudice to constitute a showing of manifest injustice”. 66 Mich App 616, 619. This statement does not address the existence of error where an objection is made. That issue was not before the Court in Adams and consequently the opinion could not address the existence of error where an objection is made.
Our reading of the instant case persuades us that the giving of the reasonable doubt alibi instruction was sufficient in this case, and would be sufficient in most cases, precisely because the perfect defense instruction is a logical extension of the concept that reasonable doubt requires acquittal.
The rule setting forth "two avenues of relief’ was necessitated by cases in which only the perfect defense instruction was given. In such cases, the jury was in effect instructed that unless they determined that defendant’s alibi was clearly established, they could not acquit on that basis. See, e.g., People v Virgil Brown, 15 Mich App 600, 605; 167 NW2d 107 (1969) ("the * * * instruction * * * leaves much to be desired, in that it ignores the use of alibi as raising a reasonable doubt”), People v McShan, 53 Mich App 407, 415-418; 219 NW2d 792 (1974) (the lower court’s failure to give the reasonable doubt/alibi instruction "constitutes manifest injustice and thus reversible error”), People v William Johnson, 54 Mich App 678, 683-684; 221 NW2d 452 (1974) (citing McShan, the Court found reversible error in the trial judge’s failure to include the reasonable doubt/alibi instruction when he gave the perfect [absolute] defense instruction), People v John Johnson, 58 Mich App 60, 65-66; 227 NW2d 228 (1975) (reversible error apparently found on the basis of Erb, McShan and William Johnson, because only the perfect defense instruction was given).
Where only the reasonable doubt/alibi instruction is given, there is no prejudice or manifest injustice to defendant. Indeed, the giving of both instructions may be unnecessarily confusing to a jury which must first determine why the natural corollary of the reasonable doubt concept was given before it can apply both instructions to its analysis of the evidence. Where the jury is instructed to acquit if it finds a reasonable doubt as to defendant’s presence at the scene of the crime, and it nevertheless finds defendant guilty, such verdict implies that, even if the perfect defense instruction had been given, acquittal could not have resulted.
Affirmed.
The following colloquys between the prosecutor and the police officers constitute the objectionable testimony:
”Q. [Prosecuting attorney]: All right. And did the witness — or did the complainant, * * * make an identification?
"A. [First police officer]: Yes, she did.
"Q. And what did she state to you when she made the identification?
"MS. MAXWELL [Defense attorney]: Objection, hearsay.
"THE COURT: Overruled.
'A. 'I’m positive it’s Number 4. He put a gun to my head and took my car.’ ”
"Q. [Prosecuting attorney]: And who was it that [the witness] picked out of that line-up of five people?
'A. [Second police officer]: Number 3, Mallory Prophet.
"Q. What did she say?
'A. She said that she was positive it was him.”
MRE 801(d)(1) provides:
"(d) Statements which are not hearsay. A statement is not hearsay if—
"(1) Prior statement of witness. The declarant testifies at the trial or hearing and is subject to cross-examination concerning the statement, and the statement is one of identification of a person made after perceiving him.”
The testimony at issue in People v Sanford, 402 Mich 460, 496; 265 NW2d 1 (1978) was as follows:
"The objectionable portions of the officer’s testimony are found in the following colloquy between the prosecutor and the officer:
" ’Q. (By Mr. Morgan): After Mr. Booker Anderson came in, what happened next?
" 'A. Mr. Anderson came into the pool hall and pointed out a gentleman, saying, "That is one of them.”
" 'Q. What happened next, after that?
" A. Mr. Anderson pointed to one of the defendants. My partner walked up behind him and asked him to come to the door.
" 'Q. What happened next?
" A. He was placed in custody.
" 'Q. What happened after that?
" A. Mr. Anderson then pointed out the other gentleman, when we were outside. He said, "The other one is inside. ”
" 'Q. Then what happened next?
" A. We also went and got that defendant.
" 'Q. And placed him under arrest also?
" A. We did, sir.
" ’Q. Officer Stafford, do you see either of those two persons who you arrested at the billiard hall in court this morning?
" A. I do, sir.
" 'Q. Would you point to them and indicate what they are wearing.
" A. The ñrst one pointed out to us is the gentleman wearing the black and green trousers.
” 'Q. Mr. Morgan: Indicating for the record, Mr. Reginald Gardner.
" 'A. And sitting down at the checker table inside the pool hall is the gentleman in the green pullover sweater.
" 'Mr. Morgan: Indicating for the record, Mr. Dwight Sanford.
" 'Q. (By Mr. Morgan): You say he was seated at the checker table?
" A. Yes. Mr. Gardner was playing pool, and Mr. Sanford was playing checkers.’ (Emphasis added.) Trial Transcript, pp 78-79.” | [
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D. F. Walsh, J.
Pursuant to the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, MCL 15.231 et seq.; MSA 4.1801(1) et seq. (hereinafter FOIA), plaintiff sought disclosure of certain incident reports compiled by two officers of the Troy Police Department. Plaintiff appeals the decision of the circuit court that due to the ongoing criminal investigation the records were exempt from disclosure because disclosure would interfere with enforcement proceedings.
In the early morning hours of July 31, 1979, two Troy police officers responded to a radio report concerning a larceny from a motor vehicle. The vehicle involved was a van, and the van’s owner was inside armed with a pellet gun. During the investigation of the complaint, the owner was shot and killed by the officers. Subsequently, the policemen filed the customary reports relating to the incident.
Plaintiff, Evening News Association, publisher of the Detroit News, made several requests for copies of the incident reports. However, the Troy Police Chief refused to comply with the demands. On August 27, 1979, plaintiff brought an action to compel disclosure under the FOIA.
At a hearing on September 11, 1979, defendants argued that the reports were exempt from disclosure on the grounds that their production would result in interference with law enforcement proceedings, the impairment of the right to a fair trial, invasion of personal privacy, the disclosure of confidential sources and investigative techniques, and endangering of the officers’ physical safety under MCL 15.243(l)(b)(i)-(vi); MSA 4.1801(13)(l)(b)(i)-(vi).
Richard Thompson, Chief Assistant Prosecutor for Oakland County, testified that his office, to gether with the Troy Police Department, was in the midst of a joint criminal investigation of the July shooting as well as a number of recent larcenies from vans in the area. Testimony indicated that witnesses, both neighbors and police officers, were in the process of being interviewed, and other crime scene investigations were ongoing. According to testimony, the police incident reports, which included a running account of all occurrences on the night of the shooting, contained statements by the responding police officers and several neighbors who were potential witnesses and a description of the evidence that was seized. It was the general policy of the prosecutor’s office to withhold the details of any continuing investigation, particularly where the question of the existence of criminal conduct had not yet been determined, according to the testimony.
Thompson testified further that the release of the report would have a chilling effect on the investigator’s ability to interview additional witnesses who might refuse to give any information or alter their statements. The assistant prosecutor was also concerned with the possibility that the suspects related to the larcenies might flee the area if any information were disclosed. Thompson stated that several of the neighbors were considered confidential sources, and that the police department had received a threatening letter, which, however, had not yet been investigated. Thompson concluded his testimony by estimating that the investigation would probably be terminated within a period of two weeks from the date of the hearing.
Two other police department employees testified concerning two nonthreatening prank telephone calls received at the police station and general negative comments about the officers involved in the incident, which were heard while the witnesses were on road patrol. The department also received at least three telephone inquiries as to the identity of the officers involved in the shooting.
The Troy Police Chief, John Donovan, testified that the results of the pending investigation might lead to administrative disciplinary proceedings against the officers. Donovan related the department policy not to issue any information, particularly the identity of an individual while an incident is under investigation, until the individual is formally charged. Donovan also stated that in the past information contained in incident reports had been disclosed when the investigation was not in progress.
In denying plaintiffs request for disclosure, the circuit court concluded that the release of the information would interfere with law enforcement proceedings. Focusing on the confidential statements of the witnesses, the potential chilling effects on the investigation and the negative citizen feedback directed toward the Troy Police Department, the trial court decided that the public interest would be best served by the denial of plaintiffs request. The court noted that disclosure could jeopardize the criminal investigation, result in the obtaining of conflicting statements by the witnesses and further inflame an already emotional public.
Plaintiff claims on appeal that the testimony that was presented to show an interference with law enforcement proceedings amounted to nothing more than speculative and conclusory assertions without any basis in fact. Plaintiff argues that in order to satisfy the burden of proof under the statute, it was imperative that there be a specific showing that disclosure would cause a significant impediment to the criminal investigation. Absent such proof, plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in failing to require that the police reports be disclosed. We find plaintiffs argument unpersuasive.
The Michigan Freedom of Information Act provides for the disclosure of certain public records concerning the official acts of a governing body. The public policy underlying the statute focuses on the necessity to ensure that an informed public fully participates in the democratic process. MCL 15.231(2); MSA 4.1801(1)(2). However, this statutory scheme protects important rights of privacy and confidentiality through the creation of various exemptions. MCL 15.243; MSA 4.1801(13). The burden of proof is on the governmental agency to establish that the exemption is applicable to the requested records. MCL 15.240(1); MSA 4.1801(10X1).
The exemption relevant to the instant case concerns investigative records compiled for law enforcement purposes to the extent that disclosure would "interfere with law enforcement proceedings”. MCL 15.243(l)(b)(i); MSA 4.1801(13)(l)(b)(i). The police incident reports sought by plaintiff obviously fall under "investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes”. Whether their disclosure would "interfere with enforcement proceedings”, however, is contested. Since there is no relevant Michigan authority on this issue, we refer to Federal court decisions interpreting the analogous provision in the Federal FOIA, namely, 5 USC 552(b)(7)(a) (hereinafter referred to as exemption 7A). Penokie v Michigan Technological University, 93 Mich App 650; 287 NW2d 304 (1979), International Business Machines Corp v Dep’t of Treasury, 71 Mich App 526; 248 NW2d 605 (1976), Citizens for Better Care v Dep’t of Public Health, 51 Mich App 454; 215 NW2d 576 (1974).
In National Labor Relations Board v Robbins Tire & Rubber Co, 437 US 214; 98 S Ct 2311; 57 L Ed 2d 159 (1978), the employer’s FOIA request involved the statements of witnesses whom the labor board intended to call at a forthcoming unfair labor practice hearing. The board argued that the statements fit within the 7A exemption since any disclosure would interfere with enforcement proceedings. The lower courts concluded that 7A was inapplicable because the board did not claim that disclosure would pose a unique danger of interference with this specific proceeding. The Supreme Court reversed, relying on both the language and the structure of the statute.
The wording of exemption 7A was noted as expressly different from exemptions under subdivisions 7B, 7C and 7D, which refer to the deprivation of the right to a fair trial, an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and the revealing of a confidential source, respectively. Unlike these specific exemptions which require a showing of a particularized risk in each individual case, 7A refers only to interference with "enforcement proceedings” in general. Therefore, a generic determination that interference is likely to occur in a particular kind of enforcement proceeding would satisfy the public body’s burden of proof under 7A. The governing agency need only demonstrate that the documents related to an ongoing investigation or would effectively hamper a future enforcement proceeding.
In Robbins, the Court stated that while exemption 7A was designed to eliminate blanket exemptions for government records, this factor did not require that the government make a specific showing of a particularized risk. The legislative purpose underlying the exemption was to assure that the records were not endlessly protected from disclosure solely on the basis that they belonged to an investigatory file. Where, as in Robbins, an imminent adjudicative proceeding would preclude disclosure only for a finite duration, this purpose has been met. The Court commented as follows:
"The tenor of this description of the statutory language clearly suggests that the release of information in investigatory files prior to the completion of an actual, contemplated enforcement proceeding was precisely the kind of interference that Congress continued to want to protect against.” 437 US 214, 232.
In determining whether the labor board had met its burden of proof under 7A, the Court weighed the strong presumption in favor of disclosure under the FOIA against the likelihood that the delicate balance between parties in unfair labor practice proceedings would be disturbed. In emphasizing the potential danger of witness intimidation, the Court noted that coercion by either the employer or the union could have a chilling effect on the board’s sources. Any disclosure would also serve to expand the discovery process and provide the litigant with earlier and greater access to the board’s evidentiary materials. In concluding that the dangers of premature release of the requested documents outweighed the strong presumption in favor of FOIA disclosure, the Court held that a witness’s statements in pending unfair labor practice proceedings are exempt from FOIA disclosure at least until the completion of the board’s hearing.
Although the majority opinion in Robbins spoke solely to labor board enforcement proceedings, the concurrence, authored by Justice Stevens and joined by two other Justices, noted that the majority’s rationale applied to any enforcement proceeding. Subsequent Federal court decisions have expanded Robbins to settings other than labor law. See Amolsch & Madden, Inc v FTC, 192 US App DC 200; 591 F2d 809 (1978) (a Federal Trade Commission compliance report), and Zeller v United States, 467 F Supp 487 (ED NY, 1979) (Interstate Commerce Commission records).
In Grabinski v IRS, 478 F Supp 486 (ED Mo, 1979), the district court held that the IRS investigative records were exempt because they had been submitted to the United States Attorney’s office, which was in the process of considering whether to pursue any prosecutions. In Kanter v Internal Revenue Service, 478 F Supp 552 (ND Ill, 1979), the court decided that certain IRS documents were not available to the plaintiffs, who were under indictment. The court listed the types of interference encompassed by the exemption as follows:
"These grounds include fears of disclosure of (1) evidence, (2) witnesses, (3) prospective testimony, (4) the reliance placed by the government upon the evidence, (5) the transactions being investigated, (6) the direction of the investigation, (7) government strategy, (8) confidential informants, (9) the scope and limits of the government’s investigation, (10) prospective new defendants, (11) materials protected by the Jencks Act, (12) attorney work product, (13) the methods of surveillance, (14) subjects of surveillance.” Kanter v IRS, supra, 555.
Finally, in Steinberg v IRS, 463 F Supp 1272 (SD Fla, 1979), documents compiled in conjunction with an ongoing investigation of criminal and civil violations of the tax code were found to be exempt under 7A. After noting the concern of the Robbins court to prevent access to files earlier than provided in the normal discovery process, the court stated:
"The Court cannot conceive of any enforcement proceeding in which there exists greater potential for harm than that which might arise in an ongoing criminal investigation.” Steinberg v IRS, supra, 1274.
The Robbins decision has also been discussed in the context of an FOIA request for FBI records. In Ryan v Dep’t of Justice, 595 F2d 954 (CA 4, 1979), an FBI employee sought the disclosure of a memorandum dealing with the restricting of his official, covert activity. The Justice Department contended that 7A was applicable. The Fourth Circuit agreed with the district court’s conclusion that the memorandum was exempt as an investigative record "which was part of an ongoing criminal investigation”. 595 F2d 956. The Ryan court made no further comment with respect to the likely interference in the enforcement proceeding.
In the instant case, plaintiff, a newspaper publisher, sought disclosure of police incident reports which contained statements by the responding officers, who were potential defendants in both administrative and criminal proceedings. At the time of the FOIA request, the reports were an integral part of the documents used in the ongoing criminal investigation by the county prosecutor and a local police department. A possible prosecution based on the contents of these reports was still pending. It is important to note that the continuing investigation was of a limited duration, approximately two additional weeks.
Moreover, the fact that the plaintiff in this case was not a party to an enforcement proceeding seeking otherwise unavailable discovery through FOIA disclosure does not sufficiently distinguish Robbins so as to make the rationale of that decision inapplicable to the facts before us here.
A review of the testimony presented at the hearing supports the defendant’s position that their burden of proof was satisfied. Plaintiff’s interest in publishing current news and the liberal purpose of full disclosure under the FOIA do not outweigh the interest of the public that enforcement proceedings remain unhampered.
We are persuaded that the trial court’s determination, based upon generic evidence, that the production of the incident reports would have hampered possible enforcement proceedings was not erroneous. Disclosure could have caused a chilling effect on the investigation by inducing reluctance in other witneses to speak freely about the incident. Besides, the criminal investigation was projected to be completed within a two-week period making the danger of perpetual withholding of the documents practically nonexistent in the present case.
We conclude that the incident reports sought by the plaintiff were "investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes” and that their disclosure would have "interfere[d] with enforcement proceedings”.
The trial court’s ruling that the reports were exempt from disclosure under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act is affirmed. No costs, a public question.
Subsequent to the circuit court’s ruling, the prosecutor, on September 24, 1979, released his report on the incident and his investigation thereof, in which the two officers were exonerated of any criminal responsibility. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant Ford Motor Company appeals as of right from a jury verdict awarding plaintiff Gary Buschlen $414,000 for the loss of his left hand in an industrial accident. The verdict was reached after the second trial of this action. The first trial resulted in a verdict against Ford for $253,800 and an appeal to this Court followed. Buschlen v Ford Motor Co (Docket Nos. 77-149, 77-150, decided June 7, 1978 [unreported]). In that case, the Court summarized several facts pertinent to the instant appeal:
"Third party defendant Active Tool & Manufacturing Company designed, constructed and sold unguarded machine tooling, dies, to defendant Ford Motor Company. An affiliate of Active, Sebewaing Industries, Inc., used the dies in a power press to manufacture Ford automobile parts. Plaintiff Gary Buschlen, an employee of Sebewaing assigned to make the parts, lost his left hand when the power press malfunctioned. Plaintiff sued Ford for negligence, and Ford sought contribution from Active. A jury returned verdicts for plaintiff against Ford, and for Ford for contribution against Active.”
Active was not a party to the second trial of this case. Defendant Ford raises four issues in this appeal.
I
It is first alleged that the trial court erred in denying defendant Ford’s motion for a directed verdict of no cause of action on the basis that the plaintiffs failed to introduce evidence that Ford knew or had reason to know of the negligent manner in which its die would be used. The defendant contends that its motion was reviewed by the lower court under an improper "knew or should have known” standard of care.
In Fredericks v General Motors Corp, 48 Mich App 580; 211 NW2d 44 (1973), lv gtd after trial 407 Mich 896 (1979), this Court considered the specific standard of care owed by the supplier of a die to an employee of a contractor using the die to make parts for the supplier. The Fredericks Court quoted from the second Restatement of Torts for the standard of care applicable to such suppliers:
"One who supplies directly or through a third person a chattel for the use of another whom the supplier knows or has reason to know to be likely because of his youth, inexperience, or otherwise, to use it in a manner involving unreasonable risk of physical harm to himself and others whom the supplier should expect to share in or be endangered by its use, is subject to liability for physical harm resulting to them.” (Emphasis added.) Restatement Torts, 2d, § 390, p 314.
See also Moning v Alfono, 400 Mich 425, 445, fn 24; 254 NW2d 759 (1977), noting with approval the Fredericks Court’s reliance on § 390 of the Restatement.
Applying the Restatement standard to the facts in Fredericks, the Court found the issue of the defendant’s knowledge to be a question of fact and reversed an order of summary judgment in defendant’s favor.
In this case, the trial court denied Ford’s motion, stating it could be liable if it should have known that Gary Buschlen’s employer’s plant was using the die in an unsafe manner. In the opinion of the trial court this standard of care imposed upon Ford an affirmative duty to inspect the supplier’s plant to ensure that the die was being used in a safe manner. Ford claims that the trial court used an improper legal standard when ruling on its motion for a directed verdict. We agree.
The terms "reason to know” and "should know”, applied to a defendant’s conduct, impose different standards of care. The Restatement definitions of each term provide a clear line of demarcation for the minimum standard of care applicable under each:
"(1) The words 'reason to know’ are used throughout the Restatement of this Subject to denote the fact that the actor has information from which a person of reasonable intelligence or of the superior intelligence of the actor would infer that the fact in question exists, or that such person would govern his conduct upon the assumption that such fact exists._
"(2) The words 'should know’ are used throughout the Restatement of this Subject to denote the fact that a person of reasonable prudence and intelligence or of the superior intelligence of the actor would ascertain the fact in question in the performance of his duty to another, or would govern his conduct upon the assumption that such fact exists.” Restatement Torts, 2d, § 12, pp 19-20.
Because the lower court interpreted Fredericks and § 390 of the Restatement as mandating a "knew or should have known” standard of care, we hold that the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict was improperly reviewed. The trial court, nevertheless, reached the correct result.
We do not find the lower court’s application of an improper standard of review to the plaintiffs’ negligent entrustment claim to constitute reversible error. When presented with a motion for directed verdict, a trial court must view the evidence and legitimate inferences therefrom in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Weeks v Feltner, 99 Mich App 392, 394; 297 NW2d 678 (1980). If the evidence so viewed presents a prima facie case, the motion should be denied. Weeks, supra, Caldwell v Fox, 394 Mich 401, 407; 231 NW2d 46 (1975). In our view, the evidence presented below and legitimate inferences from it were sufficient to make out a prima facie case. In effect, there was sufficient evidence from which the jury could find that Ford knew or had reason to know of the dangerous manner in which Gary Buschlen’s employer would direct the use of the die.
II
Defendant’s second issue alleges error in the trial court’s jury instruction regarding Ford’s duty to inspect its die and repair or give warning of foreseeable dangers. The contested instruction was identical to the duty provided in Restatement Torts, 2d, § 392, p 319:
"One who supplies to another, directly or through a third person, a chattel to be used for the supplier’s business purposes is subject to liability to those for whose use the chattel is supplied, or to those whom he should expect to be endangered by its probable use, for physical harm caused by the use of the chattel in the manner for which and by persons for whose use the chattel is supplied
"(a) if the supplier fails to exercise reasonable care to make the chattel safe for the use for which it is supplied, or
"(b) if he fails to exercise reasonable care to discover its dangerous condition or character, and to inform those whom he should expect to use it.”
Defendant argues that this instruction, requiring adequate inspection and manufacture of the die, contradicts the more limited duty of care in § 390 applicable to the plaintiffs’ negligent entrustment theory. We disagree. As noted in Fredericks, supra, 585, "the Restatement makes clear that the chattel need not be proved defective before recovery is permitted under the doctrine of negligent entrustment”. Unlike the theory of negligent en-trustment, which focuses "on the supply of the chattel to a probable negligent user”, id., the instruction embodied in § 392 directed the jury’s attention to the dangerous propensities of the die itself. We thus find no error in the trial court’s instruction pursuant to § 392.
Ill
Defendant’s third allegation is connected to its first: that the plaintiffs failed to present sufficient evidence to support their claim of negligent en-trustment and, thus, defendant’s motion for directed verdict should have been granted. We have already noted that the plaintiffs introduced enough credible evidence to make out a prima facie case of liability under § 390 and Fredericks. We thus hold that the trial court properly denied Ford’s motion for directed verdict on the negligent entrustment theory.
IV
The defendant lastly claims error in the trial court’s decision denying its motion for a mistrial based upon remarks made by plaintiffs’ counsel during closing argument. The specific remarks included a reference to the defendant’s actions as "illegal acts” and further references to measures of damages unrelated to the present case.
We have consistently held that decisions on motions for mistrials are within the trial court’s sound discretion, Flinn v Sun Oil Co, 96 Mich App 59, 62; 292 NW2d 484 (1980), and will not be reversed on appeal absent a finding of abuse of discretion resulting in a miscarriage of justice. People v Denmark, 74 Mich App 402, 415; 254 NW2d 61 (1977), Kucken v Hygrade Food Products Corp, 51 Mich App 471, 473; 215 NW2d 772 (1974). Additionally, only where the comments alleged to be prejudicial evidence a studied purpose to inflame or prejudice the jury will this Court reverse the jury’s ultimate verdict. Firchau v Foster, 371 Mich 75; 123 NW2d 151 (1963).
The characterization of a defendant’s actions as being illegal has been found to warrant reversal. Layton v Cregan & Mallory Co, Inc, 269 Mich 574, 583; 257 NW 888 (1934). However, in Layton, plaintiff’s attorney purposefully and continually referred to defendant’s action as criminal. In this case, the trial court immediately sustained Ford’s objection and no further reference to illegality was made. Therefore, any error which did occur was cured by the trial court’s instruction to the jury. Tiffany v The Christman Co, 93 Mich App 267, 282; 287 NW2d 199 (1979). We have also reviewed plaintiffs’ counsel’s remarks contrasting the jury’s decision on damages for a personal injury with that for the hypothetical loss of a building or airplane. In light of the lower court’s instruction to the jury to view the remarks as a simple analogy unrelated to the defendant, we find no error or abuse of discretion.
Affirmed.
In its ruling, the lower court relied on this Court’s decision in Johnson v Chrysler Corp, 74 Mich App 532, 536; 254 NW2d 569 (1977), as support for its decision to apply a "knew or should have known” standard of care:
"Plaintiffs proceeded against defendant Chrysler as owner of the dies, on two theories: negligent entrustment and breach of implied warranty. In support of their negligent entrustment theory, plaintiffs direct us to Fredericks v General Motors Corp, 48 Mich App 580; 211 NW2d 44 (1973), lv den 390 Mich 805 (1973). In Fredericks, a panel of our Court reversed the trial court’s granting of a summary judgment motion and held that the plaintiff should be allowed to present proofs to show that the defendant knew that the die would be used in a negligent manner. In the present case, plaintiffs were allowed to present proofs. We have reviewed the transcript, and find no evidence that Chrysler knew or should have known of any unsafe practices or conditions at the Holland plant.” (Emphasis added.)
While relying on Fredericks, the Johnson Court misstated the applicable standard of care noted in the Restatement. We thus find that the trial court’s reliance on the Johnson analysis was misplaced. | [
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D. C. Riley, J.
Defendant was charged in a two-count complaint with filing a false monthly sales tax return in violation of MCL 205.74; MSA 7.545 and perjury in connection with the preparation of the return in violation of MCL 205.74; MSA 7.545 and the general perjury statute, MCL 750.423; MSA 28.665.
Defendant successfully moved in district court to quash the perjury count on the ground that he had not made a "false swearing”. An interlocutory appeal was taken to the Macomb County Circuit Court, where the judge reversed in an opinion and order entered on September 2, 1980. Defendant sought leave to appeal to this Court and leave was granted on November 24, 1980.
The pertinent facts are as follow. Beginning in February of 1978, defendant leased a catering truck from Pat’s Catering Service of Warren, Inc., in Warren, Michigan. The business sells ready-to-eat food and drinks to route drivers who, in turn, resell the food and drink items from their trucks at industrial and commercial establishments. Defendant was such a catering-truck driver.
In connection with the business, the defendant was required to, and did, sign and file monthly sales tax returns. The prosecution contends that the statements contained in the defendant’s March, 1979, return were false and made with the intent to defraud the State of Michigan. In the present appeal, defendant contends, as he did below, that he is not subject to a perjury prosecution because the sales tax return he filed was not under oath, sworn to, or verified. The sales tax return signed by the defendant contained the following language:
"TAXPAYER’S CERTIFICATION: Under penalties of perjury, I hereby certify that I have examined the return and that the statements made and the figures shown herein and in all accompanying schedules are to the best of my knowledge and belief a true and complete return made in good faith.”
The first issue is whether defendant’s signing of the sales tax return, as provided by the Michigan Department of Treasury, constituted a "swearing to” or "verification” of the return within the meaning of former MCL 205.74; MSA 7.545, thereby subjecting defendant to the strictures of the general perjury statute.
The prosecution in the instant case is brought under the former General Sales Tax Act (repealed by 1980 PA 164). The former act provided in pertinent part:
"In addition to the foregoing penalties, any person who shall knowingly swear to or verify any false or fraudulent return, or any return containing any false or fraudulent statement, with the intent to defraud or to aid, abet or assist in defrauding the state, shall be guilty of the offense of perjury, and on conviction thereof, shall be punished in the manner provided by law.” Former MCL 205.74; MSA 7.545. (Emphasis added.)
The general perjury statute provides:
"Any person authorized by any statute of this state to take an oath, or any person of whom an oath shall be required by law, who shall, wilfully swear falsely, in regard to any matter or thing, respecting which such oath is authorized or required, shall be guilty of perjury * * MCL 750.423; MSA 28.665. (Emphasis added.)
It is clear from the above that both acts require a false swearing, that is, a statement made under oath. Indeed, the gravamen of the offense of perjury is false swearing. In People v Kennedy, 9 Mich App 346; 155 NW2d 855 (1968), the defendant was accused, pursuant to the general perjury statute, of making a false statement under oath to a grand juror. The prosecution failed to introduce evidence at the preliminary examination that the statement was made under oath. This Court held that "false swearing is essential to the crime of perjury”. People v Kennedy, supra, 348.
The people point to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form 1040 and offer language contained therein as evidence that the language contained in the sales tax return is understood to be a verification within the meaning of the general perjury statute:
"Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return, including accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, it is true, correct, and complete.” IRS form 1040.
The people’s reliance on IRS form 1040 is misplaced. An individual who knowingly makes a false statement pursuant to form 1040 does not commit the crime of perjury. The language of form 1040 is authorized by federal statutes and was analyzed in Escobar v United States, 388 F2d 661 (CA 5, 1967), a prosecution under the federal statute. In Escobar, the Court of Appeals held that conviction pursuant to the statute does not constitute perjury.
"The language 'made under penalties of perjury’ is of purely historical significance. The phrase remains in the present statute as a 'catch phrase’ or 'signpost’ to indicate what types of documents are covered by the statute. * * *
"When viewed in this light it is understandable that Congress left the phrase in the statute and that the Internal Revenue Service left the statement in its return forms after the statute requiring the returns to be sworn to was repealed.” (Footnotes omitted.) Escobar, supra, 664-665.
In 1979, the Michigan State Bar committee for the revision of the criminal code published a proposed Second Revised Criminal Code. Chapter 49 contains the following:
"4901. Definition of terms * * * (1) The definitions in Section 4501 and 4701 are applicable in this chapter unless the context otherwise requires.
"(2) 'Oath’ includes an affirmation and every other mode authorized by law of attesting to the truth of that which is stated. For the purpose of this chapter, written statements shall be treated as if made under oath under either of the following circumstances:
"(a) The statement was made on or pursuant to a form bearing notice, authorized by law, to the effect that false statements made therein are made under penalties of perjury. ” (Emphasis added.)
The Committee comments include the following:
"The term 'oath’ as defined in Section 4901(2) also includes an affirmation. This is consistent with present policy [see, e.g., CL 1970, Sections 500.1432 and 600.1434]. A new concept, adopted by Model Penal Code Section 241.3 and New York Revised Penal Law Section 210.45, is introduced in subparagraph (2)(a) of Section 4901. Under this provision, statements made on official forms bearing notice that answers are made under penalties of perjury will be treated as if they were made under oath. This will be applicable primarily to matters covered under Section 4906 [perjury in the second degree] rather than Section 4905 [first degree], since the latter is limited to statements made in official proceedings. Subparagraph (2)(a) is designed to provide government agencies with a convenient method of demanding the truth in applications and registrations without resort to the cumbersome procedures of requiring oaths before notaries. In terms of the function of the perjury provisions, it should not matter whether the state’s special emphasis on receiving truthful information is indicated by a requirement of an oath or affirmation, or by written notice on a government form.” (Emphasis added.) Committee Commentary to §§ 4905-4906, p 468.
The foregoing illustrates that the drafters of the proposed criminal code were of the opinion that the terms "oath” or "false swearing” as presently used in the general perjury statute do not include statements made on official forms bearing notice that answers are made under the penalties of perjury.
The next question is whether the Department of Treasury was "authorized” or "required by law” to include on its return forms the notification that answers are made under the penalty of perjury.
In People v Emmons, 11 Mich App 660; 162 NW2d 117 (1968), this Court reversed the perjury conviction of a defendant who was convicted pursuant to the assumed name statute, MCL 445.1; MSA 19.821, after falsely signing a notary’s certification. The statute did not require an oath or affidavit. The Court stated that the fact that the defendant swore falsely as to the truth of the certificate was of no significance if the oath was not required or authorized.
"The crime of perjury under our statute, supra, is not committed unless the oath is one that is authorized or required by law.” People v Emmons, supra, 661.
By comparison, a perjury conviction was upheld by this Court in People v Lumbard, 94 Mich App 16; 287 NW2d 354 (1979), where the defendant filed an application for welfare assistance which contained false statements. The application form signed by defendant contained a declaration that under the penalties of perjury the application had been read by the applicant and that the facts contained therein were true. In that case, however, the Social Welfare Act contained explicit authority for such a provision to be included on the welfare application form. This Court held that:
"The plain words of this statute evidence a legislative intention that the crime of perjury be charged against anyone who intentionally files an untruthful application for welfare assistance.” People v Lumbard, supra, 18.
In the present prosecution, the former General Sales Tax Act did not require a sworn or verified return. Section 6 of that act simply required that "[t]he monthly return shall be signed by the taxpayer or his duly authorized agent * * *”, MCL 205.56; MSA 7.527. Therefore, while the act required the taxpayer to sign the return, it did not require that the signature be under oath.
The only provision of the General Sales Tax Act empowering the Department of Treasury to use oaths is contained in section 17:
"Whenever in the judgment of the department it is necessary, it may require any person, by notice served upon him, to make a return, render under oath such statements, or keep such records, as the department deems sufficient to show whether or not such person is liable to tax under this act.” MCL 205.67; MSA 7.538.
That section appears only to apply when the Department of Treasury questions a return or failure to file a return. It may give notice and require a hearing and, at such hearing, it may require the taxpayer to render under oath such statements as the department deems sufficient to show whether or not the person is subject to taxation. The return which is the subject of the present prosecution was not made under oath. Nor was it made after notice or pursuant to investigation. Therefore, that section is inapplicable in this context.
Finally, we note that statutes imposing criminal penalties are strictly construed. A person may not be convicted under the language of a statute unless his acts are clearly encompassed by its terms. People v Lyons, 93 Mich App 35; 285 NW2d 788 (1979), People v Kirstein, 6 Mich App 107; 148 NW2d 539 (1967). The language of this statute did not expressly state that the penalties of perjury would attach to a person convicted of filing a false return pursuant to the act. Consequently, even if the act of signing this tax return by the defendant was an "oath”, it was not an oath "authorized by statute” or "required by law”. Therefore, the prosecutor should not have charged the defendant under the general perjury statute.
The decision of the circuit court is reversed and the order of the district court quashing Count II is reinstated.
We retain no further jurisdiction.
No costs, a statutory interpretation being involved.
In the instant case, the document which is the basis for this prosecution was a certification only, unaccompanied by an oath. From the general texts, it is clear that the primary difference in law between a certification and an oath or verification is that the former is an unsworn statement whereas an oath or verification is a state ment under oath. Compare 14 CJS, Certify, p 114 with 92 CJS, Verification and Verify, pp 996-998. Compare also, 6A Words and Phrases, Certify, pp 85-89, with 44 Words and Phrases, Verify, pp 220-223.
26 USC 7206 provides in pertinent part:
"Any person who * * *.
"(1) Willfully makes and subscribes any return, statement, or other document, which contains or is verified by a written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury, and which he does not believe to be true and correct as to every material matter; * * * shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than 3 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.”
Section 25 of The Social Welfare Act provides:
"All statements in the application [for assistance] shall be over the signature or witnessed mark of the applicant * * * and shall include a declaration under the penalties of perjury that the application has been examined by or read to the applicant * * *, and, to the best of the applicant’s * * * knowledge, that all facts are true in each material point and are complete * * MCL 400.25; MSA 16.425.
Section 6 of the former General Sales Tax Act provides:
"(1) The taxpayer shall, unless otherwise provided by law, or as required pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, make out a return for the preceding month on a form prescribed by the department, showing the entire amount of all sales and gross proceeds of his business, the allowable deductions therefrom, and the amount of tax for which he is liable, and he shall transmit the return, together with a remittance for the amount of the tax, to the department, on or before the fifteenth day of the month. The monthly return shall be signed by the taxpayer or his duly authorized agent, and if prepared for the taxpayer by any other person, the return shall so state, giving the name and address of such person and be signed by such person, and giving the name of his employer, if any.” MCL 205.56; MSA 7.527. | [
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Per Curiam;.
Is a letter sent by mail to the township board of review by a nonresident owner of real property protesting the township’s assessment of said property pursuant to MCL 211.30; MSA 7.30 timely so as to confer jurisdiction upon the Tax Tribunal to hear an appeal from such assessment as required by MCL 205.735(1); MSA 7.650(35)(1), where the letter of protest was mailed and received subsequent to the dates announced in the local newspaper on which the board of review would meet to hear protests but is nevertheless received by the board of review prior to the first Monday in April which is the statutory deadline for completion of assessment reviews? On November 4, 1980, the Tax Tribunal entered an order answering this question in the negative. From that order, petitioner appeals of right.
Petitioner is a nonresident owner of a 140-acre parcel of land in Oxford Township. Notices were published in the Oxford Leader announcing that the Oxford Township board of review would meet on March 4, 5, 10, and 11, 1980, to hear 1980 assessment appeals on real and personal property in the township. In a letter dated March 13, 1980, appellant, through its attorneys, notified the Oxford Township assessor that it was appealing the 1980 assessment. Before the Tax Tribunal may acquire jurisdiction over a petition challenging the valuation of property, the petitioner must first protest the assessment before the local board of review. Section 35 of the Tax Tribunal Act provides in pertinent part:
"Sec. 35. (1) A proceeding before the tribunal shall be original and independent and shall be considered de novo. In the case of an assessment dispute as to the valuation of the property or where an exemption is claimed, the assessment must be protested before the board of review before the tribunal may acquire juris diction of the dispute, except that for the 1976 tax year only in a county whose state equalized valuation set by the state tax commission exceeds its assessed valuation and its equalized valuation set by the county board of commissioners for that year by at least 10%, a taxpayer may appeal directly to the tax tribunal.” MCL 205.735(1); MSA 7.650(35)(1), as amended 1976 by 1976 PA 365.
Respondent contends that the protest must be timely to vest jurisdiction in the tribunal. Respondent defines "timely” as a protest made before the board of review completes the meetings it is required to hold under §§ 29, 30, and 30a of the act. MCL 211.29; MSA 7.29, as amended by 1978 PA 124, MCL 211.30; MSA 7.30, MCL 211.30a; MSA 7.30(1). Northwoods Apartments v City of Royal Oak, 98 Mich App 721; 296 NW2d 639 (1980), lends support to appellee’s position. The implication of that decision is that the petitioner must appear on one of the four statutorily established meeting dates and be heard by the board of review for there to be a sufficient protest. This Court stated as follows:
"One cannot satisfy the requirement of protest by appearing when the board is hearing another case and seeking to be heard immediately. Furthermore, the board is not required to seek out a taxpayer who chooses not to keep his appointed date. The Tribunal’s determination that petitioner did not protest before the local board of review in 1977 so as to invoke the Tribunal’s jurisdiction as to that tax year was without error.” Northwoods Apartments, 734.
As long as the board of review fulfills the statutory public meeting requirements, it is our opinion that a protest to be timely must be brought to the board’s attention within the time frame of those public meetings. If a resident is required to appear in person on one of the specified hearing dates, it follows that a nonresident, who is not required to appear personally, must at least file a letter of protest before the completion of the last public hearing. The last hearing was scheduled to be held March 11, 1980. Appellant’s protest letter is dated March 13, 1980.
Appellant’s argument that the first Monday of April should be regarded as the deadline for a timely protest is unpersuasive. Section 30a of the act merely establishes a date by which all boards of review must have completed their review of assessments. That section states that all reviews "shall be completed on or before the first Monday in April”. If this provision were read to allow protest any time up until the first Monday in April, a board could not fulfill its statutory duty imposed by § 30a. Every property taxpayer who wished to protest could then demand to be heard on the last day, effectively keeping a board from meeting its deadline for completing this review.
There remains one argument to address. It is claimed that, even if the protest was not timely, the board of review waived the procedural requirement of timeliness by sending the letter dated March 28, 1980, stating that the letter of March 13 was presented to the board of review which "discussed your appeal of 1980 assessments in detail” and denied appeal for five reasons. We disagree. The first of the five stated reasons for rejection was that the "statutory reasons for filing an appeal with the local board of review were not met”. The fact that the board of review was considerate enough to proceed to review the protest on the merits does not negate the board’s decision to deny the protest because it was filed untimely.
In conclusion, we find the protest was filed untimely and that the Tax Tribunal did not err in granting accelerated judgment to respondent for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to MCL 205.735(1); MSA 7.650(35)(1).
Affirmed. No costs, a public question being involved.
"It appearing to the tribunal that respondent’s motion is meritorious in that petitioner did not timely protest its assessment before the board of review, and
"It further appearing that petitioner has not met the jurisdictional requirements mandated in TTA 35(1), therefore
"It is ordered that respondent’s motion for accelerated judgment be and is hereby granted and the above-captioned cause be and is hereby dismissed.”
Section 30 allows a nonresident taxpayer to file a protest by letter and no personal appearance is required. MCL 211.30; MSA 7.30.
We note that this Court erred in Northwoods Apartments, supra, in stating in the first line of page 734 that § 30a provides that the local board of review "shall” meet on the first Monday in April. | [
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N. J. Kaufman, P.J.
Plaintiff appeals from orders of the Wayne County Circuit Court which granted summary judgment in favor of the City of Detroit (City) on February 4, 1977, and which granted summary judgment in favor of Employers Liability Insurance Company of Wisconsin (Employers) on November 3, 1977. The case is before this Court by leave granted.
On August 18, 1971, while plaintiff was working in the shaft area of an underground tunnel project, a number of steel pipes rolled off a flatcar, striking and injuring him. The flatcar in question did not have any siderails, its purpose being to transport pipe and other material into the tunnel. This was essential, since with each day’s tunneling progress it was necessary to extend the water, air and ventilation piping to the next area of tunneling activities. Plaintiff was employed by Corridor Constructors. Defendant Employers was the workers’ compensation insurer of Corridor on the date of the accident. Plaintiff filed suit in May of 1974, wherein he alleged negligence on the part of both the City of Detroit and Employers in inspecting and supervising construction.
At the time of the accident, plaintiff was loading air pipes onto a flatcar at the base of the tunnel shaft. Pipes were lowered into the tunnel from the surface by a crane. The pipes were lowered in bundles of six. While the pipes were lowered they were strapped together at each end by a choker or cable with two rings onto which the hook on the crane snapped. Before the crane hook was detached from the pipes, wire was wrapped around each end of the bundle to keep it together and to prevent rolling.
The pipes were lowered by the crane onto a flatcar. After the pipe was lowered and the wire wrapped around each end, the choker cable had to be removed from each end of the bundle in order that the crane could reel in its line. When both ends of the choker cable had been cleared, a signal was given to the crane operator to raise the cable.
At the time of the accident, plaintiff was working at one end of the bundle of pipe and another Corridor employee was working on the other end. The bundle of pipe was lowered, then wrapped with wire, and then the plaintiff unsnapped his end of the choker cable. The accident happened when the Corridor employee working the other end of the bundle of pipe did not clear the choker cable from his end before he signaled the crane operator to raise the line. Thus, when the crane line was reeled in, it was still attached to the end of the bundle of pipe opposite plaintiff. This raised the end of the pipes and dumped the pipes onto plaintiff.
Charles Lynch, the safety engineer in charge of Corridor’s safety program, testified that representatives from both the City and Employers inspected the job site. Inspections were conducted only during the day. The transporting of pipe in which plaintiff was engaged when injured was carried on at night after the daytime mining operations had shut down. ■
James Jackson, Employer’s representative, testified that he visited the offices of Corridor once or twice and met with the safety engineer, Charles Lynch. He testified that his visits were restricted to the offices of the job site except for one occasion on which he visited the area under which the tunnel was being excavated. He never entered the tunnel itself and never went to any of the tunnel shafts.
Under the terms of the construction contract between Corridor and the City, Corridor, the general contractor, had sole responsibility for the maintenance of safety conditions.
The tunneling activities in question were part of the construction of a comprehensive system of regional wastewater interceptors and treatment plants for the purposes of water pollution control in a six-county area of Southeastern Michigan. The construction and improvement of the system was financed by federal grant (75%), state grant (5%), and the sale of revenue bonds and revenues derived from users of the system both inside and outside the City of Detroit. The construction and capital improvement of the system was accomplished at a cost of over 100 million dollars.
The first two issues raised by plaintiff concern the City of Detroit’s immunity from tort liability under MCL 691.1407; MSA 3.996(107). Plaintiff challenges the grant of summary judgment in favor of the City on the grounds that (1) the sewer system is not a governmental function, since a private business could operate the system in question and (2) because the City of Detroit charges the users of a sewer system, said system is a proprietary rather than a governmental function and therefore not immune from tort liability.
For our resolution of these two issues, we rely on a recent opinion which addressed these same questions in the context of the same construction project. In Davis v Detroit, 98 Mich App 705; 296 NW2d 341 (1980), lv den 410 Mich 856 (1980), the majority of a panel of this Court analyzed the sewer system at issue in light of Parker v Highland Park, 404 Mich 183; 273 NW2d 413 (1978), and Perry v Kalamazoo State Hospital, 404 Mich 205; 273 NW2d 421 (1978), and held that:
«* * * due to the magnitude and public importance of the sewer project in question, we believe its construction constituted a governmental function.” Davis, supra, 709.
While acknowledging that it would be possible for private individuals to own and operate sewage treatment facilities, the Davis Court went on to state that:
"* * * the size of the project herein, in terms of cost, volume of effluent, and water pollution control, convinces us that it could not be effectively coordinated by a private individual or company in the best interests of the public.” Id., 710.
We agree.
The dissent of Judge Walsh in Davis focuses on the final factor in Justice Moody’s analysis in Parker — can the activity be effectively accomplished only by the government. Judge Walsh concludes, using power and communication systems as an analogue, that the project in question could be maintained by private utility companies. However, while in theory this massive wastewater project could be accomplished by an entity other than the government, we believe that to compare a sewage system to a utility ignores the substantial interdependence of communities on adequate sewage systems. If a community chooses to exist without gas or electrical services, that decision would have no impact on neighboring communities. But a decision not to dispose of wastewater through a publicly coordinated sewage system would have disastrous consequences for these same neighbors. For example, before the present system became operable, Macomb County disposed of its effluent in the river which emptied into the Great Lakes upstream from the City of Detroit, polluting that city’s raw water intake.
It is our belief that the interests of public safety and pollution control mandate a coordinated system of sewage disposal as was undertaken in the instant case. We, therefore, conclude that the wastewater disposal project involved herein was a governmental function and that the City of Detroit is thus immune from suit.
In response to plaintiff’s argument regarding the proprietary nature of the sewer project, the Davis Court stated:
"Charges imposed by the City of Detroit herein are based upon the cost of the system and are used to pay current expenses of administration and operation, with the remainder to be applied toward principal and interest on bonds outstanding. No amount is permitted to leave the sewer system to be deposited in the city’s general fund. It is also evident that, based on current charges, the city will be hard-pressed to recoup its initial investment. We are convinced that the primary purpose of the project is to deal with disposal problems while protecting the environment. In summary, plaintiffs have not persuaded us that defendant has derived a peculiar benefit from the construction of the sewers in question.” Davis, supra, 711. (Citations omitted.)
See also Beauchamp v Saginaw Twp, 74 Mich App 44, 52; 253 NW2d 355 (1977).
Plaintiff next argues that his complaint sufficiently alleged nuisance so that governmental immunity was inapplicable. We do not agree.
In an effort to come within the nuisance exception to governmental immunity, Rosario v City of Lansing, 403 Mich 124; 268 NW2d 230 (1978), plaintiff points to those portions of his complaint wherein it was alleged that there was a failure by the City to warn him of the possible peril to which he was subject.
In Rosario, the Supreme Court reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant on the grounds of governmental immunity, holding that the plaintiff’s allegations were sufficient to allege a nuisance in fact and that governmental immunity is not a defense to a claim properly alleging nuisance. However, in Rosario, two members of the five-justice majority wrote concurring opinions and, as a result, their analysis is decisive. The concurring analysis of Justice Moody required that plaintiff plead specific, deliberate acts in order to satisfy the intent requirement of a nuisance claim. Applying this analysis to the complaint in Rosario, Justice Moody concluded that the terms "neglected” and "failed” alleged only negligent activity; however, the term "refused” was deemed sufficient to allege a deliberate act by government.
In Davis v Detroit, supra, most of the plaintiffs’ allegations, that the defendant failed to inspect, coordinate and supervise work activities, failed to provide safety standards and a safe work environment, and neglected to assure that employees would not be subjected to the use of hazardous tools and equipment, sounded in negligence. However, the Davis Court found that the plaintiffs’ allegation, that the defendant deliberately engaged in construction activities involving the use of dangerous tools and equipment creating the alleged nuisance and, upon ascertaining the failure of the contractor to implement adequate safety precautions, failed to institute its own safety precautions, implied that the defendant had knowledge of the nuisance but failed to correct the situation. The Court held that, when liberally construed, these allegations were sufficient to withstand dismissal by accelerated judgment. In the instant case, appellant alleged that defendant City of Detroit owed him a variety of duties and, further, that such duties were breached. No allegations of intentional conduct were made. Therefore, appellant’s complaint did not sufficiently allege a nuisance and, thus, did not come within an exception to governmental immunity.
The final issue to be addressed in this appeal is plaintiff’s contention that a question of fact existed as to the liability of defendant Employers for negligent inspection.
Defendant Employers moved for summary judgment under GCR 1963, 117.2(1) — failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. However, it appears from the briefs filed on the motion and from the transcript of the hearing on the motion that the motion was argued and decided under GCR 1963, 117.2(3) — no genuine issue of material fact.
Had the motion proceeded under GCR 1963, 117.2(1) the motion should not have been denied. The test for granting a motion brought under this subsection was discussed in Stewart v Troutt, 73 Mich App 378, 383-384; 251 NW2d 594 (1977):
"A motion for summary judgment brought under GCR 1963, 117.2(1), merely tests the legal sufficiency of the claim as determined from the pleadings alone. * * * For the purposes of that motion, both at the trial and appellate levels, every well-pled allegation in the complaint is assumed to be true. * * * The test is whether the plaintiffs claim, on the pleadings, is so clearly unenforceable as a matter of law that no factual development can possibly justify the right to recovery.”
Plaintiffs complaint alleges a cause of action against his employer’s workers’ compensation carrier for acts of negligence. This action was recognized prior to the 1972 amendment of MCL 418.131, 418.827; MSA 17.237(131), 17.237(827). The alleged injury occurred prior to the amendment. The amendment has been held to apply prospectively and thus does not bar the instant action. Andrews v Ins Co of North America, 60 Mich App 190; 230 NW2d 371 (1975). Therefore, under GCR 1963, 117.2(1) plaintiffs complaint could survive the motion for summary judgment.
Apparently the trial judge accepted the motion as one under GCR 1963, 117.2(3). This Court has held that when a motion for summary judgment brought under 117.2(1) is really testing the suffi ciency of facts the motion should proceed on the basis of 117.2(3) as long as neither party is misled. Walker v Cahalan, 97 Mich App 346, 355; 296 NW2d 18 (1980). The briefs presented in the instant case demonstrate that neither party was misled. Therefore, review by this Court is appropriate.
Before a summary judgment may properly be granted under 117.2(3), it must be impossible for the claim asserted to be supported by evidence at trial. Walker v Cahalan, supra. The plaintiff must submit to the court by affidavit, deposition or other proof a showing of the existence of issues of fact on the merits of the case, failing which plaintiffs case must fall. Zimmerman v Stahlin, 374 Mich 93, 96; 130 NW2d 915 (1964), Walker v Cahalan, supra.
Plaintiffs theory as against defendant Employers was that Employers had undertaken inspection of Corridor’s safety procedures and had negligently failed to make a proper inspection and that Employers owed a duty to properly inspect. The appropriate focus under cases considering similar actions is upon the. "duty” element. "Normally the issue of duty owed a particular person is a question for the trial court.” Ray v Transamerica Ins Co, 46 Mich App 647, 654; 208 NW2d 610 (1973). However, where the existence of a particular relationship between the parties determines the duty owed, and that relationship is not clear, the issue of duty may properly be given to the jury. Id.
The rule in Michigan governing the duty of an insurer to properly inspect was stated in Ray, supra, 657, quoting from 2 Restatement Torts, 2d, § 324A, p 142 as follows:
"One who undertakes, gratuitously or for considera tion to render services to another which he should recognize as necessary for the protection of a third person or his things, is subject to liability to the third person for physical harm resulting from his failure to exercise reasonable care to protect his undertaking, if
"(a) his failure to exercise reasonable care increases the risk of harm, or
"(b) he has undertaken to perform a duty owed by the other to the third person, or
"(c) the harm is suffered because of reliance of the other or the third person upon the undertaking.” (Emphasis in Ray.)
Employers’ representative, James Jackson, testified that he never inspected the tunnel site. If this were the only evidence concerning inspections, the grant of a summary judgment motion would be appropriate. However, Charles Lynch, Corridor’s safety engineer, testified that several inspections were made by the insurance company. This conflicting testimony would normally present a question for the jury as to whether Employers had undertaken to furnish safety inspections which would give rise to a duty to use reasonable care on behalf of the plaintiff. Whether an insurance company has made an undertaking and whether there was sufficient reliance are generally questions of fact for the jury. Andrews v Ins Co of North America, supra, 197.
We recognize that the Michigan Supreme Court has very recently held that an insurer’s inspection of an insured’s premises for fire hazards does not, in itself, demonstrate an undertaking to render fire inspection and prevention services to the insured. Smith v Allendale Mutual Ins Co, 410 Mich 685; 303 NW2d 702 (1981). Under the facts of Smith, a majority of the Court found lacking the threshold requirement of an undertaking to render services to another and, therefore, found that no jury question on the issue of negligent inspection had been presented. The decision in Smith does not, however, convince us to depart from the general rule that, since negligence involves a question of fact, summary judgment is rarely appropriate in such cases and that it is only where the facts are such that all reasonable people must draw the same conclusion that the question of negligence is considered to be one of law. Normand v Thomas Theatre Corp, 349 Mich 50; 84 NW2d 451 (1957), Miller v Miller, 373 Mich 519; 129 NW2d 885 (1964). We find that the threshold questions of an undertaking and reliance have been met in the instant case, Corridor having testified that it had only a pro forma safety program and relied on defendant Employers’ recommendations in the area of safety. It is, therefore, our belief that summary judgment was not proper.
Relying upon the above-stated general rule, plaintiff argues that, based on the pleadings and the evidence presented, reasonable men could find that Employers was negligent in the performance of the inspection and, in particular, could find that Employers failed to establish appropriate safety standards for the maintenance of the flatcars, the improper maintenance of which occasioned plaintiff’s injury. Plaintiff emphasizes that the issue of negligence is not whether Employers had the power to implement safety regulations, but whether it made any recommendations relating to the hazards of the absence of guardrails. In other words, plaintiff argues that the question is not whether Employers inspected the flatcars, but whether Employers was negligent in not inspecting the flatcars and making safety recommendations, expecially in view of Employers’ awareness that Corridor was relying on its expertise.
We find plaintiffs argument on this issue persuasive. Reasonable minds could differ on the question of negligence based upon the pleadings and deposition evidence presented thus far. As such, a question of fact existed for the jury to determine and the trial court erred by granting summary judgment.
In .conclusion, we hold that the trial court’s grant of summary judgment for defendant City of Detroit on the ground of governmental immunity was proper. We further hold that plaintiffs allegations of nuisance were inadequate to withstand the City’s motion for summary judgment on this issue. However, this case is remanded for trial in order to give plaintiff an opportunity to prove his allegation of negligent inspection on the part of defendant Employers.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded. No costs, a public question being involved. We do not retain jurisdiction.
Cynar, J.,
affirms the grant of summary judgment for the defendant City of Detroit on the ground of governmental immunity. However, as to the remand concerning the claim against defendant Employers, he concurs in the result only. | [
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Cynar, J.
Judge Bronson has written an exceptionally learned and comprehensive opinion. I agree with his conclusion that the arbitration agreement is not a contract of adhesion. With some hesitation, I also agree that the Medical Malpractice Arbitration Act is not unconstitutional or unconscionable since it does not deprive the patient of a meaningful opportunity to decide whether to relinquish his or her constitutional right to "court access”. While having serious reservations, I believe the act to be constitutional even though it requires that a physician serve as one of the three members of the arbitration panel.
Time-tested experience supports the belief that the right to a jury trial as provided under the United States and Michigan Constitutions is a most precious right which should be carefully protected, and waived only if done so knowingly and voluntarily. Perhaps the arbitration agreement would best serve its intended purpose if it would indicate that one of the three panel members would be a physician or hospital administrator. As important as the right to a jury trial may be, the decreasing availability as well as rising costs of medical malpractice insurance, the cost of health care, and the lengthy time involved in the disposition of medical malpractice litigation were some of the reasons for seeking other means in settling health care disputes.
The Michigan arbitration statute, MCL 600.5040 et seq.; MSA 27A.5040 et seq., took effect on September 1, 1975. The statute provides for arbitration as an alternative to litigation to alleviate the health care crisis. The tug and pull of opposing interests may have resulted in a compromise of less than ideal legislation, if such can ever be achieved in the eyes of all. The bench and jury trial system has been tried and tested. The Michigan statute differs from those in other states in some aspects, particularly from the standpoint of providing binding rather than advisory arbitration. Whether the Michigan medical arbitration act will function adequately to meet the needs of the people remains to be determined by future case experience.
Plaintiff contends that the inclusion of a physician on the arbitration panel is a denial of due process because the physician does not sit as a neutral party but rather as an adversary cloaked in a statutory disguise. It is further contended that physicians invariably unite as a clan against malpractice claimants and that such unity is motivated not by professional ethic but by pecuniary considerations. So, it is claimed, no physician can sit in judgment of a malpractice claim against another physician.
The burden of proving an alleged constitutional violation rests on the party asserting it. Morey v Doud, 354 US 457; 77 S Ct 1344; 1 L Ed 2d 1485 (1957).
Such an allegation must be sustained not as a matter of speculation but as a demonstrable reality. See Beck v Washington, 369. US 541; 82 S Ct 955; 8 L Ed 2d 98 (1962). Further, it is established that the potential for bias that would overturn an arbitration award must be certain and direct and not remote, uncertain or speculative. See, North American Steel Corp v Siderius, Inc, 75 Mich App 391, 404; 254 NW2d 899 (1977).
The right of access to the courts is founded in the Due Process Clause and assures that no person will be denied the opportunity to present to the judiciary allegations concerning violations of fundamental rights. Wolff v McDonnell, 418 US 539; 94 S Ct 2963; 41 L Ed 2d 935 (1974).
Under the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution, Am XIV, a person is entitled to have a hearing by an impartial and disinterested tribunal in both civil and criminal cases. Marshall v Jerrico, Inc, 446 US 238; 100 S Ct 1610; 64 L Ed 2d 182 (1980). In striking down a procedure where a mayor’s salary was paid in part from fees levied by the mayor while acting in a judicial capacity, the court observed, a "procedure which would offer a possible temptation to the average man as a judge to forget the burden of proof required to convict the defendant, or which might lead him not to hold the balance nice, clear and true between the state and the accused” is in conflict with the Due Process Clause. Tumey v Ohio, 273 US 510; 47 S Ct 437; 71 L Ed 749; 50 ALR 1243 (1927). In Ward v Village of Monroeville, 409 US 57; 93 S Ct 80; 34 L Ed 2d 267 (1972), it was held that, although the mayor was not directly compensated from traffic fine revenues, a mayor was nonetheless barred from adjudicating traffic offenses where a clear nexus existed between traffic fine revenues and city finances in general. In so ruling, the Supreme Court stated that the mayor’s executive responsibility for city finances presented too great a temptation to abuse his judicial power in punishing traffic offenders. Because of potential bias, the mayor was thus precluded from continuing as an adjudicator. Similarly, in Gibson v Berryhill, 411 US 564; 93 S Ct 1689; 36 L Ed 2d 488 (1973), a clear connection was shown between the fact finder’s stature and his likelihood of bias. Gibson forbids a fact finder from sitting in a case where his business may be increased as a direct consequence of his decisions as fact finder. Fairness in the adjudicative procedure has been stated in verying ways. For instance "justice must satisfy the appearance of justice”, Offutt v United States, 348 US 11; 75 S Ct 11; 99 L Ed 11 (1954). This striving for neutrality at times bars judges who have no actual bias and who would do their best to keep the scales of justice equally balanced. In re Murchison, 349 US 133, 136; 75 S Ct 623; 99 L Ed 942 (1955).
In Michigan, by far the most important case is Crampton v Dep’t of State, 395 Mich 347; 235 NW2d 352 (1975). In that case, Crampton was arrested by a police officer from the Lansing Police Department. On appeal to the License Appeal Board, another Lansing police officer, representing the Chief of Police, sat on the License Appeal Board to determine issues related to the implied consent law. The Court held that such a panel was not a fair and impartial tribunal that could constitutionally be permitted to sit as adjudicators in a law enforcement dispute between a citizen and a police officer. Crampton sets forth several criteria for evaluating the fitness of a fact finder to hear a case. The risk of actual bias is too great where the decisionmaker has a pecuniary interest in the outcome, or has been the target of personal abuse or criticism by the party before him, or was enmeshed in other matters involving the petitioner, or might prejudge the case because of prior participation as an investigator, fact finder or decision-maker.
The reasoning of the Crampton Court is found on pages 357 and 358, where the Court states:
"We do not suggest that police officers and prosecutors are not fair-minded. But they are deeply and personally involved in the fight against law violators. As law enforcement officials they are identified and aligned with the state as the adversary of the citizen who is charged with violation of the law. Their function and frame of reference may be expected to make them 'partisan to maintain’ their own authority and that of their fellow officers. The risk that they will be unable to step out of their roles as full-time law enforcement officials and into the role of unbiased decisionmaker in a law enforcement dispute between a citizen and a police officer presents a probability of unfairness too high to be constitutionally tolerable.”
The procedure present in the Tumey, Ward, Gibson and Crampton cases by which a decision-maker is selected differs substantially from the case before us. First, the arbitration provided herein is voluntary and is revocable. MCL 600.5041 subds (1)-(3); MSA 27A.5041 subds (1)-(3). Each party may have counsel and exercise the normal adversary rights extant in civil trials. MCL 600.5043; MSA 27A.5043. The arbitrators are selected from a pool governed both by statute, MCL 600.5044 subds (3)-(5); MSA 27A.5044 subds (3)-(5), and by the American Arbitration Association, MCL 600.5040(2)(a); MSA 27A.5040(2)(a). The parties may choose their own arbitrators. MCL 600.5044(6); MSA 27A.5044(6).
The parties are afforded liberal rights of challenge. If the parties themselves cannot agree on a panel, the association shall select the panel or a member thereof. In addition the statute provides:
"The appointment by the association shall be subject to challenge by any party for cause which challenge may allege facts to establish that unusual community or professional pressures will unreasonably influence the objectivity of the panelist.” (MCL 600.5044[5]; MSA 27A.5044[5]).
Additionally, two of the three arbitrators may render an enforceable award. The plaintiff contends that the presence of a physician provides an advocate on the tribunal. Herein lies the crux of the problem before us. Can a practicing physician maintain neutrality as a decisionmaker? I am not able to find any reasoning in Crampton which would disqualify any and all physicians from sitting as fact finders in medical arbitrations solely because of occupation. Whether the system will be workable remains to be seen.
Because submission to arbitration is a voluntary decision and because of the safeguards provided in the process whereby the arbitrators are selected, the Michigan medical malpractice arbitration act is not an unconstitutional denial of a malpractice plaintiff’s right to due process of law.
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M. F. Cavanagh, J.
Plaintiff, Mary E. Gottsch-alk, appeals as of right from a judgment of divorce entered after a trial.
While this Court hears appeals on property division and alimony matters de novo, it generally does not reverse or modify unless convinced that it would have reached another result had it occupied the position of the trial court. Paul v Paul, 362 Mich 43, 47; 106 NW2d 384 (I960). A determination of alimony and property division necessitates an examination of the following factors: duration of marriage, contributions of the parties to the joint estate, age, health, station in life, necessities and circumstances, and earning ability. Holbern v Holbern, 91 Mich App 566, 569; 283 NW2d 800 (1979).
Plaintiff is a 56-year-old woman possessing little or no saleable skills with which to secure gainful employment. Her annual earnings totaled only $4,500. Defendant earns $17,641 annually from his position as a county building inspector. Additionally, he is an electrical contractor and has a license to sell real estate.
Plaintiff testified that she could not afford some dental work which she badly needed. She also explained that after her divorce she would be without health insurance but would still have substantial medical related expenses. Those expenses pertained primarily to psychological and emotional problems she had encountered for more than 10 years. Due to financial restraints, plaintiff is unable to afford even minor household repairs or an inexpensive hobby.
Two expert witnesses testified that plaintiff was suffering from severe depression. Defendant’s testimony was in agreement in that regard. Both experts believed that plaintiff would always suffer from depression and could never withstand the stress of full-time employment.
As to the division of marital property and the award of alimony, after a thorough review of the record, this Court is convinced it would have reached another result had it occupied the position of the trial court. Paul v Paul, supra, Holbern v Holbern, supra.
The trial court ordered the marital home sold and the proceeds divided, finding that "There is no way in which this home can be maintained in the future as a home by either one of the parties”. We are not persuaded that this is a correct conclusion. Defendant had vacated the marital home some 2-1/2 years prior to the divorce. He has since purchased another home with the assistance of another woman who testified at trial to their relationship. Plaintiff, it appears, has been living on a relatively small amount of money due in large part to the fact that she has been residing in the marital home which is paid for. We are persuaded that plaintiff should be awarded the marital home free of any interest of the defendant. If the future proves her unable to maintain it from the income of her part-time employment and alimony, she may make the determination to dispose of the property. An important factor in our consideration in this regard is the undisputed testimony as to the psychological significance of the home and its support to this plaintiff. In lieu of his interest in the marital home, defendant shall receive as his sole and separate property the Coldwater Lake property and the Petoskey property. While we are aware that this distribution of the marital real estate is in no way an even distribution, we are persuaded that the relative conduct of the parties makes it an equitable one.
Turning to the alimony award, we are likewise persuaded for the same previously stated reasons that it, too, is inadequate. The unrebutted medical testimony established that plaintiffs mental problems will continually occur as they have in the past. Plaintiff is neither trained nor qualified to substantially improve her ability to increase her income. It is apparent from our review of the record that plaintiff is a 56-year-old housewife who has extreme difficulty coping with the stress of everyday problems and pressures. We see no reason why the award of alimony of $50 per week should be limited in time, and, accordingly, hold that it shall continue as permanent alimony until such time as the plaintiff shall remarry.
Lastly, we note the circuit judge and the county clerk both failed to act upon a bill of costs that plaintiff submitted to the trial court with the judgment of divorce in compliance with GCR 1963, 526. On remand, the bill of costs will be duly entered, defendant having offered no objection to the same at the trial level. We do not disturb the trial court’s award of attorney fees.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part. Remanded for entry of judgment consistent with this opinion. Plaintiff may tax costs. | [
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E. A. Quinnell, J.
In February and March, 1978, defendant, the executive manager of North-ville Downs, made public accusations implicating plaintiff, an owner and trainer of standardbred horses, in a race-fixing scheme at the track. Defendant also barred plaintiff from future racing at Northville Downs. Plaintiff commenced an action against defendant for defamation on April 16, 1979. The Circuit Court granted defendant’s motion for accelerated judgment since the action was commenced after the expiration of the one-year period of limitation of actions for libel and slander. MCL 600.5805(7); MSA 27A.5805(7).
Thereafter, on June 6, 1979, plaintiff filed an amended complaint, alleging tortious interference with advantageous economic relations. Defendant again moved for accelerated judgment on the basis that the complaint continued to be one for defamation. Plaintiff’s position was that the amended complaint was governed by the three-year statute of limitations for torts. MCL 600.5805(8); MSA 27A.5805(8). Following a hearing on August 10, 1979, the circuit court granted the motion for accelerated judgment. Plaintiff now appeals as of right, asserting that the three-year statute of limitations should have been applied.
The type of interest allegedly harmed is the focal point in determining what limitations period controls. Stringer v Board of Trustees of Edward W Sparrow Hospital, 62 Mich App 696, 699-700; 233 NW2d 698 (1975), lv den 395 Mich 768 (1975), Glowacki v Motor Wheel Corp, 67 Mich App 448, 459-460; 241 NW2d 240 (1976). Where the same set of facts can support either of two distinct actions, the applicable limitations period is the one controlling the theory actually pled. Campos v General Motors Corp, 71 Mich App 23, 25-26; 246 NW2d 352 (1976).
The elements of tortious interference with economic relations are: (1) the existence of a valid business relationship or expectancy, (2) knowledge of the relationship or expectancy on the part of the interferer, (3) an intentional interference causing a breach or termination of the relationship or expectancy, and (4) resulting damage to the party whose relationship or expectancy has been disrupted. Northern Plumbing & Heating, Inc v Henderson Brothers, Inc, 83 Mich App 84, 93; 268 NW2d 296 (1978), lv den 405 Mich 845 (1979). Defamatory statements are those which tend to harm an individual’s reputation in the community. Unlike an action for tortious interference with economic relations, a defamation claim will lie even where there is no proof of any damage to the individual’s business relationships or expectancies. An accusation of a commission of a crime, as here, is defamatory per se and is actionable without proof of special harm or loss of reputation on a defamation theory. This is also unlike a tortious interference theory which requires proof of actual damage. See, Tumbarella v The Kroger Co, 85 Mich App 482, 493; 271 NW2d 284 (1978), lv den 406 Mich 939 (1979).
Despite the differences between the defamation and tortious interference actions, defendant contends that, where the claimed interference with business relationships or expectancies has occurred through the making of allegedly defamatory statements, any damage is merely incident to the defamation and does not present a separate cause of action. In Harrison v Arrow Metal Products Corp, 20 Mich App 590, 608-609; 174 NW2d 875 (1969), lv den 383 Mich 816 (1970), one panel of this Court reached the position advocated by defendant. However, in Campos, supra, where defendant argued that plaintiffs action for intentional infliction of emotional distress was merely a subterfuge to avoid the limitations period controlling a slander action, another panel of this Court held that the two torts protected distinct interests. The Campos Court held:
"Harrison v Arrow Metal Products Corp, 20 Mich App 590; 174 NW2d 875 (1969), lv den 383 Mich 816 (1970), does not compel a different result. In Harrison plaintiff argued that the false accusations of criminal activity deprived him of other employment and that this deprivation of employment was a separate tort. This Court held that it was not. This case may be distinguished on that basis. The courts of this state have recognized an intentional infliction of mental distress as a separate cause of action. Warren v June’s Mobile Home Village & Sales, Inc, [66 Mich App 386; 239 NW2d 380 (1976)]. There is no need to bootstrap this claim on a claim for slander.” 71 Mich App 23, 26-27.
Harrison holds that this state has not recognized tortious interference with economic relations as actionable in and of itself. We disagree. Meyering v Russell, 53 Mich App 695, 704-705; 220 NW2d 121 (1974), rev’d on other grounds 393 Mich 770 (1974), Dassance v Nienhuis, 57 Mich App 422, 432-433; 225 NW2d 789 (1975), National Pharmaceutical Services, Inc v Harrison Community Hospital, 67 Mich App 286, 294; 241 NW2d 76 (1976), lv den 397 Mich 824 (1976). Thus, the rationale of Campos is applicable to this case. In our opinion, actions alleging tortious interference with economic relations are subject to the three-year statute of limitations of MCL 600.5805(8); MSA 27A.5805(8), even though the unlawful interference was caused by defamatory statements.
Defendant also contends that plaintiffs amended complaint fails to set forth anything other than a defamation action. Although we have concluded that an action for tortious interference with business relations can represent a separate basis for recovery where defamatory statements represent the cause of the damage, plaintiff must still make sufficient allegations to support his theory of liability. Defendant notes that plaintiffs amended complaint alleges dissemination of the allegedly defamatory statements to the community at large, and not to individuals who could have some influence on the type of economic relationships plaintiff enjoys in the racing community. We do not view plaintiffs use of the term "community at large” to be fatal to his complaint. The "community” alleged could be shown to be a very small community, namely, the harness racing "community at large”. Considering the facts most favorable to plaintiff, there are only a small number of places where plaintiff could ply his trade. These tracks could reasonably, if not certainly, be expected to be aware of defendant’s accusations. Defendant could reasonably have expected other tracks to bar plaintiff from entering his horses in their races, and thus, ruin plaintiff’s business. In fact, by paragraph 14 of his amended complaint, plaintiff avers that this is precisely what happened:
"As a direct and proximate result of Defendant’s intentional interference with Plaintiffs existing and prospective advantageous economic relationships, Plaintiff suffered injury to his business and his advantageous economic relationships, to his damage in the amount of Five Hundred Thousand ($500,000.00) Dollars as follows:
"a. Plaintiff was no longer admitted at the various tracks throughout the State of Michigan as an owner of horses and was, therefore, forced to sell his horses at a loss.
"b. Plaintiff was no longer admitted at the various tracks throughout the State of Michigan as a trainer of horses and, therefore, lost the customers whose horses he trained.
"c. Plaintiff was forced completely out of the harness racing business.
"d. Plaintiff experienced a loss of profits that he reasonably expected as an owner and trainer of race horses.”
As defendant argues, the allegations contained in plaintiffs amended complaint could have been averred in a complaint labeled as one seeking to rectify injuries inflicted through defamation. In our opinion, however, this does not preclude recovery on the theory actually pled.
Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
MCL 431.50; MSA 18.966(20) provides:
"Any person influencing or attempting to influence in any manner, by offer of money, thing of value, future benefit, favor, preferment or by any form of pressure or threat, or seeking or having an agreement or understanding, or conniving with any owner, jockey, driver, trainer, groom, valet, agent or other person associated with or interested in any stable of horses, horse, or race in which the horse participates, to predetermine the result of any such race, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished for each offense by a fine of not less than $250.00 nor more than $10,000.00, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.”
The Supreme Court order in Meyering provides in relevant part:
"An application for leave to appeal having been filed, we hereby grant leave to appeal December 23, 1974 and summarily reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals for the reasons set forth in the opinion in this case of Judge O’Hara of the Court of Appeals 'dissenting in part and concurring in part’ and remand to the circuit court for further proceedings as provided in such opinion.”
Judge O’Hara’s opinion in Meyering accepted that tortious interference with business relations was actionable. His disagreement with the Court’s majority was whether the evidence adduced supported a conclusion that tortious interference had occurred. We can only assume, then, that the Supreme Court also recognizes tortious interference as a cause of action or else it would not have premised its reversal on Judge O’Hara’s Meyering opinion.
Decisions from other jurisdictions split on the issue of whether tortious interference with economic relations accomplished through defamatory statements is actionable in its own right or is merely subsumed within the general category of defamation. The weight of authority, however, seems to be on the side of treating tortious interference as a separate concept and action. Inter alia: Clark v Figge, 181 NW2d 211 (Iowa, 1970), Boose v Hanlin, 346 P2d 932 (Okla, 1959), Colucci v Chicago Crime Comm, 31 Ill App 3d 802; 334 NE2d 461 (1975), Johnson v Graye, 251 NC 448; 111 SE2d 595 (1959), Loughrey v Landon, 381 F Supp 884 (ED Pa, 1974) (applying Pennsylvania law), Phillips Chemical Co v Hulbert, 301 F2d 747 (CA 5, 1962) (applying Texas law). Contra: Wild v Rarig, 302 Minn 419; 234 NW2d 775 (1975), app dismissed for want of jurisdiction and cert den 424 US 902; 96 S Ct 1093; 47 L Ed 2d 307 (1976), rehearing den 425 US 945; 96 S Ct 1689; 48 L Ed 2d 190 (1976), Noel v Interboro Mutual Indemnity Ins Co, 31 App Div 2d 54; 295 NYS2d 399 (1968), aff'd 29 NY2d 743; 326 NYS2d 396 (1971). See generally on the relationship between the torts of defamation and unlawful interference with economic relations, Anno: What statute of limitations governs action for interference with contract or other economic relations, 58 ALR3d 1027. | [
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D. C. Riley, P.J.
Plaintiff commenced suit in Wayne County Circuit Court alleging fraud, malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. These claims arose following a dispute over an insurance policy issued by defendant and covering the life of plaintiff’s mother. A lengthy jury trial culminated in a verdict of no cause of action. Plaintiff’s motion for a new trial was denied on April 27, 1979, and he appeals as of right.
On September 25, 1972, plaintiff’s mother, Mildred Drouillard, applied for an endowment insurance policy with defendant. The policy, having a face value of $1,000, was issued on November 1, 1972, and named plaintiff as its beneficiary. At the time at which she applied for the policy, Mrs. Drouillard signed an authorization form permitting "any physician, hospital, clinic or insurance company” to furnish defendant with medical information. Mrs. Drouillard subsequently died on April 28, 1973.
Plaintiff was appointed executor of Mrs. Drouil-lard’s estate and surrendered the policy in question to defendant for payment. Defendant denied liability on the policy on June 26, 1973, claiming that Mrs. Drouillard failed to admit in her application past treatment for serious health problems. A representative of defendant insurance company indicated that the application would not otherwise have been approved but for the "misrepresentation”.
In October, 1973, plaintiff commenced suit on the policy in district court. Defendant filed an answer and affirmative defense, alleging that the policy was void because of Mrs. Drouillard’s misrepresentation. Following a bench trial, the district court judge awarded plaintiff the value of the insurance policy, plus interest and costs. The judge considered defendant to have been negligent in failing to have investigated initially the state of Mrs. Drouillard’s health.
Plaintiff commenced the instant suit shortly thereafter. At trial plaintiff contended that (1) defendant’s agent, Stephen Manley, fraudulently obtained plaintiffs authorization to inspect decedent’s health records, (2) the fraud and defendant’s claim that decedent misrepresented her health constituted an intentional infliction of emotional distress upon plaintiff, and (3) defendant maliciously prosecuted plaintiff by asserting an affirmative defense in the district court action. Plaintiff has raised a plethora of alleged legal errors on appeal which we shall consider in turn.
I
Plaintiff first contends that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury that defendant waived the right to contest the policy by issuing the policy without requesting a physical examination of Mrs. Drouillard and without otherwise investigating the state of her health. Plaintiff’s theory was that defendant could have uncovered any misrepresentations by the insured with an earlier investigation and that defendant thereby elected not to hold the insured to those representations by not immediately investigating.
Pursuant to statute, a false statement in an application for insurance may bar the right to recovery if it materially affected either the acceptance of the risk or the hazard assumed by the insurer. As plaintiff points out, the doctrine of estoppel or waiver may be asserted by the insured in certain instances to estop an insurer from denying liability on a policy. For example, fraud is waived when the truth is communicated to the insurer before the policy is actually issued. New England Mutual Life Ins Co v LeVey, 264 Mich 282; 249 NW 854 (1933). In the context of misrepresentation of an insurance contract, waiver occurs when the insurer, with knowledge of pertinent facts, acts or fails to act so as to induce the insured to believe himself entitled to rights under the policy. See 14 Callaghan’s Michigan Civil Jurisprudence, Insurance, §§ 348-349, pp 388-390.
Plaintiff would have us greatly expand the waiver doctrine by removing the element of knowledge. According to plaintiff, waiver occurs whenever an insurer has the opportunity to investigate an insured’s health but does not. Following this reasoning, whether defendant was aware of Mrs. Drouillard’s health problems or put on notice that they existed would be irrelevant.
We reject plaintiff’s contention. Unless put on notice or apprised of special facts, an insurer is under no duty to investigate an applicant’s health.
"As a general rule, an insurer is entitled to rely upon representations as to the applicant’s health and prior medical attention and treatment and is not under any duty to question his veracity.” 7 Couch on Insurance, 2d, § 37.250, p 583.
In addition, the Michigan incontestability statute recognizes that an insurer has the right, within the statutorily prescribed time, to assert any available defense against the insured. The fact that an insurer may raise the issue of misrepresentation as to health within two years from the date on which the policy is issued conclusively refutes plaintiffs contention.
II
Following the insured’s death, defendant obtained plaintiffs authorization to inspect the insured’s medical records. Plaintiff contends that the signing of the authorization form induced him to believe that the policy would be considered valid. He argues that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury that defendant was estopped from denying the validity of the policy after its agent, Stephen Manley, obtained plaintiffs signature on the authorization form.
We reject this argument. We fail to see how the tendering of an authorization form for execution could constitute a representation that an insurance policy is valid. To the contrary, the very nature of such a form implies that an investigation may be undertaken and that payment under the policy may hinge on the outcome of that investigation. In addition, by statute in Michigan:
”a life or disability insurance company does not incur the penalty of waiver or estoppel of defenses against a claim under a policy by receipt or acceptance of notice under the terms of the policy, or by the investigation of the claim. ” 14 Mich Law & Practice, Insurance, § 393, p 271.
Ill
Plaintiff’s next contention is that the trial court erred in ruling that a life insurance beneficiary may waive the doctor-patient privilege of a deceased insured. In Michigan, the doctor-patient privilege exists pursuant to statute.
Although the privilege continues in effect after the patient’s death and although an insurance policy which purports to create an anticipatory waiver of the privilege to become effective at the insured’s death is ineffective, Gilchrist v Mystic Workers of the World, 188 Mich 466; 154 NW 575 (1915), it is nevertheless true that the privilege may be waived by a personal representative of the deceased. New York Life Ins Co v Newman, 311 Mich 368; 18 NW2d 859 (1945). In the context of insurance disputes:
"[t]he view generally taken is that the privilege as to communications between a physician and the insured may be waived by the beneficiary in an action on the policy or certificate of insurance.” 19 Couch on Insurance, 2d, § 79:63, p 440.
This is also the rule adhered to in Michigan. Johnson v Fidelity & Casualty Co of New York, 184 Mich 406, 411-412; 151 NW 593 (1915).
Plaintiff attempts to distinguish Johnson on the basis that there the waiver occurred during trial while in the instant case the waiver occurred prior to trial. We have found no case law to support the notion that judicial supervision is necessary to effectuate a waiver. To the contrary, most of the reported cases have dealt with waiver prior to trial, and the practice has been approved. See Newman, supra. See also cases collected at Couch, supra, § 79:63, fn 2, pp 440-441. We elect to adhere to this well-accepted rule. Waiver in such cases effectuates concepts of judicial economy since the practical result will often be settlements in lieu of trials. In addition, adopting plaintiff’s position would further only marginally, if at all, the purpose of the privilege, which is to encourage free discussion between doctors and their patients, while at the same time it would tend to encourage the perpetration of frauds upon insurance carriers. We, therefore, affirm the lower court’s ruling that plaintiff’s pretrial waiver is valid.
IV
In the district court suit, the defendant answered and defended the action by asserting the affirmative defense that the insured had not presented all relevant medical information in her application for insurance. During trial in the instant suit, plaintiff contended that defendant "maliciously prosecuted” him by its assertion of the affirmative defense. The lower court ruled that such a cause of action could not be predicated on the defendant’s prior assertion of an affirmative defense. Plaintiff attacks this ruling as being erroneous.
In Michigan, malicious prosecution is both a common-law and statutory action. The language of the statute requires that the tortfeasor must have "in any way proceeded against [the tort victim], by any process or civil or criminal action * * The phrase "proceeded against” would seem to require that the tortfeasor actually initiate an action. By asserting its affirmative defense in the district court, defendant neither instituted nor continued a proceeding against plaintiff. See Wilson v Yono, 65 Mich App 441; 237 NW2d 494 (1975). Although we have found cases from other jurisdictions permitting actions based on malicious counterclaims or cross-claims, we have found none based on the assertion of affirmative defenses. Plaintiffs contention that defendant’s affirmative defense can be reframed as a counterclaim is without merit. The pleadings did not seek affirmative relief from plaintiff but attempted to state facts which would deprive plaintiff recovery on his complaint. We affirm the trial court’s ruling.
V
Plaintiff next assigns as error the trial court’s decision to permit defendant to introduce proof that it had probable cause in asserting the affirmative defense and in submitting the probable cause issue to the jury. Plaintiff further contends that defendant’s failure to raise the defense of probable cause in its pleadings should have precluded defendant from offering testimony on the issue at trial.
Lack of probable cause is an element of malicious prosecution which must be pled by the plaintiff. Roblyer v Hoyt, 343 Mich 431; 72 NW2d 126 (1955). Thus, the burden of proof is on plaintiff to show that probable cause did not exist. See Ringo v Richardson, 88 Mich App 684; 278 NW2d 717 (1979). Plaintiff’s claim that defendant had to plead probable cause to notify plaintiff that it was in issue is, therefore, without merit.
Plaintiff specifically complains of the instruction that probable cause could be shown by defendant’s consultation with and reliance upon counsel. However, this Court reiterated in Leeseberg v Builders Plumbing Supply Co, 6 Mich App 321, 328-329; 149 NW2d 263 (1967), that proof that a malicious prosecution defendant placed all the facts before his counsel and acted upon his opinion establishes probable cause.
We further reject plaintiff’s contention that the evidence offered during trial conclusively established that defendant made inadequate consultation with counsel. There was a good deal of testimony elicited during trial concerning this point, and since the burden was on plaintiff to show lack of probable cause it was entirely appropriate to allow the jury to consider the issue. Ringo, supra.
VI
Plaintiff objects to the trial court’s instruction that an insurance company is not a fiduciary to an insured or to a beneficiary. The court instructed the jury as follows:
"I instruct you as a matter of law that the relationship between an insurance company and a beneficiary, or between an insurance company and the insured, is what the law calls an arm’s length relationship.”
Couch has described the relationship between . the insurer and insured as follows:
"As a general rule, the relation between the parties to a contract of insurance is that of debtor and creditor; that is, of one contracting party to another contracting party, rather than of trustee and cestui que trust * * *.” 3 Couch on Insurance, 2d, § 23:11, p 11.
"However, insurance policies are contracts of the utmost good faith and must be administered and performed as such by the insurer.” Id., 1980 Supp, p 7.
Plaintiff does not cite, nor have we found, any Michigan cases that impose a fiduciary duty upon an insurer. A recent federal case, Bolden v John Hancock Mutual Life Ins Co, 422 F Supp 28, 31-32 (ED Mich, 1976), applying Michigan law, held that a fiduciary relationship does not exist:
" 'There is, however, even after loss, a relationship of trust and confidence between insurer and insured, as distinguished from the existence of a formal trust, which the court will recognize as sufficient to permit fraud to be predicated upon a misrepresentation * * * 9 V
In the instant case, the court did instruct on the tort of fraud based on defendant’s alleged misrepresentations to plaintiff. We conclude that the court’s instruction that the parties stood at arm’s length was correct. There is ample authority for the court’s instruction that a fiduciary relationship did not exist and that the parties were related merely as two parties to a contract. See also 2 Appleman, Insurance Law & Practice, § 921, p 512.
VII
Plaintiff initially objected to defendant’s suggested instruction on intentional infliction of emotional distress. However, a compromise was reached, and plaintiff’s counsel ultimately stated that he had no objection to the instruction. A party may not claim instructional error unless he makes a timely and specific objection. GCR 1963, 516.2. Appellate review is precluded absent manifest injustice. Howell v Outer Drive Hospital, 66 Mich App 142; 238 NW2d 553 (1975). Our review of the record, instructions, and briefs reveals no manifest injustice.
VIII
Next, plaintiff assigns as error the trial judge’s ruling to exclude evidence proffered by plaintiff concerning the amount of money made annually by defendant through allegedly improper claims procedures. Plaintiff sought to introduce these figures to show that defendant had a motivation to defraud. The evidence was ruled inadmissible on relevancy grounds.
Relevancy is determined by the trial court, whose exercise of discretion is to be affirmed unless an abuse is manifest. Birou v Thompson-Brown Co, 67 Mich App 502; 241 NW2d 265 (1976). Relevant evidence is evidence tending to make the existence of any fact which is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. MRE 401. Relevant evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of issues, or misleading the jury. MRE 403.
On the record before us, we cannot say that the court abused its discretion. The evidence was not material to plaintiff’s policy claim, which was valued at only $1,000. Only that amount was at stake in defendant’s denial for there was no evidence of a connection between plaintiffs claim and any others. Introduction of the figures would have implied, to defendant’s prejudice, that defendant acted improperly in all of its other claim denials. The evidence was correctly excluded.
IX
Plaintiff asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new trial over his objection that the verdict was against the great weight of the evidence.
A new trial may be granted where the verdict rendered is against the great weight of the evidence, GCR 1963, 527.1(5). The grant or denial of such a motion is within the sound discretion of the trial court. Isom v Farrugia, 63 Mich App 351, 355; 234 NW2d 520 (1975). The test on appellate review is whether the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Id. Deference is afforded the trial judge who, having heard the witnesses, is uniquely qualified to judge their credibility and mental capacity. Termaat v Bohn Aluminum & Brass Co, 362 Mich 598, 602; 107 NW2d 783 (1961).
It does not appear that the verdict was against the clear weight of the evidence. Plaintiff’s most viable claim was his assertion that defendant intentionally inflicted emotional distress by misrepresentation, that is, by "duping” plaintiff into signing the authorization form. A review of the record, however, does not leave one with the impression that the great weight of the evidence reveals any misrepresentation. Both defendant’s agent, Manley, and plaintiff testified that plaintiff was given the option of not signing the form, although Manley had indicated previously that the form was required. Plaintiff acknowledged that he read the form, understood its purpose, and was aware that his mother’s medical records could not be examined without the form. Plaintiff had indicated previously that he was employed at the middle management level at Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Michigan. In conclusion, plaintiffs claim was not supported by the clear weight of the evidence.
X
Finally, plaintiff assigns error to certain jury instructions which described the district court proceedings and which instructed on probable cause, asserting that they allowed the jury to infer that Mrs. Drouillard indeed had made misrepresentations on her insurance application. Our reading of the instruction reveals no error. It does not indicate that the jury was called upon to make a judgment one way or the other with regard to Mrs. Drouillard’s application representations.
Affirmed.
Costs to defendant-appellee.
MCL 500.2218; MSA 24.12218.
MCL 500.4432; MSA 24.14432 mandates that all life insurance policies must provide that they shall be incontestable after two years from the date of issue:
"There shall be a provision that the policy shall be incontestable after 2 years from its date of issue, except for nonpayment of premiums and except for violation of the conditions of the policy relating to military or naval service in time of war.”
MCL 500.2260; MSA 24.12260 provides as follows:
"The acknowledgement by any insurer of the receipt of notice given under any life or disability insurance policy or the furnishing of forms for filing proofs of loss, or the acceptance of such proofs, or the investigation of any claim thereunder shall not operate as a waiver of any of the rights of the insurer in defense of any claim arising under such policy.”
MCL 600.2157; MSA 27A.2157 provides as follows:
"No person duly authorized to practice medicine or surgery shall be allowed to disclose any information which he may have acquired in attending any patient in his professional character, and which information was necessary to enable him to prescribe for such patient as a physician, or to do any act for him as a surgeon: Provided, however, That in case such patient shall bring an action against any defendant to recover for any personal injuries, or for any malpractice, if such plaintiff shall produce any physician as a witness in his own behalf, who has treated him for such injury, or for any disease or condition, with reference to which such malpractice is alleged, he shall be deemed to have waived the privilege hereinbefore provided for, as to any or all other physicians, who may have treated him for such injuries, disease or condition: Provided further, That after the decease of such patient, in a contest upon the question of admitting the will of such patient to probate, the heirs at law of such patient, whether proponents or contestants of his will, shall be deemed to be personal representatives of such deceased patient for the purpose of waiving the privilege hereinbefore created.”
MCL 600.2907; MSA 27A.2907 describes both the tort and misdemeanor of malicious prosecution:
"Every person who shall, for vexation and trouble or maliciously, cause or procure any other to be arrested, attached, or in any way proceeded against, by any process or civil or criminal action, or in any other manner prescribed by law, to answer to the suit or prosecution of any person, without the consent of such person, or where there is no such person known, shall be liable to the person so arrested, attached or proceeded against, in treble the amount of the damages and expenses which, by any verdict, shall be found to have been sustained and incurred by him; and shall be liable to the person in whose name such arrest or proceeding was had in the sum of $200.00 damages, and shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable on conviction by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 6 months.”
"Aside from cases involving counterclaims, the success of mali cious prosecution actions, or their equivalents, against persons who in one way or another were defendants in the earlier litigation appear to have depended on how 'defensive,’ as distinguished from offensive, the court viewed the defendant’s wrongful maneuvers as being, or on whether it considered them to be 'defensive’ at all for present purposes. Thus, in situations in which the wrong complained of was the defendant’s merely 'defending,’ in general, a suit brought against him by the plaintiff, or his interposing 'affirmative defenses,’ recovery for malicious prosecution has been denied.
"Cases in which the defendant’s alleged wrongful actions consisted of the wrongful filing of a counterclaim or similar action are very few, but they may be seen as standing on a different footing from the situations discussed up to this point. By definition, a counterclaim by a defendant seeks some sort of affirmative relief back against the plaintiff, whereas most other tactics used by a defendant do not, and on this basis it has been held that the filing of a counterclaim maliciously and without probable cause may be the basis for an action for malicious prosecution.” Anno: May action for malicious prosecution be predicated on defense or counterclaim in civil suit, 65 ALR3d 901, 907.
Before trial, plaintiff discovered through interrogatories that defendant estimated the dollar amount of its unpaid claims for the years 1971, 1972, and 1973 to be $2,207,356, $2,758,318 and $2,574,723, respectively. | [
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Per Curiam:.
On August 22, 1979, defendant was convicted by a jury of armed robbery, MCL 750.529; MSA 28.797, felonious assault, MCL 750.82; MSA 28.277, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). Defendant was sentenced to the mandatory two-year term on the felony-firearm conviction to be served prior to concurrent sentences of from 8 to 20 years on the armed robbery conviction and from 2 to 4 years on the felonious assault conviction. He appeals as of right.
The first issue is whether, on the facts of this case, defendant’s convictions of both armed robbery and felonious assault are in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause. Complainant testified that at around dusk on November 29, 1978, defendant approached her as she was getting into her car in a parking lot in Grand Rapids. According to complainant, defendant stopped two to three feet from her, said, "This is a stick up”, and reached his open right hand to his nose. Thinking he was kidding, complainant said that she stared at defendant momentarily. Complainant stated that defendant then said, "Give me your purse”. When she still hesitated in disbelief and because her hands were full of books, complainant stated that defendant suddenly pulled his left hand from his pocket, said, "I’ve got a gun”, and pointed a small metal object at her. Complainant said that she thought that it was a very small gun. Then complainant testified:
"Things went very quickly at that point. The next thing I remember, there was a blow to my head, my forehead. Then immediately there was another one to my cheek, eye, right here. Almost simultaneously with the blows I felt a tugging on my arm, and I felt myself bending over, and a tugging on my arm. And the seconds were going fast here, and then all of a sudden I felt myself being shoved, and I fell back against the brick wall of the building.”
The prosecution contends that defendant committed two distinct assaults upon complainant, first by pointing a gun at her and secondly by using the gun to beat her about the head while stealing her purse. Under this theory, the first assault constituted the basis for defendant’s felonious assault conviction, and the second assault supplied the assault element of his armed robbery conviction. The prosecution argues that, as the assaults did not occur simultaneously, defendant’s double jeopardy argument must fail under People v Richard Johnson, 94 Mich App 388; 228 NW2d 436 (1979).
In Johnson, The Court held that, on the facts of that case, defendant’s right against multiple prosecution and punishment for one offense was not violated by his convictions of armed robbery and felonious assault. Citing People v Jones, 75 Mich App 261, 270-271; 254 NW2d 863 (1977), the Court recognized the following rule:
"Even if offenses share common elements or one constitutes a lesser offense of the other, there is no violation based on double prosecution if one crime is complete before the other takes place.” Johnson, supra, 391.
In Johnson, defendant first committed an armed robbery with a butcher knife. A few minutes later, defendant committed a felonious assault by striking the same complainant on the shoulder.
The crucial distinction herein is that from the time defendant pointed the gun at complainant saying "This is a stick up”, through his actions in beating her and shoving her against the wall, he was attempting to take her purse from her. Thus, neither of the two alleged assaults was complete before the robbery began. Nor was the robbery complete prior to the pointing of the gun or the beating. We conclude that complainant was the victim of a continuing assault during an armed robbery.
The elements of armed robbery under MCL 750.529; MSA 28.797 include an assault while being armed with a dangerous weapon. Thus, in an armed robbery, a felonious assault utilized to accomplish the larceny factually is included within the greater charge. See People v Jankowski, 408 Mich 79; 289 NW2d 674 (1980). People v Hale (On Remand), 103 Mich App 273; 303 NW2d 17 (1981). The notion that the Legislature did not intend to punish such an assault as a separate offense where injury is inflicted but to provide for a greater penalty for armed robbery is supported by the following language from the armed robbery statute:
"If an aggravated assault or serious injury is inflicted by any person while committing an armed robbery as defined in this section, the sentence shall be not less than 2 years’ imprisonment in the state prison.”
This Court has held that assault is an included offense of armed robbery, People v Johnson, 90 Mich App 415, 421; 282 NW2d 340 (1979), People v Thomas Jones, 48 Mich App 470, 474-475; 210 NW2d 497 (1973), People v Henderson, 22 Mich App 128; 177 NW2d 254 (1970), People v Norman, 14 Mich App 673; 166 NW2d 9 (1968). In summary, an assault should be punished as an offense separate from armed robbery only where it can clearly be established that the offenses occurred at separate times. On the facts herein, defendant’s right against double jeopardy was violated by his convictions of both crimes. Therefore, his felonious assault conviction must be vacated.
Next, defendant contends that the following instruction on the elements of felony-firearm was deficient:
"If you find that a handgun was used in the commission of a felony beyond a reasonable doubt, you may find defendant guilty of that charge.”
Both the prosecutor and defense counsel agreed on the record that the instruction was adequate to inform the jury of the elements of the offense under MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2) which provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
"(1) A person who carries or has in his possession a firearm at the time he commits or attempts to commit a felony, except the violation of section 227 or section 227a, is guilty of a felony, and shall be imprisoned for 2 years. Upon a second conviction under this section, the person shall be imprisoned for 5 years. Upon a third or subsequent conviction under this section, the person shall be imprisoned for 10 years.” (Footnote omitted.)
At the time of trial, CJI 11:9:01 had not yet been adopted. That instruction reads as follows:
"(1) If you find that the defendant committed or attempted to commit the crime of [state felony or felonies charged in earlier count or counts], then you must further consider whether or not he was carrying a firearm or had one in his possession at that time.
"(2) This is a second count or crime charged against the defendant.
"(3) The defendant pleads not guilty to this charge. To establish this charge the prosecution must prove each of the following beyond a reasonable doubt:
"(4) First, that the defendant committed or attempted to commit the crime of [state felony or felonies charged in earlier count or counts], as has been explained to you.
"(5) Second, that at the time he committed or attempted to commit that crime [either of those crimes] he was knowingly carrying a firearm or knowingly had a firearm in his possession.
"(6) It does not matter whether the firearm was loaded or unloaded. [Optional — to be .given where clarifying instruction is warranted.]
"(7) [A firearm includes any weapon from which a dangerous object may be shot or propelled by the use of explosives, gas or air.]
"(8) [Alternate] [A pistol is a firearm.]
"(9) [A firearm does not include smooth bore rifles or handguns designed and manufactured exclusively for shooting BBs not exceeding .177 calibre by means of spring, gas or air.]”
Absent a request or objection, error in the in structions of the trial court will not result in reversal unless the charge omits an essential element of the offense. People v Elmore, 94 Mich App 304, 307; 288 NW2d 416 (1979), People v Ashford, 91 Mich App 693, 697; 283 NW2d 830 (1979).
The instruction given informed the jurors that if they found beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) defendant committed a felony and (2) he used a handgun during the commission of that felony they could convict him of the additional offense of felony-firearm.
Failure to identify the felony-firearm count with a specific felony or to tell the jury that they could not find defendant guilty of felony-firearm unless they found that he had committed another felony does not constitute error requiring reversal since the jury convicted defendant of both underlying felonies charged. People v Hunt, 94 Mich App 1; 287 NW2d 10 (1979). Our ultimate determination that conviction of both underlying felonies violated defendant’s right against double jeopardy does not not change this result. As discussed supra, we concluded that defendant committed the assault simultaneously with the armed robbery and that the lesser offense merged into the greater. In light of that conclusion, it would be anomalous to hold that defendant possessed the gun during the assault but not during the robbery. We disagree with defendant’s premise that the Michigan Supreme Court’s opinion in People v Vaughn, 409 Mich 463; 295 NW2d 354 (1980), implicitly overrules Hunt. Vaughn merely recognizes that a conviction of felonious assault and acquittal of felony-firearm do not necessarily add up to inconsistent verdicts. In the case at bar, the instruction was phrased permissively, id est, it informed the jurors that they "may convict” defendant of the additional offense if they found the requisite elements. Therefore, the jury was not coerced to convict on the felony-firearm charge by virtue of either of the underlying charges.
The trial court’s instructions on felonious assault adequately defined a firearm as "[a] gun, revolver or pistol * * *”. Defendant does not suggest that he pointed a BB gun at complainant. It is true that the court’s instructions did not state that defendant must have "knowingly possessed” a firearm during commission of a felony. However, in instructing that defendant must have used a firearm during a felony, the court required a higher standard to convict defendant than does the statute. "Use” of a firearm implies knowing possession. Any error was harmless. In summary, the court’s instructions considered as a whole contained all the requisite elements of the offense.
Affirmed as to the armed robbery and felony-firearm convictions. The felonious assault conviction is vacated. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff, Colleen V. Bluemlein, d/ b/a Melcraft Marine, brought a civil action against the defendants, d/b/a Szepanski Lumber and Szepanski Enterprises, charging negligence, breach of implied warranty, and breach of contract. She sought to recover damages caused by the collapse of the roof on a building built by defendants. The trial court dismissed the implied warranty and contract claims prior to any proofs being offered, and a subsequent jury trial resulted in a verdict of $40,000 in favor of the plaintiff. Defendants appeal as of right.
In October, 1967, defendants contracted to construct a steel pole barn for the sum of $10,800 on property being purchased by plaintiff and her then-living husband in the city of Saginaw. The building was to be a shell with a roof. Electricity and permanent flooring were not included in the contract.
The roof was supported by wooden trusses which were constructed by the defendants’ work crew. An accident occurred during the construction period in which two or three of the twenty-one trusses built by the defendants fell from their temporarily-installed position and broke. The broken trusses were repaired and put back up instead of being replaced with new trusses.
The work was completed on the building in December, 1967. The building was used in plaintiffs business for storage of new and used boats for sale and for storage of customers’ boats. Either late in the evening of January 29, 1976, or in the early morning hours of January 30, 1976, the pole barn collapsed. Building inspectors for the city of Saginaw were notified of the collapse, and they inspected the site on January 30, 1976.
An engineering firm was contacted by plaintiff, and their representatives visited the scene two days after the collapse. The collapsed building was examined by the engineers, snow accumulation was measured, photos were taken, and the truss system was examined. Plaintiff hired a construction company to remove the roof of the collapsed building and preserved the broken trusses for later examination.
Plaintiff filed suit on or about July 9, 1976, alleging negligence, breach of warranty, and breach of contract. Defendants answered, asserting several affirmative defenses.
Immediately preceding the selection of the jury, the attorney for the defendants orally argued for dismissal of portions of the plaintiffs complaint, claiming that plaintiff, Colleen V. Bluemlein, was not a proper party in interest. Defendants also argued that the statute of limitations on contracts had run. They did not argue that the statute of limitations had run on the claim of negligence. The trial court dismissed the portion of plaintiffs complaint pertaining to breach of contract and breach of warranty but denied the defendants’ motion as to improper party in interest.
Testimony from several experts appearing on behalf of plaintiff was received at trial. The experts testified that the snow depth on the roof at the time of the collapse was approximately eight inches. Based on computations, the actual live load on the roof at the time of the collapse was 13 pounds per square foot. The universal code and the city code required this type of roof to withstand a live weight capacity of 30 pounds per square foot. Photographic exhibits of the roof trusses, chord members, and gusset plates were admitted at trial. Several experts stated that they could find no evidence that anything was suspended from or piled on the trusses when they viewed the scene of the collapse. A city building inspector, a consulting engineer, and a professor at Michigan State University, called as plaintiffs expert witnesses, all testified that the collapse was caused by inadequate bonding of various parts of the trusses. Their opinion was that the defendants improperly glued and nailed the component parts of the trusses.
No expert witnesses were called by the defendants. One of the carpenters who built the pole barn for the defendants was called as a witness. He testified that he and another carpenter built the trusses for this particular building. He gave no specific explanation for the collapse other than the possibility of some unseen defect in the wood. He acknowledged that the pole barn should not have collapsed in the period of time that elapsed after its completion. On cross-examination, the carpenter acknowledged that, during construction of the barn, four or five trusses fell down and broke and were patched and put back up on the building instead of being replaced.
Defendants assert that the trial court improperly declined to instruct the jury on comparative and contributory negligence. The propriety of a court’s instructions on comparative and contributory negligence depends on whether the record reveals sufficient evidence to support such instructions. Jaworski v Great Scott Supermarkets, Inc, 403 Mich 689, 697-698; 272 NW2d 518 (1978). The court in the instant case found that from the facts in the case there was no evidence, even construed in the light most favorable to the defendant, which would establish negligence on the plaintiff’s part. Several witnesses testified that nothing was suspended from the roof of the building. Witnesses who examined the roof shortly after the collapse testified that nothing had ever been suspended from the roof. In the absence of any evidence to demonstrate negligence on the plaintiff’s part, the jury should not have been instructed on comparative and contributory negligence. The trial court acted properly in declining defendants’ request for jury instructions on this point.
We next consider the claimed defense of the statute of limitations, even though this argument was not raised at the pretrial conference because of defense counsel’s failure to attend the conference. We find that the trial court impliedly waived the pretrial conference because there was no subsequent pretrial held and the trial judge entertained arguments on this defense. Reinhardt v Bennett, 45 Mich App 18, 23; 205 NW2d 847 (1973), GCR 1963, 301.8.
This Court has held that MCL 600.5839(1); MSA 27A.5839(1), which limits action against licensed architects and professional engineers arising from a defective or unsafe condition of an improvement to real property to six years after the time of use, acceptance, or occupancy, does not extend to building contractors. Oole v Oosting, 82 Mich App 291, 296; 266 NW2d 795 (1978), aff'd 410 Mich 1 (1981). (In granting leave to appeal, the Supreme Court has limited its appeal to the constitutionality of the statute.) Therefore, the applicable statute of limitations for this action is MCL 600.5805(8); MSA 27A.5805(8), which states in pertinent part:
"(1) A person shall not bring or maintain an action to recover damages for injuries to persons or property unless, after the claim first accrued to the plaintiff or to someone through whom the plaintiff claims, the action is commenced within the periods of time prescribed by this section.
"(8) The period of limitations is 3 years after the time of the death or injury for all other actions to recover damages for the death of a person, or for injury to a person or property.” (1978 PA 495; eff 12/13/78)
A cause of action accrues in a case involving property damage at the time the plaintiff either discovers or reasonably should have discovered his cause of action. Southgate Community School Dist v West Side Construction Co, 399 Mich 72, 82; 247 NW2d 884 (1976), reh den 400 Mich 951 (1977). Southgate involved a products liability action while the instant action is based on negligence. However, the reasoning of Southgate applies in this case because both actions involve claims of damages to improved real property, allegedly resulting from defective workmanship. Because this suit was brought within three years of the collapse of the pole barn, plaintiff’s action was not barred by the statute of limitations.
Defendants argue that the trial judge erroneously instructed the jury that, in determining the amount of damages caused to the plaintiff, they should take into consideration the replacement costs of the building. Defendants contend that the measure of damages which should have been applied is the difference between the market values before and after the collapse, and that plaintiff, therefore, attempted to prove an erroneous measure of damages and that the trial court compounded the error by giving an improper instruction. Plaintiff counters this argument by asserting that defendants did not request any specific instruction as to the measure of damages and did not object to the instruction given and so have not preserved the issue for appeal.
This Court has held, in accordance with GCR 1963, 516.2, that where the record shows no requests for instructions, nor an objection to the instructions which are given, this Court may not consider any error alleged as to instructions. Obeginski v James, 4 Mich App 90, 93; 143 NW2d 579 (1966). However, this Court may review an error regarding instructions in the absence of an objection to the court’s instructions to the jury upon a showing of manifest injustice. Earle v Colonial Theatre Co, 82 Mich App 54, 57; 266 NW2d 466 (1978), lv den 403 Mich 816 (1978). We find that manifest injustice would result if this Court did not review this claim of error. The instruction of the trial court incorrectly stated the law, and the jury’s verdict may have been based upon a misconception of the law. We will review this issue despite the failure of defendants to object to the instructions at trial.
In Baranowski v Strating, 72 Mich App 548, 562; 250 NW2d 744 (1976), lv den 399 Mich 881 (1977), the defendants built plaintiffs a house which later shifted due to settling of the ground and was damaged. Plaintiffs charged the defendants with negligence. In determining the proper measure of damages, this Court held:
"[I]t is generally recognized that damages for injury to real property are measured by one of two standards —diminution in value or reasonable cost of restoration or repair. Dobbs, Remedies, § 5.1, pp 312-318. The rule followed in Michigan employs a combination of these two measures and is best stated in Bayley Products, Inc v American Plastic Products Co, 30 Mich App 590; 186 NW2d 813 (1971): the measure of damages to real property in a negligence suit where the damage cannot be repaired is the difference between the market value of the property before and after the injury; where the damage can be repaired and the cost of repair is less than the value of the property prior to the injury, cost of repair is the proper measure.” (Footnote omitted.)
The instruction given by the trial judge in the present case was inconsistent with the standard set forth in Baranowski. This instruction would have allowed the plaintiff to recover an amount equal to what she would have received if the pole barn had been new when it was destroyed. The destroyed barn was eight years old and may not have been as valuable as a new one would have been. Plaintiff’s attorney requested damages of $37,800.26. In doing so, he used the improper computation of damages for the loss of the building, and the trial court erroneously instructed the jury that plaintiff’s method of calculating damages was correct when it was not. The jury returned a verdict for $40,000 based on the requested damages which utilized the improper computation. The trial court’s improper instruction as to the computation of damages was not harmless error. Therefore, we reverse the verdict as to damages only and remand the action for a new trial which shall be restricted to the issue of damages. The standard of Baranowski, supra, shall be used to determine the correct measure of damages.
As to the defendants’ final claim of error, the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury on plaintiff’s mitigation of damages, we find that the defen dants’ counsel neither requested an instruction on mitigation of damages nor objected to the court’s failure to give such an instruction. Therefore, this issue has not been preserved for appeal and there is no showing of manifest injustice which would result if this Court would not review this issue.
Reversed and remanded on the issue of damages only. No costs, neither party having fully prevailed. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendants appeal an order of the chief judge of Macomb County Circuit Court which rejected a change of venue from Wayne County Circuit Court and ordered venue returned to Wayne County.
Plaintiff, individually and as next friend of David Boulet, commenced this action on July 19, 1979, in Wayne County Circuit Court. David Boulet was rendered a quadriplegic after sustaining serious injuries during a high school football game in which he was participating as a player for Warren Woods High School. Defendant Lawrence Kaye is the high school football coach. Defendant Brunswick Corporation is the manufacturer of the football helmet worn by David Boulet at the time of the accident. Plaintiff alleges that Kaye failed to adequately instruct, supervise, and train David Boulet to participate in the high school football program and that such failure proximately caused David Boulet’s injuries. Plaintiff also contends that the football helmet manufactured by Brunswick was defective and that said defects contributed to David Boulet’s disabling injuries.
Both defendants filed motions to change venue to Macomb County Circuit Court pursuant to GCR 1963, 403.
At the hearing on the motion, it was conceded by all parties that venue was properly laid in either Wayne or Macomb Counties. The record reveals that the accident occurred in Macomb County. Furthermore, most of the intended witnesses, including plaintiff and David Boulet, reside in Macomb County. Venue was originally properly placed in Wayne County because the resident agent for Brunswick was located in Detroit, MCL 600.1627; MSA 27A.1627.
The court ruled that trial in Macomb County would be more convenient than in Wayne. An order was issued transferring venue. Plaintiff did not appeal the order to this Court. Rather, they filed a motion in Macomb County Circuit Court seeking return of venue to Wayne County.
The chief judge of the Macomb County Circuit Court ruled that he had a duty to supervise case flow management under GCR 1963, 925. He opined that it was his obligation to insure that cases were not placed upon the circuit court’s docket in a manner contrary to law. It was held that the change of venue was void ab initio because the Wayne County judge did not comply with the requirements established in the Manual for Court Administration-Michigan, §2000, ch 3, ¶ I-C, pp 2081-2082 (October 1, 1978), which in pertinent part provides:
"A judge should not order a change of venue without consulting the chief judge or court administrator of the court to which venue is being changed concerning scheduling of the case and other important matters. Unless grounds for disqualification exist, a judge changing venue in a case is expected to accompany the case and conduct the trial.”
The chief judge returned venue to Wayne County with instructions to consult with him or the court administrator before transferring, venue in the future.
Defendants appeal, alleging that the chief judge of the Macomb County Circuit Court exceeded his authority by refusing to accept the transfer of venue. We agree and order that the matter be returned to the Macomb County Circuit Court.
Since venue is proper in either county, GCR 1963, 403 is controlling. It states:
"The venue of any civil action properly laid, or of an appeal from any order, decision, or opinion of any state board, commission, or agency, authorized under the laws of this state to promulgate rules and regulations, may be changed to any other county by order of the court upon timely motion by one of the parties, for convenience of parties and witnesses, or, in the case of appellate review of the administrative proceedings aforementioned, for convenience of counsel, or when an impartial trial cannot be held in the county wherein the action is pending.”
Accordingly, inconvenience to the parties and witnesses is a proper basis for change of venue under the court rule. Change of venue orders are properly appealed to this Court for review. Rogoski v Streeter, 364 Mich 115; 110 NW2d 617 (1961), Hunter v Doe, 61 Mich App 465, 467; 233 NW2d 39 (1975).
We find no authority that empowers the transferee court to refuse change of venue properly laid pursuant to GCR 1963, 403. Thus, the issue of whether the Wayne County Circuit Court abused its discretion in finding Macomb a more convenient forum was not properly before the Macomb bench and is not before us on appeal.
On the other hand, there is some authority allowing the transferee court to reject a transfer of venue where it would be improperly laid. Cf. Eig-ner v Eigner, 79 Mich App 189; 261 NW2d 254 (1977). However, we find that case distinguishable as here venue was properly placed in either Wayne or Macomb Counties. In sum, where there are two or more counties which have proper venue, an order changing venue by the transferring court may not be subsequently set aside by another circuit judge. The proper remedy is appeal of the transferring court’s order.
The chief judge in the case at bar based his refusal to accept the case on what he considered to be a violation of the Manual for Court Administration. He considered the failure to notify him or his administrator of the transfer as rendering the change void.
We disagree. The manual does not have the force and effect of a court rule, statute, case law or properly promulgated administrative rule. It contains guidelines for efficient administration of this state’s courts. Although it is highly desirable that all judges follow the procedures established in the manual, including § 2000, the failure to comply does not render the action void. Furthermore, even if the manual had been properly incorporated into the administrative code or court rules, the provision merely states that the transferor-judge should notify the transferee court before changing venue. Thus, the language is not mandatory and no clear violation of the provision has been established.
We reverse the order of the Macomb County Circuit Court and reinstate the order of the Wayne County Circuit Court, placing venue in Macomb County.
No costs. | [
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Per Curiam.
Our brother Bronson has made a very thorough summary of the facts of this case in his dissent.
We find the trial court’s error in its failure to adequately instruct the jury on the theory of the defense of accident to be dispositive of this case. As was held by panels of this Court in People v Morris; 99 Mich App 98; 297 NW2d 623 (1980), and People v Stanley Jones, 69 Mich App 459; 245 NW2d 91 (1976), where the theory of accidental homicide is central in the defendant’s trial, even where the defendant failed to request an instruction on that defense, it is error requiring reversal for the trial court to fail to adequately instruct the jury on the defense so as to focus the jury’s attention on that central issue.
Defendant here advanced the theory of accident throughout his defense. The trial court instructed the jury on the defense of accident as it pertained to first- and second-degree murder but not as it pertained to voluntary manslaughter. Therefore, it was possible that even though the jury was instructed to consider the court’s instructions as a whole it could have concluded that the defense of accident applied only to the charges of first- and second-degree murder and not to voluntary manslaughter.
We cannot say with certainty that if the jury had been instructed that accident was a defense to voluntary manslaughter it would have convicted defendant of that crime. We reverse defendant’s conviction of voluntary manslaughter and remand for entry of judgment of conviction of involuntary manslaughter. We grant the prosecution the op tion of vacating that conviction and seeking a new trial in this case.
As to the remaining issues raised on appeal by this defendant, we find no merit thereto and concur in the disposition accorded them by Judge Bronson.
Reversed and remanded in accordance with this opinion. | [
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Allen, J.
On March 31, 1980, Ingham County Circuit Court ordered garnishee-defendant, Michigan National Bank, to pay accrued and future income of a spendthrift trust to the court in satisfaction of an outstanding judgment for past due child support taken against defendant, James Hurley, former husband of plaintiff, Phyllis Hurley. Garnishee-defendant’s motion for rehearing was denied on April 14, 1980. Garnishee-defendant appeals as of right.
The facts before this Court are undisputed. On September 26, 1966, Maybelle Hurley, defendant’s mother and a resident of Missouri, executed a will in Missouri. The will devised the decedent’s personalty and household goods and furnishings to defendant, her son James. The remainder of decedent’s property was placed into four trusts. One-half of the property was placed in a spendthrift trust for James. He was to receive all income from the trust during his lifetime with the principal passing upon James’ death into the trusts (described below) for James’ two daughters, Linda Kay and Cherri Ann, the decedent’s granddaughters. One-quarter of the property was placed into a spendthrift trust for the decedent’s brother, Clif ford E. Hemmer. He was to receive all income from the trust during his lifetime with $5,000 passing to decedent’s niece, Florence Yoshimoto, if she should survive Clifford, and the remainder passing into James’s trust, if he survived Clifford; otherwise the remainder would pass in the same manner as James’s trust, i.e., to the decedent’s granddaughters. The remaining one-quarter would be split equally between the decedent’s two granddaughters. Until age 21, the granddaughters would receive only enough money for necessary maintenance, support, and education. From age 21 to age 28, the granddaughters would receive all income from the trusts. Upon reaching age 24, each granddaughter would receive one-half of the principal of the trust. Upon reaching age 28, each granddaughter would receive the remaining principal, and the trusts would terminate. The end result of the four interlocking trusts set up by the decedent is that each granddaughter or her issue would share the entire principal of all four trusts should they survive James. If neither granddaughter or her issue should so survive James, the entire principal of all four trusts would pass according to the statutes of descent and distributions of the State of Missouri as if the decedent had died intestate at the time of the termination of James’s trust.
Plaintiff and defendant were divorced in Missouri approximately six years before the decedent executed her will in September, 1966. The decedent did not provide for plaintiff in her will. In 1970, decedent moved from Missouri to Michigan where she remained until her death in 1978. Defendant, James Hurley, moved from Missouri and presently resides in California. He failed to maintain his child support payments. In 1977, plaintiff filed suit in Missouri for past due child support, and in 1979 obtained a Missouri judgment of $19,-630 principal plus $5,728 interest. In 1978, May-belle Hurley died in Michigan, and her will was admitted into probate in Ingham County, Michigan. Garnishee-defendant, Michigan National Bank, was appointed trustee under the will.
In 1979, plaintiff filed a complaint in the Ing-ham County Circuit Court against defendant and garnishee-defendant, seeking full faith and credit of the Missouri child support judgment. Plaintiff then moved to require the garnishee-defendant, as trustee, to pay plaintiff the past due and future income from defendant’s trust to satisfy the outstanding Missouri child support judgment. Garnishee-defendant answered, claiming that the income from the spendthrift trust was not subject to process by the court. On March 31, 1980, the trial court granted plaintiffs motion and ordered garnishee-defendant to pay due and future income into the court to satisfy plaintiffs outstanding judgment. Only garnishee-defendant appeals as of right.
The sole issue before the Court is whether plaintiff, as defendant’s former wife, can reach by judicial process the income from a spendthrift trust created in favor of defendant, her former husband, to obtain satisfaction of plaintiffs judgment against defendant for past due child support. The trust established under the terms of Maybelle Hurley’s will meets the definition of a spendthrift trust set forth in Rose v Southern Michigan National Bank, 255 Mich 275, 281; 238 NW 284 (1931), and quoted with approval in Preminger v Union Bank & Trust Co, NA, 54 Mich App 361, 365; 220 NW2d 795 (1974):
" 'In order to create a spendthrift trust certain prerequisites must be observed, to-wit: first, the gift to the donee [footnote deleted] must be only of the income. He must take no estate whatever, have nothing to alienate, have no right to possession, have no beneficial interest in the land, but only a qualified right to support, and an equitable interest only in the income; second, the legal title must be vested in a trustee; third, the trust must be an active one.’ ”
Although the issue is one of first impression in Michigan, it has been ruled upon in several other jurisdictions. The majority rule is that, in the absence of a specific state statute, the income of a spendthrift trust of which a former husband is the current income beneficiary may be reached to satisfy his former wife’s claim for alimony, separate maintenance, or child support. See Anno: Trust income or assets as subject to claim against beneñciary for alimony, maintenance, or child support, 91 ALR2d 262, 271-272. Restatement Trusts, 2d, § 157, p 328, provides:
"Although a trust is a spendthrift trust or a trust for support, the interest of the beneficiary can be reached in satisfaction of an enforceable claim against the beneficiary,
"(a) by the wife or child of the beneficiary for support, or by the wife for alimony * * *.”
See also II Scott on Trusts (3d ed), § 157.1, pp 1206-1216.
Several reasons have been advanced in support of the rule. Some courts adhere to the rationale by finding an intention on behalf of the settlor of the trust to allow a wife to enforce a claim for alimony, maintenance, or child support. Howard v Spragins, 350 So 2d 318, 322-323 (Ala, 1977), Dillon v Dillon, 244 Wis 122; 11 NW2d 628 (1943). In Keller v Keller, 284 Ill App 198; 1 NE2d 773 (1936), it was held that such an intention will be found unless the trust instrument discloses an intention that such a claim may not be enforced. Other courts have held that child support is not a "debt” contemplated by the spendthrift provision of a trust. Marsh v Scott, 2 NJ Super 240; 63 A2d 275 (1949), In re Moorehead’s Estate, 289 Pa 542; 137 A 802 (1927). Still other courts have held that it would be against public policy to hold that a wife may not enforce child support claims against a recalcitrant husband. Wife v Husband, 286 A2d 256 (Del Ch, 1971), In re Chusid’s Estate, 60 Misc 2d 462; 301 NYS2d 766 (1969). In accord with holding a spendthrift provision contrary to public policy is Shelley v Shelley, 223 Or 328; 354 P2d 282 (I960), which opines that if the beneficiary’s interest cannot be reached to satisfy claims for alimony or child support, the state may be called upon to support the wife and children. Further, O’Connor v O’Connor, 3 Ohio Op 2d 186; 141 NE2d 691; 75 Ohio Law Abst 420 (Oh Com PL, 1957), holds that the husband has a legal duty to support his wife, that a father has a legal duty to support his minor children, and that these elements of public policy outweigh the public policy that an owner of property, such as the settlor of a trust, may dispose of it as he pleases and may impose spendthrift restraints on the disposition of income.
We find all of the above reasons persuasive and affirm, particularly in light of the existing law in Missouri at the time of the execution of the decedent’s will and the creation of the present trusts. Missouri law provides, Mo Rev Stat § 456.080:
"All restraints upon the right of the cestui que trust to alienate or anticipate the income of any trust estate in the form of a spendthrift trust, or otherwise, and all attempts to withdraw said income of any trust estate from the claims of creditors of the cestui que trust, whether said restraints be by will or deed, now existing or in force, or, which may be hereafter executed in this state, be and the same are hereby declared null and void and of no effect, as against the claims of any wife, child or children, of said cestui que trust for support and maintenance, or, as against the claim of any said wife for alimony.”
This law was in effect at the time of the creation of the present trusts. Therefore, the trusts as created, even though of a spendthrift nature, could not bar the recovery of the income from the trust for child support. We do not find that the settlor of these trusts intended to exclude such claims but rather intended the trusts to be administered in accordance with the laws of the state in which the trusts were created thereby allowing such claims.
The lower court order directing garnishee-defendant, Michigan National Bank, to pay the accrued and future income of defendant James Hurley’s trust into the court in satisfaction of the outstanding child support judgment against defendant, James Hurley, in favor of plaintiff, Phyllis Hurley, was proper and is sustained.
Affirmed.
Gilkey v Gilkey, 162 Mich 664; 127 NW 715 (1910), cited by garnishee-defendant, is not applicable to the present facts. Gilkey involved a discretionary trust, not a spendthrift trust, and a claim against the corpus of the trust, not the income of the trust. We also note that in the 70-plus years since Gilkey was decided it has not been cited as authoritative by any Michigan court.
The special Comment on § 157(a) of the Restatement Trusts, 2d, is as follows:
"Although a trust is a spendthrift trust or a trust for support, the interest of the beneficiary can be reached in satisfaction of an enforceable claim against him for support by his wife or children. In some cases a spendthrift clause is construed as not intended to exclude the beneficiary’s dependents. Even if the clause is construed as applicable to claims of his dependents for support, it is against public policy to give full eifect to the provision. The beneficiary should not be permitted to have the enjoyment of his interest under the trust while neglecting to support his dependents.” | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant, Thomas Joseph Williams, appeals by right his conviction for first-degree murder, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, following a bench trial.
The first issue raised is whether the trial court committed error requiring reversal by calling a forensic center psychologist as the court’s own expert witness, pursuant to MRE 706, after ruling that the prosecution was precluded from calling that same expert witness for failure timely to file a notice of rebuttal.
The purpose of the notice requirement is to prevent surprise at trial. See, e.g., People v Terry Alexander, 82 Mich App 621, 627; 267 NW2d 466 (1978), lv den 406 Mich 936 (1979). Failure to comply with the statutory notice requirements requires exclusion of the proffered evidence. Id. However, MCL 768.20a(7); MSA 28.1043(1)(7) has been interpreted as giving the trial court discretion to allow a prosecutor to file a late notice of a rebuttal witness. People v Fisher, 87 Mich App 350, 355; 274 NW2d 788 (1978). In the instant case, the trial court apparently was unaware that it had this discretion and held that because the prose cutor did not file his notice of a rebuttal witness until three days before trial the prosecutor was barred from offering that witness.
Subsequent to the testimony of defendant’s expert, the trial court called the forensic psychologist as its own expert witness, pursuant to MRE 706. Defendant asserts that this constituted error requiring reversal. We disagree, based on our holding in Fisher, supra, 354-356. In this regard, it should be noted that, in the instant case, as in Fisher, the forensic psychologist’s report was made available before trial to both defense counsel and the prosecutor and that the trial court did not receive a copy of that report. Also, here, as in Fisher, defendant did not move for an adjournment to get additional expert testimony.
The second issue raised is whether the trial court erred in denying defendant’s motion to suppress evidence obtained from a search of defendant’s van, where the police conducted a visual search of defendant’s van with the aid of a flashlight.
Defendant does not challenge the lower court’s finding that the police had probable cause to stop defendant’s van shortly after the shooting and to arrest him based upon a description of the van and driver given by witnesses. Rather, defendant asserts that evidence of the rifle found in defendant’s van should have been suppressed because it was found as a result of a probing, accusatory search with a flashlight.
The fact that the police officers used a flashlight to look into defendant’s van does not preclude application of the plain view doctrine. See People v Kuntze, 371 Mich 419; 124 NW2d 269 (1963), People v Goodman, 58 Mich App 220; 227 NW2d 261 (1975), People v Whalen, 390 Mich 672; 213 NW2d 116 (1973). However, before the plain view doctrine can be invoked, it has to be shown that the police officer was in a place he had a right to be. Whalen, supra, 679-680. This requirement has been met in the instant case in that the police had probable cause to stop defendant’s van and arrest him based upon the description of the van and its driver given to the police by witnesses. See, e.g., Whalen, supra, and Kuntze, supra. Therefore, the plain view doctrine applies to this case, and no "search” for Fourth Amendment purposes took place.
The third issue raised by defendant is whether the trial court erred in finding that the evidence established beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant’s actions caused the victim’s death.
A defendant’s conviction may be sustained only "where there is a reasonable and direct causal connection between the injury and death”. People v Flenon, 42 Mich App 457, 460; 202 NW2d 471 (1972), lv den 388 Mich 801 (1972), People v Geiger, 10 Mich App 339, 345-346; 159 NW2d 383 (1968), lv den 381 Mich 753 (1968).
During the trial, defendant argued that grossly erroneous medical treatment of the victim was an intervening cause of death and that, therefore, defendant’s conviction must be reversed.
Intervening medical error is not available as a defense to a defendant who has inflicted a mortal wound upon a victim. People v Vanderford, 77 Mich App 370, 373; 258 NW2d 502 (1977), People v Cook, 39 Mich 236, 240; 33 Am Rep 380 (1878), Flenon, supra. Furthermore, where death results from a nonmortal wound, a defendant will be held responsible unless the victim’s death was occasioned not by the wound but by grossly erroneous medical treatment. Flenon, supra, 461.
In the instant case the only testimony offered by defendant that the victim’s death was due to grossly erroneous medical treatment was the testimony of Dr. Robey. Dr. Robey premised his conclusion of grossly erroneous medical treatment on the basis that there was more than one physician in the hospital emergency room working on the victim. However, in its findings of fact, the trial court clearly found that there was only one doctor treating the victim in the hospital emergency room.
Since Dr. Robey’s opinion of grossly erroneous medical treatment was based on an assumption that there was more than one doctor in attendance at the hospital, we find that the defendant did not put forth any evidence of grossly erroneous medical treatment.
Contrary to defendant’s contentions on appeal, it is clear from the trial court’s written verdict that it did not rely solely on the medical examiner’s hearsay testimony as to the cause of the victim’s death but reviewed the entire record, including the testimony of witnesses present at the scene, Dr. Robey’s testimony, the testimony of the paramedic ambulance driver, and various medical records. Based on the foregoing and our review of the record, we find that the trial court did not err in finding that the prosecutor proved that there was a reasonable and direct causal connection between the victim’s injury and his death.
The final issue raised by defendant is whether the trial court committed error requiring reversal in denying defendant’s motion to compel indorsement of the hospital, emergency squad, and ambulance personnel as res gestae witnesses. While a strong argument could be made for classifying medical personnel and emergency squad personnel who treat the victim of a violent crime as res gestae witnesses under Michigan’s broad interpretation of that term, see People v Harrison, 44 Mich App 578; 205 NW2d 900 (1973), we do not find that such a holding is warranted in the instant case.
Affirmed. | [
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R. M. Maher, J.
Plaintiff appeals by leave granted the order of the trial court denying plaintiffs motion for summary judgment under GCR 1963, 117.2(2) and 117.2(3).
The facts of this case are not in dispute. On May 23, 1977, a motor vehicle accident involving a car owned and driven by defendant, Michael Stanley Biddis, and a second vehicle driven by Manuel Mello resulted in serious injuries to defendant’s passenger, Diedre Ann Biddis. Because defendant’s motor vehicle was uninsured, Diedre Biddis filed an application with the Assigned Claims Facility pursuant to § 3172 of the no-fault automobile insurance act. MCL 500.3172; MSA 24.13172. The claim was assigned to plaintiff, Auto-Owners Insurance Company, which paid Diedre Biddis benefits totaling $34,098.98. Plaintiff, seeking to recover this money plus costs in handling the assigned claim pursuant to § 3177 of the no-fault automobile insurance act, MCL 500.3177; MSA 24.13177, commenced this suit against defendant as owner and operator of the uninsured vehicle.
At issue in this case is whether § 3177 allows an insurer who has paid an assigned claim to recover the amount paid together with costs incurred from the owner or registrant of the uninsured vehicle without regard to the fault of such owner or registrant. The trial court held that the insurer could not recover without establishing such fault.
The statute clearly makes no reference to fault:
"An insurer obligated to pay personal protection insurance benefits for accidental bodily injury to a person occupying an uninsured motor vehicle or to the spouse or relative resident in the household of the owner or registrant of an uninsured motor vehicle may recover such benefits paid and appropriate loss adjustment costs incurred from the owner or registrant of the uninsured motor vehicle or from his estate. Failure of such a person to make payment withn 30 days is a ground for suspension or revocation of his motor vehicle registration and operator’s license. An uninsured motor vehicle for the purpose of this section is a motor vehicle with respect to which security as required by sections 3101 and 3102 is not in effect at the time of the accident.” MCL 500.3177; MSA 24.13177.
The defendant and the trial court, however, relied on the following isolated passage in this Court’s opinion in McKendrick v Petrucci, 71 Mich App 200, 206-207; 247 NW2d 349 (1976):
"The owner or registrant of an automobile who does not secure the required coverage is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year imprisonment and up to a $500' fine. MCL 500.3102(2); MSA 24.13102(2). The owner or registrant of an uninsured automobile is also liable to the no fault insurer who pays benefits to a person occupying an uninsured automobile. MCL 500.3177; MSA 24.13177. In providing that the uninsured tortfeasor does not have the same immunity that exists when there is insurance coverage, the act creates another significant incentive towards the goal of insurance coverage for all automobiles.” (Emphasis added.)
By seizing on this Court’s use of the word "tortfea-sor”, the trial court held that the plaintiff must establish that defendant is a tortfeasor before being entitled to recover under § 3177.
Reliance on McKendrick is totally misplaced. The question before us in the instant case was not at issue in McKendrick, which instead involved the constitutionality of the no-fault automobile insurance act’s partial abolition of tort liability. In its proper context, it is readily apparent that the above-quoted passage expresses three separate and distinct points. At the point at which this quote appears the Court in McKendrick was discussing the various incentives to secure no-fault coverage provided in the act. The Court first noted that failure to secure such coverage was a misdemeanor. MCL 500.3102(2); MSA 24.13102(2). Second, the Court noted that an uninsured motorist would be liable to reimburse an insurer for benefits paid to an occupant of the uninsured vehicle by virtue of § 3177. Finally, the Court noted that a third incentive resulted from the fact that an uninsured motorist who was also established to be a tortfeasor with regard to an accident does not enjoy the same degree of immunity under § 3135, MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135, as would an insured motorist. Accordingly, the Court’s reference to an "uninsured tortfeasor” in the third section of the passage has no connection to the Court’s brief recitation of the effect of § 3177 in the second section of the passage. While an uninsured motorist remains liable to injured parties if fault is established, § 3177 imposes a more limited liability without regard to fault.
Section 3177 clearly makes no mention of fault. Accordingly, plaintiff was entitled to recover from defendant as a matter of law and the trial court erred in denying plaintiffs motion for summary judgment.
Reversed and remanded. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiffs appeal as of right from an order of summary judgment entered in favor of defendant DuBois on April 22, 1980, by the Wayne County Circuit Court.
A building owned by Totzkay and leased to Coito Manufacturing Company and Dorer Engineering, Inc., was substantially destroyed by fire on April 4, 1975. Defendant DuBois, insured by Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, allegedly caused the fire while repairing his car. On October 19, 1976, plaintiffs sued defendant DuBois (hereafter referred to as defendant) alleging negligence.
The question presented is whether the trial court erred in granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment when plaintiffs alleged tort liability against defendant individually and did not name defendant’s insurance company as a defendant when the complaint in the instant case was filed after the Court of Appeals decision in Shavers v Attorney General, 65 Mich App 355; 237 NW2d 325 (1975), and before the Supreme Court decision in that case, Shavers v Attorney General, 402 Mich 554; 267 NW2d 72 (1978), cert den 442 US 934; 99 S Ct 2869; 61 L Ed 2d 303 (1979).
Plaintiffs contend that because their suit was filed subsequent to the Court of Appeals decision declaring the property protection insurance sections in the no-fault act invalid, their allegations of tort liability were proper. Defendant argues that the Michigan Supreme Court decision controls the case. The Supreme Court held the property protection insurance sections were constitutional and, therefore, under MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135, tort liability was abolished.
This Court’s first inquiry must be to determine the applicable law. In the present case, the complaint was filed after the Court of Appeals decision. A Court of Appeals decision is binding until reversed by the Supreme Court. Hackett v Ferndale City Clerk, 1 Mich App 6; 133 NW2d 221 (1965), People v McDaniels, 70 Mich App 469; 245 NW2d 973 (1976), lv den 399 Mich 841 (1977). As stated in Hackett, supra, 11:
"While it is not necessary to decision here, it is the opinion of this Court that a decision of any division of this Court is controlling statewide until a contrary decision is reached by another division on the identical question or until such decision is reversed by the Supreme Court.”
At the time of the filing of the complaint, then, the property protection insurance sections were invalid and, thus, tort liability remained. MCL 500.3030; MSA 24.13030 provides that an insurer shall not be made or joined as a party defendant. Therefore, at the time of the filing of their complaint, the proper procedure for plaintiffs would have been to sue in tort and name DuBois individually as defendant. See, also, Marshall v Pech, 95 Mich App 454, 460; 291 NW2d 78 (1980), lv den 409 Mich 904 (1980), holding that the Court of Appeals decision in Shavers was binding until reversed by the Supreme Court.
Granting of the summary judgment based upon either an improper allegation of tort liability or improperly naming defendant as an individual, therefore, was improper. At the present time, however, the Supreme Court Shavers decision controls any subsequent action in this case. In this regard, we note that plaintiffs admit that any tort liability allegations should be excised from the complaint. Additionally, we note that under MCL 500.3121; MSA 24.13121 an insurer "is liable to pay benefits for accidental damage to tangible property”. We believe § 3030, prohibiting naming an insurer as a defendant, can be read consistently with § 3121. Merely because an insurer is ultimately liable does not require naming the insurer, as opposed to the insured, as a defendant. See Cassidy v McGovern, 86 Mich App 321; 272 NW2d 644 (1978) (opinion of Judge Bashara in a partial dissent in disposing of an issue satisfactorily to the majority), Stevens v Hogue, 85 Mich App 185; 270 NW2d 735 (1978), lv den 404 Mich 828 (1979).
In conclusion, when the trial court made its decision on the motion for summary judgment, the court should have applied the Court of Appeals Shavers decision to determine that the complaint was not barred for alleging tort liability and not naming the insurance company as a defendant. The trial court should then have applied the current law of the Supreme Court Shavers decision to excise any tort liability allegations and determine whether the remaining allegations set forth a claim under the property protection insurance sections of the no-fault act.
Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. | [
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Beasley, J.
On March 27, 1980, the Governor of Texas issued a requisition warrant seeking the extradition of Michael Dean Wendt, a/k/a Dennis Scribner, from the State of Michigan. On April 8, 1980, Lt. Governor James H. Brickley, acting Governor, issued a governor’s warrant for the arrest of Michael Dean Wendt, a/k/a Dennis Scribner. Defendant, an inmate of Jackson State Prison, was arraigned on the governor’s warrant on April 22, 1980. The trial court was informed of the receipt of the governor’s warrant and then inquired of the prisoner as to whether he was Michael Dean Wendt to which the prisoner responded that he was. The trial court appointed counsel to represent defendant and set a hearing for May 6, 1980.
At the hearing, defendant’s attorney asked for an adjournment because of an action for mandamus which defendant had filed in the Court of Appeals against Perry Johnson, Director of the Department of Corrections. Defense counsel stated that defendant had filed the mandamus action in propria persona and that he was seeking an order in this Court to compel the Department of Corrections to release him under a Michigan parole plan. The trial court denied the motion for adjournment.
The prosecution called Sandra Phelps, and employee of Jackson Prison, who testified that she had talked to an inmate whom she knew as Dennis Scribner about a detainer from the State of Texas for a person named Michael Wendt. She stated that defendant acknowledged that he was wanted by Texas but that Texas authorities had had an opportunity to assume his custody while he was in Florida but did not do so. Ms. Phelps indicated that she also had talked to the same individual at the prison after the parole board granted him a parole in custody at which time he again stated that he was unwilling to return to Texas. She further testified that she showed defendant the Texas warrant for parole violation and the original offenses and stated that the individual she talked to, defendant, was not surprised about it.
At the conclusion of Ms. Phelp’s testimony, defense counsel moved to dismiss the request for extradition due to insufficient indentification showing that the person in court was the person who was wanted in Texas. The trial court found that the state had failed to show that defendant was the same person sought by Texas authorities. Based on this finding, the trial court entered an order stating that it would not turn over defendant to the State of Texas under the governor’s warrant, the prosecution appeals as of right, raising two issues.
First, the prosecution claims that the trial court had no jurisdiction to rule on the propriety of the governor’s warrant because defendant failed to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We disagree.
Michigan’s Uniform Criminal Extradition Act provides:
"No person arrested upon such warrant shall be delivered over to the agent whom the executive authority demanding him shall have appointed to receive him unless he shall first be taken forthwith before a judge of a court of record in this state, who shall inform him of the demand made for his surrender and of the crime with which he is charged, and that he has the right to demand and procure legal counsel; and if the prisoner or his counsel shall state that he or they desire to test the legality of his arrest, the judge of such court of record shall fix a reasonable time to be allowed him within which to apply for a writ of habeas corpus. When such writ is applied for, notice thereof, and of the time and place of hearing thereon, shall be given to the prosecuting officer of the county in which the arrest is made and in which the accused is in custody, and to the said agent of the demanding state.”
At the time of arraignment in the present case, the trial judge appointed counsel for defendant, was informed that defendant was challenging his extradition, and set a hearing date on the matter. The prosecutor participated in the hearing, producing a witness to show defendant’s identity as the person named in the Texas warrant.
Petitions for habeas corpus are to be liberally construed. Moreover, a circuit judge is empowered under GCR 1963, 712.7 to issue a writ of habeas corpus sua sponte. While defendant did not comply with the formal habeas corpus filing procedures outline in GCR 1963, 712, the prosecution had ample notice that defendant was challenging his extradition. While the usual and normal procedure of attacking an extradition proceeding is by way of habeas corpus, under the circumstances of this case, we decline to find that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to rule on the propriety of the governor’s warrant.
The prosecution next contends that the governor’s warrant and supporting papers established a prima facie case or defendant’s extradition which was not refuted by defendant. We agree.
The court in an asylum state has a limited scope of review after the governor of the state has granted extradition. In Michigan v Doran, the United States Supreme Court stated:
"A governor’s grant of extradition is prima facie evidence that the constitutional and statutory requirements have been met. Cf., Bassing v Cady, 208 US 386, 392 [28 S Ct 392; 52 L Ed 540] (1908). Once the governor has granted extradition, a court considering release on habeas corpus can do no more than decide (a) whether the extradition documents on their face are in order; (b) whether the petitioner has been charged with a crime in the demanding state; (c) whether the petitioner is the person named in the request for extradition; and (d) whether the petitioner is a fugitive. These are historic facts readily verifiable.”
Here, the trial judge only considered the question of whether defendant was the person sought to be extradited, finding that the prosecution had failed to show that indentification. But, in this case, defendant had acknowledged, in open court in answer to the assistant prosecutor’s question, that he was Michael Dean Wendt. Under these circumstances, we hold that the trial court erred in placing the burden of showing identity on the prosecution.
The issuance of a governor’s warrant raises a presumption that the accused named in the warrant is the person sought by the demanding state, and the burden of proof rests upon the prisoner to overcome this presumption by clear and convincing evidence.
Defendant in the present case did not allege or argue that he was not the person sought by the State of Texas. On the contrary, he virtually admitted that he was the person named. At most, he merely argued that the prosecution failed to establish his identity. We hold that, in view of the fact that defendant admitted that he was Michael Dean Wendt, plus the testimony of Ms. Phelps regarding her conversation with defendant, and in view of the fact that the governor’s warrant appeared to be in order, the burden of proof was on the defendant to offer any evidence to refute his identity as the person sought to be extradited. Defendant did not offer any evidence in support of his position, not even a denial. We conclude that, on this record, it was error to refuse to allow defendant to be extradited to Texas.
Defendant also contends that an order discharging a petitioner on a writ of habeas corpus is not reviewable by the people on appeal. This contention is without merit.
The cases relied upon by defendant are all based on a lack of either statutory or case law allowing the people to appeal an adverse habeas corpus ruling. We hold that the people are empowered to appeal such a ruling under MCL 770.12(1)(c); MSA 28.1109(1)(c).
Reversed and remanded.
MCL 780.1 et seq.; MSA 28.1285(1) et seq.
MCL 780.9; MSA 28.1285(9).
Cross v Dep’t of Corrections, 103 Mich App 409; 303 NW2d 218 (1981).
GCR 1963, 712.13.
439 US 282, 289; 99 S Ct 530; 58 L Ed 2d 521 (1978).
The transcript provides the following:
"Mr. Wood: If it please the Court. Your Honor. In the matter of Michael Dean Wendt a/k/a Dennis Scribner, file number 80-020695-EX. This is a matter of extradition, Your Honor. We have received the Governor’s Warrant from the State of Texas.
"Are you Mr. Michael Dean Wendt?
"A. Yes, I am.”
Williams v Wayne County Sheriff, 395 Mich 204, 241-242; 235 NW2d 552 (1975) (opinion of Williams, J.), United States v Flood, 374 F2d 554 (CA 2, 1967).
People v Conant, 59 Mich 565; 26 NW 768 (1886), People v Fairman, 59 Mich 568; 26 NW 769 (1886), People v Price, 23 Mich App 663; 179 NW2d 177 (1970). | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant, Bay County, appeals by leave granted from the denial of its motion for summary judgment under GCR 1963, 117.2(1).
On December 9, 1976, while an elected county commissioner of Bay County, plaintiff, Donald C. Pero, was injured in a slip and fall in the Bay County Building where he was attending a meeting of a committee of the Bay County Commissioners. Plaintiff, his wife, Rosalie Pero, and his son, Steven Pero, joined in a lawsuit against defendant county for damages.
Defendant moved for summary judgment under the exclusive remedy provision of the Worker’s Disability Compensation Act, which provides:
"Sec. 131. The right to the recovery of benefits as provided in this act shall be the employee’s exclusive remedy against the employer. As used in this section and section 827 'employee’ includes the person injured, his personal representatives and any other person to whom a claim accrues by reason of the injury to or death of the employee, and 'employer’ includes his insurer, a service agent to a self-insured employer, and the accident fund insofar as they furnish, or fail to furnish, safety inspections or safety advisory services incident to providing workmen’s compensation insurance or incident to a self-insured employer’s liability servicing contract.” MCL 418.131; MSA 17.237(131).
In response, plaintiff claimed his elected position did not establish the required employer-employee relationship with defendant and that, in any event, any such question would be one of fact for a jury.
The trial court denied the motion for summary judgment in a written opinion holding that while there are not any issues of fact, since the relationship between a county commissioner and the county is establishd by law, nevertheless, application of the so-called economic realities test requires a finding that plaintiff is not an employee of defendant within the meaning of the workers’ compensation act.
This issue is best illuminated by the legislative history of the definition of employee in the workers’ compensation statutes. As originally enacted in 1912, MCL 411.7; MSA 17.147, which was the predecessor of the present statute, provided:
"The term 'employee’ as used in this act shall be construed to mean:
"Every person in the service of the State or of any county, city, township, incorporated village or school district therein, under any appointment, or contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, except any official of the State or of any county, city, township, incorporated village or school district which made the contract.” (Emphasis added.) 1912 (1st Ex Sess) PA 10.
In 1921, the section was amended to add the words "therein, elected at the polls” at the end of the sentence. The section then read:
"The term 'employe’ as used in this act shall be construed to mean:
"Every person in the service of the state, or of any county, city, township, incorporated village or school district therein, under any appointment, or contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, except any official of the state or of any county, city, township, incorporated village or school district therein, elected at the polls.” (Emphasis added.) 1921 PA 173.
In 1965, this section was again amended to delete the phrase "except any official of the state, or of any county, city, township, incorporated village or school district therein, elected at the polls”. Thus, the statute now reads:
"(1) An employee as used in this act shall mean:
"(a) Every person in the service of the state or of any county, city, township, village, or school district, under any appointment, or contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written.” MCL 418.161; MSA 17.237(161).
We hold that by enacting the 1965 amendment to the statute, which deleted the words "elected at the polls”, the Legislature demonstrated a clear intention to make elected public officials employees of governmental bodies under the workers’ compensation coverage and no longer to exclude them therefrom.
Since plaintiff is an employee of defendant, for purposes of workers’ compensation, the exclusive remedy provision applies and defendant’s motion for summary judgment should have been granted. The trial court misapplied the economic realities test.
This is not a case where plaintiff is an independent contractor. The economic realities test is irrelevant for purposes of decision here. In so holding, it is implicit and, we trust, obvious that plaintiff’s injury arose out of and in the course of his employment because he was attending a county commissioner’s meeting when the incident, out of which this claim arises, occurred.
Consequently, we reverse and direct entry of an order granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment under GCR 1963, 117.2(1).
Vander Ploeg v State of Michigan, 1974 WCABO 363. | [
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Per Curiam.
On March 9, 1977, defendant was convicted by a Detroit Recorder’s Court jury of two counts of delivery of heroin. MCL 335.341; MSA 18.1070(41). He was sentenced by Judge Patricia J. Boyle on March 28, 1977, to two concurrent 15-to-20 year prison terms. Although this Court affirmed defendant’s convictions, People v Cochran, 84 Mich App 710; 270 NW2d 502 (1978), the Supreme Court vacated defendant’s sentences for noncompliance with the two-thirds indeterminate sentence rule in People v Tanner, 387 Mich 683, 690; 199 NW2d 202 (1972):
"Leave to appeal considered December 7, 1979, and, pursuant to GCR 1963, 865.1(7), in lieu of leave to appeal, we vacate defendant’s sentences and remand the case to Detroit Recorder’s Court. If it was the trial judge’s intent to impose maximum indeterminate sentences, then the mínimums of 15 years must be corrected to conform with the two-thirds indeterminate sentence rule. If that was not the intent, then the trial judge shall redetermine the minimum sentences to be imposed. See Brinson v Genesee Circuit Judge, 403 Mich 676, 679 (1978). In all other respects the application is denied. We retain no further jurisdiction.” People v Cochran, 407 Mich 934; 285 NW2d 659 (1979).
On remand, the case was assigned to Judge Michael F. Sapala. Judge Sapala determined that Judge Boyle had intended to sentence defendant to the maximum terms allowed and, therefore, he corrected the sentences by imposing concurrent 13-to-20 year terms. Defendant appeals as of right.
Defendant initially argues that Judge Boyle failed to evaluate him as an individual, but instead sentenced him based upon her own predilection with regard to heroin distribution as a community problem. In People v Triplett, 407 Mich 510, 513; 287 NW2d 165 (1980), the Supreme Court stressed that a "sentence should be tailored to the particular circumstances of the case and the offender in an effort to balance both society’s need for protection and its interest in maximizing the offender’s rehabilitative potential”.
Defendant’s claim is meritless. It is true that Judge Boyle noted that the distribution of heroin, as contributed to by defendant,-was a particular societal problem. However, her remarks in that vein were only in response to defense counsel’s contention that defendant’s actions had a small impact on the problem. Judge Boyle went on to stress defendant’s prior conviction for possession of heroin with intent to deliver and the relatively short time between his being paroled and the present offense. The sentence was sufficiently tailored to the circumstances of the case and defendant.
Defendant also urges that Judge Sapala erred in failing to order an updated presentence report. See Triplett, supra. This argument is likewise without merit. The order of remand from the Supreme Court directed Judge Sapala to initially determine whether his predecessor had intended to impose maximum indeterminate sentences. Since he concluded that Judge Boyle had so intended, he then needed only to correct the sentences to comply with the two-thirds rule. An updated presentence report would have been necessary only had Judge Sapala determined a contrary intent and been required to actually resentence.
Affirmed.
Now MCL 333.7401; MSA 14.15(7401). | [
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Per Curiam.
On December 19, 1979, defendant was convicted by a Detroit Recorder’s Court jury of armed robbery, MCL 750.529; MSA 28.797. He was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison and now appeals as of right.
On July 23, 1979, two men robbed complainant, Gus Adams, at gunpoint. They took his wallet, automobile, a quantity of cash and 25 to 30 Bob-Lo tickets. Although the confrontation took less than two minutes and the men wore bandanas over the lower portions of their faces, there was still daylight present and Adams obtained a good look at defendant.
Adams immediately contacted the police and described his assailants. One of the men was reported to be a black male in his twenties, 5' 5" to 5' 7", 130 pounds, of medium complexion with a short black Afro and wearing a dark blue T-shirt and a blue bandana over his mouth. Defendant is 27 years old, 5' 4" and 119 pounds.
Adams identified defendant at a police lineup on August 6, 1979. Prior to the lineup, Adams was informed that the police had apprehended two men selling Bob-Lo tickets. Of the eight men in the lineup, six were over 5' 7" and four were over 5' 11". The one other participant in the lineup who was the same height as defendant was ten years younger and weighed 140 pounds. Adams initially selected defendant and the second short man, but later narrowed his selection down to defendant. Adams identified defendant first by observing his face uncovered and identifying his eyes, cheekbones and build, then with his face covered, and, finally, by hearing defendant’s voice. Substitute lineup counsel was present during the lineup process. Adams also made an in-court identification of defendant. He testified that he remembered defendant by his high cheekbones, piercing eyes, broad shoulders and big arms. No objection was made to the identification testimony. Defendant presented alibi witnesses who stated that he was helping his sister move at the time of the robbery.
In the first of three issues on appeal, defendant argues that the lineup procedure was unduly suggestive and that evidence of the lineup, as well as Adams’ in-court identification, should have been excluded. Because defense counsel was present at the lineup, defendant bears the burden of showing any impropriety. People v Horton, 98 Mich App 62, 68; 296 NW2d 184 (1980). Here, defendant points to the physical differences between himself and the other lineup participants and to the fact that Adams was made aware beforehand that the suspects had been arrested selling Bob-Lo tickets.
Whether a lineup is unduly suggestive depends on the totality of the circumstances surrounding the procedure. Foster v California, 394 US 440; 89 S Ct 1127; 22 L Ed 2d 402 (1969). It must be evident that the procedure " 'was so impermissibly suggestive as to give rise to a very substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification’ ”. People v Lee, 391 Mich 618, 626; 218 NW2d 655 (1974), Simmons v United States, 390 US 377, 384; 88 S Ct 967; 19 L Ed 2d 1247 (1968).
Physical differences between a suspect and other lineup participants do not in and of themselves constitute impermissible suggestiveness. People v Richmond, 84 Mich App 178, 181; 269 NW2d 521 (1978).
"Lineups are conducted in police stations, and the persons who participate in the lineup are taken from those who are being held in custody. It would be unusual indeed if the police had five persons with similar physical characteristics locked up in the same jail. Moreover, the purpose of a lineup is identification. If the defendant is the tallest man in the lineup, and if he believes that this impairs the validity of the identification, he should see that the jury is apprised of that fact. This is a question of the weight to be given the lineup identification, not its admissibility. It presents no basis for a new trial.” People v Lloyd, 5 Mich App 717, 724-725; 147 NW2d 740 (1967).
Here, the fact that defendant was among the two shortest persons in the lineup was not so unduly suggestive as to have prejudiced defendant.
Likewise, the fact that Adams was informed that suspects would be present in the lineup is not prejudicial. Whenever a witness is called in for a lineup procedure the obvious inference for that witness to draw is that the police have detained suspects. If, as defendant argues, Adams had felt compelled to select someone from the lineup, he would have identified two men as his assailants. Instead, he selected only defendant. Looking to the totality of circumstances we cannot say that the lineup was impermissibly suggestive.
Assuming, arguendo, that the lineup was suggestive, Adams’ in-court identification of defendant was nonetheless admissible if independently based. People v Kachar, 400 Mich 78, 95-96; 252 NW2d 807 (1977). Application of the eight-factor test of Kachar to the instant case reveals that such an independent basis existed.
Adams had a good opportunity to observe his assailants. Although the incident took less than two minutes, the observations were made in good light and at a relatively close range. There was little discrepancy between Adams’ initial description and defendant’s actual physical makeup. While under the circumstances Adams could have been expected to have been in a highly emotional state, there was no indication that his abilities were impaired. In point of fact, Adams took note of a number of special features of defendant, in particular, his high cheekbones, upper physique, and piercing eyes that Adams said he would never forget. Adams correctly identified defendant at the only other opportunity to do so and he never identified another as that assailant. His in-court identification was properly admitted.
Defendant’s second argument on appeal is that he was denied effective assistance of counsel at the lineup, as evidenced by the fact that it was unduly suggestive. Because we conclude that the lineup was properly conducted, we find defendant’s contention to be without merit. We cannot say that lineup counsel failed to perform at least as well as a lawyer with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law or that he failed to conscientiously protect defendant’s interests. Further, lineup counsel did not commit a serious error but for which defendant might not have been convicted. People v Garcia, 398 Mich 250, 264; 247 NW2d 547 (1976), People v Degraffenreid, 19 Mich App 702, 716; 173 NW2d 317 (1969).
Defendant’s final claim is that the evidence was insufficient to support a guilty verdict. He contends that the testimony of the alibi witnesses raised a reasonable doubt in light of the nature of the identification testimony and the lack of other evidence to connect him to the robbery.
Sufficiency of the evidence claims are reviewed by considering the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution. The prosecutor must introduce some competent direct or circumstantial evidence as to each element of the crime charged to support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. People v Gibson, 94 Mich App 172, 178; 288 NW2d 366 (1979). Our review of the record convinces us that such evidence was presented.
Defendant directs his argument to the sufficiency of the evidence connecting him to the crime. However, the testimony of complainant Adams presented direct evidence of defendant’s participation in the crime. The fact that defendant was arrested with a quantity of Bob-Lo tickets also provided some circumstantial proof of his involvement. The jury was free to believe or disbelieve defendant’s alibi witnesses. We find no error.
Affirmed. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals from a circuit court order denying, in part, its claim for relief from an action of the Clinton County Board of Zoning Appeals. Defendant People’s Action League, a nonprofit corporation which intervened before the board of zoning appeals, cross-appeals.
On cross-appeal, it is claimed that the trial judge erred by refusing to dismiss as untimely plaintiffs appeal from the board of zoning appeals. An appeal to circuit court from a decision of a county board of zoning appeals is provided by MCL 125.223; MSA 5.2961(23). It is not clear, however, what court rule an appeal is to be brought under or what time limits apply to the right to appeal. Plaintiff argues that its appeal is brought under GCR 1963, 711 and that time limits for bringing its appeal should be implied from the provisions of the state’s Administrative Procedures Act. See MCL 24.304(1); MSA 3.560(204)(1). Plaintiff argues that, alternatively, appropriate time limits can be implied from the time limits on appeals from decisions in city or village zoning cases. See MCL 125.590; MSA 5.2940. Cross-appellant claims that any appeal must be pursuant to GCR 1963, 701. GCR 1963, 701.2(a)(1) provides a shorter period for appeal than either of the provisions relied on by plaintiff. We decline the opportunity to resolve this issue in the present case. Even if cross-appellant is correct, it is clear that it was the intent of the trial judge to allow a delayed appeal. See GCR 1963, 701.2(c), 703.1(2).
In the trial court, plaintiff contended that local zoning regulations concerning the disposal of nonhazardous waste was pre-empted by the state’s enactment of the Solid Waste Management Act (hereafter Act 641), 1978 PA 641; MCL 299.401 et seq.; MSA 13.29(1) et seq. The trial court held that Act 641 does not pre-empt local control or regulation of nonhazardous waste disposal facilities until the Director of Department of Natural Resources approves the county solid waste management plan. At that time, local regulations inconsistent with the plan are rendered unenforceable. On appeal, plaintiff claims that the trial court erred.
A municipality is precluded from enacting an ordinance if a state statutory scheme pre-empts the ordinance by occupying the field of regulation which the municipality seeks to enter, even where there is no direct conflict between the two schemes of regulation. People v Llewellyn, 401 Mich 314, 322; 257 NW2d 902 (1977). In making a determination that the state has pre-empted the field of regulation, we apply certain guidelines expressed by the Supreme Court in Llewellyn, supra, pp 323-324. First, where state law expressly provides that the state’s authority to regulate in a specified area is to be exclusive, there can be no doubt that municipal regulation is pre-empted. Second, preemption of a field of regulation may be implied from an examination of the history of state laws in that field. Third, the pervasiveness of the statutory regulatory scheme may support a finding of preemption. Finally, the nature of the regulated subject matter may demand exclusive state regulation to achieve the uniformity necessary to serve the state’s purpose.
In the present case, the trial judge made an extensive review of the provisions of Act 641. He noted that, in deciding the question of pre-emption, special attention must be paid to § 30(4) of the act, which states:
"Following approval by the director of a county solid waste management plan and after July 1, 1981, an ordinance, law, rule, regulation, policy, or practice of a municipality, county, or governmental authority created by statute which prohibits or regulates the location or development of a solid waste disposal area, which is not part of or consistent with the approved solid waste management plan for the county, shall be considered in conflict with this act and shall not be enforceable.”
The judge relied on § 30(4) to conclude that local regulation of disposal facilities was not pre-empted by Act 641 until after July 1, 1981, and then only after the approval of a county solid waste management plan by the Director of the Department of Natural Resources which would preclude the application of all local regulation which is not part of, or consistent with, the approved plan. We agree with Judge Tahvonen’s holding that, "[b]y suggesting the occasion for pre-emption, the Legislature has evidenced an intent that there be no finding of pre-emption absent the fulfillment of the conditions specified”.
Where a statute contains a provision for limited pre-emption (as in the present case), a court may not imply total i pre-emption from the statutory history, the pervasiveness of the regulatory scheme, or the need for uniformity arising from the nature of the regulated subject matter. Section 30(4) provides for limited pre-emption; it also implicitly precludes a holding of total pre-emption. We agree with the trial court’s conclusion that local regulation of nonhazardous waste disposal facilities is precluded only in those situations specified in § 30(4) of Act 641.
Affirmed.
Hazardous waste disposal facilities are governed by the Hazardous Waste Management Act, 1979 PA 64; MCL 299.501 et seq.; MSA 13.30(1) et seq., which does pre-empt local regulation. See Cascade Twp v Cascade Resource Recovery, Inc, 118 Mich App 580; 325 NW2d 500 (1982). | [
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Per Curiam.
This is an appeal on leave granted by this Court from a determination of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB), which affirmed the decision of a hearing referee, with a modification not important to this dispute.
The following underlying facts are important only to the extent that they show the procedural posture of this case. Plaintiff was injured in 1971 while in the course of his employment with defendant City of Lansing Board of Water and Light. Until June 7, 1978, plaintiff was voluntarily paid benefits.
In August, 1977, plaintiff filed a new petition for benefits which alleged that he was permanently and totally disabled as a consequence of the loss of the industrial use of his legs and arms. Defendants responded to this petition by asserting that plaintiff had not proven any disability beyond the pe riod ending June 8, 1978. Following a hearing in December, 1978, the hearing referee found that plaintiff was disabled, but that this disability was neither total nor permanent. Both sides appealed from that decision. In 1983, the WCAB issued an opinion which essentially affirmed the decision of the hearing referee.
The major issue in this case arises because, before the WCAB rendered its 1983 decision on plaintiffs eligibility for continuing benefits, the Board of Water and Light filed a petition in 1981 to stop benefits. A hearing on this petition had not been conducted by the time the WCAB’s 1983 decision, which affirmed plaintiffs eligibility for benefits based on his 1977 petition, had been rendered. In reaching its 1983 decision, however, the WCAB considered three medical depositions taken after the 1978 hearing and after the hearing referee’s decision on the 1977 petition. These depositions had been taken in conjunction with the Board of Water and Light’s 1981 petition to stop benefits. They were not introduced into evidence as part of the record relating to the 1977 petition.
Defendants’ major claim on appeal is that the WCAB denied them due process of law in basing its decision on the 1977 petition in part on the medical depositions taken in connection with the 1981 petition. Plaintiff contends, however, that the WCAB did not abuse its discretion in considering these depositions because, pursuant to MCL 418.859; MSA 17.237(859), the WCAB is empowered to hear additional evidence as it may permit in its discretion. We agree with defendants that the WCAB erred in considering the medical depositions taken in conjunction with the 1981 petition. However, we reach this decision on the basis of statutory construction and not the constitutional ground advanced by defendants.
Section 859 of the Worker’s Disability Compensation Act, MCL 418.859; MSA 17.237(859), provides in part that the WCAB "may hear the parties, together with such additional evidence as it in its discretion may allow them to submit and shall file its order with the records of the proceedings”. In our opinion, the critical phrase of MCL 418.859; MSA 17.237(859) pertinent to this dispute is the "may allow them to submit” language. A fair reading of this language suggests that the Legislature intended that the WCAB would only have discretion to consider additional evidence if a request to consider this evidence was made by one of the parties. Had the Legislature intended the WCAB to have discretion to consider evidence outside the record on its own motion, we would have expected the Legislature to employ language in MCL 418.859; MSA 17.237(859) such as that the WCAB "may consider such additional evidence as it in its discretion deems necessary to a fair resolution of the case”.
Our construction of MCL 418.859; MSA 17.237(859) is supported by the Supreme Court’s order in Lang v General Motors Corp, 412 Mich 930; 315 NW2d 134 (1982), which states:
"Leave to appeal considered February 5, 1982 and, pursuant to GCR 1963, 853.2(4), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we reverse the Court of Appeals judgment and remand the case to the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board for reconsideration. The Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board erred in its de novo review by considering documentary evidence which was not in existence at the time of the hearing before the administrative law judge where neither party requested that the board consider the additional evidence. MCL 418.859; MSA 17.237(859). Compare Fawley v Doehler-Jarvis Div of National Lead Company, 342 Mich 100 (1955).”
The case of Fawley v Doehler-Jarvis Div of National Lead Co, 342 Mich 100; 68 NW2d 768 (1955), cited in the Lang order, while not based on a construction of a particular statutory provision, similarly notes the unfairness of allowing the WCAB to take up matters not considered by the parties to be in controversy. See, also, Kowalske v General Motors Corp, 126 Mich App 252, 255-256; 337 NW2d 54 (1983). Given these precedents, we conclude that this case must be remanded to the WCAB for reconsideration.
Defendants also contend that the WCAB erred in imposing interest at a rate of 12% per annum on all of the benefits found to be due to plaintiff but unpaid on January 1, 1982, the effective date of MCL 418.801(5); MSA 17.237(801)(6), which provides for the 12% interest rate. The Michigan Supreme Court recently resolved this issue contrary to defendant’s position in Selk v Detroit Plastic Products, 419 Mich 1; 345 NW2d 184 (1984).
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded to the WCAB for proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction. No costs, neither party having prevailed in full.
If the WCAB believes it is' desirable to consider something not of record, this opinion does not foreclose the board from contacting the parties and asking each to request that it be allowed to submit as additional evidence that which the board wants to consider. However, if all of the parties decline to make such a request, the WCAB may not consider the additional deposition, document or whatever the item may be. In any case, in every appeal to the WCAB in which the board does take additional evidence, all of the parties must be given notice of this decision and be given a reasonable opportunity to present arguments as to the significance which should be attached to the additional evidence. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiffs obtained a jury verdict in their favor for damages arising out of an alleged instance of police brutality. Defendants appeal as of right.
The defendant police officers testified that they raided Ricky’s Restaurant, which was owned by plaintiffs, based on information that two men were dealing drugs there. As they approached the restaurant, a crowd dispersed and two individuals ran inside. As Officer Sieloff began to open the door, it was slammed in his face. He then managed to get inside, where he was confronted by plaintiff Joseph Gainey with a stick. Soon, the other officers were able to push their way in, and they saw Sieloff and Gainey engaged in a physical struggle. Officers Smolinski and Sumner pulled Gainey away and removed him from the premises. Gainey resisted strongly and as they got through the door, they fell to the sidewalk.
Gainey testified that he was holding the door closed during a shift change, when the police burst in unannounced. As the door was flung open, Gainey was knocked to the floor. As he tried to get up, a police officer struck him on the arm with a black, cylindrical object. Although he did not struggle, an officer kicked him in the stomach while two others dragged him outside. There, he was thrown to the ground, kneed in the back and handcuffed. Because of the trauma, he urinated in his pants.
Gainey was taken to the First Precinct station. He testified that, while handcuffed and confined to the bullpen, Officer Sieloff struck him in the mouth. He was then handed a citation for interfering with a police officer in the performance of his duty. Gainey noticed that his left arm was swelling and requested medical treatment. It is unclear how long a delay occurred, but once he was taken to the hospital he had to wait several hours in the emergency room. The hospital staff then determined that he had a broken arm, and they applied a temporary cast. He was held overnight as a police prisoner with his right arm handcuffed to the bed.
Gainey eventually underwent surgery and a metal plate was screwed to the bone to secure the fracture. There was permanent injury to the arm because of damaged nerves which could not be surgically corrected. Gainey also underwent an operation on a preexisting hernia which was apparently aggravated in the course of his arrest. Gainey was never convicted of the interference charge as the police officers failed to appear at the time scheduled for trial.
Plaintiffs filed a nine-count complaint. Pursuant to an order granting partial summary judgment, Count vm was dismissed. The remaining counts were submitted to the jury. The jury returned a verdict of no cause of action as to Count n, conspiracy pursuant to 42 USC 1985, Count iv, malicious prosecution, Count vi, false arrest and imprisonment, and Count vn, intentional infliction of emotional distress. As to Count i, a claim brought under 42 USC 1983, the jury found liability only against Officers Sieloff, Smolinski and Sumner. As to Count v, a claim for assault and battery, the jury found direct liability only against Sieloff and found vicarious liability against the City of Detroit. As to Counts i and v, the jury awarded actual damages of $100,000, exemplary damages of $50,000, and punitive damages of $30,000 with respect to the federal claim. The jury also concluded, as to Count in, that each of the officers was liable for negligence. With respect to the negligence count, the jury found that plaintiff’s total damages, without duplicating any damages awarded on Counts i and v, were $100,000 in actual damages and $50,000 in exemplary damages. As to Count ix, plaintiff Enola Gainey’s claim for loss of consortium, the jury awarded $75,000.
i
Defendants challenge several evidentiary rulings by the trial court. Defendants assert that these rulings, both individually and collectively, deprived them of a fair trial. Our review is predicated on the threshold of MRE 103, which provides that, in the absence of plain error affecting substantial rights, a party must preserve error by a timely objection to admitted evidence or by an offer of proof of excluded evidence.
A
Defendants first argue that the court erred in excluding the expert opinions of Dr. Joseph Posch on the cause and extent of Gainey’s injuries. Plaintiffs’ expert had testified that Gainey’s broken arm was probably caused by being struck with great force by a blunt object. The expert admitted that there was some possibility that the injury could have been caused by a fall but explained why that was unlikely. Defendants clearly desired to elicit testimony from Dr. Posch that Gainey’s injury was likely caused by a fall. Plaintiffs objected on the basis that the foundation for the opinion was not clear. The court sustained the objection and defendants did not pursue the matter further. We find no reason to reverse. MRE 703 and 705 give the court the discretion to require that the underlying facts or data for an opinion be put in evidence prior to the opinion’s being given. Here, we find no abuse of discretion. Defendants’ failure to pursue laying a foundation constituted abandonment of the issue.
Defendants also sought an opinion from Dr. Posch about what effect Gainey’s surgery might have had on his radial or ulnar nerves. Plaintiffs’ objection questioned the foundation for the opinion and apparently went to relevancy. The court ex pressed an inability to recall any testimony by plaintiffs’ expert about such nerves but invited defendants to point to something in the record. Defendants said there was something about numbness, and the court responded that defendants should begin there. Defendants, however, did not pursue the matter and did not make an offer of proof and, therefore, have not preserved the issue for appeal.
Defendants also asked Dr. Posch his opinion about the effect of surgery to install a plate in an arm on a person’s range of motion of that arm. The court sustained plaintiffs’ objection on the basis that defendants needed to deal with the specific facts of this case. Again, defendants failed to make an offer of proof or pursue the matter, so we deem the issue waived.
B
Defendants had evidence of narcotics and paraphernalia seized from Ricky’s Restaurant at the time of Gainey’s arrest. Plaintiffs brought a motion in limine to exclude this evidence. The court found the evidence relevant to the reason that the defendant police officers were at the place. However, the court granted the motion on the ground that the evidence was more prejudicial than probative. The court indicated that its ruling was provisional and could change depending upon the nature of the evidence at trial. Defendants did not thereafter seek to introduce the evidence. We find no abuse of discretion in the court’s ruling. Defendants have failed to preserve any significant question here by not offering the evidence when the court could review the other evidence on the record at the trial.
c
Defendants contend that the court erred in per mitting evidence of prior civil judgments against two of the officers. The trial court had ruled that plaintiffs could introduce evidence of prior judgments with respect to their federal claims against the City of Detroit. Plaintiffs sought to prove that the city had a policy of retaining police officers notwithstanding their violent propensities.
In spite of the court’s ruling, defendants still objected when plaintiffs elicited the evidence at trial. In one instance, plaintiffs met defendants’ objection by stating that the evidence was relevant to a showing of the use of excessive force.
Defendants now argue that the evidence was improper because it was offered to show that the individual defendants acted in accordance with their prior behavior. We are not persuaded. Notwithstanding plaintiffs’ reference to excessive force, we are persuaded that plaintiffs’ purpose was to establish municipal liability. Thus, the evidence was not offered for a prohibited purpose. MRE 404 and 608. Furthermore, we do not find that the court abused its discretion in concluding that the probative value of the evidence was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. MRE 403.
D
Defendants next challenge the court’s ruling permitting plaintiffs to call Ernest Lee, Dr. Schwartz and James Feinberg as witnesses, notwithstanding plaintiffs’ failure to list the witnesses as required by WCCR 301.3(d). The local court rule prohibits calling an unlisted witness except as the court orders for good cause shown or as permitted by other provisions in the rule. Here, the court allowed the witnesses to be called after noting that counsel were from busy law firms and discovery had been protracted by all involved. The court permitted defendants to file a witness list at that time as well.
On appeal, defendants argue that the local court rule is mandatory and that their own failure to file a witness list cannot excuse plaintiffs, who had the burden of proof. Plaintiffs respond that the court had discretion to allow plaintiffs to call the witnesses, citing Rittenhouse v Erhart, 126 Mich App 674, 680; 337 NW2d 626 (1983), rev’d in part on other grounds, 424 Mich 166; 380 NW2d 440 (1985).
Rittenhouse is not on point, as it does not address the provisions of the Wayne County rule. As to Dr. Schwartz, we are persuaded that good cause was shown because plaintiffs had resorted to him as a treating doctor only about a month before trial. We are not convinced that plaintiffs showed good cause for not timely listing Lee and Feinberg. Nevertheless, we find the error harmless. Notwithstanding Feinberg’s testimony as an expert on malicious prosecution, the jury returned a verdict of no cause of action on that count. Lee’s testimony was cumulative of plaintiffs’.
E
In their complaint, plaintiffs alleged that their restaurant and nearby grocery store were destroyed by fire because Gainey was in the hospital and therefore unable to supervise the business. To refute this claim, defendants unsuccessfully sought to introduce evidence that the fire started in a second floor apartment after the businesses had closed. The court ruled the offered evidence immaterial because, notwithstanding the complaint, plaintiffs had not presented any proofs during trial to put this matter in issue. We agree with the trial court and find no error. Enola Gainey’s testimony in this regard was that her husband’s hospitaliza tion kept him from salvaging the appliances, not from preventing the fire in the first instance.
F
Defendants lastly challenge the testimony of Feinberg as an expert on malicious prosecution. However, as the jury returned a verdict of no cause of action on the malicious prosecution claim, we think that the error, if any, was harmless.
ii
Defendants next assign error to several rulings of the trial court regarding jury instructions. Since the presentation of this case to us, the Supreme Court has modified the standard of review where an applicable and accurate standard jury instruction has been requested and denied. No longer will error be presumed and automatic reversal required. Johnson v Corbet, 423 Mich 304; 377 NW2d 713 (1985); Moody v Pulte Homes, Inc, 423 Mich 150; 378 NW2d 319 (1985). We will vacate a jury verdict for noncompliance with MCR 2.516 only when the error is such that failure to set aside the verdict is "inconsistent with substantial justice.” MCR 2.613(A).
A
Defendants contend that the court erred reversibly in failing to give the first sentence of SJI2d 115.21, which provides, "Plaintiff has the burden of proving that defendant willfully and intentionally touched the plaintiff against the plaintiff’s will.” Plaintiffs respond that the instruction was not really applicable because the focus of the assault and battery instructions as a whole was on whether the officers used excessive force.
We agree with plaintiffs’ argument. We do note that pursuant to plaintiffs’ theory of the case there were two bases for an assault and battery verdict —excessive force used on Gainey at the restaurant and the punch in the face at the precinct station. The instructions given by the court, however, seem to address only the incident at the restaurant, as the instructions include voluntary fighting by Gainey, excessive or unreasonable force by the officers, resisting an unlawful arrest, and self-defense by Officer Sieloff. Taking these instructions as a whole, to which defendants did not object, the addition of SJI2d 115.21, which the court apparently omitted by mistake, would not have made the instructions complete or significantly clarified the burden of proof in light of the facts of this case. Accordingly, we conclude that the error was harmless.
B
Defendants requested SJI2d 6.01 on failure to produce a witness. This instruction has four alternative paragraphs and requires the court to determine which is applicable by making findings about the party’s control over the evidence, reasonable excuse for failure to produce the evidence and materiality and availability of the evidence.
No record was made of the in-chambers conference on jury instructions and hence there is no record of the court’s findings on the three factors stated above. Defendants’ subsequent objection to the court’s refusal to give the instruction was not specific so as to preserve the issue for review. GCR 1963, 516.2, now MCR 2.516(C).
c
Defendants also contend that the court erred reversibly by failing to give all of that part of SJI2d 16.02 addressing comparative negligence. We disagree. The court clearly instructed that the amount of damages to which Gainey would other wise be entitled must be reduced by the percentage of his negligence which was a proximate cause of his injury. This adequately substituted for the omitted portion, so defendants were not prejudiced.
D
Defendants argue that reversible error occurred because the court failed to give the last sentence of SJI2d 50.01: "Your verdict must be solely to compensate plaintiff for his damages, and not to punish the defendant.” In its place, the court gave a longer instruction in an effort to explain exemplary and punitive damages and their applicability to the federal and state claims. Significantly, the special verdict form made a breakdown of actual, exemplary and punitive damages with the question of punitive damages being reached only if the jury answered yes to either of the questions dealing with the constitutional rights claims under 42 USC 1983 and 1985. Between the instruction given and the special verdict form, we are convinced that defendants were not prejudiced.
E
The court gave an instruction similar to CJI 5:2:13 on the credibility of police officers, notwithstanding that SJI2d 4.09 suggests that SJI2d 4.01 is sufficient and recommends that no instructions on the credibility of special categories of witnesses be given. GCR 1963, 516.6(3), now MCR 2.516(D)(3), required the court to state on the record its reasons for giving an instruction that the sji committee recommends against. The court in this case did not comply with the court rule, but neither did defendants object to the noncompliance. Nor did defendants specify the grounds for their objection to the instruction. Accordingly, we will not reverse as we do not find that defendants were deprived of a fair trial. Moskalik v Dunn, 392 Mich 583; 221 NW2d 313 (1974). We acknowledge plaintiffs’ observation that federal courts have held that such instructions are proper in police misconduct cases under 42 USC 1983. See Kerr v Chicago, 424 F2d 1134 (CA 7, 1970); Roberts v Hollocher, 664 F2d 200 (CA 8, 1981); cf., Darbin v Nourse, 664 F2d 1109 (CA 9, 1981).
F
Defendants contend that the court erred in giving an instruction that the officers violated the Fourth Amendment if they failed to knock and announce before entering Ricky’s Restaurant unless they had facts justifying a belief that immediate entry was necessary. On appeal, defendants argue that this instruction was erroneous because the restaurant was a public place. United States v Santana, 427 US 38; 96 S Ct 2406; 49 L Ed 2d 300 (1976). Plaintiffs respond that the restaurant was closed to the public at the time the police entered so that the instruction was correct given the facts of the case.
Defendants did not specify their ground for objection in the court below but merely identified which instruction they were objecting to. This was insufficient to preserve the claimed error for review. GCR 1963, 516.2.
III
Defendants next assert that misconduct by plaintiffs’ counsel deprived them of a fair trial. Regarding the opening statement, defendants contend that plaintiffs’ counsel first set a highly charged tone to the proceeding and then began to argue improperly to the jury. Defendants point to three instances of improper argument. To two of these, defendants’ objections were sustained by the court. As to the third, defendants failed to object. We find that defendants were not denied a fair trial.
Defendants claim that plaintiffs introduced irrelevant evidence of Enola Gainey’s diabetic condition without tying it in as promised. Defendants never moved to strike the evidence after plaintiffs failed to prove its relevance. We do not find that plaintiffs engaged in misconduct. This is merely an evidentiary question which defendant failed to preserve for appeal.
During cross-examination of one of plaintiffs’ witnesses, defense counsel observed plaintiffs’ attorney making faces and other gestures. Defense counsel objected and plaintiffs’ attorney apologized to the court and jury. Not having seen the behavior, the court did not censure the attorney. It does not appear that the attorney repeated the behavior. We find that defendants were not deprived of a fair trial.
Defendants assert that plaintiffs’ attorney improperly spoke with one of the defendants during trial. The attorney claimed that the defendant had volunteered certain information. The defendant said he did not recollect the alleged conversation, and the matter was then dropped. We are not persuaded that there was an unethical communication. Nor are we persuaded that the defendant’s credibility was unfairly pitted against that of plaintiffs’ attorney. Defendants do not argue that plaintiffs’ attorney’s conduct was dishonest, and we think the attorney otherwise could properly ask the witness about the statement. MRE 613(a).
Defendants lastly challenge the conduct of plaintiffs’ attorney in offering and giving the judge a ride home one evening during the trial. Defendants assert that the attorney violated Canon 7 of the Code of Professional Responsibility, although they do not go so far as to allege that the attorney discussed the merits of the case in violation of DR 7-110(B). In terms of actual unfairness, defendants merely rely on their other allegations of error and impropriety, as to which we find no relationship with the ride. Defendants also assert the appearance of unfairness. We agree that offering and accepting the ride was an exercise of poor judgment on the part of the trial court and trial counsel. However, weight must be given to the fact that defense counsel was present at the time and did not timely register an objection. We agree with the trial court that a mistrial was not required.
IV
Defendants next argue that summary judgment should have been granted on the negligence count based on the doctrine of governmental immunity. However, the officers’ behavior at issue did not consist of discretionary-decisional acts but rather the execution of a decision. Effecting an arrest is a ministerial-operational act. An officer must make an arrest without excessive force. Ross v Consumers Power Co (On Rehearing), 420 Mich 567, 660; 363 NW2d 641 (1984). Accordingly, the defendants were not entitled to immunity, and the court properly denied their motion.
v
Defendants argue that the court erred in refusing to reconvene the jury where juror affidavits indicated that the judgment was inconsistent with the verdict intended. Defendants accept as black letter law the rule set forth in Hoffman v Monroe Public Schools, 96 Mich App 256, 261; 292 NW2d 542 (1980), lv den 409 Mich 931 (1980):
[O]nce a jury has been polled and discharged, its members may not challenge mistakes or misconduct inherent in the verdict. After that point, oral testimony or affidavits by the jurors may only be received on extraneous or outside errors (such as undue influence by outside parties), or to correct clerical errors or matters of form.
Defendants argue that the present case fits within the clerical error exception and that Dunham v Veterans of Foreign Wars Club of Muskegon, Post 446, 104 Mich App 541; 305 NW2d 260 (1981), lv den 412 Mich 912 (1982), is on point.
The court considered this issue twice and both times refused to grant defendants’ request to reconvene the jury. The first time, the court touched on many points: many hours were spent by the court and the attorneys together developing the special verdict form; defendants did not object to the special verdict form as given to the jury; the jury had been polled and discharged thirty days earlier and it was unknown if they were still available; the jury did not request clarification of the verdict form; the juror that submitted the affidavit was not competent to challenge the verdict; and the special verdict form was unambiguous. On the second occasion that this matter was before the court, more than five months after trial, defendants obtained on the same day an affidavit from another juror. The court reiterated that the verdict form was unambiguous and defendants had not objected to it.
We are not convinced that the verdict form is without ambiguity. Question 8 was titled "Damages under Counts i, n, v, vi, and vzr” and provided space for the jury to fill in actual and exemplary compensatory damages as to plaintiff Joseph Gainey. It separately provided for punitive damages as to Counts i and ii. Question 9, dealing with malicious prosecution (Count iv), stated in part:
In addition to any award under question 8 above, we award plaintiff compensatory actual damages, applicable to this specific action only.
Question 10 dealt with negligence (Count in). Rather than repeat language similar to that in question 9, it stated:
Without duplicating any damages that might have been awarded under Counts i, n, iv, v, vi or vn, what is the total amount of plaintiff’s damages?
The affidavits of the two jurors are to the effect that the jury found no compensatory damages for negligence different from that awarded in question 8 and therefore merely repeated the compensatory amounts as the "total” compensatory damages to plaintiff in question 10.
That the verdict form may have been unclear and the jury misunderstood it does not require reversal. Misunderstanding usually is said to inhere in the verdict. See Brillhart v Mullins, 128 Mich App 140; 339 NW2d 722 (1983); Anno: Competency of juror's statement of affidavit to show that verdict in civil case was not correctly recorded, 18 ALR3d 1132. This case, if the affidavits are true, is one of misunderstanding of the verdict and not mere clerical error. Nevertheless, even taking defendants’ approach pursuant to Dunham, supra, we find no reversible error.
The clerical error exception exists because,
presumably, the correct information will already exist on the record and it will merely be a matter of conforming the written judgment to the earlier in-court statements; no invasion of the juror’s room or minds will be necessitated. [Hoffman, supra, p 261.]
Dunham appears to be based on a generous interpretation of this exception. In Brillhart, supra, p 154, this Court concluded that the Dunham panel was probably "influenced by the fact that plaintiffs closing argument to the jury suggested the same figure claimed on appeal to be the amount the jury intended.” Unlike Dunham, there is nothing in the present record to support the intepretation of the verdict form presented in the juror affidavits. Any relief would have to be based solely and completely upon what the jurors said they intended, although they had been polled at trial and affirmed that the verdict was their own. This case clearly fits within the general rule set forth in Hoffman. For these reasons we affirm the trial court’s refusal to reconvene the jury.
vi
Defendants next challenge the court’s award of attorney fees. Plaintiffs had filed a taxable bill of costs in the amount of $2,150.09 and a time record showing 290 hours. Plaintiffs requested that attorney fees be awarded at an hourly rate of $100 for a total of $29,000. The trial court allowed only $505 for uncontested filing fees, service fees and witness fees. However, it awarded plaintiffs attorney fees in the amount of $43,500, one-and-one-half times what plaintiffs requested. The court noted that plaintiffs were requesting a mediation rejection attorney fee, pursuant to WCCR 403, or a reasonable attorney fee, pursuant to 42 USC 1988. The court’s analysis reveals that it proceeded on the basis of the local rule, imposing sanctions for the purpose of discouraging unnecessary trial of contested cases. The court took note of the maximum allowable fee of one-third of the amount recovered. See GCR 1963, 928. The court then considered the guidelines set forth in Crawley v Shick, 48 Mich App 728; 211 NW2d 217 (1973).
The Crawley guidelines were adopted by the Supreme Court in Wood v DAIIE, 413 Mich 573, 588; 321 NW2d 653 (1982). The Supreme Court went on to state that a trial court is not limited to those factors in making its determination of reasonableness, and that the trial court need not detail its findings as to each specific factor considered. The standard of review is abuse of discretion.
There is a flaw in the trial court’s analysis bringing together WCCR 403 and Crawley. The court rule provides for "an attorney fee for each day of trial in circuit court, determined by the trial judge in accordance with the fee prevailing locally.” While such a fee must be reasonable, it is not determined by weighing numerous factors but rather by looking to one factor—prevailing local fees. Thus, Crawley, which applies where "reasonable fees” are authorized in the broad discretion of the court, is inapplicable here.
The only evidence of prevailing local fees was plaintiffs’ requested rate of $100 per hour, which was the rate billed by the attorney’s law firm. Plaintiffs’ time record indicates that 84.5 hours were actually spent in trial so $8,450 is the maximum attorney fee authorized by the court rule given the evidence of record.
Any additional fee must therefore flow from the federal civil rights claim. The trial court did consider what is a reasonable fee pursuant to 42 USC 1988, so we deem a remand necessary. What Congress intended a reasonable fee to be pursuant to 42 USC 1988 is a matter of federal law. Accordingly, on remand, the lower court shall consider federal law on the subject, including Pennsylvania v Delaware Valley Citizens’ Council for Clean Air, 478 US —; 106 S Ct 3088; 92 L Ed 2d 439 (1986).
VII
We find no merit in defendants’ claim that the trial court abused its discretion in denying defendants’ motion for remittitur. Precopio v Detroit, 415 Mich 457; 330 NW2d 802 (1982).
Affirmed in part and remanded for the court to reconsider reasonable attorney fees pursuant to 42 USC 1988. | [
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Beasley, P.J.
On February 15, 1985, respondent, Michigan Department of Social Services, entered an order directing petitioner, Raifprd Tomlin, D.O., to reimburse the dss for medicaid overpayments already made to petitioner for allegedly unnecessary treatment he had provided to his patients during 1978. In entering the order, the dss expressly adopted the extensive findings of fact and conclusions of law previously made by the hearing officer in this matter and required the Medical Services Administration to calculate the final overpayment amount owed by petitioner based on the hearing officer’s specific findings. On appeal, the parties agree that the hearing officer’s findings led to a conclusion that petitioner had received medicaid overpayments in the amount of $57,844.51.
On April 8, 1985, petitioner filed a petition in the Genesee Circuit Court for review of the order entered by respondent dss. On July 30, 1985, the circuit judge entered an order affirming the order of the dss based on her finding that the hearing officer’s findings were supported by competent, material and substantial evidence. Petitioner appeals as of right.
In challenging the dss order on appeal, petitioner raises numerous issues, but has failed to furnish a transcript of the proceedings conducted before the hearing officer. In his first issue on appeal, petitioner argues that the circuit judge erred in denying his motion to compel respondent to provide a transcript of the administrative proceedings and to bear the cost of preparing the transcript. In making this argument, petitioner relies on MCL 24. 304(2); MSA 3.560(204)(2), which provides in pertinent part:
Within 60 days after service of the petition, or within such further time as the court allows, the agency shall transmit to the court the original copy of the entire record of the proceedings, unless parties to the proceedings for judicial review stipulate that the record be shortened.
Although this language from § 104(2) of the Administrative Procedures Act indicates that, on appeal, the dss was required to provide the entire record of the administrative proceedings, the specific definition of an "official record” included in § 86 of the apa reveals that the dss was not required to transcribe, at its own cost, the record of oral proceedings. MCL 24.286(2); MSA 3.560(186)(2) expressly states:
Oral proceedings at which evidence is presented shall be recorded, but need not be transcribed unless requested by a party who shall pay for the transcription of the portion requested except as otherwise provided by law.
The definition of "official record” in the above statute makes it clear that a record of administrative proceedings is complete for purposes of MCL 24.304(2); MSA 3.560 (204)(2) if it contains the tape recordings of the oral evidence. There is no requirement that the agency submit the oral evidence in transcribed form other than upon request "by a party who shall pay for the transcription.”
In reaching this conclusion, we recognize that this Court has previously held, in Justewicz v Hamtramck Civil Service Comm, that an agency has the burden of producing the transcripts necessary for insuring meaningful judicial review. However, we also note that the Justewicz Court merely held that the agency had to physically procure a transcript upon request and did not address the issue of whether the agency was required to pay for the transcription. Thus, we do not believe the decision in Justewicz controls the issue raised by petitioner in this appeal. Therefore, based on the clear statutory language above, we conclude that the circuit judge did not err in denying petitioner’s motion to require respondent dss to provide, at its own cost, a transcript of the administrative proceedings.
Although a petitioner’s failure to provide a transcript of the administrative proceedings may sometimes preclude meaningful appellate review, we believe the lower court records provided in this case allow for review of the remaining issues raised by petitioner on appeal. This is so, since the hearing officer, in a forty-one-page report, extensively discussed the detailed facts that led to her ultimate findings concerning petitioner’s receipt of medicaid overpayments. The hearing officer’s report indicates that the dss calculation of the overpayment amount was based on statistical sampling procedures utilized during an audit of petitioner’s medicaid patient files for calendar year 1978. The audit revealed that petitioner provided services to 617 medicaid patients during 1978. The dss auditor selected a random sample of one hundred of petitioner’s 1978 medicaid patients and analyzed, in detail, the propriety of the medicaid payments made to petitioner for the services he had provided to those one hundred patients.
Based on the detailed audit conducted by the dss on the one hundred randomly selected patient files, a rate of overpayment was determined. The statistical rate of overpayment was then projected over the entire 617 medicaid patient population in order to arrive at a total overpayment amount for the services provided by petitioner in 1978. In this case, the dss’s original estimate of overpayments was $72,775.98. Following a conference with petitioner, the overpayment amount was recalculated to $67,479.66. Subsequently, after applying the hearing officer’s detailed findings on the asserted overpayments made to petitioner for services provided to the randomly selected one hundred patients, the overpayment calculation was adjusted to the final $57,844.51 amount.
On appeal, petitioner argues that the circuit judge erred when she found that the hearing officer's decision was supported by competent, material and substantial evidence on the whole record and was not arbitrary, capricious or clearly an abuse or unwarranted exercise of discretion and, thus, should not be reversed pursuant to MCL 24.306(1); MSA 3.560(206)(1). Specifically, petitioner first argues that the hearing officer’s detailed findings on the medicaid overpayment made to petitioner for services provided to the one hundred patients whose files were audited in detail by the dss were not supported by competent, material and substantial evidence. Our review of the hearing officer’s detailed, forty-one-page report, which includes an extensive analysis of each individual overpayment claim made by the dss on the one hundred audited patient files, leads us to conclude that petitioner’s argument is without merit.
The report reveals that the hearing officer, after examining the individual patient files in detail and hearing extensive testimony, ascertained, item by item, whether the medicaid payments received by petitioner related to "unnecessary” services and, thus, were properly characterized as "overpayments.” The total overpayment amount for these one hundred patients was then calculated by applying the hearing officer’s detailed findings as to each overpayment item claimed by the dss. The hearing officer’s procedure in determining the overpayment amount for the one hundred randomly selected patients reveals that her detailed findings were supported by competent, material and substantial evidence.
In arriving at this conclusion, we note that petitioner only makes two specific allegations in order to support his claim that the hearing officer’s decision was not supported by the evidence. First, petitioner alleges that the hearing officer failed to consider that the dss received reimbursement from a patient’s insurer for the overpayments related to that patient. However, even if the hearing officer did fail to address this allegation, such a failure does not affect our conclusion that the hearing officer’s determination of the overpayment amount was supported by substantial evidence. Petitioner does not argue that the reimbursed amount was not properly characterized as an "overpayment.” Thus, the hearing officer properly included this improper individual overpayment amount in the total overpayment amount related to the one hundred patients which was used as a base figure for statistical extrapolation over the entire 617 patient population. The fact that the individual overpayment amount may have eventually been reimbursed to the dss does not mandate its exclusion from the statistical base figure, since the individual overpayment indicates overpayments expected to be found in the remaining 517 patient files which would not have been reimbursed. The alleged reimbursement would only relate to the individual patient’s account and would, at most, only require the dss to credit petitioner’s total overpayment amount for the specific individual amount allegedly reimbursed. Such a reimbursement credit would not require recalculation of the total overpayment amount and would not lead to a conclusion that the hearing officer’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence.
Second, petitioner points to a specific medical test performed on two separate, individual patients. The hearing officer found that medicaid payments were proper for the patient whose test result was normal and were improper for the patient whose test result was abnormal. However, this fact alone does not lead to a conclusion that the hearing officer’s decision was not supported by the evidence. The hearing officer noted as follows in her report:
The determination of medical necessity of medical tests is based on the history, physical examination and findings contained in the entries on the medical chart. Abnormal test results do not justify ordering a test. Negative tests are reimbursed if properly ordered; positive tests are not reimbursed if they were not medically necessary when ordered.
We agree with the hearing officer’s statement and, thus, conclude that the hearing officer could properly find that petitioner improperly ordered a test on a patient even though the test results were subsequently abnormal.
Petitioner next argues that the hearing officer’s decision denying him medicaid payments for certain services provided to his patients during 1978, for which he allegedly could have received medicaid payments, was arbitrary and capricious, and constituted an abuse of discretion. However, petitioner concedes that he did not claim medicaid payment for these services until the audit process revealed that he was liable for the reimbursement of medicaid overpayments, which was well over a year after he had rendered the services. MCL 400.111b(8); MSA 16.490(21b)(8) requires medical services providers to submit claims for payments within twelve months from the date the services were provided. Since petitioner failed to submit his claims related to services provided in 1978 within twelve months from the time of service, the hearing officer properly denied him medicaid payment for such services.
Petitioner goes on to claim that the twelvemonth limitation for requesting medicaid payments denies him equal protection of the law, in violation of Const 1963, art 1, § 2, for the reason that the dss can make claims for the refund of overpayments more than twelve months after the service has been provided. This claim is completely without legal merit. Petitioner and the dss are not similarly situated parties for purposes of equal protection analysis. Petitioner is the provider of medical services and the party who must bill the dss for medicaid payments related to the services provided. The dss, on the other hand, administers the medicaid program by making payments to medical service providers upon being billed for such services. After making medicaid payments, the dss may audit the propriety of a medical service provider’s charges to medicaid and claim a refund for any improper charges. In addition, we note that the twelve-month limit applies to all medical service providers. Since no classification exists between parties in like positions in this medicaid payment situation, no factual or legal basis exists to support petitioner’s equal protection claim.
Petitioner goes on to argue that the hearing officer arbitrarily and capriciously selected a method for extrapolating the overpayment total for the one hundred patient files audited in detail to arrive at an overpayment total for the entire 617 patient population served by petitioner during 1978. We disagree. In her report, the hearing officer extensively discussed the relative merits of two alternative statistical methods of extrapolating the one hundred patient overpayment total. She noted that calculation of the overpayment under .method No. 1 produced a range from $62,-860 to $72,098, with a mid-point of $67,479.66, and that calculation of the overpayment under method No. 2 produced a range from $45,900 to $73,800, with a midpoint of $59,811.24. After noting that the expert testimony revealed that each method was sufficiently accurate under the accepted standard practice of mathematics and statistics, the hearing officer adopted the midpoint under method No. 1 as the starting point for her detailed review. The hearing officer specifically found that, under method No. 1, one could be ninety-five percent confident that the actual overpayment was between $62,860 and $72,098, that this range was a tighter range than that resulting under method No. 2, that this range was included in the wider method No. 2 range, and that it was mathematically more precise than the method No. 2 range. Based on these specific findings, we conclude that the hearing officer’s decision to adopt the statistical results under method No. 1 was not arbitrary or capricious and did not constitute an abuse of discretion.
In reaching this conclusion, we note that on appeal petitioner does not challenge the hearing officer’s specific findings, but merely asserts that the hearing officer chose method No. 1 since it was more favorable to the dss. Petitioner fails to point to any evidence supporting his allegation of bias on the part of the hearing officer other than the fact that the hearing officer is employed by the dss. Petitioner goes on to make a general assertion that he was denied his constitutional right to due process based solely on the fact that the hearing officer was an employee of the agency that made the initial overpayment determination (dss).
In City of Livonia v DSS, the Michigan Supreme Court recently set out the proper standard for reviewing the impartiality of an administrative decisionmaker. The Livonia Court first noted that the right to a hearing before an unbiased and impartial administrative decisionmaker is a basic requirement of due process and of MCL 24.279; MSA 3.560(179). The Court then stated that actual bias need not be shown, but that the situation must be one where the probability of actual bias on the part of the decisionmaker is too high to be constitutionally tolerable. The Livonia Court then noted four situations presenting such an intolerable risk:_
"... where the judge or decisionmaker
"(1) has a pecuniary interest in the outcome;
"(2) 'has been the target of personal abuse or criticism from the party before him’;
"(3) is 'enmeshed in [other] matters involving petitioner . . . ’; or
"(4) might have prejudged the case because of prior participation as an accuser, investigator, factfinder or initial decisionmaker.”[ ]
In the within case, petitioner bases his claim of constitutionally intolerable bias solely on the fact that the hearing officer is employed by respondent dss. We do not believe the mere fact that the decisionmaker is employed by the agency conducting the initial investigation and making the initial decision falls within any of the four situations of intolerable risk of actual bias on the part of the decisionmaker. We believe this result is obvious in the Livonia decision itself, since the Court declined to find that the petitioner had been denied his right to an unbiased and impartial decisionmaker where the director of the dss had reviewed the findings of the agency’s own hearing officer and had then made the final determination. Our finding on this issue is especially appropriate in this case where the hearing officer was not involved in any way with the initial investigation of petitioner’s patient files and with the initial overpayment determination. Therefore, we hold that petitioner was not denied his right to an impartial and unbiased decisionmaker in this case.
Petitioner further asserts that, even if the hearing officer was an impartial decisionmaker, he had a constitutional right to a jury trial in this medicaid overpayment matter under US Const, Am VII; Const 1963, art 1, § 14. We disagree. The mere fact that an administrative proceeding may result in the agency’s recovery of previously disbursed funds does not render it a civil case at common law to which the constitutional right to a jury trial attaches. The Legislature, by enacting MCL 400.111a et seq.; MSA 16.490(21a) et seq., in 1980, expressly authorized the dss to administer the medicaid program and to recover medicaid payments made to a provider in excess of the reimbursement to which he is entitled. In such a situation, where the Legislature has created new public rights and remedies, the Legislature does not violate the Seventh Amendment of the United States Constitution by delegating the enforcement of the new rights and remedies to an administrative tribunal.
Furthermore, Const 1963, art 1, § 14, preserves the right to jury trial only in causes of action which were part of the common law prior to its adoption or were similar in character to cases in which the right to a jury trial existed prior to its adoption. The Legislature’s authorization of the dss, in 1980, to recover medicaid overpayments pursuant to MCL 400.111a(5)(d); MSA 16.490(21a)(5)(d) was not a civil cause of action existing at the time the state constitution was adopted. In addition, the recovery of medicaid overpayments is not an action similar in character to cases in which the right to a jury trial existed at the time of adoption of the state constitution. Therefore, we conclude that petitioner did not have a constitutional right to a jury trial in the within case._
Petitioner also claims that the hearing officer abused her discretion by extrapolating over the entire year overpayments which resulted from a concededly improper billing procedure used by petitioner during only one month of 1978. This claim is without factual merit. The hearing officer noted that petitioner admitted using an improper billing procedure during May, 1978. However, the hearing officer did not extrapolate these May over-payments over the entire year. In fact, no extrapolation of overpayments over time was ever done by the dss or the hearing officer. The only extrapolation of data in this matter was from the overpayments revealed by the detailed audit of one hundred randomly selected patient files to the entire 617-patient population. These randomly selected one hundred patients did not receive all, or even an unusually extensive amount, of medical services in May, 1978, when the billing procedure was concededly improper. Thus, the overpayments related to these one hundred patients were representative of petitioner’s services during the entire year and were properly applied to the entire patient population in order to calculate a total overpayment figure. Therefore, we find that the hearing officer did not abuse her discretion in concluding:
The Petitioner gave several examples of errors that only occurred during part of the audit year. The evidence presented failed to establish his contention that extrapolation of those errors over the entire population was statistically incorrect.
Petitioner is, in reality, challenging the propriety of the statistical random-sampling procedures used by the dss to calculate the total medicaid overpayment amount. However, in Quality Clinical Laboratories, Inc v DSS, this Court reviewed this precise issue and found that the use of a sampling extrapolation formula for determining overpayments to physicians under the medicaid program is not arbitrary, capricious or invidiously discriminatory where there is an opportunity to rebut the initial determination of overpayment. In the within case, petitioner clearly had an opportunity to rebut the dss’s initial determination of a $72,775.98 overpayment. In fact, the hearing officer’s detailed review resulted in a determination that the overpayment amount was the lesser sum of $57,844.51. Therefore, we conclude that the use of the statistical extrapolation formula in this case was not arbitrary or capricious and did not constitute an abuse of discretion.
Last, petitioner argues that the doctrine of equitable estoppel applies in this situation so as to bar the dss from claiming any medicaid overpayments to petitioner. Petitioner bases this argument on his assertion that the dss had performed an investigation into his medicaid accounts prior to 1978 and had found no improper medicaid payments. Petitioner alleges that he used the same procedures and methods in providing patient service during 1978 as he had during the prior audit period. Since the prior dss audit resulted in no overpayment claim, he argues that the dss led him to reasonably believe his procedures complied with the medicaid program requirements and, thus, the dss should be estopped from challenging these same procedures subsequently used in 1978.
In Hastings Mutual Ins Co v Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co, this Court recently described when the application of equitable estoppel is appropriate]
Estoppel arises where one by his acts, representations, or silence when he ought to speak, intentionally or through culpable negligence induces another to believe in the existence of certain facts and that person justifiably relies on the existence of the assumed facts to his detriment.
The key in this case is whether petitioner justiñably relied on the results of the prior dss audit in deciding what services to provide to his medicaid patients in 1978. We believe he did not. The mere fact that a prior dss audit did not result in a claimed overpayment does not provide a basis for a trained, professional medical-service provider to blindly believe that his procedures completely and always comply with the requirements of the medicaid program. The prior audit result in this case did not provide petitioner, who is a medical professional trained and licensed to provide proper and necessary medical services, with a basis to justifiably believe that he could receive medicaid payments for unnecessary medical services provided during 1978 simply by following his prior procedures. Therefore, we conclude that the doctrine of equitable estoppel does not apply in this situation so as to estop the dss from claiming a refund for medicaid overpayments made to petitioner for unnecessary medical services provided during 1978.
In summary, we find that the circuit judge properly found that the dss was not required to provide petitioner with a transcript of the administrative hearings conducted in this matter at its own expense. In addition, we find that the circuit judge properly found that the hearing officer’s decision concerning the medicaid overpayments made to petitioner was supported by competent, material and substantial evidence and was not arbitrary or capricious and did not constitute an abuse of dis cretion. Furthermore, we find that the dss was not estopped from claiming a refund for the 1978 medicaid overpayments made to petitioner based on the results of a prior audit.
Affirmed.
65 Mich App 555; 237 NW2d 555 (1975).
MCL 400.111a(5)(d); MSA 16.490(21a)(5)(d).
Quality Clinical Services, Inc v DSS, 141 Mich App 597; 367 NW2d 390 (1985).
423 Mich 466, 508-512; 378 NW2d 402 (1985).
Id., p 509, quoting Crampton v Dep’t of State, 395 Mich 347, 351; 235 NW2d 352 (1975).
See Atlas Roofing Co, Inc v Occupational Safety & Health Review Comm, 430 US 442; 97 S Ct 1261; 51 L Ed 2d 464 (1977) (Review of civil fines imposed on employers for violations of osha by administrative agency does not violate the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.)
See Conservation Dep’t v Brown, 335 Mich 343, 346; 55 NW2d 859 (1952); In re Colon, 144 Mich App 805, 817-819; 377 NW2d 321 (1985).
Supra.
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Sullivan, J.
On January 17, 1984, plaintiffs filed a complaint against defendants in this asbestos-related personal injury action. Included in this complaint was a claim filed by plaintiff Shelbie Furby for loss of consortium. Defendant Raymark Industries, Inc., subsequently moved for summary disposition only as to the loss of consortium claim. The motion was granted by an order for partial summary disposition, entered on June 3, 1985. On June 21, 1985, the trial court entered an order modifying the June 3, 1985, order to reflect that it applied to all defendants. Plaintiffs appeal as of right.
Plaintiff Kenneth Furby, Shelbie’s husband, was employed in the insulation industry from 1947 until 1968. During this period, he was repeatedly exposed to asbestos, asbestos dust and fibers. In 1980, Kenneth Furby was hospitalized for lung congestion and fatigue. Dr. Irving Selikoff, after viewing Mr. Furby’s x-rays, wrote the following opinion in a letter to Mr. Furby dated June 16, 1981:
There is clear evidence of scarring of the pleura and left diaphragm, with calcification. This is characteristically the result of previous asbestos exposure.
However, these scars were limited in extent and were not accompanied by any of the more serious changes that we occasionally see and that would give us current concern.
In their answer to defendants’ interrogatories, plaintiffs stated "plaintiff [Kenneth Furby] was aware of his respiratory disorders in general terms, but such conditions were not attributed to exposure to asbestos until June of 1981,” the date of Dr. SelikofFs letter.
Plaintiffs were married on October 11, 1981. In September, 1983, Dr. Jeffrey Parker diagnosed Mr. Furby as having asbestosis, and stated that the condition was related to his occupational exposure to asbestos.
In their complaint, plaintiffs alleged negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability, and further claimed that Kenneth Furby’s injuries were caused by products containing asbestos which he used in the course of his work. Additionally, as stated, Shelbie Furby filed her claim for loss of consortium. Raymark brought its motion to dismiss the loss of consortium claim on the basis that the plaintiffs did not marry until after Mr. Furby became exposed to asbestos and learned that he had an asbestos-related injury. The circuit court granted the motion, holding that the spouse of an individual who has sustained asbestos-related injuries may not sue for loss of consortium unless he or she was married to the victim at the time he first became exposed to or became aware of the possibility of an asbestos-related disease.
Defendant Raymark brought its motion for partial summary disposition on the ground that Ms. Furby failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8), formerly GCR 1963, 117.2(1).
A summary judgment under GCR 1963, 117.2(1) challenges the legal adequacy of the pleadings. The test which the court should apply is whether plaintiffs claim, on the pleadings, is so clearly unenforceable as a matter of law that no factual development can possibly justify a right to recover. Abel v Eli Lilly & Co, 418 Mich 311, 323-324; 343 NW2d 164 (1984), reh den 419 Mich 1201, 1214 (1984), cert den — US —; 105 S Ct 123; 83 L Ed 2d 65 (1984). [Jackson Dist Library v Jackson County #1, 146 Mich App 392, 400; 380 NW2d 112 (1985).]
In Oldani v Lieberman, 144 Mich App 642, 645; 375 NW2d 778 (1985), this Court stated as follows:
Michigan case law permits a husband or wife to recover damages for loss of consortium when his or her spouse is injured by the negligence of a third party. Loss of consortium includes conjugal fellowship, companionship, services and all other incidents of the marriage relationship.
In Michigan, a claim for loss of consortium is derivative and recovery in an action for loss of consortium is contingent upon the injured person’s recovery of damages. In Rusinek v Schultz, Snyder & Steele Lumber Co, [411 Mich 502, 508; 309 NW2d 163 (1981), reh den 412 Mich 1101 (1981)] the Supreme Court said:
"Since it is derived from the injured spouse’s action, a claim of loss of consortium does not create a new case nor does it contribute significantly to the problems the act was intended to alleviate.”
Michigan case law does not state whether a plaintiff may recover for loss of consortium when she was not married to her husband at the time of his injury. However, in Chisea v Rowe, 486 F Supp 236 (WD Mich, 1980), the court, applying Michigan substantive law, dismissed a wife’s loss of consortium claim when her husband’s injury occurred while they were engaged. The court stated:
When a fiancée decides to go forward with the marriage after injury and disability strikes her betrothed she must recognize the extent of assistance and comfort that he will be able to provide and will in turn require. In doing so she waives her rights to another level or form of conjugal fellowship which might have been obtained had she married another. In addition policy dictates that there be some limitation to this form of liability. Although plaintiffs were living together and engaged to be married when an injury to the female plaintiff occurred, the Court in Tong v Jocson, 76 Cal App 3d 603, 142 Cal Rptr 726 (1977), denied recovery. There the court approvingly cited other California cases for the proposition that:
. . . social policy must at some point intervene to delimit liability .... Not every loss can be made compensable in money damages, and legal causation must terminate somewhere . . . Rodriguez [v Bethlehem Steel Corp, 12 Cal 3d 382, 115 Cal Rptr 765, 525 P2d 669 (1974)], supra, repudiates "an, indefinite extension of liability for loss of consortium to all foreseeable relationships.” [Tong, id., at 727. Citations omitted.]
This Court is of the opinion that a Michigan state court presented with the issue of whether loss of consortium should be extended to a party betrothed to another would find the above reasoning persuasive and would follow the general rule denying such an extension, and accordingly this Court finds the Defendants’ Motions for Dismissal as to Count n ought to be granted. [486 F Supp 238-239.]
Generally, other federal and state courts have denied recovery for loss of consortium where the injury occurs before the marriage:
Frequently observing that the right of consortium grows out of the marital relationship, these courts have refused to allow recovery for loss of consortium on the ground that the respective spouses were not married at the time of the injury.
A glimmer to the contrary appears in Wagner v International Harvester Co, 455 F Supp 168 (D Minn, 1978), where the court refused to allow recovery for loss of consortium when the plaintiff did not know his wife at the time of her injury. The court stated, "He should not be entitled to marry a cause of action.” But the court stated further that the general rule may yield to special circumstances. 455 F Supp 169.
Here, the plaintiffs married in 1981, thirteen years after the last date Mr. Furby sustained asbestos exposure. But, plaintiffs argue that they were married before Mr. Furby’s injury manifested physical symptoms to allow a firm diagnosis of asbestosis, and that it was not until such a diagnosis was made that his cause of action accrued. Defendants argued, and the trial court agreed, that Mr. Furby was injured either on the date he was exposed to the asbestos, or in June, 1981, when Dr. Selikoff advised him that he had a possible asbestos-related disease.
In the case of Stager v Schneider, 494 A2d 1307 (DC App, 1985), the plaintiffs were married on June 2, 1980. In December of that year, Mrs. Stager, during the course of a physical examination, was diagnosed as having adenocarcinoma. Mrs. Stager had taken an x-ray prior to the marriage which indicated the same problem; however, her doctor did not inform either her or her husband of this fact. The court concluded that since Patrick Stager was lawfully married to Dixie Stager at the time they were informed of the nature of the injury, he had a justiciable claim for loss of consortium.
It is true that the courts of this country have, in the majority, held that the evidence of a lawful marital relationship at the time of the tortious conduct and resultant injury to one spouse is required before the other can bring an action for loss of consortium. See Sawyer v Bailey, 413 A2d 165 (Me, 1980); Tremblay v Carter, 390 So 2d 816 (Fla App, 1980); Angelet v Shivar, 602 SW2d 185 (Ky App, 1980). Courts generally agree that a person should not be permitted to marry a cause of action. Wagner, supra. One takes a spouse in their existing state of health, and thus assumes the risk of any deprivation resulting from prior disability. As the court in Stager, supra, p 1316, said:
We have no hesitance in expressing our agreement with these courts where the issue is the right to claim consortium where the tortious conduct and fact of injury were both known or knowable prior to that marriage. [Emphasis in original.]
However, implicit in Stager was the holding that the underlying cause of action did not accrue until the results of the earlier x-rays were known to the respective parties. 494 A2d 1316.
Unfortunately, there is currently a split of authority within this Court on the issue of when a cause of action based on products liability accrues in this state. We find that the underlying cause of action here did not accrue until Mr. Furby either discovered or, through the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have discovered that he had a possible cause of action. Bonney v The Upjohn Co, 129 Mich App 18, 34-35; 342 NW2d 551 (1982), lv den 419 Mich 868 (1984), Cullender v BASF Wyandotte Corp, 146 Mich App 423, 427; 381 NW2d 737 (1985).
In so holding, we reject the majority opinion in Larson v Johns-Manville Sales Corp, 140 Mich App 254; 365 NW2d 194 (1985), lv gtd 422 Mich 975 (1985), which, for purposes of calculating the running of the period of limitation, declined to adopt this "discovery” rule of accrual to a number of asbestos-related products liability claims similar to the instant claim and, instead, strictly construed the general accrual statute, MCL 600.5827; MSA 27A.5827, as requiring a finding that accrual occurred at the time of the wrongful act. 140 Mich App 267.
We believe that application of the "discovery” rule to the instant situation would not thwart the policies supporting the general rule limiting causes of action for loss of consortium to an individual who is married at the time of the injury to his or her spouse. In cases where an individual marries someone who has been exposed to asbestos but has not yet been diagnosed as having asbestosis or a related disease, such an individual did not enter into the marital relationship with knowledge of the nature of his or her spouse’s injuries and potential causes of action. Thus, it would be unreasonable to conclude that, with regard to such an exposed individual and his spouse, a cause of action already accrued when, due to the extreme latent nature of asbestos-related illnesses, neither spouse did in fact know and could not, in the exercise of reasonable care and diligence, know of the nature and cause of the disease.
Indeed, one cannot say for certain that Shelbie Furby married a cause of action. Plaintiffs were married in October of 1981. Prior to the marriage, in June, 1981, Mr. Furby received a medical opinion stating that he possessed symptoms characteristic of previous asbestos exposure, but that such symptoms were not a cause of "current concern.” It was not until almost two years after the marriage, in September, 1983, that Mr. Furby was diagnosed as having asbestosis and learned that the condition was related to his occupational exposure to asbestos. It cannot be stated as a matter of law that the June, 1981, medical opinion gave Mr. Furby sufficient notice that he had a possible cause of action. Indeed, his underlying claim had not yet accrued because his "potential injury was at that time merely speculative and incapable of proof to a reasonable certainty.” 140 Mich App 270 (J. R. Ernst, J., dissenting in part).
Since the time the underlying cause of action accrued is a question of fact that is best left for the fact finder to decide following the termination of discovery, we reverse the order of partial summary disposition and remand the matter to the trial court for a factual determination of this issue and for other further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Reversed and remanded.
Hood, J., concurred.
See Restatement of Torts 2d Sec 693(h) which requires a valid marriage for a spouse to maintain an action against one who inflicts injury on the other spouse. [5 ALR4th, 301.] | [
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Mackenzie, P.J.
Defendant appeals by leave granted from his conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCL 750.520b(l)(f); MSA 28.788(2)(l)(f), after a bench trial. Defendant was sentenced to from 7-1/2 to 15 years imprisonment. The victim was the defendant’s daughter, who was 19 or 20 years old at the time of the offense.
Defendant first claims that his conviction must be reversed because the court erred in permitting defendant’s wife, who is also the victim’s mother, to testify at the trial. In response to defendant’s objection to his wife’s testifying based on the spousal privilege statute, the court ruled that while defendant’s wife could not testify as to any communications she had with defendant, she could otherwise testify under the statutory exception for "cases of prosecution for a crime committed against the children of either or both”, MCL 600.2162; MSA 27A.2162. Defendant argues that this exception should apply only where the child is a minor and should not apply here since the victim was 19 or 20 years old at the time of the offense.
This argument has not heretofore been addressed by any Michigan appellate court. However, as a general matter, this Court has stated that the spousal privilege statute should be narrowly construed, and thus its exceptions should be broadly construed. People v Love, 127 Mich App 596; 339 NW2d 493 (1983); People v Wadkins, 101 Mich App 272, 283; 300 NW2d 542 (1980). Consequently, we hold that the exception for crimes committed against the children of one or both spouses is not restricted to minor children, but rather extends to all children regardless of age. The term "children” used in the statute does not necessarily imply any age limit, and the Legislature could have easily used the term "minor children” if such a limitation were intended. That the modern justification for spousal privilege is the preservation of marital harmony also supports our holding. People v Love, supra; People v Wadkins, supra, p 283. It is unlikely that there is much marital harmony left to preserve where, as in the instant case, one spouse has committed a crime against the other spouse’s child.
Defendant also contends that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence in an appeal from a bench trial, we must determine whether, viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational trier of fact could find the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt, People v Marlin Smith, 119 Mich App 91, 94; 326 NW2d 434 (1982); People v Gregory Johnson, 112 Mich App 483, 489; 316 NW2d 247 (1982), or whether the court clearly erred, People v Triplett, 105 Mich App 182, 190-191; 306 NW2d 442 (1981), remanded 414 Mich 898; 323 NW2d 7 (1982); People v Anderson, 112 Mich App 640, 648; 317 NW2d 205 (1981). Defendant herein was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct under §(l)(f) of MCL 750.520b; MSA 28.788(2), i.e., defendant used force or coercion and caused personal injury to the victim. The element of personal injury is defined as "bodily injury, disfigurement, mental anguish, chronic pain, pregnancy, disease, or loss or impairment of a sexual or reproductive organ”. MCL 750.520a(f); MSA 28.788(l)(f). In the present case, there was no evidence of any physical injury to the victim, and the prosecutor’s theory was that the "personal injury” element was satisfied by the victim’s having suffered "mental anguish”.
Defendant argues that there was not sufficient evidence of mental anguish to justify his conviction of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, and that his conviction should be reduced to third-degree criminal sexual conduct. At the trial, defendant had unsuccessfully moved for a directed verdict, arguing that the prosecutor had failed to establish the degree of mental anguish necessary for first-degree criminal sexual conduct. This Court has previously wrestled with the fact that under the criminal sexual conduct statute criminal sexual conduct can be elevated from the third degree to the first degree, or from the fourth degree to the second degree, based on proof of mental anguish as the requisite personal injury. Compare MCL 750.520b(l)(f); MSA 28.788(2X1X0 with MCL 750.520d(l)(b); MSA 28.788(4)(l)(b), and MCL 750.520c(l)(f); MSA 28.788(3X1X0 with MCL 750.520e(l)(a); MSA 28.788(5)(l)(a). Since any forced or coerced sexual penetration or contact is likely to cause some mental anguish to the victim, it is necessary in some way to meaningfully distinguish the mental anguish needed to elevate the degree of the offense. However, attempts by this Court to do so have not met with uniform results.
In People v Gorney, 99 Mich App 199; 297 NW2d 648 (1980), lv den 410 Mich 911 (1981), a case decided after the trial of the instant case, it was concluded that "extreme” or "serious” mental anguish was required to elevate the offense. This approach was also used in the more recent case of People v Thorin, 126 Mich App 293, 300-301; 336 NW2d 913 (1983). However, in People v Jenkins, 121 Mich App 195, 198-202; 328 NW2d 403 (1982), which was followed in People v Petrella, 124 Mich App 745, 760-764; 336 NW2d 761 (1983), the Gorney approach of requiring "extreme” or "serious” mental anguish was rejected, and the proper inquiry was found to be whether there was evidence of "any significant degree of mental distress greater than that normally attendant to criminal sexual assaults accomplished by force or coercion”. People v Jenkins, supra, p 201; People v Petrella, supra, p 762 (quoting Jenkins, supra). Also, several other panels have expressly declined to endorse the Gorney standard. People v Izzo, 116 Mich App 255, 259; 323 NW2d 360 (1982); People v Baker #2, 103 Mich App 704, 709; 304 NW2d 262 (1981), lv den 417 Mich 1093 (1983).
The author of this opinion was on the Gorney panel, and another member of this panel was on the Jenkins panel. Both decisions acknowledged that to elevate the offense some degree of mental anguish greater than that which could be expected to accompany any forced or coerced sexual assault is required. We find those decisions are not in fact so far apart, and may be reconciled. We hold that the mental anguish required to elevate the offense must be "extreme” or "serious”, People v Gorney, supra, which we define as "any significant degree of mental distress greater than that normally attendant to criminal sexual assaults accomplished by force or coercion”, People v Jenkins, surpa. To the extent the use of the terms "extreme” or "serious” in Gorney was meant to convey even a higher degree of mental anguish than that just described, the author of this opinion no longer agrees with that decision.
We must now determine whether there was sufficient evidence of extreme or serious mental anguish as defined above to warrant defendant’s conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Some relevant factors are whether the victim required psychiatric care, whether there has been some interference with the victim’s ability to carry on a normal life, such as absence from work, or whether there are other indications that the victim has suffered lasting effects. People v Petrella, supra, pp 763-764; People v Gorney, supra, p 207. The testimony in the present case indicated that immediately after the incident the victim was upset and crying and screamed at defendant; defendant told her she would have to calm down before they could return to defendant’s home. When they arrived at defendant’s home, the victim was at that time upset and crying. The victim and her mother then went to the victim’s apartment, where the victim cried some more, and her mother spent the night at her apartment.
While there was no evidence demonstrating that the victim required psychiatric care or that her normal activities have been disrupted, we find that, based on the testimony reflecting her emotional distress shortly after the incident, together with the fact that the victim’s assailant was her natural father, the trier of fact could reasonably infer that the victim has suffered lasting emotional effects and mental anguish greater than that normally attendant to a forcible sexual penetration. Any forcible sexual assault is bound to cause some mental anguish to the victim, but where the assailant is the victim’s own father, it can be reasonably inferred that even greater mental anguish is experienced by the victim, given the societal taboo on incest and also the victim’s loss of a healthy relationship with her father. Al though the victim herein testified that she did not report the incident until about a week later because she had not "thought too much about it”, we do not find this statement to negate an inference of extreme or serious mental anguish; rather, this testimony could just as reasonably be interpreted as simply reflecting the victim’s all-too-natural reluctance to bring criminal charges against her father.
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of armed robbery, MCL 750.529; MSA 28.797, and felony-firearm, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). Sentenced to from 20 to 40 years imprisonment on the armed robbery conviction and a mandatory 2-year term on the felony-firearm conviction, he appeals as of right.
On October 2, 1981, three young men, each carrying a gun, burst into Vincent’s Inn. The owner, Vincent Borowski, was pushed into a side room and struck on the head. When he tried to stand up, he was kicked and shot in the hip. He was then shot at again, the bullet grazing his head. One of the men then removed his wallet. Elizabeth Borowski, the owner’s daughter, was also in the bar, along with a regular patron, Joyce Perry. While her father wás lying wounded in the side room, Ms. Borowski was pulled from her hiding place in the kitchen. She testified that as she came out of the kitchen she saw the defendant standing near the cash register. Then she observed defendant walk into the back room. Ms. Borowski told the men that the money was in the cash drawer, but that there was very little. One of the men then kicked her in the head. Subsequently, the men emptied the cash register and left. Shortly thereafter, defendant was arrested.
Defendant maintains that the trial court made several errors in its instructions to the jury. He argues that the court improperly instructed the jury on the elements of armed robbery. The elements of an armed robery are: (1) an assault committed by the accused upon the victim; (2) a felonious taking of property from the victim; and (3) presence of a dangerous weapon or an object fashioned to make the victim reasonably believe it to be a dangerous weapon. People v Vannoy, 106 Mich App 404; 308 NW2d 233 (1981). The defendant argues that the trial court incorrectly instructed the jury on the first element inasmuch as it failed to properly define an assault. The trial court defined assault in the following manner:
"An assault is putting another person in fear. I have advised you that pointing a weapon at someone is putting that person in fear, telling that person that something was going to happen to them. That’s an assault.”
An assault is an attempted battery or "an unlawful act which places another in reasonable apprehension of receiving an immediate battery”. People v Sykes, 117 Mich App 117, 120; 323 NW2d 617 (1982). (Emphasis added.) Thus, the trial court’s instruction omitted an essential element of an assault and, hence, a necessary element of armed robbery. This is reversible error.
The defendant also alleges that the trial court erred in failing to instruct on the specific intent element of armed robbery. Armed robbery is a specific intent crime. People v Peery, 119 Mich App 207, 214; 326 NW2d 451 (1982). It must be established that the defendant possessed a larcenous intent. People v Fisk, 62 Mich App 638, 643; 233 NW2d 684 (1975). The trial court instructed the jury that, to convict defendant of armed robbery, they must find he "intended to deprive the owner of the use and value of his property”. That is an incomplete statement of the necessary intent. Larcenous intent is the intent "to deprive the owner of his property permanently'. People v Wilbert, 105 Mich App 631, 639; 307 NW2d 388 (1981). (Emphasis added.) This is also reversible error, People v Peery, supra, p 214.
The defendant did not request correct instructions nor object to the instructions given by the court. Although generally appellate review is precluded absent a request for an instruction, "[r]e-view is not precluded when the trial court fails to instruct on an essential element of the crime * * People v Wolak, 110 Mich App 628, 634; 313 NW2d 174 (1981). Therefore, we reverse defendant’s conviction for armed robbery. Because the instructional errors could have influenced the jury’s finding that defendant committed or attempted to commit a felony, see MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2), we reverse defendant’s conviction for felony-firearm as well.
We now address those of defendant’s remaining allegations of error that may arise at the new trial.
Of the alleged instructional errors, only one may come up at the retrial. Defendant contends that the trial court should have sua sponte instructed the jury on the so-called Davenport rule: "the prosecution has the burden of proving 'that there is no innocent theory possible which will, without violation of reason, accord with the facts’ People v Davenport, 39 Mich App 252, 256; 197 NW2d 521 (1972). The Davenport rule, however, applies only where the people’s case depends entirely upon circumstantial evidence. Id. In the present case, the people introduced direct evidence. Thus, the Davenport rule does not apply and the jury should not have been instructed as to its terms.
Moving beyond the defendant’s alleged instructional errors, we address first defendant’s contention that his convictions for armed robbery and felony-firearm run afoul of the Double Jeopardy Clause. On the authority of Wayne County Prosecutor v Recorder’s Court Judge, 406 Mich 374; 280 NW2d 793 (1979), we reject that contention.
Defendant has raised a number of other issues that may arise at the new trial. He argues that his confession was coerced because it was made before he was arraigned. He also asserts that the line-up, in which he was identified, was improper and that the witness’s in-court identification of the defendant has no independent basis. The defendant, however, did not raise these issues below. The defendant should have requested a Walker hearing to determine the voluntariness of his confession and a Wade hearing to determine the propriety of the line-up. In the absence of such evidentiary hearings, we decline to address defendant’s claims of error.
Defendant’s final two allegations of error are: (1) the trial court erred in allowing the testimony of a witness who had violated the court’s sequestration order; and (2) the trial court erred in finding that the prosecutor showed due diligence in attempting to produce a res gestae witness. The trial court’s actions were in response to peculiar factual situations and, as such, are unlikely to be repeated at the new trial. Therefore, we decline to address the issues.
Reversed and remanded.
People v Walker (On Rehearing), 374 Mich 331; 132 NW2d 87 (1965).
United States v Wade, 388 US 218; 87 S Ct 1926; 18 L Ed 2d 1149 (1967). | [
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M. J. Kelly, P.J.
Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCL 750.520b; MSA 28.788(2), and was sentenced to three concurrent terms of from 18 months to 5 years in prison. Defendant appeals his convictions as of right and raises several issues, one of which requires reversal.
Prior to trial, defendant sought and was granted a Walker 2hearing to determine the voluntariness of a statement made by him to John Wojnaroski, a Michigan State Police polygraph operator. Defendant’s attorney had scheduled a polygraph examination with the state police. When the defendant and his attorney appeared at the station for the examination, Officer Wojnaroski informed them that defendant would have to answer some "preparatory questions” unaccompanied by counsel. While alone with the defendant, Wojnaroski advised Sclafani of his Miranda rights and proceeded to conduct a 54-minute interview, according to Wojnaroski, or a two- to three-hour interview, according to defense counsel.
At some point, Officer Wojnaroski informed defendant that any information obtained in the "preparatory” interview "was going to be confidential and not disclosed to anybody”. The entire interview was observed and heard by another officer through hidden equipment. Near the end of the interview, defendant admitted that he "may have” forced the complainant’s consent, whereupon Wojnaroski terminated the interview, refusing to proceed with the polygraph examination because "the issue had been resolved” by the defendant’s incriminating statement. A polygraph examination was never administered to the defendant. When defense counsel realized what had occurred, he advised the defendant that new counsel should be retained as he would likely have to testify at trial.
The trial court ruled that defendant had not properly understood the Miranda warnings. There were conflicting messages from Officer Wojnaroski to the defendant regarding confidentiality which tainted the inculpatory revelation that force was used. The court ruled that the statement was inadmissible as part of the prosecution’s case in chief.
After defendant testified on direct examination that the complainant had consented to having sexual intercourse with him and his companion, the prosecutor impeached defendant on cross-examination with evidence of the "use of force” statement to Wojnaroski. Defendant denied various aspects of the statement and, over the defendant’s objection, the prosecutor called Officer Wojnaroski to the stand for rebuttal.
Defendant contends on appeal that his original defense counsel committed a serious mistake when he advised him to take a polygraph examination and that, but for this mistake, there was a great likelihood that he would not have been convicted. People v Garcia, 398 Mich 250, 264; 247 NW2d 547 (1976), reh den 399 Mich 1041 (1977). We agree that counsel made a serious mistake.
At the Walker hearing, the original defense counsel testified that the police never discussed with him the subject of Miranda warnings and that he was never informed that defendant’s statements could later be used in court. Counsel further testified that his advice to defendant to take the polygraph examination was based on his experience with the exam in a previous case. This experience was limited, however, to private testing and defense counsel admitted that he was not familiar with police procedures, such as the practice of giving Miranda warnings, associated with the typical police-administered polygraph examination. Counsel testified:
"If I was there for the purpose of making statements that my client would be put in court on, I certainly wouldn’t be going there, it [sic] certainly wouldn’t be worth my salt as a lawyer. I had no idea that what I am [sic] going to do there is going to be used against my client. I went there for my client’s benefit to represent him.”
In this context defense counsel’s advice to defendant constituted a mistake serious enough to interfere with defendant’s chances of acquittal. In most instances, a defense attorney’s advice regarding the taking of a polygraph examination is a matter of trial strategy and this Court will not substitute its judgment in such matters. People v Burns, 118 Mich App 242, 247; 324 NW2d 589 (1982); People v Lotter, 103 Mich App 386, 390; 302 NW2d 879 (1981), lv den 412 Mich 852 (1981). Here, however, the advice was based not on trial strategy, but on a clear misunderstanding of the police procedures associated with the administration of polygraph examinations and with the subsequent use of the examination results. Defense counsel admitted that had he realized the potential for impeachment by use of the defendant’s statements he never would have advised his client to take the examination. Most persuasive of defense counsel’s sincerity is his action in immediately withdrawing from the case in anticipation of being called as a witness in the future.
Because of our disposition of this issue, we find no need to address the defendant’s remaining claims of error.
Reversed and remanded. In the event of a new trial, the statements made by defendant to Officer Wojnaroski are ordered suppressed.
Hood, J., concurred in the result only.
People v Walker (On Rehearing), 374 Mich 331; 132 NW2d 87 (1965).
Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436; 86 S Ct 1602; 16 L Ed 2d 694; 10 ALR3d 974 (1966). | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendants appeal as of right from a bench trial decision and order denying that they had a prescriptive easement in a driveway encroachment because the plaintiffs’ predecessors in interest gave defendants "express permission” to use the driveway property.
Both defendants’ and plaintiffs’ property was originally owned by Arthur and Mabel Schuh macher. On August 1, 1950, the Schuhmachers sold the southern portion of their property to defendants, who continue to own the same. On August 3, 1954, the Schuhmachers sold the remaining northern portion of their property to Harvey and Viola Krause. On January 3, 1956, the Krauses sold their property to plaintiffs’ predecessors in interest, the Masons. On January 25, 1975, the Masons sold their property on a land contract to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs had a survey performed on their newly acquired property on January 21, 1976, and for the first time it was discovered that defendants’ driveway and part of their building were encroaching upon plaintiffs’ land.
When defendants purchased their property in 1950 from the Schuhmachers, the driveway served as the only entrance onto defendants’ land. An old wooden fence once ran along the driveway’s northern edge, but had since rotted away. Steel posts were used to replace the old fence’s wooden posts along this northern edge of the driveway some time in 1951 or 1952. Some of these steel posts were knocked down when people tried to turn around in defendants’ driveway, but some of the steel posts remained in the ground when plaintiffs acquired the property in 1975.
Defendants assert that they never asked anyone’s permission to use the driveway in question, and there was no evidence introduced at trial to contradict this assertion. Defendants and the Masons considered each other to be good friends, and when defendant John C. Ritter informed Ben Mason that defendants were going to pave the driveway, Mason had no objections and told Ritter to "put it all the way up to my line”. Mason’s testimony in this regard was consistent with defendant John C. Ritter’s testimony. Ritter said that he:
"[t]old Mr. Mason we were going to pour concrete along that drive area. It was continuously a problem. And I wanted his permission to park our cars over where the body shop is now.
’’The Court: On his property?
’’The Witness: Yes, and he said, 'When you pour that, why don’t you pour all the grass too, so we don’t have to cut any more grass.’ That was his remark. That was the only thing.”
On September 8, 1976, plaintiffs filed this action in equity to solve the dispute over who owned or had rights in the driveway area.
On May 31, 1977, defendants filed a counter-complaint against plaintiffs alleging that defendants are entitled to ownership of the encroached-upon land because the 15-year limitation period had expired against plaintiffs’ and their predecessors’ interest in the property.
The trial judge found that the Masons, plaintiffs’ predecessors in interest, and defendants were good friends and that Ben Mason "allowed [defendants] to improve the drive on part of Mason’s land”. Accordingly, he held that no prescriptive easement could have been created because "Ritter used and paved the drive with the express permission of Mason”. Judgment was entered on November 17, 1982.
A suit to quiet title is equitable in nature and subject to de novo review; nevertheless, this Court will give great weight to the findings of fact made by the trial court and usually will not disturb those findings unless convinced that it would have reached a different result had it been in the lower court’s position. Corrigan v Miller, 96 Mich App 205, 208; 292 NW2d 181 (1980); DeHollander v Holwerda Greenhouses, 45 Mich App 564, 566; 207 NW2d 187 (1973). See, also, GCR 1963, 517.1; 2 Honigman & Hawkins, Michigan Court Rules Annotated (2d ed), pp 595-597.
The parties and the trial court seemingly limited the issue of defendants’ right to use or possess the driveway in question to whether defendants had a prescriptive easement in this property. However, according to defendants’ counter-complaint, John C. Ritter’s testimony, and defendants’ trial brief, defendants were seeking an ownership interest in this property as well. The trial court was cognizant of this ownership claim when it issued its opinion. We, therefore, have analyzed this case to determine whether defendants should prevail upon a claim of adverse possession, acquiescence, or prescriptive easement.
While defendants’ claim has merit under all of these theories, we find that the doctrine of acquiescence is most appropriate. The doctrine of acquiescence usually arises in the context of border disputes. The Supreme Court examined and explained the doctrine in Renwick v Noggle, 247 Mich 150, 152; 225 NW 535 (1929), where it held:
"The rules for establishment of a boundary line by acquiescence are summarized by Mr. Justice Fellows in Hanlon v Ten Hove, 235 Mich 227, 231 [1926]:
" 'While acquiescence alone is not a defense, if acquiescence follows the resolving of a doubt as to where the line is or the settlement of a bona ñde controversy, which settlement agreement contemplates an agreed line, and the monuments of such line are fixed and maintained thereafter, such line so established and acquiesced in is the line, and the acquiescence need not continue for the statutory period; likewise, where the line is acquiesced in for the statutory period it is also fixed. ’ [Emphasis in original.]
"In that case it was held that the acquiescence of predecessors in title can be tacked on that of the parties, and if the whole period of acquiescence exceeds 15 years, the line becomes fixed, regardless of whether there had been a bona fíde controversy as to the boundary.” (Emphasis supplied.) See also Jackson v Deemar, 373 Mich 22, 25-26; 127 NW2d 856 (1964).
Defendants purchased their property in 1950 from the Schuhmachers. When defendants entered into possession, there was only one entrance way to their land and that was the driveway in question. Along the northern edge of this driveway was an old wooden fence which has since rotted away. Defendants replaced the old wooden posts, which once supported the fence, with steel posts sometime in 1952. Because of the winter months, the driveway became muddy and difficult to use, so defendants improved it by adding gravel and stone. Some of the steel posts were knocked down by persons who used the driveway as a turnaround, but a few steel posts and shrubbery remained when plaintiffs purchased the property from the Masons in 1975. Defendants believed that they owned this driveway and thought that its northern edge served as their property line.
Ben Mason, plaintiffs’ predecessor in interest, testified that defendants never asked permission to use the driveway. When defendants were paving the driveway, Mason did not think that it was against his interest and told defendants to go ahead and pave it up to the property line. Mason believed that the shrubbery and steel posts which ran along the northern edge of the driveway served to separate his northern parcel of land from defendants’ southern parcel of land. Mason indicated that he let defendants have the southern portion of property wishing only to retain a few feet around his shed. He said that he did not know where the outline of his property was located, but was satisfied with how things were when he moved onto the northern parcel of land in 1956. Ben Mason also disagreed with plaintiffs’ survey. Both the Ritters and the Masons considered themselves to be good friends.
This evidence conclusively establishes that the Masons and Ritters divided their properties according to what they thought they owned. The northern edge of the driveway, where the old wooden fence was once located, served as the boundary line between the Masons’ northern parcel of land and the defendants’ southern parcel. The fact that the trial judge found that Ben Mason gave defendant permission to use the driveway is irrelevant since Mason’s permission would not negate defendants’ ownership claim under the doctrine of acquiescence. There is also no evidence in the record to support the finding of express permission. The fact that defendants and Ben Mason were friends does not establish that permission was given.
Under the present circumstances, we believe that the trial judge was cognizant of defendants’ acquiescence claim as evidenced in defendants’ pleadings and defendants’ trial brief. Therefore, the trial judge should have applied the doctrine to this case. Since sidewalks may serve as boundary monuments, there is no reason why driveways and steel posts should not similarly serve as boundary monuments. Cf. Siegel v Renkiewicz Estate, 373 Mich 421, 426; 129 NW2d 876 (1964). Accordingly, since the trial judge’s decision is clearly erroneous, this Court vacates that ruling and substitutes its own order granting ownership in the driveway to the defendants under the doctrine of acquiescence. GCR 1963, 820.1(7).
Reversed.
The trial court also found that the easterly edge of Ritter’s building encroached upon plaintiffs’ land and awarded plaintiffs $36 for this encroachment. Defendants accept this part of the court’s opinion.
We recognize that Ben Mason’s testimony regarding his alleged permission to use the driveway is rather confused. Mr. Mason had a rather severe head injury which could readily account for these discrepancies. At most, this testimony could establish that Ben Mason gave permission to defendant to extend the pavement for the driveway onto areas of his grass. It does not appear that defendant paved over any of Mr. Mason’s grass. Furthermore, Mr. Mason’s grass was beyond the driveway and is not within the area concerned in this dispute. | [
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Beasley, J.
After preliminary examination in the 44th District Court, on July 8, 1983, defendant, James Harold Slipson, was bound over to the Oakland Circuit Court on a charge of inducing, persuading, encouraging, inveigling or enticing a female person to become a prostitute, contrary to MCL 750.455; MSA 28.710 (Case No. 83-59256 FY). In a separate case, after preliminary examination in the 43rd District Court, on August 30, 1983, defendant was bound over to the Oakland Circuit Court on an identical charge (Case No. 83-59868 FH). On July 30, 1984, the Oakland Circuit Court granted defendant’s motion to quash the informations and dismissed the charges against him in both cases. The prosecutor appeals as of right.
In both cases, the trial judge found that the facts elicited at the preliminary examination could not support a charge of pandering under the statute, which states in pertinent part:
Any person who shall . . . induce, persuade, encourage, inveigle or entice a female person to become a prostitute . . . shall be guilty of a felony
The trial judge noted that in both cases defendant either believed that the complainant was currently a prostitute (Case No. 83-59256 FY) or that the complaintant had actually been convicted of prostitution prior to contact with defendant (Case No. 83-59868 FH). Thus, the circuit court judge concluded that defendant could not knowingly entice these complainants "to become” prostitutes. Consequently, the trial judge quashed both informations against defendant as a matter of law.
The trial judge based his conclusion on two factors. First, the language of the current pandering statute, which requires a defendant to induce, persuade, encourage, etc., a female person "to become” a prostitute. Second, the 1893 Michigan Supreme Court decision in People v Cook, which held that the predecessor to the current pandering statute, which also used the "become” language, did not apply to females already engaged in prostitution.
Initially, the prosecutor argues on appeal that the trial judge could not reverse the district court’s decisions unless it appeared on the record that there had been an abuse of discretion. This is a true statement of the law as it pertains to findings of fact. But, in this case, the trial court accepted the magistrates’ findings of fact and merely applied those facts to the statute involved. Thus, the trial judge made his ruling as a matter of law, and no abuse of discretion by the magistrates was necessary for reversal.
Reviewing the trial court’s decision as a matter of law, the case most directly on point is Cook, supra. In that case, the complainant admitted that she had been engaged in prostitution at the time the defendant approached her to work in his "sporting house.” The Court held that the jury must be allowed to determine if the complainant was already engaged in prostitution when induced by the defendant to merely change locations of her operation. If the jury were to find that she was engaged in prostitution at the time the defendant solicited her, the defendant would have to be acquitted, since he could not induce her to become a prostitute, as is required for conviction under the pandering statute, when she was already a prostitute.
We agree with the holding in Cook, supra, as it pertains to MCL 750.455; MSA 28.710. In fact, this Court has favorably acknowledged the Cook interpretation in its recent decision of People v Rocha. Therefore, if the facts revealed at the preliminary examinations in the within cases indicate that the complainants were currently engaged in prostitution, the trial court properly dismissed the charges against defendant.
In examining the facts, we look at each case separately. In Case No. 83-59256 FY, the complainant was an undercover police officer who testified at the preliminary examination that she had never actually engaged in prostitution. However, she went on to testify that when defendant interviewed her for a job in his "escort service,” she told him that she had had past "escort” experience and did not want to mix up her current clients with his. The trial judge found that defendant reasonably believed that the undercover police officer was currently engaged in prostitution when he solicited her and, thus, could not have knowingly induced her "to become” a prostitute, as required for conviction under the statute. We agree with the trial court’s application of the law to the facts of this case. The trial court’s order quashing the information in Case No. 83-59256 FY is affirmed.
In Case No. 83-59868 FH, the complainant admitted that she had been convicted of accosting and soliciting (engaging in prostitution) in November, 1982, and placed on probation for one year. She testified that she never told defendant that she had previously engaged in prostitution.
The trial judge found that complainant was engaged in prostitution at the time defendant contacted her and, thus, dismissed the charges against defendant pursuant to Cook, supra. The prosecutor argues that the facts in this case are distinguishable from the facts in Cook because complainant was no longer clearly engaged in prostitution when defendant solicited her. As indicated, she had been on probation and, presumably, not engaging in prostitution. Thus, the issue is whether someone admittedly engaged in prostitution in November, 1982, can be induced "to become” a prostitute for purposes of the statute in April, 1983. We do not believe so.
While at some future point in time a person convicted of prostitution in the past may no longer be considered a prostitute so as to be able to be induced "to become” a prostitute again for purposes of the pandering statute, five or six months is not long enough. The circuit court was correct in quashing the information.
Affirmed.
V. J. Brennan, P.J., concurred.
96 Mich 368; 55 NW 980 (1893).
See People v Talley, 410 Mich 378, 385; 301 NW2d 809 (1981) (assessment of the credibility of witnesses).
110 Mich App 1, 15; 312 NW2d 657 (1981), lv den 413 Mich 912 (1982).
People v Lockhart, 242 Mich 491; 219 NW 724 (1928). | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff physician and his professional corporation (collectively referred to as plaintiff) appeal as of right from an order granting summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(1), now MCR 2.116(C)(8), in favor of defendant. We affirm.
On April 20, 1983, the estate of Arthur C. Hilderbrant filed a medical malpractice action against plaintiff. On the date of the alleged negligence, plaintiff was insured for professional malpractice under a policy issued by defendant insurer. The policy limited defendant’s liability to $100,000 per occurrence. Pursuant to the policy, defendant undertook to defend plaintiff in the malpractice action.
On March 14, 1984, the Hilderbrant estate offered to settle the malpractice case for the policy limit of $100,000 plus interest at twelve percent, conditioned upon the entry of an offer of judgment. Defendant informed the estate that it was willing to pay only $100,000, including interest and costs. The estate refused to accept the offer unless interest from the date of filing the complaint was paid in addition to $100,000.
In the meantime, defendant evaluated the full liability of the estate’s claim against plaintiff at $250,000 and predicted that the estate had a ninety percent chance of winning at trial. In light of this evaluation and subsequent to defendant’s refusal to settle in excess of its $100,000 policy limit, plaintiff elected to pay the estate $14,000 "presettlement interest.” The parties to the malpractice action then entered into an agreement whereby the estate released all claims against plaintiff in exchange for the payment of $114,000, $100,000 of which was paid by defendant. The case was dismissed with prejudice.
On November 27, 1984, plaintiff filed a complaint against defendant alleging that defendant breached its contract of insurance by not paying interest on the $100,000 settlement. Plaintiff also alleged that defendant breached its duty of good faith by failing to act in plaintiffs best interest in defending the malpractice action. Defendant responded by filing a motion for summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(1) and (3). Defendant contended that it was not obligated to pay interest on the policy limit when settling the lawsuit. The trial court agreed and granted summary judgment in favor of defendant apparently pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(1), ruling that defendant had no legal duty to pay anything more than the amount of the policy limit in settlement of the lawsuit.
On appeal, plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in concluding that plaintiff failed to state a claim for breach of contract, since defendant had no obligation to pay presettlement interest. In support of this contention, plaintiff cites MCL 600.6013; MSA 27A.6013, which authorizes prejudgment interest on a money judgment recovered in a civil action at a rate of twelve percent per year for a lawsuit filed after June 1, 1980, and the clause of his insurance policy obligating defendant to pay on behalf of its insured those damages for which the insured is legally responsible. Plaintiff reasons that, since under the statute he would have been legally responsible for prejudgment interest in the malpractice action, defendant’s own policy obligates it to pay the amount of that interest.
Plaintiffs argument fails in its premise that the prejudgment interest statute, MCL 600.6013, MSA 27A.6013, is applicable on these facts. This Court has twice held that where a case is terminated by dismissal following a settlement the right to statutory prejudgment interest is waived—and, hence, the legal responsibility to pay such interest is removed—because no final judgment was rendered. Silisky v Midland-Ross Corp, 97 Mich App 470, 476; 296 NW2d 576 (1980), lv den 414 Mich 868 (1982); Awedian v Theodore Efron Mfg Co, 66 Mich App 353, 357-358; 239 NW2d 611 (1976), lv den 396 Mich 856 (1976). See also Commercial Union Ins Co v The Shelby Mutual Ins Co, 563 F Supp 803 (ED Mich, 1983); Darnell v Auto-Owners Ins Co, 142 Mich App 1; 369 NW2d 243 (1985); Celina Mutual Ins Co v Citizens Ins Co of America, 133 Mich App 655; 349 NW2d 547 (1984). In Young v Robin, 146 Mich App 552; 382 NW2d 182 (1985), lv den 424 Mich 900 (1986), this Court recently extended the holding of Silisky and Awedian to consent judgments which do not include an agreement to pay prejudgment interest. Denham v Bedford, 407 Mich 517; 287 NW2d 168 (1980), relied upon by plaintiff, is inapposite to the instant case since in that case judgment was entered on a jury verdict which expressly awarded prejudgment interest.
Applying the rule of Silisky, Awedian, and Young to the instant case, it is clear that neither plaintiff nor defendant was statutorily obligated to pay prejudgment interest in the settlement of the underlying malpractice suit. Because plaintiff was not legally responsible for presettlement interest, it follows that defendant could not be obligated under the cited contract clause to pay interest. When considering a motion for summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(1) the court must consider only the complaint and must accept all well-pled allegations as true. The court must then determine whether the claim is so clearly unenforceable as a matter of law that no factual development can possibly justify a right to recovery. Commercial Union Ins Co v The Medical Protective Co, 136 Mich App 412, 416; 356 NW2d 648 (1984), lv gtd 422 Mich 939 (1985). Here, the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment on plaintiffs breach of contract claim.
Plaintiff also contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment with respect to his claim that defendant breached its duty of good faith. Plaintiff maintains that defendant had a duty to enter into a consent judgment which would subject defendant to payment of its policy limits plus presettlement interest and that, in refusing to do so, defendant breached its duty of good faith by putting its own interests ahead of those of its insured. We cannot agree.
The obligation of an insurer to protect in good faith its insured arises out of contract. City of Wakefield v Globe Indemnity Co, 246 Mich 645, 649; 225 NW 643 (1929); Rutter v King, 57 Mich App 152, 168; 226 NW2d 79 (1974). This obligation is not absolute, however. The policy limit constitutes a "dead line of contractual power, obligation, and duty.” City of Wakefield, supra, p 649. The insured pays for protection to that amount only, and the insurer has no obligation to indemnify him in a greater sum. Id.
The policy of insurance in the instant case provided a contractual limit of $100,000. The policy further stated that defendant’s liability for damages shall not exceed the stated limit. The policy did not provide for payment of presettlement interest or payment of an amount in excess of its liability limit in settling a claim brought against its insured. As noted above, defendant was not liable under the prejudgment interest statute for interest on amounts paid in settlement of the underlying malpractice action. Further, an insurer is not required to pay an amount in excess of the policy limit in settlement of the claim. Wakeñeld, supra, pp 649-650. Plaintiff’s argument that defendant placed its interest above that of its insured by refusing to pay the interest on the settlement is thus without merit in view of the applicable law. Defendant had no legal or contractual duty to pay in excess of its policy limit, or to pay presettlement interest on the amount paid in settlement of the malpractice action against plaintiff. No factual development could support a right to recovery where defendant had no obligation to pay the $14,000 in excess of the policy limit. Accordingly, summary judgment for failure to state a claim was proper.
Finally, we wish to point out that plaintiff’s underlying assumption, that defendant refused to enter into a consent judgment because such an action would necessarily subject defendant to payment of presettlement interest, is legally flawed. As previously noted, this Court had recently held that the prejudgment interest statute does not apply to consent judgments where the parties have not reached an agreement as to interest. Young, supra. Moreover, under the new court rules, MCR 2.405(A)(1), an offer of judgment "is deemed to include all costs and interest then accrued,” thus taking judgments entered under that rule outside the scope of the prejudgment interest statute. See Young, supra, p 556, n 2, and concurring opinion of Maher, J. In view of these authorities it is clear that under the present state of the law, an insurer does not "escape” liability for prejudgment interest simply by refusing to enter into a consent judgment when settling a case. Settlement by consent judgment or by release, the result is the same: unless the parties expressly agree otherwise, the insurer and his insured are not obligated to pay prejudgment interest.
Affirmed. | [
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Per Curiam.
The Wayne County Prosecutor seeks superintending control to review the action of Wayne Circuit Judge Theodore R. Bohn on November 20, 1985, when he sentenced Patrick William DeWitt to a three-year probationary term, with twenty weekends to be served in the Wayne County jail, pursuant to DeWitt’s plea-based conviction of ouil, third offense. MCL 257.625(6); MSA 9.2325(6). The prosecutor contends that the sentence is illegal. Pursuant to MCR 7.206(D)(3), we peremptorily vacate the sentence imposed by the circuit court and remand for further proceedings, by means of this per curiam opinion, for the benefit of the bench and bar. People v Nicolaides, 148 Mich App 100, 101; 383 NW2d 620 (1985); Manuel v Dep’t of Corrections, 140 Mich App 356, 357; 364 NW2d 334 (1985).
Section 625(6) of the Michigan Vehicle Code provides:
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. [MCL 257.625(6); MSA 9.2325(6).]
The referenced subsections (1) and (2) define operating under the influence of intoxicating liquor or controlled substances (subsection [1]) and having an unlawful blood-alcohol level of 0.10 percent or greater (subsection [2]). In a similar vein, subsection (5) defines "prior conviction” as "a conviction under subsection (1) or (2), a local ordinance substantially corresponding to subsection (1) or (2), or a law of another state substantially corresponding to subsection (1) or (2).”
Section 902 of the vehicle code provides:
Any person who is convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this act declared to consti tute a felony, unless a different penalty is expressly provided herein, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 1 year nor more than 5 years, or by a fine of not less than $500.00 nor more than $5,000.00 or by both such fine and imprisonment. [MCL 257.902; MSA 9.2602.]
The probationary sentence imposed by Judge Bohn requires DeWitt to pay court costs of $165 per year, but makes no provision for a fine.
As the real party in interest, DeWitt has filed an answer to the complaint, pointing out that the Code of Criminal Procedure, MCL 771.1(1); MSA 28.1131(1), declares:
In all prosecutions for felonies or misdemeanors, except murder, treason, criminal sexual conduct in the first or third degree, robbery while armed, and major controlled substance offenses not described in subsection (3), if the defendant has been found guilty upon verdict or plea, and if it appears to the satisfaction of the court that defendant is not likely again to engage in an offensive or criminal course of conduct and that the public good does not require that the defendant shall suffer the penalty imposed by law, the court may place the defendant on probation under the charge and supervision of a probation officer.
The issue is whether a sentencing judge has discretion, by virtue of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to impose a probationary sentence, but no fine, on a person convicted of a felony under the vehicle code. Resolution of this issue requires recognition of the basis principle that the sentencing authority of a trial court derives not from any inherent judicial power, but from delegation of legislative authority:
The validity of section 724, as amended by PA 1952, No 13, is further challenged on the ground that no discretion in the imposition of the statutory fine is permitted. In other words the statute itself fixes the amount of the fine, based on the determination by the court or jury, as the case may be, as to the amount of excessive weight transported by the equipment of the defendant. It is not essential to the validity of a penal statute that the court imposing sentence be permitted to exercise discretion to some extent, or within prescribed limitations. In the event of conviction of first[-]degree murder the offender is subject to a mandatory life sentence. The validity of such provision of the statute is commonly recognized. In People v Palm, 245 Mich 396, 403, 404 [223 NW 67 (1929)], certain mandatory provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the [s]tate were sustained, the opinion in the case declaring in substance that courts have no discretionary power except as conferred by law. See, also, State v Stang Tank Line, 264 Wis 570 (59 NW2d 800) [1953], in which it was held that, under a similar statute, the trial court had no discretion as to the amount of the fine. The fact that the [Legislature in the instant case saw fit to prescribe the penalty and to make the imposition mandatory does not render the statute under which defendant was prosecuted unconstitutional. [People v Wolfe, 338 Mich 525, 542; 61 NW2d 767 (1953).]
This holding has a pedigree which goes back at least as far as People v Smith, 94 Mich 644, 646; 54 NW 487 (1893), where the Court said:
Upon the Legislature alone is conferred the power to fix the minimum and maximum of the punishment for all crimes.
Thus, in People v Palm, supra, p 404, it was held:
The courts have no discretionary power in this respect unless it be conferred upon them by law. Under its mandate, murder in the first degree is punished by life imprisonment. Courts have no inherent power to modify a statute in this respect to meet exceptional cases.
There remains, however, a conflict between the Vehicle Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Code of Criminal Procedure is obviously a generic statute, designed with no particular substantive penal provision in mind. However, § 902 of the vehicle code is specific, at least in terms of offenses defined as felonies under that particular body of statutory law.
Where there are two acts or provisions, one of which is special and particular, and certainly includes the matter in question, and the other general which, if standing alone, would include the same matter and thus conflict with the special act or provision, the special must be taken as intended to constitute an exception to the general act, as the Legislature is not to be presumed to have intended a conflict. Crane v Reeder, 22 Mich 322 (1871). The dates on which the two statutes were enacted or reenacted are irrelevant; a later statute which is general and affirmative in its provisions will not abrogate a former one which is particular or special. Regents of University of Michigan v Auditor General, 109 Mich 134; 66 NW 956 (1896). Hence, even though § 902 of the vehicle code has not been amended since 1949, whereas the probation statute was reenacted as recently as 1982 PA 470, nonetheless the former controls.
Hence, the circuit court erred in failing to follow the mandate of § 902, i.e., imposing on DeWitt either a minimum sentence of one and a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, or a minimum fine of $500, or both. This is not to say that the probationary order is otherwise invalid; in the discretion of the circuit court, the probationary order could be supplemented with a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, thereby meeting the criteria of § 902, which to that extent would then be consistent with the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Superintending control is granted, the sentence vacated, and the case remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. | [
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Beasley, J.
Plaintiffs-appellants, Angela Wilcox and Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company, appeal from an order granting the motion of garnishee defendant-appellee, Auto-Owners Insurance Company, to quash a writ of garnishment.
On October 31, 1977, a house trailer, owned by plaintiff Wilcox and insured by plaintiff Pioneer, caught fire and was damaged. Plaintiffs claim that the proximate cause of the fire was the negligence of defendants Harry and Orpha Sealey. When plaintiffs brought suit against the Sealeys, the latter demanded that garnishee defendant Auto-Owners defend them and pay any possible judgments up to the limits of the policy, namely, $5,000. When Auto-Owners refused to do so, on the ground that the coverage afforded by the policy did not extend to plaintiffs’ claims, the Sealeys started an action for declaratory judgment against Auto-Owners.
In a nonjury trial, a declaratory judgment was granted in favor of Auto-Owners, holding that the insurance policy neither covered plaintiffs’ claims nor required Auto-Owners to defend. Shortly after that declaratory judgment was entered on June 25, 1982, plaintiffs Wilcox and Pioneer settled their claim against the Sealeys under an agreement in which plaintiffs, claiming they were not bound by the declaratory judgment, reserved their rights against Auto-Owners under the insurance policy. A consent judgment was entered in plaintiffs’ case against the Sealeys in accordance with the settlement agreement and plaintiffs then garnisheed Auto-Owners under the insurance policy for any amount of damage exceeding amounts paid under the settlement.
In response to the garnishment, garnishee defendant, Auto-Owners, filed a disclosure denying liability, claiming, among other things, that the matter was decided by the declaratory judgment previously rendered in favor of Auto-Owners. The same judge heard the motion of Auto-Owners to quash the garnishment as had presided over the declaratory judgment action.
Plaintiffs were not made a party to the declaratory judgment action in which the coverage issue was decided. However, during oral argument on the motion to quash the garnishment, the parties admitted that plaintiffs knew of .the fact of the declaratory judgment action. As a result, the trial court found that plaintiffs knew and could have intervened in the declaratory judgment action if they had wished to do so. Based on that fact and the fact that the trial court had already heard a similar issue in the declaratory judgment action, the trial court quashed the writ of garnishment.
On appeal, plaintiffs argue that they should have been joined in the declaratory judgment action under GCR 1963, 205. In fact, plaintiffs argue further that under GCR 1963, 209.1(3), they “probably could have intervened of right”. Plain tiffs cite D’Agostini v City of Roseville, which provides three requirements for application of GCR 1963, 209.1(3): (1) timely application, (2) representation of the applicant’s interest by existing parties is or may be inadequate, and (3) applicant may be bound by a judgment in the action. The opinion in D’Agostini holds that, if all of the above are present, an applicant is qualified for intervention as of right.
Plaintiffs conclude their argument by asserting that the better rule, as between requiring the parties to join Wilcox in their declaratory judgment action and requiring Wilcox to attempt to intervene, would be to require the joinder of plaintiffs in the declaratory judgment action by the parties to that suit. Largely, we disagree with plaintiffs’ analysis and, particularly, with their conclusions.
GCR 1963, 205.1 defines necessary joinder as requiring persons having such interests in the subject matter and action that their presence in the action is essential to permit the court to render complete relief to be joined.
In the Sealeys’ declaratory judgment action against Auto-Owners, Wilcox was not such a party whose presence was essential to permit the court to render complete relief. All that Sealey sought in that declaratory judgment action was an interpretation and definition of the meaning of the insurance policy, with particular reference to whether or not Wilcox’s claims against the Sealeys were within the coverage and whether or not Auto-Owners was required to undertake the defense of the Sealeys against Wilcox’s claims.
In suing their own insurance company (Auto-Owners), the Sealeys could litigate and obtain the relief sought without joining Wilcox. Thus, we would not believe that for purposes of application of the rules on joinder, Wilcox was a necessary, essential party to the Sealeys’ declaratory judgment action. On the other hand, we are inclined to believe that, if Wilcox had made timely application to intervene in the Sealeys’ declaratory judgment action against Auto-Owners, Wilcox should have been permitted to intervene under GCR 1963, 209.1(3). However, although admitting to knowledge of the fact of the declaratory judgment action, Wilcox did not choose to attempt to intervene.
In Cloud v Vance, plaintiff sued defendant for damages arising out of an automobile collision. An attorney retained by Vance’s insurance company filed an appearance for him, but then was permitted to withdraw on the basis that Vance did not cooperate with him regarding discovery. Then, the insurance company sued Vance, its insured, and obtained a declaratory judgment holding that it had no obligation under the insurance. policy. Cloud was not a party to the declaratory judgment action and claimed that he did not have any notice of that proceeding. Cloud then obtained a default judgment against Vance, which he sought to collect in a writ of garnishment against the insurance company.
In reversing the trial court, we held that Cloud was not precluded from a hearing on the merits regarding any obligations owed by the garnishee defendant insurance company to Cloud under the insurance policy. We held that, where a plaintiff has a substantial interest in the proceeds of an insurance policy and where the insurance company has knowledge of the existence of plaintiff’s claim, then plaintiff was entitled to notice from the insurance company of the declaratory judgment action that was brought and an opportunity to intervene.
We also held that res judicata did not apply because the action was not between the same parties. We also said that, while we doubted that a default judgment on the coverage issue could really be described as a decision on the merits, we were not required to decide that issue because res judicata did not apply where the parties were not the same. Consequently, in Cloud, we sent the case back for a hearing to determine whether or not there was coverage.
In Ward v Detroit Automobile Inter-Ins Exchange, we reversed an award of accelerated judgment in favor of an insurance company. In 1974, Ward had obtained a default judgment against Gollnick arising out of a 1973 automobile collision. After the judgment was entered, Ward garnisheed the insurance company, and the insurance company filed a disclosure denying liability to Ward. Ward did not raise the statutory issue to litigate the denial of liability. Eventually, Ward obtained an assignment from Gollnick of his cause of action against the insurance company and then filed suit against the insurance company, claiming the latter did not undertake Gollnick’s defense even though it knew of the automobile accident and of Ward’s claim. The insurance company claimed that its disclosure denying liability to Gollnick, given in response to Ward’s garnishment, was res judicata of Ward’s subsequent suit against the insurance company. The trial court agreed and granted accelerated judgment.
In reversing, we held that res judicata did not apply because Gollnick was not a party to the garnishment by Ward and disclosure by the insurance company and because the suit brought by Ward as Gollnick’s assignee was not the same matter as contesting the garnishment disclosure denying liability.
Neither Cloud v Vance, supra, nor Ward v DAIIE, supra, control the result here because of differences in their respective facts.
First, in this case, it is admitted that plaintiffs had knowledge of the bringing of the declaratory judgment action. There is nothing in this record to indicate that there was any reason preventing plaintiffs from having intervened and become parties in the declaratory judgment action.
In addition, the basis for the claim of no coverage is quite different here, where the claim is that the terms of the policy did not extend to the coverage sought. On the other hand, in Cloud, supra, the declaratory judgment action was based upon a lack of cooperation by the defendant with the attorney retained by the insurance company. In Ward, supra, the insured, Gollnick, assigned his rights under the policy to Ward, and there was no declaratory judgment determining coverage and validity of the insurance policy. We are inclined to believe that these changes are significant, particularly, the admitted fact that plaintiffs had knowledge of the declaratory judgment action and apparently could have intervened in that action.
Applying these cases to the within case, we hold:
1. That Wilcox was not a necessary, essential party who had to be joined under GCR 1963, 205 in the Sealeys’ declaratory judgment case against Auto-Owners.
2. That Wilcox had sufficient actual knowledge and could have intervened under GCR 1963, 209.1(3) in the declaratory judgment action, but did not choose to do so.
3. That the declaratory judgment is not res judicata as to Wilcox for the reason that similar parties are not involved in this case as in the declaratory judgment case.
However, while we find that the judgment is not res judicata as to Wilcox, we do find that, because, as indicated, there is no legal excuse for Wilcox’s failure to intervene in the declaratory judgment case or, to put it another way, because Wilcox has waived her right to deny the binding effect of the declaratory judgment, Wilcox is collaterally es-topped from denying the validity and binding effect of the declaratory judgment on her.
In Topps-Toeller, Inc v City of Lansing, we described the difference between res judicata and collateral estoppel:
"res judicata bars the reinstitution of the same cause of action by the same parties in a subsequent suit. Collateral estoppel bars the relitigation of issues previously decided when such issues are raised in a subsequent suit by the same parties based upon a different cause of action.”
While res judicata requires that the same parties be involved in both lawsuits, collateral estoppel focuses on the issues. In Local 98 v Flamegas Detroit Corp, we stated:
"Collateral estoppel 'means simply that when an issue of * * * fact has once been determined by a valid and final judgment, that issue cannot again be litigated between the same parties in any future lawsuit’. (Em phasis supplied.) Ashe v Swenson, 397 US 436, 443; 90 S Ct 1189, 1194; 25 L Ed 2d 469, 475 (1970); see Knibbe v City of Warren, 2 Mich App 241; 139 NW2d 344 (1966). Thus, application of this doctrine requires (1) identity of parties and (2) identity of issues. * * *
"Substantial identity, not precise identity, is all that is required. Sunshine Anthracite Coal Co v Atkins, 310 US 381; 60 S Ct 907; 84 L Ed 1263 (1940). While Darin, a party in the previous case, is not a party here, 'it is no objection that the former action included parties not joined in the present action, or vice versa, so long as the judgment was rendered on the merits * * Dreyfus v First National Bank of Chicago, 424 F2d 1171, 1175 (CA 7, 1970); see Jordon v Stuart Creamery, Inc, 258 Iowa 1; 137 NW2d 259 (1965).”
Unlike res judicata, then, collateral estoppel may apply where the parties are not identical in a subsequent lawsuit. The estoppel doctrine requires that the issues in the two actions be identical, not merely similar.
In the within case, the issue decided in the Auto-Owners declaratory judgment action, namely, whether coverage under the insurance policy extended to plaintiffs’ claims against the Sealeys, is the same issue raised by Auto-Owners’ disclosure to the garnishment denying liability under the insurance policy.
In Darin & Armstrong v Ben Agree Co, we stated:
"Collateral estoppel precludes relitigation of issues actually determined in a prior lawsuit between parties or their privies. Senior Accountants, Analysts & Appraisers Ass’n v Detroit, 399 Mich 449, 458; 249 NW2d 121 (1976). But collateral estoppel does not apply unless the estoppel is mutual. Howell v Vito’s Trucking & Excavating Co, 386 Mich 37; 191 NW2d 313 (1971). Mutuality of estoppel is for all practical purposes coextensive with the requirement of identity of parties or privity. Braxton v Litchalk, 55 Mich App 708, 721; 223 NW2d 316 (1974).”
Mutuality of estoppel is present if both litigants in the second suit are bound by the judgment rendered in the first. Since we would hold that the declaratory judgment would be just as binding on Auto-Owners (if the opposite result had been reached in the declaratory judgment action) as on the Sealeys, there is no lack of mutuality.
Where, in addition, as here, plaintiffs had actual notice that the coverage issue was being litigated and plaintiffs could easily have intervened, we hold that the doctrine of collateral estoppel prevents plaintiffs from being entitled to retrial of the coverage issue. For these reasons, we affirm the trial court’s award of judgment to defendant Auto-Owners.
Affirmed._._
The consent judgment as entered was in the total sum of $12,783.99, of which $9,675 was in favor of plaintiff Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company, and $3,108.99 was in favor of plaintiff Angela Wilcox, plus interest and costs for each. The settlement agreement provided that upon payment of $4,000 to plaintiffs Wilcox and Pioneer, either by the Sealeys or by Auto-Owners, the Sealeys would be released and the consent judgment deemed satisfied.
396 Mich 185; 240 NW2d 252 (1976).
97 Mich App 446; 296 NW2d 68 (1980).
115 Mich App 30; 320 NW2d 280 (1982).
47 Mich App 720, 727; 209 NW2d 843 (1973), lv den 390 Mich 788 (1973).
52 Mich App 297, 302-303; 217 NW2d 131 (1974).
Id.
88 Mich App 128, 134; 276 NW2d 869 (1979), lv den 406 Mich 1007 (1979).
Stolaruk v Dep’t of Transportation, 114 Mich App 357; 319 NW2d 581 (1982).
Howell v Vito’s Trucking & Excavating Co, 386 Mich 37; 191 NW2d 313 (1971).
Local 98 v Flamegas Detroit Corp, supra. | [
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M. J. Kelly, J.
This is an action for breach of contract. Following thirty days of trial, the court delivered an opinion from the bench finding that defendant had breached its contractual duties to plaintiff Om-El Export Company, Inc., resulting in damages of $606,147.76, plus interest. On appeal, defendant does not challenge the trial court’s finding that defendant’s conduct constituted a breach of contract. Rather, defendant appeals from part of the damages award and the computation of interest on the award. We affirm.
The contractual relationship between Om-Él and defendant began in 1967. At that time, defendant was engaged in the business of manufacturing heavy industrial machinery but had no significant export market. Fernando Leon approached defendant and negotiated an agreement on behalf of his solely-owned corporation, Om-El, whereby Om-El would work exclusively as defendant’s market representative in all areas of the world except the United States, Canada, Japan, Ryukyu, North and South Korea, Southeast Asia, The Republic of China, North Vietnam and Cuba. Initially, Om-El’s relationship with defendant was governed by a series of one-year contracts which were automatically renewed on the expiration date. Either party could have prevented renewal of any one of the one-year contracts. In June of 1972, the parties entered into a five-year contract with an expiration date of May 31, 1977. A second five-year contract was entered into on September 21, 1977, but was made retroactive to June 1, 1977. Both five-year contracts provided for cancellation upon Fernando Leon’s death or disability or upon failure of Om-El to achieve certain minimum sales goals.
Although Fernando Leon is a plaintiff in this action, individually, he was never a party to any of the contracts entered into between Om-El and defendant. Leon claimed compensation for a market and plant study conducted prior to the execution of any sales representative contract. The trial court granted defendant an accelerated judgment on this claim and plaintiffs did not appeal from that order. Since Leon was not a party to the contract upon which this action is based, the trial court awarded damages to Om-El only (hereinafter referred to as plaintiff).
Because defendant does not challenge the trial court’s finding that it had breached its contractual obligations to plaintiff, we find it unnecessary to recount the details of that breach. Suffice it to say that defendant terminated the contract in February of 1979, alleging that plaintiff had failed to meet its minimum sales goals for the 1977-1978 contract year. The trial court concluded that plaintiff had in fact substantially met the goals for the year in question and that, based on the language and terms of the contract, the circumstances underlying the contract negotiations and the intent of the parties, defendant was not justified in terminating the contract on the facts presented.
The trial court awarded the following damages to Om-El:
$500,000 for future commissions which Om-El would have earned in the years remaining on the contract but for defendant’s breach;
$90,234.76 for commissions Om-El earned prior to the termination of the contract and within six months thereafter, as provided in the contract;
$13,886 for commissions Om-El had earned but defendant refused to pay for the reason that defendant had discounted the price of the equipment to certain customers in response to their complaints; and
$2,027 for monies defendant owed Om-El on a "debit-credit” account the parties maintained in Belgium.
The parties indicated at appellate oral argument that the award of $90,234.76 for commissions earned prior to and within six months after the termination of the contract was satified following entry of the judgment. Thus, defendant’s arguments on appeal relate primarily to the award of $500,000 for future commissions.
Defendant first contends that the trial court clearly erred in finding that plaintiff was not obligated to minimize its future damages during the three years between defendant’s termination and the 1982 expiration date by developing new export markets for other manufacturers of heavy industrial equipment. Defendant’s witness identi fled a number of companies which plaintiff could have solicited for business with successful and profitable results. The witness further identified other representatives of defendant who had left defendant’s employ and gone on to successfully represent competitor companies. Both at trial and on appeal, defendant analogizes plaintiffs position to that of a wrongfully discharged employee and argues that plaintiff was required to make every reasonable effort to obtain employment of a like nature. Brewster v Martin Marietta Aluminum Sales, Inc, 145 Mich App 641, 663; 378 NW2d 558 (1985). Defendant argues that plaintiffs failure to contact even one of the twenty or so competitors identified by defendant should preclude plaintiff from fully recovering the future commissions that plaintiff would have earned in the absence of defendant’s breach. We do not agree.
The trial court concluded that it was unreasonable to require plaintiff to mitigate damages by developing new foreign markets for other companies. First, Fernando Leon testified that the process of establishing export markets necessarily involves a number of years of high expenditures and low earnings. In order for Qm-El to have developed another export market, Leon opined that it required enough capital to be able to operate at a loss for from three to five years. The trial court noted that defendant, at the time of its breach, withheld approximately $90,000 in commissions already earned by Om-El, fully aware that the commissions were owed. Plaintiff was thus prevented from using those funds to finance any other project. The trial court also considered the fact that the operative force behind the corporate plaintiff, Fernando Leon, was nearly sixty years of age at the time defendant terminated the contract and had suffered a major heart attack in 1977.
Defendant argues that these findings are not supported by the evidence. Our review of the testimony convinces us otherwise. Fernando Leon specifically testified that he considered the prospect of approaching another manufacturer for the purpose of developing an export market but concluded that it would take from three to five years before Om-El would make any money and would require the expenditure of sums of money which would not be recouped until years after the arrangement was in place. Leon based his conclusions on his experience with defendant, and on a previous experience in New York with a similar venture. An exhibit introduced at trial reveals that Om-El did not experience a corporate profit until the sixth year of its contractual relationship with defendant and that Leon did not receive a salary until the fourth year. We find this evidence sufficient to support the trial court’s finding that any attempt by plaintiff to develop a similar venture would have required operating at a loss for several years and thus did not represent a reasonable step by which plaintiff could have mitigated damages.
There is no dispute that plaintiffs in tort and breach of contract actions have the duty to take reasonable steps to minimize any damages suffered as a result of a defendant’s wrongful breach. For purposes of trial, however, it is the burden of the defendant to prove that plaintiff has failed to take some reasonable step in mitigation. Reinardy v Bruzzese, 368 Mich 688, 691; 118 NW2d 952 (1962); Froling v Bischoff, 73 Mich App 496, 499-500; 252 NW2d 832 (1977). It was the trial court’s opinion, and we agree, that defendant in this case failed to carry its burden of proof with regard to the mitiga tion issue. We find defendant’s analogy to the wrongfully-discharged employee inapposite given the element of risk necessarily involved with the development of a new export market venture. We affirm the trial court’s finding on the issue of mitigation.
Defendant’s second argument presents a closer question. Defendant claims error in the trial court’s failure to deduct from future commission damages the amount of money that Om-El would have paid to Fernando Leon in the form of a salary during the years remaining on the contract after termination. Since Om-El’s sole corporate activities revolved around defendant’s market, there was no need for Om-El to expend corporate funds on employee salaries after defendant had breached the contract. Defendant asserts that Leon would have earned an annual salary of $50,-000 for each of the three years remaining on the contract. Defendant thus contends that the award of $500,000 for future lost commissions should be reduced by $150,000.
Defendant correctly cites the applicable principles of law in support of its argument. The purpose of awarding damages in a breach of contract action is to place the injured party in as good a position as would have been enjoyed had the contract been fully performed. Davidson v General Motors Corp, 119 Mich App 730, 733; 326 NW2d 625 (1982), Davidson v General Motors Corp (On Rehearing), 136 Mich App 203; 357 NW2d 59 (1984). Where the contract is one involving sales commissions, the measure of damages for loss of profits is gross commissions less expenses that would have been incurred but for the breach. Benfield v H K Porter Co, Inc, 1 Mich App 543, 546; 137 NW2d 273 (1965); Callender v Myers Regulator Co, 250 Mich 298; 230 NW 154 (1930). See also Lawton v Gorman Furniture Corp, 90 Mich App 258, 267; 282 NW2d 797 (1979), and Davidson, supra, p 734. Defendant reasons that since net profit is the appropriate measure of damages and since Om-El’s net profits constitute gross commissions minus expenditures, it was incumbent upon the trial court to deduct Leon’s salary as a corporate expenditure that would have been but was not incurred because of the defendant’s breach.
The trial court rejected defendant’s argument and, although the court reduced Om-El’s gross commissions by other expenditures that would have been incurred in carrying out the terms of the contract, the court did not reduce the gross commissions by the amount of Leon’s salary. Essentially, the trial court looked beyond the corporate entity and reasoned that although the contract was between defendant and Om-El and not Fernando Leon, the contract clearly contemplated the personal services of Leon, as evidenced by the contract provision justifying defendant’s termination in the event of Leon’s death or disability. OmEl was wholly owned by Leon and, as previously noted by the trial court, Leon was Om-El’s only real asset. The court characterized Om-El as "Mr. Leon’s alter-ego” and concluded that to deprive the plaintiff of $150,000 in lost commissions would result in a windfall for defendant not contemplated by the law.
As recently noted by this Court, there is no simple or easy rule for determining when a corporate entity may be disregarded. Papo v Aglo Restaurants of San Jose, Inc, 149 Mich App 285, 301; 386 NW2d 177 (1986). Such a decision must be made in light of "[t]he entire spectrum of relevant fact[s]” underlying a particular case, Klager v Robert Meyer Co, 415 Mich 402, 411; 329 NW2d 721 (1982), and "rests on notions of equity, whether it is an action at law or at [sic] equity.” Kline v Kline, 104 Mich App 700, 703; 305 NW2d 297 (1981). One justification for looking beyond a corporate entity is to avoid an injustice or, conversely, to accomplish a just result. Id., pp 702-703, citing Schusterman v MESC, 336 Mich 246; 57 NW2d 869 (1953), and LA Walden & Co v Consolidated Underwriters, 316 Mich 341, 346; 25 NW2d 248 (1946).
In this case, the trial court relied upon general principles of fairness in looking beyond the corporate structure of Om-El. Upon our de novo review of the facts we are not persuaded that we would have been compelled to find otherwise had we been sitting as the trier of fact. This is a close question and we surmise that reasonable minds might disagree on the appropriateness of disregarding the corporate structure under these facts. Since the trial court here had a special opportunity to view the witnesses in an unusually lengthy trial, we will defer to that court’s findings and conclusions. We further note that in Davidson (On Rehearing), supra, p 207, a panel of this Court held that under the circumstances of a case such as this, a sole shareholder plaintiff was "entitled to damages based on all benefits [not just lost salary] which would have flowed to him through the corporate form absent defendant’s breach of contract.”
Defendant’s remaining arguments are without merit. Defendant argues that the trial court erred in awarding plaintiff interest from the date the complaint was filed on that portion of the damages award representing future commissions. We do not agree. In Goins v Ford Motor Co, 131 Mich App 185, 201-203; 347 NW2d 184 (1983), lv gtd, 422 Mich 857 (1985), order granting lv vacated and lv den, 424 Mich 879 (1986), this Court addressed and rejected a similar argument in the context of a wrongful discharge action. Plaintiff in that case was awarded future lost wages and defendant argued that interest should accrue on future wages only from the date those wages became payable and not from the date of the filing of the complaint. This Court rejected defendant’s argument holding that MCL 600.6013; MSA 27A.6013 was unambiguous on its face and expressly provided for the assessment of interest "from the date of filing the complaint.” The Court further noted that the purpose of awarding prejudgment interest is not only to compensate for the delay in receiving money but to compensate for the expenses and inconveniences involved in litigation. We agree that a straightforward interpretation of the prejudgment interest statute allows interest on a money damages award from the date of the filing of the complaint. Had the Legislature intended to provide differently in the case of awards involving future damages, it could easily have done so by express provision in the statute.
A recent decision of the Supreme Court tends to support a straightforward interpretation of the prejudgment interest statute. Although not directly presented with the issue now before us, a majority of the justices on the Supreme Court generally held that prejudgment interest "commences to accrue, and therefore should be calculated, from the date of the filing of the complaint upon the defendant against whom the judgment has been entered.” Rittenhouse v Erhart, 424 Mich 166, 218; 380 NW2d 440 (1985). There, the issue was whether interest should commence running from the date the original complaint was filed rather than from the filing date of the amended complaint which named for the first time the defendant against whom the judgment was obtained. The only defendant named in the original complaint had been dismissed for no cause of action.
Defendant relies upon Foremost Life Ins Co v Waters (On Remand), 125 Mich App 799; 337 NW2d 29 (1983), for the rule that interest on future damages should not commence until the damages accrue. As it did in Goins, supra, however, the situation presented in Foremost differs significantly from that presented here. In Foremost, plaintiff filed a declaratory action rather than an action for money damages. During the pendency of that action, defendant settled her claim with a third-party tortfeasor, turning plaintiff’s declaratory action into an action for reimbursement of insurance proceeds. We held that prejudgment interest did not accrue from the filing date of plaintiff’s original declaratory complaint but from the date that the declaratory action was transformed into an action for a money judgment. The prejudgment interest statute applies only to actions for money judgments. Another panel of this Court has recently cited Foremost in affirming a trial court’s limitation of prejudgment interest from the date certain service fees became payable rather than from the date of the filing of the complaint. See Central Michigan University Faculty Ass’n v Stengren, 142 Mich App 455, 461; 370 NW2d 383 (1985). In our view, the decision in that case conflicts with the decision in Goins and with our decision today and we therefore certify this case for conflicts resolution pursuant to Administrative Order No. 1984-2, 418 Mich lxxxii (1984).
Defendant next challenges the trial court’s application of an exchange rate of .034 in the conversion of Belgian francs into American dollars, as to that portion of the future commissions which would have been earned in Belgium. The trial court based its choice of rate on the rate prevailing at the time defendant terminated the contract. Defendant points out in its brief on appeal that although .034 was the prevailing rate prior to the termination of the contract and prior to the commencement of this lawsuit, the current conversion rate is .016, approximately one-half the earlier rate. Defendant argues that to apply the higher exchange rate to future commissions results in an unwarranted windfall to plaintiff.
We are not persuaded. First, we note that defendant submitted its brief on appeal on May 1, 1985, nearly three years after the expiration of the full contract period at issue here. The contract was terminated in February of 1979 and would have been automatically terminated in May of 1982. Thus, the exchange rate prevailing in 1985 is irrelevant to this case.
The trial court’s application of the exchange rate prevailing at the time of the breach was not legal error:
The view followed by most of the American courts, however, is in favor of measuring the amount of damages or debt, where payable in foreign money, by means of the rate of exchange between the two countries. These latter authorities are divided as to whether the damages should be computed by taking the rate of exchange prevailing at the time of the breach or at the time of trial or judgment. Some American cases take the view that the foreign money should be translated into American money as of the date of the breach of contract or maturity of the obligation and hold that the rate of exchange prevailing at that time governs. This also appears to be the settled law of England. Other American courts hold that the rate of exchange at the time of the trial or the date of the recovery or the judgment should govern. [22 Am Jur 2d, Damages, § 65, pp 98-99.]
Although the trial court might have estimated the dates on which future commissions would have been earned and the exchange rates prevailing at those times, the difficulties inherent in this method are readily ascertained. Unlike some cases, this is not one in which the contract provided for the delivery of specific measures of commodities on specific future dates. In order to apply the exchange rates prevailing at the time the commissions would have been earned, the trial court would have had to determine those particular dates as well as the specific amount of the commission earned. Given the circumstances of this case, we believe that the trial court did not err in opting for the date of the breach of contract instead.
Finally, defendant argues that the award of future commissions is clearly excessive, pointing out that the future commission award is more than three times the highest profits realized by Om-El during any prior period of comparable length. However, the trial court expressly stated that the relationship between plaintiff and defendant was a developing one, with steadily increasing profits to plaintiff. Fernando Leon had begun developing business contacts for defendant’s products in the 1960’s when defendant had a very small export market. Because of Leon’s efforts over the years, defendant’s European sales had greatly increased and promised to continue growing. In arriving at its figure for future commissions, the court looked primarily to defendant’s actual sales in Om-El’s territory after the breach, though it also concluded that those sales would have been greater had Om-El continued as the sales repre sentative rather than defendant’s in-house agent. The court also considered the state of competition during the period following the breach, the split of commissions that would have occurred between Om-El and other Newcor representatives who referred inquiries to Om-El, as well as the sliding scale of commission payments contracted for between the parties, and the expenses that would have been incurred by Om-El had the contract not been cancelled. Plaintiff asserts on appeal that defendant’s actual sales in Om-El’s territory during the years remaining on the contract after defendant’s breach totaled $14,672,459. Defendant does not contest this figure on appeal.
We conclude that the trial court’s award of future commission damages was neither speculative nor excessive. The award is justified by the facts and circumstances of this case and is within the range of evidence produced at trial.
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W. R. Peterson, J.
Appellant, charged with embezzlement by a trustee of a sum in excess of one hundred dollars, MCL 750.174; MSA 28.371, appeals by leave granted from the circuit court’s denial of her motion to dismiss. The motion challenged the prosecution as violative of the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States* and Michigan Constitutions. The prior jeopardy to which appellant refers was a contempt adjudication in the probate court from which her authority as a fiduciary was derived.
The Probate Court of Lenawee County appointed appellant as conservator of her minor daughter’s estate consisting of $1,731.65 received in settlement of a lawsuit. The money was deposited in the Bank of Lenawee County pursuant to a limitation on appellant’s powers as a conservator contained in her letters of authority. On March 1, 1982, the probate court authorized the transfer of the funds to a different bank, by the following order:
“the Bank of Lenawee County is hereby authorized to transfer the funds standing in the name of said minor, to the Clinton Branch of the Ann Arbor Bank & Trust.”
Neither the letter nor the spirit of the order were obeyed. The Bank of Lenawee County did not effect a transfer of the funds as specified in the order. Instead, it gave the money to appellant who did not deposit it with Ann Arbor Bank & Trust.
On July 20, 1982, the probate register signed a complaint in district court initiating the challenged embezzlement prosecution. Following an examination, the defendant was bound over to the circuit court for a trial. On August 30, 1982, the probate court issued a show cause order, the hearing of which on September 13, 1982, ended with a contempt adjudication by which appellant was sentenced to serve 20 days in jail or pay $1,731.35.
Appellant contends that the adjudication and punishment was for criminal contempt based on the same act as that for which the embezzlement prosecution is instituted. If so, she cannot again be put in jeopardy under the United States and Michigan Constitutions.
While it was once believed that double jeopardy and other constitutional rights applicable in criminal cases did not attach to contempt proceedings because they were judicially sui generis and not criminal in nature, that view has clearly been untenable as to criminal contempt actions since Bloom v Illinois, 391 US 194; 88 S Ct 1477; 20 L Ed 2d 522 (1968). Duncan v Louisiana, 391 US 145; 88 S Ct 1444; 20 L Ed 2d 491 (1968), having held that the 14th Amendment made the 6th Amendment right to trial by jury in criminal cases obligatory in state prosecutions, Bloom held that a criminal contempt resulting in a two-year sentence required trial by jury in the state court. In Benton v Maryland, 395 US 784; 89 S Ct 2056; 23 L Ed 2d 707 (1969), it was held that the 14th Amendment also made the double jeopardy provisions of the 5th Amendment applicable to state prosecutions, and Waller v Florida, 397 US 387; 90 S Ct 1184; 25 L Ed 2d 435; Anno: 25 L Ed 2d 968 (1970), dis pelled the notion that double jeopardy was inapplicable to the prosecution of the same act by different sovereignties. It thus follows that the United States Constitution bars state criminal prosecution and criminal contempt proceedings for the same conduct.
The same result must obtain under the Michigan Constitution for it is clear that, as to criminal contempts, Michigan has long since abandoned the view expressed in In re Chadwick, supra, p 597 that "Proceedings for contempt are not criminal causes within the intent and meaning of the Constitution of the United States or of this State”. Since Cross Co v UAW Local No 155 (AFL-CIO), 377 Mich 202, 210; 139 NW2d 694 (1966), identified criminal contempt proceedings as mandating the constitutional protections afforded those charged with crimes, numerous cases have affirmed in regard to criminal contempts the right to counsel, the presumption of innocence, that guilt must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the accused need not be a witness against himself. See, e.g., Jaikins v Jaikins, 12 Mich App 115, 120; 162 NW2d 325 (1968); People v Goodman, 17 Mich App 175; 169 NW2d 120 (1969); People v Randazzo, 21 Mich App 215; 175 NW2d 333 (1970); People v Joseph, 384 Mich 24; 179 NW2d 383 (1970); People v Johns, 384 Mich 325; 183 NW2d 216 (1971); People v Nowicki, 384 Mich 482; 185 NW2d 390 (1971); State Bar of Michigan v Cramer, 399 Mich 116; 249 NW2d 1 (1976); Sword v Sword, 399 Mich 367; 249 NW2d 88 (1976); Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #98 v Kalamazoo County, 82 Mich App 312; 266 NW2d 805 (1978), and State of Michigan ex rel Wayne Prosecutor v Powers, 97 Mich App 166; 293 NW2d 752 (1980).
While none of these cases, nor any other in Michigan, have addressed the applicability of the Double Jeopardy Clause to criminal contempts, it would seem clear that the recognition of criminal contempts as the equivalent of criminal prosecutions therein answers the question affirmatively. So it has been held in other states. People v Colombo, 31 NY2d 947; 293 NE2d 247 (1972), after remand Colombo v New York, 405 US 9; 92 S Ct 756; 30 L Ed 2d 762 (1972); Ex Parte Brown, 574 SW2d 618 (Tex Civ App, 1978), and People v Gray, 69 Ill 2d 44; 370 NE2d 797 (1977), cert den 435 US 1013; 98 S Ct 1887; 56 L Ed 2d 395 (1978).
The distinction between civil and criminal con-tempts was outlined in People ex rel Attorney General v Yarowsky, 236 Mich 169, 171-172; 210 NW 246 (1926), where the Court said:
" 'If the contempt consists in the refusal of a party to do something which he is ordered to do for the benefit or advantage of the opposite party, the process is civil, and he stands committed till he complies with the order. The order in such a case is not in the nature of a punishment, but is coercive, to compel him to act in accordance with the order of the court. If, on the other hand, the contempt consists in the doing of a forbidden act, injurious to the opposite party, the process is criminal, and conviction is followed by fine or imprisonment, or both; and this is by way of punishment. In one case the private party is interested in the enforcement of the order, and, the moment he is satisfied, the imprisonment ceases. On the other hand, the State alone is interested, in the enforcement of the penalty, it being a punishment which operates in terrorem, and by that means has a tendency to prevent a repetition of the offense in other similar cases.’ ”
Were the proceedings in the Lenawee County Probate Court for criminal or for civil contempt? At no point in the proceedings was there any attempt on the part of the probate judge to define the contempt citation as civil or criminal, or to define the parameters of the hearing, i.e., either the act for which appellant was subject to possible punishment or for which she was in fact punished. The order to show cause, fn 4 supra, required appellant to respond for a failure to comply with a prior order of the court directing appellant "to file a certification of deposit pursuant to the order of the court dated March 1, 1982”, and "to file proof of proper deposit of funds”. The court’s order of March 1, 1982, required no such act on the part of appellant. At the onset of the hearing, the probate judge said that the hearing was for appellant to show cause why she should not be held in contempt "for failing to obey the orders of the court”, adding:
"Now on June 15th you were ordered to prove to this court, show proof to the court as required by the order that you deposited those funds with the Ann Arbor Ban —the Ann Arbor Bank and Trust Company. Did you deposit those funds to the Ann Arbor Bank and Trust Company?”
There was no court order to file such proof; rather a letter was sent to appellant on June 15th directing her to file such proof.
Had the probate court afforded appellant any of the protections available to those charged with criminal contempts, it might be concluded that the proceedings were for criminal contempt, but she was afforded none of those rights. She appeared without counsel, was not advised of her right to counsel, and she was sworn and questioned without advice as to her privilege against testifying. The absence of those constitutional amenities does not, however, demonstrate that the proceedings were civil. People v Johns, supra.
The sole source to which we can turn, the probate judge having made no written findings or order, other than a commitment order, is the transcript of the September 13, 1982, hearing.
Appellant answered the judge’s question, above, negatively, acknowledging that she had "wound up using the money”, had "spent it on several different things”, but adding that she had not taken it for her "own use or betterment of any kind”. Asked by the judge how she proposed to pay the money back, appellant described her position as an abandoned mother of four who had been on public assistance for seven years, and who had just begun to receive some child support and had obtained the first job she had ever had. She said she could not repay the money at once but could do so, with interest, within six months. The hearing then concluded thus:
"The Court: I do not consider that you have purged yourself of contempt, you misrepresented to the court what you were going to do with the money. You converted it after a court believed you. You converted the money to your own use. I find you in contempt of court and I sentence you to 20 days in jail. You may be released from jail upon the returning — any day the minute you return these funds to the estate of the minor you can be released from jail, otherwise you spend 20 days there. You are remanded to the custody of the Lenawee County Sheriffs Department to commence your jail sentence.
"The Witness: Ok. Uh, excuse me sir, one more question. Uh, at the end of 20 days uh, I’m going to have to stay in jail cause I don’t have no way of getting it, but at the end of 20 days, uh, can you tell me what should — what else should I do just continue to try to get it paid back as far as it is possible?
"The Court: I’m concerned with — you still owe the estate regardless if you spent the rest of your life there, you still owe the estate.
"The Witness: Well that’s what I am saying.
"The Court: You still owe the estate.
"The Witness: Ok.”
The prosecution seeks to avoid the application of the double jeopardy rule by contending that (1) the contempt was not for the same act as that for which prosecution was commenced, i.e., the contumacious act charged by the order to show cause was not a conversion of funds but a failure to file proof of deposit, and (2) the contempt was civil rather than criminal since appellant could have been purged of the contempt and released from jail by repayment of the funds. This supposed distinction between acts is one without difference, as clearly appears from the fact that purgation was defined by the judge in terms of repayment, without which proof of deposit could not be made. The wrongful act, as expressed by the probate judge from the bench, was a conversion of the money by the fiduciary, and the purgation allowed was repayment.
Nor does the probate court’s cloaking of the punishment with the civil attire of purgation disguise the punitive nature of the sentence. Appellant’s sentence was not imposed to compel payment of the money forthwith for the record shows that she could not do so. Punishment for its nonpayment could not be accomplished through civil contempt. Mast v Washtenaw Circuit Judge, 154 Mich 485; 117 NW 1052 (1908); Klimek v Borkowski, 259 Mich 383; 243 NW 313 (1932); Fittante v Schultz, 20 Mich App 259; 174 NW2d 29 (1969).
The punishment being criminal in nature, it follows that double jeopardy attaches and the instant case must be and is quashed.
US Const, Am V.
Const 1963, art 1, § 15.
"All funds belonging to the estate of said minor shall be deposited in a federally insured banking institution and no funds are to be withdrawn without an order of the court.”
For the power to impose limitations on the powers of a conservator in the letters of authority, see MCL 700.486; MSA 27.5486.
"It appears to the court that Linda D. McCartney, conservator of the estate, has failed to file a certification of deposit pursuant to the order of the court dated March 1, 1982, authorizing the transfer of funds standing in the name of said minor, to the Clinton Branch of the Ann Arbor Bank & Trust.
"Now therefore, you, Linda D. McCartney, are ordered to appear before the Court, Second Floor, Lenawee County Judicial Building, Adrian, Michigan, on September 13, 1982, at 3:15 [sic] a.m. to show cause why you should not be held in contempt of court for failure to file proof of proper deposit of funds standing in the name of said minor, to the Clinton Branch of the Ann Arbor Bank & Trust. Your failure to appear may result in a bench warrant for your arrest.”
See In re Chadwick, 109 Mich 588, 597; 67 NW 1071 (1896); Jurney v MacCracken, 294 US 125, 151; 55 S Ct 375, 379; 79 L Ed 802, 808 (1935); Ex Parte Hudgings, 249 US 378, 382; 39 S Ct 337, 339; 63 L Ed 656, 658; 11 ALR 333, 336 (1919), and Re Chapman, 166 US 661, 672; 17 S Ct 677, 681; 41 L Ed 1154, 1159-1160 (1897):
"it is quite clear that the contumacious witness is not subjected to jeopardy twice for the same offense, since the same act may be an offense against one jurisdiction and also an offense against another; and indictable statutory offenses may be punished as such while the offenders may likewise be subjected to punishment for the same acts as contempts, the two being diverso intuito and capable of standing together.”
And, see MCL 600.1745; MSA 27A.1745, providing that persons proceeded against for contempt (without distinguishing between civil and criminal contempts) should also be liable for indictment for the same misconduct if it be an indictable offense.
This view continued to prevail in many states until quite recently, e.g., People ex rel Scott v Master Barbers & Beauty Culturists Ass’n, 9 111 App 3d 981; 293 NE2d 393; 88 ALR3d 1081, 1089 (1973), and this notwithstanding many decisions of the United States Supreme Court treating criminal contempt proceedings as criminal prosecutions mandating observance of the provisions of the Bill of Rights applicable to criminal prosecutions, e.g., Gompers v Buck’s Stove & Range Co, 221 US 418; 31 S Ct 492; 55 L Ed 797 (1911), holding that the presumption of innocence, the right not to testify against self, and the burden of proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt are applicable to criminal contempt proceedings.
For earlier acknowledgments of the right to counsel, to have witnesses in defense, to specific notice of the nature of the charges and the right to adequate time to prepare a defense, see In re Smilay, 235 Mich 151; 209 NW 191 (1926), and In re White, 327 Mich 316; 41 NW2d 882 (1950).
Courts speak through their judgments and orders, and not through opinions, bench rulings, or off the bench words or letters. People v Collier, 105 Mich App 46; 306 NW2d 387 (1981).
To the extent that the majority opinion in Watters v Watters, 112 Mich 1; 314 NW2d 778 (1981), seems to suggest that the denial of rights applicable to criminal cases proves a fortiori that the proceedings were civil, we are not of such view.
The probate judge made no inquiry as to whether any of the funds had been spent for the benefit of the minor ward. There was testimony at the preliminary examination to the effect that the funds, in part at least, were spent for the benefit of the ward, an end contemplated by the probate code. MCL 700.485; MSA 27.5485.
The court’s comments seem to suggest the possibility of successive contempt citations viewing the failure to repay as a continuing contempt. Though not material to this case, such a possibility would seem anachronistic when compared to the present state of criminal law under which, were appellant convicted of this embezzlement charge, she could not be ordered to pay restitution as a condition of probation beyond her ability to pay. MCL 771.3(5)(a); MSA 28.1133(5)(a).
The double jeopardy bar against dual prosecution for the same act is thus applicable under the test of Blockburger v United States, 284 US 299, 304; 52 S Ct 180, 182; 76 L Ed 306, 309 (1932), and Michigan’s "same transaction” test, People v White, 390 Mich 245, 258; 212 NW2d 222 (1973); Crampton v 54-A Dist Judge, 397 Mich 489, 499; 245 NW2d 28 (1976). | [
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Per Curiam.
In this medical malpractice case, defendants Kern Hospital and Dr. Norman Brant appeal by leave granted from two circuit court orders denying their respective motions for summary disposition based upon the statute of limitations, MCR 2.116(C)(7). We reverse.
The issue presented on appeal is whether the trial court erred by denying defendants’ motions for summary disposition based upon the statute of limitations governing medical malpractice actions. The trial court denied the motions on the basis that there were material questions of fact regarding the date of discovery of the alleged malpractice.
When reviewing a summary disposition motion under MCR 2.116(C)(7), this Court accepts as true all of the plaintiffs well-pled factual allegations and construes them in a light most favorable to the plaintiff. Stroud v Ward, 169 Mich App 1, 4; 425 NW2d 490 (1988).
The applicable statute of limitations is that which is in effect at the time a plaintiffs cause of action arises. A cause of action arises, for purposes of determining the applicable statute of limitations, when the alleged malpractice occurs, not when the plaintiff discovers or should have discovered the malpractice. Wallisch v Fosnaugh, 126 Mich App 418, 422-423; 336 NW2d 923 (1983), lv den 418 Mich 871 (1983).
The alleged malpractice occurred in September, 1983, when defendants allegedly mistreated plaintiffs foot problem. In this case, the applicable statute of limitations is set forth by the former provisions of MCL 600.5805(4); MSA 27A.5805(4) and MCL 600.5838; MSA 27A.5838.
The period of limitation for a medical malpractice action is two years. MCL 600.5805(4); MSA 27A.5805(4). At the time the facts pertinent to this appeal occurred, MCL 600.5838(1); MSA 27A.5838(1) provided that a claim of medical malpractice against a physician 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.
However, an action for malpractice may be commenced within the statutory period of six months after the plaintiff discovers or should have discov ered the existence of the malpractice claim. MCL 600.5838(2); MSA 27A.5838(2).
Defendants argue that plaintiffs complaint is barred by the two-year period of limitation because they discontinued treating or otherwise serving plaintiff more than two years before the complaint was filed. We agree.
Dr. Brant performed surgery on plaintiffs foot at Kern Hospital on September 27, 1983. Plaintiff was discharged on October 3, 1983, and had no further contact with the hospital. Dr. Brant last examined plaintiff in January, 1984. He referred her to another physician that same month. Plaintiff’s only other contact with Dr. Brant’s office was in June, 1984, when by telephone she expressed concern about the discomfort she was experiencing in her foot. She was told that her foot was doing well and that she would have to continue wearing gym shoes for a year. Plaintiff filed her complaint on August 29, 1986.
As against defendant hospital, plaintiffs cause of action accrued on the date plaintiff was discharged, more than two years before she filed her complaint. Ross v Roth, 131 Mich App 57; 345 NW2d 602 (1983). Plaintiff failed to allege or establish that she received treatment at the hospital beyond that date. Furthermore, plaintiff failed to establish that there was any relationship between defendants to support the conclusion that the hospital, through Dr. Brant, continued to treat plaintiff after the discharge date. See Smith v Consengco, 146 Mich App 401; 380 NW2d 478 (1985).
As to defendant Dr. Brant, plaintiffs cause of action accrued no later than January, 1984, when he stopped treating her, more than two years before plaintiff filed her complaint. Pendell v Jarka, 156 Mich App 405; 402 NW2d 23(1986), lv den 428 Mich 880 (1987). The June, 1984, tele phone conversation did not constitute "treatment or otherwise serving” within the meaning of MCL 600.5838(1); MSA 27A.5838(1). Even if it did, the conversation occurred more than two years before plaintiff filed her complaint.
Defendants also argue that plaintiffs cause of action is barred under the six-month "discovery rule,” MCL 600.5838(2); MSA 27A.5838(2). We agree.
Summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(7) should not be granted if there are factual disputes regarding when discovery occurred or reasonably should have occurred. Pendell, supra, p 411. Summary disposition should be granted only if, on the undisputed facts, the trial court can properly conclude as a matter of law that the plaintiffs claim is barred by the statute of limitations. Id., pp 411-412.
A medical malpractice claim is discovered when (1) the act or omission of the defendant becomes known, and (2) the plaintiff has reason to believe that the medical treatment was improper or was performed in an improper manner. Antal v Porretta, 165 Mich App 238, 242; 418 NW2d 395 (1987); Pendell, supra, p 412.
We find the evidence to be undisputed that plaintiff either discovered or should have discovered her claim long before the six-month discovery period prior to filing suit. Plaintiff stated in her deposition that she first noticed that something was wrong with her foot in early 1984. Plaintiff also testified that in 1985 she thought that Brant had done something wrong to her foot. In April, 1985, she met with her attorney about her foot problems because she thought she had a possible malpractice claim. Her attorney sent her to be examined by a physician in February, 1986, regarding her foot problems. We disregard plaintiffs affidavit to the extent it contradicts her deposition testimony. Peterfish v Frantz, 168 Mich App 43, 54; 424 NW2d 25 (1988).
The law does not require that the plaintiff know with absolute certainty that the physician committed malpractice before the six-month discovery period begins to run. It merely requires that the plaintiff know of the act and have reason to believe that the physician’s act was improper. Pendell, supra, p 412. This standard is satisfied here. Defendants are entitled to summary disposition as a matter of law.
Reversed and remanded for entry of judgment in favor of defendants. | [
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Cynar, J.
Defendants appeal as of right from the trial court’s October 23, 1987, judgment entered in favor of plaintiff in the amount of $45,000 plus interest from April 3, 1984. Defendants’ appeal is limited to the issue of the award of interest. We reverse.
The facts of this case are not in dispute. On December 18, 1982, plaintiff was injured in an accident while she was a passenger in a car driven by defendant Gerard Cheff and owned by defendant Frances Cheff. On June 3, 1983, plaintiff filed a complaint against defendants. On February 16, 1984, the mediation hearing was held and resulted in an award of $45,000 in favor of plaintiff. On March 7, 1984, plaintiff accepted the mediation evaluation which was also accepted by defendants. Plaintiff subsequently changed counsel and, on July 30, 1984, moved to set aside the mediation award, claiming that at the time she accepted the award she was not aware of the extent of her injuries. Defendants moved to enter a judgment on the mediation award. Following a hearing, the trial court granted plaintiff’s motion to set aside her acceptance of the mediation award. Defendants were then granted leave to appeal to this Court. In - an unpublished, per curiam opinion, Docket No. 81348, decided September 30, 1986, this Court found that the trial court failed to exercise its discretion and remanded this case to the trial court to reconsider its order setting aside plaintiff’s mediation acceptance.
On May 28, 1987, plaintiff moved to enter a judgment pursuant to the mediation award plus interest. Following a September 10, 1987, hearing, the trial court granted plaintiff’s motion. On October 23, 1987, a judgment was entered awarding plaintiff $45,000 plus interest from April 3, 1984, the date of the mailing of the notices of acceptance of the mediation award.
On appeal, defendants argue that the trial court erred in awarding statutory prejudgment interest on a judgment entered pursuant to the mutual acceptance of the mediation evaluation. We agree.
MCR 2.403(M)(1), formerly GCR 1963, 316.7(a), provides:
If all the parties accept the panel’s evaluation, judgment will be entered in that amount, which includes all fees, costs, and interest to the date of judgment.
In the instant case, the trial court entered a judgment on the $45,000 mediation evaluation and additionally awarded prejudgment interest from April 3, 1984. We find that the trial court’s award of interest was contrary to MCR 2.403(M)(1). The clear language of MCR 2.403(M)(1) provides that, upon acceptance of a mediation evaluation by all of the parties, judgment will be entered in the amount of the evaluation, which includes all fees, costs, and interest to the date of judgment. Therefore, the trial court erred by awarding prejudgment interest from April 3, 1984. Accordingly, we reverse that portion of the October 23, 1987, judgment that provided for prejudgment interest from April 3, 1984.
Reversed and remanded. We do not retain jurisdiction. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was charged with armed robbery, MCL 750.529; MSA 28.797, felony-firearm, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2), and in a supplemental information with being a third-felony offender, MCL 769.11; MSA 28.1083. A jury convicted him of armed robbery but was unable to reach a verdict on the felony-firearm count. After the trial, defendant pled guilty to the supplemental charge and the prosecutor agreed not to proceed further on the felony-firearm charge. Defendant was sentenced to from 10 to 30 years imprisonment and appealed as of right. This Court originally granted the prosecutor’s motion to affirm. On August 20, 1982, the Supreme Court vacated this Court’s order and remanded the case for plenary consideration of the issues raised, 414 Mich 905 (1982).
Defendant was convicted of the armed robbery of a party store clerk on the evening of February 2, 1980. The complainant testified that defendant, armed with a gun, came into the store and demanded money. Complainant gave the defendant approximately $20 in cash. After the defendant left, she called the police and gave them a description of the robber.
Some 10 to 15 minutes later, the police arrived at the store with defendant in a squad car. Complainant identified defendant as the robber.
This case requires us to again consider the circumstances under which the police may subject a suspect to an on-the-scene identification without counsel. Defendant argues that the procedure denied him his constitutional right to counsel and was unduly suggestive.
In Michigan, a defendant is generally entitled to have counsel present during an identification procedure. People v Jackson, 391 Mich 323; 217 NW2d 22 (1974). An exception is allowed where the police apprehend a suspect and return him for a prompt on-the-scene identification. People v Anderson, 389 Mich 155, 187, fn 23; 205 NW2d 461 (1973). Such a procedure allows the police to know whom to arrest and assures the expeditious release of innocent suspects. It also allows the victim to confirm or deny the identification while his or her memory is fresh and accurate. People v Turner, 120 Mich App 23, 34-35; 328 NW2d 5 (1982); People v Purofoy, 116 Mich App 471, 480; 323 NW2d 446 (1982).
Several panels of this Court have allowed the police to conduct a prompt on-the-scene identification without regard to the circumstances in which the defendant was apprehended. See e.g., People v Coward, 111 Mich App 55, 63; 315 NW2d 144 (1981); People v Tucker, 86 Mich App 608, 611; 273 NW2d 498 (1978), lv den 406 Mich 964 (1979). This line of cases seems to be based on the Anderson, supra, decision which recognized the procedure in a footnote without setting any guidelines for its use.
In recognition of the inherent suggestiveness of on-the-scene identifications without counsel being present, a panel of this Court in People v Dixon, 85 Mich App 271; 271 NW2d 196 (1978), lv den 406 Mich 906 (1979), held the procedure improper where the police have more than a mere suspicion that the defendant was involved in the crime. According to Dixon, the police in such cases may not return the defendant to the scene of the crime. Instead, they must permit defendant’s counsel to be present.
While we agree that a per se rule allowing on-the-scene identifications fails to consider the suggestive nature of such procedures and fails to protect a defendant’s right to counsel, we find the Dixon "more than a mere suspicion” standard too restrictive. We, therefore, agree with the middle-ground approach adopted in People v Turner, supra:
"Therefore, we would allow the police officers to conduct an on-the-scene identification without the presence of counsel at any time promptly after the crime, except in certain situations. First, we require counsel to be present where the police have very strong evidence that the person stopped is the culprit. Strong evidence exists where the suspect has himself decreased any exculpatory motive, i.e., where he has confessed or presented the police with either highly distinctive evidence of the crime or a highly distinctive personal appearance.” 120 Mich App 36-37.
The Turner approach has been adopted by other panels of this Court. See People v McCuaig, 126 Mich App 754; 338 NW2d 4 (1983); People v Fields, 125 Mich App 377; 336 NW2d 478 (1983); People v Raybon, 125 Mich App 295; 336 NW2d 782 (1983).
We recognize that the Turner standard will not always be an easy one to apply. In view of the purposes for on-the-scene identifications, we interpret the term "very strong evidence” to mean evidence such that the police, acting in good faith, have no reasonable necessity for confirming that the suspect they have apprehended is in fact the perpetrator. Applying this standard to the instant case, we are convinced that the on-the-scene identification was proper. A short time after the complainant’s call to the police, an officer observed a man matching the general description given by complainant trotting down a street in the general vicinity of the store. The defendant was found shortly thereafter huddling in some bushes behind a garage. A search of the area produced $21 in cash in a nearby burning barrel. Defendant was placed in a squad car and transported back to the store.
Certainly, the police had reason to suspect defendant’s involvement. However, the defendant neither matched a highly distinctive personal description nor was he found with highly distinctive evidence of the crime. In our opinion, the circumstances of defendant’s apprehension did not constitute "very strong evidence” such that there was no reasonable necessity to conduct an on-the-scene identification. We conclude that the procedure was proper and that defendant was not denied his right to counsel.
Defendant next contends that the identification procedure was unduly suggestive and should have been excluded. However, defendant’s failure to move for suppression of the identification testimony in the trial court precludes appellate review of this issue. People v Moss, 397 Mich 69, 70; 243 NW2d 254 (1976); People v King, 107 Mich App 208, 210; 309 NW2d 207 (1981), rev’d on other grounds 413 Mich 939 (1982). Even were we to review this issue, we would find that the procedure was not unnecessarily suggestive or conducive to misidentification.
The remaining issues raised by defendant are without merit. Defendant was not denied effective assistance of counsel under the standard set forth in People v Garcia, 398 Mich 250; 247 NW2d 547 (1976). Counsel’s decision not to request a corporeal line-up and not to move for suppression of the identification testimony were matters of trial strategy. The record reveals that counsel thoroughly cross-examined complainant on the identification question and argued suggestiveness to the jury. See People v Tucker, supra, p 611; People v Johnson, 59 Mich App 187; 229 NW2d 372 (1975).
The record discloses that the precise terms of the plea agreement were stated on the record and that defendant, defense counsel, and the prosecutor understood the terms of the agreement. There was full compliance with GCR 1963, 785.7(2).
Affirmed.
Compare Judge Maher’s dissent in People v Purofoy, 116 Mich App 471, 486; 323 NW2d 446 (1982).
Enforcement of the People v Dixon, 85 Mich App 271; 271 NW2d 196 (1978), lv den 406 Mich 906 (1979), standard would effectively eliminate use of on-the-scene identifications. We can think of no situation in which the police would have sufficient probable cause to apprehend a suspect and return him to the scene while at the same time having no more than a mere suspicion of his involvement in the crime. See People v Raybon, 125 Mich App 295; 336 NW2d 782 (1983). | [
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Mackenzie, J.
On August 10, 1982, defendant Michael Boughton fatally shot his estranged wife, Joni. The criminal prosecution of Boughton re- suited in a directed verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
At the time of the fatal shooting, the Boughtons were covered by plaintiffs standard homeowner’s liability policy which provided coverage for any claim against the insured for damages because of bodily injury, personal injury, or property damage. Coverage included plaintiff’s obligation to provide a defense. Section n of the policy excluded from coverage a claim for bodily injury, personal injury, or property damage "which is expected or intended by the insured.”
Plaintiff filed the instant declaratory judgment action after the estate of Joni Boughton instituted a wrongful death action against Boughton. Plaintiff requested a determination that the homeowner’s insurance policy issued by plaintiff to Bough-ton did not provide coverage to Boughton for any liability established in the wrongful death action and that plaintiff had no duty to defend Boughton in the wrongful death suit.
At the conclusion of a bench trial on plaintiffs declaratory judgment action, the trial court ruled that the "intentional and expected” acts exclusion in the homeowner’s policy relieved plaintiff of the duty to defend and provide coverage to Boughton in the wrongful death action. Defendants appeal as of right from the judgment entered in favor of plaintiff. We affirm.
Defendants argue that, because Boughton was adjudicated to be insane at the time of the shooting, he could not intend or expect to cause his wife’s death. Cases involving a policy which excludes both intentional and expected injuries hold that, in order to avoid liability through the exclusion for expected injury, the insurer must show that the injury was the natural, foreseeable, expected, and anticipatory result of an intentional act. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co v Groshek, 161 Mich App 703, 708-709; 411 NW2d 480 (1987); Allstate Ins Co v Freeman, 160 Mich App 349, 356; 408 NW2d 153 (1987), lv gtd 430 Mich 857 (1988); State Farm Fire & Casualty Co v Jenkins, 147 Mich App 462, 467-468; 382 NW2d 796 (1985). Under these cases, acts by the insured which have unexpectedly severe consequences fall within the exclusion, even when the insured has an affirmative defense or justification for his actions. Thus, in Groshek, supra, when the insured believed that he was justified in assaulting another to prevent the rape of a friend, the resultant injuries to the assault victim were excluded from coverage as the expected result of an intentional act. This Court has drawn the same conclusion when the insured asserted that his actions were justifiable self-defense. Yother v McCrimmon, 147 Mich App 130; 383 NW2d 126 (1985).
This Court has also held that the insured’s guilty plea or conviction in a criminal prosecution for a specific intent crime is conclusive on the issue of intent in the subsequent civil action for purposes of invoking the policy exclusion. Groshek, 161 Mich App 711; Jenkins, 147 Mich App 468-469; Yother, 147 Mich App 134. In Aetna Casualty & Surety Co v Sprague, 163 Mich App 650; 415 NW2d 230 (1987), the insured was found guilty but mentally ill of murder. This Court held that his insurer had no duty to defend or provide coverage in a subsequent wrongful death action since his mental illness did not negate the specific intent element of the murder conviction.
In the present case, unlike those cases where the insured’s intent was established as a matter of law by a guilty plea or conviction, defendant Boughton was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. At first glance, under Groshek, Jenkins, Yother, and Sprague, it would thus appear that defendants could demonstrate, as a matter of law, that Joni Boughton’s death was not "expected or intended by the insured.” We conclude, however, that where an insured is found not guilty by reason of insanity the insurer is not precluded from proving at trial that the insured’s conduct falls within an "intentional and expected” acts exclusion in a homeowner’s policy.
The issue whether an intentional acts exclusion in a homeowner’s policy precludes coverage for a person previously acquitted of criminal charges by reason of insanity is a question of first impression in this state. Courts which have considered the issue are split. One line of cases holds that, if an insured suffered from a mental illness or insanity, the insured’s act cannot be intentional for purposes of an exclusion. See Globe American Casualty Co v Lyons, 131 Ariz 337; 641 P2d 251 (1981), Congregation of Rodef Sholom of Marin v American Motorists Ins Co, 91 Cal App 3d 690; 154 Cal Rptr 348 (1979), Mangus v Western Casualty & Surety Co, 41 Colo App 217; 585 P2d 304 (1978), Arkwright-Boston Manufacturers Mutual Ins Co v Dunkel, 363 So 2d 190 (Fla App, 1978), Aetna Casualty & Surety Co v Freyer, 89 Ill App 3d 617; 411 NE2d 1157 (1980), Von Dameck v St Paul Fire & Marine Ins Co, 361 So 2d 283 (La App, 1978), Ruvolo v American Casualty Co, 39 NJ 490; 189 A2d 204 (1963), and Nationwide Mutual Fire Ins Co v Turner, 29 Ohio App 3d 73; 503 NE2d 212 (1986). See also Anno: Liability Insurance: Intoxi cation or Other Mental Incapacity Avoiding Application of Clause in Liability Policy Speciñcally Exempting Coverage of Injury or Damage Caused Intentionally By or At Direction of Insured, 33 ALR4th 983. The rationale supporting this line of cases is generally that the purpose of the policy exclusion is to preclude insureds from benefitting financially when they cause injury, and this purpose will not deter a person who lacks mental capacity to conform his conduct to acceptable standards.
A second line of cases holds that an injury inflicted by a person who is mentally ill or insane may be intentional within the meaning of the exclusion. These decisions are usually based on the conclusion that the insured may have the purpose and volition to cause an injury, although he is mentally incapable of distinguishing whether his acts are right or wrong. See, e.g., Aetna Casualty & Surety v Dichtl, 78 Ill App 3d 970; 398 NE2d 582 (1979), Colonial Life & Accident Ins Co v Wagner, 380 SW2d 224 (Ky App, 1964), Kipnis v Antoine, 472 F Supp 215 (ND Miss, 1979), Rider v Preferred Acc Ins Co, 183 AD 42; 170 NYS 974 (1918), aff'd 230 NY 530; 130 NE 881 (1920), DeLoache v Carolina Life Ins Co, 233 SC 341; 104 SE2d 875 (1958), Pruitt v Life Ins Co of Va, 182 SC 396; 189 SE 649 (1937), and Johnson v Ins Co of North America, 232 Va 340; 350 SE2d 616 (1986). See also Rajspic v Nationwide Mutual Ins Co, 110 Idaho 729; 718 P2d 1167 (1986), and Rajspic v Nationwide Mutual Ins Co, 104 Idaho 662; 662 P2d 534 (1983). See generally 10 Couch on Insurance 2d, § 41:676 (revised 1982) and 33 ALR4th 983, supra.
We agree with the line of cases holding that the acts of a person deemed insane may be intentional within the meaning of an "intentional and ex pected” acts exclusion. We find persuasive the reasoning of the Court in Johnson, supra:
On the surface, there appears to be a blatant inconsistency in concluding, as we do, that a person may be criminally insane when shooting another, and thus avoid full criminal sanctions, and yet that same individual can be denied insurance coverage because he "intended” to shoot his victim. A more careful analysis, however, will reveal there is no inconsistency at all.
In the law, there are many situations in which a person may intentionally injure or kill another and not be subject to criminal punishment. For example, an individual may kill in self-defense. The executioner may kill with the sanction of the State. A soldier may injure or kill under rules of combat. This conduct is intentional, but it is also excusable. Likewise, an individual may be excused from penalty if he is insane at the time he commits a criminal act. As here, he may do the act with every intention of consummating it, but when it is shown that he was mentally ill, he is excused from the imposition of the usual sanctions. "The absence of punishment, however, does not retrospectively expunge the original intention.” Colonial Life & Accident Ins Co, 380 SW2d at 226. [232 Va 348],
This analysis is consistent with that used by this Court in other cases involving intentional but justifiable acts that fall within policy exclusions for intentional or expected injuries. See, e.g., Groshek, supra. Moreover, it is not in conflict with those decisions holding that a conviction or plea of guilty establishes intent as a matter of law. See, e.g., Sprague. A conviction represents a positive finding of criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt. An acquittal by reason of insanity on the other hand is not an adjudication of lack of intent, but is a determination that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant was capable of forming the intent necessary to be convicted of a crime. Compare Aetna Casualty v Dichtl, supra. Failure to prove sanity beyond a reasonable doubt and ability to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that an insured intended and expected injury are not necessarily contradictory propositions. We recognize that there will be cases where insanity manifests itself such that the insured cannot intend or expect to cause an injury; an actor may believe, for example, that he is peeling a banana rather than pointing a pistol. See Johnson, supra at 232 Va 347. However, a broad holding that a criminal adjudication of insanity of the insured as a matter of law prevents application of policy exclusions, such as the one in the instant case, is inappropriate.
Here, the court, after a bench trial in the declaratory judgment action, found that Boughton’s act caused an intentional or expected injury, the death of his wife. MCR 2.613(C) provides that findings of fact made by a trial court in a bench trial may not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. Great regard must be given to the special opportunity of the trial court to judge the credibility of the witnesses it viewed. A finding is clearly erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. Tuttle v Dep’t of State Highways, 397 Mich 44, 46; 243 NW2d 244 (1976).
We find no clear error. Ron Boersma, Joni Boughton’s boyfriend who witnessed the shooting, testified that Boughton entered her residence with a shotgun and informed the couple that he was going to kill them both, alternately pointing the shotgun at either Boersma or Joni. When one of the Boughton children ran into the living room, Boughton told Joni to put their son back to bed because he did not want the child to see what was happening. While the testimony was somewhat contradictory, the trial court was well within its power to judge the credibility of the witnesses and decide that Joni Boughton’s death was not caused by an accidental discharge of the gun as claimed by her husband, but by an intentional shooting by Boughton. There was also some expert evidence that defendant was capable of formulating the intent to kill his wife and understood the consequences of discharging a gun into a human body. Additionally, a friend of Boughton’s testified that the night before the fatal shooting Boughton said that if he saw Joni and Boersma together he would have to kill them. The evidence on the record supports the trial court’s conclusion that Boughton intended and expected bodily injury. Given the lower standard of proof in the civil case, there was no contradiction in acquitting Boughton on grounds of insanity at his criminal trial and subsequently finding in the civil action that Joni Boughton’s death was intentional and expected.
Affirmed.
Sullivan, P.J., concurred.
We are aware of Allstate Ins Co v Miller, 175 Mich App 515; 438 NW2d 638 (1989), but believe it is distinguishable from the instant case, as in Allstate the insured was not acquitted of criminal charges by reason of insanity prior to the insurer’s declaratory judgment action. In any event, we disagree with the Allstate decision to the extent that it may be construed to hold that an insane person cannot act intentionally for purposes of an insurance policy’s intentional acts exclusion. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff, Auto Club Insurance Association, appeals as of right from a November 17, 1987, order of the trial court granting summary disposition in favor of defendant, Maryland Casualty Company. We reverse.
This dispute centers on which insurer, plaintiff or defendant, is liable for no-fault personal injury protection benefits arising out of a motor vehicle accident. On April 9, 1986, Susan Green was a passenger in an automobile owned and operated by her employer, Bruce Galloway. The two were travelling back from a social dinner date. The vehicle struck a bridge abutment, resulting in the death of Ms. Green. Mr. Galloway’s vehicle was insured by defendant. At the time of the accident, Ms. Green owned an automobile which was insured by plaintiff. Following the accident, plaintiff paid no-fault pip benefits to Ms. Green’s estate. On April 8, 1987, plaintiff filed this action, seeking a declaration that defendant was liable for the benefits both paid and owing. Defendant counter-claimed that plaintiff was liable. Both parties moved for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(0(10). The trial court granted defendant’s motion and denied plaintiff's. Plaintiff appeals.
Section 3114 of Michigan’s no-fault act sets forth the rules of priority for determining which insurer implicated in a given accident is obligated to pay benefits. Generally, one looks to the injured person’s own insurer for payment of benefits. However, the statute contains certain exceptions to this general rule. At issue in this case is the statutory exception for employer-owned vehicles, which states as follows:
An employee, his or her spouse, or a relative of either domiciled in the same household, who suffers accidental bodily injury while an occupant of a motor vehicle owned or registered by the employer, shall receive personal protection insurance benefits to which the employee is entitled from the insurer of the furnished vehicle.[ ]
Defendant argued below that this exception does not apply to the facts of this case since, although Ms. Green suffered injury while occupying a vehicle owned by her employer, the vehicle had not been "furnished” to her by her employer. In granting defendant’s motion, the trial court concluded:
In this Court’s opinion, the word "furnished vehicle” is most important and I must determine whether subsection three applies to the instant case. This determination is dependent upon whether the vehicle owned by the deceased’s em ployer was a "furnished” vehicle. The facts agreed upon by the parties here show that the deceased was merely an occupant of the motor vehicle and did not have possession or control of the vehicle— just a passenger. Further, at the time of the accident the parties were together on a social occasion and there wasn’t anything involving work; everything seems to point to it as a social occasion with no business intent. Therefore, this Court finds that the vehicle involved in the accident was not a furnished vehicle as required by subsection three under 3114, and I’m going to deny plaintiff’s motion for summary disposition and grant defendant’s motion in that regard.
We believe defendant’s argument, and the trial court’s acceptance of that argument, fly in the face of and do violence to the clear language of the statutory provision. It is undisputed that Ms. Green suffered injury "while an occupant of a motor vehicle owned or registered by the employer.” The statute contains no requirement that the injured person have possession or control of the vehicle. On the contrary, the statute expressly provides for recovery from the employer’s insurer by mere "occupant[s]” of the vehicle. Further, the fact that the accident occurred on a social rather than on a business outing is beside the point in the determination of the applicability of the employer-owned vehicle exception. To the extent that the trial court’s interpretation of the phrase "furnished vehicle” as used in the statute contradicts the foregoing, it was in error.
The employer-owned vehicle exception of § 3114(3) governed the proper determination of priority in this case. Under that section, defendant was liable for any benefits payable to Ms. Green’s estate arising out of the accident. The trial court’s order granting summary disposition in favor of defendant is reversed, as is its denial of plaintiiFs motion for summary disposition.
Reversed.
MCL 500.3114; MSA 24.13114.
MCL 500.3114(1); MSA 24.13114(1); Parks v DAIIE, 426 Mich 191, 202-203; 393 NW2d 833 (1986).
MCL 500.3114(3); MSA 24.13114(3).
Defendant also argued that the exception was inapplicable because the vehicle was owned by Mr. Galloway "personally, as an individual, not as an employer” of Ms. Green. However, the trial court did not appear to rely on this argument in reaching its decision and, therefore, we decline to address it here except to summarily note that we do not view it as meritorious.
See State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co v Hawkeye-Security Ins Co, 115 Mich App 675, 679-681; 321 NW2d 769 (1982). | [
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Michael J. Kelly, P.J.
Plaintiff appeals as of right a January 15, 1987, order of the circuit court dividing marital assets and establishing child support pursuant to a bifurcated divorce action in which the court had previously entered judgment of divorce and awarded custody on November 25, 1986.
The parties were married on August 12, 1967, in East Lansing, Michigan. At the time of the marriage, plaintiff was licensed to practice law in Michigan and defendant possessed B.A. and M.A. degrees in education. Additionally, in 1972, defendant received a doctoral degree in education. Plaintiff brought the instant action for dissolution of the marriage on August 6, 1986. Plaintiff appeals from the property settlement, including the valuation of his law/CPA practice and the amount of child support payments ordered, determined following hearings on December 2 and 3, 1986, through a written opinion issued on December 30, 1986.
Plaintiff-appellant raises three issues on appeal. Plaintiff first argues that the trial court clearly erred by valuing plaintiffs law/CPA practice at $100,000. The valuation of an asset by the trial court is a finding of fact that this Court will reverse only if it is found to be clearly erroneous. Kowalesky v Kowalesky, 148 Mich App 151, 155; 384 NW2d 112 (1986), lv den 425 Mich 876 (1986); MCR 2.613(C). A ruling may be found to be clearly erroneous only where, after reviewing the entire record, we are left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. Kowalesky, supra. In reviewing the valuation of a profes sional practice, this Court will review the method applied by the trial court, and its application of that method, to determine if the trial court’s valuation was clearly erroneous. Kowalesky, supra, pp 155-156. See also Rethman v Rethman, 156 Mich App 74, 77-79; 401 NW2d 314 (1986), vacated on other grounds 429 Mich 868 (1987).
In the present case, we find no clear error by the trial court. Each party presented expert testimony on the valuation of plaintiffs law/CPA practice. Plaintiff presented Don Gill, a certified public accountant and audit partner at Plante Moran. Gill testified concerning his principal method of evaluating professional practices and valued plaintiffs practice at $31,000. Defendant’s expert was Gerald Carnago, a practicing attorney and certified public accountant. He testified concerning his methodology and valued plaintiffs business at $228,000 to $400,000. The trial court’s evaluation of $100,000 was within the range of figures given by the parties’ experts and, therefore, was not clearly erroneous. See Kowalesky, supra, pp 156-157. Indeed, the trial court found both valuations unconvincing and reached the $100,000 value by "a synthesis of impressions and conclusions and of evaluating factors that surround a professional practice.” We find no error.
Plaintiff next argues that the trial court abused its discretion by ordering the plaintiff to pay $800 per month in child support. We agree.
The determination of child support is for the trial court, not the parties. Hoke v Hoke, 162 Mich App 201, 206; 412 NW2d 694 (1987). In determining the amount of child support, the court is to consider the needs of the children and the parents’ abilities to pay. Id. Each case must be decided on its own merits based upon facts shown in the testimonial record. Id., p 207. Although this Court reviews orders of child support de novo, much discretion is vested in the trial court and the exercise of that discretion generally is presumed to be correct. Dunn v Dunn, 105 Mich App 793, 797; 307 NW2d 424 (1981).
The amount of child support should be determined by need in light of ability to pay. [Vaclav v Vaclav, 96 Mich App 584, 588; 293 NW2d 613 (1980), citing Baird v Baird, 368 Mich 536, 541; 118 NW2d 427 (1962).]
The trial court found that defendant wife’s request for $1,200 per month child support was not convincingly supported and contained unnecessary and exaggerated requests. On the other hand, the court found plaintiff father’s proposal of $491 per month "penurious and restrictive.” Both parties have an adequate ability to pay child support. Defendant wife’s tax returns indicate that her average net income for the years 1983, 1984, and 1985 was $54,847. Her ability to support the child is at least as great as plaintiff’s. It follows that their support obligations should be relatively equal. Rather than send this back for reexamination by the trial judge’s successor, we have reviewed the proffered expenses by the plaintiff, eliminated those items we consider inappropriate and reduced those items we consider exaggerated, and we conclude that appropriate weekly expenses to support this child in an appropriate manner are $282 per week, one-half of which should be paid by plaintiff and one-half by defendant. We remand to the trial court for entry of an order setting child support for plaintiff-appellant in the amount of $141 per week from the date of the order appealed from, January 15, 1987.
Last, plaintiff argues that the trial court abused its discretion in dividing the property, particularly where plaintiff was awarded $50,000 as his interest in the $289,000 marital home. Quoting from defendant-appellee’s brief, defendant says:
In light of the evidence that defendant was primarily responsible for the acquisition of the home, it is only fair that she benefit from its appreciation.
This stands property distribution evaluation on its head. Defendant testified that she contributed her income both from earnings and investments into a joint account for mutual use of the parties. Were we to sanction a distribution based upon allocation of one party’s assets toward a capital investment of ascending appreciation, the rule that equitable distribution is the norm in this state would be completely savaged. This distribution clearly constitutes an abuse of discretion. In its opinion and judgment the trial court made the following property division:
Defendant
Stocks, bonds and savings $ 327,299
acquired by inheritance or gift
Pension and IRA 81,862
Marital Home 289,000
less plaintiff’s interest (50,000)
1982 Firebird 4,950
purchased by defendant
New York City apartment and furnishing 147,500
purchased (95%) by defendant in 1983
Jewelry and Furs 10,000
Land Contract Receivable 5,000
Gross Total = 815,611 (64.0%) (69.8%)
Gross total less property undisputedly acquired by defendant gift or inheritance $ 488,312
(69.8%)
Plaintiff
Stocks and bonds $ 237,816
acquired by inheritance or gift
Specific personal property, similarly 10,000
acquired including an early 1900’s Steinway Grand piano, roughly valued at $10,000
IRA 7,196
22553 Statler, St. Clair Shores and 24.000
contents purchased by H.W. Progeny Corp., of which plaintiff is apparently the sole shareholder
1981 Corvette 10,200
purchased by defendant
1984 Wellcraft Zoo (boat) 9,000
Interest in marital home 50.000
Interest in plaintiffs law/CPA firm of
Rickel, Earle & Wokas 100,000
Life insurance policy cash surrender value 3,065
1979 Chevrolet Malibu 1,400
purchased by plaintiff in Nov. 1986
Interest in Acquirer’s Investment Club 6,751
Gross total $ 459,428
(36.0%)
Gross total less property undisputedly acquired by plaintiff by gift or inheritance $ 211,612
(30.2%)
Also, pursuant to a stipulation entered December 2, 1986, plaintiff remained obligated to repay the $45,900 balance of a loan he took out in 1983 to pay household expenses. The following factors are relatively equal: The parties’ ages, abilities to earn, health, economic contributions to the marriage over the years and the parties’ needs. The length of the marriage, disregarding entirely the parties’ prior divorce action in Washtenaw County which was set aside, warrants a relatively equal property division. The trial court made no finding of fault as to either party. Nevertheless, the court found as follows:
The Court turns next to Defendant’s paragraph 7 j which appears on page 13 which discusses the marital home of the parties at 68 Cloverly, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. The parties are in agreement that its present value is $289,000. There is also agreement that the equity from the Westchester home helped make up the down payment required towards the original purchase price of $9,600 [sic $96,000], it is not disputed that an additional $20,000 was paid out by Mrs. Rickel to make necessary and desired alterations to the home. Finally, the Court takes due cognizance of the fact that at one time or another mortgage payments and upkeep costs were made by both spouses as well as payment of taxes and insurance premiums. All in all, the Court believes that notwithstanding these various contributions by both, an exact calculable amount of each party’s giving would be impracticable and not at all helpful. A factor that the Court feels duty bound to consider and to which neither party has made reference is that the original acquisition price of $9,600 [sic: 96,000] plus $20,000 improvements thereon reveals an "original” acquisition price of $116,000. Substituting this amount from the stipulated price of $289,000 results in a net market value differential gain to the parties of $173,000. Again, while being mindful of each party’s contention as to their claims of contribution toward the value and upkeep of the property the Court is convinced that good conscience and the interest of justice require that some allowance be considered for Mr. Rickel’s marital interest in the Cloverly home. Accordingly, the Court will award $50,000 to be paid by Mrs. Rickel to Mr. Rickel within 12 months from the dte [sic] of entry of Judgment.
Accepting the court’s figure of a $173,000 differential gain to the parties’ property, we divide that differential gain 50/50 and remand for award of $86,500 to plaintiff-appellant, reversing the trial court’s award of $50,000. In other words, the amount of the plaintiff-appellant’s interest in the marital home is increased by $36,500 and we remand for entry of an award in favor of the plaintiff husband of $86,500 to be paid by Mrs. Rickel to Mr. Rickel within six months from the date of the entry of this judgment. (The trial court order originally permitted payment within twelve months of the date of entry in the trial court).
Reversed and remanded for entry of an order decreasing plaintiff’s support obligation to $141 per week and increasing award of plaintiff-husband’s interest in the marital home to $86,500.
Maher, J., concurred. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from the trial court’s November 13, 1987, order granting defendant’s motion for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(7) and (10). We reverse.
On January 25, 1983, plaintiff was terminated from his employment with defendant, Michigan Consolidated Gas Company. Plaintiff was one of five shift supervisors. Three of the shift supervisors were white. Plaintiff and the other supervisor are black. There is no dispute that plaintiff’s termination was the result of a work force reduction. In January, 1983, defendant underwent a significant reduction of operations due to its economic position. As a result, two of the five supervisory positions were eliminated. Plaintiff and the other black supervisor were both laid off.
Before January, 1983, defendant formulated a policy establishing guidelines for the anticipated termination of several hundred nonunion employees due to the economically motivated work force reductions. Defendant’s policy provided that, where a position had multiple incumbents and the number of slots were reduced, the selection of employees to be released was to be based on business-related criteria including performance ratings, presence or absence of skills critical to the organization, and dependability. Plaintiff and the other supervisors had equivalent performance ratings and were equally dependable.
Plaintiff claimed that he was improperly selected for release from employment since he possessed a third-class refrigeration license that defendant had stated was required for the job while one white supervisor was retained even though he did not have such a license. It is undisputed that the retained supervisors had substantially more seniority than plaintiff.
On November 19, 1985, plaintiff filed a complaint in Wayne Circuit Court, alleging racial discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act, MCL 37.2101 et seq.; MSA 3.548(101) et seq., a 42 USC 1981 claim, and a breach of contract claim based on Toussaint v Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Michigan, 408 Mich 579; 292 NW2d 880 (1980), reh den 409 Mich 1101 (1980).
On December 19, 1985, defendant had this action removed to federal court based on the 42 USC 1981 claim. On February 5, 1987, the federal district court declined to exercise pendent jurisdiction over plaintiff’s state law claims and remanded the state Civil Rights Act claim and the Toussaint claim back to Wayne Circuit Court. The federal district court retained jurisdiction over the § 1981 claim. Neither party appealed the federal court’s order of remand.
The 42 USC 1981 claim was tried before a federal jury in February, 1987, and the jury returned a verdict of no cause of action. In reaching its verdict, the jury determined that defendant did not intentionally discriminate against plaintiff in deciding to terminate him.
On August 4, 1987, defendant moved for summary disposition on the remanded state claims in Wayne Circuit Court. Defendant argued that plaintiff’s state Civil Rights Act claim was barred by res judicata and that the Toussaint claim failed as a matter of law.
On November 6, 1987, the trial court ruled that plaintiff’s state Civil Rights Act claim was barred by res judicata since the federal jury had already found in its verdict form that defendant did not intentionally discriminate against plaintiff in terminating him. The trial court further granted defendant’s motion on the Toussaint claim, based on Friske v Jasinski Builders, Inc, 156 Mich App 468, 472; 402 NW2d 42 (1986), lv den 428 Mich 880 (1987) , indicating that termination of the employment of an otherwise competent employee due to an economically motivated business closing is not grounds for a wrongful discharge claim.
On appeal, plaintiff first argues that his state Civil Rights Act claim is not barred by the doctrine of res judicata. We agree.
Res judicata is the doctrine which bars a subsequent action between the same parties when the facts or evidence essential to the maintenance of the two actions are identical, and applies only when the issues and the parties or their privies in the prior action are identical. Roberts v City of Troy, 170 Mich App 567, 577; 429 NW2d 206 (1988) ; Topps-Toeller, Inc v Lansing, 47 Mich App 720, 726-727; 209 NW2d 843 (1973), lv den 390 Mich 788 (1973).
There are three prerequisites to the application of the doctrine of res judicata: (1) the prior action must have been decided on its merits; (2) the issues raised in the second case must have been resolved in the first; and (3) both actions must have involved the same parties or their privies. Roberts, supra. A summary judgment is a judgment on the merits which bars relitigation on the basis of res judicata. Id. A federal court dismissal without prejudice, however, does not comprise an adjudication on the claims made and res judicata will not bar the plaintiff from later bringing the claims in a state court. Annabel v C J Link Lumber Co, 417 Mich 950; 331 NW2d 900 (1983); Roberts, supra, pp 577-578.
In the present case, plaintiff brought the 42 USC 1981 claim, the state Civil Rights Act claim, and the Toussaint claim in his complaint in Wayne Circuit Court. This case was then removed to federal court but the federal judge declined to exercise pendent jurisdiction over the state Civil Rights Act and Toussaint claims and remanded those claims back to state court. Since plaintiffs state Civil Rights Act claim was not decided on the merits and was not dismissed with prejudice by the federal court, that claim should not be barred by the doctrine of res judicata. The federal court’s decision in declining to exercise jurisdiction over the pendent state law claims in this case did not constitute an adjudication on the merits and should not create a situation in which the plaintiffs remanded state claims may be barred by the doctrine of res judicata. In this case, plaintiff did not split his causes of action and prudently raised all of his claims in one complaint. Accordingly, we find that the doctrine of res judicata is not applicable under the facts of this case and that the trial court erred in holding that plaintiffs state Civil Rights Act claim was barred by res judicata.
Plaintiff also argues that the trial court erred in granting defendant’s motion for summary disposition on plaintiffs contract claim under Toussaint. We agree.
Oral and written statements by an employer of its personnel policies and procedures can give rise to contractual rights to an employee. Toussaint, supra, pp 598-599; Dixon v W W Grainger, Inc, 168 Mich App 107, 111; 423 NW2d 580 (1987). In this case, plaintiff does not dispute that his termination was the result of a work force reduction. Rather, plaintiff challenges the manner in which he was selected for termination over his fellow supervisors. Plaintiff contends that defendant set forth policies and procedures that defendant would follow in making work force reductions and that defendant failed to follow the policies it had ere ated and breached its contract with plaintiff. Defendant’s written policies provided that performance ratings, the presence or absence of skills critical to the organization, and dependability were factors that would be considered in selecting the employees to be released due to a work force reduction. Plaintiff maintains that he was improperly selected for termination of employment because he possessed a third-class refrigeration license that defendant had stated was required for the job while one of the other supervisors was retained even though he did not have such a license.
Although, as in Friske, supra, the termination of an employee due to economically motivated business reductions ordinarily does not give rise to a wrongful discharge claim, a wrongful discharge claim under Toussaint may arise where an employer establishes procedures for the reduction of its work force and fails to comply with those procedures in terminating an employee. Based upon our careful review of the record in this case, we find that plaintiff adequately alleged a breach of contract claim under Toussaint and that the trial court erred in granting defendant’s motion for summary disposition since questions of fact remained as to whether plaintiff was properly terminated pursuant to defendant’s policies and procedures.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings. We do not retain jurisdiction. | [
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Holbrook, Jr., J.
Defendant was tried by a jury and convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCL 750.520b(l)(f); MSA 28.788(2)(l)(f), unarmed robbery, MCL 750.530; MSA 28.798, and the unlawful taking and driving away of a motor vehicle, MCL 750.413; MSA 28.645. Defendant was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of twenty to forty years for the first-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction, ten to fifteen years for the unarmed robbery conviction, and three to five years for the unlawful driving conviction. We affirm.
This case arose from an incident on December 19, 1984. The prosecution’s evidence at trial showed that a man alleged to be defendant entered the victim’s home and engaged the victim in nonconsensual sexual intercourse. At one point during the attack, the man struck the victim with a yardstick. Throughout the incident, the man, who initially concealed his face with a stocking mask, took efforts to avoid letting the victim look at him. Consequently, the victim was unable to identify her attacker, even though she was acquainted with defendant. After the attack, the man took $9 from the victim’s purse and ascertained from the victim where her car keys were located. The man then left the scene in her automobile.
During the police investigation, the yardstick was checked for fingerprints. A print taken from the yardstick matched defendant’s thumbprint shown on a fingerprint card obtained from the sheriff’s department. This was the only evidence linking defendant to the crime.
Defendant now argues that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence of the fingerprint card used to identify the thumbprint discovered at the scene of the crime. Defendant’s argument is twofold: (1) the evidence should have been suppressed because it was taken in violation of the interim bail statute, MCL 780.581 et seq.; MSA 28.872(1) et seq., and (2) the card was taken pursuant to an illegal arrest in violation of defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights. See also Const 1963, art 1, § 11. Defendant’s first argument—that the failure to inform defendant of his right to post interim bail resulted in the unlawful taking of his fingerprints—is not well taken because defendant failed to raise this issue in the trial court. Thus, no record on this question was preserved for appeal. We turn now to the question of whether the arrest which resulted in the securing of the fingerprint card was illegal.
At the evidentiary hearing on the suppression motion, it was established that defendant was arrested by the Allegan City Police Department on December 21,1984, some two days after the crimes at issue in this appeal were committed. The arrest was made on the charge of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. At that time, a substance similar in appearance to marijuana was seized from defendant and forwarded to the state laboratory for analysis, in accordance with normal operating procedures, no complaint was sworn and no warrant was sought for the charge of possession of marijuana, the issuance of a warrant to be deferred pending the results of the laboratory analysis. For reasons that remain inexplicable, defendant was booked for possession of marijuana and posted bond for the same offense in order to secure his release after the December 21 arrest.
Once the city police received the laboratory analysis report confirming that the substance seized from defendant was marijuana, a warrant was sought through the prosecutor’s office for possession of marijuana. The police were aware of defendant’s previous arrest on the duil charge, but it was believed that a rearrest was consistent with proper procedure. The warrant was delivered to the sheriff’s department for execution. Defendant was rearrested on January 18, 1985. The trial court found that the officers participating in the decision to execute the warrant and in the rear rest were unaware that defendant had previously posted bond for possession of marijuana.
The fingerprint card obtained in the course of the rearrest procedure was forwarded to the detective in the sheriffs department investigating the December 19 sexual attack. Defendant was one of some twenty persons suspected of the attack, apparently because he lived near the victim. Defendant’s fingerprints, in addition to some ten to fifteen other sets, were submitted to a crime laboratory in an attempt to find a match with the print taken from the yardstick at the scene of the crime.
The trial court denied the motion to suppress, finding that the issuance of the warrant for possession of marijuana was proper and that its subsequent execution was inadvertently done without knowledge of the posting of bond and without any attempt to circumvent defendant’s rights. Since we conclude that these findings are not clearly erroneous, see People v Burrell, 417 Mich 439, 448-449; 339 NW2d 403 (1983), defendant’s contention that the rearrest was only a pretext to obtain his fingerprints is without merit.
Defendant contends that the rearrest was illegal under the "collective knowledge” or "fellow officer” rule because the police should be charged with the knowledge that defendant had previously complied with bail requirements, thus vitiating probable cause for the rearrest. In Whiteley v Warden, Wyoming State Penitentiary, 401 US 560; 91 S Ct 1031; 28 L Ed 2d 306 (1971), it was acknowledged that a police officer is entitled to rely on the representations of his fellow officers in the determination of whether there is probable cause to effect an arrest. However, the collective knowledge rule requires suppression of evidence seized pursuant to the arresting officer’s good-faith reliance on false information, which, if known, would render the arrest illegal for lack of probable cause. In other words, the arresting officer can effect no better arrest than those fellow officers having firsthand knowledge of the facts asserted to amount to probable cause. Cf. People v Bell, 74 Mich App 270, 275-277; 253 NW2d 726 (1977). Although Whiteley is based on the Fourth Amendment, the same result has been reached by applying a due process analysis. See United States v Mackey, 387 F Supp 1121 (D Nev, 1975).
We do not find the collective knowledge rule to be dispositive. The underlying purpose of that rule is to deter the police from passing on false information, even when the resultant erroneous arrest is made in good faith. We question whether any purpose would be served by an application of a rule that deters the police from effecting arrests without first checking whether a bond had previously been posted for the arrest offense. More importantly, the collective knowledge rule assumes that the arrest itself was illegal due to a state of affairs unknown to the arresting officer. The crucial question, then, is to what extent, if any, the Fourth Amendment operates as a limitation on the power of law enforcement authorities to execute a warrant resulting in the rearrest under the circumstances presented by this case, i.e., was the rearrest in fact illegal? The existence of probable cause for the arrest is not at issue here, given the results of the laboratory analysis on the marijuana seized from defendant.
Generally, the common-law rule is that a warrant gives the police no right to effect additional arrests once it is executed, although this rule is not without exceptions. Carlson v Landon, 342 US 524, 546-547; 72 S Ct 525, 537-538; 96 L Ed 547, 564 (1952). This Court has previously held that a rearrest does not per se violate a defendant’s due process rights. People v Dunlap, 82 Mich App 171, 176-177; 266 NW2d 637 (1978); People v Watts, 149 Mich App 502, 508-511; 386 NW2d 565 (1986), lv den 425 Mich 885 (1986). However, we are unaware of any decisions rendered by this Court or our Supreme Court requiring suppression of evidence because of an illegal rearrest.
We think that the limitations of the Fourth Amendment on the discretion of the police to effect a rearrest were correctly set forth in United States v Holmes, 452 F2d 249, 260-261 (CA 7, 1971), cert den 407 US 909; 92 S Ct 2433; 32 L Ed 2d 683 (1972). There the defendant Oliver was one of five named in an original indictment for federal narcotics violations. After his arrest, defendant posted bond and was released. Later a superseding indictment was issued, which named additional codefendants. Although no new warrant was issued for the defendant, the defendant was inadvertently rearrested and $6,029 was seized from his person incident to the rearrest. The court held that the cash should have been suppressed:
Not only must there be reason to believe that a prospective arrestee is guilty of a crime; in addition, there must be some purpose to be served by making an arrest. During the entire period between March and October 18, 1967, probable cause to believe that Oliver had committed an offense continued to exist because he was under indictment. But since he had been admitted to bail, no purpose could have been served by continually rearresting him. Although at large, in contemplation of the law he remained in custody. In historic terms, he was the prisoner of his bail.
The return of the second indictment justified a review of his custodial status. Additional charges might have made a rearrest proper, to be followed either by termination of bail or a modification of its conditions. In Oliver’s case, however, when the second indictment was returned, the judge ordered no change in his custodial status. The subsequent arrest, therefore, had no greater purpose than if there had been no second indictment.
We recognize that a variety of valid causes for a rearrest of a person admitted to bail may exist, see Carlson v Landon, 342 US 524, 546-547; 72 S Ct 525; 96 L Ed 547 [1952], but certainly the continuing knowledge of his possible guilt of the offense charged in the indictment is not itself sufficient; otherwise, harassment by continual rearrests could be justified by the continuing existence of "probable cause.” The Fourth Amendment requires both a reasonable foundation for a charge of crime and also the avoidance of "rash and unreasonable interferences with privacy.” Since there was no valid justification of Oliver’s arrest, we conclude that the search of his person on October 18, 1967, was prohibited by the Fourth Amendment, and the seized cash was inadmissible.
The court added that the question of good faith or bad faith on the part of the arresting officers played no part in its holding. Id., 261.
Applying the Holmes test requiring a valid justification for a rearrest, we find that the rearrest effected here was proper. The purpose of the December 21 arrest was limited to the duil charge, as is indicated by the decision not to file a complaint or seek a warrant for possession of marijuana unless and until laboratory analysis determined that the substance seized was, in fact, marijuana. The inadvertent nature of the booking and posting of bond for the offense of possession of marijuana immediately following the December 21 arrest did not alter the scope of arrest to encompass any offenses in addition to the duil charge. Therefore, the posting of bond was unauthorized in the absence of any indication that the police in tended to institute a formal charge for possession of marijuana against defendant as of that time. As such, the bond was a legal nullity, lacking any force to secure defendant’s appearance to defend against the charge of possession of marijuana. This is made clear in In re Mead, 220 Mich 480; 190 NW 235 (1922), where the police refused to obey an order of the Recorder’s Court to release a detainee on a "suspicion bond.” The Supreme Court reversed an adjudication of contempt on the ground that the order was void for want of jurisdiction: "The matter was not in recorder’s court. There was neither complaint, warrant, nor arrest thereon. . . . The order being a mere nullity, the police officer was under no duty to obey it.” Id., 483. See also Clute v Ionia Circuit Judge, 131 Mich 203; 91 NW 159 (1902). Since defendant was under no legal compulsion from the unauthorized bond, the January 18 rearrest, effected in response to the command of a warrant, served the valid purposes of placing defendant on notice of his prosecution for possession of marijuana and of securing his appearance to defend the same. See MCL 764.1b; MSA 28.860(2). Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the trial court not to suppress because we find that the rearrest was valid under the circumstances of this case. Evidence seized pursuant to the rearrest was not subject to suppression.
Defendant next argues that the evidence of the fingerprint on the yardstick was insufficient to establish his identity as the perpetrator of the crimes committed on December 19, 1984. The gen eral rule is that fingerprint evidence alone is sufficient to establish identity if the prints are found at the scene of the crime under such circumstances that they could have only been made at the time of the commission of the crime. People v Ware, 12 Mich App 512, 515; 163 NW2d 250 (1968); People v Willis, 60 Mich App 154, 158-159; 230 NW2d 353 (1975). The prosecutor’s evidence showed that the yardstick used to strike the victim was kept in the victim’s home and had been used as a toy by the victim’s daughter since November or December of 1984. Although defendant, an acquaintance of the victim’s husband, had been inside the home on one occasion about February of 1983, more than IV2 years prior to the attack, he had no more recent opportunity to gain access to the yardstick. An expert testified that latent prints are fragile and would not survive constant handling by others. We conclude that this evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to the prosecutor, was sufficient for rational jurors to find that defendant’s identity was proven beyond a reasonable doubt. People v Hampton, 407 Mich 354, 368; 285 NW2d 284 (1979), cert den sub nom Michigan v Hampton, 449 US 885; 101 S Ct 239; 66 L Ed 2d 110 (1980).
Defendant argues that admission of fingerprint evidence on the basis of five points of comparison was erroneous and further urges this Court to adopt the standard of ten to twelve points of comparison as a foundation requirement. However, the court reporter subsequently filed an affidavit indicating that the testimony had actually been that there were at least fifteen points of comparison and that the transcript had indicated five points due to a transcription error. This obviates the need for us to address this issue. See MCR 7.216(A)(4).
Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to establish the personal injury element of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The element of personal injury may be satisfied by a showing of either bodily injury or mental anguish. MCL 750.520a(j); MSA 28.788(l)(j). Since defendant contends that the trial court erred by not granting a directed verdict, we must determine whether the evidence presented by the prosecutor, viewed in a light most favorable to her, was sufficient for a rational jury to find the element of personal injury proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Hampton, supra.
Evidence of mental anguish is sufficient if a rational trier of fact could find beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim sustained extreme or excruciating pain, distress, or suffering of the mind. People v Petrella, 424 Mich 221, 270-275; 380 NW2d 11 (1985). In this case, the victim was subjected to several sexual penetrations, the last with her hands taped behind her and her eyes taped shut. During this incident, the victim’s three-year-old daughter was placed in a nearby closet, where she remained, crying. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to question the victim’s testimony that she was terrified and frightened. After the perpetrator left, the victim telephoned her husband, who returned to find the victim and the daughter crying. An examining physician later observed that the victim was tense and reserved to the point that it was difficult to talk to her. The victim further testified that she would not stay at home by herself for several months following the incident. The Court in Petrella, supra, pp 270-271, set forth a nonexhaustive listing of factors that would support a finding of mental anguish. We find several implicated here— "[testimony that the victim was upset, crying [or] sobbing . . . during or after the assault,” "[s]ome interference with the victim’s ability to conduct a normal life,” "[f]ear for the . . . safety ... of those near to her,” "[e]vidence that the emotional or psychological effects of the assault were long-lasting,” and "[a] lingering fear, anxiety, or apprehension about being in vulnerable situations in which the victim may be subject to another attack.” Although we do not find the evidence of mental anguish overwhelming, we do find that it was sufficient for the jury to conclude that mental anguish was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
With respect to the question of bodily injury, the evidence showed that the victim sustained bruises, welts, or other marks to her hands, wrists, shoulder, groin and buttocks. Although these injuries were apparently not serious, this Court has previously held that bodily injuries need not be permanent or substantial. People v Jenkins, 121 Mich App 195, 198; 328 NW2d 403 (1982). See also People v Hollis, 96 Mich App 333, 337-338; 292 NW2d 538 (1980). We decline defendant’s invitation to announce a new standard for evaluating the severity of bodily injury that would be analogous to the standard of "extreme or excruciating pain, distress, or suffering of the mind” set forth in Petrella, supra, p 257. The Petrella holding recognized and resolved the inherent ambiguity of mental anguish as an aggravating factor elevating criminal sexual conduct from the third to the first degree. Some degree of emotional distress is an almost inevitable concomitant of sexual assault. The definition of mental anguish in Petrella was necessary to clearly define that degree of emotional distress amounting to a showing of mental anguish. Bodily injury, viewed as an aggravating factor, does not share in this inherent ambiguity. Given the absence of any statutory indication of a more stringent standard than that previously applied by this Court, we find the present standard for bodily injury to correctly reflect the legislative judgment that evidence of even insubstantial physical injuries is sufficient to support a conviction for criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.
Defendant argues that the trial court erred in its instruction to the jury on the mental anguish showing for the personal injury element. Defendant did not object at trial. In Petrella, supra, pp 276-278, the Court confronted a claim of instructional error to an identical instruction, which adhered to a former version of CJI 20:2:11(5), and decided that the failure to object precludes appellate review, absent manifest injustice. Since we are not persuaded that any manifest injustice occurred here, we decline to further address the claimed instructional error. See also People v Swinford, 150 Mich App 507, 514-515; 389 NW2d 462 (1986), lv den 426 Mich 861 (1986). We also reject defendant’s alternative contention that the failure of the defense attorney to object was a serious mistake amounting to the ineffective assistance of counsel. The given instruction followed the version of the Criminal Jury Instructions in effect at that time. Although the instruction was disavowed in Petrella, that case was not decided until after the trial in the instant case. The defense attorney’s failure to object here cannot be attributed to deficient legal representation.
Defendant next argues that the trial court erred by not directing a verdict on the charge of unarmed robbery on the ground of the insufficiency of the evidence. The elements of unarmed robbery are: (1) the felonious taking of property that may be the subject of a larceny from the person or presence of the victim, (2) by force and violence, assault, or putting in fear, (3) while not armed with a dangerous weapon. People v Spry, 74 Mich App 584, 594; 254 NW2d 782 (1977), lv den 401 Mich 825 (1977); People v Denny, 114 Mich App 320, 323-324; 319 NW2d 574 (1982), lv den 417 Mich 860 (1983). Case law makes clear that the defendant must have an intent to rob at a time contemporaneous with the application of force or violence or the conduct placing the victim in fear. People v LeFlore, 96 Mich App 557, 560-563; 293 NW2d 628 (1980), lv den 409 Mich 927 (1980). Defendant’s specific contention is that the evidence was not sufficient to show either an actual taking or a larcenous intent existing at the time of the commission of the assaultive behavior directed toward the victim. We disagree in both respects.
The victim’s testimony provided sufficient evidence of a taking. After the completion of the sexual acts forced upon the victim, the perpetrator left the victim’s presence and returned a few minutes later to ask whether $9 was all that she had. The victim testified that she knew from that question that he had looked into her purse. She also knew that the purse contained $9 as of the previous night. She further testified that she gave no one permission to take her money. Later, a police officer testified, identifying a picture of the purse and stating that a billfold inside the purse was found to be empty. Although our task would perhaps be easier if the prosecutor had asked the obvious question of the victim ("Was the $9 in the purse missing after the attack?”), it seems apparent that the witnesses intended to convey that a taking did occur. Since a finding that the money was taken requires only the most minimal inference from the facts already established, we conclude that the evidence of a taking was sufficient under the Hampton standard.
The question of whether the evidence was suffi cient to show a larcenous intent contemporaneous with the commission of the sexual attack is answered by the similar case of People v Hearn, 159 Mich App 275, 278-282; 406 NW2d 211 (1987). There another panel of this Court addressed "situations where ... a victim surrenders property upon demand without protest or struggle after the person making the demand has subjected the victim to violence or threats of violence,” id., p 282, and held:
It is evident from the request itself that the person making such a demand is relying upon the continuing effect of the fear he or she has created to effect compliance. Regardless of whether the defendant had planned to commit larceny when he committed the act of violence or uttered a threat of violence, the fact remains that the defendant purposely used the fear already present to accomplish the larceny. In our opinion, such is sufficient to constitute unarmed robbery. . . . We hold that, when unarmed robbery is accomplished through fear, it is not necessary that the defendant have had a larcenous intent at the time the defendant committed the act which initially induced the fear. [Id.]
Since we agree with the panel deciding Hearn, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to establish the requisite intent. See also People v Wiley, 112 Mich App 344; 315 NW2d 540 (1981). We also find no manifest injustice arising from alleged instructional errors pertaining to the elements of unarmed robbery, to which defendant did not object below. See Hearn, supra, p 278.
Defendant argues that resentencing is required because defendant was allegedly sentenced for armed robbery based on his conviction for the lesser offense of unarmed robbery. We disagree. This is not a case where a defendant is sentenced on the court’s finding that he committed an additional crime for which he was exonerated by the jury. The information charged defendant only with unarmed robbery. The judgment of sentence and the sentencing information report correctly reflect defendant’s conviction for that offense. Nothing said at sentencing suggests that the court considered use of a weapon in the commission of the crimes. We conclude that the sentencing court’s singular reference to "armed robbery,” probably made out of inadvertence, does not demonstrate that defendant was sentenced for any offense other than those for which he was convicted.
Defendant finally argues that he was improperly sentenced on the basis of a presentence report that made reference to prior juvenile offenses for which he was not represented by counsel. However, an uncounseled prior juvenile adjudication is neither per se invalid nor necessarily beyond the scope of consideration of the sentencing judge. People v Covington, 144 Mich App 652, 654-655; 376 NW2d 178 (1985), remanded 425 Mich 853 (1986). Since defendant does not assert any specific reason why it was improper for the court to consider the juvenile adjudications, other than an asserted general impropriety in doing so, we find no error.
Affirmed.
T. Gillespie, J., concurred.
Although we recognize that the interim bail statute, MCL 780.581 et seq.; MSA 28.872(1) et seq., contemplates that an arrestee may post bond in some circumstances prior to the formal issuance of a warrant, we believe that it is implicit in the statute that the arrest be effected for the purpose of commencing a criminal prosecution on the arrest offense. The arrestee is thereby placed on notice that he must defend against a criminal prosecution, and his appearance for the prosecution is secured. In this sense, the bond is authorized. | [
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Cavanagh, J.
Defendant Johnnie Burton, Jr., is charged with second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; MSA 28.549, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2), and mutilation of a body, MCL 750.160; MSA 28.357. On March 10, 1988, defendant filed a motion in limine to suppress introduction of an unsigned, undated, handwritten statement by his wife, Jearleane Burton, purporting to be her will. The writing implicated defendant in the October 15, 1987, homicide of William O. Ross. On March 15, 1988, the prosecutor moved for an evidentiary ruling that the purported will was admissible under MRE 803(15). By order dated March 18, 1988, the Detroit Recorder’s Court ruled the evidence admissible. Defendant’s trial has been stayed pending this appeal by leave granted. We reverse.
At the suppression hearing, the prosecutor argued that the purported will was admissible under MRE 803(15) as an exception to the hearsay rule. Defendant argued that MRE 803(15) was inapplicable because disposition of property was not at issue and because the writing was not a valid holographic will as it was not dated or signed. Defendant also argued that introduction of the writing would violate the spousal privilege, MCL 600.2162; MSA 27A.2162. The prosecutor replied that the spousal privilege would not apply because the prosecutor was not seeking to examine defendant’s wife as a witness.
The trial court ruled:
Under the circumstances, in looking at [MRE] 803[15], . . . this Court is of the opinion that the document itself is in fact a will, and that it is in fact a will that was prepared by Jearleane Burton, which indicates that she leaves any property that she has to her parents. Further, it indicates why she is doing that. And in reading that will, it is clear that she does not wish for anything to go to her husband, Johnnie Burton.
Under these circumstances, the Court is of the opinion that that document does in fact have an interest in property and affect the interest in property, that being any marital assets that Jearleane Burton may have, any personal assets she may have, and that in terms of that property she has absolutely no intention of leaving anything to her rightful heir, Mr. Burton, and she specified why.
I believe the prosecution is correct in terms of the assessment of the marital privilege. It does mean that the wife cannot be examined, but it does not mean that other relevant evidence that might be admissible under another rule is not admissible, regardless of who made the statement.
That being the situation, the Court is of the opinion that the will is in fact admissible evidence and it will be allowed in the trial of this case.
This Court reviews a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress under the clearly erroneous standard. People v Fisher, 166 Mich App 699, 703; 420 NW2d 858 (1988). Upon review of the record, where this Court does not possess a definite and firm conviction that the trial court made a mistake, we must affirm. Id., citing People v Burrell, 417 Mich 439, 449; 339 NW2d 403 (1983). In this appeal, defendant argues that the trial court’s failure to suppress the writing was clearly erroneous. We agree.
At issue is a less than 214-page handwritten statement, on 814 X 11 inch paper, allegedly prepared by defendant’s wife, Jearleane Burton. The statement is not signed nor dated. It begins as follows: "To Whom it May Concern: I, Jearleane Burton, being of sound mind [and] body, [and] soul, do [r]equest this letter to be valid, and my last will and testament.” Immediately following is a two- page narrative explaining that Burton was in fear for her life and detailing the events surrounding the killing and mutilation of the victim by defendant. The writing concludes, "Anything I own that would [sic] please go to my mother and family.”
We first find it unnecessary to address the confidential nature of the writing as we find the spousal-privilege statute, MCL 600.2162; MSA 27A.2162, inapplicable. The statute provides that neither spouse may be "examined as a witness” for or against the other without his or her consent. Here, the privilege is inapplicable because defendant’s wife is not being called to testify, nor is defendant being questioned with regard to the statement. See People v DeWitt, 173 Mich App 261, 266; 433 NW2d 325 (1988). We nevertheless find the writing to be inadmissible hearsay, not falling within any exception.
Hearsay evidence is inadmissible unless it is shown to fall within a recognized exception. MRE 802; DeWitt, supra. Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. MRE 801(c). Hearsay is generally not admissible because the essential right of cross-examination is absent and, therefore, the jury is not afforded the opportunity to test the credibility of the person making the statement. People v Rea, 38 Mich App 141, 142; 195 NW2d 809 (1972). Here, the prosecutor seeks to introduce the statement of Jearleane Burton under MRE 803(15):
The following are not excluded by the hearsay rule, even though the declarant is available as a witness:
(15) Statements in documents affecting an interest in property. A statement contained in a document purporting to establish or affect an interest in property if the matter stated was relevant to the purpose of the document, unless dealings with the property since the document was made have been inconsistent with the truth of the statement or the purport of the document.
MRE 803 is identical with Rule 803 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. See FRE 803(15). We have found no prior Michigan or federal authority discussing the admissibility of a document purporting to be a will under this exception. Therefore, this is a case of first impression. 4 Weinstein, Evidence, § 803-306, p 307, states that wills, among other things, would come within the meaning of "document” under this hearsay exception. The rationale for the exception has been stated as follows:
It is believed that the circumstances under which dispositive documents are executed and the requirement that the recital be germane to the purpose of the document, are adequate guarantees of trustworthiness, particularly in view of the non-applicability of the rule where dealings with the property subsequent to its execution have been inconsistent with the document. Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 803, Advisory Committee’s Notes, Exception (15), 56 F.R.D. 183, 315. [Apo v Dillingham Investment Corp, 549 P2d 740, 743 (Hawaii, 1976).]
In this case we find that, whether or not the writing purports to establish or affect an interest in property, the lengthy description of the crime is not a matter germane to the purpose of the document. The narrative is therefore not admissible under MRE 803(15). We reject the notion that the narrative is admissible as Mrs. Burton’s explanation for excluding her husband from the "purported” will. While, at first glance, this argument has appeal, Mrs. Burton’s intent is not the controlling factor for admissibility. Mrs. Burton’s statement must be sufficiently related to a disposition of property to guarantee its trustworthiness under the exception. In this case, we find it is not.
First, the only elements of the writing that are testamentary in nature are the first and last sentences of the 214-page document. The writing, as a whole, is not testamentary but more akin to a journal entry or confession. Second, no specific disposition of property is mentioned. The only dispositional sentence contained in the writing is obscure and, in context, reads like an afterthought. Had Mrs. Burton’s narrative described a certain disposition or a particular property, its resulting reliability and authenticity may have brought it within the exception. The narrative, however, describes only the details of the crime with which defendant is charged.
Additionally, the manner of execution of the writing detracts from its trustworthiness. The "purported” will is not dated, signed or witnessed.
We therefore find the writing to be an unreliable, untested out-of-court assertion. As such, its introduction into defendant’s criminal proceeding to establish the truth of the matters asserted is directly offensive to the hearsay rule. The trial court committed clear error in admitting the evidence.
Reversed. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff, Cindy Dresselhouse, has filed two appeals as of right and one appeal by leave granted in this sexual harassment action against her employer, Chrysler Corporation, and her former boyfriend and supervisor at Chrysler, Dario G. Verdugo. We have consolidated the appeals for review.
The record reveals that plaintiff, a receptionist in Chrysler’s International Finance Division, filed this action in June, 1982, alleging, among other things, that her supervisor at Chrysler, with whom she had previously shared a lengthy romantic relationship, had sexually harassed her at work and that Chrysler, after being notified of the harassment, failed to take prompt corrective action as required by the Civil Rights Act, MCL 37.2201 et seq.; MSA 3.548(201) et seq. Apparently, several derogatory memoranda written by different people regarding plaintiff’s work habits were made a part of plaintiff’s employment record. The case was mediated on November 16, 1983, resulting in an evaluation of $12,500 to be paid jointly by Chrysler and Verdugo. Plaintiff rejected the evaluation and the matter proceeded to trial.
After twelve days of trial, the jury was charged and deliberations began. At about 4:30 p.m. on February 20, 1986, the jury was brought back into the courtroom after having sent a note to the trial court inquiring, "Can we add a proviso to question number ten on the verdict form?” .The transcript records the following discussion:
The Court: You may be seated.
Members of the jury, we received your inquiry. I have discussed this with the attorneys, and we’ve decided to ask you to come out and clarify your question ... or your inquiry.
So, the question that we received says: "Can we add a provisio [sic] to question number ten on the verdict form?”
Have you selected a foreperson?
Juror Number Eight: (Manoyian) Yes. We were discussing the fact that we feel both Parties are guilty ... or all three Parties are guilty, but we don’t feel that the monetary awards should be as high as what has been recommended. The provisio [sic] was that the work records of Cindy be removed or that Chrysler Corporation would pay $100,000.00. We wondered if we could have an "either/or” situation.
The Court: Do you gentlemen understand the inquiry?
Mr. Keinbaum [attorney for Chrysler]: I think I do, Your Honor.
The Court: Mr. Pitt?
Mr. Pitt [attorney for plaintiff]: Yes, I do, Your Honor.
The Court: Mr. Glass?_
Mr. Glass [attorney for Verdugo]: I think I understand it, Your Honor.
The Court: Okay. Did you want to have a meeting outside and then come back and let us know, we’ll just keep the jury here, what your pleasure is? Do you want to use my chambers or ... ?
Juror Number Eight: Well, excuse me ... or would it be your decision to overrule whatever we decide?
The Court: Oh no, I can’t overrule. You are the jury.
Juror Number Eight: Okay, I see. It’s all new to me.
The Court: Yes, you are the jury.
Mr. Glass: I think it would be appropriate to excuse the jury and let us discuss this matter for a moment.
The Court: All right, very good.
You may go back and continue deliberations.
You don’t have any objections if they continue deliberations, do you?
Mr. Glass: Pardon?
The Court: You don’t have any objections if they continue?
Mr. Glass: No.
Mr. Keinbaum: Not at all.
The jury then returned to the jury room, and the attorneys and the court tried to determine the proper instruction to be given to the jury. Although counsel for defendants unsuccessfully moved for a mistrial, all the attorneys ultimately agreed that it would be acceptable for the court to simply inform the jury that it had already been adequately instructed to render a verdict. The jury was then brought back into the courtroom and the court stated:
Members of the jury, we have been discussing your last inquiry as to whether or not you could add an [sic] proviso to question Number Ten on the verdict form. The Court has decided that the proper instruction at this time is to advise you that you have been instructed by the Court, you’ve heard the arguments of the attorneys, you’ve heard the evidence, so it is your responsibility at this point, without further response to your question as to whether or not you could add a proviso to question Ten or not.
The jury then retired and a short time later rendered a verdict finding that Verdugo had sexually harassed plaintiff and that Chrysler had negligently failed to take prompt corrective action after being notified by plaintiff of claims of sexual harassment. The jury awarded zero damages to plaintiff against Verdugo and provided that Chrysler was to pay plaintiff’s court costs and legal fees and remove the derogatory letters from plaintiff’s employment record or pay plaintiff $100,000. In Chrysler’s appellate brief it is stated that "the documents were in fact removed from Plaintiff’s file immediately after trial.” At posttrial hearings, counsel for Chrysler contended that the entry of a judgment providing zero damages to plaintiff would be appropriate because Chrysler had already removed the derogatory letters from plaintiff’s employment record. At an April 11, 1986, hearing on a motion for entry of judgment, counsel for Chrysler stated that "we have removed the documents from our files because we’re not stupid, and the Court has my word on that.” Counsel opined that, in view of Chrysler’s removal of the derogatory letters from plaintiff’s employment record, the language in the jury’s verdict regarding Chrysler’s obligation either to remove the letters from plaintiff’s file or to pay $100,000 constituted mere "surplusage.” In addition, Chrysler filed a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
Ultimately, counsel for Chrysler suggested that the court enter a judgment in accordance with the jury verdict providing for payment of no damages but requiring Chrysler to pay plaintiffs court costs and attorney fees. Plaintiffs counsel consented in open court to the entry of such a judgment. Accordingly, the court denied Chrysler’s motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and entered a judgment on April 30, 1986, conforming to the terms accepted by counsel. Thereafter, Chrysler and Verdugo moved for judgments awarding mediation sanctions, since plaintiff had rejected a $12,-500 mediation evaluation in November, 1983, and, they contended, had failed to improve her position by ten percent at trial, as required by the applicable court rule. Plaintiff, on the other hand, argued that mediation sanctions could not properly be imposed because she had improved her position by more than ten percent when considering the attorney fees payable to her from Chrysler, pursuant to the lower court’s judgment, and also allegedly from Verdugo, under the Civil Rights Act, MCL 37.2802; MSA 3.548(802). On August 25, 1986, the court awarded Chrysler $34,675 in mediation sanctions pursuant to MCR 2.403, and on September 22, 1986, it awarded Verdugo $14,950 in mediation sanctions pursuant to that same court rule.
On appeal, plaintiff, citing Ass’n Research & Development Corp v CNA Financial Corp, 123 Mich App 162; 333 NW2d 206 (1983), lv den 419 Mich 881 (1984), first argues that the trial court, in issuing its April 30, 1986, judgment, erred "by striking as surplusage the assessment of damages in the amount of $100,000 as to defendant Chrysler Corporation.” Our review of the record reveals, however, that plaintiffs counsel consented in open court to the entry of a judgment providing, first, that zero damages be paid by Chrysler and, second, that plaintiffs court costs and attorney fees be paid by Chrysler. Now, on appeal, plaintiff argues that the judgment should have included language awarding her $100,000 in damages against Chrysler. A party is not allowed to assign as error on appeal something which his or her own counsel deemed proper at trial since to do so would permit the party to harbor error as an appellate parachute. Joba Construction Co, Inc v Burns & Roe, Inc, 121 Mich App 615, 629; 329 NW2d 760 (1982); People v Roberson, 167 Mich App 501, 517; 423 NW2d 245 (1988). Moreover, consent judgments properly entered on the record in open court are binding on the parties absent a satisfactory showing of mistake, fraud or unconscionable advantage. Michigan Nat'l Bank of Detroit v Patmon, 119 Mich App 772; 327 NW2d 355 (1982); Siegel v Spinney, 141 Mich App 346, 350; 367 NW2d 860 (1985). In this case, plaintiff alleges no mistake, fraud or unconscionable advantage.
Second, plaintiff argues on appeal that "the trial court erred in entering orders assessing mediation penalties because the verdict was more favorable to the plaintiff than the mediation evaluation.”
As already noted, this case was mediated on November 16, 1983, and resulted in an evaluation of $12,500 to be paid jointly by Chrysler and Verdugo. The judgment entered by the lower court provided that Chrysler pay plaintiffs costs and attorney fees. Plaintiff, however, never moved for determination and payment of her costs and attorney fees. On appeal, plaintiff maintains that her entitlement to costs and attorney fees from Chrysler under the terms of the trial court’s judgment constitutes an improvement of her position against Chrysler by more than ten percent of the mediation evaluation against that defendant. Furthermore, plaintiff asserts that she is entitled, as a "prevailing party,” to recover attorney fees against Verdugo under a provision in the Civil Rights Act, MCL 37.2802; MSA 3.548(802), and has thus also improved her position against Verdugo by more than ten percent of the mediation evaluation against him.
The court rule relied upon by the trial court in imposing mediation sanctions against plaintiff provided at that time:
(1) If a party has rejected an evaluation and the action proceeds to trial, that party must pay the opposing party’s actual costs unless the verdict is more favorable to the rejecting party than the mediation evaluation. However, if the opposing party has also rejected the evaluation, a party is entitled to costs only if the verdict is more favorable to that party than the mediation evaluation.
(2) For the purpose of subrule (0)(1), a verdict must be adjusted by adding to it assessable costs and interest on the amount of the verdict from the filing of the complaint to the date of the mediation evaluation. After this adjustment, the verdict is considered more favorable to a defendant if it is more than 10 percent below the evaluation, and is considered more favorable to the plaintiff if it is more than 10 percent above the evaluation.
(3) For the purpose of this rule, actual costs include those costs taxable in any civil action and a reasonable attorney fee as determined by the trial judge for services necessitated by the rejection of the mediation evaluation.
(4) Costs shall not be awarded if the mediation award was not unanimous. [MCR 2.403(0).]
This rule, which became effective on March 1, 1985, and thus prior to the August 25, 1986, and September 22, 1986, orders of the lower court awarding mediation sanctions to Chrysler and Verdugo, respectively, was preceded, regarding cases in Wayne Circuit Court, by Wayne Circuit Court Local Rule 403, which, at the time plaintiff rejected the mediation evaluation in this case, provided, in pertinent part:
When the board’s evaluation is unanimous and the defendant accepts the evaluation but the plaintiff rejects it and the matter proceeds to trial, the plaintiff must obtain a verdict in an amount which, when interest on the amount and assessable costs from the date of filing of the complaint to the date of the mediation evaluation are added, is more than 10 percent greater than the board’s evaluation in order to avoid the payment of actual costs to the defendant. [Wayne Circuit Court Local Rule 403.15(c).]
Actual costs include those costs and fees taxable in any civil action and, in addition, an attorney fee for each day of trial in circuit court, determined by the trial judge in accordance with the fee prevailing locally. [Wayne Circuit Court Local Rule 403.16.]
Before addressing the substance of the issue now before us, we must determine whether, as Chrysler asserts on appeal, plaintiff has waived her right to receive attorney fees by failing to have timely sought in the lower court an order awarding such fees. It is true, as Chrysler points out, that MCR 2.625(F) provides that, when costs are to be taxed, the party entitled to the costs must present a bill of costs within twenty-eight days after the judgment is signed or within twenty-eight days after entry of an order denying a motion for a new trial or to set aside the judgment. This Court has recognized, however, that the twenty-eight-day rule is inapplicable in situations where, for example, attorney fees are awarded under 42 USC 1988 to a prevailing party in a federal civil rights case, or where attorney fees are awarded in mediation sanction cases under the court rules. See Young v Barker, 158 Mich App 709, 726-727; 405 NW2d 395 (1987), lv den 429 Mich 857 (1987); Fairway Enterprises, Inc v Na-Churs Plant Food Co, 163 Mich App 497; 415 NW2d 257 (1987), lv den 430 Mich 875 (1988). Similarly, the twenty-eight-day rule was inapplicable in the present civil rights case.
It is clear that, in determining whether defendants are entitled to mediation sanctions against plaintiff because plaintiff failed to have improved her position at trial by more than ten percent of the $12,500 mediation evaluation in her favor, we must first determine whether plaintiff is entitled to an award of attorney fees against defendants and, if so, whether the amount to which she is entitled exceeds the mediation evaluation amount by more than ten percent.
Since the April 30, 1986, judgment itself specifies, in conformity with the consent given by counsel in open court, that "Plaintiff shall be entitled to costs and attorneys’ [sic] fees to be paid by Defendant Chrysler Corporation, in an amount determined to be appropriate by the Court in accordance with established legal principles applicable to the facts of this case,” there is no question that plaintiff is entitled to an award of costs and attorney fees against Chrysler. The amount of those costs and fees, however, is not known, since the trial court has never been asked to exercise its discretion and determine the costs and reasonable amount owing for such fees. See Dep’t of Civil Rights v Horizon Tube Fabricating, Inc, 148 Mich App 633, 639-640; 385 NW2d 685 (1986). Thus, we are unable to determine whether the verdict amount owed by Chrysler exceeds the mediation evaluation by at least ten percent. On remand, this determination must be made by the trial court after, if necessary, briefs and appropriate documentation have been submitted and, if requested, a hearing is conducted. If the verdict, including costs and attorney fees plaintiff reasonably incurred, exceeds the applicable ten percent figure, then plaintiff may not be ordered to pay Chrysler mediation sanctions. Otherwise, mediation sanctions may be imposed. However, in calculating such sanctions, if their imposition is warranted, the trial court shall use the court rule which was in effect at the time plaintiff rejected the media tion evaluation in 1983, i.e., Wayne Circuit Court Local Rule 403, not MCR 2.403(0). Under the local rule, sanctions would be limited to costs and attorney fees incurred for each day of trial in circuit court, whereas under the successor rule, sanctions would include costs and attorney fees for each day of trial as well as for other services necessitated by the rejection of the mediation evaluation. Applying the more inclusive rule, which was not in effect when plaintiff rejected the mediation evaluation in this case, would work an injustice. See MCR 1.102; Brashers v Jefferson, 70 Mich App 456, 460; 245 NW2d 787 (1976), rev’d 402 Mich 399; 263 NW2d 243 (1978).
Plaintiff’s entitlement to costs and attorney fees from Verdugo is not as simply determined as was her entitlement to such costs and fees from Chrysler. Of course, the April 30, 1986, judgment does not award plaintiff costs and attorney fees against Verdugo. Plaintiff bases her claim of entitlement on the jury’s finding in the verdict form that she proved that "Verdugo unlawfully sexually harassed Plaintiff” and on a provision in the Civil Rights Act which provides:
A court, in rendering a judgment in an action brought pursuant to this article, may award all or a portion of the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney fees and witness fees, to the complainant in the action if the court determines that the award is appropriate. [MCL 37.2802; MSA 3.548(802).]
The decision whether to grant or deny an award under this provision rests within the sound discretion of the trial court. Riethmiller v Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Michigan, 151 Mich App 188, 203; 390 NW2d 227 (1986). Panels of this Court have suggested that an award under this statute pre sumes that the plaintiff is a financially successful or prevailing party. See Eide v Kelsey-Hayes Co, 154 Mich App 142, 162; 397 NW2d 532 (1986), aff'd in part 431 Mich 26; 427 Mich 488 (1988); Collister v Sunshine Food Stores, Inc, 166 Mich App 272; 419 NW2d 781 (1988). The United States Supreme Court has found that, under an analogous civil rights provision in federal law, 42 USC 1988, a plaintiff, in order to be considered a "prevailing party” eligible for an award of attorney fees, must receive at least some relief on the merits of his or her claim. Hewitt v Helms, 482 US 755; 107 S Ct 2672; 96 L Ed 2d 654 (1987); see also Rhodes v Stewart, 488 US —; 109 S Ct 202; 102 L Ed 2d 1 (1988); Webster v Sowders, 846 F2d 1032 (CA 6, 1988). In Hewitt, since the plaintiff had merely obtained a favorable judicial statement of law in the course of litigation in which he alleged that he had been denied due process, but had been afforded no relief in the form of, for example, an award of damages, an injunction, or a declaratory judgment on a favorable consent decree or settlement, five justices of the Supreme Court found that an award of attorney fees was unwarranted. 482 US 759-760.
"Michigan courts regard federal precedents on questions analogous to those present under the Michigan civil rights statutes as highly persuasive.” Collister, supra, p 275. Accordingly, we find that plaintiff is not entitled to an award of costs and attorney fees from Verdugo under MCL 37.2802; MSA 3.548(802) and that, as a result, and in light of the jury’s award of zero damages against Verdugo, plaintiff did not improve her position at trial from that attained by way of the mediation evaluation in her favor. Thus, the trial court did not err in concluding that plaintiff is liable to Verdugo for mediation sanctions. However, as already noted above, the trial court, in calculating the amount of the sanctions applicable, erred in using as its guide MCR 2.403(0) and not Wayne Circuit Court Local Rule 403.16. On remand, the award of mediation sanctions in favor of Verdugo should be recalculated in accordance with the latter rule.
In summary, we find that the trial court’s April 30, 1986, judgment may not be disturbed on appeal, since the judgment itself accurately reflects terms stated as acceptable by plaintiff’s counsel in open court, but that the trial court’s August 25, 1986, and September 22, 1986, orders regarding mediation sanctions must be vacated. The September 22, 1986, order in favor of Verdugo must be rewritten using as a guide the terms of Wayne Circuit Court Local Rule 403.16, and the August 25, 1986, order in favor of Chrysler must be permanently vacated if it is determined that the verdict amount, including the costs and attorney fees owed to plaintiff by Chrysler, improved plaintiff’s position by more than ten percent over the mediation evaluation in her favor. On the other hand, if the costs and attorney fees owed to plain tiff by Chrysler are determined not to have improved plaintiff’s position by more than ten percent over the mediation evaluation in her favor, the August 25, 1986, order must also be rewritten using as a guide the terms of Wayne Circuit Court Local Rule 403.16.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction. No costs.
Question ten on the verdict form provided: "If you answered 'yes’ to any of Questions 2, 4, 5, 6, or 8, what damages, if any, do you assess in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant Chrysler Corporation?”
The current version of MCR 2.403(0) provides, in pertinent part:
(1) If a party has rejected an evaluation and the action proceeds to trial, that party must pay the opposing party’s actual costs unless the verdict is more favorable to the rejecting party than the mediation evaluation. However, if the opposing party has also rejected the evaluation, a party is entitled to costs only if the verdict is more favorable to that party than the mediation evaluation.
(2) For the purpose of this rule "verdict” includes,
(a) a jury verdict,
(b) a judgment by the court after a nonjury trial,
(c) a judgment entered as a result of a ruling on a motion filed after mediation.
(3) For the purpose of subrule (0)(1), a verdict must be adjusted by adding to it assessable costs and interest on the amount of the verdict from the filing of the complaint to the date of the mediation evaluation. After this adjustment, the verdict is considered more favorable to a defendant if it is more than 10 percent below the evaluation, and is considered more favorable to the plaintiff if it is more than 10 percent above the evaluation. If the evaluation was zero, a verdict finding that a defendant is not liable to the plaintiff shall be deemed more favorable to the defendant.
(6) For the purpose of this rule, actual costs include those costs taxable in any civil action and a reasonable attorney fee based on a reasonable hourly or daily rate as determined by the trial judge for services necessitated by the rejection of the mediation evaluation.
We note that under both the applicable Wayne Circuit Court Local Rule and the Michigan Court Rule, for purposes of determining the propriety of mediation sanctions, a verdict is to be adjusted by adding to it assessable costs and interest on the amount of the verdict from the filing of the complaint to the date of the mediation evaluation.
42 USC 1988 provides, in relevant part:
In any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of [§ 1983], the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.
42 USC 1983 provides:
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia. | [
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Shepherd, P.J.
This case involves a construction contract dispute between a general contractor, defendant Spence Brothers, Inc., and a subcontractor, plaintiff Gordon Sel-Way, Inc., which was submitted to arbitration pursuant to the terms of their October 9, 1978, contract. A three-member arbitration panel awarded $1,572,442.12 plus $343,007.79 in interest to plaintiff on November 5, 1986. Two days later, plaintiff commenced this action under MCR 3.602(1) in Washtenaw Circuit Court to confirm the award. Defendant responded by filing an application under MCR 3.602(J) and (K) to vacate or modify the award. Pursuant to a judgment dated July 24, 1987, and related opinions and orders, the trial court confirmed the award of $1,572,442.12, but vacated the interest award because there was no contractual basis for pre-award interest. However, the trial court allowed interest of five percent per annum commencing from the date of the arbitration award and continuing until payment. Defendant appeals as of right, seeking to vacate the award due to alleged "evident partial ity” by one of the arbitrators and the failure of the arbitrators to state which of plaintiffs multiple claims were the bases of the award. Plaintiff cross-appeals from the interest award. We affirm.
i
We first consider defendant’s assertion that the award should be vacated due to alleged "evident partiality” of arbitrator Charles R. Scales, Jr. The trial court’s authority to vacate the arbitration award stems from MCR 3.602(J)(l)(b) which states that "the court shall vacate an award if . . . there was evident partiality by an arbitrator.” Here, as in other arbitral proceedings, the procedure established to safeguard the arbitral process against claims of partiality is one of disclosure. Under Rule 19 of the American Arbitration Association’s Construction Industry Arbitration Rules, which governed the parties’ arbitration, the aaa determines whether an arbitrator should be disqualified upon disclosure by the appointed arbitrator.
The problem in this case is that arbitrator Charles Scales did not fill out and return the aaa’s required "notice of appointment” form which required a disclosure of "any past or present relationship with the parties or their counsel, direct or indirect, whether financial, professional, social or other kind.” The information that the defendant claims should have been disclosed at the time of Charles Scales’ appointment in November, 1985, was his association with the consulting engineering firm of Scales & Associates, Inc., and the fact that Charles Scales filed a lawsuit as the attorney for the Scales consulting firm against the defendant corporation in 1984. Charles Scales’ status as the president of the consulting firm was disclosed in his biographical sketch provided by the aaa to the parties and, hence, the central issue before us is whether Charles Scales’ failure to disclose that he filed the lawsuit on behalf of his consulting firm is grounds for vacating the award. We conclude that it is not.
It has been held that an arbitrator’s failure to disclose certain facts which might reasonably lead to an impression of bias constitutes grounds for vacating the award. Albion Public Schools v Albion Education Ass’n, 130 Mich App 698, 701; 344 NW2d 55 (1983), lv den 419 Mich 944 (1984). However, the failure to disclose does not per se require that the award be vacated. The questions presented by the parties in this appeal require consideration of two important qualifications on the relief available to the complaining party.
The first qualification is that a party’s failure to raise the disqualification issue in the arbitral proceeding may constitute a waiver. A waiver has been described as follows:
"Waiver is the intentional relinquishment of a known right. . . . The usual manner of waiving a right is by acts which indicate an intention to relinquish it, . . . or by so neglecting and failing to act as to induce a belief that it was the intention and purpose to waive.” [Maxey v Proctor, 343 Mich 453, 457; 72 NW2d 198 (1955), quoting Bailey v Jones, 243 Mich 159, 162; 219 NW 629 (1928).]
Waiver in an arbitration case has been defined as consisting of knowledge, actual or constructive, in the complaining party of the tainted relationship or interest of the arbitrator. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local Union 560 v Bergen-Hudson Roofing Supply Co, 159 NJ Super 313; 387 A2d 1246 (1978).
The second qualification is that, to overturn the arbitration award, the partiality or bias must be certain and direct, not remote, uncertain or speculative. Belen v Allstate Ins Co, 173 Mich App 641, 645; 434 NW2d 203 (1988); Kauffman v Haas, 113 Mich App 816, 819; 318 NW2d 572 (1982). Although the trial court based its decision not to vacate the award on the waiver issue, we conclude that a consideration of both qualifications supports the court’s decision not to vacate the award.
The record submitted by the parties on the disqualification issue consisted of the record of the arbitration proceedings, affidavits, and documentary proofs. While there were some factual disputes established by this record, the trial court did not resolve the disputes but rather based its decision on undisputed facts. Those facts that were not disputed established that there is no basis for vacating the award due to "evident partiality.”
Addressing first the waiver issue, the record indicates that Charles Scales did in fact file a lawsuit against the defendant in 1984 on behalf of his consulting firm. The lawsuit was commenced in September, 1984, in an effort to collect on a debt owed to the consulting firm by Olympian Sprinkler, Inc., for shop drawings prepared by the consulting firm. Olympian was then a subcontractor on a construction project at the University of Michigan. The general contractor was Spence Brothers, Inc., the defendant in this case. Although the consulting firm’s contract was with Olympian, it named the defendant as a party on the theory that the defendant, as the general contractor, might owe Olympian for the shop drawings. The case was settled two months later when the project manager for the defendant, Thomas Spence, sent a joint check for $2,279 to Olympian and the consulting firm to settle the matter. As project manager, Thomas Spence was responsible for all administrative matters relating to the project, including litigation.
By contrast, the project manager of the project underlying the instant arbitration action was the president of the defendant, Herbert Spence. The project entailed construction of a portion of the Ann Arbor Waste Water Treatment Plant. Defendant was the general contractor for the project and the plaintiff, Gordon Sel-Way, was a subcontractor responsible for excavation work.
Plaintiff originally filed an arbitration claim for about $900,000 in 1982 under a subcontract, but the proceedings were adjourned by mutual consent while settlement negotiations were pursued with the project owner. In November, 1985, Charles Scales was appointed as a member of the arbitration panel. Arbitration proceedings commenced in January, 1986, on an amended claim for $4,000,000 and terminated in November, 1986, when the panel reached a decision. Hugh Spence, the vice-president of the defendant and the project superintendent, appeared at the arbitration hearing on behalf of the defendant. According to Hugh Spence’s affidavit, he shared responsibility for the management of the project, including litigation, with Herbert Spence.
There is some conflict in the evidence regarding whether Charles Scales made a disclosure of his participation in the 1984 lawsuit prior to the arbitration hearing. On the one hand, Charles Scales asserted in a December, 1986, memorandum to the aaa that he may not have disclosed some information regarding a previous relationship with the defendant and "had forgotten” that the defendant was named as a party in the prior lawsuit. On the other hand, Charles Scales averred in a January, 1987, affidavit that he made a disclosure of the lawsuit when the arbitration hearing com menced on January 7, 1986, although the transcript of the hearing and the affidavit of other participants do not support this assertion. We note that these factual disputes might never have occurred had the aaa not permitted the hearing to begin without first obtaining the required form from Charles Scales.
However, there was no dispute that at least two agents of the defendant had knowledge of the prior relationship between the defendant and Charles Scales in his status, as agent for the consulting firm. Thomas Spence acquired knowledge through his role as project manager of the University of Michigan project, while Herbert Spence acquired knowledge as president of the defendant in 1985 when he undertook to contact Charles Scales regarding a court notice of the lawsuit that was sent to the defendant in error. In a letter dated March 6, 1985, to the court, Herbert Spence explained:
Enclosed is a copy of Notice of Court Appearance received by us for March 19, 1985.
Since we had no knowledge of this case we contacted Mr. Charles R. Scales, Jr.
We were informed by Mr. Scales that the Notice was sent to Spence Brothers in error and that we should disregard.
Please confirm with Mr. Scales if necessary.
The trial court imputed the knowledge of Thomas and Herbert Spence to the defendant and thereafter concluded that the defendant’s failure to act on the knowledge in the arbitral process by objecting to Charles Scales’ alleged partiality constituted a waiver. We agree with the trial court.
A corporation is merely a legal fiction acting through its officers and agents. Bruun v Cook, 280 Mich 484; 273 NW 774 (1937). One of the burdens of acting under the corporate form is that the law will impute the knowledge of individual officers and employees at a certain level of responsibility to the corporation:
The knowledge of individual officers and employees at a certain level of responsibility will be deemed the knowledge of the corporation; where the level of responsibility begins must be discerned from the circumstances of each case. Whether employees can be considered managerial employees so as to impute their actions to the corporation does not necessarily hinge on their level in the corporate hierarchy, but depends on the degree of discretion the employee has in making decisions that will ultimately determine corporate policy. [18B Am Jur 2d, Corporations, § 1673, pp 524-525.]
This Court has recognized that the combined knowledge of employees may be imputed to a corporation. People v American Medical Centers of Michigan, Limited, 118 Mich App 135, 155-156; 324 NW2d 782 (1982), lv den 417 Mich 985 (1983), cert den sub nom Fuentes v Michigan, 464 US 1009 (1983). We agree with this rule and adopt the standard for imputed collective knowledge set forth in Copeman Laboratories Co v General Motors Corp, 36 F Supp 755, 762 (ED Mich, 1941):
When a person representing a corporation is doing a thing which is in connection with and pertinent to that part of the corporation business which he is employed, or authorized or selected to do, then that which is learned or done by that person pursuant thereto is in the knowledge of the corporation. The knowledge possessed by a corporation about a particular thing is the sum total of all the knowledge which its officers and agents, who are authorized and charged with the doing of the particular thing acquire, while acting under and within the scope of their authority.
Given the managerial responsibilities of Thomas and Herbert Spence and the underlying facts establishing their knowledge of Charles Scales’ involvement in a prior lawsuit against the corporation, we conclude that the trial court properly imputed their knowledge to the defendant and that the defendant’s failure to act on that knowledge by objecting to Charles Scales’ partiality constitutes a waiver. The fact that the individual agents of the defendant may not have personally connected Scales’ name to the prior lawsuit until after the arbitration award was entered does not mandate a different conclusion. Even where there are changes in a corporation’s personnel, i.e., a new president is appointed, a corporation, once charged with knowledge of a particular transaction or event, continues to be affected by such knowledge. See 18B Am Jur 2d, Corporations, § 1678, p 529; Microbiological Research Corp v Muna, 625 P2d 690 (Utah, 1981).
It follows that a corporate agent will not be allowed by the law to shut his or her eyes to the knowledge imputed to the corporation, but is required to carry out his or her duties in light of that knowledge even if the individual involved did not have personal knowledge of the fact in dispute. Here, Herbert Spence acquired knowledge of the prior lawsuit in the course of his authority as president of the corporation. The corporation did not act on that knowledge, or the other knowledge imputed to the corporation through Thomas Spence, when Herbert Spence performed his managerial responsibilities as project manager of the water treatment project. Based on this record, we conclude that the trial court correctly determined that the defendant waived any objection to Charles Scales’ alleged partiality. In some cases such an analysis may appear harsh, but doing business in the corporate form carries certain burdens of which this is one.
The harshness is mitigated in this case because we are also able to uphold the trial court’s decision by reason of the peripheral nature of the alleged partiality. On the one hand, the defendant argues that the trial court transformed "isolated events” and minimal contact to actual knowledge of a prior conflict of interest. On the other hand, the defendant asserts that Charles Scales’ participation in the lawsuit of his consulting firm against the defendant in an effort to collect on a debt owed by Olympian caused "hard feelings.” The amount of the debt was minimal and was resolved by settlement two months after the lawsuit was filed. Defendant was added as a party in the prior action not because the Scales consulting firm had a dispute with it, but only because defendant might have owed money to the party who was indebted to the Scales consulting firm. Except for an error of the district court in keeping the case on its docket, the entire matter was resolved over one year prior to Charles Scales’ appointment as an arbitrator. We conclude that the possibility of partiality or bias by Charles Scales as a result of this lawsuit is too remote and speculative to overturn the arbitration award. There is no "evident partiality” and, hence, no basis for vacating the award.
ii
Next, the defendant asserts that the arbitration award of $1,572,442.12 is erroneous on its face for failure to list the awards made on each of plain tiffs multiple claims. Defendant asserts that an itemized award is necessary to determine whether the award is contrary to the contract provisions.
In DAIIE v Gavin, 416 Mich 407, 428-429; 331 NW2d 418 (1982), our Supreme Court observed that there is no requirement that a verbatim record of private arbitration proceedings be made or that the arbitrator specify findings of fact or conclusions of law:
Thus, from the perspective of the record alone, a reviewing court’s ability to review an award is restricted to cases in which an error of law appears from the face of the award, or the terms of the contract of submission, or such documentation as the parties agree will constitute the record.
The standard of judicial review from the private arbitration award, as adopted in Gavin, supra, p 443, quoting Howe v Patrons’ Mutual Fire Ins Co of Michigan, 216 Mich 560, 570; 185 NW 864 (1921), is:
"[Wjhere it clearly appears on the face of the award or the reasons for the decision as stated, being substantially a part of the award, that the arbitrators through an error in law have been led to a wrong conclusion, and that, but for such error, a substantially different award must have been made, the award and decision will be set aside.”
See also, Belen, supra, pp 644-645; The Hayman Co v Brady Mechanical, Inc, 139 Mich App 185; 362 NW2d 243 (1984).
Here, there is no clear error on the face of the award. Since the arbitrators had no duty to make a separate award for each claim, their failure to do so was not error and, hence, is not grounds for vacating the award. Therefore, we conclude that the trial court correctly upheld the award.
in
By way of cross-appeal, plaintiff contends that the trial court erred by vacating the arbitration award of $343,007.79 in pre-award interest and by limiting post-award interest to five percent per annum. We disagree.
With regard to the pre-award interest of $343,007.79, plaintiff contends that it is conceivable that the arbitrators intended to award interest as damages to compensate plaintiff for its lost use of funds and, hence, the award must stand. The trial court vacated the interest award because there was no contractual basis for interest.
Michigan has long recognized the general rule that interest may be awarded as an element of damages to compensate for the lost use of funds in an action based on contract or tort. Banish v Hamtramck, 9 Mich App 381; 157 NW2d 445 (1968), lv den 381 Mich 779 (1968); Grand Trunk W R Co v H W Nelson Co, 116 F2d 823 (CA 6, 1941), reh den 118 F2d 252 (1941); and see Matich v Modern Research Corp, 430 Mich 1, 7, n 2; 420 NW2d 67 (1988). The questions that arise generally concern the date from which interest may accrue, the lawful rate of interest, and the existence of any statutory authority for the interest. See Vannoy v City of Warren, 26 Mich App 283; 182 NW2d 65 (1970), aff'd 386 Mich 686 (1972) (holding that, in a wrongful death action, a jury awards interest as part of its general verdict where a claim accrues as of a date certain and, upon the verdict being entered, statutory interest is paid).
With regard to when interest accrues in an action based on contract, there has been an increased tendency to depart from standards based upon whether the claim is liquidated or ascertainable. See Dobbs, Remedies (Hornbook Series, 1973), p 174; Ramada Development Co v US Fidelity & Guaranty Co, 626 F2d 517 (CA 6, 1980). While Michigan case law developed by making distinctions between liquidated and unliquidated damages, the focus is on whether the award of interest is necessary to allow full compensation:
The concept that interest should be allowed as part of the damages for a delay in paying the principal damages was not readily accepted. As the law developed exceptions were made, and in particular cases the jury, or the trial judge as a matter of discretion, was permitted to allow interest as part of the damages. As case law defined those areas in which interest would be assessed as part of the damages, restrictions were placed on the unfettered exercise of jury and trial judge discretion.
It came to be a familiar principle that generally interest will be included as a matter of right where the amount claimed is "liquidated,” but not where the claim is "unliquidated.” Definitions of "liquidated” were not always consistent, and close cases created much confusion, until even the liquidated-unliquidated standard approached coalescence. In Cree Coach Company v Wolverine Insurance Company (1962), 366 Mich 449 [115 NW2d 400] interest was allowed from the date of loss on an unliquidated amount which, said the Court, "was known or could have been easily ascertained” (p 463). McCormick contends that interest should be includible except where the damages are "at large” and thus, in the last analysis, depend upon the discretion of the trier of fact uncontrolled by any meaningful standard except overall reasonableness. McCormick on Damages, § 57, page 226.
The cases are in conflict. Interest has been de nied on the ground that the claim was unliquidated. Nevertheless, interest has been allowed on unliquidated claims.
We are persuaded the Michigan cases that allow interest as part of the damage in order to accomplish full compensation focus on the objectively sound facet of the matter. Although that principle seems clear, the difficult question of what is full compensation, neither excessive nor inadequate, is still very much with us. [Banish, supra, pp 395-396, 399.]
With regard to interest on contracts, our Supreme Court stated in Amluxen v Eugene J Stephenson, Inc, 340 Mich 273, 275-276; 65 NW2d 807 (1954), quoting Mitchell v Reolds Farms Co, 268 Mich 301, 311; 256 NW 445 (1934):
"The question of interest is purely statutory. Kermott v Ayer, 11 Mich 181 [1863]; Tousey v Moore, 79 Mich 564 [44 NW 958 (1890)]. Though interest is generally a matter of contract, the written contracts here involved do not provide for interest. 'It is a question of damages not of positive agreement.’ O’Connor v Beckwith, 41 Mich 657 [3 NW 166 (1879)]. 'No implied contract can grow up under which interest can be recovered.’ Regents of the University of Michigan v Rose, 45 Mich 284, 300 [7 NW 875 (1881)]. 'After default interest is strictly allowable only as damages.’ Mason v Callender, 2 Minn 350 (72 Am Dec 102). Hubbard v Callahan, 42 Conn 524 (19 Am Rep 564), for lost use. Boyce v Boyce, 124 Mich 696 [83 NW 1013 (1900)]. 'Failure to pay money promised when by law it ought to be paid, authorizes the allowance of interest in the nature of damages for the improper detention of the sum so promised.’ McCreery v Green, 38 Mich 172, 185 [1878]. 'Interest is allowed where money is withheld, either upon the ground of a promise, express or implied, to pay interest or as damages for default in retaining money due and owing another. But upon whatever ground it may be placed, in the absence of an express promise, until the principal becomes due, no promise to pay interest can be implied, or be awarded as damages.’ Lake Shore & Michigan Southern R Co v People, 46 Mich 193, 211; [9 NW 249 (1881)].”
Here, it is conceivable, as argued by plaintiff, that the arbitrators intended to award interest as an element of damages in order to fully compensate plaintiff. However, it has been said that preaward interest is not permitted in an award resulting from arbitration on the theory that the defendant is not contractually obligated to pay the damage until the award is entered. See Osinski v DAIIE, 69 Mich App 426; 245 NW2d 426 (1976). Although the Osinski Court reached its finding regarding the accrual date of the contractual obligation rather summarily, we agree with its rationale.
Under the terms of the contract at issue here, the parties agreed to submit all claims and disputes to arbitration. The contract contained no provision for interest or payment while a dispute was pending in arbitration. Until such time that the arbitrators resolved the dispute and made an award, the defendant simply had no contractual duty to pay plaintiff. Since the principal damages were not due until the arbitration award was entered, it follows that there was no basis for making an award of interest as damages, even if it was intended to accomplish full compensation. Amluxen, supra. Hence, having considered the remedy agreed to by the parties to resolve any dispute, we conclude that the arbitrators erred as a matter of law in awarding pre-award interest to plaintiff. The error is plain from the face of the award and, therefore, the trial court’s decision to vacate the interest award is affirmed.
Finally, with regard to plaintiffs challenge to post-award interest of five percent per annum commencing on the date of the arbitration award, we find no error. The interest was authorized by MCL 438.7; MSA 19.4, which, in an action based on contract, provides that it "shall be lawful . . . to allow and receive interest” upon an award of money ascertained or liquidated by award of arbitrators. The interest under the statute begins to accrue on the date of the award, and the legal rate of interest under the usury statute, MCL 438.31; MSA 19.15(1), is five percent per annum. Osinski, supra, pp 428-429.
We reject plaintiffs assertion that the judgment interest statute, MCL 600.6013; MSA 27A.6013, applied to the arbitration award. This statute provides in pertinent part that "[ijnterest shall be allowed on a money judgment recovered in a civil action.” In Morgan v Kamil, 144 Mich App 171, 173-174; 375 NW2d 378 (1985), lv den 422 Mich 970 (1985), this Court held:
MCL 600.6013; MSA 27A.6013 allows interest only on money judgments recovered in civil actions; it does not authorize interest on an arbitration award and the judgments entered confirming the award. The Legislature intended MCL 600.6013; MSA 27A.6013 to apply only to judgments obtained in civil actions, through court proceedings, not arbitration.
Accord, Osinski, supra; Moultrie v DAIIE, 123 Mich App 403; 333 NW2d 298 (1983); Western Casualty & Surety Co v Garden City, 151 Mich App 83, 89; 390 NW2d 687 (1986). We agree with these decisions and, therefore, affirm the trial court’s decision to limit the interest award to five percent per annum beginning on the date of the arbitration award and continuing until payment.
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Wahls, P.J.
Plaintiff, Rebecca Stapleton, appeals as of right in this medical malpractice action from an October 30, 1987, order of the Wayne Circuit Court granting the motion for summary disposition of defendants Brownell and Hoprasart under MCR 2.116(C)(7) on the basis that plaintiffs claims are barred due to a lapse of the applicable period of limitation. We affirm.
The record reveals that when plaintiff, who was born on October 17, 1965, was six to eight weeks pregnant she went to Wyandotte General Hospital on July 7, 1984, complaining of persistent nausea and vomiting. During her ten-day stay in the hospital, she was under the care of several physicians, including defendants Brownell and Hoprasart. She was given the medication Compazine, after which she experienced severe muscle spasms. Eventually, the muscle spasms subsided and she was discharged from the hospital on July 17, 1984. In her deposition, plaintiff testified that before she was discharged a physician told her to return for a checkup in two weeks. Within a week after her discharge from the hospital, plaintiff went to the Northland Family Planning Clinic, apparently intending to have an abortion. At the clinic, an ultrasound examination revealed that the fetus was dead. It was then surgically removed.
Plaintiff filed the present medical malpractice lawsuit on July 18, 1986, alleging, in essence, that the medication she received while at the hospital, particularly the Compazine, was negligently prescribed so as to have caused the severe muscle spasms and the death of the fetus, as well as injury to herself. Following the filing of an amended complaint, the hospital, on August 10, 1987, and defendants Brownell and Hoprasart, on August 21, 1987, filed motions for summary disposition on the basis that plaintiff’s claim was barred by the period of limitation applicable to medical malpractice lawsuits. The trial court granted the motions, finding that plaintiff had failed to file suit within two years of her last date of treatment, which was July 17, 1984, and that plaintiff had discovered, or should have discovered, the existence of a claim more than six months prior to the filing of her suit.
On appeal, plaintiff first argues that the trial court erred in ruling that her lawsuit was barred because it was not filed within the two-year period of limitation applicable to medical malpractice cases. On this issue plaintiff raises two subarguments, namely, that she did not stop treating with defendants Brownell and Hoprasart until two weeks after her discharge from the hospital, when she intentionally missed an appointment for a check up suggested by a physician at the time of her discharge from the hospital on July 17, 1984, and that the applicable two-year period of limitation in her case began to run on July 18, 1984, the day after her discharge from the hospital. We find no merit in either of plaintiffs subarguments.
The period of limitation for a malpractice action is set forth in MCL 600.5805; MSA 27A.5805:
(1) A person shall not bring or maintain an action to recover damages for injuries to persons or property unless, after the claim first accrued to the plaintiff or to someone through whom the plaintiff claims, the action is commenced within the period of time prescribed by this section.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the period of limitations is 2 years for an action charging malpractice.
The accrual of plaintiff’s claim in this case is determined under MCL 600.5838(1); MSA 27A.5838(1), as it appeared prior to its amendment in 1986:
A claim based on the malpractice of a person who is, or holds himself out to be, a member of a state licensed profession . . . 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. [Emphasis added.]
What constitutes "treating or otherwise serving” under § 38(1) is a matter of statutory construction and is a question of law for the courts. Coddington v Robertson, 160 Mich App 406, 410; 407 NW2d 666 (1987). The essence of that phrase implies that the cessation of an ongoing physician-patient relationship marks the point at which the period of limitation begins to run. Pendell v Jarka, 156 Mich 405, 409-410; 402 NW2d 23 (1986), lv den 428 Mich 880 (1987).
Regarding the purposes of periods of limitation and decisions whether to grant motions for summary disposition on the basis of the expiration of an applicable period of limitation, this Court has stated:
The underlying purposes behind statutes of limitation are to require that complaints be filed within a reasonable time so that the opposing parties have a fair opportunity to defend, to relieve the court system from dealing with stale claims, and to protect potential defendants from protracted fear of litigation. Bigelow v Walraven, 392 Mich 566, 576; 221 NW2d 328 (1974). In considering a motion for accelerated judgment based on a statute of limitations, the trial court is to consider the pleadings, affidavits, depositions, admissions and documentary evidence submitted by the parties. MCR 2.116(G)(5). The motion may not be granted if there exist material fact issues in dispute regarding discovery of the asserted malpractice. Kelleher v Mills, 70 Mich App 360, 365; 245 NW2d 749 (1976). But if the facts are not in dispute, the issue whether the claim is statutorily barred becomes one of law for the court. Smith v Sinai Hosp, 152 Mich App 716, 724-725; 394 NW2d 82 (1986). See also Schalm v Mt Clemens Gen Hospital, 82 Mich App 669, 672; 267 NW2d 479 (1978). [Coddington, supra, pp 409-410.]
In this case, we do not hesitate to agree with the trial court that plaintiffs own deposition testimony establishes that defendants Brownell and Hoprasart were not treating or otherwise serving plaintiff after her discharge from the hospital on July 17, 1984. The advice given by an unidentified physician to plaintiff on the date of her discharge from the hospital to make an appointment for a checkup in two weeks did not alone serve to extend the physician-patient relationship shared by plaintiff and defendants Brownell and Hoprasart during plaintiffs ten-day hospital stay. Plaintiff herself acknowledged at her deposition that when she was discharged she was given no instructions or prescriptions and that "they just said if I wanted to continue seeing them [defendants Brownell and Hoprasart] to give them a call, but that I did need to see a doctor for my monthly [pregnancy] checkups.” Clearly, plaintiff had no inten tion of seeking treatment from defendants Brownell and Hoprasart after she was discharged from the hospital on July 17, 1984. She admitted as much by asserting, "I didn’t want to see them after what they did to me in the hospital.”
The cases cited by plaintiff are clearly distinguishable. For example, in Thomas v Golden, 51 Mich App 253; 214 NW2d 907 (1974), modified 51 Mich App 693; 214 NW2d 907 (1974), aff'd without adopting reasoning 392 Mich 779; 220 NW2d 677 (1974), the plaintiff requested, and was given, an appointment for the continued treatment of her eyes, but did not keep the appointment, apparently because she sought and received emergency treatment in a hospital the day prior to her scheduled appointment with the defendant, and in Shane v Mouw, 116 Mich App 737; 323 NW2d 537 (1982), neither the physician nor the plaintiff intended their longstanding relationship to end at the time the plaintiff’s son, on the plaintiff’s behalf, telephoned the plaintiff’s physician approximately one month after the plaintiff’s last office visit and discussed the plaintiff’s condition.
Plaintiff’s second subargument on this issue is that the applicable two-year period of limitation in her case began to run on July 18, 1984, the day after her discharge from the hospital, and lapsed on July 18, 1986. In support of her position, plaintiff cites MCR 1.108, which provides:
In computing a period of time prescribed or allowed by these rules, by court order, or by statute, the following rules apply:
(1) The day of the act, event, or default after which the designated period of time begins to run is not included. The last day of the period is included, unless it is a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or holiday on which the court is closed pursuant to court order; in that event the period runs until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or holiday on which the court is closed pursuant to court order.
(2) If a period is measured by a number of weeks, the last day of the period is the same day of the week as the day on which the period began.
(3) If a period is measured by months or years, the last day of the period is the same day of the month as the day on which the period began. If what would otherwise be the final month does not include that day, the last day of the period is the last day of that month. For example "2 months” after January 31 is March 31, and "3 months” after January 31 is April 30.
Applying this court rule to the facts in this case, we find that the two-year period of limitation lapsed on July 17, 1986, not July 18, 1986. Under subrule (1), July 17, 1984, the day of plaintiff’s discharge from the hospital, is not to be counted, but July 17, 1986, the last day of the period, is to be counted. Moreover, under subrule (3), July 17, 1986, would be the date on which the two-year period ended. This calculation is consistent with the examples provided in subrule (3) such that " '2 months’ after January 31 is March 31, and '3 months’ after January 31 is April 30.” In this case, two years after July 17, 1984—after beginning the calculation by making July 18, 1984, the first day to be counted in the two-year period—is July 17, 1986. See Wise v Sisters of Mercy, 21 Mich App 134; 175 NW2d 33 (1970).
Second, plaintiff argues on appeal that the trial court erred in ruling that her lawsuit was barred because she discovered, or should have discovered, the existence of a cause of action more than six months prior to having filed suit.
MCL 600.5838(2); MSA 27A.5838(2) provides, in pertinent part:
An action involving a claim based on malpractice may be commenced at any time within the applicable period prescribed in sections 5805 ... or within 6 months after the plaintiff discovers or should have discovered the existence of the claim, whichever is later.
Regarding this six-month discovery rule, this Court has stated:
A plaintiff is held to have discovered the existence of a malpractice claim when: (1) the act or omission of the defendant becomes known and (2) the plaintiff has reason to believe that medical treatment was improper or was performed in an improper manner. Kelly v Richmond, 156 Mich App 699; 402 NW2d 73 (1986); Juravle v Ozdagler, 149 Mich App 148; 385 NW2d 627 (1985).
Once it is shown that the two-pronged test mentioned above has been met, the court may conclude as a matter of law that plaintiff discovered or should have discovered the asserted malpractice and grant defendants’ motion for summary disposition. Blana v Spezia; 155 Mich App 348; 399 NW2d 511 (1986); Lefever v American Red Cross, 108 Mich App 69; 310 NW2d 278 (1981). The trial court’s findings will not be reversed unless clearly erroneous. Blana, supra, p 354. [Weisburg v Lee, 161 Mich App 443, 447-448; 411 NW2d 728 (1987).]
We do not hesitate in concluding, as did the trial court, that plaintiff, long before the six months immediately preceding the filing of this case, had reason to believe, and did believe, that the medical treatment she received from defendants Brownell and Hoprasart was improper. At her deposition, while being questioned about the circumstances surrounding her discharge from the hospital on July 17, 1984, and the offering of further care by defendants Brownell and Hoprasart, plaintiff stated that when she was discharged she told a staff physician that "I was going to have a checkup to see if [the fetus] was healthy or not,” adding, "[f]or going through what I went through and having them drugs, I didn’t know if I was going to have a healthy baby or not, so I wanted to be certain before I went any further along in my pregnancy.” Within a week after having been discharged from the hospital, plaintiff went to the Northland Family Planning Clinic, where an ultrasound test was performed and it was determined that the fetus was dead. In her deposition, plaintiff testified that she told nurses at the clinic about her experience at Wyandotte General Hospital regarding "going through . . . muscle spasms [and having been given certain] drugs,” and was told by the nurses that "that could have been the cause” of the fetus’ death. During her deposition, plaintiff also admitted that during the summer of 1984 she thought that defendants Brownell and Hoprasart had improperly treated her with drugs. In addition, plaintiff stated that at the time she went to the Northland Family Planning Clinic during the week after having been discharged from the hospital, she had no intention of ever again seeking the professional services of defendants Brownell and Hoprasart. At her deposition, plaintiff insisted, while denying that the sole purpose of her visit to the Northland Family Planning Clinic was to obtain an abortion, that she had told the staff at the clinic that she had come to the clinic because she was concerned about what had happened to her at the hospital while under the care of defendants Brownell and Hoprasart. Finally, we note that, even in her appellate brief, plaintiff concedes that, all along, she had "a vague notion that she should not have received certain shots during her hospital stay.”
In order for a medical malpractice claim to be deemed discovered under the six-month discovery rule, a plaintiff need only have reason to believe that his or her treatment was improper. 'This does not require the advice of an attorney, but merely requires a subjective belief that a malpractice claim is possible.” Antal v Porretta, 165 Mich App 238, 242; 418 NW2d 395 (1987). According to plaintiffs own deposition testimony in this case, she had such a subjective belief in July, 1984, much longer than six months prior to the filing of her lawsuit in July, 1986. Therefore, the trial court did not err in ruling that this lawsuit was barred because plaintiff discovered, or should have discovered, the existence of a cause of action more than six months prior to having filed suit.
Finally, plaintiff argues on appeal that "the applicable statute of limitations for plaintiffs claim of breach of express contract is that for breach of contract is [sic] [MCL 600.5807; MSA 27A.5807] and for plaintiffs claim of breach of implied contract is three (3) years pursuant to [MCL 600.5805; MSA 27A.5805].” The question whether plaintiffs claim sounds solely in malpractice or whether it sounds also in contract, see, e.g., Baldyga v Independence Health Plan, 162 Mich App 441; 413 NW2d 30 (1987); Barnard v Dilley, 134 Mich App 375; 350 NW2d 887 (1984), was neither addressed nor decided by the trial court, and thus has not been preserved for appeal. Joe Dwyer, Inc v Jaguar Cars, Inc, 167 Mich App 672, 685; 423 NW2d 311 (1988).
Affirmed.
Summary disposition was also granted in favor of the remaining defendants, but, apparently, the latter were subsequently dismissed from the case upon stipulation of the parties.
Thereafter, plaintiff filed a motion for reconsideration and a motion for leave to amend her complaint. Both motions were denied in an order issued on November 20, 1978, and have not been the subject of an appeal to this Court.
MCL 600.5838(1); MSA 27A.5838(1), as amended by 1986 PA 178, provides, in pertinent part:
[A] claim based on the malpractice of a person who is, or holds himself or herself out to be, a member of a state licensed profession accrues at the time that person discontinues 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.
Regarding her purpose in going to the Northland Family Planing Clinic during the week after her discharge from Wyandotte General Hospital on July 17, 1984, plaintiff was asked and answered the following questions during her April 2,1987, deposition:
Q. You knew when you called Northland [Family Planning Clinic] that their principal business was abortions, did you not?
A. Also birth control and other things, yes.
Q. You knew principally that their business was giving abortions?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, you went to Northland with whom please? Was it your mother did you say?
A. Yes, it was.
Q. And when you got there, you talked with a counselor, did you not?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. And the counselor asked you a number of questions, right?
A. Yes.
Q. And I suppose one of the questions was why don’t you want to have the baby?
A. Right.
Q. I’m sorry?
A. Right.
Q. And what did you say to the counselor when she asked that question?
A. I believe I told her what I went through at Wyandotte.
Q. When you say—I’m sorry. Go ahead.
A. The experience that I experienced at Wyandotte, and I didn’t know if my baby would be healthy or not.
Q. When you say I believe, that makes me think, maybe incorrectly, that you’re not certain.
A. I’m not for certain what I said at that time.
Q. If their form says that the reason that you gave—the primary reason for an abortion was because you could not afford it and you were not ready for a child, would you disagree with that?
A. I might have said that, but I also was concerned about Wyandotte too.
Q. The question is whether or not that is the information that you gave the people at Northland, I don’t want to have a baby because I can’t afford it and I’m not ready to have a baby? Is that what you told them?
A. Yes. | [
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Shepherd, J.
This is an appeal from an order of summary disposition entered by the circuit court after it determined that at least five different theories of tort recovery raised in the complaint were subject to dismissal under MCR 2.116(C)(8) or (10). Addressing only those two theories that plaintiff has briefed on appeal, we remand for further proceedings on plaintiff’s malicious prosecution theory.
Without summarizing the entirety of circumstances upon which plaintiff’s malicious prosecution claim is premised, we note the parties’ agreement to the following facts: Employees of defendant credit union, suspicious of plaintiff’s involvement in passing counterfeit checks, reported their suspicions to the police, who conducted an investi gation culminating in the issuance of a criminal warrant against plaintiff for uttering and publishing. An investigation conducted by defendant’s insurance company subsequently exonerated plaintiff from any wrongdoing. The gravamen of plaintiff’s claim against defendant appears to be that defendant should have reported the result of the insurance investigation to the appropriate public officials, thereby presumably obtaining dismissal of the criminal charges already instituted and pending. The criminal proceedings were eventually terminated favorably to plaintiff at the conclusion of a preliminary examination.
In reviewing the malicious prosecution claim, we begin with a point that may not be ignored: after the warrant was issued, defendant acquired enough additional information to prompt it to conclude that plaintiff was innocent and to return to plaintiff’s account approximately $4,000 that represented the amount of the forged checks. This information, including the fact that defendant returned the $4,000 to plaintiff, was not communicated by defendant to the prosecutor or the police. The criminal case was allowed to proceed and was not dismissed until months later.
A defendant’s liability in a malicious prosecution suit involving a criminal prosecution is derived from the role played by the defendant in instituting or continuing that criminal prosecution. Wilson v Yono, 65 Mich App 441; 237 NW2d 494 (1975). A defendant’s role in continuing a prosecution presents different and distinct problems from the defendant’s role in initiating the prosecution.
In the latter case, a defendant is immunized from a suit if he makes a full and fair disclosure of all material facts to law enforcement officials and does nothing more to advance a prosecution based upon such information. Renda v International Union, UAW, 366 Mich 58, 84; 114 NW2d 343 (1962); Rivers v Ex-Cell-O Corp, 100 Mich App 824, 833; 300 NW2d 420 (1980). The reason for this rule is that, under these circumstances,’ the defendant is not the "instigator” of the criminal prosecution since it is the prosecuting attorney who acts on the information and makes the recommendation for an arrest warrant. On the other hand, when a defendant fails to make a full and fair disclosure, including the failure to disclose material exculpatory information which might dissuade a prosecutor from seeking a warrant, Rivers, supra, p 834, an action for malicious prosecution may be pursued since the defendant’s omission might effectively foreclose a proper exercise of discretion by the prosecutor. 54 CJS, Malicious Prosecution, §20, p 541. A separate and distinct basis which precludes liability in a malicious prosecution suit is if the police made an independent investigation and the prosecutor instituted charges based on that investigation and the recommendation of the police department, instead of the information or statements supplied by the defendant. Wilson, supra, p 444; 54 CJS, supra, p 541. The reason for this rule, as in the case of full and fair disclosure, is that the defendant was not the "instigator” of the prosecution.
The common theme underlying both of these rules is that it is the prosecutor who is actually deciding whether to institute the criminal proceeding, i.e., whether there is probable cause to seek an arrest warrant, and it is the individual’s active role or influence in that decisional process that determines whether the individual should be treated as the true "instigator” of the prosecution. Further, it is clear that the requirement that the individual’s conduct be sufficient to treat the indi vidual as the true "instigator” of the prosecution is a separate and distinct requirement from the element of malicious prosecution requiring that there be an absence of probable cause for the proceeding. Wilson, supra; Friedman v Dozorc, 412 Mich 1, 48; 312 NW2d 585 (1981). While the requirement of probable cause occurs in the "instigator” stage, it refers to a determination of whether there was probable cause to initiate the criminal action based on the facts known or as they appear at the time the criminal action is commenced. Hall v American Investment Co, 241 Mich 349; 217 NW 18 (1928).
Here, plaintiff, at least in part, seeks to hold defendant liable for damages caused by its failure to disclose exculpatory evidence after the action was initiated. Notwithstanding the fact that a person who has instituted a criminal proceeding may have had probable cause for the commencement thereof, if that person afterwards acquires a means of asserting that the charge is not well-founded, his failure to intervene and have the prosecution discontinued or to sever his connection therewith may render that person liable for damages resulting from the continued maintenance of the prosecution. 52 Am Jur 2d, Malicious Prosecution, §26, p 203. An exception to this rule is recognized where the person has no control over the criminal proceeding once it has been properly commenced. 54 CJS, supra, p 541; 52 Am Jur 2d, supra, p 203. Under Restatement Torts, 2d, § 655, liability is limited to those cases where the defendant takes an active role in procuring the continuation of the prosecution, as by insisting on or urging further prosecution, after discovering facts that indicate that there is no probable cause for believing the accused guilty.
For these reasons, we conclude that, to the extent that plaintiff seeks to predicate liability on defendant’s continuation of the criminal proceedings after discovering exculpatory information, this claim should be regarded as separate and distinct from any claim pertaining to the "instigator” stage of the criminal prosecution.
Part of the difficulty in this case is the meager factual record developed below by defendant, in moving for summary disposition, and by plaintiff, in opposing the motion. Defendant seemed to base its motion on the fact that the police conducted an investigation and normally presented this information to the prosecution in order to procure an arrest warrant. However, the deposition testimony relied on by defendant failed to establish what information the prosecutor actually relied on in deciding whether to seek an arrest warrant and the detective who was deposed could not recall precisely what procedure was followed. Hence, the defendant, as the moving party, failed in its burden to present sufficient factual support for its motion for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(0(10) (no genuine issue of material fact). The trial court acknowledged as much in its opinion and order when it stated that the police "apparently” conducted their own independent investigation. Under these circumstances, we hold that a genuine factual issue existed as to whether the prosecutor acted on the basis of an independent investigation or upon information presented by the defendant. Accordingly, the only basis upon which summary disposition under MCR 2.116(0(10) would be appropriate is if defendant was immunized from the malicious prosecution suit by making a full and fair disclosure before the criminal proceeding was initiated pursuant to the arrest warrant and did not thereafter have a role in continuing the criminal proceeding after discover ing facts that led it to believe that plaintiff was not guilty.
As previously discussed, there is nothing in the record to suggest that defendant and its employees failed to fully and fairly disclose all facts within their knowledge at the time the criminal proceeding was initiated. With regard to defendant’s failure to seek a dismissal of the criminal proceeding, the Restatement position would limit liability to those circumstances where defendant’s role in continuing the proceeding was "active.” However, we believe that the Restatement position is too limited.
Actions for malicious prosecution have long been disfavored and have not been encouraged except in plain cases. Renda, supra, pp 74-75. Nevertheless, there are many circumstances under which the courts of this state have imposed a duty to speak upon a defendant. Hence, in a fraud case, the suppression of information may constitute silent fraud when there is a legal or equitable duty of disclosure. U S Fidelity & Guaranty Co v Black, 412 Mich 99, 126; 313 NW2d 77 (1981). The duty of disclosure arises where the party to a business transaction discovers information prior to the time the transaction is consummated and where fair dealings require a disclosure of the new information. Id., p 127. A duty to speak has also been recognized in negligence actions where there is a special relationship between the parties. For instance, a landowner may owe a duty to disclose dangers to a licensee where the landowner knows or has reason to know of the danger. Bradford v Feeback, 149 Mich App 67, 71; 385 NW2d 729 (1986).
It is true that the common law has distinguished liability based on active misconduct from that based on passive inaction causing injury, and has been slow to recognize liability in the latter situation. Williams v Cunningham Drug Stores, Inc, 429 Mich 495, 498; 418 NW2d 381 (1988). The duty has, however, been imposed when justified by considerations of social policy. Id., p 499. While the tort of malicious prosecution is disfavored, the question of whether an individual’s role in the criminal proceeding justifies imposing liability likewise involves a consideration of social policy. King v Arbic, 159 Mich App 452, 465; 406 NW2d 852 (1987). As was observéd in Belt v Ritter, 385 Mich 402, 406; 189 NW2d 221 (1971), quoting from the First Restatement of Torts:
"The restrictions which the rules stated in this Topic [Malicious Prosecution] impose upon a recovery for the wrongful prosecution of criminal proceedings represent an adjustment between two highly important social interests. The first is the interest of society in the efficient enforcement of the criminal law, which requires that private persons who aid in the enforcement of the law should be given an effective protection against the prejudice which is likely to arise from the termination of the prosecution in favor of the accused. The second is the interest which the individual citizen has in being protected against unjustifiable and oppressive litigation of criminal charges, which not only involve pecuniary loss but also distress and loss of reputation.”
This is not a case where a private citizen reports a crime to the authorities and then abandons the matter. Defendant had a pecuniary interest in reporting the facts to the police and in having the criminal prosecution proceed to its conclusion. Defendant continued to investigate on its own. It defies one’s imagination to believe that the prosecutor would have continued on with the case if defendant had come forward with its information as soon as it acquired it or, at least, as soon as it returned the money to plaintiff. We, therefore, hold that under the facts alleged by plaintiff there was a clear duty to speak and that a failure to come forward would constitute a breach of duty. We remand to the circuit court for further factual development and for trial on defendant’s liability, if any, for continuing the criminal proceeding after discovering facts that led it to believe that defendant was not guilty. Based on the meager factual record in this case, we are unable to say that no factual development could justify recovery by plaintiff. Accordingly, summary disposition was inappropriate. Jubenville v West End Cartage, Inc, 163 Mich App 199, 203; 413 NW2d 705 (1987), lv den 429 Mich 881 (1987).
Plaintiff briefly argues that the circuit court erred in finding that the parts of the complaint alleging defamation were deficient as a matter of pleading practice. We agree with the circuit court that the complaint lacked the requisite degree of specificity. See Ledl v Quik Pik Food Stores, Inc, 133 Mich App 583, 589-590; 349 NW2d 529 (1984). In view of the absence of an indication in the record that plaintiff requested an opportunity to amend the complaint or explained how an amendment could avoid this pleading deficiency, we decline to remand with leave for plaintiff to amend the complaint. On remand, the proceedings shall be limited to plaintiff’s malicious prosecution claim.
Remanded. Jurisdiction is not retained.
D. L. Sullivan, J., concurred. | [
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Weaver, P.J.
Plaintiffs appeal as of right from a circuit court order dismissing their complaint for no cause of action. We affirm.
i
Plaintiffs sought to subdivide their real property known as the Plat of Four-Way Lodge, which property extends to the middle of East Torch Lake Drive in Antrim County. On appeal, it is the defendant road commissioners’ plat requirement of a fifty-foot half-width road right-of-way which plaintiffs dispute. At trial, plaintiffs and defendant stipulated to the following facts upon which the trial court relied in rendering its decision.
East Torch Lake Drive is a "county primary road . . . directly adjacent to the Plat of Four-Way Lodge” and is "the only public road” providing access to the plat. Before approval of the plat, East Torch Lake Drive had a statutorily presumptive half-width right-of-way of thirty-three feet, there being "no previous deed, dedication or court proceeding which formally established the right-of-way.”
In order to get subdivision plat approval, the plat proprietors (plaintiffs) dedicated a fifty-foot half-width right-of-way to the public because this was a stated road commission requirement. Such requirement arose under rules lawfully promulgated by the road commission and applied uniformly pursuant to § 183 of the Subdivision Control Act, 1967 PA 288, MCL 560.101 et seq.; MSA 26.430(101) et seq., to all plats involving primary county roads. Plaintiffs would not have dedicated the fifty-foot half-width right-of-way to the public had it not been asserted as a requirement to obtain plat approval.
After hearing the parties’ arguments based on their stipulated facts, the trial court rendered its findings and a decision of no cause of action. Plaintiffs appealed.
ii
Under the parties’ stipulated facts, East Torch Lake Drive had not previously undergone a formal dedication to public use. However, such stipulation would not foreclose a determination that the road may have been previously dedicated to public use at common law under the doctrine of "highway by user.”
If the road had been previously dedicated by user at common law, then we would agree with plaintiffs’ argument that they were not required to include their portion of East Torch Lake Drive in the subdivision plat proposal and dedicate a fifty-foot half-width right-of-way along the road. However, this is an issue which should have been resolved before plaintiffs agreed to include the road on their plat. Plaintiffs’ acceptance of the road commission requirement to include the road on their plat bound them to the rules lawfully promulgated pursuant to the Subdivision Control Act.
Necessity for compliance with the road commission rules (inclusion of the road and dedication of the fifty-foot right-of-way) promulgated pursuant to MCL 560.105(c), 560.181, and 560.183; MSA 26.430(105)(c), 26.430(181), and 26.430(183), is only triggered where abutting roads falling within the proprietor’s land have "not previously been dedicated to public use.” (Emphasis added.) MCL 560.134 and 560.136; MSA 26.430(134) and 26.430(136). Therefore the need to follow commission rules mandating inclusion of the road and the fifty-foot right-of-way would have been obviated by proof, before plaintiffs agreed to include the road on their plat, that a previous dedication to public use had occurred.
"Dedication” is an appropriation of land to some public use made by the owner of the fee and accepted for such use by or on behalf of the public. DeWitt v Roscommon Co Rd Comm, 45 Mich App 579, 581; 207 NW2d 209 (1973). Dedication may occur by statute or at common law, with common-law dedication creating not fee title but only an easement in the public. Gunn v Delhi Twp, 8 Mich App 278, 282; 154 NW2d 598 (1967). There need be no formal dedication of public streets, and dedication may occur without a grant or even written words. DeWitt, supra; Sharkey v Petoskey, 30 Mich App 640, 644; 186 NW2d 744 (1971). See also Petoskey Chamber of Commerce v Petoskey, 372 Mich 483; 127 NW2d 363 (1964). However, there must be a clear and positive intent to dedicate, as unequivocally demonstrated by the actions of the owners. Laug v Ottawa Co Rd Comm, 37 Mich App 757, 761; 195 NW2d 336 (1972), lv den 387 Mich 767 (1972). Chene v Detroit, 262 Mich 253, 258; 247 NW 172 (1933). If intent is established, there must also be either an express declaration or some acts by a public authority indicating acceptance. DeWitt, supra at 582; Chene, supra; Sharkey, supra at 644.
Common-law dedication may occur under the "highway-by-user” statute, MCL 221.20; MSA 9.21. Mere use of a road, however, is insufficient to make it a public highway. Indian Club v Lake Co Rd Comm’rs, 370 Mich 87, 89; 120 NW2d 823 (1963). Such use by the public must be open, notorious, and exclusive for a period of eight or ten consecutive years, depending upon when the highway came into existence. Id.; DeWitt, supra at 582; Dryfoos v Maple Grove Twp, 363 Mich 252, 255; 109 NW2d 811 (1961). This use must also include an acceptance by public authorities with the way taken and maintained as other highways. Indian Club, supra at 90. The acceptance need only be such as to keep the road in a reasonably passable condition. Id. at 91.
The highway-by-user statute applies a presumptive half-width right-of-way of thirty-three feet. However, this presumption may be rebutted upon proof that the width of the easement was expressly or impliedly restricted. Eyde Bros Development Co v Eaton Co Drain Comm’r, 427 Mich 271, 297-298; 398 NW2d 297 (1986), reh den 428 Mich 1206 (1987); St Ignace v McFarlane, 45 Mich App 81, 84; 206 NW2d 226 (1973); Laug, supra at 766. Under the highway-by-user doctrine, therefore, such easement could be proven less than the presumed thirty-three feet, depending on the facts of each case.
In interpreting the provisions of the Subdivision Control Act at issue, our aim is to give effect to legislative intent. Hiltz v Phil’s Quality Market, 417 Mich 335, 343; 337 NW2d 237 (1983). In assessing legislative intent, the statute is to be construed as a whole, in light of history and common sense, and its provisions so construed as to harmonize rather than conflict with each other. Arrowhead Development Co v Livingston Co Rd Comm, 413 Mich 505, 516; 322 NW2d 702 (1982). Every word, sentence, and section of a statute should be given effect, if possible, in an effort to arrive at a harmonious and consistent interpretation of the act as a whole. Workman v DAIIE, 404 Mich 477, 507; 274 NW2d 373 (1979); Soap & Detergent Ass’n v Natural Resources Comm, 415 Mich 728, 738; 330 NW2d 346 (1982).
Here, the commission was authorized to require compliance with its duly promulgated rules in order to carry out the provisions of the Subdivision Control Act. MCL 560.105(c); MSA 26.430(105)(c). However, the Subdivision Control Act specifically exempts from plat inclusion any previously dedicated highways, including highways dedicated by user at common law. MCL 560.134 and 560.136; MSA 26.430(134) and 26.430(136). Therefore it must be concluded that the Legislature did not intend for such previously dedicated highways to come within the road commission’s statutory jurisdiction. Workman, supra. If East Torch Lake Drive had undergone previous common-law dedication as a highway by user, the commission would have been unauthorized to make final plat approval contingent upon inclusion of the plaintiffs’ portion of the road. Accordingly, the road would have been merely "adjacent” to the plat and would not have been a highway "required to be shown on a plat.” MCL 560.181; MSA 26.430(181). Therefore the commission would not have been empowered to require compliance with its general rule of a fifty-foot right-of-way dedication under authority of MCL 560.183; MSA 26.430(183), since such requirement would conflict rather than harmonize with the overall statutory scheme setting forth a specific exception for which plaintiffs would have qualified. Arrowhead, supra.
A review of the record and briefs suggests that a dedication to public use may have occurred, not statutorily but at common law, before plaintiffs undertook to enter the plat approval process in 1976. However, because plaintiffs agreed to include the road on their plat, the trial court correctly found that plaintiffs were required to dedicate the fifty-foot half-width right-of-way. CPW Investments No 2 v City of Troy, 156 Mich App 577, 582-583; 401 NW2d 864 (1986), lv den 428 Mich 912 (1987). Accordingly, the trial court’s finding of no cause of action was not clearly erroneous. MCR 2.613(C); Laug, supra at 760.
Similarly, the trial court correctly found the holding in Arrowhead, supra, unsupportive of plaintiffs’ position because Arrowhead dealt with off-site construction. In Arrowhead, the Michigan Supreme Court held that a county road commission was without authority to require a subdivision developer to make improvements on a county road located entirely outside the platted subdivision as a condition precedent to plat approval. Id. at 510. By contrast, plaintiffs’ land did not involve off-site construction but was land "shown” on a plat. Plaintiffs’ agreement to include East Torch Lake Drive on their plat brought them within the ambit of the Subdivision Control Act and therefore negated the possibility that statutory dedication would not be required. Accordingly, the trial court’s holding was not clearly erroneous. MCR 2.613(C); Laug, supra at 760.
in
Plaintiffs also ask this Court to decide whether a county road commission is empowered by the Subdivision Control Act under MCL 560.183 and 560.186; MSA 26.430(183) and 26.430(186) to require that plat proprietors make improvements to preexisting county roads adjacent to their plat. Because the question of improvements was not before the trial court and because it appears that plaintiffs were never asked to make improvements to East Torch Lake Drive, we decline to address this issue.
Affirmed.
MCL 560.105(c); MSA 26.430(105)(c) provides:
Approval of preliminary and final plats shall be conditioned upon compliance with:
(c) Any published rules of a county drain commissioner, county road commission, or county plat board adopted to carry out the provisions of this act.
MCL 560.181; MSA 26.430(181) provides:
All streets, alleys, roads and highways shown, or required to be shown on a plat shall comply with the requirements of sections 181 to 185 as a condition of approval of the final plat.
MCL 560.183; MSA 26.430(183) provides in pertinent part
(1) The county road commission may require the following as a condition of approval of final plat for all highways, streets and alleys in its jurisdiction or to come under its jurisdiction and also for all private roads in unincorporated areas:
(a) Conformance to the general plan, width and location requirements that the board may have adopted and published.
MCL 560.134; MSA 26.430(134) provides in pertinent part:
There shall be typewritten or printed on the final plat, a full and detailed description of the land embraced in the subdivision by distances and bearings. The description shall also include:
(h) The area within the existing right of way of any abutting street, county road or state trunk line highway, if such area has not previously been dedicated to public use and if it is the proprietor’s land. [Emphasis added.]
MCL 560.136; MSA 26.430(136) provides in pertinent part:
The exterior boundaries of the subdivision as drawn on the plat shall include and correctly show:
(d) The area within the existing right of way of any abutting street, county road or state trunk line highway, if such area has not previously been dedicated to public use and if it is the proprietor’s land. [Emphasis added.]
Defendant stipulated that East Torch Lake Drive was a "public road.” Although defendant argues that dedication must be statutory, by deed, or by judicial determination, and denies that dedication occurred because no formal process fixed the easement width with certainty, defendant’s brief acknowledges that a "right of way for East Torch Lake Drive has been established by user.” Defendant’s brief also concedes, when comparing plaintiffs’ case with that of CPW Investments No 2 v City of Troy, 156 Mich App 577; 401 NW2d 864 (1986), lv den 428 Mich 912 (1987), that "[b]oth plaintiff/appellants included a road in their plat which had previously been dedicated to public use. Both appellants included the roads in question in their legal descriptions of the tracts actually included in the plats.”
Plaintiffs assert that defendant’s stipulation to the highway being a "public” road is an acknowledgment that dedication by user had already occurred at some point prior to commencement of the plat application process. Plaintiffs argue that dedication occurred (1) from public use of the road for many years without any proprietor objection and (2) from acceptance by public authorities in expending large sums of public funds to grade, pave, ditch, plow, and otherwise maintain the road in good condition. Had plaintiffs not actually agreed to include the road on their plat and dedicate the fifty-foot half-width right-of-way, it would have been necessary to remand to the trial court for a factual finding limited to whether common-law dedication by user had occurred.
The facts of plaintiffs’ case fall within the ambit of the CPW panel’s decision to require conformance with city code rules. Although the CPW panel recognized that previous common-law dedication by user would have excepted the plaintiff from a requirement to include the road in question, the plaintiff in CPW, like the plaintiffs in this case, actually did include the road in question on their subdivision plat. Id. at 582-583. Thus the road in question was a road "shown” on the plat for purposes of MCL 560.181; MSA 26.430(181), and the road commission was statutorily authorized to condition approval of plaintiffs’ plat upon dedication of the fifty-foot half-width right-of-way. Id. at 583. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendants, James Branch and Charlene Branch, appeal by leave granted from a March 19, 1987, order of the Lenawee Circuit Court denying their motion for summary disposition alleging an absence of subject matter jurisdiction under MCR 2.116(C)(4). Essentially, defendants argue that, in view of the rule enunciated in Ruppel v Lesner, 421 Mich 559; 364 NW2d 665 (1984), reh den 422 Mich 1201 (1985), the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to decide whether plaintiffs Dennis Long and Pamela Long should be granted custody of defendants’ three minor children under the provisions of the Child Custody Act of 1970, MCL 722.21 et seq.; MSA 25.312(1) et seq. We reverse the circuit court’s denial of defendants’ motion and remand the case for entry of a dismissal of plaintiffs’ complaint.
The record reveals that defendants, who are the parents of Jolene, born on July 12, 1983, and twins Sonny and Sammy Jo, born on May 5, 1985, left Michigan with their children in order to avoid criminal prosecution in this state. Apparently, James Branch had been charged with receiving and concealing stolen property valued over $100, and Charlene Branch had been charged with malicious destruction of property valued over $100. The Branch family, along with several pets, traveled in a van, first to North Carolina, then to California. On January 5, 1987, defendants were arrested in California for shoplifting. In order to avoid, during their brief period of incarceration, having their children placed into foster care in California, defendants gave physical custody of their children to Charlene Branch’s sister and brother-in-law, who are plaintiffs in this action. Thus, Charlene Branch’s sister, Pamela Long, traveled to California on January 8, 1987, and returned with defendants’ children to her home in Michigan.
Upon her return, Pamela Long filed petitions in the Lenawee County Probate Court requesting that she be named guardian of the three children. After an ex parte order was issued on January 13, 1987, naming Long as the children’s temporary guardian, a full hearing was scheduled for February 5, 1987. Defendants returned to Michigan on January 29, 1987, and were served with copies of the guardianship petitions. On January 30, 1987, plaintiffs filed the instant action in the Lenawee Circuit Court, requesting a grant of custody of the children under the provisions of the Child Custody Act of 1970. On the same day, the circuit court issued an ex parte order of custody in favor of plaintiffs and a restraining order against defendants.
At the February 5, 1987, probate court hearing, Pamela Long sought to be appointed permanent guardian of the children, alleging that such appointment was necessary for the immediate physical well-being of the children. MCL 700.424(2)(b); MSA 27.5424(2)(b). She presented the testimony of a physician who stated that defendants’ children were malnourished and were suffering from growth retardation. She also alleged that Charlene Branch abusively used illegal drugs and that, while the Branch family was traveling, the children were confined in cages in the back of the family van, which also contained several pets. Defendants, whose request for court-appointed counsel was denied, attempted to show that they had been meeting their children’s needs. In an opinion issued on February 23, 1987, the probate court found by clear and convincing evidence that the children had been abused and neglected and were in need of medical treatment. Pamela Long was appointed permanent guardian of the children. On May 15, 1987, defendants’ motion for a new trial or for further relief from the probate court judgment was denied.
Meanwhile, in the circuit court action, which forms the basis for the present appeal, defendants moved for a grant of summary disposition, arguing that, under Ruppel, supra, the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to decide the issue of custody raised by plaintiffs. That motion was denied on March 19, 1987. Subsequently, defendants filed separate applications in this Court for leave to appeal both from the probate court order appointing Pamela Long permanent guardian of defendants’ children and the circuit court order de nying their motion for summary disposition. This Court, on July 24, 1987, denied defendants’ applications for leave to appeal in both the probate court and circuit court actions. After the Supreme Court remanded both cases, 429 Mich 866; 413 NW2d 426 (1987), a panel of this Court, in separate orders issued on December 11, 1987, remanded the probate court case to the Lenawee Circuit Court for consideration as on leave granted and granted defendants’ application for leave to appeal in the circuit court case. Accordingly, this opinion, somewhat belatedly, addresses the propriety of the circuit court’s March 19, 1987, denial of defendants’ motion for summary disposition.
As already noted, plaintiffs filed their complaint for custody of defendants’ children in the circuit court pursuant to the Child Custody Act of 1970, MCL 722.21 et seq.; MSA 25.312(1). This act governs child custody disputes filed in circuit courts, establishes standards for determining the best interests of a child, defines presumptions which operate in child custody disputes, and establishes procedures for use by circuit courts in child custody actions. Aside from a limited statutory exception allowing grandparents seeking visitation rights with grandchildren to file an action in a circuit court, MCL 722.27b; MSA 25.312(7)(b), the act does not confer subject matter jurisdiction upon circuit courts to entertain original custody disputes filed by third parties (i.e., by nonparents, MCL 722.22[c]; MSA 25.312[2][c]). Instead, such jurisdiction, if it is to be conferred at all, must be obtained through some other proceeding.
In Ruppel v Lesner, supra, pp 565-566, the Supreme Court discussed the jurisdictional limitations of the cca:
We conclude that where a child is living with its parents, and divorce or separate maintenance proceedings have not been instituted, and there has been no finding of parental unfitness in an appropriate proceeding, the circuit court lacks the authority to enter an order giving custody to a third party over the parents’ objection. . . . While custody may be awarded to grandparents or other third parties according to the best interests of the child in an appropriate case (typically involving divorce), nothing in the Child Custody Act, nor in any other authority of which we are aware, authorizes a nonparent to create a child custody "dispute” by simply filing a complaint in circuit court alleging that giving custody to the third party is in the "best interests of the child.”
In Hastings v Hastings, 154 Mich App 96, 100; 397 NW2d 232 (1986), lv den 428 Mich 859 (1987), a panel of this Court construed this language in Ruppel as setting forth two exceptions to the general rule that a nonparent may not institute a custody action in a circuit court: (1) where divorce or separate maintenance proceedings have been begun or (2) where there has been a finding of parental unfitness under the provisions of the juvenile code concerning the placement of children into the permanent custody of the probate court, MCL 712A.19a; MSA 27.3178(598.19a). See also Meachum v Bower, 156 Mich App 661, 667-668; 402 NW2d 66 (1986), and Marshall v Beal, 158 Mich App 582, 587-588; 405 NW2d 101 (1986).
Here, all parties agree that defendants have not triggered the involvement of the circuit court in the matter of child custody by having filed a divorce or separate maintenance proceeding. However, plaintiffs and defendants disagree as to whether there has been a sufficient finding of parental unfitness in order to invoke circuit court jurisdiction in support of plaintiffs’ complaint for custody by virtue of the guardianship proceeding in the probate court. Plaintiffs contend that the probate court’s finding that the children in this case were abused and neglected constitutes a finding of parental unfitness sufficient to permit them to file under the cca an original action for custody in the circuit court. Defendants, on the other hand, argue that a guardianship proceeding is not an appropriate proceeding in which to determine parental unfitness and thus cannot serve to confer subject matter jurisdiction in a circuit court. Defendants rely on Ruppel and Hastings in asserting that an appropriate proceeding in which to determine parental unfitness is one which has been filed pursuant to the provisions in the juvenile code concerning the placement of children into the permanent custody of the probate court, MCL 712A.19a; MSA 27.3178(598.19a), and not merely one which has been filed pursuant to the provisions of the probate code concerning the appointment of a guardian for a minor, MCL 700.424(2); MSA 27.5424(2). We agree with defendants.
Pamela Long was appointed guardian of defendants’ children by the Lenawee County Probate Court under MCL 700.424(2); MSA 27.5424(2), which provides:
(2) The court may appoint a guardian for an unmarried minor if either of the following circumstances exist[s]:
(a) The parental rights of both parents or of the surviving parent have been terminated or sus pended by prior court order, by judgment of divorce or separate maintenance, by death, by judicial determination of mental incompetency, by disappearance, or by confinement in a place of detention.
(b) The appointment is necessary for the immediate physical well-being of the minor.
After the probate court conducted a hearing on February 5, 1987, it found by clear and convincing evidence that defendant’s children had been abused and neglected and named Pamela Long as their guardian, apparently concluding that such appointment was necessary for the immediate physical well-being of the minors. It is clear that the statute upon which Pamela Long relied to obtain guardianship over defendants’ children focuses on the needs of the involved children and not necessarily on the unfitness of the children’s parents. It is just as clear that the statute permitting a probate court to place a child in the permanent custody of the court, and thus forever terminate any existing parental rights recognized in the law, focuses on the fitness of a child’s parents. This focus is easily discernible in the plain language of the relevant statute, which provides:
Where a child remains in foster care in the temporary custody of the court following the ini-, tial hearing provided by section 19, the court may make a final determination and order placing the child in the permanent custody of the court, if it finds any of the following:
(a) The child has been deserted and abandoned without provision for identification for a period of at least 6 months and the public or private agency having temporary custody of the child has made a reasonable attempt to locate the parent.
(b) The child is left with intent of desertion and abandonment by his parent or guardian in the care of another person without provision for his support or without communication for a period of at least 6 months. The failure to provide support or to communicate for a period of at least 6 months shall be presumptive evidence of the parent’s intent to abandon the child. If, in the opinion of the court, the evidence indicates that the parent or guardian has not made regular and substantial efforts to support or communicate with the child, the court may declare the child deserted and abandoned by his parent or guardian.
(c) A parent or guardian of the child is unable to provide proper care and custody for a period in excess of 2 years because of a mental deficiency or mental illness, without a reasonable expectation that the parent will be able to assume care and custody of the child within a reasonable length of time considering the age of the child.
(d) A parent or guardian of the child is convicted of a felony of a nature as to prove the unfitness of the parent or guardian to have future custody of the child or if the parent or guardian is imprisoned for such a period that the child will be deprived of a normal home for a period of more than 2 years.
(e) The parent or guardian is unable to provide a fit home for the child by reason of neglect.
(f) The child has been in foster care in the temporary custody of the court on the basis of neglect petition for a period of at least 2 years and upon rehearing the parents fail to establish a reasonable probability that they will be able to reestablish a proper home for the child within the following 12 months. [MCL 712A.19a; MSA 27.3178(598.19a).]
Moreover, no doubt because parental rights — as is recognized in the law and is obvious from experience — represent "an interest far more precious than any property right,” Santosky v Kramer, 455 US 745, 758-759; 102 S Ct 1388, 1397; 71 L Ed 2d 599, 610 (1982), citing Stanley v Illinois, 405 US 645, 651; 92 S Ct 1208, 1212; 31 L Ed 2d 551, 558 (1972), certain protections and safeguards are afforded to parents in cases involving the threat of loss of their parental rights. For example, where permanent custody of a child is to be decided by the probate court, a parent enjoys the right to court-appointed counsel. In re Nash, 165 Mich App 450, 458; 419 NW2d 1 (1987); MCR 5.906(C)(2)(b), now MCR 5.915(B)(1) and MCR 5.974(H). In the probate proceeding regarding Pamela Long’s appointment as guardian of defendants’ children, defendants, who are indigents, were not represented by counsel. Indeed, their request for counsel was specifically denied by the probate court. Moreover, according to defendants, no extracourt investigation of their fitness as parents was performed under the direction of the probate court.
Plaintiffs in this case, had they wished to ensure the retention of custody of defendants’ children, could have taken action to bring about the successful termination of defendants’ parental rights under MCL 712A.19a; MSA 27.3178(598.19a). Thereafter, they properly could have filed a complaint for custody under the cca or have taken steps to secure the adoption of the children under the Adoption Code, MCL 710.21 et seq.; MSA 27.3178 (555.21) et seq. They could not, however, create subject matter jurisdiction in the circuit court to entertain a complaint for custody filed under the cca simply by filing a complaint therefor in the circuit court and alleging that the minor’s parents had already been found "unfit” in a proceeding based not, for example, on the abuse, neglect, or abandonment of the minors by their parents pursuant to MCL 712A.1 et seq.; MSA 27.3178 (598.1) et seq., but rather on the determination of a probate court that, under the statutory guardianship provision, MCL 700.424(2); MSA 27.5424(2), an appointment of a guardian for the minors was necessary for the immediate physical well-being of the minors. Although the guardianship appointment of Pamela Long may have resulted in a suspension of defendants’ parental rights, it did not result in a proper finding of defendants’ unfitness as parents for the purpose of conferring subject matter jurisdiction on a circuit court, in accordance with the requirements set forth by the Supreme Court in Ruppel, supra, sufficient to have permitted plaintiffs’ original complaint for custody of defendants’ children to avoid being dismissed upon being challenged by defendants’ motion for summary disposition. In other words, we hold that a guardianship hearing is not an appropriate proceeding in which a determination of parental unfitness can be made for the purpose of conferring subject matter jurisdiction on a circuit court to decide a child custody issue originally filed by a third party. Such a determination must be made pursuant to the proceedings set forth in the juvenile code concerning the placement of children into the permanent custody of the probate court. As succinctly stated in defendants’ brief on appeal, "There is a well-developed statutory scheme of procedures and substantive protections to address claims of parental unfitness; that [scheme] is the Juvenile Code, MCL 712A.1 et seq.; MSA 27.3178 (598.1) et seq.”
Having concluded that the circuit court in this case lacked subject matter jurisdiction to entertain plaintiffs’ complaint for child custody filed under the cca — subject matter jurisdiction, of course, being an issue which may be considered at any stage of a proceeding because it calls into question the power of a court to hear a case, Sumpter v Kosinski, 165 Mich App 784, 797; 419 NW2d 463 (1988) — we need not address the second issue raised on appeal by defendants concerning whether the United States and Michigan Constitutions prohibit the judicial resolution of original third-party child custody claims on the basis that such claims interfere with a fundamental family interest.
The circuit court’s denial of defendants’ motion for summary disposition is reversed and the case is remanded for entry of a dismissal of plaintiffs’ complaint.
Reversed and remanded.
Of course, if the parents abuse, neglect, or abandon a child, proceedings may be brought under the juvenile code to bring the child within the probate court’s jurisdiction, allowing appropriate orders regarding custody. MCL 712A.1 et seq.; MSA 27.3178(598.1) et seq. While in this case the grandparents have made claims about the unsuitability of the parents, there has been no finding of unfitness. | [
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Weaver, J.
Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor (ouil), second offense, MCL 257.625(5); MSA 9.2325(5). He was sentenced to eight days in the county jail plus payment of costs, treatment for alcohol abuse, and eighteen months probation. Defendant’s conviction was affirmed by the circuit court. After an initial denial of leave to appeal, we consider the matter following the Supreme Court’s remand to this Court. 429 Mich 875 (1987). We affirm.
i
On April 11, 1985, defendant and another man were passengers in a vehicle which was stopped by Marquette County sheriffs deputies. After having been dispatched to the scene on the basis of a complaint from a local bar, the deputies found the car weaving down County Road 557. When defendant got out of the car at a deputy’s request, the deputy noticed that defendant’s eyes were bloodshot and his clothes disheveled, that he stumbled when he exited from the car, that his speech was thick and slurred, and that there was a strong odor of intoxicants on his breath. The deputy told defendant not to drive and then arranged for the Forsyth Township Police to transport defendant to a telephone.
As the township police officer approached the scene on his way to give defendant a ride, he saw the sheriffs deputies headed northbound on Road 557 and defendant also driving northbound. The deputies then turned around and all officers met defendant, who had pulled off the road.
At defendant’s trial, both the driver of the car and defendant’s fellow passenger testified that defendant had been drinking and was intoxicated. Testifying in his own behalf, defendant claimed that he had consumed seven or eight cans of beer but had not been drunk.
After defense counsel rested his case, the prosecutor asked the district court for permission to introduce rebuttal evidence of defendant’s refusal to take a Breathalyzer test. Relying on People v Duke, 136 Mich App 798; 357 NW2d 775 (1984), the district court admitted the evidence. During rebuttal argument, a deputy then testified that defendant had refused to take the chemical breath test which had been offered to him. The court instructed the jury that defendant’s refusal was not evidence of his guilt.
Following the jury’s verdict of guilty, defense counsel asked the court to suppress defendant’s prior plea-based ouil conviction because it had been obtained without benefit of counsel. After taking the matter under advisement, the court denied defendant’s request. Following the circuit court’s affirmance of the district court’s decision and pursuant to an order of the Supreme Court, we consider defendant’s appeal as on leave granted.
ii
We are unpersuaded by defendant’s argument that it was error for the district court to use defendant’s prior uncounseled ouil misdemeanor conviction, under MCL 257.625(4); MSA 9.2325(4), for purposes of sentence enhancement under MCL 257.625(5); MSA 9.2325(5).
The district court was not required to provide court-appointed counsel if defendant would not be incarcerated. Scott v Illinois, 440 US 367, 373-374; 99 S Ct 1158; 59 L Ed 2d 383 (1979). See also People v Stratton, 148 Mich App 70, 72-75; 384 NW2d 83 (1985). A review of the judge’s comments to defendant during the prior misdemeanor plea proceeding shows that the judge knew he was required to offer court-appointed counsel if incarceration was mandated or likely to occur. This fact plus defendant’s failure to provide information concerning his prior ouil misdemeanor sentence leads us to conclude that court-appointed counsel was not required because the district court never intended to incarcerate defendant and incarceration never occurred.
Defendant’s prior uncounseled misdemeanor conviction may therefore be used to enhance a later offense if during the prior misdemeanor proceeding defendant was apprised of his right to counsel and entered a valid waiver thereof. People v Schneider, 171 Mich App 82; 429 NW2d 845 (1988). In district court, a valid waiver of counsel is effected, after the court’s presentation of defendant’s rights as set forth in MCR 6.201(D)(5), now MCR 6.201(E), upon defendant’s unequivocal indication to the court that he chooses to forgo the benefits of counsel. The judge’s substantial compliance with the court rule suffices as a basis for accepting defendant’s plea if the plea is understanding, voluntary and accurate. Schneider, supra; People v Jelneck, 148 Mich App 456, 462; 384 NW2d 801 (1986), lv den 425 Mich 876 (1986).
Here, defendant’s prior uncounseled misdemeanor conviction may be used to enhance his second offense because defendant entered a valid waiver of counsel. At the first ouil misdemeanor proceeding defendant was properly advised of his constitutional rights to an attorney, against self-incrimination, to confront his accusers at trial, and to compel witnesses to testify in his behalf. MCR 6.201(D)(5), now MCR 6.201(E). Defendant nevertheless three times knowingly and intelligently made an express waiver of his right to counsel prior to the court’s acceptance of his guilty plea. Therefore, there was no infringement of defendant’s constitutional right to counsel, and the prior plea-based uncounseled misdemeanor conviction was admissible to enhance a later offense.
hi
We also reject defendant’s argument that the district court erred by allowing the prosecutor to introduce rebuttal evidence of defendant’s refusal to take a Breathalyzer test. Subject to a limiting instruction, evidence of defendant’s refusal was permissible to rebut defendant’s evidence which had attacked the arresting officer’s credibility and asserted failure to administer sobriety tests. People v Duke, 136 Mich App 798, 803-804; 357 NW2d 775 (1984), lv den 419 Mich 950 (1984). See also People v Kelly, 423 Mich 261, 281; 378 NW2d 365 (1985). The district court gave the proper limiting instruction, pursuant to MCL 257.625a(8); MSA 9.2325(1)(8), that evidence of defendant’s refusal was not evidence of guilt. We find no abuse of discretion. People v Hubbard, 159 Mich App 321, 327; 406 NW2d 287 (1987).
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from the trial court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of defendant Vivian Bottger. The trial court held that plaintiffs complaint in negligence failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. MCR 2.116(C)(8). We affirm.
The facts are not in dispute. On May 14, 1985, at approximately 2:53 p.m., defendant Bottger was stopped in a vehicle in the inside northbound lane of Main Street at the intersection of Main Street and Turrill Avenue in Lapeer. Defendant Kellie Sue Boose was stopped in a vehicle in the left turn lane of southbound Main Street at the Turrill intersection. Plaintiff was driving a vehicle in the outside northbound lane of Main Street. Defendant Bottger motioned for defendant Boose to turn left onto Turrill. As defendant Boose’s car was turning across the northbound lanes of Main Street on to Turrill, it was struck by plaintiff’s vehicle. Plaintiff was injured and sued defendants for negligence.
The trial court granted defendant Bottger’s motion for summary disposition after finding that defendant owed no legal duty to plaintiff and her actions were not the proximate cause of plaintiff’s injuries.
In a negligence action, the court assesses competing policy considerations and determines as a matter of law whether the defendant owes an actionable legal duty to the plaintiff. Friedman v Dozorc, 412 Mich 1, 22; 312 NW2d 585 (1981).
In Rodriquez v Detroit Sportmen’s Congress, 159 Mich App 265, 270-271; 406 NW2d 207 (1987), lv den 428 Mich 905 (1987), we discussed the element of duty:
The determination of whether a legal duty exists is a question of whether the relationship between the actor and the plaintiff gives rise to any legal obligation on the actor’s part to act for the benefit of the subsequently injured person. Further, a legal duty is essentially an obligation recognized by law which requires an actor to conform to a certain standard of conduct for the protection of others against unreasonable risk. Thus, the determination of whether a duty should be recognized in any individual case is based on a balancing of the societal interest involved, the severity of the risk, the burden upon the defendant, the likelihood of occurrence and the relationship between the parties. The element of duty in a negligence action is a question of law for the coiirt to decide.
Plaintiff relies heavily on Sweet v Ringwelski, 362 Mich 138; 106 NW2d 742; 90 ALR2d 1434 (1961), in support of his position. There, oiir Supreme Court held that the trial court should not have granted a directed verdict in favor of defendant truck driver on the ground of no showing of negligence. Defendant truck driver had stopped his truck and waved for the ten-year-old plaintiff pedestrian to cross the street on the crosswalk in front of him. Plaintiff continued crossing the street into the lane next to the truck and was struck by a car driven by defendant motorist. The Court’s decision was based on the facts that plaintiff was a ten-year-old girl, that her vision of defendant motorist’s car may have been obscured by defendant truck driver’s truck, and that plaintiff testified that she proceeded to the point of impact because she relied on what she considered to be directions from an adult. Sweet, supra, p 144. The Court held that there were questions of fact for the jury with respect to the intended meaning of defendant truck driver’s hand signal, the meaning that the signal might reasonably have been anticipated to convey to the ten-year-old plaintiff, and whether the signal was a proximate cause of the injuries. Sweet, supra, pp 144-145.
Defendant Bottger admits that Sweet is the Michigan case that comes closest to being on point. However, Bottger points out that other states’ courts that have considered the similar issue of a signaling driver’s liability to another driver approaching an intersection from the opposite direction have decided in favor of her position. See Anno., Duty and liability as to signaling driver approaching from opposite direction or on intersecting highway to pass or proceed, 90 ALR2d 1431.
The trial court quoted Sweet at length in its opinion and distinguished it by saying that defendant Boose was an adult motorist, not a ten-year-old pedestrian who arguably would rely on an adult’s directions.
We agree that Sweet is easily distinguishable and should be limited to the facts of that case. Since all participants herein were motorists driving in ordinary circumstances (i.e., no unusual obstacles or obstructions), defendant Bottger assumed no duty to plaintiff to warn defendant Boose of plaintiff’s approaching vehicle. We find as a matter of law that defendant Bottger’s hand motion signified nothing more than permission to cross in front of her car and could not be relied upon as assurance that all was clear ahead.
Plaintiff also argues that the trial court committed error requiring reversal by denying plaintiff’s motion to amend his complaint except to correct certain clerical errors. This issue is without merit.
The facts in this case are fairly clear and undisputed. The court determined that defendant Bottger’s actions would not support liability as a matter of law when it granted her motion for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8). Plaintiff did not propose any new factual scenario or theory of liability at the hearing on this motion in the lower court, nor has he done so on appeal. Allowing plaintiff to amend his complaint with regard to the cause of action against defendant Bottger would have been futile. The court properly exercised its discretion by limiting plaintiff’s amendment of his complaint to the correction of typographical errors.
Affirmed.
J. A. Gillis, J., did not participate. | [
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Holbrook, Jr., J.
Defendants, the City of South-field, its director of public safety, and its former chief of police, appeal from an order granting a declaratory judgment that PR 3.01, an internal police rule regulating secondary employment, was unconstitutional as applied to plaintiff police officers employed by the city. Secondary employment refers to the practice of public employees holding an additional, part-time job. We reverse.
Plaintiffs desire to conduct a part-time business as private investigators in addition to their employment as police officers. To that end, they formed a corporation and applied for a private investigator license. Their stated business purpose was to serve civil process and to perform preemployment investigations of their clients’ prospective employees. Despite plaintiffs’ assurances that they would conduct their business to avoid any conflict of interest with their duties as police officers and that they would not compromise confidential police information, the chief of police advised plaintiffs that they were denied permission to engage in their proposed secondary employment. After unsuccessfully exhausting grievance procedures, plaintiffs instituted this action for declaratory judgment.
At issue is the constitutionality of PR 3.01, which was the stated policy relied upon by defendants in denying plaintiffs permission to engage in secondary employment. This rule states in pertinent part:
Members of the Southfield Police Department shall devote their entire time and attention to the service of the Department. They are expressly prohibited from engaging in any other business or employment during on or off duty hours, while on leave or furlough, unless approval has been granted by the Chief of Police or his duly authorized representative in writing.
A. Definition of business activity
1. Business activity includes participation in or affiliation with any commercialized business activity, except solely by investments, for the purpose of financial gain.
B. Members desiring outside employment
1. Members of the Department who desire to engage in outside employment or business activities must request authorization by submitting an application through channels, to the Chief of Police. Application must contain:
a. The nature of employment or business activity.
b. The nature of duties to be performed, including the number of hours per day which will be worked.
c. The anticipated length of time such member expects to engage in outside employment or business activity.
d. Whether the officer submitting the request will be available for call-back emergency duty.
C. Certain types prohibited: Request for permission will not be granted in the following cases:
1. Engaging in employment or business that is licensed by the State of Michigan Liquor Control Commission.
2. Employment where the Uniform of the Department would be worn (unless otherwise authorized by Council action).
3. When the employment or business activity is of such nature or is so located that the officer would not be available for call-back emergency duty.
4. Employment of personnel working in the capacity of private "Security Guard” where a conflict of interest or separation of authority would exist. [Emphasis in the original.]
The circuit court invalidated the rule on the ground that it was impermissibly vague because plaintiffs were unable to discern what types of secondary employment are prohibited. The court further stated that "[w]ithout sufficient guidelines, the decision making process becomes arbitrary, capricious and infringes upon Plaintiffs’ right to due process under the law.”
A statute or, in this case, a regulation is viola tive of due process on the ground of vagueness when it "either forbids or requires the doing of an act in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application.” People v Biegajski, 122 Mich App 215, 225; 332 NW2d 413 (1982), lv den 417 Mich 1080 (1983) (quoting Lanzetta v New Jersey, 306 US 451, 453; 59 S Ct 618; 83 L Ed 888 [1939]). Essentially, the doctrine of vagueness ensures that a regulation give its readers fair notice of what types of conduct are prohibited. People v Webb, 128 Mich App 721, 725-727; 341 NW2d 191 (1983), lv den 418 Mich 966 (1984). Here the meaning of what the regulation prohibits is not at all obscure — police employees are unambiguously prohibited from secondary employment unless prior approval is obtained. Thus, this case lacks the vagueness problems presented by regulations prohibiting conduct unbecoming a police officer. See Sponick v Detroit Police Dep't 49 Mich App 162, 174-176; 211 NW2d 674 (1973); Golembiowski v Madison Heights Civil Service Comm, 93 Mich App 137, 153-156; 286 NW2d 69 (1979), lv den 408 Mich 893 (1980). But cf. Rinaldi v Livonia, 69 Mich App 58, 65-68; 244 NW2d 609 (1976). Even if one of the evils sought to be prevented by the vagueness doctrine is the vesting of unstructured discretion and the resultant arbitrary and discriminary enforcement of the law, see People v McCumby, 130 Mich App 710, 713-714; 344 NW2d 338 (1983), lv den 419 Mich 911 (1984), the doctrine is not triggered unless the wording of the promulgation is itself vague. We conclude that, whatever constitutional deficiencies may be presented in this case, PR 3.01 is not void for vagueness.
Plaintiffs argue in the alternative that PR 3.01 violates their right to substantive due process. We look to Kelley v Johnson, 425 US 238; 96 S Ct 1440; 47 L Ed 2d 708 (1976), for the standard to evaluate a due process challenge to the power of a police department to regulate its officers. In Kelley, the Supreme Court held that the right to due process is violated if the party challenging the regulation "can demonstrate that there is no rational connection between the regulation, based as it is on the county’s method of organizing its police force, and the promotion of safety of persons and property.” Id., p 247. Thus, the burden of proof rests with plaintiffs here. See also Local No 201 (AFL-CIO) v Muskegon, 369 Mich 384, 392; 120 NW2d 197 (1963), cert den 375 US 833; 84 S Ct 54; 11 L Ed 2d 64 (1963). The Court in Kelley upheld the validity of a police regulation governing the length of officers’ hair. The Court noted that the paramilitary nature of a police force commands a more deferential approach to the constitutional protections of police officers than those afforded the general public, particularly when the Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest at stake is not a recognized right of a fundamental nature, but merely implicates "the more general contours of the substantive liberty interest.” Kelley, supra, p 245. Therefore, the Court held that the state interest in requiring a uniform appearance of police officers was justified by the need to make officers recognizable as such to the public or the need to enhance esprit de corps. Either was a "sufficiently rational justification” to defeat a due process challenge, notwithstanding the lower court’s finding that the police force had failed to demonstrate a public need for the regulation. Id., p 248.
Plaintiffs do not controvert the authority of the chief of police under city ordinances to regulate secondary employment so that legitimate police interests are not impeded. We think that it is beyond peradventure that regulation of police sec ondary employment is within the constitutionally permissible scope of regulation recognized in Kelley. This position is also in accord with the weight of authority from other jurisdictions. See 94 ALR3d 1230, §§ 2-3, 5, pp 1233-1240, 1242-1245.
In support of PR 3.01, defendants asserted that the operation of a private investigation business would present potential conflicts of interest between plaintiffs’ employment as police officers and their secondary employment as private investigators. Defendants particularly emphasized the potential for misuse of confidential police information in furtherance of private investigatory activities. Defendants also feared that the operation of a joint enterprise among police officers holding different ranks on the force would create the appearance of favoritism when the same officers exercised their supervisory authority over each other in the course of police duties. Other reasons cited by defendants included the possible pursuit of police time to pursue private investigatory functions and the potential civil liability of the city for acts committed by plaintiffs acting as private investigators. We conclude that these concerns amount to a sufficiently rational justification to uphold PR 3.01 against an asserted due process deficiency. In so deciding, we do not suggest that the circuit court’s finding that plaintiffs’ proposed business does not interfere with the effective performance of their duties as police officers was clearly erroneous. See Saunders v Dearborn, 107 Mich App 499, 507; 309 NW2d 641 (1981). Rather, that finding was beside the point. Once a rational justification for PR 3.01 was established, judicial inquiry could advance no further. The courts may not second-guess its wisdom. Shavers v Attorney General, 402 Mich 554, 613-615; 267 NW2d 72 (1978). Plaintiffs’ burden was to demonstrate that the policy judgment un derlying PR 3.01 was wholly "without rational basis” or that there was a lack of "any reasonable state of facts on the record which can be produced in support of the legislative judgment.” Id., p 615. (Emphasis in the original.) Plaintiffs could not carry this burden by merely controverting whether the potential problems asserted by defendants would in fact impede plaintiffs from exercising their duties as police officers.
Plaintiffs also argue that PR 3.01 is unconstitutional as applied because the decision withholding permission for secondary employment, viewed in the context of prior permission granted to other officers, discriminated against plaintiffs, thereby depriving them of their equal protection rights. Although an equal protection theory was not explicitly advanced in the proceedings below, thus precluding the necessity for us to consider it now, see Barnes v Double Seal Glass Co, Inc, 129 Mich App 66, 77; 341 NW2d 812 (1983), we exercise our discretion to address this issue on its merits in view of its similarity to other constitutional issues properly raised and because all necessary facts have been established of record.
Since plaintiffs have not demonstrated an abridgement of any fundamental right sufficient to invoke a strict scrutiny analysis, we employ the traditional approach to equal protection claims, which requires us to determine whether the asserted distinction made by defendants between plaintiffs and other employees receiving secondary employment permission was rationally related to a legitimate government interest. Shavers, supra, p 613; Michigan Ed Ass’n v State Bd of Ed, 163 Mich App 92, 96; 414 NW2d 153 (1987). Plaintiffs make reference to other police officers who received permission to work as an administrator (limited to noninvestigatory duties) for a firm engaged in security work, as an accident reconstruction expert, as a consultant for a security alarm business, and as an attorney practicing civil law. Based on the record, we conclude that defendants could have reasonably believed that the nature and extent of plaintiffs’ proposed activities were more conducive to potential abuse of police prerogatives and to potential interference with police duties than those activities for which permission had previously been granted. For instance, one of plaintiffs’ primary expectations of business activity, the performance of preemployment investigations, would require information that could tempt even the most honest police officer to misappropriate or misuse police resources. We think it rational to conclude that private investigatory work overlaps with the normal duties of a police officer to an extent not implicated by the more specialized functions practiced by the other officers engaged in secondary employment. Thus, the denial of plaintiffs’ request for permission to become employed as private investigators, viewed in conjunction with permission granted for other types of secondary employment, does not lack a rational basis.
Plaintiffs argue that the lack of guidelines in PR 3.01 governing the determination of the chief of police to grant or deny permission to engage in secondary employment subjects police officers to the possibility of arbitrary, capricious, and discriminatory treatment, thus violating their due process rights. "Underlying due process safeguards is the right not to have determinations made in an arbitrary and capricious manner without reasonable standards.” Casad v City of Jackson, 79 Mich App 573, 577-578; 263 NW2d 19 (1977). However, those standards need only be "as reasonably precise as the subject matter requires or permits.” Osius v St Clair Shores, 344 Mich 693, 698; 75 NW2d 25 (1956). The mere possibility of a misapplication of a discretionary exemption from a prohibitory rule is not enough to per se render the rule constitutionally invalid. Williams v Civil Service Comm of Detroit, 383 Mich 507, 515-518; 176 NW2d 593 (1970).
In view of the sweeping powers accorded to the police to maintain internal discipline in accordance with the paramount necessity of public safety, we are not persuaded that the standards here are insufficient. Although PR 3.01 does not explicitly provide standards, we find standards readily inferable from the contents of the required application for permission (PR 3.01[B]) and from the listing of activities for which permission will not be granted (PR 3.01[C]). The underlying policy of PR 3.01 is clearly to ensure that police officers are not distracted from performance of their duties by conflicts of interest and other competing situations created by secondary employment. Given the diverse types of secondary employment in which police officers could potentially engage, we think it would be difficult, if not impossible, to more precisely delineate between the permissible and the impermissible. A case-by-case approach is warranted, and the flexibility entailed by the discretionary authority exercised by the chief of police is justified. This is not a case involving a delegation of legislative power without standards to regulate the general public, but is rather a matter of the internal governance of police discipline, exercised by a supervisor over subordinate public employees. Cf. Westervelt v Natural Resources Comm, 402 Mich 412; 263 NW2d 564 (1978). Given the strong governmental interest for refusing police officers permission to work as private investigators, we also conclude that the actual exercise of discretion in this case was not arbitrary or capricious. Harmon v Southfield, 91 Mich App 731, 735; 284 NW2d 170 (1979), lv den 408 Mich 862 (1980).
We also reject the contention that PR 3.01 is impermissibly overbroad. No constitutionally protected conduct is impermissibly chilled by the requirement that a police officer obtain prior permission before engaging in secondary employment. McCumby, supra, pp 713-716. This aspect of our decision inevitably follows from our holding that the power of the city to regulate secondary employment as exercised in PR 3.01 does not contravene constitutional limitations. Unlike Sponick, supra, p 179, PR 3.01 circumscribes the freedom to engage in secondary employment only to the extent reasonably and narrowly related to the effective performance of a police officer’s duties.
It is our conclusion that the trial court erred by deciding that PR 3.01 was void for vagueness and unconstitutional as applied. We further hold that PR 3.01 did not infringe in an unconstitutional manner on plaintiffs’ due process and equal protection rights.
Reversed.
W. Moore, Jr., did not participate. | [
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Per Curiam.
Gregory Allen Church pled guilty to operating a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, MCL 257.625; MSA 9.2325, and possession of marijuana, MCL 333.7403, subds (1) and (2)(d); MSA 14.15(7403), subds (1) and (2)(d). At sentencing on December 22, 1986, the district court imposed a ninety-day jail term and then indicated that the sentence would be reconsidered on January 21, 1987. On January 21, 1987, the court decided to delay imposition of the remaining sixty days of jail time until October 7, 1987, with the caveat that the progress of Church’s rehabilitation would be considered at that time. Church was then released from the custody of the county jail. Contending that the district court’s actions of January 21, 1987, affecting the sentence were outside the scope of its authority, the prosecutor filed a complaint for superintending control, which was denied by the circuit court. We reverse.
Pursuant to MCR 3.302, we conclude that it was within the discretion of the circuit court to entertain a complaint for superintending control based on the premise that the modification of the original sentence was wholly illegal. People v Wilkins, 121 Mich App 813, 815-818; 329 NW2d 500 (1982); People v Grier, 152 Mich App 129, 131-132; 393 NW2d 551 (1986), lv den 425 Mich 878 (1986). On the merits of this appeal, we conclude that the denial of the relief requested was an abuse of discretion.
In People v Whalen, 412 Mich 166; 312 NW2d 638 (1981), it was recognized that the modification of a valid sentence offended the constitutional power conferred upon the Governor to commute sentences pursuant to Const 1963, art 5, § 14. Even more to the point is People v Garcia, 118 Mich App 676; 325 NW2d 540 (1982), where the trial court initially imposed a six-month jail term and then suspended the remainder of the term midway through its completion. This Court invalidated that suspension, holding:
Defendant does not contest this principle, and does not contend that the original sentence was invalid. Defendant argues, however, that the action of the trial judge in granting defendant’s motion to suspend the sentence was not a change of sentence or a resentencing, but was a suspen sion of sentence which was within the court’s power. We disagree.
The suspension of a sentence temporarily or indefinitely postpones the imposition or the commencement of the sentence. Whatever power a trial judge has in that regard disappears once the sentence begins. "The authority of the trial judge over the defendant ceases when a valid sentence has been pronounced and the defendant enters upon his imprisonment.” 2 Gillespie, Michigan Criminal Law & Procedure (2d ed), § 751, p [581]. See, also, People v Barfield, 411 Mich 700; 311 NW2d 724 (1981).
If the power to suspend included the power to interrupt a sentence already commenced and to absolve the defendant from serving the balance, it would be indistinguishable from the power to commute — a power which, according to People v Whalen, supra, is reserved by the constitution exclusively to the governor.
At the time of sentencing, the trial court indicated on the record that it intended to review the sentence after three months had been served. We do not see how this improves defendant’s position. An expressed intention to review the sentence could not create a power in the court which it did not have. [Id., pp 679-680.]
The analysis of Garcia is directly controlling. Church’s original jail term is not alleged to be contrary to statute or otherwise illegal. Church was not given probation. Accordingly, we reverse and remand with the direction that Church’s original sentence be reinstated and that the remainder of the jail term be served immediately.
Reversed and remanded. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff, the Attorney General, appeals as of right a circuit court order granting summary disposition to defendant Michigan Public Service Commission (mpsc) which resulted in dismissal of the case.
On February 11, 1986, defendant mpsc issued an order regarding a power supply and cost review concerning intervening defendant, The Detroit Edison Company. Plaintiff petitioned the mpsc for a rehearing on that ruling on March 3, 1986. The mpsc denied plaintiffs petition for rehearing in an order dated August 26, 1986. The mpsc mailed this order to plaintiff on August 26, 1986, and plaintiff received it on August 27, 1986. Plaintiff filed an appeal of the mpsc’s ruling with the circuit court on September 26, 1986, thirty-one days after the order denying plaintiff’s petition for rehearing was issued and mailed, and thirty days after plaintiff received notice of the order.
Defendant mpsc moved for summary disposition, contending that plaintiff’s appeal to the circuit court was not timely filed and, therefore, the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to review the matter. The circuit court granted the mpsc’s motion in an opinion and order dated March 13, 1987.
Orders of the mpsc are appealable under MCL 462.26; MSA 22.45. Attorney General v Public Service Comm, 152 Mich App 427; 394 NW2d 35 (1986), aff'd 429 Mich 248; 414 NW2d 687 (1987); Sullivan v Public Service Comm, 93 Mich App 391, 395; 287 NW2d 188 (1979). Section 26 provides that a party dissatisfied with an order of the mpsc may file an action in circuit court seeking judicial review "within 30 days from the issuance of such order and notice thereof.” MCL 460.351; MSA 22.111 authorizes the commission to grant rehearings. A petition for rehearing postpones the running of the thirty-day appeal period, so that the appeal period does not begin to run until the mpsc has issued its decision on the motion for rehearing. MCL 460.352; MSA 22.112, Attorney General v Public Service Comm, supra, 429 Mich 248.
The question on appeal is whether the thirty-day period is calculated from the time that notice of the mpsc decision is mailed or from the time that the notice is actually received. Plaintiff claims that the words "notice thereof’ in MCL 462.26; MSA 22.45 mean that the thirty days should be calculated from the date that actual notice is received. In defendant mpsc’s view, the thirty days should be calculated from the date that notice is mailed. We are persuaded that the latter construction is correct.
In resolving this issue, we are guided by the following rules of statutory construction. When a statute is unambiguous, further interpretation by the court is precluded. The Detroit Edison Co v Michigan Air Pollution Control Comm, 167 Mich App 651, 658; 423 NW2d 306 (1988). However, if an ambiguity exists, it is the duty of the court to give effect to the intention of the Legislature in enacting the statute. To resolve an ambiguity, a court will look to the object of the statute and the evil or mischief which it is designed to remedy and apply a reasonable construction which best accomplishes the statutory purposes. Additionally, ambiguous statutes are to be interpreted as a whole and construed so as to give effect to each provision and to produce a harmonious and consistent result. Specific words in a given statute are to be assigned their ordinary meaning, unless a different interpretation is indicated. Id.; Action Auto, Inc v Anderson, 165 Mich App 620, 628; 419 NW2d 36 (1988). We are in agreement with the circuit court that "notice thereof’ as it is used in MCL 462.26; MSA 22.45 is ambiguous and, therefore, subject to judicial interpretation.
We agree with the circuit court that the legislative intent for inserting "notice thereof’ was to ensure that the commission would send prompt notice to the parties and that the time allowed for a party to appeal would not be effectively denied or decreased by commission delay in sending no tice. As aptly noted by the circuit court, there are several policy reasons for concluding that "notice thereof’ means "mailing.” There is a proof of service requirement already in place for every mpsc order which clearly states the date of mailing. This renders the appeal period easily and uniformly identifiable and consistent. There is no provision for a proof of receipt of notice. To require a proof of receipt of notice to be filed would be cumbersome, open to fraud, and not consistent with other administrative and court procedures. Treating mailing of notice as notice thereof would be consistent with other appeal provisions which specifically state that mailing is the trigger event. See, e.g., MCL 24.304(1); MSA 3.560(204X1), MCR 7.302(C)(2), and MCR 7.104(B)(1). Plaintiff has not cited to this Court any statute, court rule or case law where actual receipt of notice triggers the running of an appeal period.
We hold that the thirty-day appeal period under MCL 462.26; MSA 22.45 begins to run when notice of the issuance of an order is mailed by the mpsc. The thirty-day period should be calculated pursuant to MCR 1.108.
The appeal period in the present case began to run on August 26, 1986, the date of mailing of notice of the mpsc order. Not counting that date, plaintiff waited thirty-one days to file its appeal in circuit court. Plaintiffs appeal was, therefore, untimely under MCL 462.26; MSA 22.45 and was properly dismissed by the circuit court.
Affirmed._
After this action was commenced, this provision of the statute was amended by 1986 PA 312, effective April 1, 1987, to provide that judicial review may be obtained by filing an appeal in the Court of Appeals within thirty days from the issuance and notice of the order.
Under 1986 PA 312, which amended MCL 462.26; MSA 22.45, the party desiring to appeal a commission order need only file a claim of appeal with the Court of Appeals within the thirty-day period to preserve his or her right of appeal. MCR 7.204(B). | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from the trial court’s order granting defendant’s motion for summary disposition. We affirm.
Plaintiff, Rust-Pruf Corporation, is in the business of applying certain chemical materials to new automobiles for the purpose of preventing "rust-out.” Rust-out apparently is the damage caused by oxidation or rusting which progresses from the inside of the vehicle out, rather than exterior rusting such as would occur when paint chips. Rust-Pruf provided this service to owners of new Ford vehicles. The service is covered by a limited warranty set out in a warranty certificate. Ford also provides the purchasers of new vehicles with a limited warranty which covers "perforation from corrosion.” The Rust-Pruf warranty typically extends beyond the lifetime of the Ford warranty.
A rust-out problem apparently developed in certain vehicles which was not covered by Ford’s warranty but which was covered by Rust-Prufs. Rust-Pruf completed the necessary repairs to the vehicles and received assignments of the owners’ claims against Ford.
This action was not brought to enforce or challenge the Ford warranty. It was brought as a products liability claim. Plaintiffs theory is that the rust-out was the result of Ford’s defective design or manufacture and finish of the vehicles which prevented Rust-Pruf from adequately treating the vehicles. As stated by plaintiff: "The question is whether a manufacturer is liable for damage to a product that results from an inherent defect in that product.”
Summary disposition may be granted under MCR 2.116(C)(8) where the pleadings indicate that plaintiffs claim is so clearly unenforceable that no factual development could justify recovery, or under MCR 2.116(C)(10) where review of the evidence indicates it is not possible for the claim to be supported at trial. Sumpter v Kosinski, 165 Mich App 784, 799; 419 NW2d 463 (1988).
The trial court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment under MCR 2.116(C)(8) and (10) on the basis that, under Great American Ins Co v Paty’s, Inc, 154 Mich App 634; 397 NW2d 853 (1986), lv den 428 Mich 874 (1987), there is no cause of action for the economic loss claimed by plaintiff. We agree with the trial court.
Plaintiff in Great American was an insurance company, the subrogee of the purchaser of a combine manufactured by Massey-Ferguson, Inc., and sold by Paty’s, Inc., which had caught fire allegedly because of a design defect. The fire occurred after the manufacturer’s warranty had expired. Plaintiff sought recovery for damages to the combine caused by defendant Massey-Ferguson’s negligent design, manufacture and testing of the combine.
The Great American Court agreed that summary disposition in favor of defendant was appropriate, applying McGhee v GMC Truck & Coach Division, 98 Mich App 495; 296 NW2d 286 (1980). As stated in McGhee, supra, p 505:
We agree that no cause of action is stated in the complaint, where the foundation of the relationship between the parties is contractual and no personal injury or damage to property other than the subject goods themselves is alleged.
Great American is strikingly similar to the instant case. As in Great American, the plaintiff is the assignee of the purchaser’s rights against the manufacturer. The assignors purchased the products from authorized dealers of the manufacturer. The products were subject to limited express warranties provided by the manufacturers which disclaimed any and all other express or implied warranties. Just as in Great American, plaintiff alleges no personal injury or damage to property other than to the product itself, which damage occurred after expiration of the limited express warranty.
As in Great American, Ford’s express warranty establishes the contractual relationship between the parties. An express warranty is an "affirmation of fact or promise made by the seller to the buyer.” MCL 440.2313; MSA 19.2313. As such, it sets forth the extent to which the manufacturer is willing to bind itself to the purchaser and the rights that can be enforced by the purchaser against the manufacturer. Great American, supra, p 641. In its warranty, Ford set forth the extent to which it was willing to be responsible for corrosion, just as Rust-Pruf did in its warranty. As noted by the McGhee Court, quoting S M Wilson & Co v Smith International, Inc, 587 F2d 1363, 1376 (CA 9, 1978), to allow recovery in this situation would be to confuse the consumer’s disappointment in the sales contract with the "disaster” required to support a claim in tort.
Plaintiffs reliance on Southgate Community School Dist v West Side Construction Co, 399 Mich 72; 247 NW2d 884 (1976), Spence v Three Rivers Builders & Masonry Supply, Inc, 353 Mich 120; 90 NW2d 873 (1958), Auto Owners Ins Co v Chrysler Corp, 129 Mich App 38; 341 NW2d 223 (1983), and Cova v Harley Davidson Motor Co, 26 Mich App 602; 182 NW2d 800 (1970), does not convince us that a different result is required. None of these cases directly addresses the issue here. Southgate concerned a statute of limitations question and the other cases considered aspects of lack of privity and plaintiffs ability to recover. All were concerned with implied warranties and there were no contractual relationships detailing the rights and liabilities of the parties. These decisions do not conflict with or undermine the rule set forth in McGhee and Great American. See A C Hoyle Co v Sperry Rand Corp, 128 Mich App 557, 563; 340 NW2d 326 (1983).
Given the existence of the Ford warranty and the fact that Rust-Pruf alleges no injury other than economic loss, the trial court did not err in granting summary disposition.
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Kelly, J.
On June 4, 1979, plaintiff filed a claim against defendant Orville Frank Roofing Company alleging that her husband died as a result of injuries that occurred on his job. Defendants appeal by leave granted from the January 15, 1987, decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board affirming a referee’s award of death benefits to plaintiff. Defendants’ application for leave to appeal to this Court was denied; however, the Supreme Court, in lieu of granting leave to appeal, remanded to this Court for consideration as on leave granted. See Kapala v Orville Frank Roofing Co, 428 Mich 918; 410 NW2d 803 (1987).
i
On the day of his death, June 5, 1968, plaintiffs decedent was employed by Orville Frank Roofing Company. On that date, decedent, Orville Frank and another employee were hot-roofing a building, the Thunder Bay Motel. This procedure required heating tar or asphalt to approximately four hundred degrees Fahrenheit, which brought it to a liquid state. This material was then carried in five-gallon buckets up a ladder to the roof of the building and spread out on top of previously installed roofing paper.
Decedent’s coworker, Roman Kamyszak, testified that on the date of decedent’s death decedent was responsible for heating the tar and carrying it up the ladder to the roof. At approximately 1:30 p.m. Kamyszak went to the edge of the roof to request more tar. At that time, Kamyszak witnessed the kettle which was used to heat the tar explode. Kamyszak saw the lid fly up and flames come out, setting the decedent’s hair on fire. Although Kamyszak yelled to decedent, warning him to get away, decedent remained in the immediate vicinity of the kettle, apparently frozen from shock or surprise. Once he recovered, decedent attempted to shut off the spigot where the tar was released, staying in the dangerous area.
Subsequently, Kamyszak testified that Frank required decedent to remain on the job, despite his obvious injuries, including scorched hair and burns evidenced by red marks on the right side of the head. During this time, decedent carried at least four more five-gallon buckets of tar to the roof.
Prior to the accident, decedent had been able to carry the material up the ladder as though he had "nothing in his hands at all.” After the incident, Kamyszak stated that decedent was shaking and unable to safely walk up the ladder.
Kamyszak testified that he was able to prevail upon Frank to let decedent go home at approximately 2:00 p.m. No injury report of this incident was made by decedent’s employer to the Bureau of Workers’ Disability Compensation.
Three hours later, at approximately 5:00 p.m., decedent was found lying on the ground next to his running automobile. He was taken to the hospital and died at approximately 10:00 p.m. that evening. There was no autopsy performed. While decedent remained alive, no electrocardiogram test was performed.
ii
Findings of fact of the wcab are conclusive, absent a showing of fraud, if supported by record evidence; however, a wcab decision may be reversed if the board "operated within the wrong legal framework or where its decision is based upon erroneous legal reasoning.” Flynn v General Motors Corp, 162 Mich App 511, 514; 413 NW2d 444 (1987). Defendants’ first argument on appeal is that the wcab made an error of law requiring reversal in failing to apply § 375(2) of the Workers’ Disability Compensation Act, MCL 418.375(2); MSA 17.237(375X2).
In making this assertion, defendants rely on this Court’s holding in Noble v Ford Motor Co, 152 Mich App 622; 394 NW2d 50 (1986). We find defendants’ reliance on § 375 of the act and Noble factually and legally misplaced.
Defendants’ construction of § 375 is not supported by a common-sense reading of the statute. The language of the statute is clear; once an adjudication of liability has been made and payments begun, or a claim is pending, subsequent death will serve to discharge any liability for further payments unless it is shown that the work-related injury was the proximate cause of death. This reading of the statute is supported by the holding in Noble. In Noble, plaintiff had received compensation benefits until the time of his death. His widow then sought death benefits. In looking at § 375, this Court stated:
A plain reading of this provision clearly provides that where, as here, the employee dies after there has been an adjudication of workers’ compensation liability and payment of those benefits, in order for the employee’s dependents to continue to receive workers’ compensation benefits, it must be shown that the work-related injury received by the employee was the proximate cause of his death. [Noble, 626.]
Here, there were no benefits received prior to death, nor any claim for benefits prior to death. Not until eleven years after the date of the fatal incident did the widow apply for compensation. On these facts, application of § 375 would be erroneous.
On the issue of causation, defendants also claim an error of law by the wcab, since the board did not expressly identify the rule of law concerning causation that it applied. This claim is without merit. Reading the wcab decision as a whole, it is clear that the board applied the standard in § 301 of the act in reviewing plaintiff’s claim. That is, that decedent’s injury that resulted in his death arose out of and in the course of his employment.
m
Next, defendants argue that the wcab had no evidence before it to make the findings that it did concerning the cause of death. Specifically, defendants claim the wcab erred in accepting the speculative testimony of Drs. Greenward and Winkler, that the decedent suffered a myocardial infarction as a result of the incident at work. This claim really boils down to a sufficiency of the evidence issue. As to the sufficiency of the evidence, absent an error in the application of law, the findings of the wcab are conclusive so long as there is any competent evidence to support them. See also Aquilina v General Motors Corp, 403 Mich 206, 213; 267 NW2d 923 (1978). On this point we conclude that the testimony of the medical experts, especially Dr. Winkler, provided competent evidence to support the board’s findings. Dr. Winkler’s opinion alone allowed plaintiff to meet her burden of proving by the preponderance of the evidence that the injuries suffered by decedent on the job were the cause of his death. Based on her review of the medical records, and her understanding of surrounding circumstances through hypothetical questioning, Dr. Winkler opined that decedent died of cardiogenic shock, most likely precipitated by a myocardial ischemic episode, most likely involving a myocardial infarction. She stated that the physical stress and activity of carrying buckets of tar to the roof would have contributed to the myocardial ischemia which Dr. Winkler believed was precipitated by the shock of having his hair catch fire.
Unlike in Miklik v Michigan Special Machine Co, 415 Mich 364; 329 NW2d 713 (1982), relied on by defendants, here the experts opined that there was a specific link between decedent’s cardiac episode, which caused decedent’s death, and a specific incident in the work place.
iv
Next, defendants argue that, regardless of the fact that the employer did not report the injury, plaintiff’s claim is untimely. Defendants contend that, since the employer had no notice that decedent’s death might be related to the injury, the limitation period was not tolled by the employer’s failure to report the injury. Defendants argue that, while the employer had actual notice of the death of the employee, there was no reason for the employer to suspect that a work-related injury caused or contributed to that death. Emphasizing that the established cause of death in 1968 was a cerebrovascular accident and that no one suggested that this was caused by the incident at work, defendants contend that awareness of these facts alone will not toll the statute of limitations.
In reaching this conclusion defendants rely on Nicholson v Lansing Bd of Ed, 423 Mich 89; 377 NW2d 292 (1985). In Nicholson, the claimant suffered a spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage in 1973, after going home following his shift at work. The employer made no report to the Bureau of Workers’ Disability Compensation. Claimant eventually petitioned the bureau for a hearing in 1978.
In interpreting § 381 of the act, the Supreme Court stated:
We do not believe the Legislature intended to burden employers and the bureau with a requirement that all injuries, from whatever cause, sustained by employees must be reported. In order to receive the benefit of the § 381 statute of limitations employers must report those injuries in which the circumstances indicate the possibility of a work-related cause. Where an injury is suffered outside the workplace and the employer does not have reason to suspect the employment caused or contributed to it, there is no obligation to give notice to the bureau to receive the benefit of the statute of limitations. [Nicholson, 102-103.]
In applying this rule to the facts in Nicholson, the Supreme Court concluded that there was not sufficient notice under § 381 to make it possible for the employer to be on notice of the possibility of a work-related injury. Therefore, the limitation period of the statute was not tolled.
We first note that Nicholson also provides that, where the issue is raised that a claim is untimely, the rule in effect at the time of the injury applies. Nicholson, 93. At the time of decedent’s injury here, MCL 412.18; MSA 17.168, since repealed, applied. Under this less-stringent standard, defendant employer had sufficient notice of decedent’s injury to file a report with the bureau, and the failure to do so tolled the limitation period. Norris v Chrysler Corp, 391 Mich 469; 216 NW2d 783 (1974).
However, even applying the more stringent rule in Nicholson, we likewise conclude that the statute was tolled by the employer’s failure to file an injury report with the bureau. Defendants admit actual knowledge of the injuries sustained by the decedent at work, a mere three hours before he was found lying outside of his car and a mere eight hours before his ultimate death. Although defendants attempt to limit their knowledge of the injury to encompass only the burns decedent suffered, the testimony of decedent’s coemployee was that he noticed that decedent was visibly shaken, unable to safely perform his operation, which he had previously been able to do easily, and that he complained about this to the owner of the company because he believed decedent’s condition jeopardized his own safety. Upon hearing of decedent’s death, this coemployee — within two days of the incident — spoke with the employer and openly discussed the possibility that the death was the result of the injury that occurred at work.
Decedent’s employer had reason to suspect that decedent’s employment and injury at work caused or contributed to his death. The employer was then obligated to give notice to the bureau in order to receive the benefit of the statute of limitations.
v
Defendants’ final argument is that the two-year-back rule of MCL 418.381(2); MSA 17.237(381X2) applies, barring plaintiffs recovery of benefits for any period of time earlier than two years immediately preceding the date plaintiff filed an application for a hearing with the bureau. We agree.
Section 381(2) provides:
Except as provided in subsection (3), if any compensation is sought under this act, payment shall not be made for any period of time earlier than 2 years immediately preceding the date on which the employee filed an application for a hearing with the bureau.
This provision is both retroactive to plaintiffs claim and is not waived by defendants’ failure to raise it before the hearing referee. See Howard v General Motors Corp, 427 Mich 358; 399 NW2d 10 (1986), and Jones v Dee Cramer, Inc, 166 Mich App 410; 420 NW2d 843 (1988). However, plaintiff argues that, since the act is remedial in nature, it should be construed in a liberal and humanitarian manner and, because the employer did not file an injury report and allegedly attempted to conceal the occurrence of the injury, defendants should be estopped from raising the two-year-back rule.
Plaintiff relies on Fuchs v General Motors Corp, 118 Mich App 547; 325 NW2d 489 (1982). In Fuchs, this Court held that in the proper circumstance a party may be estopped from invoking the two-year-back rule. However, for estoppel to operate all its elements must be present. In Fuchs, the wcab found that defendant made an intentional miscalculation of wages. Therefore, there was a misrepresentation of a fact within defendant’s knowledge, relied on by plaintiff for the purpose of inducing a course of conduct.
On the facts here, application of estoppel is not warranted. Here, there was only an omission to file an injury report and an alleged attempt, eleven years later, to stifle the evidence provided by a coworker. No reliance by plaintiff on the omission was shown. Plaintiff was free to file her claim and eventually did.
Plaintiff also argues that the two-year-back rule does not apply to dependents in death cases. Essentially, plaintiff argues that since she is not an employee, but a dependent, § 381(2) does not apply, since it does not apply to a claim for death benefits. We disagree. Plaintiff ignores the effect of the language of § 381(2) that provides that the limitation applies to any compensation under this act.
We affirm the award of compensation to plaintiff; however, we reverse as to the amount of compensation and remand to the wcab for application of the two-year-back rule. | [
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N. J. Kaufman, J.
This case involves a dispute over methods used by defendant Flint Civil Service Commission (commission) to fill three vacancies in the Flint classified service. More generally, it requires our determination of how much discretion the commission is granted by Flint Charter § 247 to decide whether a vacancy should be filled by a promotional or an open competitive exam. The focal point of this controversy is the first sentence of § 247(a):
"Vacancies in higher positions in the classified service shall be filled so far as practicable by the promotion or advancement of employees in the service.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Under the Flint Charter, civil service job vacancies may be filled by one of three methods: (1) appointment of the employee who scores highest on a promotional exam, (2) appointment of one of the three people who score highest on an open competitive exam or on an interdepartmental exam, or, in rare cases, (3) by promoting, without an examination, the sole employee eligible for promotion. Each of the three vacancies in dispute was filled by an open competitive exam, rather than by a promotional exam. Plaintiffs, a number of unions representing employees in the Flint civil service, brought suit to have these positions declared vacant. They contended that because there existed employees who were eligible for promotion, it was practicable for the vacancies to have been filled by promotional exams and promotional examinations should have been given. The commission contended that the decision to hold open competitive exams was a valid exercise of the discretion which, it alleged, the Flint Charter provides.
This case was commenced with a complaint and order to show cause filed by the plaintiffs in Gene-see County Circuit Court praying that the city of Flint be enjoined from employing Daniel Boggan, Jr. as the Deputy City Manager for Operations on a provisional basis and from permanently filling the vacancy to which Mr. Boggan had been appointed after having been certified as one of the three highest scorers on the open competitive test. The plaintiffs’ complaint alleged that Mr. Boggan’s employment was in violation of the charter of the City of Flint on the grounds that the Civil Service Commission had failed to make a determination that it was not practicable to fill the position by promotion of employees already within the classified service of the City of Flint. The plaintiffs further alleged that the provisional appointments of Frank N. Patitucci to the position of Director of Community Development on January 26, 1972 and Ray Vyvyan to the position of Buildings and Inspection Director on May 30, 1972 were likewise improper and in violation of the provisions of the city charter. Both Patitucci and Vyvyan had, likewise, been provisionally appointed and then given permanent appointments when they were among the top three qualifiers from the open competitive exam.
On April 4, 1973, after a lengthy trial and submission of detailed briefs, the court issued an eight page opinion, in which it analyzed the meaning of § 247(a). The court expressed its opinion that § 247(a) concerned vacancies and applied to the positions in question in the instant case.
The trial court stated the following conclusions pertinent to this appeal:
"The Court concludes that Plaintiffs should have the following relief prayed for in their Complaint:
"1. That the three positions in question should be declared vacant because of the failure of the Civil Service Commission to comply with requirements of the Charter.
"2. (A) Sec. 247(a) should apply to all vacancies in higher positions.
“(B) The Civil Service Commission should first determine if there are eligible employees qualified to take an in service examination.
"(C) Notice of such in service examination should be posted to permit employees to seek to qualify for such examination.
"(D) Sec. 247(c) If a promotional examination is not held and there are less than two eligibles employed by a given department and willing to compete, an open competitive examination may be scheduled.”
On May 7, 1973, the court issued a judgment which embodied these conclusions. The court also ordered that:
"the Defendants herein, in applying the first sentence of Section 247(a) of the Charter, shall construe the word 'practicable’ as meaning 'that which may be done, practiced or accomplished; that which is performable, feasible, possible; and the adverb practicably means in a practicable manner.’ ”
A review of the trial court’s ruling requires an interpretation of § 247(a) examined together with subsections (b) and (c) of § 247 and viewed in light of the purposes behind the civil service. Section 247 provides, in pertinent part:
"(a) Civil service commission to rule on promotional tests. Vacancies in higher positions in the classified service shall be filed so far as practicable by the promotion or advancement of employees in the service. The civil service commission shall in each case determine whether or not an open competitive fitness test shall be held or whether a promotional test shall be conducted among the eligible employees of the department in which a vacancy occurs. The civil service commission shall also determine what classes of em ployees are eligible to compete for promotion by reason of direct previous experience in work which would be natural preparation for the higher position.
"(b) Interdepartment advancement. If, in filling vacancies in a higher position, it is found that there are eligible employees who may be qualified for the work in two or more departments, the civil service commission may order a competitive examination. Employees having served six months or more in the department in which the vacancy occurs which would constitute a natural preparation or training for the higher type of employment, and competing in such examination, shall receive an additional credit of ten percent of their passing grade on the training and experience part.
"(c) Departmental promotions. The term 'promotional examination’ signifies a fitness test to determine the relative standing of applicants for positions in a specified class and open only to employees in the classified service within a given department who have previously served in other specified classes for such a period as may be prescribed by the civil service commission. Whenever there are two or more persons, all in the same department, eligible and willing to compete for a vacancy in a higher position, the civil service commission may, if it deems that a satisfactory appointee can be obtained incthis manner, hold a promotional examination, in which case only the name of the person having the highest rating shall be certified to the appointing authority. If a promotional examination is not held and there are less than two eligibles employed by a given department and willing to compete, an open competitive examination may be scheduled, or in exceptional cases, the civil service commission may authorize the promotion without competition of such eligible person * * * .” (Emphasis supplied.)
On appeal, plaintiffs’ reasoning parallels that of the trial court. Plaintiffs define "practicable” as meaning "possible”. Under this definition, once there are two or more eligible in-service employees who desire to compete for the vacant position, the commission has no discretion in choosing the type of examination.
Defendants contend that § 247 states a preference for filling vacancies by promotion, but that this preference is directory, not mandatory. They argue that the determination of practicability is up to the discretion of the commission and that, regardless of the number of eligibles, a promotional exam is practicable only when the commission ascertains that the vacancy can be best filled in that way.
While this matter is one of first impression in this jurisdiction, a number of other jurisdictions have considered the problem. The general rule developed by those opinions is that the decision as to open or promotional exam is a discretionary one:
"Decisions of civil service commissions to hold open competitive examinations instead of merely promotion examinations will not be reversed by the courts absent proof that the administrative decision is illegal, unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious.” 2A Antieau, Municipal Corporation Law, § 22.04, p 223.
See also Short v Kissinger, 184 Neb 491; 168 NW2d 917 (1969), Camfield v Mealy, 288 NY 149; 42 NE2d 9 (1942), Hewitt v State Civil Service Commission, 114 Colo 561; 167 P2d 961 (1946), Flanagan v Department of Civil Service, 29 NJ 1; 148 A2d 14 (1959), Timmins v Civil Service Commissioners, 276 Mass 142; 177 NE 1 (1931). This discretion is limited by the requirement that promotional examinations be held where practicable. Allen v McKinley, 18 Cal 2d 697; 117 P2d 342 (1941). Where courts have held that discretion has been abused, they have often based their holding on a large number of employees available for promotion, Allen v McKinley, supra, Ptacek v People ex rel Deneen, 194 Ill 125; 62 NE 530 (1901), and a past history of using promotional exams for the challenged position, Stagge v City Service Commission of Baltimore City, 217 Md 466; 143 A2d 502 (1958).
Open competitive examinations are generally favored where the position to be filled is one with unique duties, one where the duties of inferior positions do not reasonably prepare an employee for the vacant, superior position. Amerio v City and County of San Francisco, 126 Cal App 2d 359; 271 P2d 996 (1954). See also Rhyne, Municipal Law, § 8-46, p 194. Promotional examinations seem to be favored in positions where a particular type of professional experience and expertise is required. The best examples in this category are fire departments, Stagge v City Service Commission of Baltimore City, supra, police departments, and street cleaning departments, People ex rel Williams v Errant, 229 Ill 56; 82 NE 271 (1907). The inherent conflict in such cases is between a desire to increase the efficiency of civil servants by ensuring that promotion will result from continued, faithful service and a desire to obtain the widest available field of applicants from which the best person for the position may be obtained.
We consider appeals from cases in equity on a de novo basis. Cerling v Hedstrom, 51 Mich App 338; 214 NW2d 904 (1974). Our examination of the record convinces us that the trial court erred in its interpretation of § 247. We hold, as have sister jurisdictions, that the commission has a limited discretion in determining whether a vacancy should be filled by promotional or open competitive examination. This discretion is limited by the requirement that a promotional exam be given where practicable. We hold further that the trial court erred in making the giving of a promotional exam mandatory whenever there are two or more in-service employees eligible and willing to take it. Rather than being decisive, the number of eligible employees is a factor which the commission must consider in making its decision as to whether a promotional exam is practicable. This decision is also one consigned to the commission’s discretion.
In addition, we hold that the commission shall for most, but not all, vacancies determine the number of employees willing and eligible to take a promotional examination. Where it is clear from a comparison of requirements of the vacant position with job descriptions for other positions that no other positions in the civil service provide the requisite experience, the commission may decide to hold an open competitive exam without first determining how many eligible in-service employees desire to compete for the opening.
Important to our decision is our finding that the trial court incorrectly defined the term "practicable”. By defining "practicable” as "possible”, the court reduced the commission’s determination of whether a promotional exam is practicable to merely ascertaining whether there are two or more eligible employées. The trial court took its definition of "practicable” from Black’s Law Dictionary. We believe that § 247 itself contains a definition more appropriate to this case. In subsection (a), it provides that a promotional exam be held if "practicable.” In subsection (c) it then defines "practicable” by stating that a promotional examination be held "if [the commission] deems that a satisfactory appointee can be obtained in this manner”. This definition manifests the discretion given the commission in deciding what type of examination will be held.
Further evidence of the commission’s discretion is demonstrated by the use in § 247 of the words "shall” and "may”. "Shall” is generally used to designate a mandatory provision while "may” designates a provision which grants discretion. Southfield Township v Drainage Bd for Twelve Towns Relief Drains, 357 Mich 59; 97 NW2d 821 (1959), McLogan v Craig, 20 Mich App 497; 174 NW2d 166 (1969). The Flint Charter, in § 247(a), speaks in mandatory language in requiring that vacancies "shall be filled so far as practicable” by promotion, and that the commission "shall in each case determine” whether to hold a promotional or open competitive exam and "shall also determine what classes of employees are eligible to compete for promotion”. However, when the charter describes how the type of exam should be determined, its language states choices, not mandatory requirements. In subsection (b) of § 247, it provides that, where eligible employees in two or more departments wish to compete, the commission "may order a competitive exam”. (Emphasis supplied.) In subsection (c), "Whenever there are two or more persons, all in the same department, eligible and willing to compete * * * the civil service commission may, if it deems that a satisfactory appointee can be obtained in this manner, hold a promotional examination”. (Emphasis supplied.) Subsection (c) also provides:
"If a promotional examination is not held and there are less than two eligibles employed by a given department and willing to compete, an open competitive examination may be scheduled, or in exceptional cases, the civil service commission may authorize the promotion without competition of such eligible person * * * ” (Emphasis supplied.)
The court relied on this last provision in holding that an open competitive exam can be given only when there are less than two eligibles willing to take a promotional exam. We disagree. We read that sentence not as stating the only time an open competitive exam can be given but as providing the only time a vacancy may be filled without any examination. Section 247(a), thus, requires the commission to choose the type of exam. Section 247(c) then describes what choices are available: when there are two or more eligibles, promotional or open competitive; when there is only one available, open competitive or promotion without exam.
Our holding that the commission’s discretion is broader than that adjudged by the trial court is bolstered by the charter provisions which give the commission broad power , to set job qualifications. Under charter § 236, the commission is responsible for establishing the minimum qualifications, duties and responsibilities for all positions in the classified service. Section 247(a) mandates that, for every vacancy:
"The civil service commission shall * * * determine what classes of employees are eligible to compete for promotion by reason of direct previous experience in work which would be natural preparation for the higher position.”
Because of their expertise, civil service commissions have historically been granted extremely broad discretion in making these decisions. Amerio v City and County of San Francisco, supra.
It would be incongruous to hold that the commission, by virtue of its expertise, is given broad responsibility and discretion to establish qualifications for all positions in the civil service and to determine what classes can compete for promotion, but that it has no discretion in determining how one of these positions should be filled when it becomes vacant.
Having held that the selection of promotional or open competitive exam is a matter consigned to the commission’s discretion, we must determine whether that discretion was validly exercised in this case. The party challenging a discretionary decision of an administrative body must show that the decision was arbitrary, unreasonable, capricious or an abuse of discretion. Barry v Flint Fire Dept, 44 Mich App 602, 607; 205 NW2d 627 (1973). See also 2 Cooper, State Administrative Law, p 758.
Plaintiffs claim, as some cases have held, that the very existence of willing and eligible employees presents a prima facie case of abuse, one which shifts the burden of proof to the civil service commission. Rhodehamel v Civil Service Board of Oakland, 18 Cal 2d 709; 117 P2d 349 (1941). Cf. Wilson v Ostly, 173 Cal App 2d 78; 343 P2d 349 (1959). These cases are based on the theory that the determination that an employee is eligible entails a finding that his experience has prepared him for the superior position. A significant number of eligibles thus is a strong indication that the vacancy be filled by a promotional exam. We do not believe, however, that this indication should be exalted to the status of a prima facie case. Where an exercise of administrative discretion is challenged, the burden of proof has always remained with the challenging party. This is the essence of a statutory grant of discretion. This grant is based on a desire to give the agency flexibility in acting and involves a general freedom from judicial interference, Hunn v Madison Heights, 60 Mich App 326, 335; 230 NW2d 414 (1975), and a presumption of validity which a challenging party should bear the burden of overcoming.
In the case of the appointment of Daniel Boggan to Deputy City Manager for Operations, the trial court ruled that, because the commission had not first determined the number of in-service eligibles, the open competitive exam and appointment were invalid. We agree with the trial court that the commission must first determine how many eligible in-service employees wish to compete. The charter provision favoring promotion and the beneficial impact on morale of employees make this clear.
However, we believe that, in a few cases, the commission may determine what kind of exam should be given without first finding out how many employees wish to compete. This case is one of those. One of the reasons for holding an open competitive exam was that the Deputy City Manager job was a new position involving a combination of three subordinate functions — planning, budgeting and evaluation. The minutes of the April 11, 1972 commission meeting indicate that its director of personnel noted that no such combination of skills presently existed in the city’s service. He noted that two other new positions were "more basic classifications” which "some current employees with a little additional effort should be able to perform”. Those positions were filled by interdepartmental examinations.
By setting the qualifications for Deputy City Manager as it did, the commission, thus, made the giving of a promotional examination impracticable. As we noted earlier, a vacancy is best filled by promotion where the experience gained in inferior positions is requisite to performance in a superior position. Where no other in-service position reasonably prepares employees to fill a vacancy, there will be, perforce, no employees eligible to compete. Therefore, the real question here is whether the commission abused its discretion in setting the qualifications for the Deputy City Manager vacancy. Plaintiffs do not contend that it did, and we cannot find any abuse. See Amerio v City and County of San Francisco, 126 Cal App 2d 359; 271 P2d 996 (1954). Daniel Boggan’s appointment was, therefore, validly executed, and the trial court’s vacation of his position was in error.
The trial court vacated the two other challenged positions because it held that the commission had not ascertained the number of willing and eligible employees before giving an open competitive examination. We agree that the commission should have determined how many in-service eligibles wanted to compete for these positions, Director of Community Development and Director of Buildings and Inspections. However, the record indicates that both Mr. Patitucci and - Mr. Vyvyan have vacated the challenged positions. There is no evidence concerning how the positions were then filled, nor did plaintiffs challenge, in this case, how they were filled. As such, we find that plaintiffs’ challenge of the commission’s action in filling these positions presents a moot question, Detroit v Killingsworth, 48 Mich App 181; 210 NW2d 249 (1973), lv den 390 Mich 790 (1973).
Reversed. No costs, a public question being involved.
This Court in Barry v Flint Fire Dept, 44 Mich App 602, 607; 205 NW2d 627 (1973), established the broad standard that:
"Judicial review of municipal administrative decisions is limited to questions of want of jurisdiction, fraud, bad faith, arbitrariness, or abuse of discretion. O’Connell v Dearborn Police Fire Pension Board, 334 Mich 208 [54 NW2d 301] (1952).”
This standard is not applicable to all municipal administrative decisions, only to those deemed "administrative” or "executive”. Where a municipal administrative agency acts in a "judicial” or "quasi-judicial” capacity, a reviewing court must ask whether the decision was "supported by competent, material and substantial evidence”. Const 1963, art 6, § 28, Detroit v General Foods Corp, 39 Mich App 180, 190; 197 NW2d 315 (1972).
The question of which determinations are "executive” and which are "judicial” has long troubled courts. See Regents of the University of Michigan v Employment Relations Commission, 389 Mich 96; 204 NW2d 218 (1973). In general, where an agency is called upon to make a decision affecting the rights of specific individuals, its action is judicial. Demotion, firing, and compensation are examples. Const 1963, art 6, § 28 considers a matter to be judicial whenever by law, it requires a hearing to be held.
Where, as here, the decision does not deal with specific individuals, is a matter requiring specific agency expertise, and is made discretionary by law, it is generally held to be "administrative” or "executive”. See generally MCLA 24.306; MSA 3.560(206), 1 Cooper, State Administrative Law, p 91.
The commissioners also cited four, more general criteria which they used in deciding what kind of examination should be given:
"1. the aims and objectives of management and particularly, the reorganization of government in the City of Flint and in the City Manager’s office.
"2. desire for excellence in government.
"3. desire to comply with an affirmative action program.
"4. past precedents.” | [
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Per Curiam.
The defendant was originally charged and tried for robbery unarmed, MCLA 750.530; MSA 28.798. A jury convicted him of the lesser included offense of larceny from a person, MCLA 750.357; MSA 28.589. Defendant appeals as of right.
Defendant, who was free on bond, failed to appear for the third day of a three day trial. After a two hour delay and an inquiry as to the defendant’s whereabouts, which did not resolve the mystery of the defendant’s absence, the trial court issued a capias, forfeited defendant’s bond, and ordered the trial to continue. Defendant’s counsel stated he had no objection to continuing. The trial court also gave a limiting instruction to the jury that they were to draw no adverse inferences from the defendant’s absence. The prosecution then presented its two remaining witnesses. Both sides rested and argued to the jury. Sixteen months later, at sentencing, the defendant admitted that he had deliberately absented himself from the third day of trial and left town because he knew he was going to be convicted.
On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erred in permitting the trial to continue in his absence. The right to be present at one’s trial is a fundamental right guaranteed the defendant both by statute, MCLA 768.3; MSA 28.1026, and as part of Fourteenth Amendment due process, Illinois v Allen, 397 US 337; 90 S Ct 1057; 25 L Ed 2d 353 (1970). Nothing in the nature of evidence should be taken when the defendant is not present, People v Medcoff, 344 Mich 108; 73 NW2d 537 (1955), People v Swan, 59 Mich App 409; 229 NW2d 476 (1975).
However, a defendant may waive both his statutory and constitutional right to be present during his trial, People v Medcoff, supra. The defendant may waive his right to be present through conduct in the courtroom, Illinois v Allen, supra. The right may also be waived through failure to appear, Diaz v United States, 223 US 442; 32 S Ct 250; 56 L Ed 500 (1912).
The right to be present at one’s felony trial is one of those rights that only the defendant himself can waive. Thus the actions of his trial counsel do not operate as a valid waiver, People v Degraffenreid, 19 Mich App 702; 173 NW2d 317 (1969). Similarly, we cannot presume that the defendant waived his constitutional right on the basis of a silent or sketchy record. People v Ewing, 48 Mich App 657; 211 NW2d 56 (1973). However, since the defendant admitted that he intentionally absented himself from the third day of trial by voluntarily leaving town because of what he viewed as an impending guilty verdict, we hold defendant to have effectively waived his right to be present on. the third day of trial and any previous error by the trial court is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
Since jury instructions must be taken as a whole, defendant’s second point of error is without merit, People v Robert Hall, 56 Mich App 10; 223 NW2d 340 (1974).
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals from an order of summary judgment in favor of defendants, Consumers Power Company, hereinafter referred to as the Company, and Michigan State Utility Workers Council of Utility Workers Union of America, AFL/CIO; Local 105, Michigan State Utility Workers Union, AFL/CIO; Russell Bjorkman; James Koenig; Frank Davis; Elewyn Pletcher; John Dun-ford; Rudy Asito; Ken Alexander; and Mike Hryn ick, hereinafter referred to as the Union. Plaintiff, a discharged employee of the Company and a member of the Union, sought damages growing out of his discharge.
The circumstances that gave rise to the present case are basically that on May 13, 1971, a 112-day strike by the Union against the Company began. The strike was marked by incidents of violence against persons and property associated with the Company and the Union. Ón June 5, 1971, while returning from a family wedding, plaintiff observed a Company truck. He requested that his wife stop the car. Plaintiff got out, walked over to the truck, reached in and slapped a Company supervisor on both cheeks. As a result of that act, plaintiff was discharged by the Company on June 7, 1971.
Plaintiff requested the Union to invoke grievance proceedings on his behalf. Because the Union-Management contract had expired, the ordinary contract grievance procedures were not in effect. However, the Union and the Company agreed to submit plaintiff’s grievance (and 11 other discharge cases of the alleged 600 grievances to have been filed as a result of the strike) to an umpire for binding arbitration. On September 19, plaintiff’s grievance was heard and on October 4, opinions and awards were entered. Plaintiff’s discharge was upheld.
The arbitrator’s findings included the following:
"This is a case where, apparently, alcohol mixed with frustration induced from weeks of striking drove the Grievant to commit a monumental misjudgment. He cannot explain why he did the act. He has no animosity toward Mr. Scarpelli. He felt badly about his conduct afterwards. He apologized in the hearing.”
The arbitrator concluded:
"However, since the arbitrator is establishing an impersonal standard of industrial justice in the area, mercy may voluntarily be extended by the Employer. In this case, it is recommended that such consideration be given by the Company. The Grievant’s record (which shows but 3 disciplinary notices over 18 years), his long employment and family responsibilities position him as deserving mercy after his technical liability to the discharge penalty is set through action of the Umpire. It is to be hoped that this view is adopted.”
Plaintiff petitioned for reinstatement but was denied.
Plaintiff’s complaint contains three principal contentions: (1) that the Company breached its contractual duty by discharging plaintiff without just cause and by failing to treat all similarly situated employees equally; (2) that the Union failed to fairly represent plaintiff in either the discharge proceedings or the contract negotiations; (3) that the Union and the Company combined illegally to effect plaintiff’s discharge for failure to support the Union in principle during the strike. Defendants contend plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact. GCR 1963,117.2(1), (3).
Generally speaking, summary judgment procedure serves two functions:
"(1) to test the legal validity of claims or defenses as pleaded, in whole or in part, and (2) to expose a sham claim or defense by requiring a party to commit himself by affidavit or otherwise to a showing of support for the formal allegations of his pleading.” 1 Honigman & Hawkins, Michigan Court Rules Annotated (2d Ed), Authors’ Comments, p 358.
The court must be particularly careful that it does not summarily pass upon any genuinely disputed question of fact in granting summary judgment. Rizzo v Kretschmer, 389 Mich 363; 207 NW2d 316 (1973).
In the present case, defendants’ motions for summary judgment were properly supported by affidavits to which plaintiff responded by reasserting the allegations contained in his complaint. The party opposing a motion based upon GCR 1963, 117.2(3) is not required to submit affidavits. However, he is obliged to demonstrate by affidavits, testimony, depositions, admissions or documentary evidence on file that a genuine issue of material fact is actually in dispute. Rizzo v Kretschmer, supra, 371. This, we feel, plaintiff has failed to do.
An employer, in the absence of a contract, can discharge an employee at will and without cause. Dunn v Goebel Brewing Co, 357 Mich 693; 99 NW2d 380 (1959). Plaintiff, in this case, was discharged for an assault upon a supervisor during a strike which took place in an open time span between two contracts entered into by defendants. There was no contractual agreement under which plaintiff was guaranteed any rights.
Although not obliged to arbitrate the matter, the Union, at plaintiffs request, was able to do so and plaintiff was represented at the proceeding by counsel whose integrity is not questioned by plaintiff. While not offered the grievance procedure provided for in the contracts which were not in force at the time in question, plaintiff did have the opportunity to argue his case before a professional arbitrator whose integrity is not challenged either. Plaintiff admitted the conduct for which he was discharged and the arbitrator felt that the conduct was sufficient to warrant upholding of the discharge. Plaintiff alleges, however, that the Union officials and the Company merely put on a show pursuant to secret and unfair arrangements with respect to the disposition of the many grievances filed, thereby failing to provide plaintiff with fair representation.
In the case of Dunn v Goebel, Brewing Co, supra, 698, the Court quoted from Roche v Blair, 305 Mich 608, 613-614; 9 NW2d 861 (1943), the following:
"The law is well established that in a civil action for damages resulting from wrongful acts alleged to have been committed in pursuance of a conspiracy, the gist or gravamen of the action is not the conspiracy but is the wrongful acts causing the damages. The conspiracy standing alone without the commission of acts causing damage would not be actionable. The cause of action does not result from the conspiracy but from the acts done. Therefore, in the present case the alleged conspiracy, which plaintiffs claimed to have first discovered in 1940, was not their cause of action. Their cause of action was the alleged wrongful acts of defendants, which caused their claimed damages. The allegations of conspiracy did not change the nature of plaintiffs’ action.”
Here, plaintiff claims that he did not receive fair representation due to an alleged secret agreement between defendants but fails to specify what acts were wrongful, let alone how he was damaged by them. He had already lost his job by admittedly assaulting a Company supervisor. He received, through the Union’s efforts, his requested opportunity to take his discharge to arbitration, an opportunity which he was not entitled to by any contract. Plaintiff does not allege any impropriety on the part of the arbitrator or counsel.
"[T]he allegations of a complaint alleging a breach of a union’s duty of fair representation must contain more than conclusory statements alleging improper representation; conclusory allegations without specifying supporting facts to show the union’s lack of good faith fail to state a valid claim. Balowski v International U, United A A & A Imp Wkrs. 372 F2d 829, 835 (CA 6, 1967), Hardcastle v Western Greyhound Lines, 303 F2d 182, 186 (CA 9, 1962), cert den, 371 US 920; 83 S Ct 288; 9 L Ed 2d 229 (1962), Brown v Truck Drivers & Help Loc U No 395, Baltimore, Md, 264 F Supp 776 (D Md, 1967). Here, plaintiffs complained of an illegal combination between Union and Company in language which was purely conclusory, with no specific factual allegations to support the charges. Since such allegations are insufficient to state a claim of improper representation by the Union or collusion between Union and Company, the lower court could have properly dismissed plaintiffs’ complaint for failure to state a claim.” Lusk v Eastern Products Corp, 427 F2d 705, 708 (CA 4, 1970).
The trial court in the present case properly granted summary judgment, OCR 1963, 117.2(1), (3), in favor of defendants.
"The record demonstrates that the discharge * * * came about as a result of [Carry’s] own misconduct despite the persistent but unsuccessful efforts of the Union in support of his 'hat-in-hand’ grievance.” Johnson v General Drivers, Warehousemen and Helpers, Local Union No 89, 488 F2d 250, 257 (CA 6, 1973).
Affirmed. Costs to defendants.
This statement does not reflect statutory provisions not here in issue, for example those which prohibit discharge of an employee for engaging in lawful concerted labor activities, 29 USC §§ 158(a)(1) and (3); National Labor Relations Board v Fleetwood Trailer Co, Inc, 389 US 375; 88 S Ct 543; 19 L Ed 2d 614 (1967), National Labor Relations Board v Mackay Radio & Telegraph Co, 304 US 333; 58 S Ct 904; 82 L Ed 1381 (1938), or on account of race or sex, 42 USC § 2000e-2(aXl), Alexander v Gardner-Denver Co, 415 US 36; 94 S Ct 1011; 39 L Ed 2d 147 (1974), McDonnell Douglas Corp v Green, 411 US 792; 93 S Ct 1817; 36 L Ed 2d 668 (1973), or otherwise. | [
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V. J. Brennan, P. J.
Defendant Rufus J. Jones was convicted of delivery of heroin in violation of MCLA 335.341(1)(a); MSA 18.1070(41)(1)(a) by a jury in Jackson County Circuit Court on August 8, 1973, and was sentenced on August 17, 1973, to 12 to 20 years in prison. He appeals as of right.
An informant, Gary lie, arranged a meeting between defendant and Michael Robinson, an undercover agent for the Michigan State Police, to discuss the purchase of heroin. The meeting took place at Kresge’s store in downtown Jackson at about 5 p.m. on March 12, 1973. Trooper Robinson was equipped with a body transmitter to enable two detectives of the Michigan State Police to monitor the conversations on a receiver in a parking lot a short distance away. During the meeting, which involved the informant, Robinson, defendant and one Zaheer Syed, a heroin purchase was negotiated, money was exchanged, and the defendant left to procure the heroin while Trooper Robinson waited. During this period one of the surveillance team, Detective Paul Whitford, left the scene leaving Detective Stuart Hampton to continue the surveillance alone. The defendant returned about 7 p.m. He and Trooper Robinson entered an automobile operated by the defendant and the defendant handed over a substance which was subsequently identified as heroin.
On or about March 20, 1973, Trooper Robinson attempted to purchase a larger quantity of heroin from the defendant. The defendant was paid $250 for material which was later determined to be a non-controlled substance. Defendant was arrested on March 30, 1973, for the March 12, 1973, delivery. When the defendant encountered Trooper Robinson at the county jail and realized that Robinson was an undercover agent, he allegedly said, "when I get out of here you are a dead man”, or words to that effect. Trooper Robinson testified that he retorted by saying that if it hadn’t been for the rip off, the defendant would have been left on the street. On appeal, the defendant raises a number of issues, some of which merit discussion.
Defendant contends that it was reversible error for the trial court to refuse to indorse Detective Paul Whitford and Mr. Zaheer Syed as res gestae witnesses. Detective Whitford had assisted in the surveillance during the negotiation meeting at which Mr. Syed was present, but apparently had left prior to the actual delivery. Mr. Syed had not returned with the defendant for the delivery.
Determining what is to be considered as part of the res gestae is not without difficulty. The Michigan Supreme Court recognized the problem and discussed it at some length in People v Kayne, 268 Mich 186, 192; 255 NW 758 (1934).
" 'No inflexible rule has ever been and probably never can be adopted as to what is a part of the res gestae. It must be determined largely in each case by the peculiar facts and circumstances incident thereto; but it may be stated as a fixed rule that, included in the res gestae are the facts which so illustrate and characterize the principal fact as to constitute the whole one transaction, and render the latter necessary to exhibit the former in its proper effect.’ Chicago & Erie Ry Co v Cummings, 24 Ind App 192, 209 (53 NE 1026, 1031).”
In the case at bar the prosecutor chose to charge the defendant with delivery, and contended that the witnesses to the exchange of money some two hours prior to delivery were not res gestae witnesses. We disagree. The prosecutor could have produced proofs that the defendant came to a certain place and delivered a quantity of heroin to a certain party without going into any of the facts leading up to that transaction and made out a prima facie case of a violation of MCLA 335.341(1)(a); MSA 18.1070(41)(1)(a). Assuming without deciding that in that event the exchange of money prior to delivery of the substance would not constitute part of the res gestae, that is not the situation in the instant case. The prosecutor chose to put in evidence showing the negotiation and sale prior to delivery, and we think that he cannot then be heard to argue that he need not produce other witnesses to that event because those facts and circumstances are no part of the res gestae. See People v Skowronski, 61 Mich App 71; 232 NW2d 306 (1975). The question still remains, however, whether the court’s refusal to indorse the names of the two witnesses to the negotiation and sale constitutes reversible error.
The prosecutor may not select a part of a transaction to make out his case against a criminal defendant, leaving to the defendant the proof of the other part. Hurd v People, 25 Mich 405, 415 (1872). This rule seeks to protect the accused against suppression of evidence favorable to him and to give him the benefit of cross-examination. People v Raider, 256 Mich 131, 135; 239 NW 387 (1931). It is thus well established in this state that a prosecutor must indorse and call all res gestae witnesses, but the rule has a number of exceptions. See 1 Gillespie, Michigan Criminal Law & Procedure (2d Ed), § 343, pp 416-418.
The Michigan Supreme Court reversed a conviction in People v Castelli, 370 Mich 147; 121 NW2d 438 (1963), for the failure of the prosecution to call a res gestae witness to a robbery, where neither the defendant nor his counsel had heard of the witness until trial, and where there was a clear indication that the witness would give testimony favorable to the defendant. The Court said:
"Inasmuch as identity of the robber was a major issue in the case, the testimony of every witness who could describe him was of utmost importance. If, as the police report indicates, the description by one not called as a witness would be in conflict with that of those who did testify, defendant was entitled to the benefit thereof before the jury. Her testimony would not have been merely cumulative.” Castelli, supra, at 155.
In the case at bar, Detective Whitford has been indorsed originally by the prosecution, so there was no issue of the suppression of evidence. Further, there is every indication that his testimony would have been cumulative. Defendant contends that he was misled by the motion of the prosecutor to strike Whitford’s name as a res gestae witness, arguing that he did not oppose the motion because, as he understood an affidavit of Whitford, the witness was out of town during the entire transaction. We note that the affidavit in question was careful to state that the witness was out of town during the delivery, but we can see how this could have misled defense counsel. Even if we concede that defense counsel could have been misled by the prosecutor, however, such would require that we assume that defense counsel had not contacted Detective Whitford prior to trial to find out what he knew. We are unimpressed by defendant’s claim of unfair surprise.
Whatever may have been the maneuvers of prosecution or defense in this matter, it is clear that the defendant could not have been prejudiced by the failure of the prosecution to call the two res gestae witnesses. The defendant’s sole defense was entrapment, which he attempted to establish by showing repeated encounters with the informant who constantly "bugged” him about getting him some heroin. There was no dispute, however, about the facts of the March 12 meeting where the sale was negotiated. An exchange between the defendant and defense counsel on direct examination is illustrative of the posture of the defense.
”Q. Around what time was it that you arrived at Kresge’s?
"A About 5 minutes to 5.
"Q. Now, you heard the officers testify to the conversation. Is that what occurred?
"A Yes.
"Q. Is your recollection of that conversation any different?
"A No.
”Q. Who was present during that conversation?
"A Me, I met Michael Robinson at that conversation. Gary He, and Syed, Mr. Syed.
”Q. Who introduced you to Mr. Robinson?
"A Gary lie.
"Q. And, what did he say with regard to Mr. Robinson? How did he introduce him?
"A. He said 'this is my partner, the one that I have been talking about.’
”Q. Now, tell me what happened after — tell the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, what happened after the introduction.
"A Me and Mr. Robinson went to talking about what was the price for a spoon of heroin in Jackson, and how much he was willing to pay for it, and then I told him that I could get him a spoon for fifty dollars, and he told me that he couldn’t give me all the money, because the price was too steep, and they had just been ripped off about a week or two weeks before that. So, I poured out $17.00 out of my pocket, and told him if he give me $33.00 I would use my 17, and bring him back the spoon of heroin.
”Q. Did you in fact go upon this errand?
"A Yes.”
It is readily apparent that this encounter does not contain any allegations which bear on defendant’s theory of entrapment. Choosing to admit the details of the negotiation and sale, defendant places sole reliance on accounts leading up to that meeting to show that he was seduced into the act by the constant "bugging” of the informant. The two res gestae witnesses were not present on those occasions, and thus had nothing to contribute on that point.
" * * * it is the duty of the prosecuting attorney to call all eyewitnesses or witnesses present at the transaction, who can give direct evidence on any material branch of it, except where such testimony would be merely cumulative, or where proof of the fact about which such witness can testify to is unnecessary.” 2 Gillespie, Michigan Criminal Law & Procedure (2d Ed), § 605, p 782.
In People v Reynold, 20 Mich App 397; 174 NW2d 25 (1969), the defendant sought reversal of his conviction on the ground that a witness had been hospitalized and was thus unavailable for testimony. There this Court said,
"From the evidence presented, it does not appear that the unavailable testimony would in any way have aided defendant’s case. In all probability the testimony would only have been cumulative.” Reynold, supra, at 399.
We think the same is true in the case at bar.
The question of the indorsement of Zaheer Syed as a res gestae witness has one additional issue which merits discussion. Defendant contends that his defense counsel’s refusal to agree to an unqualified indorsement of Mr. Syed as a res gestae witness prior to trial was motivated by the fact that counsel also represented Mr. Syed on another charge, and that this conflict of interest was prejudicial to defendant. The record does show that defense counsel was influenced by his concern for Mr. Syed’s defense in a future trial when the question of Mr. Syed’s indorsement was discussed. Further, when defense counsel later moved to have Mr. Syed added as a res gestae witness, the court’s refusal seemed to be based in part on the court’s view that Mr. Syed was not a res gestae witness at all, and partly on the fact that counsel had opposed the indorsement in a pre-trial proceeding. As indicated with regard to Detective Whitford, we think Mr. Syed was a res gestae witness. Further, we think the trial court should have dealt with the conflict of interest question raised by defense counsel. Counsel moved the court to add Mr. Syed’s name and stated on the record that he had opposed this previously out of solicitude for Mr. Syed’s interests, since he represented Mr. Syed in a related matter. He did not state that he had determined that Mr. Syed would not be prejudiced after all.
A conflict of interest on the part of a defense attorney may deprive a defendant of his right to counsel. Glasser v United States, 315 US 60, 62 S Ct 457, 86 L Ed 680 (1941), People v Gardner, 385 Mich 392; 189 NW2d 229 (1971). Such will not be the case, however, unless the interests of one defendant so conflict with the interests of another defendant that prejudice results. People v Hilton, 26 Mich App 274, 276; 182 NW2d 29 (1970). Such prejudice is shown where evidence of a confession of one defendant is admitted into evidence in a joint trial thus implicating his co-defendant. People v Caffray, 62 Mich App 486; 233 NW2d 625 (1975). To warrant reversal, the prejudice shown must be actual, not merely speculative. People v Marshall, 53 Mich App 181, 191; 218 NW2d 847 (1974). These cases all involve joint representation in a single trial. The rule should apply a fortiori where there are separate trials and the question is whether one defendant might be prejudiced if he should be called to testify at the trial of the other. Such is the situation in the case at bar. We find that defendant could not have been prejudiced by the absence of testimony from Mr. Syed, so whatever error there might have been was harmless.
Defendant next contends that admission into evidence of Trooper Robinson’s testimony that defendant made a threat on his life when he realized that Robinson was an undercover agent, and the subsequent use of this testimony in closing argument by the prosecutor to discredit the defendant’s testimony, was reversible error. We disagree. Defendant is correct in admitting on appeal that his testimony of Robinson’s statement that defendant would still be on the street if he hadn’t ripped him off was immaterial, because it did not bear on the theory of entrapment. All the circumstances upon which defendant relied to show entrapment in this case occurred before the "rip off”, and could not have a motive for entrapping defendant. Thus, the only purpose we can see for defense counsel going into this matter at all was to discredit Robinson. Defendant argues, in effect, that the jury should have heard about Robinson’s statement to defendant, but they should not have heard the exact nature of defendant’s statement which prompted Robinson’s retort. We think the trial judge was correct in ruling that he could not have half of the conversation in evidence and rule the other half inadmissible. People v Warren, 122 Mich 504, 522; 81 NW 360 (1899). If defendant expected to prejudice the prosecution’s case by attempting to show that he had been arrested because of a personal vendetta of Trooper Robinson, he should have been prepared to have the Trooper tell his side of the story, and then have the trier of fact decide the question of credibility.
The prosecutor did, as defendant contends, make reference to this exchange a number of times. We have carefully read the record to ascertain whether improper use was made thereof. We find that there was not. The prosecutor made a vigorous and proper argument to persuade the jury that Robinson was more believable than defendant. Further, even if we found error, such would not justify reversal without a showing of prejudice to the defendant which clearly does not appear in this case. People v Allen, 351 Mich 535; 88 NW2d 433 (1958), People v Dalton, 34 Mich App 79; 190 NW2d 735 (1971).
Defendant further contends that the trial judge erred reversibly in his instruction to the jury on entrapment. Defendant’s argument in this regard is premised on our Supreme Court’s decision in People v Turner, 390 Mich 7; 210 NW2d 336 (1973). This Court has consistently held Turner not to be retroactive, People v Koehler, 54 Mich App 624; 221 NW2d 398 (1974), People v Tinskey, 53 Mich App 667; 220 NW2d 53 (1974), People v Gaines, 53 Mich App 443; 220 NW2d 76 (1974), and our Supreme Court has recently reached the same decision in People v Auer, 393 Mich 667; 227 NW2d 528 (1975). Defendant’s trial in the case at bar took place prior to the decisional date of Turner. Under the above decision, therefore, defendant is not entitled to the benefit of the new rule announced in Turner. We therefore find defendant’s claim to be without merit.
Defendant’s contention that the district court lacked jurisdiction to bind defendant over for trial in circuit court is answered by the recent decision of our Supreme Court in People v Milton, 393 Mich 234; 224 NW2d 266 (1974), which decided the issue adversely to the position espoused by defendant.
We have considered defendant’s other contentions of error and find them to be without merit.
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Allen, J.
This is a case of first impression arising out of defendant’s refusal to defend the plaintiffs in a prior civil assault and battery action. Plaintiffs, against whom the jury in the prior action had reported a verdict of $12,500, filed suit February 6, 1974. Defendant countered with a motion for summary judgment. Following a hearing the trial judge rendered an opinion granting the motion and an appropriate order was entered August 14, 1974. Plaintiffs appeal the granting of the motion as of right.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., June 17, 1971, William Byrnes, a minor, was walking on highway M-107 in Ontonagon County at a point approximately 6/10 of a mile from the junction of highway M-107. A vehicle owned and driven by plaintiff Rangas and occupied by plaintiff Sharkey with Ronald E. Giddis and John G. Giddis, pulled over on the right shoulder of the highway opposite from the point where Byrnes was walking. Some or all of the occupants of the vehicle exited the car and proceeded to assault and batter Byrnes who ran out into the highway where he was struck by a truck driven by one Henry J. Bode. Subsequently, a civil action was brought on behalf of Byrnes against the four occupants of the Rangas vehicle and against Bode, the driver of the truck. The complaint in that lawsuit alleged that the Giddises, William Sharkey and Donald Rangas:
"got out of the car at or near the junction of highways M-107 and M-64 and beat up the minor plaintiff, causing or contributing to the injuries hereintofore set forth in said complaint; said assault and battery was intentionally and negligently administered and most severe”.
The jury returned a verdict against the Giddises for assault and battery and against Donald Rangas and William Sharkey for aiding and/or abetting the Giddises in an assault and battery.
At the time of the accident, plaintiff Rangas was insured with the defendant under the terms of a family automobile policy. Rangas demanded that defendant defend him in the prior suit. Defendant Aetna refused to defend either Rangas or Sharkey.
Two sections of the family automobile policy issued to Kangas are relevant to this appeal. Liability coverage is defined as follows:
"To pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of:
"A. bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death resulting therefrom, hereinafter called 'bodily injury’ sustained by any person;
* * *
arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the owned automobile or any non-owned automobile, and the Company shall defend any suit alleging such bodily injury or property damage and seeking damages which are payable under the terms of this policy, even if any of the allegations of the suit are groundless, false or fraudulent; * * * .” (Emphasis supplied.)
Under exclusions, the policy reads as follows:
"This policy does not apply under the Liability Coverage:
"(b) to bodily injury or property damage caused intentionally by or at the direction of the Insured.”
In inverse order to their appearance in the policy, we examine whether the above provisions justify the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant. Before doing so it will be helpful to state the general rules governing our analysis.
The obligation of a liability insurance company to defend an action brought against its insured by a third party is to be determined by the allegations of the complaint in such third party action. 50 ALR2d 458, § 4, pp 465-466, Guerdon Indus tries, Inc v Fidelity & Casualty Co, 371 Mich 12, 18; 123 NW2d 143 (1963), Aetna Casualty & Surety Co v State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co, 16 Mich App 658, 659; 168 NW2d 465 (1969). In some jurisdictions, including Michigan, this obligation has been extended to include the duty to defend if the insurer knows that a true but unpleaded fact or set of facts would bring the claim within the coverage of the policy. Judge DeMascio, in Transport Insurance Co v Michigan Mutual Liability Insurance Co, 340 F Supp 670, 676 (ED Mich, 1972), stated the rule as follows:
"But, this general rule is not without exception as defendant would have us believe.
" 'It is a general rule that the duty of the insurer to defend an action against an insured is to be determined from the allegations of the complaint, Lee v Aetna Casualty & Surety Co, 178 F2d 750 (CA 2, 1949); Anno, 51 ALR2d 461, unless the insurer knows that the true, but unpleaded, factual basis for the claims brings them within the coverage of the policy. ’ Albuquerque Gravel Products Co v American Emp Ins Co, 282 F2d 218, 220 (CA 10, 1960), (emphasis added).”
The distinction between the general rule and the more broadened rule becomes significant when one compares the third party complaint in the prior action (which alleged only that the present plaintiffs with the other occupants of the car "got out of the car * * * and beat up the minor plaintiff”) with the first amended complaint in the present appeal (which states that Kangas sat in the car all during the incident and Sharkey stood near the car during the scuffle). Under the broadened rule, plaintiffs contend that the exclusion clause does not constitute a defense because under the actual facts, as distinguished from the facts pled in the original complaint, the bodily injury of Byrnes was not "caused intentionally by or at the direction of the Insured”. Similarly, plaintiffs argue that paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of the amended complaint, noted below, contain facts showing that the assault and battery arose out of the use and operation of the vehicle. In rebuttal, the insurer notes that at the prior trial, the jury was given a special question reading:
"Did William Sharkey and Donald Kangas aid and/or abet Ronald Lee Giddis in an assault and battery on William Byrnes?”
to which the jury found in the affirmative. On this basis defendant argues the plaintiffs acted intentionally and the exclusion clause applies as a defense. Further, the insurer argues that even if one accepts the facts as pleaded in the amended bill of complaint as accurate, the use of the automobile was so incidental to the assault that the trial court was fully justified in finding that, as a matter of law, the third party’s injuries did not arise out of the ownership, maintenance and use of the insured vehicle.
Although the trial court did not rely upon the exception clause in reaching its decision, this Court concludes the exception clause is a defense to plaintiffs claim. Once the jury in the prior suit responded affirmatively to the special question, it found that plaintiffs aided or abetted in an act of intention. Assault and battery is an intentional act. Tinkler v Richter, 295 Mich 396, 401-402; 295 NW 201 (1940). We reject plaintiffs’ argument that the presence of the word "negligently” in the complaint in the prior action removes the cause of action from the exception clause which refers only to intentional as distinguished from negligently inflicted injuries. We know of no such thing as negligent assault. Prosser, Torts (4th ed), p 41; Restatement of Torts 2d, § 21. In Young v Morrall, 359 Mich 180, 187; 101 NW2d 358 (1960), our Supreme Court said:
"The stipulated facts of an accidental or negligent injury inflicted by the principal defendant, while she was the owner and operator of a tavern and while the policy of insurance was in effect, precludes the defense of assault and battery. The question of intent and/or wilfulness is an element of assault and battery. Tinkler v Richter, 295 Mich 396; 295 NW 201 (1940), Cogswell v Kells, 293 Mich 541; 292 NW 483 (1940). This element has béen stipulated out of the case by garnishee defendant in stipulating that Mrs. Morrall was not intentionally pointing the gun at plaintiff’s decedent.” (Emphasis supplied.)
In Kraus v Allstate Insurance Co, 379 F2d 443 (CA 3, 1967), defendant insurance company refused to defend its assured in a suit brought by a pedestrian who was killed when the assured deliberately killed himself and his wife by dynamiting his car. The insurance policy contained an exclusion clause, the wording of which was identical to the exclusion clause in the instant case. The court held that because the insured’s action was clearly intentional, defendant insurer was relieved from defending because of the exclusion clause. However, we do not base our decision on the exclusion clause alone.
Let us assume, arguendo, that because Kangas sat in his car during the assault and was not directly a participant thereto, he does not come within the rule of Kraus, supra, and accordingly the exception clause does not constitute a defense. Let us further assume that the facts pled in the amended complaint in this appeal are true and were known by defendant-insurer. The issue then becomes whether, under the facts as pled, the assault upon the third party Byrnes arose out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the owned automobile as those terms are used in the policy in this case. We find no decision in Michigan directly construing the phrase "arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a vehicle”, but case law on the subject from other jurisdictions is voluminous. 12 Couch, Insurance 2d, §§ 45:60-45:80, pp 149-163, contains an extensive analysis of the issue. Where the injury inflicted is by an assault by an insured on a third party or by a passenger in assured’s vehicle, the great weight of authority is that the injury does not arise out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the automobile.
“When the insured, through irritation or anger, strikes and injures another person, it has been held that such injury does not arise from the use of the insured automobile.” [Citing National Mutual Casualty Co v Clark, 193 Miss 27; 7 So 2d 800 (1942).] 12 Couch, Insurance 2d, § 45:78, p 162.
"It has been held that an insurer under an indemnity policy by which it agreed to pay any sums for which the insured might become obligated because of injuries resulting from the ownership, operation, or maintenance of the insured’s buses was not liable for an amount paid by the insured in settlement of a claim of a passenger assaulted by a fellow passenger.” [Citing Green Bus Lines, Inc v Ocean Accident & Guaranty Corp, 257 App Div 851; 12 NYS2d 420, aff'd 282 NY 104; 25 NE2d 865 (1940).] 12 Couch, Insurance 2d, § 45:79, p 163.
Where the injury is the result of an assault or results from an action which has overtones of deliberateness, the courts have generally held that injury did not arise out of the ownership or use of the vehicle insured. This is true whether it is the assured himself who commits the act or whether it is passengers in his vehicle who inflict the injury. Several cases are illustrative. In Speziale v Kohnke, 194 So 2d 485 (La App, 1967), plaintiffs sued defendants for injury resulting from the throwing of fireworks by defendants from a moving vehicle. Summary judgment was granted in favor of Central Mutual Insurance Company and Government Employees Insurance Company, who had issued two automobile policies. The insuring companies claimed that the injuries did not arise out of the use of the insured automobiles. The court agreed, saying:
"As with the Tucker case, it is obvious that this case does not involve an 'arising out of the use of an automobile’ as reasonably contemplated by that clause. That the circumstances here are not within the clause is accentuated by the fact that the act of throwing a firecracker was a voluntary, deliberate act on the part of the automobile passenger. This factor, along with the entire set of circumstances, removes the connexity of the incident with the use of an automobile to the realm of insignificance.” 194 So 2d at 487.
Conceding that the automobile was not the proximate cause of Byrnes’ injuries, plaintiffs argue that only a "but for” cause is required. But for the automobile, plaintiffs and the Giddises would not have been at the scene of the accident. But for the automobile, Byrnes would not have been asked if he wished a ride. But for the invitation to a ride, Byrnes and passenger Giddis would not have argued with the resulting assault and battery on Byrnes. This remote type of causation was soundly rejected in Richland Knox Mutual Insurance Co v Kallen, 376 F2d 360 (CA 6, 1967). In that case, one Parris was driving his automobile when one Kallen, a passenger seated in the rear, attempted to throw a lighted firecracker out of the car window which was closed. The firecracker exploded within the car causing other firecrackers in the back seat to ignite and explode, resulting in personal injuries to the second passenger in the back seat. Parris carried an automobile insurance policy with American Policyholders Insurance Company. Kallen was insured under a homeowners policy issued by Richland Knox Mutual Insurance Company. Richland Knox brought a declaratory judgment action against both Kallen and American Policyholders Insurance Company, claiming that by reason of a special exclusion clause contained in the policy there was no coverage enuring to Kallen’s benefit. The clause referred to was a provision that the policy did not apply to bodily injury in the ownership, maintenance, operation or use of an automobile. Judge Freeman of the district court held that coverage existed under the homeowners liability policy. Upon appeal, the court said:
"In rendering his opinion from the bench, Judge Freeman stated: * * * 'The fact that Kallen was riding in the vehicle was not, in and of itself, a cause of the accident. The cause of the accident was the lighting of the firecracker by Kallen, followed by his unsuccessful attempt to throw the firecracker out of the car window. The lighting and the throwing of the firecracker were not a causal result of Kallen’s use of the car. His use of the vehicle had no necessary connection with the accident. Kallen’s failure to throw the lighted firecracker away from the girl sitting next to him before it exploded was the cause of the injuries to the girl. The location of the parties in the car was purely incidental.
" 'Thus, this Court holds it cannot be said that the accident arose out of Kallen’s use of an automobile within the meaning of the special exclusion in the policy.’
"It is concluded that the District Court properly disposed of this issue. As Judge Freeman astutely noted, 'certainly not every tortious act occurring inside a vehicle * * * the lighting of a firecracker inside a car does not involve the use of a car, any more than lighting a firecracker during business hours is a business pursuit.’ ” 376 F2d at 364-365.
A case similar to the instant case is Government Employees Insurance Co v Melton, 357 F Supp 416 (D SC, 1972). Seven passengers were riding in the rear of a truck returning from a school dance and driven by the son of the insured. On the way back, the truck stopped at a filling station. While the truck was stopped, some of the boys threw soft drink bottles out of the truck, striking two bystanders who brought suit. The insured had given permission to his son to drive the truck and was covered by a standard insurance policy issued by the Government Employees Insurance Company which covered bodily injuries "arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the owned automobile”. Four of the boys pleaded guilty to assault. The insurance company commenced a declaratory judgment action to have the court interpret the insurance coverage. The court held that the insurer was not responsible because there was insufficient causal relationship between the use of the vehicle and the accident in question.
"The vehicle in question was not used for the purpose for which it was designed, for there can be no realistic conclusion that it was designed for the purpose of allowing, permitting, or encouraging bottles, or other injurious matter to be thrown therefrom. Insurance Co of North America v Royal Indemnity Co, 429 F2d 1014, 1017 (CA 6, 1970). In the case before this court the causal relation between the use of the vehicle and the incident in question simply does not exist. Plaxco v United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co, 252 SC 437; 166 SE2d 799 (1969), Kraus v Allstate Insurance Co, 379 F2d 443 (CA 3, 1967), General Insurance Co of America v Western Casualty & Surety Co, 334 F2d 913 (CA 9, 1964).” 357 F Supp at 419.
The facts in the appeal before us and the case cited above are strikingly similar. In each, (a) the vehicle was parked when the accident occurred, (b) the driver did not directly participate in the tort, (c) the tort was committed by passengers, (d) some of the persons committing the tort either pled guilty or were found in a court action to have committed an assault.
In St Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co v Thomas, 273 So 2d 117 (Fla, 1973), Terri Thomas sustained severe personal injuries when a Renault automobile in which she was riding as a passenger went out of control when it struck a pop bottle thrown out of the window by one Roig who was driving his father’s car. Thomas obtained a judgment against Roig in a prior suit. Roig’s father was covered under a standard homeowners policy issued by St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company which, as in the case on appeal before us, refused to defend Roig. The homeowners policy contained an exclusion clause that bodily injury sustained in the ownership, maintenance, operation or use of an automobile was not within the coverage of the policy. Thomas then brought suit against St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company and obtained judgment. Upon appeal, the judgment was affirmed, the appellate court stating that even though the tortious act was committed in a moving vehicle it did not arise out of the use of the automobile.
"The words 'arising out of have been viewed as words of much broader significance than 'caused by’, and have been said to mean 'originating from’, 'having its origin in’, 'growing out of or 'flowing from’, or in short, 'incident to’ or 'having connection with’ the use of the car. Schmidt v Utilities Insurance Co, 353 Mo 213; 182 SW2d 181 (1944), National Indemnity Co v Corbo, 248 So 2d 238 (Fla App, 1971). Even if we were to apply to this case the broader test of 'arising out of, we have the view that Roig’s liability did not arise out of the use of the automobile. His location in the automobile at the time of the occurrence was fortuitous, merely the situs of his physical being at the time. His liability arose out of negligently throwing the bottle in the roadway. It would not have been altered or affected had he in a similar manner negligently thrown a bottle into the roadway while seated in a car parked on the shoulder of the road, or while standing outside of the car, or while standing on an overpass above the roadway.” 273 So 2d at 120-121.
In Mason v Celina Mutual Insurance Co, 161 Colo 442; 423 P2d 24, 25 (1967), four high school students had driven to the high school to target practice with firearms. While the car was parked, one of the passengers was toying with a pistol when it accidentally discharged, killing another passenger. In holding that the injury did not arise out of the operation, maintenance or use of the vehicle, the court said:
"Here no causal connection between the discharge of the pistol and the stopped vehicle was shown, as is required to afford coverage under such a policy. See Anno, 89 ALR2d 150. Even though in a technical sense it might be argued that Donald was using the vehicle at the time the shot was fired, for he was sitting in it, such a use, however, is not the type of use contemplated by the policy in question where the injury would have to be one originating from the use of the vehicle as such. 7 Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice, § 4317, at 144. In Appleman at page 146 it is stated that: T. The accident must have arisen out of the inherent nature of the automobile, as such’ in order to bring one within the terms of such a policy.” 423 P2d 24, 25.
In National Union Fire Insurance Co of Pittsburgh v Bruecks, 179 Neb 642; 139 NW2d 821 (1966), a firearm was discharged while the car was in motion. The injured passenger claimed coverage under two automobile policies but the court held there was no coverage, stating:
"The contracting parties plainly contemplated an accident immediately identifiable with the ownership, maintenance, or use of the vehicle. It does not appear to us, however, that the occurrence here will fit the plain, ordinary meaning of those categories within any reasonable interpretation of them.” 179 Neb at 651; 139 NW2d at 827.
See also Brenner v Aetna Insurance Co, 8 Ariz App 272; 445 P2d 474, 478 (1968), where a passenger in a moving vehicle was shot by another passenger in the vehicle who was fooling around with a pistol — the court concluding that even though the vehicle was in motion, was being used on a hunting trip and both parties were in the car, the incident did not arise out of the use or ownership of the vehicle.
In deference to appellant we concede that there are some opinions holding to the contrary. The leading case is Westchester Fire Insurance Co v Continental Insurance Co, 126 NJ Super 29; 312 A2d 664 (1973), involving liability under both an automobile and homeowner insurance policy when a passenger threw a piece of wooden molding with a nail in it out of the rear window striking a bicyclist above the left eye. The court, noting that the act of throwing or dropping objects from moving vehicles is not such an uncommon phenomenon in our mobile society as to be unanticipated, held the automobile insurer liable. In effect, the court adopted a foreseeability test, stating that the negligent throwing of objects from a moving vehicle was a sufficiently foreseeable consequence of an automobile’s use as to come within the terms of the policy. A similar result is found in Home Indemnity Co v Lively, 353 F Supp 1191 (WD Okla, 1972), where a passenger in insured’s car negligently but not intentionally threw a pop bottle from a moving vehicle; State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co v Partridge, 10 Cal 3d 94; 109 Cal Rptr 811; 514 P2d 123 (1973), where a gun was accidentally discharged as insured drove his vehicle off the paved portion of the roadway in pursuit of a running jackrabbit; Wyoming Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co v State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co 467 F2d 990 (CA 10, 1972), where a passenger in insured’s car negligently threw a vodka bottle out of a moving car; Valdes v Smalley, 303 So 2d 342 (Fla App, 1974), where defendant teenagers, after being engaged in an altercation with other teenage youths in a restaurant parking lot, arranged to meet at another location to settle the score, drove to the second location where another altercation ensued during which defendant driver deliberately drove at a high speed close to the other youths as his passenger intentionally threw a beer mug out of the window at the opposing group of boys.
Granting that the opinions cited as contrary above are in some respects inconsistent with the holding referred to earlier, they are distinguishable from the appeal now before us. In the instant case, the act causing the injuy occurred while the vehicle was parked and when the alleged tortfeasor was out of the car. In the decision cited as contrary, the tort occurred while the car was in motion and while the tortfeasor was in the vehicle. In the contrary opinions, Smalley excepted, the act causing the injury was one of negligence rather than an act of deliberateness. In Smalley, which by reason of the gang fight has similarities to the instant case, the automobile was actively used to deliberately drive to the scene of the fight and then was intentionally used to cause the injurious act. Further, the case is distinguishable because the court implied that had the altercation occurred outside of the vehicle, an opposite holding might have been reached. Lastly, while the fore seeability test may rationally lead to a conclusion that in the normal use of an automobile one may expect objects to be thrown from the window, it does not lend itself to a conclusion that intentional assaults may be anticipated. In summary, we conclude that while the automobile need not be the proximate cause of the injury, there still must be a causal connection between the injury sustained and the ownership, maintenance or use of the automobile and which causal connection is more than incidental, fortuitous or but for. The injury must be foreseeably identifiable with the normal use, maintenance and ownership of the vehicle. We do not find such a causal connection in this case. The injury did not occur in the vehicle or while it was in motion. Assaults and fisticuffs are not normal foreseeable occurrences in the use of a vehicle. The fact that the automobile came upon the pedestrian was purely fortuitous and incidental. The use of the vehicle had no connection with the unexpected subsequent altercation between the passenger Giddises and the pedestrian. Viewing the incident in its entirety, we find that the injury did not arise out of the ownership, use and operation of the automobile as those terms are used within the policy.
Affirmed, costs to defendant.
Judge DeMascio’s decision was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals which, in Transport Insurance Co v Michigan Mutual Liability Insurance Co, 496 F2d 265 (CA 6, 1974), accepted the rule as stated above but reversed in part because the facts were also known to the opposing insurance carrier.
Paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of the amended complaint read as follows:
"3. That someone in the aforementioned car asked William Byrnes where he was going, to which he replied, Tm going down to Silver Sands,’ and further that William Byrnes was asked if he wanted a ride.
"4. That William Byrnes walked over to the car as WILLIAM SHARKEY and Ronald Lee Giddis got out of the car and further that Ronald Lee Giddis struck William Byrnes, William Byrnes pushed Ronald Lee Giddis, and William Byrnes ran out into the highway where he was struck by a truck driven by Henry J. Bode.
"5. That DONALD KANGAS sat in the car all during this incident which occurred over a brief space of time and WILLIAM SHARKEY stood near the car during the incident.”
The above case contains footnotes giving an excellent summary of cases holding an injury did not "arise out of’ the use of an automobile as well as cases holding the injury or liability was one arising out of the use of a vehicle.
For example, it is difficult to distinguish the holding in Westchester, Home Indemnity Co, or Wyoming Farm Bureau with the holdings in St Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co, or the holdings in Partridge, supra, with the decisions in Bruecks and Brenner, supra. See also footnote 3.
"In our view, the tragic occurrence in this case might very well have been different had the car been standing still, or had Spradley been standing outside of the vehicle; perhaps the defendants in this case would not be facing civil liability for a wrongful death had their car not been proceeding at 40 miles per hour.” 303 So 2d at 344-345. | [
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N. J. Kaufman, J.
On May 31, 1973, defendant was convicted by a Berrien County Circuit Court jury of possession and control of a controlled substance, heroin, in violation of MCLA 335.341(4)(a); MSA 18.1070(41)(4)(a). He was subsequently sentenced to a term of from 2-1/2 to 4 years and now appeals of right.
On appeal, defendant raises several claims of error. Our holding on the first of these, that the police had no probable cause to arrest defendant, renders unnecessary any discussion of the other claims. Prior to trial, defendant made a timely motion for suppression of evidence and for a quashing of the information based on this claim. This motion was denied. This Court denied defendant’s application for interlocutory appeal of this denial.
Defendant’s conviction arose out of his arrest by the Benton Township police at about 1 a.m. on February 28, 1971. The events leading up to the arrest were precipitated by a telephone call which the police received at about 8:20 p.m. on February 27, 1971.
According to police witnesses, the caller stated that he had important information for the police chief, Paul Farris, but refused to give his name or describe the nature of the information. The caller was then given a number at which Chief Farris could be reached. The informant called Chief Farris, again refused to reveal his identity, and, according to Farris, told him that:
"Ulysus [sic] Walker had gone to Detroit for a load of dope and that he would be returning to the Benton Harbor area in approximately five hours and that he would be going to an address on Superior Street when he returned and that he would have with him two females and that he would be driving a bronze-colored Cadillac, four-door, with Indiana license plates, or a black vinyl over yellow ’69 Olds, four-door, with Michigan license plates.”
Farris testified that the informant also indicated that the cars were owned by one Lucille Gayten who lived at the Superior Street address.
Chief Farris then relayed the information to an Officer Lester at the police station and told him to stop and arrest defendant. He ordered Lester to call the state police and ask them to look for either the Cadillac or Oldsmobile and, if either were sighted, to notify the Benton Township police. Lester did so and also detérmined the license number of the Oldsmobile and the fact that it was owned by Lucille Gayten. Officers went to Lucille Gayten’s residence where they saw the Cadillac but not the Oldsmobile.
At this time, the police began a surveillance of the route which they felt defendant would use, notwithstanding the fact that the state police never informed them that the Oldsmobile was, in fact, returning from Detroit. At about 1 a.m., approximately the time which the informant had predicted, the police spotted the Oldsmobile. Upon stopping the car, the officers advised the five occupants that they were all under arrest for possession of narcotics. Charges against the other four were later dropped.
The officers then ordered the occupants out of the car. According to police testimony, defendant then jumped out of the right rear seat and "made a throwing motion”. The arresting officer testified that he then saw a "white powdery substance flying through the wind”. Despite the fact that the wind was blowing at about 30 m.p.h., a substantial amount of the powder landed near the car and produced a "2-1/2, 3 inches wide strip, * * * 14 to 18 inches” in length. This substance was protected from the wind, scraped up by police, and later determined to be heroin.
We find that the defendant’s arrest was improper. The facts possessed by the police at the time they stopped the car and arrested defendant did not give them probable cause to make the arrest.
The police did not obtain an arrest warrant. Under MCLA 764.15(c); MSA 28.874(c):
"Any peace officer may, without a warrant, arrest a person * * * [w]hen a felony in fact has been committed and he has reasonable cause to believe that such person has committed it”.
Reasonable, or probable, cause stems from some fact, circumstance, or information which creates an honest belief in the mind of a reasonable and prudent man; that is, there must be good reason to believe that the person arrested has committed a felony. People v Langston, 57 Mich App 666; 226 NW2d 686 (1975). Probable cause may be based only on those facts in existence at the time of the arrest, not on any facts discovered after the arrest. Id., People v Major, 34 Mich App 405; 191 NW2d 494 (1971).
The Supreme Court, in People v Charles D Walker, 385 Mich 565; 189 NW2d 234 (1971), in discussing cases where police base their probable cause on an informer’s tip, stated:
"From both the Michigan and Federal cases, it is clear that while police officers may proceed upon the basis of information received from an informer and need not disclose the identity of the informer, in order to establish probable cause there must be a showing that the information was something more than a mere suspicion, a tip, or anonymous telephone call, and that it came from a source upon which the officers had a right to rely. ” (Footnote omitted.) (Emphasis supplied.) Id. at 575.
When probable cause is based substantially on an unidentified informant’s tip, the police must be able to detail (1) articulable facts which provide the basis for considering the informant reliable and (2) the underlying circumstances on which the informant based his tip. Aguilar v Texas, 378 US 108; 84 S Ct 1509; 12 L Ed 2d 723 (1964), McCray v Illinois, 386 US 300; 87 S Ct 1056; 18 L Ed 2d 62, reh den 386 US 1042; 87 S Ct 1474; 18 L Ed 2d 616 (1967). See also People v Daniels, 60 Mich App 458; 231 NW2d 386 (1975). Important facts are those which "purport to relate the personal observations of the informant” and "prior events within the [police’s] own knowledge”. United States v Harris, 403 US 573, 581; 91 S Ct 2075; 29 L Ed 2d 723 (1971).
Here, the police knew nothing about the informant or about the basis for his tip. In Spinelli v United States, 393 US 410; 89 S Ct 584; 21 L Ed 2d 637 (1969), the Supreme Court held that, in a case where the police have no information about the informant or about the basis for his tip, he may still be considered reliable if his information is stated with such particularity and detail that, "in common experience [it] may be recognized as having been obtained in a reliable way”. Id. at pp 417-418. The Court deemed the detailed information provided by the informant in Draper v United States, 358 US 307; 79 S Ct 329; 3 L Ed 2d 327 (1959), a "suitable benchmark”. Spinelli, supra, at 416.
In Draper, supra, the tip was supplied by an informant who had provided reliable information in the past. The informant told police that defendant would be coming by train from Chicago to Denver with "three ounces of heroin”. He gave police a detailed physical description (involving height, weight, hair color and complexion), specific arrival time, specific description of the clothes defendant would be wearing, and he stated that defendant would be carrying "a tan zipper bag” and habitually "walked real fast”. The Spinelli court stressed that two factors in Draper made the tip reliable enough to provide probable cause. First, the information had the kind of details which could be provided only by one intimately connected with defendant’s operation. Second, independent police work corroborated much of the informant’s tip. The Court especially noted the police surveillance of the Chicago to Denver train and their corroboration of the informant’s description of defendant before they arrested him.
We find that, compared to the tip in Draper, the informant’s tip in the instant case was not of sufficient inherent reliability to provide probable cause for defendant’s arrest. First, unlike the proven reliability of the informant in Draper, the one here was completely unknown to police. Where the informer has not proven himself reliable, his information must be all the more specific, the more self-verifying. It is not so specific here. We cannot find the informer’s information to be of such "minute particularity” as could only have been obtained by personal observation. The Draper informant knew intimate details about defendant’s operation. The informant here did not. He did not provide such details as which car would be used, who would be accompanying defendant, or where the narcotics would be carried. The informant here gave no information which would indicate a familiarity with defendant himself. Chief Farris did not ask the informant to give a physical description of defendant, any personal habits, or any other facts which would show that the informant knew defendant personally. The informant offered no such description. The information given was, as was the information given in Spinelli, the type of "report that could easily have been obtained from an offhand remark heard at a neighborhood bar”. Spinelli, supra, at 417.
Second, the police did not adequately corroborate the informant’s tip. Plaintiff claims that sufficient corroboration was supplied by the facts that: (1) the Oldsmobile was not at Lucille Gayten’s house, (2) the car was spotted near an interstate highway which led to Detroit at about the time predicted by the informant, (3) defendant had been under investigation by the police and had, two years earlier, been convicted of possession of marijuana. Virtually the same facts were considered inadequate corroboration by the Supreme Court in Spinelli where a search warrant was held to have been issued without probable cause. There, an anonymous informant, whom the police considered reliable, told police that defendant was running a gambling operation at a specific address and was using specific telephone numbers to handle bets. The Government claimed that the tip was corroborated by the facts that (1) the FBI had, on several occasions, tailed defendant to an apartment, (2) a check of telephone records indicated that the apartment contained phones with the numbers specified by the informant and (3) defendant was known to the agents to be a bookmaker. The Spinelli Court stated that defendant’s trips to the apartment and the presence of the telephone numbers there contained "no suggestion of criminal conduct when taken by themselves — and they are not endowed with an aura of suspicion by virtue of the informer’s tip”. Spinelli, supra, at 418. Nor could the bare assertion that defendant was a bookmaker provide corroboration.
Similarly, the corroborative evidence offered here is essentially neutral and cannot be made to look suspicious by the informant’s tip. The informant need not have had intimate familiarity with defendant to know what kind of cars Lucille Gay-ten owned. Any number of innocent explanations could be given for the absence of one of her cars. The fact that the car was near an interstate highway does not mean that it was returning from Detroit. Indeed, the state police had specifically failed to provide this corroboration. The police "investigation” of defendant is also insufficient. At the preliminary examination, the police gave no details of such an investigation. In the absence of such details, the bare statement that defendant had been investigated provides no additional corroboration to the unknown informant’s tip. Moreover, the fact that defendant, two years earlier, had been convicted for possession of marijuana cannot serve to corroborate information indicating that he is dealing in a much stronger drug, heroin.
Plaintiff also claims that the seizure by police of the heroin which defendant allegedly attempted to throw away was legitimate because it was in "plain view”. We must reject this claim. For the "plain view” doctrine to apply, the police must see the contraband from a place where they have a right to be. People v Tisi, 384 Mich 214, 218; 180 NW2d 801 (1970), Harris v United States, 390 US 234; 88 S Ct 992; 19 L Ed 2d 1067 (1968). To properly be in such a place, the initial intrusion must be otherwise legitimate. Coolidge v New Hampshire, 403 US 443, 465; 91 S Ct 2022; 29 L Ed 2d 564 (1971). Because the police here did not have probable cause to arrest defendant, the intrusion was not legitimate, and, therefore, the plan view doctrine is inapplicable.
The trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to suppress was, therefore, in error. Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
The Court held that the question of probable cause for a warrant-less arrest involves an analysis "basically similar to that demanded of a magistrate when he considers whether a search warrant should issue”. Spinelli v United States, 393 US 410, 417 fn 5; 89 S Ct 584; 21 L Ed 2d 637 (1969).
This holding does not, as defendant requests, require us to order the dismissal of charges against defendant. People v Burrill, 391 Mich 124; 214 NW2d 823 (1974). | [
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Allen, P. J.
Plaintiffs instituted suit in the Court of Claims against the State Highway Department and the St. Clair County Road Commission on June 3, 1974, seeking damages for injury sustained by William Hanger in an automobile collision on October 28, 1973 in St. Clair County allegedly occasioned by defective road maintenance. MCLA 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102). The Court of Claims granted the State Highway Department’s motion for accelerated judgment on the grounds that plaintiffs had not complied with the six-month notice provision of the Court of Claims Act, MCLA 600.6431(3); MSA 27A.6431(3), and plaintiffs appeal.
Plaintiffs maintain that the court erroneously based accelerated judgment on their failure to comply with an unconstitutional notice provision. Tamulion v State Waterways Commission, 50 Mich App 60; 212 NW2d 828 (1973). Alternatively, plaintiffs forcefully rely on the recent ruling in Hobbs v State Highway Department, 58 Mich App 189; 227 NW2d 286 (1975), that the notice provision within the general highway statute exclusively controls cases of the instant stature, and said notice requirement remains constitutionally void under the Supreme Court opinion in Reich v State Highway Department, 386 Mich 617; 194 NW2d 700 (1972). For reasons which will become evident, this Court opines that the six-month notice provision of the Court of Claims Act applies to the instant plaintiffs, and is not constitutionally infirm. We conclude, moreover, that the Supreme Court decision in Carver v McKernan, 390 Mich 96; 211 NW2d 24 (1973), dictates that the accelerated judgment be set aside, and the cause remanded for a hearing to ascertain whether the State Highway Department was prejudiced by plaintiffs’ failure to give notice.
The instant action was dismissed because plaintiffs failed to comply with the following notice provision in the Court of Claims Act:
"In all actions for property damage or personal injuries, claimant shall file with the clerk of the court of claims a notice of intention to file a claim or the claim itself within 6 months following the happening of the event giving rise to the cause of action.” MCLA 600.6431(3); MSA 27A.6431(3).
Plaintiffs’ theory of liability against the State Highway Department is based on § 2 of the sovereign immunity statute, 1964 PA 170, which reads in pertinent part:
"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.” MCLA 691.1402; MSA 3.996(102).
Under § 4 of the act, one finds the following notice provision:
"(1) As a condition to any recovery for injuries sustained by reason of any defective highway, the injured person, within 120 days from the time the injury occurred, except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) shall serve a notice on the governmental agency of the occurrence of the injury and the defect. The notice shall specify the exact location and nature of the defect, the injury sustained and the names of the witnesses known at the time by the claimant.
"(2) The notice may be served upon any individual, either personally, or by certified mail, return receipt requested, who may lawfully be served with civil process directed against the governmental agency, anything to the contrary in the charter of any municipal corporation notwithstanding. In case of the state, such notice shall be filed in triplicate with the clerk of the court of claims. Filing of such notice shall constitute compliance with section 6431 of Act No. 236 of the Public Acts of 1961, being section 600.6431 of the Compiled Laws of 1948, requiring the filing of notice of intention to file a claim against the state.” MCLA 691.1404; MSA 3.996(104).
In Reich v State Highway Department, 386 Mich 617; 194 NW2d 700 (1972), our Supreme Court declared the prior 60-day version of § 4 unconstitutional on equal protection grounds:
"The object of the legislation under consideration is to waive the immunity of governmental units and agencies from liability for injuries caused by their negligent conduct, thus putting them on an equal footing with private tortfeasors. However, the notice provisions of the statute arbitrarily split the natural class, i.e., all tortfeasors, into two differently treated subclasses: private tortfeasors to whom no notice of claim is owed and governmental tortfeasors to whom notice is owed.
"This diverse treatment of members of a class along the lines of governmental or private tortfeasors bears no reasonable relationship under today’s circumstances to the recognized purpose of the act. It constitutes an arbitrary and unreasonable variance in the treatment of both portions of one natural class and is, therefore, barred by the constitutional guarantees of equal protection.
"Just as the notice requirement by its operation divides the natural class of negligent tortfeasors, so too the natural class of victims of negligent conduct is also arbitrarily split into two subclasses: victims of governmental negligence who must meet the requirement, and victims of private negligence who are subject to no such requirement. Contrary to the legislature’s intention to place victims of negligent conduct on equal footing, the notice requirement acts as a special statute of limitations which arbitrarily bars the actions of the victims of governmental negligence after only 60 days. The victims of private negligence are granted three years in which to bring their actions. See MCLA 600.5805; MSA 27A.5805. Such arbitrary treatment clearly violates the equal protection guarantees of our state and Federal Constitutions. The notice provision is void and of no effect.” 386 Mich App 623-624.
The Court was not confronted with the question whether one seeking recovery against the state under § 2 of the sovereign immunity act is nonetheless required to comply with the notice provisions of the Court of Claims Act, since all claimants in Reich had given notice before six months. This question was negatively answered in Hobbs, supra.
In Hobbs, supra, the Court of Claims dismissed plaintiffs suit for failing to file a complaint, or notice of intent, within one year pursuant to MCLA 600.6431(1); MSA 27A.6431(1) of the Court of Claims Act. On appeal, a panel of this Court ruled that the notice requirement under § 4 of the sovereign immunity statute is "expressly exclusive of the notice provision appearing in the Court of Claims Act”. Since the claim of plaintiff in Hobbs fell within § 2, the notice provision of 4 was deemed applicable. The Hobbs court further ruled that the legislative change of § 4 from 60 to 120 days did not prevent "the 'diverse treatment’ condemned in Reich”, and that the constitutional defect in the statute remains. Ergo, plaintiff was not barred from suit by failing to give notice within 120 days, since her complaint was filed within the two-year statute of limitations, judgment for the State Highway Department was reversed. The decision in Hobbs has been followed by two other panels of this Court. See Zimmer v State Highway Department, 60 Mich App 769; 231 NW2d 519 (1975), Kerkstra v State Highway Department, 60 Mich App 761; 231 NW2d 521 (1975).
We agree with our brothers in Hobbs that the specific notice provision of § 4 of the sovereign immunity act takes precedence over the notice provision in the Court of Claims Act with respect to personal injury claims under § 2.
Furthermore, we are compelled to concur with the Court in Hobbs, that under the pervasive ruling in Reich the legislative change in § 4 from 60 to 120 days did not breathe new life into the constitutionally void section. However, we respectfully disagree with the position of the Court in Hobbs that the § 4 notice provision is exclusive and, in effect, since void under Reich, a claimant proceeding under § 2 need not give notice short of filing a complaint within the two-year limitation period. We cannot agree that because § 4 has been declared void § 6431 of the Court of Claims Act is to be treated as void or at least overlooked.
The Legislature did not intend that parties claiming injury for highway defects be relieved of all responsibility under the Court of Claims Act. Both in § 4(2) and § 10 the Legislature expressed an intention that claims of this nature meet the requirements of § 6431 of the Court of Claims Act. This clear legislative intent is thwarted by that portion of Hobbs holding that because § 4 is void under Reich, supra, no notice of any type is required and the only limitation upon a claimant is the two-year statute of limitations. But since § 4 is void, we must treat it as if never written. However, § 10 of the Sovereign Immunity statute provides that:
"Claims against the state authorized under this act shall be brought in the manner provided in sections 6401 to 6475 of Act No. 236 of the Public Acts of 1961, being sections 600.6401 to 600.6475 of the Compiled Laws of 1948 * * * .” MCLA 691.1410; MSA 3.996(110).
Thus, discounting the unenforceable § 4, a claimant is required to proceed in the manner provided in § 6431 of the Court of Claims Act.
We conclude that the six-month notice requirement in § 6431(3) is applicable to instant plaintiffs. Plaintiffs filed their complaint seven months after the accident and the question still unanswered is whether the six-month provision denied plaintiffs equal protection of the laws. We note, at the outset, that the Supreme Court in Reich did not purport to nullify the notice provisions of the Court of Claims Act, but only struck down the notice provision of the sovereign immunity act. Therefore, we are not duty-bound by it. Since this Court is of the opinion that Reich is bottomed upon the false premise that the Legislature intended to place public and private tortfeasors on an equal plane, and no longer reflects the existing state of jurisprudential law as espoused by our Supreme Court, we decline to extend its ratio decidendi to invalidate § 6431(3).
Since no fundamental rights are involved, the rational basis test applies. Freissler v State Highway Commission, 53 Mich App 530; 220 NW2d 141 (1974), lv den, 393 Mich 757 (1974). Moreover, a statute is presumed constitutional and before this Court will strike § 6431(3) as violative of equal protection, plaintiffs must meet their "heavy burden of showing that the classification has no reasonable basis”. Busha v Department of State Highways, 51 Mich App 397, 400; 215 NW2d 567 (1973).
It has been recognized that "The principal purpose sought to be served by requiring notice is to provide the governmental agency with an opportunity to investigate the claim while the evidentiary trail is still fresh and, additionally, to remedy the defect before other persons are injured”. Hussey v Muskegon Heights, 36 Mich App 264, 267-268; 193 NW2d 421 (1971), (footnote omitted). Since we perceive these objectives as involving legitimate governmental interest, and because § 6431(3) applies to all persons similarly situated, we are obliged to sustain that provision as against plaintiffs’ constitutional challenge.
This Court is not oblivious to prior Court of Appeals decisions which invalidate § 6431(3) on the grounds that the provision offends the equal protection clause. Tamulion v State Waterways Commission, 50 Mich App 60; 212 NW2d 828 (1973), Reich v State Highway Commission, 43 Mich App 284; 204 NW2d 226 (1972), lv den, 389 Mich 772 (1973). Both cases were based upon the Supreme Court decision in Reich I, supra, and were decided prior to the opinion in Carver v McKernan, 390 Mich 96, 100; 211 NW2d 24 (1973), wherein the Supreme Court specifically refused to declare the six-month notice requirement of the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Act unconstitutional:
"By positing a legitimate purpose for the notice provision we are constrained to hold that § 18 does not necessarily violate the constitution.
"But, even though some notice requirement may be permitted, a particular provision may still be constitutionally deficient. We must consider the time specified in the notice for an extremely short period may be unreasonable. What period is reasonable in part depends on what purpose the notice serves. Because we cannot say with certainty what purpose the Legislature had in mind in providing for this notice, we are not prepared to say that the six month period provided by this statute is unreasonable as a matter of law.
"The failure to give notice may result in prejudice to the fund according to whatever reason justifies the notice requirement. Whenever the Secretary claims to have been prejudiced by the lack of notice, he should be afforded the opportunity to show such prejudice.
"While we decline to declare that the notice requirement of § 18 is constitutionally defective, we hold that only upon a showing of prejudice by failure to give such notice, may the claim against the fund be dismissed.”
This Court’s position is that Carver signals a retreat from the Reich /rationale, and the recent Supreme Court decision in Navarra v Board of Regents of the University of Michigan, 393 Mich 773; 224 NW2d 833 (1974), reveals that the Carver rule requiring the governmental agency to show prejudice before a claim is dismissed for lack of notice applies to the Court of Claims Act notice provisions in § 6431 as well. The judgment of the Court of Claims is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings pursuant to this opinion.
D. F. Walsh, J., concurred.
It was stipulated below that the County Road Commission be dismissed as a party defendant.
The opinion in Hobbs, supra, refers to both § 2 (MCLA 691.1402; MSA 3.996[102]) and § 4 (MCLA 691.1404; MSA 3.996[104]) as requirements of the general highway statute. Actually they are requirements of the sovereign immunity statute, 1964 PA 170. Because said sections pertain exclusively to highway matters the court descriptively referred to them as sections of the general highway statute.
MCLA 691.1411; MSA 3.996(111).
Although the question whether the governmental immunity statute itself contravenes equal protection remains unanswered by our Supreme Court, a number of panels of this Court have rejected such constitutional challenge to MCLA 691.1407; MSA 3.996(107). See Snow v Freeman, 55 Mich App 84, 86; 222 NW2d 43 (1974), Anderson v Detroit, 54 Mich App 496; 221 NW2d 168 (1974), Kriger v South Oakland County Mutual Aid Pact, 49 Mich App 7; 211 NW2d 228 (1973).
If the state has the power to shield itself from liability under a governmental immunity statute, it would necessarily follow that the state has the power to place reasonable conditions on recovery under statutory exceptions. Reich is troublesome, in that the Court appears to make exceptions to governmental immunity an all or nothing proposition. The Court reaches this result via language that the Legislature intended to place victims of private and public tortfeasors on an "equal footing”. It would seem fair to say, however, that if the Legislature so intended, it would not have enacted notice requirements. We invite the Supreme Court to reconsider its position in Reich.
Compare Reich with Busha v Department of State Highways, 51 Mich App 397; 215 NW2d 567 (1973) [two-year statute of limitations under MCLA 691.1411; MSA 3.996(111) not offensive to equal protection, although a victim of a private tortfeasor is accorded a three-year limitation period], and Freissler v State Highway Commission, 53 Mich App 530; 220 NW2d 141 (1974), lv denied, 393 Mich 757 (1974) [no equal protection violation where victim of a public tortfeasor has no right to jury trial in court of claims although victim of private tortfeasor has such a right in circuit court]. Also see a recent scholarly appraisal of Reich by Professor Luke K. Cooperrider, an excerpt of which follows:
"It must be clear that the legislature had no intention whatever to 'put governmental units on an equal footing with private tortfeasors’; such an intention is irreconcilable with the specific definition and circumscription of the liabilities recognized by the statute. Moreover, there are real and vital differences between the situations of governmental units and of private parties as potential tort defendants. * * * [N]° private party has a tort responsibility comparable to the governmental unit’s responsibility for injuries allegedly caused by defective or unsafe conditions of highways. The confidence expressed in the ability of the modern municipality to protect its own litigational interests may be justifiable so long as the municipality becomes aware in some fashion of the potential claim, or of the condition from which it arises, in time for an effective investigation, but if there is no requirement of notification at any time prior to the filing of suit, the unit’s efforts to uncover the facts relating to that condition as of the time of the accident may be fruitless. Taking into account the extent of the governmental unit’s liability exposure where public ways and public buildings are concerned, and of the difficulties of keeping in current touch with all those conditions that might become a source of liability, surely there is nothing constitutionally unreasonable about a notice requirement that is not applicable to other tortfeasors and other claimants.”
Cooperrider, The Court, the Legislature, and Governmental Tort Liability in Michigan, 72 Mich L Rev 187, 272 (1973).
Not to be confused with the earlier Reich decision of the Supreme Court, Reich v State Highway Department, 386 Mich 617; 194 NW2d 700 (1972), cited above. For purposes of clarification the Supreme Court decision is sometimes referred to as Reich I, and the subsequent Court of Appeals decision as Reich II. The party plaintiff in Reich //is unrelated to the party plaintiff in Reich I.
MCLA 257.1118; MSA 9.2818.
Plaintiffs in Navarra appealed from accelerated judgment in the court of claims which was grounded upon failure to comply with the one-year notice provision of MCLA 600.6431(1); MSA 27A.6431(1). A panel of this Court upheld the constitutionality of the provision against an equal protection challenge based upon the Supreme Court decision in Reich, supra, by distinguishing tort claims from the construction contract claim involved therein. The Supreme Court reversed, not on the basis of Reich, but in light of Carver: "The Court * * * hereby reverses the opinion of the Court of Appeals and remands the case to the trial court for reconsideration in light of Carver v McKernan, 390 Mich 96 (1973), where we held that 'only upon a showing of prejudice by failure to give such notice, may the claim against the [governmental authority] be dismissed.’ ”
Defendant maintains that § 6431 is jurisdictional in character, Gilliland Const Co v State Highway Department, 4 Mich App 618; 145 NW2d 384 (1966), and therefore the Carver rule which requires the governmental agency to show prejudice does not apply. Although the argument appears to possess some merit in cases where a party has failed to file a claim, or notice of intent to so file, within one year under § 6431(1), we find it inapposite to the instant case. Plaintiffs filed a complaint in the Court of Claims within one year. | [
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Per Curiam.
This is an appeal of right from a jury verdict of guilty on a two-count information charging buying, receiving or aiding in the concealment of stolen property, MCLA 750.535; MSA 28.803, and conspiracy to commit the above offense. MCLA 750.157a; MSA 28.354(1).
The viable assignments of error are procedural. Two relate to claimed instructional error. We dispose of them under the harmless error statute.* The claimed erroneous instructions do not suggest that a miscarriage of justice occurred as a result thereof.
The third claimed error relates to impermissible argument by the prosecuting attorney. Such asserted error does not fall within the statute. We quote the relevant excerpt:
"Remember what Healy said? Healy said he copped out, he told them everything after he was arrested; he named names, he told them where he got the truck, how much he paid. He told them the whole story just like when I asked 'Did you tell them the whole story you told on the stand?’ Now, why shouldn’t that man receive something?”
"Sometimes in order to get some testimony — I don’t know whether we couldn’t prove the charges, I wasn’t in office at the time, I am not using that as an excuse, I am not criticizing anybody or anything — sometimes someone claims T am innocent, I didn’t do it, I am not guilty, I want a jury trial’; the other guy says 'Well, you have got me, I might as well tell you the whole story. He names places, he names dates, agrees to testify. Why shouldn’t he be given a break? Anything wrong with that?
"Where is the justice? Let’s look at it the other way. Who deserves the break, that man or a man who stands before you who was in police school, you heard him testify he was going to be a copy [sic] he blew it all because he decided he was wrong, he blew a career, he blew a profession, he is out of police school because he stood up there two months ago and said 'I was wrong, I did it, I will take my punishment’. Now, where is the justice?
"Let’s look at the value, let’s not flip-flop them, let’s keep them in prostectus [perspective]. Does Mr. Crouch deserve the same break that Mr. Healy deserved, Mr. Healy who cooperated fully with the State Police; who, after he was caught was man enough to stand up and say 'You are right, I did it.’ ”
The argument was totally impermissible and reversibly erroneous.
No one can be guaranteed a perfect trial. But everyone is entitled to a fair trial.
To argue to a jury that a defendant should, in effect, be penalized because he chose to exercise those rights guaranteed to him by the constitutions, Federal and state, is gross incurable error. See generally, Griffin v California, 380 US 609; 85 S Ct 1229; 14 L Ed 2d 106 (1965), reh den 381 US 957; 85 S Ct 1797; 14 L Ed 2d 730 (1965), and People v Earegood, 12 Mich App 256; 162 NW2d 802 (1968), rev’d, 383 Mich 82; 173 NW2d 205 (1970).
The judgment of conviction is reversed. The cause is remanded to the trial court for such action as there may properly ensue.
MCLA 769.26; MSA 28.1096. | [
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D. E. Holbrook, Jr., J.
Defendant appeals as of right from a judgment entered on a jury verdict for the plaintiffs for injuries received by Cornelia Ball. Mrs. Ball received her injuries on January .5, 1972, when she slipped and fell while leaving the defendant’s restaurant following dinner. The original complaint alleged that the slip occurred on the defendant’s sidewalk, which was improperly cov ered with snow. ***At a deposition 7-1/2 months before the trial, Mrs. Ball stated where she received her injuries.
"Q: After your husband preceded you out the door, would you tell us, and you went5 to leave, what happened?
"A: To the best of my knowledge, I put my right foot down on the cement.
”Q: Outside of the door?
”A: Yes. And that is the only step I took.
"Q: Was that your first step?
"A-Yes.
”Q: What happened when you took that step? What happened to you?
'A I bent this leg to take another step and I never took another step.”
At trial Mrs. Ball was the first witness. Plaintiffs’ counsel began to question Mrs. Ball about the vestibule of the restaurant and defense counsel objected. Thereupon plaintiffs’ counsel moved to amend the complaint to allege that the slip occur red because of a wet or damp entranceway. Taking the motion under advisement, the trial court allowed the plaintiff to introduce testimony concerning the state of the vestibule "as a preliminary to negligence”. At the close of proofs the court, following argument of both counsel, allowed an amendment to the complaint "that defendant failed to maintain the entranceway to this restaurant in a safe condition; and that said entrance-way became wet, slippery, and icy; and that the slippery entranceway created a further hazard to the plaintiff and to the public”.
Defense counsel vigorously objected to the motion to amend. He argued he was not prepared for the change in location of the slip; had he known that the slip had occurred where the plaintiff now alleged that it occurred, he would have sought witnesses that could have testified to the state of the interior of the vestibule. He also argued that the law had been changed in the plaintiffs’ favor by this move. He stated that he was not prepared to defend such a changed complaint.
On appeal, this Court will only reverse the trial court’s decision to either allow or disallow an amendment to the pleadings if the trial court abused its discretion. Graham v Thorman, 354 Mich 629; 93 NW2d 264 (1958), Fred Gibbs, Inc v Old Colony Insurance Co, 30 Mich App 352; 186 NW2d 396 (1971). In reviewing whether or not the trial court abused its discretion under GCR 1963, 118.3, the main issue is, did the amendment of the complaint allow the party to introduce a new cause of action to the prejudice of the defendant? Bishop Electric, Inc v Simpson, 7 Mich App 391, 399; 151 NW2d 900 (1967) lv den 379 Mich 789 (1967).
"Prejudice” is aptly defined in Ben P Fyke & Sons v Gunter Co, 390 Mich 649, 657; 213 NW2d 134 (1973):
" 'Prejudice’ refers to matter which would prevent a party from having a fair trial, or matter which he could not properly contest, e.g. when surprised.”
Consistently with "prejudice” as defined above, the court in Scott v Cleveland, 360 Mich 322; 103 NW2d 631 (1960) found an abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court. The Scott court stated, supra, at 335:
"We believe that the variance between the plaintiff’s theory originally pleaded and his theory as amended at the trial was more than a question of evidence for the jury’s determination. The amendment allowed completely changed the plaintiffs theory of the case without providing the defendants with an opportunity to prepare a defense thereto. Under the circumstances, the verdict and judgment for plaintiff must be set aside and this cause remanded for new trial.”
Thus, where an amendment completely changes the plaintiffs theory without giving the defendant an opportunity to prepare a defense to the new theory, the trial court must be deemed to have abused its discretion by allowing such amendment.
In this case there is a substantially different legal test as to the defendant’s duty to the plaintiff depending upon where the slip and fall occurred. If the slip and fall occurred outside, the duty that the defendant owed the plaintiff was not to in crease the natural hazards from the snow. Bard v Weathervane of Michigan, 51 Mich App 329; 214 NW2d 709 (1974). On the other hand, if the injury occurred inside, the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty to prevent unsafe conditions which he knew about or should have known about. Galloway v Sears, Roebuck & Co, 27 Mich App 348; 183 NW2d 354 (1970). Thus, by moving the site of the injury a few feet, the plaintiff’s burden of proof was materially eased.
It is also necessary for the plaintiff to show that the defendant will not need additional evidence to effectively defend himself. The defendant was prepared to show that the condition of the sidewalk was reasonable. He was not prepared to refute testimony concerning the vestibule. This would require the defendant to find witnesses who could testify as to the condition of the vestibule. Defense counsel stated that he was prepared on the original complaint but had not thought to prepare for a case that was not pleaded.
Hence we conclude that the trial judge abused his discretion in allowing the amendment to plaintiffs’ pleadings at the conclusion of trial and before final argument.
The foregoing being dispositive, we do not consider defendant’s remaining allegations of error.
Reversed and remanded for a new trial. Costs to appellant.
The complaint stated in relevant part:
"4. That on or about January 5, 1972, Plaintiff, Cornelia R. Ball, was coming out of Country Kettle, the Defendant herein. The sidewalk was covered with slippery ice which the Defendant failed to remove or treat in such a manner as to make the same safe for business invitees lawfully making use thereof. Then and there, as a direct result of the negligence of the Defendant as herein alleged in construction and maintenance of the sidewalk, Plaintiff, Cornelia R. Ball, was caused to slip on the ice and to sustain the injuries hereinafter alleged.
-'5. That the negligence of the Defendant, in addition to that herein-above alleged, consisted of:
"A. So constructing the sidewalk that there was no drainage therefrom of water so that water accumulated thereon;
"B. Permitting a coating of ice to be and remain on the sidewalk for a' lengthy period of time and beyond the time required for removal or treatment thereof;
"C. Failing to remove the coating of ice or to so treat same as to render the sidewalk reasonably safe for use.”
GCR 1963, 118.3 reads in relevant part:
"If evidence is objected to at the trial on the ground that it is not within the issues made by the pleadings, amendment to conform to such proof shall not be allowed unless the party desiring amendment satisfies the court that the amendment and the admission of such evidence would not prejudice the objecting party in maintaining his action or defense upon the merits. The court may grant a continuance to enable the objecting party to meet such evidence.” | [
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Allen, P. J.
Plaintiff petitioned Avon Township to have an 80-acre parcel south of Avon Road near Livernois rezoned from single family to multi-family residential use. Upon the denial of said request, plaintiff commenced suit in circuit court to compel rezoning on the grounds that defendant’s zoning ordinance was unconstitutional as applied to the subject property. The lower court sustained the reasonableness of the zoning restriction, and plaintiff appeals.
Plaintiff’s arguments one and two concern the proper standard of review in zoning ordinance cases. Plaintiff maintains that the correct standard is set forth in the concurrence by Justice Levin in Kropf v City of Sterling Heights, 391 Mich 139; 215 NW2d 179 (1974), subsequently followed by three members of the Court in West v City of Portage, 392 Mich 458; 221 NW2d 303 (1974). This approach views a zoning board’s action on a request for rezoning as administrative, not legislative. Moreover, under this theory, the courts would look to the reasonableness of the proposed use of the property rather than simply the reasonableness of the use permitted by the zoning restriction.
The Levin view has recently garnered support. In Turkish v City of Warren, 61 Mich App 435; 232 NW2d 732 (1975), Judge Quinn, speaking for the full panel, endorsed the Levin concurrence in Kropf, supra, while recognizing that the Court of Appeals was bound by existing precedent. On August 19, 1975, in Sabo v Monroe Township, 394 Mich 531; 232 NW2d 584 (1975), three members of the Supreme Court reversed the township board’s rejection of plaintiff’s request to rezone plaintiff’s property so as to permit the construction of a mobile home park. In doing so, the majority of three held:
"Even if present zoning is not unreasonable or confiscatory, a proposed use should be permitted if reasonable under all the circumstances. Kropf v Sterling Heights; 391 Mich 139, 164 ff.; 215 NW2d 179 (1974) (concurring opinion).
"We would require that the proofs now adduced in circuit court be presented administratively and restrict judicial review to whether the record evidence supports the administrative finding on the issue whether the proposed use is reasonable. Kropf v Sterling Heights, supra (concurring opinion).” Sabo, supra, at 536-537.
Justice Levin’s approach, though gathering strength, does not yet represent the current jurisprudential law in Michigan. While the viewpoint gathered three votes in Sabo, this is still not a majority of the Court. Where no opinion is endorsed by a majority of the members elected to the Supreme Court, the result is not binding as precedent. In re Curzenski Estate, 384 Mich 334, 335; 183 NW2d 220 (1971). See also Palmer v Superior Twp, 60 Mich App 664; 233 NW2d 14 (1975). Though the law is obviously in flux we cannot at this point find that the trial court erred in applying the traditional standard of review reiterated by the majority of the Supreme Court in Kropf, supra, and followed by this Court in Ed Zaagman, Inc v City of Kentwood, 61 Mich App 693; 233 NW2d 146 (1975). In this connection we note that absent clarification, ambiguity appears in the sug gestéd standard of review. Does this mean that the court would look only at the reasonableness of the proposed use without regard to the existing use, or does it mean that the court must be persuaded that the proposed use is more reasonable than the existing use?
Plaintiff points out that owing to the Clinton River flood plain and topography of the property, it is not possible under the existing zoning restriction to develop the maximum number of lots allowed; however, the maximum number of dwelling units could be constructed if the property was rezoned multi-family. It is argued that this factor creates such a disparity in property value as to constitute a confiscation, and, at least, indicates the unreasonableness of the ordinance. Therefore, says plaintiff, the ordinance is void as to plaintiff’s property under the standard adopted by the majority in Kropf. We disagree. The fact that the land is worth more if used for developing multi-family dwellings does not suffice to render the zoning restriction unreasonable. Kropf, supra, at 160. Further, to be considered confiscatory, plaintiff must show that "all permitted uses are so devoid of feasibility that the restriction has accomplished the destruction of all usable value”. Reibel v City of Birmingham, 23 Mich App 732, 739; 179 NW2d 243 (1970). The record shows it was feasible to develop single-family residences on the plaintiff’s property. The estimated 1 to 3.6 disparity in value between single-family and multi-family use cannot justify the conclusion that the zoning restriction is confiscatory. Compare Land Development Corp v Township of Bloomfield, 55 Mich App 438; 222 NW2d 768 (1974).
We find no substance in the argument that the zoning ordinance limiting plaintiffs property to single family residential use bears no real relation to public health, safety, morals or general welfare. A zoning ordinance is presumed valid, and the trial court, after hearing all of the evidence, determined that plaintiff failed to carry his burden of overcoming the presumption. This Court cannot say that had we been sitting in the lower court’s place, we would have reached a different result. Michaels v Village of Franklin, 58 Mich App 665; 230 NW2d 273 (1975).
Finally, we are convinced that the lower court did not rule plaintiff was precluded from attacking the zoning ordinance because of his awareness of the use restriction at the time the property was purchased.
Affirmed, but without costs, a public question being involved.
D. F. Walsh, J., concurred.
Also released on the same day and with the same division among the justices as Sabo, were companion cases Smookler v Wheatfield Township, 394 Mich 574; 232 NW2d 616 (1975), and Nickola v Grand Blanc Township, 394 Mich 589; 232 NW2d 604 (1975). The opinion in each read as follows:
"We affirm the Court of Appeals for the reason stated in our opinion in Sabo v Monroe Township.”
Absent the applicability of the Levin position, plaintiff’s fourth argument must also fail. "Plaintiffs challenge defendant’s refusal to rezone their property on numerous grounds. Several of these deal with administrative, not legislative, decision-making and would be cogent if we applied the Kropf concurrence- West test: that the Superior Township board has no standards to guide it in deciding requests for rezoning; that rezoning decisions have been selective and, in this case, inconsistent with the master plan. However, since we are applying the test of the Kropf majority, these reasons are of no force.” Palmer v Superior Twp, supra, 60 Mich App at 674; Ed Zaagman, Inc v City of Kentwood, supra.
If, for example, the court were to look only to the reasonableness of the requested use without balancing it against the existing use, variances would be more easily established and conceivably result in spot zoning by judicial rule. Well-recognized policy reasons work against opening the door to spot zoning. | [
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Lesinski, C. J.
Defendant was charged with assault with intent to commit murder, MCLA 750.83; MSA 28.278. At his trial before a jury, defendant raised the issue of self-defense. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of the lesser included offense of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, MCLA 750.84; MSA 28.279. Defendant appeals his conviction as of right.
At one time defendant and Augusta Ivory, the complaining witness, considered themselves friends. Nevertheless, Ivory, claiming he was "paying back” defendant for a similar incident, had intercourse with defendant’s girlfriend while she was under the influence of drugs. When defendant learned of Ivory’s exploits he attacked him with a wine bottle. Ivory defended himself with a two-by-four. Others broke up the fight before defendant or Ivory suffered serious injury, but they exchanged serious threats before parting. For the next month or so defendant tried to avoid Ivory. From others he had heard that Ivory was threatening to kill him and that Ivory was often armed.
On the evening of October 2, 1973, defendant was sitting with a woman on the porch of the apartment house where Ivory’s sister lived. Seeing Ivory approaching, defendant told the woman to leave. She took a few steps then returned to the porch. Defendant shouted to Ivory, "Hold it, Gus; hold it right there”. Ivory continued towards the apartment house. When he reached the steps, defendant shot once, hitting Ivory in the chest, then he fled with the woman. Defendant claimed he thought Ivory had a knife, but Ivory was un armed at the time. His wound was serious but not fatal.
The trial court included in its charge on self-defense the following:
"Going one step further, before a person can avail himself of the defense that he used a weapon in the defense of his life, he must satisfy the jury that that defense was necessary, that he did all he could to avoid it, and that it was necessary to protect his own life or to protect himself from such serious bodily harm as would give him reasonable apprehension that his life was in immediate danger. Ill will of the victim and former quarrels and affrays could have nothing whatever to do with the respondent’s peril, however hostile the victim may have been, and however many quarrels and affrays the parties may have had, if the victim by his acts and cries did not threaten peril to the respondent, he would not be authorized by the law to infer peril on account of ill will or prior contests.”
Defendant’s counsel objected to the court’s instructions as containing misstatements of the law on self-defense. We agree.
For over 100 years Michigan law has acknowledged the right of a person to act upon a reasonable belief that he is in danger of death or serious bodily harm. Actual necessity is not the test for self-defense; where circumstances present a person with reasonable cause to believe he is in danger he* may respond, even if his belief is later shown to have been a mistaken one. Pond v People, 8 Mich 150 (1860). See, also, People v Macard, 73 Mich 15; 40 NW 784 (1888), People v Giacalone, 242 Mich 16; 217 NW 758 (1928), and People v Cameron, 52 Mich App 463; 217 NW2d 401 (1974).
In People v Burkard, 374 Mich 430; 132 NW2d 106 (1965), the Supreme Court found error in the part of the trial court’s instruction that required a finding that ah assault was in fact about to be made before the defendant would be justified in using lethal force to protect his wife. The proper test, stated the Court, was not necessity in fact but rather an honest belief in the necessity for action.
It is unlikely that Burkard introduced a new determination for self-defense cases — whether a defendant’s belief in impending harm was honest or dishonest. The test of "honest belief’, we take it, means only that a defendant’s conduct should be judged "from the circumstances as they appeared to him at the time”. People v Tubbs, 147 Mich 1, 12; 110 NW 132 (1907).
"The question to be determined is, did the accused, under all the circumstances of the assault, as it appeared to him, honestly believe that he was in danger of his life, or great bodily harm, and that it was necessary to do what he did in order to save himself from such apparent threatened danger?” People v Lennon, 71 Mich 298, 300-301; 38 NW 871 (1888).
The portion of the trial court’s instruction quoted above was taken from 2 Gillespie, Michigan Criminal Law & Procedure (2d ed), § 906, Form No. 411, p 1288. It is at best misleading to the jury, giving them the impression that only actual necessity, not a reasonable but mistaken belief in necessity, would justify extreme action in self-defense. The jury was told that self-defense requires finding "that defense was necessary”, not that defendant reasonably believed it was necessary, and finding that the victim threatened peril, not that the defendant perceived peril. The instruction also implied that prior threats or conduct of the victim should not be considered. They have an importance in determining the reasonableness of defendant’s belief. See People v Giacalone, supra, People v Cameron, supra.
In People v Bennett, 121 Mich 241; 80 NW 9 (1899), the Supreme Court considered a charge containing language almost identical to that used by the trial court. Even though another part of the court’s charge correctly stated that the defendant could act upon the circumstances as they appeared to him, inclusion of the misleading and erroneous portion required reversal. Reversals of conviction for similarly conflicting and confusing instructions on self-defense can be found in Burkard, supra, and People v Wright, 144 Mich 586; 108 NW 92 (1906). Part of the trial court’s instruction properly focused the jury’s attention on the defendant’s apprehension of possible danger. This does not negate the harm caused by the part of the instruction that was improper. "In other portions of the charge the learned trial judge laid down the proper rule * * * . We have said, however, that where conflicting instructions are given, one erroneous and the other without error, it may be presumed that the jury followed the instruction that was erroneous.” People v Eggleston, 186 Mich 510, 514-515; 152 NW 944 (1915).
We need not consider defendant’s other allegations of error. Nor is it necessary to discuss a significant issue not raised by defendant, whether it was reversible error to instruct the jury on an aggressor’s inability to invoke self-defense. See People v Townes, 391 Mich 578; 218 NW2d 136 (1974).
Reversed and remanded. | [
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R. B. Burns, J.
Plaintiff appeals from an order of the Wayne County Circuit Court granting an accelerated judgment based upon the running of the statute of limitations for malpractice. We reverse.
In April, 1969, plaintiff was admitted into defendant Wyandotte General Hospital to test for a possible kidney disorder. On April 25, 1969, defendant Dr. Gallagher attempted an arteriogram, a procedure which enables the investigation of the kidneys without surgery by the insertion of a catheter into the arteries. During the course of the arteriogram, the catheter broke necessitating an immediate operation to retrieve the broken fragment. Although the operation was successful, plaintiff claims that he continues to suffer many physical difficulties because of the incident.
On April 25, 1971, plaintiff filed suit against defendants Gallagher and Wyandotte General Hospital, alleging negligent performance of the arteriogram. In April, 1972, plaintiff amended his complaint to include the Cordis Corporation, manufacturers of the catheter, on the ground of liability for a defective product.
The suit proceeded through preliminary steps until January 15, 1974, when Dr. Gallagher revealed upon deposition that the probable cause of the catheter’s breakage was improper storage prior to the operation. The catheter had been stored under the control of the hospital’s radiology department, operated exclusively by Harris-Birkhill & Associates, concessioners, by their employee, radiologist Dr. Richard Cooper. Dr. Gallagher stated that the abnormal brittleness of the subject catheter prompted his post-operative inquiry of Dr. Cooper, who informed him that the implement had been stored in a sterilizing solution. This was contrary to the manufacturer’s express recommendation that catheters remain in their sealed containers until they are used once only and then thrown away. This information came as a complete surprise to plaintiff.
Plaintiff moved to join Dr. Cooper and HarrisBirkhill & Associates as additional defendants, and filed an amended complaint including them on May 20, 1974. The circuit judge granted the motion of these latter defendants for accelerated judgment based upon the running of the statute of limitations, and plaintiff appeals.
MCLA 600.5805(3); MSA 27A.5805(3), states that "The period of limitations is 2 years for actions charging malpractice.”
In Dyke v Richard, 390 Mich 739, 747; 213 NW2d 185, 188 (1973), the Supreme Court said:
"Accordingly we hold that an action based on malpractice by a state licensed person must be brought within two years of the time when such person discontinues treating or otherwise serving the plaintiff, or within two years of the time when the plaintiff discovers, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the asserted malpractice, whichever is later.”
This language is straightforward and unequivocal. Our responsibility is to rely thereupon in determining the date on which the statute commenced to run. The circuit judge accepted defendants’ argument that the statute ran from the date on which the plaintiff knew that the catheter had been broken in his body. We disagree.
The circuit judge has implicitly accepted defend ants’ argument that the Dyke Court actually intended to employ the word "injury” for the word "malpractice” in prescribing the discovery phase of the test. Defendants contend that the cases applying the discovery rule key the triggering of the statute of limitations to discovery of the injury, and cite Winfrey v Farhat, 382 Mich 380; 170 NW2d 34 (1969), and Cates v Frederick W Bald Estate, 54 Mich App 717; 221 NW2d 474 (1974), in support of this contention. Even cursory review of the facts of these cases reveals this assertion wrong. More significantly, we are convinced that the Supreme Court, had it wished to do so, could have as easily used the word "injury” as the word "malpractice”. In fact, the Court specifically noticed that the last treatment rule was itself "a liberalizing of the general rule that the cause of action accrues at the time of injury”. Dyke v Richard, supra, 747. They then chose to "liberalize” further by reconciling the last treatment rule with the less restrictive discovery rule. In our opinion this is a good rule.
Dr. Gallagher made inquiries right after the accident and discovered that the catheter had been improperly stored by Harris-Birkhill & Associates and Dr. Cooper.
Did Dr. Gallagher go to see the plaintiff, who was his patient and with whom he has a confidential relationship, and say: "John, I have discovered what went wrong with the test. The radiologist stored the catheter improperly and made it brittle.”? No, he chose to remain silent until questioned in a deposition and asked point blank: "What would you determine to make this catheter become friable?” Then he answered: "Improper storage.”
In this case the malpractice is not the injury. It is the improper storage of the catheter. The plaintiff did not discover the malpractice until the deposition of Dr. Gallagher. Under Dyke v Richard, supra, the statute of limitations did not start to run until the malpractice was discovered.
The order granting accelerated judgment is vacated, and the cause is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.
Costs to plaintiff.
Danhof, P. J., concurred. | [
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N. J. Kaufman, J.
Both defendants appeal from jury trial convictions in Grand Traverse County District Court. Their appeals have been consolidated.
Defendant Hayes was arrested on January 31, 1973, and convicted on June 6, 1973, of driving under the influence of liquor, MCLA 257.625; MSA 9.2325. He was sentenced to a term of 30 days in jail. Defendant Allen was arrested on February 2, 1973, and convicted on June 20, 1973, of the lesser included offense of driving while impaired, MCLA 257.625b; MSA 9.2325(2). He was also sentenced to a term of 30 days in jail.
In June, 1973, both defendants appealed their convictions to the Grand Traverse County Circuit Court. The court affirmed both convictions. Both defendants subsequently filed applications for leave to appeal which we granted on September 10, 1974.
At each trial, the prosecutor elicited testimony from the arresting officer on direct examination that, at the time each defendant was arrested, he was advised that he had a right to have a chemical test conducted to determine the percentage of alcohol in his blood and that, if he did not take the test, his license would be revoked. In each case, the arresting officer further testified that, having been so advised, the defendant refused to submit to, in this case, a Breathalyzer test. In both cases, defense counsel made timely objection to the admission of testimony describing defendants’ refusal to submit to the test, and, in both cases, the trial court overruled the objection.
The sole issue on appeal is whether the admission, over defense objection, of the defendants’ refusal of a Breathalyzer test was erroneous and requires reversal of the defendants’ convictions. Our determination of this issue initially requires an examination of the recent history of the statute which governs the administration of chemical tests to determine the presence and amount of alcohol, § 625a of the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA 300. Prior to 1967, that section, MCLA 257.625a; MSA 9.2325(1), provided in pertinent part:
"(4) The person charged shall be advised of his right to refuse to take any test provided for in this act and the refusal on the part of any person to submit to any such test shall not be admissible in any criminal prosecution relating to driving a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor.”
In 1967, this section was amended, 1967 PA 253, so that the statute now reads:
"(4) The person charged shall be advised that his refusal to take a test as herein provided shall result in the suspension or revocation of his operator’s or chauffeur’s license or his operating privilege.”
Thus, the 1967 amendment deleted that portion applicable to admission of a defendant’s refusal to submit to a test and substituted a penalty for this refusal.
In People v Reeder, 370 Mich 378; 121 NW2d 840 (1963), the prior statute was held to require reversal where a prosecution witness testified on direct examination that defendant had refused to take a blood test. Under the amended statute, however, we find this issue to be a matter of first impression in this jurisdiction.
Although a matter of first impression here, the issue of admitting into evidence a defendant’s refusal to take a chemical test has been the subject of widely varying decisions in a number of sister jurisdictions. The divergent positions enunciated in those decisions are well-represented in the arguments of the parties here. These positions fall into two broad categories: (1) constitutional assertions and (2) statutory interpretation.
Defendants’ constitutional assertion is that the admission into evidence of their refusal to take Breathalyzer tests violated the privilege against self-incrimination guaranteed by the United States and Michigan Constitutions. US Const, Am V, Const 1963, art 1, § 17. Sister-state decisions on this claim have been founded on different applications of Schmerber v California, 384 US 757; 86 S Ct 1826; 16 L Ed 2d 908 (1966). Where evidence of a defendant’s refusal to be tested has been deemed "testimonial”, it has been considered within self-incrimination protections and not properly admissible in court. State v Andrews, 297 Minn 260; 212 NW2d 863 (1973). Where the refusal has been defined as "real”, or nontestimonial, evidence, it has been held not to be protected and properly admissible. People v Sudduth, 65 Cal 2d 543; 55 Cal Rptr 393; 421 P2d 401 (1966), cert den 389 US 850; 88 S Ct 43; 19 L Ed 2d 119 (1967), reh den 389. US 996; 88 S Ct 460; 19 L Ed 2d 506 (1967), State v Durrant, 55 Del 510; 188 A2d 526 (1963). See also People v Paddock, 29 NY2d 504; 323 NYS2d 976; 272 NE2d 486 (1971) (concurrence). A number of states have held that because there is no absolute right to refuse to take an intoxication test, evidence of the refusal may be introduced. As plaintiff notes, this Court, in People v Gebarowski, 47 Mich App 379; 209 NW2d 543 (1973) lv den 390 Mich 785 (1973), also held that there is no constitutional right to refuse to take a Breathalyzer test.
Notwithstanding the Gebarowski holding, we find that this case is appropriate for application of the well-established doctrine favoring a nonconstitutional determination of cases. Brown v Hill, 216 Mich 520; 185 NW 751 (1921). Instead, we found our decision on an interpretation of § 625a in view of fundamental fairness and evidentiary considerations. Based on these considerations, we hold that the admission into evidence of defendants’ refusal to submit to a Breathalyzer test was erroneous and requires a new trial for both.
Plaintiff argues that, by removing the provision which prohibited introduction of evidence detailing a defendant’s refusal to submit to a test, the 1967 amendment to § 625a made such evidence admissible. We would find this argument more cogent if the Legislature had not substituted a penalty for the deleted provision. We believe that the Legislature thereby specified license revocation as the consequence for refusing to take an intoxication test. Such consequences should be specifically stated. We cannot find the admission of a defendant’s refusal to be an added consequence in the absence of a definitive legislative provision to that effect.
Further, and more importantly, the admission of a defendant’s refusal to submit to an intoxication test would render nugatory the choice which the statute provides him. Under § 625a, an individual arrested for drunk driving has a choice. He can either submit to a test the results of which could create a virtually irrefutable presumption of guilt against him, or he can refuse the test and suffer the revocation. If the fact that a defendant has chosen not to submit to a test can be placed before the jury as an inference of his guilt, then he will be put in the position of having to risk providing evidence for the prosecution by submitting to the test or of certainly providing it by refusing to submit. It would be fundamentally unfair to put a defendant in such a "damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t” position. The Legislature provided a definite choice, and we cannot render a decision which would make that choice an illusory one. See e.g. State v Ingram, 67 NJ Super 21; 169 A2d 860 (1961), State v Seversen, 75 NW2d 316 (ND, 1956).
In deciding to admit such evidence, the Supreme Court of Idaho distinguished between rights under statutes which prevent intoxication tests without the driver’s consent and those, like ours, which provide implied consent and require express refusal. State v Bock, 80 Idaho 296; 328 P2d 1065 (1958). We find such a distinction groundless. Whether the statute speaks in terms of a "right” to refuse or a "choice” with a resultant penalty, admitting a defendant’s refusal into evidence will vitiate the ability to refuse provided to him by the statute.
In addition, we find no evidentiary basis for the admission of a defendant’s refusal. As have courts in other jurisdictions, we find the probative value of such evidence to be too low in comparison to its prejudicial effect. See Duckworth v State, 309 P2d 1103 (Okla Cr, 1957), Crawley v State, 219 Tenn 707; 413 SW2d 370 (1967). Contra, Westerville v Cunningham, 15 Ohio St 2d 121; 44 Ohio Op 2d 119; 239 NE2d 40 (1968). A defendant may have other reasons for refusing, unrelated to his guilt or innocence. He may not trust the police or the validity of the test, or he may be frightened and confused. The prejudicial effect on the jury of the prosecutor’s use of defendant’s refusal to be tested as an inference of guilt is readily apparent. This is especially so where a defendant exercises his constitutional right not to take the stand. Whether a defendant’s reasons for refusing the test were rational or not is irrelevant. In any case, a defendant should not be forced to explain them. The admission of his refusal will force him into choosing between allowing the prejudicial impact or waiving his constitutional right not to take the stand. The admission of this evidence will, additionally, create a de facto shifting of the burden of proof to defendant. Placing a defendant in such a dilemma is abhorrent to our basic principles of fundamental fairness.
The inadmissibility of a defendant’s refusal to be tested is further supported by analogy to those cases dealing with the admissibility, under the admission exception to the hearsay rule, of silence in the face of an accusation. In both cases, the refusal of a defendant to speak or take action to assert his innocence is offered as an inference of a guilty mind. A defendant’s silence i@ admissible only when the circumstances call for a denial, where there is no justification for failing to respond. People v DeBolt, 269 Mich 39; 256 NW 615 (1934), People v Barnes (On Remand), 44 Mich App 488; 205 NW2d 591 (1973) lv den 389 Mich 795 (1973). We find, in the instant case, that the assertion of defendant’s statutory right to refuse a Breathalyzer test is sufficient justification to preclude the application of the admission exception. See e.g. Stuart v District of Columbia, 157 A2d 294 (Mun Ct App DC, 1960).
Finally, we cannot conclude, as plaintiff contends, that the inadmissibility of a defendant’s refusal to submit to an intoxication test will do violence to the laws proscribing drunk driving. Plaintiff claims that, without such evidence, it will be unable to prove a defendant’s guilt. Plaintiff has, however, provided no showing that it could not obtain convictions prior to 1967 when the statute specifically excluded this evidence. A prosecutor can still show that a defendant was driving carelessly, smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes, and walked unsteadily. The essential purpose of the law, to keep intoxicated drivers off the highways, Collins v Secretary of State, 384 Mich 656, 668; 187 NW2d 423 (1971), will still be satisfied. A driver who exhibits intoxicated behavior but refuses an intoxication test will still have his license automatically revoked and can still be convicted based on evidence of his behavior.
As to both defendants, reversed and remanded for new trial consistent with this opinion.
Judge D. E. Holbrook concurs in result only.
State v Meints, 189 Neb 264; 202 NW2d 202 (1972), State v Smith, 230 SC 164; 94 SE2d 886 (1956), State v Bock, 80 Idaho 296; 328 P2d 1065 (1958). Smith and Bock were precursors of Schmerber, and Meints relied on it. Two states base current holdings that a defendant’s refusal to submit to an intoxication test is inadmissible on preSchmerber cases which held that a defendant had an absolute right to refuse the test. Duckworth v State, 309 P2d 1103 (Okla Cr, 1957), Howell v State, 528 P2d 1392 (Okla Cr, 1974), and People v Stratton, 286 App Div 323; 143 NYS2d 362 (1955), People v Paddock, 29 NY2d 504; 323 NYS2d 976; 272 NE2d 486 (1971). See generally Anno., Admissibility in criminal case of evidence that accused refused to submit to scientiñc test to determine amount of alcohol in system, 87 ALR2d 370 (1963). | [
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N. J. Kaufman, J.
Defendant was convicted by a Muskegon County Circuit Court jury of armed robbery, MCLA 750.529; MSA 28.797. He was subsequently sentenced to a term of 5 to 20 years and now appeals of right.
The important facts concerning the robbery are not in dispute. In brief, defendant allegedly entered a Muskegon grocery store at approximately 11 p.m. on July 30, 1972. According to the com plainant-store-owner George Druckenmiller, defendant, wielding a pistol, confronted him at the back of the store and demanded the money in the cash register. Mr. Druckenmiller attempted to get a shotgun from a bathroom in the rear of the store and the two men scuffled. The robber wrestled the shotgun away from Druckenmiller. The robber then made his way to the front of the store, demanded cash and was given approximately $55. He exited with the money but returned briefly with Druckenmiller’s shotgun, which he put back inside the store. Prior to trial, defendant had been declared incompetent to stand trial. He was treated for 13 months and released for trial. At trial, defendant’s only defense was insanity.
On appeal, defendant raises three claims of error. First, defendant contends that the trial judge’s questioning of defendant’s sole expert witness, Dr. Roger Olive, was improper and denied defendant a fair trial. Dr. Olive, a psychologist who had examined and treated defendant for a 13-month period, testified on direct examination that, at the time of the robbery, defendant was a schizophrenic and:
"It would seem to me that, first of all, Reuben was mentally ill. He had been in a continuing process from relatively early development.
"The second thing is that he broke under stress when having to defend himself from a great deal of harm and danger, and therefore he wasn’t fully aware even though he may have known right from wrong at the time the offense was committed — he wasn’t aware of the rightness or wrongness of the act.
"Secondly, in order to defend himself from possible death, and to preserve his life, that he did what he did; and that what he did was irresponsible.”
After the prosecutor had completed cross-exam ining Dr. Olive, the trial judge asked the questions which defendant challenges on appeal:
"Q. Doctor, you are familiar with Ames Robey?
"A. Yes.
"Q. In fact, he is the medical chief of your—
"A. Not of our facility. His is the Forensic Center, yes.
"Q. Do you know of his testimony in the case of People versus Martin, in which Dr. Robey stated that a schizophrenic could know right from wrong and resist an impulse to commit a crime?
’A. Yes.
"Q. Do you agree with that?
"A. Yes.
"The Court: That is all. You may step down.”
The court was referring to the case of People v Martin, 386 Mich 407; 192 NW2d 215 (1971), cert den 408 US 929; 92 S Ct 2505; 33 L Ed 2d 342 (1972). In the Martin case, Dr. Robey was one of four expert witnesses at trial. After three psychiatrists had testified that they had examined defendant and had found him to be suffering from a personality disorder, the prosecutor called Dr. Robey as a rebuttal witness. According to the Martin opinion, as the trial court here noted, Dr. Robey testified that "a schizophrenic could know right from wrong and resist an impulse to commit a crime”. (Emphasis supplied.) Id. at 412.
A trial judge has "great power and wide discretion” in controlling the course of a trial and in exercising control over the conduct of witnesses and attorneys. People v Cole, 349 Mich 175, 199; 84 NW2d 711 (1957), People v Gray, 57 Mich App 289, 294; 225 NW2d 733 (1975). The judge may properly participate in the questioning of wit nesses, id. Such judicial questioning should be designed to "produce fuller and more exact testimony”, Simpson v Burton, 328 Mich 557, 564; 44 NW2d 178 (1950), and to "clarify points and elicit additional facts”, People v Davison, 12 Mich App 429, 434; 163 NW2d 10 (1968). Where a case is being tried before a jury, however, the judge must be especially careful that his questions or comments do not indicate partiality. People v Young, 364 Mich 554; 111 NW2d 870 (1961). His questions may not be "intimidating, argumentative, prejudicial, unfair or partial”. People v Wilder, 383 Mich 122, 124; 174 NW2d 562 (1970). Additionally, "a judge before whom a jury case is being tried should avoid any invasion of the prosecutor’s role”. People v Cole, supra, at 196.
It is not the number of questions asked by the court, but the content of the questions and their possible impact on the jury which is crucial to an appellate review. Appellate courts in this jurisdiction have carefully scrutinized substantial claims of judicial partiality and have not required a specific showing of prejudice where such partiality is demonstrated. A new trial has been ordered where h judge’s questions and comments ’’may well have unjustifiably aroused suspicion in the mind of the jury” as to a witness’ credibility, (emphasis supplied), Simpson v Burton, supra, at 563-564, and where partiality ’’quite possibly could have influenced the jury to the detriment of defendant’s case”, (emphasis supplied), People v Roby, 38 Mich App 387, 392; 196 NW2d 346 (1972). See also People v Young, supra, at 559.
We find, in the instant case, that the court’s questioning of defendant’s expert witness was improper and requires our reversal of defendant’s conviction and remand for a new trial. The court’s introduction of Dr. Robey’s opinion was improper as a matter of fairness to defendant.
We find from a review of the record that the trial court’s questioning could have prejudiced defendant’s right to a fair trial. Defendant’s only defense was insanity. Dr. Olive, the witness whom the court questioned, was defendant’s only expert witness. Dr. Olive had just finished over 50 pages of transcript testimony in which he detailed , his belief that defendant was a schizophrenic, that the robbery was a psychotic act and that defendant was not aware of the propriety of the act at the time he did it. Although Dr. Olive testified that defendant, in general, might have known right from wrong at the time of the robbery, he stated that defendant did not know whether the act of robbery itself was right or wrong because of defendant’s schizophrenic hallucinations. The trial court, in introducing the opinion of Dr. Robey, stressed to the jury only that part of Dr. Olive’s testimony which indicated that defendant might have, in general, known right from wrong. As such, the court’s questions were of the type that, more properly, should have been asked by the prosecutor.
Dr. Olive’s testimony was frequently couched in medical terminology. It is conceivable that the jury could have resolved any confusion over Dr. Olive’s testimony by focusing on the extrajudicial opinion of Dr. Robey as stressed by the court. We find it just as conceivable that the jury could have combined this statement with earlier questioning of defendant by the court and viewed the court’s statements as expressing an opinion that defendant knew right from wrong at the time he committed the robbery and, thus, could not sustain his insanity defense.
We find the case of People v Young, 364 Mich 554; 111 NW2d 870 (1961), to be persuasive precedent. There, as here, defendant was committed to treatment for a period prior to trial. In Young, as here, defendant’s only defense was insanity. Defendants in both cases presented only one expert witness and, in both cases, the expert testified that defendant was a schizophrenic and was unable to tell right from wrong at the time of the crime. In each case, the judge asked questions which were more appropriate to questioning by the prosecutor. The Court in Young found partiality in the court’s questions and reversed defendant’s conviction without an absolute finding of prejudice to defendant. Rather, it deemed the court’s questions as "error which may have prejudiced the result”. (Emphasis supplied.) Id. at 559.
Plaintiff, on appeal, contends that the trial court’s questioning was designed "to clear up uncertainties in Dr. Olive’s testimony”. We disagree. Plaintiff’s contention is supported only by a parenthetical list of transcript page numbers, which ostensibly indicate "uncertainties” in Dr. Olive’s testimony. Plaintiff does not explain these "uncertainties” and our reading of the pages cited by plaintiff discloses none.
Plaintiff also claims that defendant’s failure to object to the trial court’s questioning of Dr. Olive precludes appellate review. While a failure to object at trial normally precludes appellate review, such a failure will not do so if the alleged misconduct has resulted in a denial of a fair trial. As we decided in People v Roby, supra, at 389, the failure to object is especially not a bar where, as here, the objection concerning the trial judge’s conduct must be made to the trial judge himself. As we have noted before:
"we do not think that a lawyer should be put in the position of challenging such conduct and thereby possibly incurring the judge’s displeasure”.
People v Eglar, 19 Mich App 563, 565; 173 NW2d 5 (1969).
In view of our disposition of this issue, we do not deem it necessary to discuss defendant’s other claims of error. However, we note that the record does not disclose whether a competency hearing was conducted subsequent to defendant’s release to the court from the Center for Forensic Psychiatry as was then required by MCLA 767.27a; MSA 28.966(H). We suggest that such a hearing be conducted prior to defendant’s new trial. People v Lucas, 393 Mich 522; 227 NW2d 763 (1975).
Reversed and remanded.
Repealed by 1974 PA 258; MCLA 330.1001 et seq.; MSA 14.800(1) et seq., effective one year after August 6, 1974. Provisions of the new enactment governing competency to stand trial are found at MCLA 330.2020-330.2044; MSA 14.800(1020)-14.800(1044). | [
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D. E. Holbrook, Jr., P. J.
This action arose out of a March 13, 1973, rear-end collision involving plaintiff Christine Berger and defendant Albert Weber. Plaintiffs Wayne and Christine Berger filed a complaint on their own behalf and sought damages for medical expenditures, loss of income and loss of consortium. As next friend, Wayne Berger sought damages for his mentally retarded daughter’s loss of society, companionship, love and affection of her mother, Christine Berger, as a result of the injuries sustained by Mrs. Berger. It was further alleged that the mentally retarded child was dependent upon her mother to administer to her peculiar physical and psychological needs and because Mrs. Berger had allegedly sustained both physical and psychological injuries in the accident, she could no longer continue to administer to the peculiar needs of her retarded daughter.
Defendants conceded the issue of liability as to Wayne and Christine Berger and sought a trial on the amount of damages. A jury awarded Wayne and Christine Berger $142,000 and defendants appeal. We find defendants’ allegation of error in the jury instructions to be so lacking in merit as to render discussion unnecessary and we affirm.
Plaintiff Wayne Berger, as next friend, cross-appeals the trial court’s pre-trial grant of defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to the issue of liability for the minor daughter’s loss of society and companionship. The trial court ruled there was no cause of action in Michigan for a minor child’s loss of a parent’s society and companionship.
We reverse and hold that a child may maintain a cause of action for loss of parental society and companionship when a parent is "severely” injured. Because the injured parent may recover for financial losses resulting from his or her disability, we reject the contention that the child has an independent action for "support”, at least in the economic sense. To allow a parent to recover lost wages, for example, and to also allow a child to recover for loss of support would result in double recovery. We therefore confine our holding to a child’s independent action for loss of society and companionship.
We have carefully weighed the competing arguments and find the balance tips in favor of creating this cause of action. In Michigan there are several old cases with dictum to the effect that a child does not have an independent cause of action for injuries to a parent and a 1968 Court of Appeals case which, noting the lack of precedent, concluded a child did not state a cause of action. In Blair v Seitner Dry Goods Co, 184 Mich 304; 151 NW 724 (1915), overruled on other grounds, Montgomery v Stephan, 359 Mich 33; 101 NW2d 227 (1960), the Court found that minor children may suffer on account of an injury to a parent but that "it has never been considered that they had an action therefor”. 184 Mich at 313. Similarly, Hayrynen v White Pine Copper Co, 9 Mich App 452; 157 NW2d 502 (1968), grounded its objection to a child’s recovery on the lack of " 'statutory or prior judicial authority at the present time’ ”. 9 Mich App at 456. In deciding which statute of limitations was applicable in a wrongful death action, the Michigan Supreme Court indicated, without analysis, that a minor had no right of action for injuries to his parent. Cugell v Sani-Wash Laundry Co, 280 Mich 286, 289; 273 NW 571 (1937).
In light of recent statutory and judicial developments we believe that the time has come for recognition of a child’s genuine loss when he or she is deprived of parental society and companionship. Until the 1960 case of Montgomery v Stephan, supra, a husband could recover for the loss of a wife’s consortium but the wife could not recover for the same loss when her husband was injured. Citing the long history of legal discrimination against married women, Justice Talbot Smith found that the conditions of modern society justified an overdue change in the judicially created bar to a wife’s action for loss of consortium. As Justice Smith concluded, "[t]he reasons for the old rule no longer obtaining, the rule falls with it”. 359 Mich at 49. We believe the spirit of Montgomery is analogous to the case at bar and that neither the lack of precedent cited in Hayrynen nor the varying objections from courts in other jurisdictions are sufficient to uphold archaic barriers which prevent a child from being compensated for his or her unquestionable loss.
Emerging Rights of Children
Our ruling is in keeping with the modern judicial recognition of a child as a person with many of the same rights as adults. Once relegated to the status of chattel, children have lagged behind other groups of society in being accorded basic rights of citizenry.
In a recent pronouncement by the United States Supreme Court allowing minors to obtain contraceptives without parental consent, Carey v Population Services International, 431 US 678, 692; 97 S Ct 2010, 2020; 52 L Ed 2d 675, 689 (1977), the Court noted:
" 'Minors, as well as adults, are protected by the Constitution and possess constitutional rights.’ Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v Danforth, [428 US 52, 74; 96 S Ct 2831, 2843; 49 L Ed 2d 788, 808 (1976)]. '[W]hatever may be their precise impact, neither the Fourteenth Amendment nor the Bill of Rights is for adults alone.’ In re Gault, [387 US 1, 13; 87 S Ct 1428, 1436; 18 L Ed 2d 527, 538 (1976)].”
The Court identified some of those rights: constitutional protection for freedom of speech, equal protection against racial discrimination, due process in civil contexts, and a variety of rights in the criminal procedure context. 431 US at 692; 97 Sup Ct at 2020; 52 L Ed 2d at 689.
In the context of a complex child custody case, In re Maria S Weldon, 397 Mich 225, 276; 244 NW2d 827 (1976), Justice Coleman commented,
"We recognize two protected rights * * * that of the child as a separate and distinct entity to those unalienable rights of American citizenship.”
Earlier in her opinion Justice Coleman stated:
"We find the Child Custody Act [MCLA 722.21 et seq.; MSA 25.312(1) et seq.] to be consistent with contemporary recognition of the inherent rights of children as citizens”. In re Weldon, 397 Mich at 268.
In determining child custody, the legislative standard is the "best interests of the child”. A minor child has a right to legal representation in a child custody proceeding, MCLA 552.45; MSA 25.121.
The recent abolition of intra-family tort immunity carries with it the implication that a child has an independent identity. Plumley v Klein, 388 Mich 1; 199 NW2d 169 (1972). Also a child may sue a tortfeasor for negligently inflicted pre-natal injuries, the Court stating that a child has a right to begin life with a sound mind and body. Womack v Buchhorn, 384 Mich 718, 725; 187 NW2d 218 (1971).
In short, these cases reflect a growing awareness by the judiciary that children are persons with a variety of legal interests. Today we conclude that one of these interests, parental society and companionship, is deserving of protection when a parent is injured to the extent that he or she cannot provide the child with parental love, guidance and affection.
Nature of Child’s Loss
Currently Michigan law allows a spouse to recover for loss of "consortium” when the other spouse is severely injured, Montgomery v Stephan, supra. In 1971 the wrongful death act was amended to specifically allow recovery for the "loss of society and companionship of the deceased”. Even before the statutory amendment, children could recover for such losses in a wrongful death action. Westfall v Venton, 1 Mich App 612; 137 NW2d 757 (1965), Iv den, 377 Mich 700 (1966). Parents may recover for such losses when their children are killed. So we are confronted with the anomalous situation of saying that a child suffers the compensable loss of society and companionship when a parent is killed but not when the parent is injured so severely that he or she cannot perform the parental function. We say that when a spouse has been severely injured the other spouse may recover for the loss of society, companionship and/ or consortium, but that the child may not recover for almost identical losses.
After noting courts have not allowed recovery, Prosser states,
"It is not easy to understand and appreciate this reluctance to compensate the child who has been deprived of the care, companionship and education of his mother, or for that matter his father, through the defendant’s negligence. This is surely a genuine injury, and a serious one”.
Even in denying recovery, courts have recognized the child suffers a true loss. Recently the California Supreme Court admitted:
" * * * we do not doubt the reality or the magnitude of the injury suffered by plaintiffs. We are keenly aware of the need of children for the love, affection, society and guidance of parents; any injury which diminishes the ability of a parent to meet these needs is plainly a family tragedy, harming all members of that community.” Borer v American Airlines Inc, 19 Cal 3d 441, 453; 138 Cal Rptr 302, 310; 563 P2d 858, 866 (1977).
See also Hill v Sibley Memorial Hospital, 108 F Supp 739 (DDC 1952), Hankins v Derby, 211 NW2d 581, 582 (Iowa, 1973). The loss of parental guidance and training can have a severe impact on the child’s development and personality. The importance of the "family unit” has been noted in several Michigan cases. As the dissenters on the Iowa Supreme Court lament,
"Everyone seems to agree that 'a child has an interest in the maintenance of a viable family relationship and in all the benefits derived from the family circle’ but no one does anything about it.” Hankins v Derby, supra, at 589 (dissent of Mason, Reynoldson and McCormick, JJ.).
Reasons for Denying a Cause of Action Are Not Persuasive
We agree with Justice Mosk in his dissent in Borer v American Airlines, supra, that in light of the strong policy reasons for granting recovery, the reasons advanced by the majority in Borer are unpersuasive and have been rejected in other contexts.
In Michigan and other jurisdictions courts have cited a lack of precedent for such an action. Hayrynen v White Pine Copper Co, supra, Borer v American Airlines, supra. This argument misperceives the evolving nature of the common law. Carried to its logical extreme, this doctrine would result in a static body of law. In acknowledging the wife’s right to recover for loss of consortium, Justice Smith reasoned:
"Were we to rule upon precedent alone, were stability the only reason for our being, we would have no trouble with this case. We would simply tell the woman to begone, and to take her shattered husband with her, that we need no longer be affronted by a sight so repulsive. In so doing we would have vast support from the dusty books. But dust [from] the decision would remain in our mouths through the years ahead, a reproach to law and conscience alike. Our oath is to do justice, not to perpetuate error.” Montgomery v Stephan, supra, at 37-38.
We concur with Justice Mosk’s response to the lack of precedent argument — when the crowd is marching in the wrong direction, it is time to break ranks and strike out on our own.
A second argument advanced by some courts is the uncertainty of damages and/or the inability of money damages to compensate for such an intangible loss. While it is true that calculating damages for loss of society and companionship may be difficult, it would seem no more difficult than the task of determining a spouse’s identical loss or the almost identical loss of a child in a wrongful death action when a parent is killed. Probably in the vast majority of cases involving parental injury, the injury will not be so severe that the child suffers a loss of society and companionship. But in cases, for example, where a parent is severely crippled or suffers brain damage a child will be deprived of parental guidance, love and affection. Obviously there will be a range of possible recoveries depending on the extent of the loss. Once liability is established, difficulty in determining damages will not bar recovery. Troppi v Scarf, 31 Mich App 240, 261; 187 NW2d 511 (1971), Purcell v Keegan, 359 Mich 571 576; 103 NW2d 494 (1960).
We reject the majority’s argument in Borer that because a child’s loss is intangible, money damages are inadequate. This is more a comment on the inadequacy of legal remedies in general rather than a valid reason for denying recovery to a child. Money cannot purchase eyesight for one who is blinded nor can it truly compensate for intangibles such as pain and suffering or the loss of a life. To say that a child cannot be fully compensated for his or her loss does not justify ignoring the loss altogether.
A third argument made by some courts is the possibility of double recovery by the child because, either juries already compensate the child for lost economic support through an award to the parent, or juries already indirectly factor in a child’s emotional loss through an award to the parent. We agree with the first of these arguments and, therefore, we have declined to allow a child an action for loss of economic support. The second argument, however, is actually a further reason for adopting an independent action for the child. Rather than having juries make blind calculations of the child’s loss in determining an award to the parent, a child’s loss could be openly argued in court and the jury could be instructed to consider the child’s loss separately. The award would accrue directly to the child rather than be lumped in with that of the parent, who may or may not spend it for the child’s benefit. The possibility of double recovery for loss of society and companionship would be eliminated if the jury was instructed to consider the losses of the parent and child independently.
A fourth objection advanced by some courts is the familiar "floodgates argument” that once a child is allowed recovery, maiden aunts, second cousins and next-door neighbors will fill the courts with their claims of lost companionship. This makeweight argument has probably been made whenever a new cause of action was proposed. Because of the crucial role of a parent in a child’s development, we specifically confine our holding to allow recovery for the loss of parental society and companionship. This would include not only natural parents but those who have assumed a parental role to a child. Whether a person serves as a parent will have to be adjudicated on a case by case basis. The rights of a new class of tort plaintiffs should be forthrightly judged on their own merits, rather than engaging in gloomy speculation as to where it will all end.
A fifth barrier thrown up by some is the spectre of multiple lawsuits, since children will have their own cause of action. While we are acutely aware of bulging trial court dockets, we conclude that the interests of the child in recovering outweigh the possibility that plaintiffs will choose to bring multiple actions resulting from one tortious incident.
A sixth objection raised by some is that in view of the fact that children may not recover for intentional invasion of the family relationship, it would be anomalous to allow recovery for negligent invasion. In Michigan MCLA 600.2901; MSA 27A.2901 has abolished actions for alienation of affections. This statutory prohibition specifically prevents a minor child from recovering from one who has induced a parent away from home, Miller v Kretschmer, 374 Mich 459; 132 NW2d 141 (1965). First we note that the abolition of this action has not been considered inconsistent with the child’s right to recover for the negligent death of a parent under the wrongful death statute nor the spouse’s right to recover when the other spouse is negligently injured. Secondly, the abolition of the alienation of affections action rests on different policy grounds. As noted by one law review commentator, when a parent is enticed from the home, the value of the parental love and companionship is open to question. The action is grounded on the theory that an innocent spouse or parent has been maliciously enticed from the home by a seductive intruder. The modern scenario is more likely to disclose a disappointed spouse who is as much the pursuer as the pursued. While at first glance allowing recovery for negligent, but not intentional, interference with the family relationship might seem anomalous, on closer examination of the differing policies, we find the argument unpersuasive.
A seventh objection, argued by the California majority in Borer, is that a child cannot recover for loss of "consortium” because of the sexual aspect of the spousal relationship. We do not choose to debate what "consortium” does or does not include. Rather than attempting to make a perfect analogy between the loss of a spouse and that of a child, we focus on the fact that the child has suffered a genuine loss of society and companionship and should be compensated.
Summary
We have carefully scrutinized the various policy considerations and conclude that the magnitude of the child’s loss outweighs the factors which would militate against allowing recovery. As one commentator points out, it is arguable that the child’s need for compensation for the loss of emotional benefits flowing from family life is even greater than that of the spouse. An adult is better able to understand and adjust to such a loss than is a helpless child.
In abandoning older precedents to allow parents to recover for lost society and companionship when their child was blinded and disfigured, the Wisconsin Supreme Court concluded:
"What is said with respect to parental loss in the event of death of a child is equally true in the case of injury. Our wrongful death statute already recognizes the loss of society and companionship as an element of damages in the case of death. It seems reasonable to recognize this same type loss where there has been injury to a minor child.” Shockley v Prier, 66 Wis 2d 394, 400; 225 NW2d 495, 499 (1975).
Juxtaposing the terminology of "parent” and "child” would summarize our conclusion today.
The language of the older Michigan Supreme Court cases, Blair, supra, and Cugell, supra, represents dictum, and the Court of Appeals is not bound to follow it. In the interests of justice and fairness we hold the new rule to apply to the instant case and all future cases. See Plumley v Klein, supra, at 8.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part. Remanded for further proceedings. Costs to appellees and cross-appellants.
As of this writing 19 jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia, have rejected children’s various claims for loss of support and/or consortium and/or services and/or society and companionship. Borer v American Airlines Inc, 19 Cal 3d 441, 449; 138 Cal Rptr 302, 308; 563 P2d 858, 864 (1977). See also, Anno. 69 ALR3d 528.
See, Montgomery v Stephan, supra, at 39.
Tinker v Des Moines School District, 393 US 503; 89 S Ct 733; 21 L Ed 2d 731 (1969).
Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, 347 US 483; 74 S Ct 686; 98 L Ed 873 (1954).
Goss v Lopez, 419 US 565; 95 S Ct 729; 42 L Ed 2d 725 (1975).
In re Winship, 397 US 358; 90 S Ct 1068; 25 L Ed 2d 368 (1970) (proof beyond a reasonable doubt), Breed v Jones, 421 US 519; 95 S Ct 1779; 44 L Ed 2d 346 (1975) (prohibition of double jeopardy), In re Gault, 387 US 1; 87 S Ct 1428; 18 L Ed 2d 527 (1967) (rights to notice, counsel, confrontation, cross-examination and not incriminate oneself), and Gallegos v Colorado, 370 US 49; 82 S Ct 1209; 8 L Ed 2d 325 (1962) (protection against coerced confessions).
MCLA 600.2922; MSA 27A.2922, amended by 1971 PA 65.
Currie v Fiting, 375 Mich 440; 134 NW2d 611 (1965), Reisig v Klusendorf, 375 Mich 519; 134 NW2d 634 (1965).
Prosser, Law of Torts (4th ed), § 125, p 896.
Note, The Child’s Right to Sue for Loss of a Parent’s Love, Care and Companionship Caused by Tortious Injury to the Parent. 56 B U L Rev 722, 740-741 (1976), citing P. Mussen, J. Conger & J. Kagan, Child Development and Personality, 163-164, 397-398 (3d ed, 1969), and McCord, McCord & Thurber, Some Effects of Parental Absence on Children, 64 J Abnormal Soc Psych, 361 (1962). See also the testimony of Dr. Trocchio relating to the psychological effects of deprivation of a parental figure in Justice Coleman’s opinion In re Maria S Weldon, 397 Mich 225, 279-280; 244 NW2d 827 (1976).
Westfall, supra at 620, Justice Coleman’s opinion in Weldon, supra at 275-276 (child custody context), and the dissenting opinion of Justice Adams in Heider v Michigan Sugar Co, 375 Mich 490, 516; 134 NW2d 637 (1965).
Dissent of Justice Mosk, Borer, supra, n 1, 19 Cal 3d at 453-460; 138 Cal Rptr at 310-315; 563 P2d at 866-871.
Id. 19 Cal 3d at 458; 138 Cal Rptr at 313; 563 P2d at 869.
Russell v Salem Transportation Co, Inc, 61 NJ 502; 295 A2d 862 (1972), Borer, supra, n 1, 19 Cal 3d at 448; 138 Cal Rptr at 307; 563 P2d at 863, 56 B U L Rev, supra, at 734, 69 ALR3d 528, supra, n 1, at 542-543.
Borer, supra, n 1, 19 Cal 3d at 446-448; 138 Cal Rptr at 306-307; 563 P2d at 862-863. See, the dissent of Justice Adams in Breckon v Franklin Fuel Co, 383 Mich 251, 287-298; 174 NW2d 836 (1970), which concluded that dependency in terms of companionship was perhaps even easier to ascertain than pain and suffering. Justice Adams’ dissent was specifically adopted by the Court in Smith v City of Detroit, 388 Mich 637, 649; 202 NW2d 300 (1972).
56 B U L Rev, supra, at 735-736.
Non-biological parents may, and often do, serve the identical needs of a child, see, Justice Coleman’s opinion in Weldon, supra at 276, citing Goldstein, A. Freud & Solnit, Beyond the Best Interests of the Child (Free Press, 1973), pp 12-14.
Dissent of Justice Mosk in Borer, supra, n 1, 19 Cal 3d at 460; 138 Cal Rptr at 314; 563 P2d at 870.
See, 69 ALR3d 528, 543-544, Love, Tortious Interference with the Parent-Child Relationship: Loss of an Injured Person’s Society and Companionship, 51 Ind LJ 590, 603-604 (1976), Note, The Child’s Claim for Loss of Consortium Damages: A Logical and Sympathetic Appeal, 13 San Diego L Rev 231, 249-250 (1975).
56 B U L Rev, supra, at 739.
Borer, supra, n 1, 19 Cal 3d at 448; 138 Cal Rptr at 307, 563 P2d at 863.
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff was employed by defendant, V. I. C. Metal Products Company, an automobile parts manufacturer, as a punch press or stamping press operator. He was injured on August 28, 1972, when the press accidentally came down on his left hand, amputating the little, ring and middle fingers and a portion of the palm. The middle finger was surgically reattached. Defendants voluntarily paid disability benefits for the specific loss of the two fingers. Plaintiff returned to work in March, 1973, and resumed his former job as press, shearer, and reamer operator.
On May 10, 1973, plaintiff filed a petition for specific loss and loss of industrial use of his left hand. Benefits for loss of industrial use were awarded.
Plaintiff continued working for the defendant until November 22, 1974, when it closed down its plant and laid off all the workers. On June 11, 1975, plaintiff filed a second petition which requested a determination of general disability and sought general disability benefits. After a hearing, plaintiff was found to be totally disabled and compensation was ordered to be paid beyond the specific loss period.
The Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board upheld the decision of the administrative law judge on the issue of specific loss of industrial use of the left hand and also the decision regarding total disability. The appeal board ordered compensation to be paid until the defendant could prove that plaintiff was employed or that suitable employment is available.
Defendants sought leave to appeal the board’s decision to this Court, which was denied. Applica tion was then filed in the Michigan Supreme Court, which remanded the case to the Court of Appeals for consideration as on leave granted. Russell v VIC Metal Products, 400 Mich 842 (1977).
Defendants raise two issues on appeal, only one of which need be answered herein. This issue is whether the appeal board applied the correct legal standard in determining that plaintiff lost the industrial use of his left hand.
The test for determining loss of industrial use is the degree of loss as compared with the actual physical loss by destruction or amputation. Hutsko v Chrysler Corp, 381 Mich 99; 158 NW2d 874 (1968). Loss of industrial use is functionally equivalent to actual physical loss, as by destruction or amputation. Pintar v Copper Range Mining Co, 79 Mich App 518; 261 NW2d 69 (1977).
After reading the appeal board’s opinion, we are not convinced that the above standard was used by the board in making its decision. Thus, we remand this case to the appeal board for a determination of whether the plaintiff suffered the loss of industrial use of his left hand in accordance with the Hutsko standard.
Remanded for proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. No costs. | [
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