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Long, J.
This is an action of assumpsit brought in the Wayne circuit court. Upon the trial before the court and jury, plaintiffs had verdict and judgment for $225. Defendant brings error. ,
The plaintiffs sued for a balance of account due them for labor and materials furnished defendant in building a house. Their claim was that they first prepared- two plans for the house. The first plan drawn was not used, but was paid for by the defendant, less $5. The house was built in accordance with the second plan. The plaintiffs’ claim upon the trial was that, after the second plans were drawn, the defendant let the contract for the mason-work to Putnam & Clark; that, after this contract was let, defendant turned to plaintiff McDonnell, with whom the whole arrangement had been made, and said:
“You can do the carpenter work by days’ work, and then, if I want to make any changes, I can make them without any figuring or alterations of the contract, and if I want to leave any part of the house unfinished, I can do so.”
That under this arrangement plaintiffs were to furnish the men by the day; that plaintiffs were contractors} which defendant well knew, having a large number of men under their control and in their employ, who were immediately set to work upon defendant’s house; that, during the erection of the house they furnished to defendant materials which they had in stock at their own shop, and also purchased and paid for lumber and other materials at other shops; that defendant made payments from time to time, so that when the house was built he was indebted to them nearly $500, $200 of which was paid by the defendant in the December following. The plaintiffs, in making their bill against the defendant, charged therein from 25 cents to 50 cents per day, upon each man employed upon the work, more than these contractors actually paid to the men. The controversy in this ease grows largely out of this charge, though some contention is made over a bill of materials purchased and paid for by the plaintiffs at the mill of Baker & Shefferly.
The plaintiffs, to prove their case, gave testimony upon the trial tending to show that they were contractors, and that it was the custom of contractors and builders where jobs were taken by the day to charge, for each man engaged, something more than the contractor and builder paid to the men; that the services of the men were worth all that was paid for them; and that they actually procured the materials used in the building at the defendant’s request, and paid the men, which was charged to the defendant.
The defendant’s claim was that, when the arrangement was made by which the plaintiffs were to do the work by the day, it was made solely with Daniel McDonnell, and he knew nothing of his having a partner, and that Taylor had no concern in it; that he proposed to McDonnell to pay the men himself that he had sent there to work, to which McDonnell demurred, and said he could get better work out of the men by paying them himself, and that defendant said that it was immaterial which way they did, so long as the men got their pay.
There was no dispute upon the trial but that the work was satisfactorily done, and no contention but that McDonnell paid for the material that he charged up to the defendant; though defendant contended he should have a bill of particulars of the items procurred from Baker & Shefferly, which was never furnished him. Mr. McDonnell explains this by saying that he presented the bill for material which he wanted to Baker & Shefferly, got their prices, and then made a contract with them at the lowest price by taking the whole quantity at a job lot; that he left the bill with Baker & Shefferly, and could not produce it to the defendant, but offered to take the defendant to their shop, and have the matter explained by them, and defendant refused to go.
Defendant upon the trial claimed some set-offs, which were referred to by the court in its general charge to the jury-
The court in its charge to the jury directed them, if they found under the evidence that there was no agreement as to the price at which the labor was to be supplied, the plaintiffs would be entitled to charge such additional sum for their profit on the men as is customary and reasonable; but that if they believed the defendant’s theory, that he spoke to McDonnell about paying the men himself, and McDonnell said that he could get more work out of the men by paying them himself, or gave the defendant to understand that he would not charge him therefor, then he could not recover for that.
The assignments of error relate to the rulings of the court in admitting certain evidence upon the trial, the refusal of the court to charge as requested by the defendant, the giving of the plaintiffs’ requests to charge, and in charging the jury that the Baker & Shefferly bill had been paid by the plaintiffs.
The first contention in brief of defendant’s counsel is that the court was in error in permitting the counsel for the plaintiffs to ask the following question:
“Do you know whether there was any denial of this paper in justice’s court by Mr. Ford?’’
The paper referred to was the statement of the names of the men who had worked upon defendant’s house, and the time each man was employed there. It was a time-bill. It appears that the plaintiff McDonnell did not keep this bill himself, as he was not present during the whole time the men were employed there. He put his father in charge of the work, who kept the time, and reported it to the plaintiff McDonnell each Saturday night. It appeared upon the trial that McDonnell's father-died before the trial of the case. The action was commenced in justice's court, and appealed to the circuit. This time-bill was put in evidence' before the justice's court, and it appears no objection was made to it there. Whether this was true or not, there was no error, under the circumstances, in the court allowing the paper to be put in evidence on the trial in the circuit court. The defendant introduced no evidence, and offered none, showing, or tending to show, that this time-bill waB not correctly kept, and the plaintiffs' right of recovery for the extra charge for each man depended upon the length of time or number of days each man was employed; and tho plaintiffs had the right to show the number of days, and McDonnell testified that the time-bill was made up each Saturday during the work upon the defendant's house.
The next contention is over the Baker & Shefferly bill. The court permitted this to be put in evidence under defendant's objection. There was no error in this. It represented the exact amount paid by Mr. McDonnell for the. defendant, at his request.
The court waB not in error in permitting plaintiffs, as a part of their case, to show the custom of contractors and builders in making these extra charges where the contract is by the day.
It appears that, at the close of the testimony, the defendant requested the court to charge the jury that they must believe the defendant contracted with McDonnell & Taylor before plaintiffs could recover. This request the court refused to give. There was no error in this. McDonnell testified that Taylor was his partner in business, and was sharing with him in this contract. It may be that the defendant did not know that Taylor was a partner with McDonnell, but it appears that, in all bills rendered by the plaintiffs to the defendant, they were rendered in the name of McDonnell & Co.
The defendant, in his bill of items of set-offs, claims pay for carrying the men at work upon, his house to and from work. This bill amounts to $107.25. Counsel for defendant contends that he was entitled to the charge that this set-off should be allowed; that it was not merely a matter of set-off, but of. payment upon the contract. The court charged the jury that should they deduct this 25 or 50 cents a day on the defendant’s work from the plaintiffs’ bill, then they should also deduct the amount of defendant’s claim for carrying the men. The court was correct in this ruling. If the defendant was to pay the men, and the plaintiffs had no right to recover for this extra charge, then the defendant would have no right to have deducted from plaintiffs’ bill the amount charged for carrying the men to and from their work.
The court was not in error in stating to the jury that the Baker & Shefferly bill had been paid by the plaintiffs. The testimony showed, without contradiction, that this bill had been paid by the plaintiffs^ and that it was for material purchased by the plaintiffs for the defendant, and at his request.
We find no error in the record, and the judgment must be affirmed, with costs.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Champlin, C. J.
The declaration claims damages for being prevented from performing a contract.
The plea was the general issue, with a notice that the plaintiff had violated his agreement as mentioned and set forth in his declaration, specifying with particularity wherein he had failed to comply with the agreement, and alleging that—
“At. the time the agreement was made the defendant had a large contract to furnish ties; that he purchased and owned the trees, 'logs, and timber on the ‘Schaffer lot,’ so called; that the same was purchased for the purpose of cutting up into ties; that the white-oak logs, trees, and timber thereon were contracted to plaintiff by defendant, to be cut and sawed up into ties and delivered to defendant; that plaintiff agreed to cut the same into ties for defendant; that plaintiff commenced to cut the said white-oak timber into lengths not suitable forties, and thereby wasted the same; that plaintiff cut the white-oak logs, timber, and trees thereon, and manufactured the same-into other kinds of lumber than for' ties, and sold and converted the same to his own use, . and deprived defendant of his profits and ties therein; ” and that he is indebted to the defendant for the price and value of such trees and lumber; and that by reason of his not fulfilling the contract, defendant has sustained damages, which he would recoup against any claim the plaintiff might establish upon the trial.”
There were two contracts declared upon in the plaintiff’s declaration. The first bears date the 5th day of November, 1886, in which plaintiff agreed to move his saw-mill on to Michael Houser’s land, of Bridgman, Mich., and put the mill in good running order, and saw for defendant, and no other person, as long as defendant stocked the mill, for the sum of $8 per thousand feet for all logs except tie logs.' Ties were to be sawed for the sum of eight cents apiece. The side boards of the tie logs were to be sawed free and edged up. Plaintiff agreed not to buy or offer to buy any white or burr oak logs or timber for a term of 18 months, if the defendant stocked the mill. The contract contained other provisions not material to state here. The work of putting in the logs, sawingj and all work for both parties, was to be done in a workman-like manner. The plaintiff agreed to put all the logs on the Houser lot from the woods on skids at the sum of 2% cents for each 9-foot tie, and logs at the same ratio, 2|- cents for each 9 feet in length. The parties went on under this agreement, and the plaintiff put in a certain quantity of ties, for which he received his payment in full. He claims, however, that for the timber which he cut under that contract there was due him from the defendant $124. After this job was completed, they entered into another contract, as follows:
“Lake Tp., Berrien Co., Mich., March 18, 1887.
“We do hereby agree to sell to Charles W. Stahelin all the white oak timber that we buy in the neighborhood of his mill, except the Joshua Feather and Walton’s, at what it costs us, and charge him at the rate of ten per cent, interest from date of payment for said timber; and also agree to pay him for all of the timber made into M. 0. E. E. ties, delivered on cars at Morris ■or Stevensville, if we can get the same rates at Stevens-ville as we have at Morris, 40 cents per No. 1, 20 cents per No 2, subject to the M. C. E. E. inspection; ties to he sawed six by ten, 9 feet long.
“J. M. Sowle & Co.”
The defendant, Joseph M. Sowle, was doing business ■under the name of J. M. Sowle & Co., and was engaged in getting out and furnishing ties to the Michigan Central Eailroad. Upon the trial of the cause it appeared that the defendant, Sowle, purchased two parcels of land for $650, and it was estimated that the quantity of ties upon these parcels of land would be 6,500, — 3,000 upon ■one piece, and 3,500 upon the other. The plaintiff testified that at the time the first contract was signed the ■defendant said to him:
“‘I want you to crowd things. You are a pusher, and I want you to crowd it ahead, because I have got to have a certain amount’ — I' think 'he said — ‘of ties ■out,’ so he would get his percentage, the 1st of January. The way I understood, he had three terms, — you might ■say three months, three distinct terms. He got in a certain amount every term; something that way.”
The witness further testified:
“Either a few days before or a few days after this paper [the second contract] was made, that Schaffer piece of timber was bought. I only knew it was bought by Sowle’s saying so. Sowle came to my house, and called my attention. Told me he had been over the Schaffer piece. Asked whether I was willing to stand the price, —one piece $300, and the other $350. I knew what the timber was pretty well. I was willing to pay the price. Sowle "said he would send' the money right away. The money came; cannot say whether it was two or three days, or a week, — a short time. Mr. Sowle’s foreman went over with me. Saw Mr. Schaffer. He showed us the lines to cut the timber. When I- went in first, I went to making roads. We made a road diagonally through the piece, and then cut branch roads. I kept a memorandum of the business of cutting out the roads. It cost me about $25. The other work cost me in the neighborhood of $25. I commenced cutting the timber off probably that very afternoon. Tucker and Schaffer showed us the line. I furnished to Sowle, at Morris Station, in the neighborhood of 1,000 ties. Did not all come from the Schaffer lot. I furnished 1,000 No. 1 ties, equal to $400.”
The witness then testified tending to prove how much it cost to manufacture ties at his mill; what he paid cutters, hauling, and repairs at the mill, leather, oil, etc.; the number of teams he owned and hired, and what he had to pay for them. He also testified that his mill had a capacity and would cut in an average day’s work 400 ties a day; that, after he had been at work some 13-days, he received a notification forom J. M. Sowle & Co., as follows:
“Mr. Stahelin: Please stop cutting and hauling. If you want to, saw what is in the yard cut at nine cents for No. 1, four and one-half for No. 2. Our contract is broken, and we have another mill to cut those logs.
“J. M. Sowle & Co.”
He further testified that he continued to cut after receiving this notice, until he was prevented by their putting a gate across the road and locking it up, and sending men there to prevent his further continuing the job.
The defendant testified in his own behalf as follows:
“ My ■ business is general lumbering. Have been in that business 42 years. Have been stocking mills in Berrien county. Know Mr. Stahelin. I made the contract mentioned here. Saw Mr. Stahelin first here in Berrien Springs in the month of October, 1886, in reference to lumber. I was cutting and shipping ties to the Michigan Central Railroad. He asked me to come down there and buy timber around his mill, and stock him up. I went down after that, and bought some timber, the latter part of October, three or four little pieces, and went to putting it into the mill at Bridgman. After I bought the Houser lot, he came to me twice, and wanted to do that sawing. I came to the conclusion to let him have the job and made the contract. He went to work under the contract. I came there once in two weeks, pay-day. At the last settlement we settled all up square. The account was fetched in, — so much for ties, so much a thousand feet for what lumber there was, — and we settled up everything square. There was nothing said about this extra at that time. Not a word said about it from that day to this. He never asked anything or said there was anything wrong.
“Q. You may state whether you had contracts then with the Michigan Central Eailroad.
“A. Yes, sir, I had contracts with the Michigan Central Eailroad.
“ Q. Did you state the fact to Mr. Stahelin? (Counsel for plaintiff objected.)
“ The Court: When was that?
“ Counsel for Defendant: At .the time of making the second contract. (The court thereupon sustained the objection, to which ruling the defendant excepted.)
“Defendant’s Counsel: I offer to prove the fact that it is part of the contract, and part of the agreement entered into between these two people, that Mr. Sowle had contracts by which he was to deliver at a specified time, large quantities of ties, and Mr. Stahelin, at the time he entered into that contract, knew of the fact, and that he was to run thisiumber out, and deliver these ties, so that Mr. Sowle could meet that contract, and that was one of the considerations that entered into it. (The court refused the offer, and overruled the request, and refused the testimony, to which refusal and ruling of the court defendant excepted.)
“ Counsel for Defendant: At the time óf making this contract, did you have a conversation with Mr. Stahelin in reference to your being under obligations to deliver ties to any particular persons within a certain time?
' .“ Counsel for Plaintiff: I object. (The court sustained the objection, and refused to hear the testimony, to' which ruling the defendant excepted. *****.
“ Q. Was there any arrangement as to the time when these ties were to be cut and delivered?- (Counsel for plaintiff objected that conversations occurring at the time were not admissible. The court sustained the objec tion, and refused the testimony, to which ruling and refusal of the court the defendant excepted.)”
It will be noticed that the counsel for the plaintiff stated no reasons for his objections, except to the question last asked. For this fault the case might be reversed, but we have examined the record to find the reasons for the ruling of the court, and conclude that the testimony was excluded upon the ground that it is not permissible to contradict the terms of a written agreement by parol testimony, and that the court regarded the agreement signed by the defendant as containing all the terms of the contract entered into between the parties. In this we think he erred. There were five counts in the plaintiff’s declaration, and, so far as any of them relate to the second contract, they do not treat it as a full and complete exposition of the intention of the parties to it. Indeed, upon its face it appears to be manifestly incomplete. In one count of plaintiff’s declaration he calls it “a further supplementary agreement to the other,” and avers that—
“Therein and thereby they, this plaintiff and said defendant, agreed together that this plaintiff should continue to use his mill to cut ties for said defendant, and that he should cut the same from land the timber on which was to and would he bought by said Joseph M. Sowle, who had the means wherewith to purchase the same, and who would buy timber in the vicinity of plaintiff’s mill.”
In another count, after setting up the substance of the first contract, the plaintiff continues as follows:
“That afterwards, intending to continue such contract, and make sure of the labor of this plaintiff, the said defendant agreed to buy other timber in the vicinity of plaintiff’s mill, and did buy one piece of land of John Schaffer and another of Gottlieb Schaffer, and contemplated buying other timber, all in the vicinity of this plaintiff, and that this timber should be resold to this plaintiff for the sum he paid, but on credit, and at ten per cent, interest, until such time as this plaintiff could reasonably pay the same with his labor; and agreed that, for all ties manufactured out of such timber, he would pay forty cents to this plaintiff at Morris Station, and would resell all such timber bought by him in plaintiff’s vicinity, meaning for said eighteen months from November 5, "1886.”
In another count he alleges that — ■
“Said Joseph M. Sowle further agreed with this plaintiff that he.would buy the timber in the vicinity where was this plaintiff’s mill, to stock his said mill, and that he would resell all such timber to this plaintiff on credit, -charging this plaintiff ten per cent, interest, to be paid, if he chose, in ties to be furnished, and that he would pay this plaintiff at Morris Station or at Stevensville 40 cents for No. 1 ties, and. 20 cents for No. 2 ties, delivered on the cars; the ties to be sawed six by ten inches, nine feet long. An exception was made of the timber of JoshuaJFeather and one Walton only. A paper in duplicate (Schedule B) was made between the parties, and signed by them; the said parties contemplating that for the ensuing thirteen months, and a little over, said Joseph M. Sowle would buy'timber sufficient to stock the mill of this plaintiff, to be sawed into ties, and resell the same to this plaintiff, so that he could keep his mill in operation during all the'time, and saw ties for said defendant, and furnish and sell the same to said, defendant on the cars at Morris Station at the rate of 40 cents and 20 cents, as aforesaid.”
In another count he alleges as follows:
“That thereafter, and on the 18th day of March, 1887, defendant requested this plaintiff to further agree with him, as is set forth in a writing signed by him, and delivered by him to plaintiff, of which Schedule B is a copy; that this plaintiff thereupon acceded to said request, and received said writing, so that it was agreed between them, as therein written, that plaintiff would continue to use his mill in the interest of defendant, and for him, and no one else, would manufacture ties, and sell them to defendant, delivered at Morris Station and Stevensville, at 40 cents for No. 1 ties, and 20 cents for No. 2 ties; that plaintiff would buy from defendant, and take off his hands, all the timber, and said defendant would sell to plaintiff all the timber, which defendant would and could purchase in the vicinity for manufacturing, and that plaintiff would pay' defendant therefor the amount of the purchase money of and for such timber, and ten per cent, interest upon the purchase price thereof, except one piece of Joshua Feather and one of one Walton.”
It is therefore apparent, from the plaintiff’s theory, that the written memorandum or agreement signed by defendant does not contain the whole of the contract between the parties, and it follows that previous and also contemporaneous agreements and talks may be shown in order to prove what the whole contract was. It is only where the contract is complete in itself,, and shows upon its face that it embodies the terms of the agreement, that parol testimony which tends to vary' or contradict the writing is excluded, as well as all previous negotiations and understandings. Where, however, a contract which is not required by statute to be in writing to be binding is partly in writing and partly parol, the whole is regarded as a parol agreement, and may be proved by oral testimony, and the jury are to determine from the whole testimony what the terms of the contract are. Sheffield v. Page, 1 Spr. 285; Webster v. Hodgkins, 25 N. H. 128; Houghton v. Carpenter, 40 Vt. 588; Hope v. Balen, 58 N. Y. 382; Wentworth v. Buhler, 3 E. D. Smith, 305; Potter v. Hopkins, 25 Wend. 417; Crane v. Association, 29 N. J. Law, 302; Miller v. Fichthorn, 31 Penn. St. 252; Glenn v. Rogers, 3 Md. 312; Randall v. Turner, 17 Ohio St. 262; Kieth v. Kerr, 17 Ind. 284; Johnston v. McRary, 5 Jones (N. C.), 369; Perry v. Hill, 68 N. C. 417; Moss v. Green,, 41 Mo. 389. The writing, in such a case, is competent evidence-to prove the terms of the contract, so far as they are expressed therein, and may b'e regarded as admissions of the facts, and, indeed, the best evidence of the facts, so .stated therein.
In this agreement nothing is said of the agreement that Stahelin should continue to use his mill to cut ties for Sowle from land that Sowle was to buy in the vicinity. of the plaintiff’s mill, as claimed in the first count of plaintiff’s declaration; nor the purpose for- which the second' contract was made, and the other particulars, as claimed in the second count; nor the special agreement relative to buying timber to stock plaintiff’s mill, and resell on credit, to be paid, if chosen, in ties, and that for 13 months and over defendant should buy sufficient timber to stock said mill, to be sawed into ties, and resell to plaintiff, so that he could keep his mill in operation all the time, and saw ties for the defendant and furnish and sell the same to him on the cars at Morris Station at 40 and 20 cents. Nor does the writing specify that the defendant shall buy timber, nor when; nor when the plaintiff shall pay; nor that plaintiff shall manufacture all timber suitable for ties into ties for defendant; nor when they shall be so manufactured, nor when delivered. Since it is apparent from the face of the writing, and also, as both parties claim, the writing does‘not contain the .whole contract, the writing is not subject to the rules of construction relative to reasonable. time which are applicable .to contracts which are complete, and contain the whole agreement of the parties. Here parol testimony is admissible to prove any stipulation which is not expressly stated in the writing, and to supply all the" terms of the contract, and, if a time was ■ agreed upon verbally in which the ties should be cut and delivered, it was competent to show it as affecting the defendant’s right to rescind. If defendant did not have the right to rescind, he did not have the right to recoup. No person can recoup damages growing out of a contract which he has wrongfully prevented the other party from performing.
It was incumbent upon the plaintiff to make out the contract alleged in his declaration, and the burden of proof was upon him to show performance, or, in default, that the defendant wrongfully prevented him from performing; and while the burden of showing a sufficient cause to warrant him in rescinding the contract was upon the defendant, yet such defense could be shown under a plea of the general issue.
Where one party has departed from a special contract for the delivery of specific articles from each to the other, the other party may treat it as rescinded; and if, by the .terms of the contract, concurrent acts are to he performed, as the delivery of property by one party and the payment of price by the other, if either party should refuse to perform his part of the contract the other may treat the contract as abandoned, and justify rescission under it. Fletcher v. Cole, 23 Vt. 114; Goodrich v. Lafflin, 1 Pick. 57; Dubois v. Canal Co., 4 Wend. 285; Hall v. Rupley, 10 Penn. St. 231; Moulton v. Trash, 9 Metc. 577;. Derby v. Johnson, 21 Vt. 17; Hoagland v. Moore, 2 Blackf. 167; Goodman v. Pocock, 15 Adol. & E. (N. S.) 576; Webster v. Enfield, 5 Gilman, 298; Webb v. Stone, 24 N. H. 288.
The claim on the part of the defendant was that the agreement was made with special reference to the contract which he had entered into with the Michigan Central Bailroad Company to deliver ties to that company in a specified time, and the plaintiff was to get out and deliver the ties on this land to enable him to perform his contract, and the defendant was proceeding to fulfill his contract in this regard, and, in order to enable him to fill such contract, he did, on plaintiff’s default, rescind the agreement with him, and obtain the sawing to be done at another mill. He also claims that plaintiff was not manufacturing all the timber into ties which was suitable for that purpose. The defendant should have been permitted to prove what the terms of the entire contract were, and then it should have been left to the jury, under proper instructions, to find—
1. What the entire contract was;
. 2. Whether plaintiff wrongfully neglected or refused to perform the terms and conditions on his part; and, if they so find, then— /
3. Whether defendant was justified, by reason of. plaintiff’s violation of the contract, in rescinding the same. Pontifex v. Wilkinson, 1 Man., G. & S. 75.
If, under such instructions, plaintiff was entitled to recover, the charge of the court relative to plaintiff’s damages laid down the correct rule.
For'the'error of the court in rejecting testimony tending to show the terms of the entire contract between the parties, the judgment must be reversed, and a new trial ordered.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Morse, J.
This cause was tried before Hon. V. H. Smith, judge of the Montcalm circuit court, without a jury, who rendered judgment for the plaintiff in the sum of $353.25.
The facts as found by the circuit judge are substantially as follows: February 5, 1889, the plaintiff and defendants entered into the following written contract:
“ Sheridan, Mich.,- February 5, 1889.
“I hereby sell to G. N. Wagner & Bro., Grand Rapids, Mich., the cut of Pitcher’s mill from February 1 to July 1, 1889, white pine shingles, to be 5 butts two and a quarter and 10 inches long; the XXXX to be strictly clear and free from all imperfections, and the 6-inch C. B. strictly clear butts. No other grades to be taken out. All to be free from stain, dote, and rot, and guaranteed to be good, merchantable shingles. Price, XXXX $2.75 per M., and $1.50 per M. for C. B. Shingles to be piled at railroad, and branded with G. N. Wagner & Bro.’s brand at mill as' made, with brand furnished by G. N. Wagner & Bro. All shingles reported on the 1st and 15th of each month to be paid for not later than the 5th and 20th, and when paid for title to pass to G. N. Wagner & Bro., to be loaded on car free of expense to G. N. Wagner & Bro.
“J. G. Summers. [Seal.]
“We agree to'fill our part of the above contract.
“G. N. Wagner & Bro.”
Indorsed on the contract is the following:
“The within contract is hereby extended to Nov. 1> 1889, with same terms and conditions.
“G. N. Wagner & Bro.
“J. G. Summers.”
On the 2d or 3d day of July, 1889, one of the defendants was at the mill, and the extension above was agreed to, and a few days later signed by the parties. ’ „
When the original contract was made, the mill was some miles from Sheridan, to which village it was moved in May, 1889. While the mill was in its first position, the shingles were drawn to Sheridan, and piled opposite the depot, at a place called the “dock,” situated about 20 rods from the mill after it was located at Sheridan. After the mill was moved, the shingles were not piled at the dock, but along the railroad track, and nearer the mill. When one of the defendants was at the mill in July, 1889, he saw these shingles. There were but a few in the mill. All the shingles then cut were counted and paid for. Plaintiff agreed to move the shingles then in the mill, and pile them with the others. This was done soon after the defendant was there. The defendant at this time said the shingles were piled all right, and at the right distance from the mill, and it was agreed they should remain there until ordered shipped, and that the shingles cut after that date should be piled along the railroad track near the others, and they were afterwards so piled. July 15, 1889, plaintiff reported the shingles cut and piled to that date, and was paid in full for them. After that date the plaintiff continued cutting shingles and piling them in this place, until the mill was destroyed by fire on the morning of July 27, 1889.
When one of the defendants was at the mill in July he directed that the shingles be shipped from those piled nearest to the mill. The defendants would send written orders to plaintiff for the shipment of the shingles, which would be loaded and shipiied in compliance with such orders. On the 23d of July, 1889, plaintiff received the following order from defendants:
“Grand Rapids, Mich., July 22, 1889.
“Order No. 543.
“To J. G. Summers,
“Sheridan, Mich.
“Dear Sir: Please load for New Haven, Ct., and con sign to F. W. Stone, New Haven, Ct., one car 10-inch XXXX pine. Hurry up the orders sent you some time ago, and be sure and brand every bundle. Order car at once, and load promptly. Be careful in loading to keep your tally correct. Send invoice promptly, and with it the number of this order. Fasten firmly both doors of car before it leaves your siding. Do not load any broken bunches of shingles.
“Bespectfully, G. N. Wagner & Bro.”
When this order was received plaintiff loaded into a car, on July 25, 100,000. XXXX shingles, which had been cut after July 15, and had not been reported or paid for, but which had been piled where defendant Levi B. Wagner directed they should be piled; and-he took them from the place where said defendant had told him to ship from on July 2 or 3, as orders came for the shingles, —that is, he was told to and did load the cars from the shingles nearest the mill. This car loaded with XXXX shingles left Sheridan before the mill burned, and on the-25th day of July, 1889.
Pursuant to another order received from defendants, the plaintiff had on the 26th day of July, 1889, partly loaded another car w-ith shingles, — that is, he had placed in the ear, July 26, 43,000 C. B/s, and 5,000 XXXX’s, and the car was standing on the side track the night of July 26, 1889. The shingles in this car had been taken from those nearest the mill, as before directed by defendant Levi B. Wagner, and from the place where it had been agreed they should be piled; but they were aP shingles that had been cut after July 15, and had not been reported or paid for when loaded,
On the morning of July 27, 1889, the mill burned, burning the car partly loaded, with the shingles therein, and also burning 32J thousand of C. B.’s, not loaded on car, and cut after July 15, and not reported or paid for, but piled where directed by defendants. At the time of the fire there was piled about the mill 17¿ thousand XXXX and 36f thousand C. B. shingles, out before July 2, and reported and paid for; and there was on hand in all of shingles cut after July 2, and reported and paid for, 80^ thousand XXXX and 32£ thousand 0. B. shingles. These cut after July 2 above mentioned were burned.
It was the intent of the plaintiff and defendants that the car-load of XXXX shingles shipped July 25, 1889, should belong to and be the property of the defendants from the time they were loaded into the car for shipment, and it was also their intent. that the shingles loaded into the car burned should belong to and be the property of the defendants as fast as loaded into the car, and the title to the shingles in both car-loads passed to the defendants before the fire.
From these facts the circuit judge found as a matter of law that the , plaintiff ivas entitled to a judgment for the value of the shingles at the contract price, with interest at 6 per cent.
Some objections were made to the admission of testimony, upon the overruling of 'which errors are assigned; but we are satisfied that there were no errors committed in this respect. It was competent to show that plaintiff and defendants agreed, after the execution of the written agreement, that shingles nearest the mill, and not reported and paid for, might be shipped, and the title pass upon such shipment; and, when such agreement had been carried into effect, as in the case of the car-load shipped under direction of the defendants in their order of July 22, 1889, the plaintiff would be. entitled to recover the contract price of the shingles so shipped. The plaintiff was clearly entitled to judgment for the value of this car-load.
As to the shingles loaded into the car which was not-fully loaded, and which was burned, with its contents, there is more difficulty in determining to whom the shingles belonged at the time of the fire. It is contended on the part of the defendants that there was no evidence whatever tending to show that it was the intent of the parties under any agreement, oral or written, that the title should pass to the shingles as soon as they were placed in the car, and before actual shipment. There was no direct evidence that the parties agreed that the title should pass as soon as shingles were put into the oars. It is true that the plaintiff testified, and the court •so found, that one of the defendants directed the plaintiff to ship from the piles nearest to the mill; and under this direction it necessarily followed that shingles would be •shipped that had not been reported or paid for. It would be fair, therefore, to infer that the intent of the parties was that, when defendants directed a car to be sent to third* parties, and the plaintiff shipped them pursuant to such direction, thereby relinquishing his control over them, the title should pass out of the plaintiff upon such shipment. But there was no express agreement about it, and we do not think it a fair presumption that the parties intended that the title should leave the plaintiff •as long as the shingles remained under his disposition and control. Until the car was loaded and shipped, the ■shingles were in the hands of the plaintiff, and the title remained in him. His express written agreement was that the title should not pass to defendants to the shingles until paid for, and the agreement to ship before they were paid for did not change the title until they actually passed beyond his control. ♦
Judgment was entered in the court below for the .shingles in both cars at the contract price, with interest at 6 per cent. There was error in' including in this judgment the shingles in the burned car. Judgment will be entered in this Court for the plaintiff for the shingles shipped in the first car, at the value of $275, with interest at 6 per cent, upon that sum from the date of shipment, July 25, 1889.
The defendants will recover costs of this Court.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Champlin, C. J.
Stephen Andrews died July 26, 1889, leaying' an estate to be administered in the county of Wayne, valued at $17,255.65, of which $13,855.65 was personal property. He left him surviving a wife, named Mary Andrews, who had been incompetent mentally and sick for four years before his death. She had been under guardianship on his petition, and so remained until hex* death, which took place December 11, 1890. They had no children. He left a will providing that she should first be cared for out of her own estate; then, if anything was needed,. out of his estate; then all personal property to go to certain relatives of his. Her estate in the hands of her guardian amounted to about $3,200. She was 83 years old at the time the-will was made, sick, infirm, and utterly incompetent. Had Stephen Andrews died intestate, she would have been entitled under the statute to about $7,000 of his personal estate, but, a will existing, it was necessary for her to make an election if she desired to take under the statute. How. Stat. §§ 5824, 5825. She was incompetent personally to make the election.
During the life-time of Stephen Andrews he petitioned the probate court for the appointment of a guardian over his wife, Mary Andrews, and upon such petition Lawrence W. Simmons was appointed such guardian. Andrews also named Lawrence W. Simmons as executor of his last will, which was probated September 3, 1889, and he, as such guardian, acting in the matter of the estate of Mai'y Andrews, did on the 13th day of November, 1889, file an election in the matter of the estate of .Stephen Andrews, deceased, as follows:
•“ State or Michigan, County of Wayne.
s '
In the Matter of the Estate of Stephen Andrews, Deceased:
'“To Edgar O. Durfee, judge of probate for said county:
“I, Lawrence W. Simmons, the guardian of Mary Andrews, a mentally incompetent person, and the widow of said deceased, do hereby, in her behalf, waive the provisions made for her in and by the last will and testament of said deceased, and elect for her to take her .share of the estate of said deceased provided by statute.
“ Dated November 13, 1889.
“Lawrence W. Simmons,
•“Guardian for Mary Andrews.”
Thereupon the election was filed upon the same day, in the said court, in the matter of the estate of Stephen Andrews, deceased. After the expiration of a year from the probate of the will, it was claimed that this election was of no effect; that the act of election is personal, and can be exercised by no one where the 'widow is incompetent; and, on an 'application made by the widow through her guardian to distribute the estate, tbe court so held, and refused to award any portion to the widow or her representatives. This order of denial was made Decémber 1, 1890. The widow died December 11, 1890. An appeal has been taken from this denial by the widow's representatives to the circuit court. The probate court has made a formal order of distribution, dated January 25, 1891, and from this order the administrator of Mary Andrews has appealed to the circuit court.
In February, 1891, the administrator of Mary Andrews petitioned the probate court for an order to be entered in Stephen Andrews' estate nunc pro tunc as of November 13, 1889, confirming and allowing the election which Mary Andrews’ guardian had tried to make. A hearing was had upon this petition, and it was denied by the court by the following findings of fact and order made thereon, viz.: ’ ■
‘c State oe Michigan, County of Wayne.
ss‘
“At a session of the probate court for said county of Wayne, held at the probate office in the city of Detroit on the seventeenth day of March, in. the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one.
“Present, Edgar 0. Durfee, Judge of Probate.
“In the matter of the estate of Mary Andrews, a mentally incompetent person.
“John Bassett, administrator of the estate of said Mary Andrews, now deceased, having petitioned this court, for an order ratifying, confirming, and approving the act of Lawrence W. Simmons, guardian of said Mary Andrews, for and in behalf of his said ward, waiving the provision made for her in the last will of her late husband, Stephen Andrews, and electing to take such share of his estate as the statutes of' this State provide in cases of such waiver and election; and said petition having been heard and submitted on the 12th of March instant, A. H. Wilkinson and Alfred Lucking appearing for said petitioner, Sidney T. Miller appearing for certain residuary legatees of said Stephen Andrews in opposition thereto, and said Lawrence W. Simmons appearing in person.
“The court finds that on the 13th day of November, 1889, said guardian asked the court what he should do as such guardian in the matter of electing for her to take under said will, or under the statute; that he then made known to the court the value of the estate of said Stephen Andrews, and the age of said widow, and the value of her estate; and that the terms of said will, and the fact that said guardian was also executor of said will, were then considered and discussed by the court, and said guardian; that the court advised said guardian that he, as guardian, should act as though not such executor, and should as guardian do as he would were he-such widow, and possessed of mental capacity to act in the premises; that, receiving such advice, said guardian declared in open court that he would elect for said ward to take under the statute, and such election was then drawn by the register of this court, and signed by said guardian, and filed; that such election by said guardian, and the drafting thereof by the register, were made with the knowledge and cohsent of this court, but were not so made by its order and direction. Considering these-findings, this court refuses to make, the order prayed for, and said petition is hereby denied.
“ Edgar 0. Dureee, Judge of Probate.”
The administrator of Mary Andrews’ estate then filed a petition in this Court asking for a mandamus against Judge Durfee,—
“ Commanding and directing him to enter an order in the matter of the estate of Mary Andrews, an incompetent,' nunc pro time as of the 13th of November, 1889, setting forth and reciting substantially the proceedings had before said court on that day, and sanctioning, consenting to, and ratifying the filing of the said election by the said guardian, or such other form of order as the premises will warrant.”
We'shall not discuss nor decide the merits of the eon-' troversy, as to whether the election made by the guardian was valid and effective, at this time, nor shall we direct the judge of probate to enter an order nunc pro iunc as prayed for in said petition.
We think the findings made by the probate judge March 17, 1891, upon which he denied the petition (which findings and order are above set forth), is a sufficient record showing that the election filed by the guardian was so made and filed with the knowledge and consent of the probate court, and that it has the same legal effect as if such record had been made at the time such election was filed. Consequently the mandamus will be denied, without costs.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Champlin, 0. J.
This is an action of ejectment, brought by George EL Hill against Frank L. Warrell and -James B. Grady to recover the premises described in the plaintiff’s declaration. He claims title in fee. The defendants pleaded the statutory general issue. The case was •.tried before the Honorable Willian E. Grove and a jury. After the testimony was closed, the court took the case from the jury by directing a verdict for the plaintiff.
The plaintiff introduced in evidence conveyances show-' ing a chain of title from the United States to him. He also introduced a deed executed by the city of Grand Rapids, bearing date June 17, 1874, and recorded July 31, 1874, to George H. and William E. Hill. William E. Hill conveyed to George H. Hill, May 24, 1877. This latter deed I do not find it necessary to pass upon.
The defendants claim. title adversely to the plaintiff by virtue of certain titles derived from the city of Grand Rapids under sales for assessments levied for street improvements, sewers, and sidewalks. The validity of these titles was the main issue in the case.
Plaintiff claims that none of the deeds relied upon by the defendants were valid, for the reason, first, that at the time the assessments were imposed the owner was a non-resident, • the land unoccupied, and the assessment rolls were made in violation of the charter, which required non-resident and unoccupied land to be assessed in a separate part of the roll as non-resident; whereas in the rolls they were assessed and listed as the lands of residents, and occupied.
Testimony introduced showed without contradiction that the plaintiff, George 'H. Hill, at the time of the several assessments, was a non-resident, and also that the premises were unoccupied, aud that this was their condition when the assessments were levied and when the lands were sold. It showed also that the lot was inclosed, and that there was part of an old orchard upon it; and it further appeared without contradiction that, during the time referred to, the lot was vacant, there were no buildings upon it, it was uncultivated, and no one was in the actual possession or occupation thereof. Hnder such facts the land is regarded as unoccupied. The word “ occupied” does not signify the same as “seated” or “ surveyed ” in the tax laws of some other states. This statute requires the land to be assessed to the owner or person in occupation; and, if no one was in the actual occupation, and the owner did not reside in the city, and could not be ascertained, then it was required that it should be assessed as unknown. The words “ unoccupied” and “vacant” are words of the same import. Unoccupied premises are vacant premises, meaning that there is no one in the actual possession exercising any acts of control over the premises, or any part of them. That this is the meaning of the statute is further apparent from section 45 of title 6, which states that—
“In cases where there is no agreement to the contrary,, the owner or landlord, and not the occupant or tenant, shall be deemed in law the person who ought to bear and pay every such assessment made for the expense of any public improvement in the said city.”
The orchard was a permanent improvement, the same as a well would be, and, if no one gathered fruit or drew water from the well, nor planted a crop, nor pastured the land, it would be unoccupied or vacant, although inclosed by fences.
In one of the assessments, to wit, that for the construction of a sewer in Division street from Blakeley avenue to Withey street, the premises were assessed to Barbara Berger; but the testimony is that Barbara did not occupy it, and that she was not the owner of it, and so in this respect the statute was not complied with.
It appeared in the plaintiffs chain of title that Darwin E. Aiken and wife conveyed the premises by deed, March 9, 1870, to Andrew Berger, of the city of Adrian, Mich.; that on the same day Andrew Berger and Barbara Berger, his wife, of the city of Adrian, executed a mortgage upon the premises to William E. and George H. Hill, of Detroit. Both of these instruments were recorded March 11, 1870, and the plaintiffs chain of title comes through a deed from the sheriff of Kent county, dated June' 7, 1873, to William E. and George H. Hill. This deed became operative June 7, 1874, and William E. Hill conveyed to George H. Hill, May 24, 1877. These dates show that when the premises were assessed prior to June 7, 1874, the title was in Andrew Berger, and after that date, to May 24, 1877, the title was in William E. and George H. Hill, and after that date it was in George H. Hill; having reference now to the chain of the original titld, as put in evidence by the plaintiff. These may be considered, for the purposes of this case, as three separate periods. 1
The defendants’ chain of title originated in four assessments. The assessment for a construction of a sewer in Division street from Blakeley avenue_ to Withey street, while Andrew Berger was the owner of the property, falls in the first period; the assessment for a se-wer in Wen-ham avenue, m^de in 1876, falls in the second • period, while William E. and George H. Hill were joint owners; and the assessment for the construction and repair of a sidewalk, made in August, 1877, and the assessment for the construction of a sewer in Prescott, South Division, Blakeley avenue, Center, and Pleasant streets, made in 1878, fall in the last period, while George H. Hill was the owner of the premises.
The charter of the city, under which all these assessments were made, provides that—
“ In case any lots or parts of lots shall be unoccupied, belonging to any person residing in the said city, such person shall be assessed for the same, and his name entered accordingly; and in case such lots or parts of lots shall belong to a non-resident or owner or owners unknown, the same shall be entered accordingly, with a description of such lots or premises, as is required by law in assessment rolls made by supervisors of towns, with the .value thereof, and the amount assessed thereon,” etc.
The charter further provides that—
“Deeds on all sales for assessments assessed npon real estate under this title shall be acknowledged as other conveyances, and, when executed and acknowledged as aforesaid, shall vest the fee of the land in the purchaser, and such deed shall be deemed and taken to be prima facie evidence of the existence and regularity of all such prior proceedings as might otherwise be required to be proven in order to establish a title in the purchaser.”
The burden of proof is, therefore, on the plaintiff to show that there was any irregularity which affected - the jurisdiction of the city to levy and collect the assessment.
The plaintiff introduced testimony which, as counsel claim, tended to show and did establish that the positive injunctions of the statute had not been complied with, first, in not assessing the premises to the owner, or, if occupied, to the occupant: and, further, in not assessing the lands of non-residents in a separate list. It is claimed that the testimony shows beyond dispute that the premises were not occupied during any period when the land was assessed. I think the record establishes that fact conclusively.
Plaintiff’s counsel also claim that, during the first-period, the land not being occupied, the assessment should have been to the owner, namely, to Andrew Berger1, who, the record discloses, was the owner. It was assessed in one instance to Barbara Berger, who was neither the owner nor occupant. I think the requirements of the statute in this respect are mandatory. There are good reasons existing why, in the proceedings to levy assessments declared to be liens,- and the sale for non-payment, and which are followed by such severe consequences as the loss of the fee, the statute should be complied with. After the names are returned against whom the assessments» are made, the clerk advertises, giving notice of the time and place when the council will hear appeals. •In this instance the names only are required to be pub lished, and, if the owner or occupant is not named, the notice is misleading, and has no validity. The names are required to be stated in the return of the marshal of the uncollected taxes. Indeed, this requirement is a substantial part of the proceeding, and intended for the protection of the owner. It cannot be dispensed with, and the neglect to comply with the statute renders the proceedings as to such owner void, and no title can be based'thereon. This disposes of the deed resting upon the validity of the assessment for the construction of the sewer in Blakeley avenue to Withey street.
The testimony in the case shows that the assessment upon which the second deed is based, was made to George H. and William E. Hill under the head or name of “Owner or occupant.” These persons ’were1 shown to have been the owners, but no person was shown to have •been in occupation of the premises. Testimony was introduced for the purpose of showing that they were non-residents of the State and of the city at the time the assessment was made, and such testimony was sufficient to prove the fact in the absence of any contradictory evidence. The statute requiring the assessments to be made in the same manner as those of townships, it was a part of .that requirement that non-resident land and unoccupied should be placed in a separate list on the roll from that in which the lands of residents are entered. It was conceded in this case that the land in controversy was not assessed as non-resident, and not entered on a part of the roll separate from that upon which the estates of residents were entered, and that the non-resident lands were not assessed in separate parts of this roll from the resident lands. It is only when the owner resides in the city, if the premises be unoccupied, that his name can be entered and the assessment made to him among the resident owners of property. The statute is express that, if the premises belong to a nonresident, they are to be entered accordingly. The record shows that the statute was not complied with, and consequently the deed based upon this assessment cannot be held to have conveyed the fee to the defendants.
Two deeds are based upon the proceedings included in the third period. The first assessment was for the construction of a sidewalk. • At the time this assessment was made George H. Hill was the owner of the premises. The assessment, however, is made out against George H. and William E. Hill, and it is stated in the record that—
“ The land in controversy in this case was not assessed as non-resident, and not entered upon a part of the roll separate from that upon which the estates of residents were entered. The non-resident lands were not assessed in a separate part of the roll from the resident lands in said last-mentioned assessment roll.”
This assessment comes under the same provisions of law as those regarding the one last above.
The other assessment for the construction of a sewer, was made against George H. Hill, and the provisions invalidating the second assessment apply to this also.
It follows from what has been said that each of the titles relied upon by the defendants is invalid, and that the judgment below in favor of the plaintiff was correct. This renders it unnecessary to consider the other points raised, as they become immaterial in the decision of the case.
The judgment must be affirmed.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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McGrath, J.
This suit was commenced by summons, to which defendant pleaded in abatement that the writ was signed, sealed, and delivered to the attorney for plaintiff in blank, and did not, when so delivered to said attorney, contain either the name of the parties, a statement 1 of the cause of action, the amount of damages, date of issue, or the day of the return. Plaintiff demurred to this plea, the court below sustained the demurrer, and defendant appeals.
The issue of writs in the manner complained of is not unusual. Indeed, the practice is general, and with the knowledge and consent of courts. Attorneys are officers of the court, and are subject to its summary jurisdiction. They are, as has been said, as essential to the successful working of the court as the clerks and sheriffs, and perhaps as the judges themselves. They are, for the convenience, not only of themselves, but of the other officers of the court, clothed with certain privileges, an abuse of which would be visited with severe punishment. They have access to files and records, they draft all orders and decrees, and generally enter rules and motions. There is no reason why the mere filling out of a summons by an attorney after the signature of the clerk, where no abuse is shown, should vitiate the writ.
In Caldwell v. Estell, 20 N. J. Law, 326, it was held that the clerk might permit an attorney to make out a transcript, and affix the signature of the clerk and seal of the court to the certificate required by law, where the clerk himself could truly certify to the matter set forth; it appearing that such had been the practice, with the sanction of the court.
■It is contended that “ if an attorney may do what was done here, there can be no compliance with the law relative to the payment of the county fee before commencement of suit, since the attorney may issue a process at a distance from the clerk’s office, and, if he fails of service, the clerk will never know that the process was issued,” and that “ the statute of limitations may be defeated by dating the summons -back.”
These objections are imaginary, rather than real. It is not contemplated that writs are to be signed and sealed without reference to the immediate commencement of suit. It is usual for the attorney of plaintiff to file with the clerk a prmcipe or order, directing such process to be issued against the defendant as the nature of the case may require. The prmcipe should specify the court, the names of the parties, the kind of action, the kind of writ, when it is to be made returnable, and the amount of the debt or damage. Some entry or memorandum is usually made by the clerk of the commencement of the suit, and this .is necessary, whether the writ is filled out before or after' the signature of the clerk. One of the first things done by the clerk is to assign to the cause a file number, and the first entry upon the calendar is a record of the issue of the writ, and the date of such issue. It does not appear here that such entry was not made, or that the county fee was not paid, or that the prmcipe was not filed. The statute provides that, before the delivery of the writ to any officer to be executed, it “shall be subscribed or indorsed with the name of the attorney, solicitor, or other officer by whom the same shall be issued” (How. Stat. § 7290), so that the writ is incomplete in any case when it leaves the clerk’s hands.
The judgment is affirmed, with costs. The record will be remanded, and the defendant allowed the usual time in which to plead over, if it desires.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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McGrath, J.
On the 14th day of May, 1888, plaintiff leased to defendants—
“His entire saw-mill, together with all tools and supplies on hand, also his team of horses, one set of trucks, one wagon, and use of barn now occupied by him, for so long a time as it shall take said second parties [defendants] to cut what logs they have in the first party’s mill-yard, and lots adjoining; together with the right of ingress and egress, along and upon all and every part of said premises, for the purpose of doing said work. Said first party also agrees to work in the mill under direction of second parties, or their agent, at the rate of two dollars per day, so long as his work shall prove satisfactory to said second parties, but no longer.”
In consideration of said lease and agreement, defendants agreed to pay plaintiff the sum of $500, and also to pay him at the rate of $2 per day for all the time that he should work in said mill. The lease contained these further provisions: •
“The parties of the second part further agree that, as soon as the job is completed, they will return the above property, with the exception of the supplies, in as good order and condition as it was when they received it, excepting natural wear and tear and damage by fire or the elements.
“ It is further agreed that, should the mill be destroyed by fire, this lease and contract shall terminate and become void. The parties of the second part agree to keep a night watchman, and exercise due care and diligence to protect said property from fire, the same as though the property was their own.”
Defendants operated the mill under this lease from May 14 until July 11, 1888, during all of which time plaintiff was employed as sawyer and filer in the mill, and lived upon the same premises within about 300 feet of the mill. It appears that .when defendants took possession there were no accumulations'of sawdust or slabs about the mill; that a box had been constructed on the south side of the mill to collect the surplus rubbish, and was so arranged that a wagon could be backed under the box to draw the surplus away, as plaintiff did when "he ran the mill; that after defendants took possession the box was torn down in some way, and from that day on they allowed the sawdust to accumulate in great quantities around the mill, and threw the ashes from under the grate into the sawdust; that in the latter part of June a fire had occurred in the mill; that the plaintiff had called the superintendent’s attention to the danger of allowing the sawdust and slabs to accumulate, and he had promised to draw them away; that fire would smoulder in a pile of sawdust for weeks, and perhaps months; that the mill was shut down from June 30 to July 9; that before the mill was shut down plaintiff asked the superintendent if he intended keeping a watchman there while the mill was shut down, and he said it was not necessary, whereupon plaintiff told him it was dangerous to have the property in that condition, and plaintiff said, “Under the terms of the lease, the company is good if the thing burns down;” that on July 11 defendants got through cutting logs, laid off their men, and paid plaintiff for his labor, but the balance of the rent was not paid until July 23; that the sawdust and slabs had accumulated in great quantities around the mill. Plaintiff testified as follows:
“Mr. White did the paying. He came down to the mill on July 11, and we went down into the engine-room and around on the south-west- side of the end of the mill, the corner of the fire-room, and got to speaking about the sawdust there, and the rubbish; and he asked me what I would take to call the mill in as good condition as it was when they received it; and I told him that I would take $50, and Mr. White‘said, ‘That is too much.’ ‘Very well,’ I said, ‘I don’t care for the job at all; all that I ask of you is to put the mill in as good condition as when you received it; as far as sawdust and rubbish and everything of that sort is concerned.’ * * * I says to Mr. White, ‘I supposed you were left here to settle up with me, and turn this property over.’ He says: ‘I have nothing to do with it. I have no right to do it. Mr. Watson intended to be here to-dav, but he was sick, but he will be here in a day or two, and he will fix the matter up, and turn the property over to you in good shape.’ In the mean time he expected some local parties there to draw away some of the edgings and slabs that was left there. He said they wanted them for wood. ■* * * He spoke about the team. He wanted I should take the team. He said they were out of feed, and had no hay, and it would be an unnecessary expense for them to go and buy hay, as they had nothing to do for it. He said Mr. Watson would be up in a day or two, and he wanted me to take the team and take care of it, and I said, 'I don't want to accept the team so it will in any way hold me in accordance with that lease, as accepting the mill back or anything of that sort.' He said that wouldn’t make any difference; that would be all right; there wouldn't be any trouble about that, anyway. Mr. Watson would be up in a day or two, and everything would be settled up satisfactory. * * * The next morning, July 12, I had a conversation with him at the hotel. There was an unsettled account about some wood that they had burned up, that I had forgotten. He said he would have it arranged, and I would get it when they sent me the amount due me on the mill. He asked me then if I thought that $25 was not enough for ■cleaning up the property, and I says, 'No, sir, it is not,’ and that was all that was said in regard to it at that time, and he took the train and went south. The watchman was dismissed on the morning of the 12th. I did not go near the mill on the next day, or pay any attention to it. They at that time had a lot of lumber in the mill-yard. The mill burned down on the morning of the 13th of July."
At this point, counsel for plaintiff was interrupted by the court, and asked to explain how he expected to recover on this evidence. Plaintiff's counsel then made the following offer:
" We offer to prove that at the time of the fire there was yet in the mill itself, and upon the rollways in and ■about the operating portion of the mill, a considerable quantity of the regular cut of lumber belonging to the •defendants, and not yet by them removed from the mill. We also offer to prove that there was from 2,000 and upwards of feet of logs yet in the yard adjacent to the mill, uncut, good merchantable logs."
Counsel further stated that he was prepared to bring the fire home to defendants, and to show why plaintiff did not make a claim for damages at the time that he received the balance of the 8500, on July 23; and that he was also prepared to show that there was fire in the sawdust on July 11, and that the fire which destroyed the mill originated in the rubbish. The court refused to receive the testimony, holding that the mill had been turned over to plaintiff on July 11, and that the obligation imposed upon defendants, by the lease, to maintain a watchman and care for the mill ceased at that time, the premises having been surrendered to plaintiff.
The court erred in finding, as a matter of law, that the defendants had surrendered possession, and that plaintiff had assumed the care of the mill. Plaintiff had not rested his case, did not claim to be entitled to recover upon the case thus presented, and had advanced no theory inconsistent with the case set forth in his declaration. His contention was that defendants were still in possession when the fire occurred; that White had no authority to surrender possession; that plaintiff had refused to accept possession of a part of the premises.
The judgment is reversed, and a new trial ordered, with costs.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Morse, J.
The parties to this suit entered into the following contract:
“St. Charles, Mich., Jan 6, 1887.
“This agreement, made this day by and between Malone Brothers, of Taymouth, Michigan, of the first part, and S. G-. M. Gates, of Bay City, Michigan, of the second part, witnesseth:
“ That said first parties hereby sell to S. G. M. Gates about five hundred thousand feet of dry and green pine, now on skids on the east, half of the south-west quarter of section 14, town 10, range 2 east, and the north-east quarter of section 11, township 10, range 1 east, except as hereinafter named, and deliver the same to said second party where he may direct in Saginaw river, for the sum of eight dollars per thousand feet ($8.00).
“It is agreed by first parties hereto that no dry or dead logs shall be taken by second party which shall measure less than seven inches in diameter at small end inside the sap, and it is further agreed that all timber shall be scaled merchantable for lumber.
“It is agreed that William S. Lapham shall scale the above logs, and his fee shall be paid equally by both parties hereto. The logs shall be delivered to said Gates or his assigns as early in the year as practicable.
“ Said second party agrees to pay for the above logs the sum of eight dollars per thousand feet, as follows: $2.50 per thousand when scaled; three dollars per thousand feet when afloat in the river; and the balance, $2.50 per thousand feet, when all of the said logs shall be delivered to said Gates or his assigns.
“ Said logs shall be marked by said first parties with a mark to be furnished by said second party at least twice on each end of each log, and as much more as will be plainly seen when the logs are afloat.
“Malone Bros.
“S. G. M. Gates,
“Per. W. H. Brown.
“Said Gates agrees to pay, of the $3.00 payment, $2:50 per thousand feet on the bank, and the balance, 50 cents per thousand feet, when afloat in the river.
“ S. G. M. Gates,
“ Per Brown.”
The plaintiffs brought suit in assumpsit in the circuit court for the county of Bay, counting specially on the contract, alleging that the 'defendant refused to perform said agreement by not paying them the sum of $506.89 when the logs delivered under it' were on the river bank, and $101.13 when the logs were delivered to him in the Saginaw river, according to the terms of the contract; and averring that they had faithfully performed their contract in all things, and sold and delivered to the defendant 202,995 feet of logs under said agreement. The common counts were also added.
Defendant’s plea was the general issue.
Plaintiffs had verdict and judgment for $567.70.
The dispute between the parties is mainly as to the scale of the logs, — the number of feet of merchantable lumber actually delivered to the defendant. It was also claimed by defendant that 491 of the logs delivered were dry and dead pine measuring less than 7 inches at the small end, and that there were about 700 logs that practically did not contain any merchantable lumber at all.
The testimony shows that W. S. Lapham, the scaler agreed upon in the contract, went upon the logs, and scaled about 1,200 pieces; but one of the plaintiffs found fault with his scale, and he refused to go on with his scale. By mutual agreement, one George W. Smith was selected in his stead, and went on and scaled the logs. At the time of the trial he was dead, but this fact did not appear in the case until it. came out in the cross-examination of the defendant’s witnesses. The logs so scaled consisted of 2,359 pieces cut by plaintiffs, and 1,429 pieces bought of one Ira Smith. When the logs were scaled by George W. Smith, he was accompanied by John Malone while scaling the logs cut' by plaintiffs, and by Ira Smith while scaling the Smith logs. The logs were all delivered but two. The scale-bill made by Smith was introduced in evidence, and showed that the logs-contained 202,755 feet.
Smith being mutually agreed upon as scaler, his scale, if free from fraud or gross mistake, — a mistake not depending upon the judgment of the scaler, — would be binding upon both parties. When the scale offered was proven to be the scale made by Smith, the presumption would be that it was correct, fair, and honest, and Smith being dead, it would be admissible without any evidence that it was correctly and honestly made. If its honesty or correctness was subsequently attacked, and any testimony introduced tending to show that it was dishonestly or unfairly made, or that there was gross mistake in it, the burden of proof would then be on the plaintiffs to establish its correctness. By gross mistake we mean a mistake which is clearly shown to have left out some of the logs, or increased the scale by a mistake in the tally or in the addition of the amounts on the tally-sheets, or something of that kind, and not an honest error of judgment in the scaler; for it is well understood and established that, in estimating the merchantable lumber in a given log, the judgment of scalers varies more or less, and that the scale cannot be made so accurate that all scalers will agree upon it.
It is contended that the court, in instructing the jury, left out the element of gross mistake; that he charged them that the scale of Smith must prevail if it was found to have been honestly made; that, in so charging, he also omitted another element necessary to a correct scale, to wit, that the scale must be according to the contract. We think the court did not leave out either of these elements. Speaking of the testimony of Brown and Chase, two witnesses of the defendant, who estimated the merchantable lumber delivered by plaintiffs, the court said:
“If you find that there was no fraud or gross mistake in the scale made by Smith, then these estimates that were made by Brown and Chase pass for nothing; but those estimates made by them may be taken into consideration for the purpose of ascertaining that fact,— whether George W. Smith’s scale is a fair statement about it or not. When that fact is once ascertained, and it is ascertained that the scale is correct, or substantially so, then these estimates pass for nothing. If you should ascertain that this scale is so much out of the way that it cannot be used as a scale, then these estimates may come in to help you ascertain, by means outside of the scale, what the amount of logs delivered actually was.”
Again he said:
“And if you find that Smith was mutually agreed upon as the scaler, and that he did scale the logs, and there was no fraud or mistake, his determination should govern.”
And he also distinctly told the jury that, if he scaled any logs that were not provided' for in the contract, his scale would bind nobody; that he had no right to scale any dry logs under 7 inches inside the sap; and that, if he did so, it was the duty of plaintiffs to cull them out, and not deliver them to defendant. The court fairly and fully stated the law governing the scale of these logs, and committed no error in his instructions in this respect.
It was also competent for John Malone and Ira Smith to testify to the manner in which Smith’s scale was made, what they did and knew about it, and what Smith said and did while he was scaling the logs; but the court erred in -not permitting testimony to be given on behalf of defendant as to what Smith had said as to the manner in which, he made the scale. If Smith ' had been alive, he would have been subject to cross-examination as to the way he made his scale. Being dead, his scale was admissible without his testimony; but we think, in such case, that his declarations against the correctness or honesty of his scale would be admissible.
It is alleged as error that John Malone was permitted to testify that the scale made by Smith was one agreed upon by Smith and himself. If any error was committed in the admission of this testimony, it was cured by the circuit judge in his charge. He instructed the jury that it was not competent for Malone and Smith to agree upon a scale that would bind defendant; that Smith’s business was to measure and scale the logs, and not to agree upon anything, but to ascertain the correct scale by the application of his rule and judgment to the logs.
The court was requested by the defendant to instruct the jury that the failure of the plaintiffs to deliver all the logs in 1887 was a substantial breach of the contract. This was refused. The testimony showed that a portion of the logs were “hung up” that season, and not delivered until 1888, and that defendant received them at that time without any demur or protest that they were not delivered in time under the contract. The reason that defendant refused to pay plaintiffs for the whole number of logs delivered, upon Smith’s scale, was because he disputed the scale, and not because a portion of them were not delivered until 1888. There was no error in refusing this request, or a similar one, — that, if plaintiffs had not excused the non-delivery of the logs in 1887, there was a substantial breach of the contract.
It is alleged as error that after Mr. McCormick, one of the attorneys for plaintiffs, had commenced the examination of a witness, and conducted it to a certain point, the court permitted Mr. Yan Kleeck, another attorney for plaintiffs, to continue and complete the examination of the witness, in violation of Circuit Court Rule No. 63. We think the judge has some discretion in the enforce ment of this rule, and that he did not abuse his discretion in this case.
The defendant undertook to show the reputation of Mr. Lapham as a scaler, but was not permitted to do so. This ruling of the circuit judge was correct. The parties, after the contract was made, selected another man; and, as was well said by the circuit judge in his charge, the reasons why the change was made were not material to the issue in this case. Lapham’s scale was not in controversy, and his reputation not in question.
In this connection, it may be said that Mr. Van Kleeck, attorney for plaintiffs, traveled out of the legitimate issues in the case when he commented upon the fact that Mr. Lapham had not been produced as a witness, if, in such comments, he argued that the failure so to produce him had any bearing against the defense; but it does not appear from the record what Van Kleeck said, except that “ he commented to the jury upon the fact that the defendant had not produced Mr. Lapham as a witness.” There was no reason why Mr. Lapham should have been called as. a witness by one party more than the other, or that he should have, been called at all, as a matter of strict right or necessity.
We have noticed all the errors assigned that seem to us to demand discussion.
For the error in not admitting the declarations of Smith in relation to his- scale, offered to be shown by the defendant by two witnesses, the judgment of the lower court is reversed, and a new trial granted, with costs of this Court to defendant.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Champlin, 0. J.
This action was commenced before a justice of the peace to recover for the use and occupation of certain premises before then claimed to have been leased by the plaintiff to the defendant. The plaintiff had judgment before the justice, and the case was appealed to the circuit court, and there, after hearing the testimony, the court directed a verdict for the plaintiff.
We quote, with a few amendments, the statement of facts taken from the supplemental brief of counsel for defendant, namely:
The plaintiff was the owner of a store building, in which was contained a stock of goods which had been attached, and which was sold by the sheriff at public-, auction, and purchased by the defendant. When the-goods were offered for sale, the plaintiff informed the, auctioneer, and he so announced, that any purchaser of" the stock of goods might obtain a lease of the store.. Immediately after the purchase by the defendant, the plaintiff and he talked together with reference to leasing the store; and it was then agreed between them that the plaintiff would execute to defendant a written lease of the premises for a term of one year, with the privilege of three or five years, for a yearly rental of $500, payable monthly, in installments of $41.66. The defendant agreed to accept and enter • into such a lease on those conditions, and on account of the lateness of the hour the plaintiff said he would have the lease drawn after he returned home, and they could execute it at some future time. Without any other agreement or understanding, defendant occupied the store-two months, and paid the monthly rental of $41.66. The defendant, through his father, .during this period of time, requested the plaintiff to execute the lease, who replied that he would do so, but that, the defendant not being present to execute the lease with him, he would have it drawn so that when they came together it could be signed.
The term commenced on the 6th day of May, 1890, and the rent was paid to July 6, 1890. On the 3d day of July the defendant removed from the premises. On the Sunday before, he had an interview with the plaintiff, in which he told him that he was going to vacate, to which the plaintiff replied that he had rented the store for a year. The defendant, after he had removed from the premises, locked the door, and left the key in a bank with which plaintiff was connected, with directions to deliver it to plaintiff. Plaintiff refused to accept the key or the possession of the premises, and, after the next month’s rent became due and payable, brought his action to recover for the use and occupation of the premises.
The first question to be decided is, what was the nature and extent of defendant’s holding under the facts above stated? The question so ably argued by defendant’s attorney in his original and supplemental briefs, and orally before the Court, namely, that the testimony «hows that no actual lease was entered into, but that there was an agreement for a lease for a term of one year, with the privilege of three or five years, at an annual rental of $500, payable monthly, at the rate of $41.66, does not reach and dispose of the merits of the controversy. The terms of the lease were agreed upon, and it was agreed that they should be reduced to writing. This doubtless was an agreement for a lease to be executed according to the terms agreed upon; but the testimony shows further that the defendant went immediately into possession under the agreement that he should have a written lease for one year, with the privilege of three or five years, as above stated, and occupied the premises and paid the stipulated rent for two months. Under such facts, the relation of landlord and tenant was created. The defendant became a tenant at will.
It is laid down by Taylor, in his work on Landlord and Tenant (section 60), that—
“Where a party enters into the possession of premises under an agreement to accept a lease for 20 months, and subsequently refuses to accept the lease, he becomes by such refusal a strict tenant at will, for he may be ejected immediately; but, if the landlord accepts rent from him monthly, or according to the terms of the original agreement, a general tenancy at will is created, commencing from the time of entry;” and “while a man who enters under a void lease is strictly a tenant at will, if he pays rent he becomes a general tenant at will or from year to year, according to circumstances.”
In this case the agreement for a periodical rent, and the agreed term of a year, at all events, makes the holding of defendant a tenancy from year to year. See Tayl. Landl. & Ten. § 56, and cases cited in note 2.
Counsel for defendant claim that an entry under an agreement for a lease is a mere license, and can he terminated by either party before the written lease is executed, and cited Tayl. Landl. & Ten § 37. The author does make use of the expression that “such an agreement, however, will operate as a license to enter upon the premises agreed to be demised;” but' it was not the intention, as I think, of the author, to convey the idea that a person so agreeing for a lease might enter and -occupy the premises, and pay rent in accordance with the agreement, without becoming a tenant. The distinction is this: If he enters awaiting the execution of the agreement, his entry is one under a license, but if, after being in possession of the premises, he pays rent for the use of them in accordance with the agreement which was to be reduced to writing, his relation is that of a tenant at will; and the distinction is plainly pointed out at the close of the section cited, where the author says:
“Any person, however, who may be in possession of land in pursuance of an agreement to let, may, by the payment of rent or other circumstances, become a tenant from year to year."
Indeed, it would seem not to require any citation of authorities to prove that when a party, under an agreement for a lease, enters into possession and pays rent for the use of the premises, the relation between the parties, cannot be other than that of landlord and tenant; it certainly is not that of licensor and licensee. The tenant has acquired rights of which he cannot be divested without the proper notice, and so has the landlord.
The same result follows where a lease is made by parol' for a longer term than one year, which it is agreed shall be reduced to writing, and the party enters into possession under it, and pays rent, as where a lease is made for a longer term than one year by parol, and is void under the statute of frauds, and the tenant enters and occupies, paying rent; and is ruled by the same principles, which apply to the latter class. In such cases it has. been uniformily held that an implied tenancy from year to year will arise in cases where occupation is had under a parol demise for more than a year, void because exceeding the period allowed by the statute of frauds. Tayl. Landl. & Ten. § 56.
Some cases hold that such a lease, although void for the period beyond a year, is good for one year, because it will be presumed that the parties intended to effect the lease for the term for which one could legally be made; but I think the better reasoning is that a contract which is void by the terms of the statute of frauds is not good for any purpose further than to indicate what the intentions of the parties were with reference to the terms of the letting. The rights of the parties must be judged by the relation they have assumed with each other independently of the void contract. Courts, however, have referred to the contract 'as throwing light upon the intentions of the parties, and it has been generally held that, where a tenant enters and occupies under a parol lease for more than a -year, the agreement may be looked to as showing the terms under which the tenancy subsists, in all respects, except as to the duration of the term. Doe v. Bell, 5 Term R. 471; 1 Cruise, Dig. 281-284; People v. Rickert, 8 Cow. 226; Schuyler v. Leggett, 2 Id. 660; Greton v. Smith, 33 N. Y. 245; Clayton v. Blakey, 8 Term R. 3; Laughran v. Smith, 75 N. Y. 205.
In the case last cited, which was an action to recover rent, Andrews, J., said:
“ But although a parol lease for more. than a year is void, yet it has long been settled that, when the tenant enters and occupies, the agreement regulates the terms on which the tenancy subsists, in all respects, except as to the duration of the term. It is a reasonable inference in such case, from the circumstances, that the parties intended a tenancy on the terms of the original agreement, and the law implies a new contract between the parties corresponding therewith, so far as it is not in conflict with the statute.”
In Koplitz v. Gustavus, 48 Wis. 48, the tenant had gone into the occupation of the premises under a lease which was void under the statute of frauds. It was contended by counsel for the lessee that—
“ As the lease was not in writing, and was for a longer period than a year, it was void; that the rent reserved was not annual, but monthly, payable at the end of each month, on the plaintiff’s demand; and that under-these circumstances the tenancy created by holding over was one from month to month, and determinable by 30 days’ notice.”
The court, in deciding the case, after stating the position of counsel, said:
“But to this it may be answered that there are well-considered cases which decide, under the English statute and statutes which contain similar provisions, that while a parol lease for more than the prescribed period creates, in the first instance, only an estate at will, yet such estate, when once created, may, like any other estate at will, be converted into a tenancy from year to year, by payment of rent or other circumstances which indicate an intention to create such yearly tenancy.”
In Morrill v. Mackman, 24 Mich. 279, the distinction between a license and a tenancy is clearly pointed out, and it was expressly held that a parol lease for more than a year, reserving an annual rent, under which the lessee had been put into possession, although invalid under the statute of frauds, was good as a lease from year to year, until terminated by notice. The principle in this case was cited with approval and applied in Coan v. Mole, 39 Mich. 454.
Schneider v. Lord, 62 Mich. 141, was a case where there was an unwritten lease for two years from the beginning of the year 1884. The rent was paid monthly for more than a year, and the lessee claimed the right to terminate the lease on a month’s notice. The case below was decided on the ground that the tenancy was at will from month to month, and ended by a month’s notice to quit. It was, however, held that it was a tenancy from year to year, and not a monthly tenancy at will, and the fact that the rent was payable monthly did not any the less make it a contemplated yearly holding.
In the case at bar the contemplation of the parties was that the holding should be at all events for one year, and with an additional term, depending upon the election of the lessee, and as to this he was a tenant at will from year to year, and not from month to month.
If, howeyer, it should be conceded that the tenancy was at will from month to month,, still the judgment below was correct. The principles of justice and sound policy require that estates at will should not be terminated except at the will of either party, and then not without notice. This principle was long since embodied in our statutes, which, with some recent modifications in respect to notice (Act No. 162, Laws of 1885), read a« follows:
“ How. Stat. § 5774. All estates at will or by sufferance may be determined by either party by three months’ notice given to the other party; and, when the rent reserved in a lease is payable at periods of less than three months, the time of such notice shall be sufficient if it be equal to the interval between the times of payment; and such notice shall not be held void by reason of its mentioning a day for the termination of the tenancy not corresponding to the conclusion or commencement of any such period, but in any such case the notice shall be held to terminate the tenancy at the end of a period equal in time to that in which the rent is made payable. .And in all cases of neglect or refusal to pay rent on a lease at' will or otherwise, seven days’ notice to quit, given in writing by the landlord to the tenant, shall be sufficient to determine the lease. And in all cases of tenancy from year to year a notice to quit, given at any time, shall be .sufficient to terminate said lease at the expiration of one year from the timé of the service of such notice.”
The entry of defendant into possession under the terms of the agreement for a lease before it was executed, and paying rent in accordance with the agreement, created the relation' of general tenancy at will, which could not be terminated by either party without notice to the other; and the tenant cannot, without justifiable cause, abandon the premises, and treat it as a surrender, with out giving the notice required by the statute. Walker v. Furbush, 11 Cush. 366; Whitney v. Gordon, 1 Id. 266; Thomas v. Nelson, 69 N. Y. 118; Batchelder v. Batchelder, 2 Allen, 105; Schuyler v. Smith, 51 N. Y. 309; Koplitz v. Gustavus, 48 Wis. 48.
The record does not show that defendant had any justifiable cause for abandoning the premises. They were not in fact or law surrendered. Vacating the 'premises before the expiration of the term, and offering the key, which is refused, is not a surrender. The testimony shows that defendant paid rent to July 6, vacated the premises July 3, and on the Sunday previous, namely, June 29, told the plaintiff he should move out, and plaintiff insisted that the store was rented for a year. Aside from the question whether notice given on Sunday would be valid, it plainly appears that it was entirely insufficient to terminate the tenancy, even if the holding was from month to month, and it follows as a natural consequence that until the tenancy is terminated the defendant is liable for the use and occupation of the premises.
The position is taken by counsel for the defendant that a tenant going into possession under a void -lease cannot be compelled to pay rent for any longer period than he actually occupies, and in support of that position the case of Thomas v. Nelson, 69 N. Y. 118, is relied upon, and the following syllabus of that decision is cited:
“It seems that a parol lease, void under the statute of frauds because for a longer period than one year, is not valid for that period. If the tenant enters and occupies under it, he may be compelled to pay for the use and occupation, but cannot be compelled by virtue of the lease to pay for a longer period than he actually occupies."
The facts of that case are stated in the opinion. The plaintiff alleged a lease for seven years. On the trial he proved a memorandum made by himself in which he stated that he was to give Mr. Nelson a lease of the building 271 Broadway for seven years, the first three years at $1,400 a year, and four years at $1,500 a year. It was said that the memorandum did not embody the contract between the parties, and was not intended to. It simply embraced the main features of the lease, and plainly indicated that a formal lease was subsequently to be executed embodying the agreement which the parties had made. The. plaintiff was permitted to show a parol agreement for a lease of seven years, and the terms upon which the parties had agreed. The court ruled upon the trial below in his charge to the jury that such a lease, although invalid for a term of seven years, was valid for a term of one year. Under these rulings there was no exception, and Mr. Justice Earl, in delivering the opinion of the court of appeals, said:
“ While such a contract is void, yet, if the tenant enters under it and occupies, he may be compelled to pay for the use and occupation of the premises [citing authorities]; but it is difficult to perceive how such a contract, declared to be void by the statute, can be held to be valid for a single hour, or upon what principle a tenant entering under a void lease could be compelled, by virtue of the lease, to pay for a longer period than he actually occupied.”-
This probably is the language from which the syllabus was composed, but a further reading of the opinion will disclose that what the court meant by actual occupation was an occupation under the tenancy, and until it had been legally terminated; for in the next clause the court proceeds as follows:
“ In August the defendant moved away from the premises, and sent the keys of the house to the plaintiff in a letter, and they were not returned. He claimed upon the trial that the retention of the keys was an acceptance-of the surrender of the premises. The plaintiff was not bound to seek the defendant, and tender a return of the-keys. The court held that the mere retention of the-keys, which were sent to him without his request or assent, did not of itself amount to a surrender and acceptance, and in this there was no error.”
So that it plainly appears that a tenant at will, until the tenancy is legally terminated by notice, is bound to-pay for the use and occupation, and that the mere vacating of the premises during the term, or while the tenancy exists, does not exonerate him from the payment for the use and occuijation of the premises until the-relation of landlord and tenant is legally terminated.
The judgment must be affirmed.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Grant, J.
The bill in this case was filed to set aside a deed made by Adam Sponable to the defendant Lecta Hanson. It is alleged that the deed was obtained by undue influence practiced upon Adam Sponable by Lecta Hanson and her husband, and that Adam was mentally incompetent to execute the deed. Decree was rendered in favor of complainant, and defendants appeal.
The deed was executed March 30, 1889. Adam was then about 75 years old. His wife died on the 13th of the same month. Proceedings had been instituted in the probate court for the appointment of a guardian over complainant, upon the ground of his incompetency to manage, control, and dispose of his property. These proceedings were commenced just prior to the making of the deed, and the citation had been served upon the complainant.
The land conveyed consisted of 55 acres, which was complainant’s homestead, and 30 acres of lowland, used mainly as a pasture, and was worth between $3,500 and $4,000. Camplainant had three sons and three daughters, of whom Lecta was one. Lecta lived with her father and mother most of the time till she was 37 years old, when she married. After her marriage, in 1874, she and her husband remove.d to Ohio, where they lived 3 years. They then returned and worked her father’s farm on shares for 10 months. They left on account of some trouble, and in 1880 they again' returned, and worked the farm upon shares for a year. They left again on account of trouble, but returned in the fall of 1886, and again took, the farm on shares, continuing to work it in that manner until this deed was made. The farm was productive, and yielded sufficient to cover all the household expenses. Complainant and his wife lived with the Han-sons, the Hansons receiving two-thirds of the crops and complainant one-third. Mrs. Hanson testifies that her father paid the taxes, clothed himself and his wife, paid the physician’s bills and the expenses of his wife’s funeral, and paid one-half the expense of living the first winter. After that they divided the entire products, first using, however, from the joint property what was necessary for the table. Upon the execution of the deed, Mrs. Hanson loaned $200 from the defendant Cook, and gave her a mortgage upon the land to secure it. Of this money $100 was paid to Adam, and Mrs. Hanson’s husband used the' balance for his own private purposes. Not long before this time complainant owned considerable personal property, which he had sold and converted into money. It appeared that complainant had disposed of all this money except $10.
It will thus be seen that the relations which had existed between complainant and Mr. and Mrs. Hanson were based entirely upon contract. The record discloses no prejudice on the part of complainant against his other children. It does not appear that Mr. and Mrs. Hanson had rendered unrecompensed services to complainant, which would afford a reason for his deeding the greater part of his property to Mrs. Hanson. It is true that the deed provided that they should take care of him in the future. It was entirely competent for him thus to provide for his care, provided that he did it of his own free will, and was competent to-understand the nature of the transaction. This transaction was regarded by tbe defendant Hanson and her husband in the nature of. a contract, for she testified that she gave the mortgage to bind the bargain, and pay for the 30 acres, which 30 acres were worth from $400 to $600'.
The court below did not pass, evidently, upon the question of undue influence. Undoubtedly the proper finding on this point in the case would be “ not proven,” though Mr. Hanson appears as the moving party whenever complainant proposed a deed of his property.
The circumstances surrounding the transaction are not such as to commend the conduct of Mr. and Mrs. Hanson to a court of equity. Her, father was failing both physically and mentally. He was depressed by the loss of his wife, upon whose judgment and advice he had greatly relied during a married life of nearly 50 years. Common fairness would have dictated ■ a consultation with her brothers and sisters. The undue haste with which Mr. and Mrs. Hanson at least permitted the transaction to be recorded is not commendable. , Mr. Hanson went with complainant the previous fall to an attorney, who drew a deed similar to the one in controversy. Complainant's wife condemned the transaction, and refused to sign the deed, and nothing came of it. The attorney who drew the deed then notified the other children of this deed.
The result of the case must, however, be determined by the competency or incompetency of the complainant to make the deed. Forty-one witnesses were sworn, chiefly upon this point. Among them were several physicians, some of whom testified that they considered him competent to make the deed; others to the contrary. After a personal examination by the judge of probate, within a few weeks after the deed was made, the judge pronounced him incompetent, He was also produced as a witness in the circuit court upon this hearing, and the learned circuit judge came to the same conclusion. One who has made a personal examination in such cases is certainly more competent to judge than those who have not, and who besides have not seen any of the witnesses. It must certainly be a strong showing which would warrant us in setting aside the finding of two courts in such a matter.
But upon the testimony of Dr. Pratt, the leading expert witness for the defendants, we find sufficient to sustain the decree. Dr. Pratt says, upon cross-examination, that he did not think complainant competent to make a sale of his land for money, and protect his interest in it. If he was not, then he was not competent to make the deed in question. Dr. Pratt further testified that, when he examined him privately, he did not know whether he had made to Mrs. Hanson a deed, a will, or a lease. The complainant, when upon the stand, testified that he supposed Mr. and Mrs. Hanson were, still working the farm upon shares.
It would be unprofitable to discuss further the facts to be elicited from a record of 727 pages. The finding of the court that complainant was of unsound mind, and mentally incompetent to execute the deed, is correct.
It only remains to determine the rights of Mrs. Cook upon her mortgage. The court below sustained the mortgage as to 8100, because complainant had received the money. True, Mrs. Cook had no actual knowledge of the condition of complainant, but the money was loaned through her brother, who drew the deed, was present at its execution, and was her agent in the transaction. We think, under this record, that Mrs. Cook cannot be regarded as a bona fide mortgagee without notice, and that her mortgage lien cannot be sustained, except to the extent of the money received by complainant.
The decree is affirmed, with costs to complainant against defendant Hanson.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Per Curiam.
Petitioner was convicted of murder in the Wayne circuit court, which conviction was reversed by this Court, and a new trial ordered, and the prisoner admitted to bail. A second trial is now in progress, and the circuit judge has ordered him into the custody of the sheriff of Wayne county. He has applied to the judge to admit him to bail, and he has declined. We are asked to compel the ' circuit judge by mandamus to admit relator to bail pending trial. We decline to do so, and the writ is denied.
See 86 Mich. 449. | [
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ChampliN; C. J.
This is an action of trover, brought to recover damages for converting some tobacco and cigars, of which plaintiff claims to have become the owner by purchase from one Aaron Wessels, who appears to have been a manufacturer, dealer, and general trader in the village of St. Louis, Gratiot county, Mich. Hpon the trial, the plaintiff in the first instance contented himself by proving the ownership of the property in Aaron Wessels, a sale by Aaron Wessels to him, evidenced by a bill of sale dated November 17, 1883, and by introducing testimony tending to show a delivery of the property, its value, and the conversion of the same by the defendants.
The defendant Beeman was a judgment creditor of Aaron Wessels, and defendant Taun was under-sheriff, and the defense interposed is that the conveyance by Aaron Wessels to William E. Wessels, the plaintiff, was fraudulent and void as to the creditors of Aaron Wessels.
A further defense relied upon with reference to the alleged sale' from Aaron to William was based upon the fact that a large number of the cigars were unstamped, and were forfeited to the United States government under the Revised Statutes of the United States, §§ 3400, 3405.
The case was before us at the April term, 1887, and is reported in 66 Mich. 343. Only one of the points then raised — but not decided — is before this Court now; and, were it not for the reason that we feel it our duty to reverse the case and send it back for another trial for •error in the rulings upon the admission of testimony and in the charge of the court, it would not be necessary to ■decide that point now, which is, whether the sale of unstamped cigars passed any title to the plaintiff. The •defendants’ counsel contend that no title passed, and cite: Rev. Stat. U. S. §§ 3397, 3398, 3400, 3404, 3405; Miller v. Post, 1 Allen, 434; Insurance Co. v. Harvey, 11 Wis. 394; Johnson v. Hudson, 11 East, 180; Brown v. Duncan, 10 Barn. & C. 93; Cope v. Rowlands, 2 Mees. & W. 149; Fergusson v. Norman, 5 Bing. N. C. 76; Benj. Sales, § 538; Anson, Cont. 172, 173; Miller v. Morrow, 3 Cold. 587; Wayman v. Torreyson, 4 Nev. 124; and other cases.
It appears from the testimony that the plaintiff, at the time he received the bill of sale, received also from his vendor, Aaron Wessels, the key of the room where the •cigars were stored, and also the key of the barn where the tobacco was stored, and that he placed one Garbutt in control thereof as his agent; that he went to the town clerk’s office, and filed his bill of sale among the chattel- mortgage securities; that he was told by the deputy-clerk that if it was an absolute sale of the property, and he had actual possession of it, filing was not necessary, and he replied that he had the key of the room where it was stored in his pocket, and insisted upon filing the instrument, which was done on the 19th day of November, 1883. No affidavit of renewal was filed, and, after more than a year had expired, defendant Beeman seized the property under his execution, and it was sold at sheriff's sale.
Defendants claim that, as plaintiff had filed the bill of sale, he was estopped from denying that it was intended for security, instead of an absolute transfer, and requested the court so to charge. The court declined to do so, but instructed the jury that they might consider the fact that plaintiff had filed the bill of sale as evidence bearing upon the claim made by him now, that the sale was absolute. The plaintiff excepted to the latter part of the charge. There was no error in this portion of the charge. It was proper for the jury to consider the fact in determining whether it was an absolute sale, as claimed by plaintiff, or intended as a security, as claimed by defendants. If the jury found that there was an absolute sale, then the question of delivery and actual and continued change of possession was important, for, if there was no actual delivery, followed by a continued change of possession, the burden of proof was upon the plaintiff to show that the sale was made in good faith, and without any intention to defraud creditors; but if it was intended as a security, and the affidavit was not filed as required by the statute, then it would be void as against such creditors as should acquire a lien after the expiration of a year and before the filing of the renewal affidavit; and in this case it is conceded that no renewal affidavit was filed.
The act of the party in filing a bill of sale had some significance upon the question as to whether it was an absolute transfer or only a security. If, as plaintiff contends, the bill of sale evidenced an absolute transfer of the property to him as purchaser, yet he is not estopped from so asserting, notwithstanding he filed the bill of sale in the clerk’s office. The attorney of the defendants was informed, when the instrument was placed upon record, that the plaintiff claimed he had possession ofi. the goods; that he had the key in his pocket of the room in which they' were stored; so that, so far as the defendants were concerned, the filing was not such an unequivocal act as would estop plaintiff from asserting, that the instrument was a bill of sale absolute, and not intended for security; but, further than this, there is no estoppel pleaded, and the testimony was not admissible without being embraced in the pleadings, or the facts constituting it set out in the notice. Johnson v. Stellwagen, 67 Mich. 14, and cases cited.
It was also claimed by the defendants that the sale was made with intent to hinder, delay, and defraud the creditors of Aaron Wessels. In the investigation of this question the defendants were permitted a wide and almost unbounded range of inquiry concerning transactions prior and subsequent to the sale to plaintiff, and concerning matters with which the plaintiff had no connection whatever. In the investigation of fraud it is usual to permit a wide range of investigation of matters that will throw light upon the questions at issue, but irrelevent testimony is no • more admissible in trying questions of fraud than in any other investigation or trial of civil actions at law. I think the court went far beyond what is allowable in the trial of such issues, and a great mass of testimony was admitted bearing upon the good faith and fair dealing of Aaron Wessels, plaintiff’s vendor, entirely disconnected with the ti’ansaction between him and the, plaintiff, which could have had no other effect than to prejudice the minds of the jury, and call their attention away from the real issue which they were called upon to decide.
The plaintiff’s claim was that he was a creditor of Aaron Wessels; that he had loaned him money, for which he had received the promissory notes of said Wessels; and on the 17th of November, 1883, he settled with Aaron Wessels, and received the mortgages, and goods included in the bill of sale, in full discharge of such' indebtedness. The defendants’ claim was that plaintiff was not a creditor, ox% if at all, not to the amount he claimed, and that the execution of the mortgages and the bill of sale was for the pux'pose of hindering, delaying, and defrauding defendant Beeman and other creditors fx-om collecting their debts. There was testimony introduced tending strongly to prove that Aaron Wessels was engaged in an attempt to defx’aud his creditors. But such intent would not affect bona fide transactions between Aaron Wessels and any of his creditors who received from him money, property, or security for their debts, unless they participated with Wessels in an attempt to defraud the other creditors.
The questions here are:
1. Was the plaintiff a creditor to the amount claimed by him?
2. Did he settle and receive the mortgages upon real estate and the property mentioned in the bill of sale to satisfy such indebtedness?
3. Was there such a disproportion between the value of the property received and the indebtedness due to plaintiff as to raise the pi-esumption of want of good faith, and justify the infei’ence that the conveyances were made as mere clouds to shield the property from the reach of the other creditors?
4. Was the property in question in this suit, covered by the bill of sale, delivered, and followed by an actual and continued change of possession?
Any testimony tending to throw light upon these questions, and also upon the intent of Aaron Wessels in making the trade, was admissible.
It was not admissible for defendants to show that, in January following the transaction with the plaintiff in November, Aaron Wessels made a general assignment for the benefit of his creditors, and that the assignee sold the equity of redemption in the premises mortgaged at public auction, without further showing that the plaintiff was in some way connected with these subsequent transactions, or that they occurred pursuant to an arrangement between Aaron Wessels and plaintiff, made at op before the conveyances to him, and as a part of the fraudulent scheme. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that there was no testimony whatever tending to show that the plaintiff was in any manner connected with a scheme for making an assignment; that the fact that he purchased some of the property covered by his mortgages at assignee’s sale did not have a'tendency to show that he was connected with the assignment, any more than would- the fact that other parties bought some of the property covered by these mortgages at such sale tend to show that they were connected with the assignment. There was testimony tending to show that Aaron Wesselscontemplated making an assignment about the 1st of November, 1883, before the transaction with the plaintiff; and the testimony was relevant as tending to show the dealings of the plaintiff and Aaron Wessels with the-property which he claims to have received in payment of his indebtedness. It n\ay have had a bearing upon the question of the good faith of the transaction, and should have been and was submitted to the jury for their consideration in connection with the rest of the testimony in the case. There was no error, therefore, in admitting that testimony, for the reason, as stated, that plaintiff purchased property at the assignee’s sale covered by his mortgages.
The counsel for plaintiff further contends that defendant Beeman as a creditor should have presented his claim to the assignee, and that the assignee is the only one who had authority to inquire into and contest the validity of the sale to the plaintiff as being a fraud upon the creditors. But this is a case where the plaintiff has sued the' defendants for converting his goods to their own use. The burden of proof is upon him to show his title to the goods at the time of the alleged conversion; and if the defendants could not be justified in seizing the goods as Aaron Weasels’ property because the title was vested in the assignee, neither could the plaintiff maintain trover for them if such title was not in him, but was in the assignee. It is a defense in trover to show title in a third person. Seymour v. Peters, 67 Mich. 415; Ribble v. Lawrence, 51 Id. 569.
The circuit judge permitted a witness for the defendants to testify to what persons — some of whom inspected the tobacco with a view of becoming bidders at the sheriff’s sale, and others who were such bidders or were present at such sale — said respecting the bad quality of the tobacco. It needs no argument or reasoning to demonstrate that such testimony is hearsay, and therefore inadmissible. If defendants could be permitted to swear to what persons said in derogation of the quality of the :goods, plaintiff could with equal propriety introduce witnesses to show what people had said extolling the qualities of the goods.
Counsel for the defendants was permitted to offer in evidence writing which he said he had written with the same pen and the same ink for the purpose of illustrating the different shades that ink may take upon different kinds of paper, although written with the same pen and ink, and at the same time. He said that it was admitted that he wrote them, and wrote them then and there, at the clerk’s desk. Counsel for the plaintiff objected for the reason that it was immaterial and incompetent. The court received the evidence. We do not see what relevancy such testimony had or could have -to the issue. So far as appears from this record, it should have been excluded.
The.question whether there had been a delivery of the goods sold, followed by an actual and continued change of possession, was one of the most vital issues in the case. In his charge to the jury upon this issue the circuit judge said:
“It is for you to say from the testimony whether or not it was such a changed and continued possession as I have indicated as necessary; only I have this to say: That, if Mr. William E. Wessels did take possession of the property, and then turn it back to Aaron Wessels for him to manage (as I think there is some testimony tending to show), I do not think that is such a continued change of possession as the statute contemplates.”
The circuit judge erred in stating to the jury that there was some testimony tending to show that plaintiff took possession of the property, and then turned it back to Aaron Wessels for him to'manage. We have frequently held that the tendency of the testimony to prove a certain fact is exclusively for the jury, and it is error for the circuit judge to add the weight of his opinion as to what it tends to prove, when there is a dispute in the testimony upon a point. Perrott v. Shearer, 17 Mich. 48; Blackwood v. Brown, 32 Id. 104: Hayes v. Homer, 36 Id. 374.
We do not think the testimony relative to the removal of the cigars, the failure to box and stamp, and the selling of unboxed and unstamped cigars was admissible-in this case.- The object of introducing such testimony was -to prove title in a third person, namely, the United States; and it is claimed, and correctly so, in my opinion,, that forfeiture, under the Eevised Statutes of the United States referred to, must be deemed to have attached at the moment, the offense was committed, and hence the-title then vested potentially in the United States, so as. to cut off all sales made afterwards, aB well as all liens. But the title of the United States to the goods forfeited is not consummated until after judicial condemnation,, and then it relates back to the time the offense was. committed. The law requires proceedings to be instituted for the purpose of ascertaining the fact of forfeiture.. Caldwell v. U. S., 8 How. 381, 382. There was no testimony introduced, and none offered, to show that the United States had taken any steps to enforce the forfeiture, although its revenue officers were acquainted with the facts. If no proceedings are instituted within five years, the statute of limitations bars a proceeding by the-government where there are no obstacles to its proceeding within that time, in which case the forfeiture may becoñsidered as waived.
We do not think that third parties can set up the illegality of a sale in violation of the revenue laws to defeat an action brought against such third persons for inter-meddling with the property, or converting it to their own use, when neither party 'to the contract has repudiated it, and the contract has been fully executed. To permit it would be to introduce and require the determinatioa of collateral issues without the parties to such issues being before the court, and over which this Court has no jurisdiction. A great deal of the testimony introduced upon the trial had relation to these collateral issues. The cross-examination of Aaron Wessels, the opinion testimony of handwriting, the suggestions of false and fraudulent entries, were such as to influence the minds of the jury, and affect their verdict, upon the question of the good faith of plaintiff’s purchase, — an influence which the charge of the court was not calculated to remove. After letting in this mass of testimony against plaintiff’s objection, the court merely instructed the jury:
“It is claimed by the defendants that this sale was void, because made in violation of the revenue laws of the United States, if made at all, and passed no title to plaintiff; and they ask me to direct you to render a verdict for the defendants, for this reason, of not guilty. This request of the defendants is refused.’’
. The whole tendency of the testimony was to impress the jury with the idea that the fraud upon the revenue laws was in some way connected with the sale to plaintiff, and that no title passed to him by the sale. We think the error was prejudicial. ,
The judgment must be reversed, and new trial ordered.
The other Justices concurred.
The declaration includes other property (see first paragraph of former opinion), but the plaintiff only claimed to recover a verdict for the value of the tobacco and cigars.
^he attorney was deputy town clerk, and was present when the bill of sale was filed with the clerk.
At the time of taking the bill of sale of. the tobacco and cigars, plaintiff received from Aaron Wessels certain mortgages on real estate, and at the assignee’s sale he purchased a portion of the mortgaged premises. | [
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Long, J.
This action was brought in the circuit court for the county of Cass, and a trial was had before the court and jury, and at the close of the testimony the court directed a verdict in favor of the defendant.
The claim stated in the declaration substantially is that the plaintiff who was a strong and active man of 29 years of age, entered into the service of the defendant on September 10, 1889, as a laborer, at $1 per day, working in and about repairing tracks of defendant, on one of the sections, under the direction of the section boss, and performing such duties as are usually performed by section hands; that on the 11th day of September, 1889, and when he had been in the employ of defendant but one day, he was, together 'with other section laborers, wrongfully and negligently ordered to load a large number of steel rails, lying along either side of the track of the defendant, upon certain flat-cars, while the said cars were in motion; that said work was being done by a large number of sectionmen, about 30, composing these section gangs, and the crew of the train upon which the rails were being loaded, the whole force so engaged being under the direction and control of defendant’s assistant road-master, one Patrick Wahl, who was by the defendant authorized and directed to order, direct, and control such work, and who, in accordance therewith, ordered said train to be kept in motion while the rails were being loaded by the plaintiff and his fellow-workmen; that it was necessary, in the performance of the work in that manner, that the men should, after heaving each rail upon the car nearest them, run forward with the train, but at a greater speed, to the next rail, so as to have it in the air ready to heave when the ear reached them; that the plaintiff was stationed near the end of the line, and in running to the next-rail was near the head of the line, that is, he was the third man from the head in the line in going forward, and was therefore obliged to run fast enough to keep his place, and not delay those behind him, and so was wholly unable to watch the rails upon the car to see if they were safely lodged, and to see such rails if they should fall; that at the time and place aforesaid, while the plaintiff was in his place in the line, running towards the rail next to be loaded, and while in the exercise of due care, and without" negligence on his part, a rail which had been thrown upon the said car so moving fell off in such a manner as to strike the plaintiff upon the arm and leg, and so broke and crushed his leg near the ankle as to render its amputation necessary.
Plaintiff avers that the injury was in no manner caused or contributed to by any negligence on the part of his fellow-workmen, but was the result of the negligence and unwarrantable manner in which the defendant required the work to be done. The charge is that it was the duty of the defendant to furnish the - plaintiff, not only with reasonably safe place and appliances for the performance of his duty, but also to secure to him the right to the performance of his work in a manner reasonably safe; yet, notwithstanding this duty, the defendant negligently and wrongfully furnished him flat-cars to be loaded by him with steel rails, lying along the track of said road, without appliances to prevent such rails from falling off, and required said rails to be loaded from the place where they lay without regard to the width of the available track or path along-side the train upon which they were to be loaded, and furnished for plaintiff's assistance men who were untrained and unskilled in such work, of which fact plaintiff was ignorant, and wrongfully and negligently, and with notice of the premises, required such rails to be loaded while said flat-cars were being moved by the engine attached to them at a dangerous rate of speed.
It is further claimed that, if the cars were standing still, the men were able to heave the rails upon them so as to load them safely and securely, but that while the cars were in motion it was difficult to load them evenly and securely, and that the business of loading said rails was properly the work of men especially employed and trained thereto; that it was not such work as was within the ordinary scope of plaintiff’s employment, and was more laborious and more dangerous, and that the requirement of said defendant that plaintiff should do such work was wrongful, and in disregard to plaintiff’s rights under his employment; that he did not know what was the limit of his duty, or his rights under his contract of employment, and had no knowledge or notice of any danger attending the work he was so directed to do, but which was well known to defendant and its agent.
The plaintiff introduced testimony tending to show that he had no previous experience in railroad work of any kind; that the rails laid in line along the side of the track for a distance of some three miles, and the men were required to load them with the train moving at from one to four miles an hour. Each rail was 30 feet long, and weighed 650 pounds, and not over 16 men were at each rail at any time. Plaintiff claims that the work was very hard and severe, and that part of the men gave out before the injury, and left an insufficient force to do the work, but that he did not, know this until after his injury; but direct evidence upon this branch of the case was excluded by the court. It appears that the men would lift a rail, and heave it on the car, and then instantly turn and run with the train to the next rail, so as to heave it on the same car. While the train was going, as plaintiff’s testimony tended to show, about four miles per hour, and when a mile of rails had been picked up, one rail “flew off, and bounded back,” as it is expressed by the witnesses, and caught the plaintiff, who was, with the rest of the men, running to the next rail, threw him against the bank, and then fell upon his leg, and crushed it so that it had to be taken off below the knee. The plaintiff testified that he did not know that the work was dangerous, and that no instructions were given him, and that the rail which came off was thrown the same as the others. This testimony was corroborated by others.
The defendant’s witnesses testified that the work was not dangerous; that rails often flew or bounded back, • and that such rails would indicate by their sound that they were coming back; and that, if they did come back, they were liable to hurt some one, unless they got out of the way. There was no claim, however, that any one knew this, except a few of the more experienced hands, and no claim that the plaintiff, or the other inexperienced hands, were warned of it.
The circuit judge refused to permit the plaintiff to ■show how many of the men had had previous experience, or that the plaintiff had had no previous experience, or how hard the wotk was, or whether any of the men gave out before the accident, or whether the plaintiff was in a position where he could see the rail before it hit him, or whether he would have been hurt if the train had been standing still. The accident happened in a cut, the bank of which, as the plaintiff’s testimony tends to show, was higher than plaintiff’s head; that the men ahead of him and behind him, the bank at his left, and the rail bounding off at his right, made his escape impossible; that the men were as close together as they could work, the man ahead of him barely escaping the rail, and the man behind him having his boot scraped by it.
It appears by the defendant’s testimony that the work was done occasionally in this way, — that is, the rails thrown upon the cars while moving, — but it does not appear to have been the usual way of loading such rails; the witnesses putting, it from twice in one year to twice in nine years that rails had been loaded upon ears while they were in motion. The defendant introduced testimony tending to show that it was .the duty of the sec tionmen to do anything they were called upon to do.
The circuit judge, in taking the case from the jury, and directing a verdict in favor of the defendant, held that the company had the right to adopt any method of doing the work it saw fit, and that notice of the method was notice of the attendant risk. He also held that there was no law which would forbid the moving of the train while it was being loaded; that in the present case there was no latent defect, and the plaintiff had full opportunity to observe the manner of loading at the very outset; that any person of ordinary prudence would know that there was danger of being injured while engaged in the loading of cars with T-rails; and that the plaintiff voluntarily assumed the risk incident to such employment.
Defendant’s counsel in their brief insist that the work of loading rails on cars, standing still or moving, was the proper work, if required, of sectionmen, and not unusual, and was in this case in consonance with the custom of defendant; that plaintiff entered defendant’s employ with full knowledge of the services required, and the risk and danger of such work was readily discernible by him; that the plaintiff did not exercise due care, did not look out for danger, nor try to guard himself from danger; that the injury to plaintiff did not result from any defect in defendant’s cars or road, nor from incompetency of its employés, nor from its happening in the cut with the high bank on the side where the plaintiff worked.
Defendant’s counsel make the proposition that the plaintiff assumed the ordinary risks of the service on entering defendant’s employ. They also claim that the assistant road-master, who had the direction of the work, and who directed the moving of the train while the rails were being loaded, was a fellow-servant of the plaintiff.
It • is also insisted that, before ordering the quicker movement of the train, Wahl asked the men if they could not, load with the train moving faster; that he spoke to the men generally, and none of them objected, but all acted as though they could; that this was taken as an assent to the faster moving of the train, and the men went right along with their work. It is further claimed that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence; that in entering defendant’s employ as a sectionman he assumed the ordinary risks of that service, and the men were especially warned by the assistant road-master, before commencing to load, for each man-to look out for himself and avoid danger; that it was his duty, irrespective 'of this warning, to exercise due care against the danger, readily discernible of this service; that he did not look out for danger, did not see the danger, nor apprehend it, and was utterly .regardless of it.
We cannot agree with the contention of defendant’s counsel. Whatever the claim made by the plaintiff under the testimony which was given upon the trial, and the facts which plaintiff offered • to prove, but which were excluded by the court, we are satisfied that the case should have been submitted to the jury as to the negligence of the defendant in directing, by its agent, the plaintiff and these workmen to load these rails upon the moving train, and whether, by the manner in which the rails were directed to be loaded upon the moving train, it subjected the plaintiff to unnecessary danger. We think the requirement of the assistant road-master, that these rails should be loaded upon the train while moving, was unreasonable, as it required unreasonable exertion upon the part of the men, and, under the circumstances here stated, might be found by the jury to subject the men to unnecessary danger. It is true that the defendant was not an insurer of the lives and limbs of the men engaged in that service, and that the plaintiff assumed the ordinary risks of the employment upon which he entered. But in the service of the railroad company as a sectionman, whose ordinary duties it is to repair the tracks and road-bed of defendant, he would not expect to be called upon to load rails upon a moving train. It appears to have been something unusual that seetionmen were called upon to load these heavy steel rails upon flat-cars, and especially where the cars were moving at such a rate of speed as four miles an hour, as stated by some of the witnesses in this case. The plaintiff assumed no risks except those which pertained to his employment and those which he understanding^ assented to, and he had the right to assume that the- danger was not increased by the manner in which the work was ordered to be done.
It is a well-established rule that the employer must furnish a safe place for his employés to work, and safe appliances or tools with which to do the work. It is as well the master's duty to provide that the manner in which the work is being done shall be also safe, and, in all cases where the danger can be readily guarded against, the employer is in duty bound to protect the employé at his peril. Mr. Wahl, the assistant road-master', had full charge and direction of this gang of men; he stood in the place of the master; he was a man of years of experience in railroading. The plaintiff had hired as a section-man, and had had no experience in railroading, and Wahl must have known that the manner in which these men were directed to do the work, in putting these heavy rails upon a moving train, was dangerous. The court below found it so dangerous from the circumstances shown upon the trial that he held that any person of ordinary pru dence knows that there is danger of being injured while loading these rails upon a moving train. It is apparent, however, that the plaintiff, by reason of his inexperience, did not apprehend the danger to life and limb in the manner in which the work was being done.
It is quite apparent from the record that the manner in which the defendant required this work to be done made it almost impossible to provide against the danger it created, or to give the plaintiff such notice of the ■approach of danger as to give him a chance to escape. The service required of the plaintiff was not in the •ordinary line of a sectionman, — that is, sectionmen are not ordinarily called upon, as shown by the record, to load these heavy steel rails upon a moving train; and'it therefore became, as we think, the duty of the court to leave the question of fact to the jury, under the circumstances to determine whether the manner in which the work was being done subjected the plaintiff to unnecessary danger, and whether the plaintiff’ could, under the ■circumstances, have avoided it.
The court was also in error in refusing to permit the plaintiff to show how many of the men had had previous ■experience, and that the plaintiff had had- no experience, how hard the work was, whether any of the men gave out before the accident, whether the plaintiff was in a position where he could see the rail before it hit him, and that the work was more dangerous in loading upon the moving cars than as though the cars were standing still.
The judgment of the court below must be reversed, with costs, and a new trial ordered.
Champlin, C. J., Morse and Grant, JJ.', concurred. McGrath, J., did not sit. | [
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Morse, J.
In these two cases I think the county tax was illegal, because of the action of the board of supervisors in voting a salary to the sheriff “as jailer” of $500 per annum. How. Stat. § 9055, gives this officer 35 cents for the commitment of every person to the county jail, and the same sum for each discharge therefrom, and for taking a prisoner before a court for examination or to jail, 15 cents; and, after enumerating the fees for other services, it provides:
“For other services not herein specially provided for, such sums as may be allowed by the board of supervisors.”
This clause of the statute does not, in my opinion, authorize the board of supervisors to vote a lump salary to the sheriff as jailer for the year. The evident intent is that, if the sheriff performs services not specially provided for in the statute, he shall present his claim for such services, after they are rendered, to the board, who shall, upon investigation of the same, allow such compensation as to them may seem just and proper.
The resolution of the supervisors fixing this salary did not specify what it was for, except in this general way, “as jailer." This would seem to include all his services as jailer, if any, and would embrace those services for which the statute has fixed the fees. The sheriff must be confined to his fees as fixed by statute. Burk v. Webb, 32 Mich. 173; Clark v. Supervisors, 38 Id. 658; Peck v. Bank, 51 Id. 353; Hewitt v. White, 78 Id. 117. If the supervisors could legally vote $500, they could vote. any sum, which is not the evident purpose of the statutes of this State. I know of no law recognizing that the sheriff is a salaried officer, or that authorizes the voting of any sum of money to him as a salary for any services. For such a county as Ogemaw the amount voted is a large one; and there is nothing in the resolution preventing him from receiving all the ordinary jail fees in addition, besides his expense in boarding the inmates of the jail. In the same resolution they fixed the clerk’s fees at $725, but were careful to provide that he should no longer receive the entry fees for himself, as had been before that permitted; and also that he should • thereafter be allowed no per diem, fees while attending the sessions of the board of supervisors. But the sheriff is in no wise restricted or deprived of any of his usual fees. The circuit judge should have instructed the jury that so much of the county tax was void as was the plaintiff’s proportion of the $500.
For this error the judgments in both cases must be reversed, and a new trial granted, with costs of this Court to plaintiff.
Champlin, 0. J., and Grant, J., concurred with Morse, J. . | [
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Long, J.
The plaintiff is a merchant carrying on a general business in the towns of Au Sable, Oscoda, and St. Ignaee. The defendant is the proprietor and publisher of the Lakeside Monitor, published at Au Sable.
This is an action of libel, brought upon the following article published in defendant’s paper, July 9, 1887:
“George Orth in Deep Water.
“ In the Monitor of last week there were propounded to George Orth several very pertinent questions, among which was one wherein Orth was asked if he, as supervisor of the poor, ever furnished supplies to the inmates of the Shore Hospital, and charged them up to the county at two prices. At a meeting of the board of supervisors, Wednesday, Supervisor B. F. Smith introduced a resolution, to which was attached the Monitor’s article referred to, asking that the board bounce Qrth on general principles. Some of the members advocated summary disposal of the services of Orth in telling language; among them being Scott Buell, who most emphatically stated that Orth was a liar, a thief, and a perjurer, and that he could prove every word he said. The original resolution was amended so as to allow Orth to produce witnesses that these matters were false, if he could do so, and in default of such proof the board propose to graduate him with honors at their next meeting. We are told that the board have documentary evidence that all these things are true. People whb live in glass houses should not throw-stones. Give us another libel suit, Mr. Orth, and we will open out another fusilade of canister and grape which we have in reserve for your especial benefit.”
From the record it appears that this was only one of the many articles published in the Lakeside Monitor by the defendant in reference to Mr. Orth.
The resolution of the board of supervisors to which this article refers is as follows:
“ Whereas, it has been charged in a newspaper published in this county that George Orth, as superintendent of the poor, has been guilty of official misconduct, to wit, furnishing patients at Weir’s Hospital with clothing, boots, and shoes from his store, and charging the county two or three prices for the same: Therefore, be i't—
“ Resolved, that the said Orth be required to appear before this board at- its next session, and answer said charge, and that the chairman cause by subpoena the publisher of said paper to appear before this board to substantiate said charge, and the sheriff of this county serve a true copy on the said Orth to appear before this-board, and answer said charge, or other matters relating to his official conduct.”
After the publication of the article complained of,, the board of supervisors had a meeting, investigating the charges made, and fully exonerated Mr. Orth from the charges by the unanimous vote of the hoard.
The defendant pleaded the general issue, with notice of special matters of defense:
■ 1. That, in so far as the article purported to give the contents of the resolution of the board of supervisors, it was substantially true.
2. That if Orth’s reputation for truth and veracity had suffered, and if he was suspected of false swearing and lying, it arose from his own acts in testifying in the Weir trial.
3. That Buell had in fact made the statements stated in the article, and that, if the article conveyed any erroneous impression that the statements of Buell were made on the board of supervisors, it was an honest mistake of fact in naming the place where Buell made the statements.
4. That the Monitor was a public newspaper, and that the article was published for the purpose of informing the public of what took place on the board of supervisors.
IJpon the trial of the cause in the Iosco circuit, the plaintiff had verdict and judgment for $800. Defendant' brings error. Thirty-seven errors are assigned. We shall only consider those which are discussed in the brief of counsel for the appellant.
The defendant’s first contention is that the article is not libelous per, se, and that the court was in error in so directing the jury. The court charged the jury on that question as follows:
“I charge you, as the law in this case, that the publication in question is defamatory and libelous, and action able in itself upon its face. It is what is termed 'actionable per se.’ Whenever a person, in printing or writing, charges another with a crime, — charges another with conduct which imputes the commission of a crime, — moral turpitude, — the law provides that such publications are actionable, and that malice will be inferred from the publication itself; and in the first instance no express malice — no actual malice — need be shown in order to entitle the party to redress or damages.”
The court was not in error in this charge. The article is libelous per se. It states that Scott Buell charged the plaintiff with being a liar, a thief, and a perjurer before the board of supervisors at their meeting, and that he could prove every word he said. It turned out upon the trial that Scott Buell made no such statement before the board of supervisors, and the article in that respect was wholly false.
Defendant, however, testified upon the trial that, before the publication declared upon, Buell had told him that Orth was a liar, a thief, and a perjurer, and would steal everything he could lay his hands on, and that before the publication he (defendant) was in Orth's store, and saw him charge upon his books to the hospital goods which had never been purchased. He testified upon cross-examination, however, that he was unable to state whether it was $1 or $20, neither could he give the date of the month nor the year when this took place; that he never said anything about this transaction until after the time when Orth became a witness in the Weir trial. Defendant also testified that it came to him from a county officer, one Charles Marvin, and that he understood from Marvin that Buell used this language on the board of supervisors. Defendant testified upon that subject as follows:
''Charles Marvin said he had been down to the meeting of the board of supervisors, and 'they gave Orth the devil down there yesterday,' or 'raised the devil with Orth.’ I asked, 'What did they do?’ 'Well,’ he says, 'they got that article in your last week’s paper, and Smith had a resolution which he attached to it asking for an investigation.’ Buell was right there (that is what he gave me to understand), and he says, 'Buell said he is a damn liar, a thief, and a perjurer, and that he could prove every word he said.’ Buell had often before that time, upon different occasions, told me the same thing, without any solicitation whatever.”
This testimony was offered for the purpose of mitigating damages. Under this testimony, it was claimed by counsel for defendant that the article published could •only be regarded as a repetition of statements made by •others which defendant believed to be true, and that he could not be held to the same measure of responsibility as though he had originated the statements set out in the article, though such statements may have been false in fact. The court charged the jury upon that question as follows:
"I also instruct you that it is no defense and no justification or excuse that he may have heard that such reports had been made by others. The repetition of such a charge, put into permanent form, to be circulated through the medium of the public press, even though it may have been said by somebody else, would constitute a libel; and it can afford no protection to the publisher of a newspaper, or any other person who prints or writes grave charges, — charges which, from their very nature must tend to injure the character and standing of another, and the property and business of another, — that some other person may have made the charge.”
The court was not in error in stating to the jury that the fact that the defendant, under his claim, was merely repeating what he had been advised had been said by others, could not be urged by him as justification or excuse, as a repetition of the slander could not be justified on the ground that some other person had originated the slanderous statement. The jury may, however, have understood from this part of the charge that they had no right to take into consideration the fact that Bnell had used this language, or that Marvin had so stated to the defendant, or that the defendant may have believed that Buell had so stated before the board of supervisors, and that Marvin had communicated that fact to him before the publication of the article, when they came to consider the question of damages. It was proper matter to go -before the jury upon the question of damages, but the charge of the court entirely excluded it from their consideration, even upon that branch of the defense, as the court stated to them that it could not be used as a defense. As a part of the defense, the defendant claimed to reduce the amount of the plaintiff's damages, and offered the proof for this purpose. The court directed the jury that the only fact for their consideration was one of damages, and that the plaintiff was entitled to recover actual damages; and, if they found that there was actual malice entertained towards the person of the plaintiff in publishing the defamatory statement, they should add to the elements of actual damages such amount as they might think reasonable and “right for injured feelings, — for. the shame and disgrace he may have endured in consequence of these false statements.
It was not contended upon the part of the defendant, upon the trial, that Buell made these statements before the board of supervisors, but that at the time of the writing of the article and its publication he believed from what Marvin said to him, and from statements which he had heard Buell make before that time, that Buell did make the statements before the board as claimed in the article published. The court should have directed the jury, upon the question of exemplary damages, that they should take into consideration the claim made by defendant that he was advised by Marvin before the article was published that Buell had so made the statements before the board, as such facts would have a bearing in determining the malice of defendant towards the plaintiff in the publication of the article, which is one of the elements to be taken into consideration in determining the amount of exemplary damages.
The article was libelous per se, and the plaintiff was entitled to recover actual damages. In addition to this, he was entitled to recover punitive damages, if the facts proved establish express and wanton malice. Where actual malice is shown in an action for slander or libel, the jury may always give punitive damages. Newman v. Stein, 75 Mich. 407; Knight v. Foster, 39 N. H. 576; Guard v. Risk, 11 Ind. 156; Armstrong v. Pierson, 8 Iowa, 29; Daly v. Van Benthuysen, 3 La. Ann. 69. The amount of such exemplary damages must rest largely in the discretion of the jury, under proper instructions from the court, dependent upon the facts of each particular case. It is unquestionably true that the jury would naturally give to the plaintiff a larger amount of exemplary damages if they believed the article to have originated with the defendant, and the article to be false in fact, than they would give if it was shown that the defendant was merely repeating the words of another which he believed to be true. In order to recover exemplary damages, it was necessary for the plaintiff to show that the defendant was actuated by malice in its publication. Such facts could be shown by circumstances, as well as by direct proof. To rebut this, the defendant had the right to show the circumstances under which the article was published, that he believed it to be true, and that the facts upon which the article was based were given to him by another before the publication.
In the case of Burt v. McBain, 29 Mich. 264, it appeared that a witness, called for the prosecution to show the speaking of the words, testified upon cross-examination that she had previously heard the same story from others. On re-examination she. was asked to state from whom. This was objected to, but allowed. It was said by this Court that this testimony was properly allowed in mitigation of damages. 1
As a rule, unless the matter complained of be privileged, the motive or intention of the speaker or wi'iter is immaterial to the right of action. The law looks only at the words employed, and their effect on the plaintiff’s imputation; but in all cases the absence of malice, though it may not be a bar to the action, may yet have a material effect in reducing the damages. In Hinkle v. Davenport, 38 Iowa, 355, it was held that proof was properly admissible that defendant repeated, and did not originate, the alleged slander, and that the jury might consider it in mitigation of damages, but not in justification. As a general rule, in actions of slander and libel the defendant may mitigate damages by showing any' circumstances which tend to disprove malice. Storey v. Early, 86 Ill. 461; Galloway v. Courtney, 10 Rich. 414; Wozelka v. Hettrick, 93 N. C. 10; Morris v. Lachman, 68 Cal. 109.
Defendant’s counsel also claim that the court was in error in submitting to the jury the question of damages plaintiff sustained to his business by reason of the publication of the libelous article. There was no error in this. The declaration counted upon such injury, and all the proofs tended to show a falling off in the plaintiff’s business by reason of the publication of the article in question.
Some claim is also made that the court was in error in the reception and rejection of evidence. We find no error in this part of the case.
There was no error in the refusal of the court to give defendant’s requests in his charge to the jury, and in the giving of such of the plaintiff’s requests as were given.
The only error we find in the whole record relates to the charge of ,the court which excluded from' the jury, in determining the plaintiff’s damages, the fact that the defendant claimed to have ■ acted in good faith in the publication of the article, ,and upon a state of facts which he believed at the time to be true. For this reason the judgment should be reversed, and a new trial ordered.
Grant, J.
We think the malice in this case is so apparent upon the face of the publications .that the error pointed out by our Brother Long was without prejudice. The judge did instruct the jury that they should consider the mitigating circumstances. The testimony as to good faith was admitted, and constituted the only mitigating circumstances.
Judgment is affirmed.
Ohamplin, O. J., Morse and McGrath, JJ., concurred with Grant, J. | [
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McGrath, J.
This is trover for the conversion of a horse. Plaintiff had judgment, and defendant appeals.
In March, 1886, John D. Sherman gave two chattel mortgages upon certain horses, including the one for the-value of which this suit is brought, — one to plaintiff, and the other to one Sellick. Sellick assigned his mortgage to plaintiff. Plaintiff, in the fall of 1886, placed the mortgages in the hands of one Eldridge for foreclosure* Eldridge demanded the horses from Sherman, who asked for an extension of time, and was granted one day. Eldridge on the next day went for the horses, and Sherman voluntarily delivered them to Eldridge, who held them for five days, at the end of which time Sherman took the horses from the barn where they were put by Eldridge. Eldridge afterwards made a demand upon Sherman for the horses, but Sherman refused to give them up. Eldridge then brought replevin in his own name, and secured the horses, and sold them in March, 1887, to plaintiff. Upon the trial of the replevin suit in September, 1887, Sherman had judgment for the return of the property, on the ground that Eldridge was simply the agent and servant of the plaintiff here, and as such was not entitled to maintain that suit in his own name. The sheriff took the horses from Hoppin, and returned them to Sherman. Eldridge appealed to this Court, and that judgment was reversed, and a new trial ordered. Eldridge v. Sherman, 70 Mich. 266. Before a retrial was had, to wit, in April, 1888, Sherman sold the horse in question to defendant here. In January, 1889, a retrial of the replevin suit was had, and - Eldridge had judgment. Sherman appealed to this Court, and that judgment was affirmed. 79 Mich. 484.
Plaintiff brings trover for the value of the horse purchased by the defendant from Sherman. Plaintiff put in evidence the two mortgages in question; a certificate or claim filed with the township clerk, dated August 25, 1886, wherein plaintiff claimed that there was due on the mortgage given to him the sum of 1400; three affidavits of renewal, filed, respectively, March 7, 1887, March 9, 1888, and March 11, 1889; the files, records, charge of the court, and judgment entry in the case of Eldridge v. Sherman ; and it was conceded that in the last trial of Eldridge v. Sherman the whole question of the validity of plaintiff’s mortgage was fully gone into upon both sides, as well as whether the property was or was not voluntarily turned out to Eldridge by Sherman, and these questions were submitted to the jury as questions of fact under the charge of the court.
Defendant objected to the admission of the files and judgment in the case of Eldridge v. Sherman, and sought to assail the validity of the mortgage given to plaintiff; but the court held that the decision in that case was conclusive upon that question. We think that the court was correct in this determination. Although defendant here was not a party to that suit, his vendor was, and the vendee could not be permitted to retry the issue which had been disposed of adversely to his vendor in that litigation. Any other rule would involve the parties in endless litigation, for, in order to secure a retrial of the same issue, it would only be necessary to transfer the property.
But it is insisted that plaintiff here was not a party to that suit. It must be conceded, however, that he was the real party in interest. Indeed, the fact appears in the suit that Eldridge claimed as an officer who. had taken the property for Hoppin under a mortgage running to him, and the validity of this mortgage was assailed in that suit. There is no question but that a final judgment in that suit in favor of Sherman would have concluded plaintiff here. The issue there involved more than the right of possession. The validity of the mortgage had in fact been 'tried and determined by the judgment. A final judgment is binding not only upon the parties, but upon their privies.
It is argued, however, that although the question of the validity of the mortgage was raised and gone into in that suit, yet another and distinct issue was submitted to the jury, involving the right of possession only, and, as the verdict was general, it is impossible to say upon which proposition the jury based their verdict. This argument proceeds upon a narrow view of the determination of this Court in the case of Eldridge v. Sherman, already referred to. In the first (70 Mich. 270) Mr. Justice Long says:
“ The right of possession was in Eldridge, not only by the authority from Hoppin, but by the voluntary surrender of the property by the defendant, the mortgagor; and the 'defendant had no right, after such voluntary surrender of the mortgaged property, and after the plaintiff had been put to the expense of the keeping, to take the property away without first paying, or tendering payment of, the mortgage debt and interest, and such expenses.”
What the Court' in effect say is that, after the voluntary surrender of the horses to Eldridge, Sherman was estopped from setting up the invalidity of the mortgage. Hence the same result was reached upon whichever question the jury passed. If • they found that the property had been voluntarily delivered over to Eldridge, then Sherman was estopped from questioning the validity of the mortgage. If they found that there was not a voluntary delivery, then upon the merits they found the mortgage to be a valid one. In either case the question of the validity of the mortgage was passed upon.
Objection is made to the admission of the testimony of plaintiff as to what matters were in issue in the replevin suit; but the files and records were afterwards introduced, and the same facts were conceded.
Defendant offered to show that in June, 1886, Hoppin, Sherman, and Avery met, ' and that at that meeting Sherman made a payment to Mr. Hoppin, and Hoppin then and there stated that, the sum so paid over paid the last of' the debt covered by this mortgage, to show that there was nothing due upon this mortgage in any event, assuming that it was a valid mortgage. The testimony was excluded, and we think properly. If it was true that the debt secured by this mortgage was paid, it would have been a good defense in the replevin suit. The right to foreclosure depended upon the existence and non-payment of the debt. As was said in Fifield v. Edwards, 39 Mich. 264, 266:
“It cannot be suffered that a controversy shall be tried over and over, but the one suit tried, submitted, and disposed of on the merits must conclude the litigation. If a party has been so negligent or so unfortunate as to fail in making a full presentation of his case, whereby the judgment was passed against him, he cannot be helped on making a better showing in a new suit. The estoppel does not depend upon the question whether justice was done in the first suit, but upon the merits having once been considered and passed upon.”
It is not claimed that this statement misled Avery, or that in his purchase he relied upon the information thus obtained. His purchase was. made nearly two years afterwards. In the mean time the filing of the mortgage had been kept alive in the office of the township clerk by renewals, one of which was filed within a month prior to his purchase.
In offering the files of the replevin suit, plaintiff’s counsel, under objection, excepted the order for the return of the property after verdict at the conclusion of the first trial. That judgment had been reversed, and was without force or effect. The case had been appealed to this Court when Avery purchased. If he had notice of the judgment, he had notice of the appeal, .or that the judgment was not final. •
Possession is not conclusive evidence of title. An unauthorized sale of personal.property does not prejudice the owner, unless he hap done some act which is calculated to mislead the purchaser. Sherman had no title when he sold to Avery, and it is immaterial whether the latter purchased in good faith or not. His only remedy is against Sherman under the implied warranty of title which accompanies a sale of personal property.
There is no error in the record, and the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
The other Justices concurred.
This sale was made by virtue of the mortgages, and in completion of their foreclosure. | [
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H. J. Szymanski, J.
Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCL 750.520d(l)(c); MSA 28.788(4)(l)(c). Defendant was sentenced to three to fifteen years in prison. He appeals as of right and we reverse.
On April 16, 1985, complainant went to defendant’s Ypsilanti apartment. There she drank several beers and smoked a marijuana cigarette. A number of individuals, including defendant, were present during the course of the evening. At one point, complainant sniffed from a small vial containing "rush.” She immediately felt light-headed and soon thereafter requested that someone call her boyfriend to pick her up. Complainant then lost consciousness on a couch in defendant’s apartment.
Sometime thereafter, she regained consciousness to find defendant sitting behind her on the couch with his hands underneath her shirt, touching one of her breasts. Complainant passed out again, and, when she regained consciousness, she saw defendant wearing only his underwear, standing in front of a window. Defendant approached complainant and began to undo her pants. Complain ant attempted to get up but was too weak and passed out again. When she regained consciousness, her. pants were off, and defendant was lying on top of her having sexual intercourse.
Defendant denied having intercourse with complainant and stated he saw her leave the apartment earlier that evening. Defendant contended that complainant accused him of rape because she was angry over money she had misplaced.
During the first day of deliberations, the jury gave the bailiff a note which stated: "The jury cannot reach a decision. What does the judge suggest?” Without Consulting either party, the judge instructed the bailiff to inform the jury to "keep on working.” The bailiff did so. Following his conviction, defendant moved for a new trial. One of the grounds raised was the judge’s communication with the jurors. The court denied defendant’s motion for a new trial.
Defendant argues that a new trial is warranted due to the judge’s communication with the jury, directing it to continue deliberating. We agree.
In Michigan there is a strict rule prohibiting communication with a deliberating jury outside of the courtroom and the presence of counsel. Rushing v Wayne Co, 138 Mich App 121, 150; 358 NW2d 904 (1984), accord, People v Cain, 409 Mich 858; 294 NW2d 692 (1980), rev’g 94 Mich App 644; 288 NW2d 465 (1980). In Cain, supra, the bailiff took to the judge a note from the jury which inquired whether the verdict need be unanimous. 94 Mich App 645. At the judge’s direction, the bailiff told the jury their verdict had to be unanimous. The Supreme Court summarily reversed defendant’s conviction in lieu of granting leave for the reasons stated in Judge (now Justice) M. F. Cavanagh’s dissent below. Judge Cavanagh noted that the strict rule prohibiting any communication with the jury outside of the courtroom and the presence of counsel had not been relaxed in Michigan and was grounds for a new trial regardless of whether the communications or instructions were prejudicial. 94 Mich App 647.
We believe that the instant case mirrors Cain, supra, and preempts all other considerations. We do not agree with the prosecution that defendant need show prejudice before a new trial is granted. The prosecution cites for support People v Sullivan, 392 Mich 324; 220 NW2d 441 (1974), and People v Hardin, 421 Mich 296; 365 NW2d 101 (1984). However, both Sullivan and Hardin involved supplemental charges given to a hung jury. Sullivan, supra, adopted standard jury instruction 5.4 of the American Bar Association. Hardin, supra, refined the Court’s ruling in Sullivan, supra, and examined whether the departure from the American Bar Association’s standard jury instruction 5.4 required reversal. We believe these cases are inapplicable to a resolution of defendant’s claim. Following the Supreme Court’s summary reversal in Cain, supra, no prejudice need be shown in the instant case.
In light of our decision we decline to discuss the merits of defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim.
Defendant’s third-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction is reversed. The trial court erred in failing to grant defendant’s motion for a new trial. Remand for a new trial is proper in the instant case due to the judge’s communication with jurors outside of the courtroom and the presence of counsel.
Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
G. R. McDonald, J., concurred. | [
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Cynar, P.J.
Plaintiff appeals by leave, granted from a July 2, 1986, order changing venue from Ingham County to Eaton County and from an August 19, 1986, order denying plaintiffs motion to reconsider the change of venue. We reverse and remand.
On November 5, 1985, Isaac D. Bursley, personal representative of the estate of Amy Jo Bursley, deceased, filed a wrongful death action in Ingham County alleging inter alia that, as a result of the negligent administration of anesthetic agents, on December 27, 1984, Amy Jo Bursley, age ten, died at Hayes-Green-Beach Hospital (located in Eaton County) while undergoing a minor surgical procedure, an excision of a ganglion on her right wrist.
The complaint set forth numerous allegations of negligence and malpractice against defendant George Fuksa, M.D., the treating physician. The complaint also alleged liability on the part of George Fuksa, M.D., P.C. (professional corporation), for negligent acts and omissions of employees and actionable negligence on the basis of the professional corporation’s failure to provide competent physicians and staff to adequately treat the deceased. The complaint also alleged negligence, malpractice and products liability against the other defendants.
All of the defendants filed their answers to the complaint in November and December, 1985. Dr. Fuksa and his professional corporation filed affirmative defenses on December 19, 1985, alleging that venue was improper in Ingham County. Dr. Fuksa and his professional corporation maintain offices and do business in Ingham County. The professional corporation also maintains its registered office in Ingham County.
After discovery commenced, defendant Fuksa and his professional corporation filed a motion for change of venue on April 16, 1986. They admitted that venue was proper in Ingham County. However, they claimed that venue in Ingham County was inconvenient for the vast majority of witnesses since many of the witnesses would be from Eaton County. Dr. Fuksa and his professional corporation stated that they discovered on December 30, 1985, that venue in Ingham County was inconvenient based on the interrogatory answers filed by defendant Cheryl Humenik, who identified eighteen prospective witnesses, fourteen of whom are located in Eaton County.
On April 23, 1986, plaintiff filed an answer in opposition to the motion for change of venue. Plaintiff opposed the motion under MCR 2.221(B), which requires any change of venue motion, in order to be timely, to be filed within fourteen days of the time that the facts upon which the motion are based become known to the moving party, or could have become known through reasonable diligence. Plaintiff argued that defendants’ motion should have been filed within fourteen days from December 20, 1985, the date when defendant Humenik filed her interrogatory answers. In addition, plaintiff contended that defendants’ failure to comply with the requirements of MCR 2.221(B) resulted in an absolute bar (as provided in MCR 2.221[C]) to objecting to venue on the basis of inconvenience to the parties.
Defendant Humenik filed a brief in support of the motion on May 5, 1986. Defendant BOC Group, Inc., doing business as Ohio Medical Products, filed an answer opposing a change in venue. Defendant hospital orally supported the motion at the May 7, 1986, hearing on the venue motion, having changed its opposition to the motion just the previous day. The trial court granted a change of venue to Eaton County on the basis that a minimum disruption of the hospital would occur if the trial was held in Eaton County.
On May 8, 1986, defendant doctor and his professional corporation submitted a proposed order changing venue. Plaintiff filed written objections to the proposed order on May 13, 1986.
Subsequently, on June 19, 1986, plaintiff moved for reconsideration of the change of venue. Plaintiff alleged that the trial court exceeded its authority under the court rule in granting an untimely motion and clearly erred and abused its discretion in determining inconvenience. Further, plaintiff advised the court that, through additional discovery, plaintiff had new evidence which revealed that Ingham County was more convenient.
A hearing on plaintiff’s written objections to the proposed order took place on July 2, 1986. Following the hearing, the court entered the July 2, 1986, order changing venue to Eaton County.
Thereafter, on July 17, 1986, the trial court ordered defendants to file written responses to plaintiffs reconsideration motion within twenty-one days. All defendants complied. On August 19, 1986, the court issued an opinion and order denying plaintiffs motion for reconsideration on the basis that the court no longer possessed subject-matter jurisdiction over the case once it had entered the change of venue order.
On September 8, 1986, plaintiff filed with this Court an application for leave to appeal. Leave was granted on November 3, 1986. On December 22, 1986, this Court also granted plaintiffs motion for a stay of enforcement of the order changing venue. The only defendants who filed an appellate brief are Dr. Fuksa and his professional corporation.
Plaintiff asserts three grounds for reversal of the trial court’s July 2, 1986, and August 19, 1986, orders, one of which is meritorious and dispositive. First, plaintiff contends that defendants have unconditionally waived the right to object to venue pursuant to MCR 2.221(C) because defendants did not bring a timely motion for change of venue as required by MCR 2.221(B). We agree.
There is no dispute that venue is proper in Ingham County since Dr. Fuksa and his professional corporation conduct business there and the corporation’s registered office is also located in Ingham County. See MCL 600.1621(a); MSA 27A.1621(a).
Where venue is proper, either party may request a change of venue on the following grounds:
(A) Grounds. The court may order a change of venue of a civil action, or of an appeal from an order or decision of a state board, commission, or agency authorized to promulgate rules or regulations, for the convenience of parties and witnesses or when an impartial trial cannot be had where the action is pending. In the case of appellate review of administrative proceedings, venue may also be changed for the convenience of the attorneys. [MCR 2.222(A).]
The trial court may change venue only on motion of a party, and not on its own initiative. MCR 2.222(B).
MCR 2.221 sets forth the requirements for motions for change of venue:
(A) Time to File. A motion for change of venue must be filed before or at the time the defendant files an answer.
(B) Late Motion. Untimeliness is not a ground for denial of a motion filed after the answer if the court is satisfied that the facts on which the motion is based were not and could not with reasonable diligence have been known to the moving party more than fourteen days before the motion was filed.
(C) Waiver. An objection to venue is waived if it is not raised within the time limits imposed by this rule.
The predecessors to MCR 2.221 were GCR 1963, 401, 402, and 409. Rule 402 provided:
A change of venue may be granted after the defendant files his answer upon a deferred motion if the court is satisfied that the facts upon which the deferred motion is based were not and could not with reasonable diligence have been known to the defendant until 10 days prior to the motion. [GCR 1963, 402.]
The only significant difference between the old and the new rule is that the new rule affords litigants fourteen instead of ten days to file the motion for change of venue after the facts which form the basis of the motion were known or could have been known with reasonable diligence. For purposes of our analysis, we will discuss cases interpreting the old rule. The rules for changing venue have been strictly enforced by this Court. In Berrien Co Bd of Rd Comm’rs v Marineland Development Co, 17 Mich App 503, 506; 169 NW2d 682 (1969), this Court stated that a trial court does not possess discretion to change venue at any stage of the proceedings. A total waiver of the right to change venue takes place if the motion is not made within the time limitations of Rules 401 and 402. In the foregoing case, this Court held that defendants’ motion for change of venue was untimely because they knew more than ten days prior to filing the motion that venue was less convenient and more expensive in Berrien County. Id., 506.
Similarly, in Brown v Hillsdale Co Rd Comm, 126 Mich App 72, 79; 337 NW2d 318 (1983), lv den 418 Mich 898 (1983), this Court held that the right to change venue is waived if not moved for within the time limits imposed by Rules 401 and 402.
In our case, defendant doctor and his professional corporation did not meet the time limit as prescribed in MCR 2.221(B) since these defendants were aware as early as December 30, 1985 (date when defendant Humenik submitted her answers to plaintiffs interrogatories) that many of the witnesses resided or worked in Eaton County. Dr. Fuksa and his professional corporation should have submitted their venue motion much earlier than April 16, 1986. The failure to do so effectively waived any right to file a change of venue motion. MCR 2.221(C).
In addition, although one panel, Davis v Great American Ins Co, 136 Mich App 764; 357 NW2d 761 (1984), held that a venue claim is timely filed if improper venue is pleaded as a defense in a defendant’s answer, we decline to follow that panel’s interpretation of GCR 1963, 401, now MCR 2.221(A). The language of rule 2.221(A) clearly requires a motion for change of venue to be filed at or before the time the defendant files an answer. We disagree with the Davis panel’s construction that since improper venue is pleaded as a defense "it should be treated as though a motion for change of venue had been filed.” Davis, supra, 770-771, citing 2 Honigman & Hawkins, Michigan Court Rules Annotated (2d ed), p 265. The language of the court rule does not support such an interpretation. Thus, even though defendant doctor and his professional corporation raised improper venue as an affirmative defense, we decline to treat that as though a motion for change of venue had been filed.
In conclusion, because defendant’s motion for change of venue was untimely, the trial court had no authority to determine whether a change of venue was warranted on the basis of convenience. Defendants’ motion should have been dismissed. Because we are reversing on the basis that the change of venue motion was untimely, we decline to consider any of the remaining issues on appeal.
Reversed and remanded for trial. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from a judgment of divorce entered on March 30, 1987, which awarded permanent custody of the parties’ minor children to defendant. We affirm.
Plaintiff and defendant were married on September 10, 1977. Two children were born during their marriage: Matthew J., May 8, 1980, and Tina M., December 1, 1983. The parties resided as husband and wife until the wife filed a complaint for divorce on September 27, 1985. In response, defendant filed a counter-complaint for divorce on March 12, 1986, seeking custody of the minor children. Pending the outcome of the divorce proceedings, on March 4, 1986, the parties entered a consent order which awarded temporary custody of the children to plaintiff. The parties also stipulated to an evaluation and recommendation by the friend of the court regarding custody of the children. They also stipulated to the entry of an order prohibiting the visitation of friends of the opposite sex of the parties in the presence of the children.
Trial took place on November 11, 1986. Marla Jean Seidelman of the friend of the court testified regarding her investigation and evaluation on the custody issue. She recommended that the children remain in the physical custody of the plaintiff with follow-up counselling for all of the parties. The friend of the court found no clear-cut established custodial environment.
Defendant testified that he left the marital home in October of 1985. He maintained regular weekly visitations with his children. In March of 1986, defendant petitioned for custody of the children on the basis that plaintiff was not a good mother. Defendant believed that plaintiff was a bad mother because she left the children with baby-sitters too often, neglected their religious training and failed to clothe them properly. Defendant believed that plaintiff loved the children. However, he felt that she was not taking care of them properly.
A list of the baby-sitters was introduced into evidence. Defendant indicated that, shortly after Tina’s birth, plaintiff stayed away from the home very often and the children were constantly with baby-sitters. During the last year of the marriage, defendant was the children’s primary caretaker and he took care of the home.
Defendant further testified that plaintiff had several male friends. One was a dentist she met while on vacation in Florida. Another was a person with whom plaintiff spent many evenings. Defendant telephoned him inquiring whether he had had sexual relations with plaintiff. Such relations were denied. She met the other male friend in July of 1985, when she drove to his home in Charlevoix to do interior decorating work.
Plaintiff testified that she did not have any extramarital relationships during the course of the marriage. At the beginning of 1986 she became romantically involved with the man whose home she was decorating. Plaintiff acknowledged that the psychologist observed that she had an outgoing and flirtatious personality.
She also stated that, while working part-time, she left the children with baby-sitters. Tina was left with a sitter for about twelve hours per week and Matthew about four hours. Plaintiff also indicated that if she was awarded custody she would facilitate visitation for the defendant. She did not believe that she neglected the children’s religious training. Plaintiff also denied that defendant had been primarily caring for the children during the last year of the marriage.
Friends of plaintiff and defendant testified that plaintiff was a good mother and took care of the children. The parties’ friends have seen defendant become jealous of plaintiff when one of the friend’s husband asked plaintiff to dance. A male friend of plaintiff also testified and said that he has never seen plaintiff display any loose or immoral behavior.
Finally, plaintiff’s sister and father testified that both parties were good parents. The sister said that she told plaintiff that plaintiff should change her lifestyle. Otherwise, the sister would testify that defendant was better suited to take custody of the children. Her father believed that defendant was a very stable person. He had told plaintiff that he did not like her lifestyle.
Following the hearing, the trial court issued its opinion from the bench on March 9, 1987. The court adopted the friend of the court’s determination that there was no established custodial environment. Thereafter, the court addressed each of the eleven factors in the Child Custody Act, MCL 722.21 et seq.; MSA 25.312(1) et seq., and found that the best interests of the children would be served by awarding custody to defendant. It is from this decision that plaintiff appeals raising two issues.
First, she argues that the trial court erred by not finding that there was an established custodial environment with her. She maintains that, although defendant exercised liberal visitation with the children during the lVz years pending resolution of the divorce, it is clear that there existed a custodial environment with her as required by MCL 722.27(l)(c); MSA 25.312(7)(l)(c).
The trial court’s findings in child custody cases are reviewed de novo by this Court. The reviewing court must appraise the evidence apart from the trial court’s findings. Glover v McRipley, 159 Mich App 130, 133; 406 NW2d 246 (1987). However, relief is ultimately governed by § 8 of the Child Custody Act which provides:
To expedite the resolution of a child custody dispute by prompt and final adjudication, all orders and judgments of the circuit court shall be affirmed on appeal unless the trial judge made findings of fact against the great weight of evidence or committed a palpable abuse of discretion or a clear legal error on a major issue. [MCL 722.28; MSA 25.312(8).]
The first step in deciding any child custody dispute is to determine if there exists an established custodial environment. Stringer v Vincent, 161 Mich App 429, 434; 411 NW2d 474 (1987). The Child Custody Act requires that a court refrain from changing custody if it would change the established custodial environment, unless presented with clear and convincing evidence that such change is in the best interest of the child. MCL 722.27(lXc); MSA 25.312(7)(l)(c).
In determining whether an established custodial environment existed, our inquiry begins with reference to MCL 722.27(l)(c); MSA 25.312(7)(l)(c), which, in pertinent part, provides:
The custodial environment of a child is established if over an appreciable time the child naturally looks to the custodian in that environment for guidance, discipline, the necessities of life, and parental comfort. The age of the child, the physical environment, and the inclination of the custodian and the child as to permanency of the relationship shall also be considered.
In Baker v Baker, 411 Mich 567, 579-580; 309 NW2d 532 (1981), the Michigan Supreme Court reviewed this statutory language:
Such an environment depended instead upon a custodial relationship of a significant duration in which [the child] was provided the parental care, discipline, love, guidance and attention appropriate to his age and individual needs; an environment in both the physical and psychological sense in which the relationship between the custodian and the child is marked by qualities of security, stability and permanence.
In Baker, a son, Arthur Lee, was born to the parties. The parties had another child who was a product of the wife’s previous marriage. From the time of Arthur’s birth (August, 1970) until June, 1978, the two children resided with the parents.
In June, 1978, defendant wife took the children to Colorado for a vacation. One month later she returned and told her husband she wanted a divorce. After the divorce complaint was filed, the parties agreed that defendant wife and the children would return to Colorado where they would establish a new home. Two months later, the father appeared unannounced in Colorado and took Arthur back to Michigan. Arthur remained with the plaintiff father’s parents for seven weeks prior to trial. The Supreme Court found no established custodial environment with the father since Arthur did not return to the home or the settled environment from which he was taken in June. Instead, he was living in the home of his paternal grandparents. The Court also noted that whatever community contacts and familiar associations Arthur may have had before June, 1978, were not by their very nature sufficient to preserve that environment. It dissolved and the boy entered into a new custodial relationship with his father alone, in an altered lifestyle and in a new home. The Court concluded by stating that at the time of trial there was no appreciable time during which the child looked to the father alone for "guidance, discipline, the necessities of life and parental comfort” in a stable, settled atmosphere. 411 Mich 581-582.
More recently, this Court has suggested that, in order to determine whether an established custodial environment exists, we need to examine the circumstances surrounding the care of the children in the years immediately preceding the divorce trial. See Schwiesow v Schwiesow, 159 Mich App 548, 557; 406 NW2d 878 (1987). In Schwiesow, this Court found an established custodial environment where the children had lived all their lives on their father’s farm. During the parties’ five-year marriage, plaintiff mother was absent from the home for long periods of time attending college. In Breas v Breas, 149 Mich App 103; 385 NW2d 743 (1986), we affirmed a trial court’s finding that no established custodial environment existed where the mother had physical custody, pending a divorce, but where the father exercised frequent visitation, sought permanent custody and where the environment provided for the child was not permanent. In Curless v Curless, 137 Mich App 673; 357 NW2d 921 (1984), we also affirmed a trial court’s finding of no established custodial environment where the children were staying with the mother pending a divorce but the father frequently visited and asked for permanent custody in the divorce proceedings.
In this case, the trial court adopted the finding of the friend of the court which concluded that there was no established custodial environment. The court also found that defendant maintained frequent visitation with the children and was their primary caretaker before leaving the home. The court also noted that plaintiff mother was frequently away from the home after Tina’s birth, leaving the children to the care of baby-sitters. On these facts, we cannot conclude that the court’s conclusion of no established custodial environment with the plaintiff mother constitutes a palpable abuse of discretion or clear legal error or is against the great weight of the evidence.
In her second allegation of error, plaintiff argues that the trial court erred by awarding custody to defendant father. The Child Custody Act specifies ten factors for the trial court’s consideration in custody disputes and also allows the court to consider any other factor it deems to be relevant in a particular dispute. MCL 722.23; MSA 25.312(3). Plaintiff challenges the court’s findings on three of the specified factors as being against the great weight of the evidence.
The first challenge is aimed at factor (c):
The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care or other remedial care recognized and permitted under the laws of this state in place of medical care, and other material needs. [MCL 723.23(c); MSA 25.312(3)(c).]
The trial court weighed this factor in favor of defendant on the basis of his stable earnings and employment history. Plaintiff argues that this finding was erroneous because she was the primary homemaker and, therefore, less capable of providing for the children’s needs.
This Court recognizes that placing undue reliance on this factor is unfair because in most cases the mother, as homemaker, will be disadvantaged. More importantly, undue emphasis on the economic factor will have a potentially prejudicial effect upon the child’s best interest. See Dempsey v Dempsey, 96 Mich App 276, 289-290; 292 NW2d 549 (1980), modified 409 Mich 495; 296 NW2d 813 (1980).
However, in our case, the court did not place an undue amount of reliance on this factor, The court’s reference merely indicated that the father had a better work history than plaintiff. We see no error in this finding.
Plaintiff next challenges the court’s finding as to factor (e):
(e) The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home or homes. [MCL 722.23(e); MSA 25.312(3)(e).]
On this factor, the trial court gave a slight advantage to the father "because of the plaintiffs inclination to experiences in developing inappropriate relations with other persons during her marriage.” Plaintiff alleges that the friend of the court’s recommendation, which gave no advantage to either party, should have been used.
We do not find the court’s conclusion to be against the great weight of the evidence. The plaintiff’s social interest outside the home, coupled with the frequent use of baby-sitters, indicated that these circumstances do have an impact on the permanence and continuity of the custodial family unit. Thus, we find no error.
Finally, plaintiff challenges the court’s finding on factor (f):
(f) The moral fitness of the parties involved. [MCL 722.23(f); MSA 25.312(3X0.]
On this factor, the court rated the parties as equal. However, the court noted that there was a question regarding plaintiff’s relationship with another man. Since the court found both parties equally morally fit, plaintiff presents no basis for complaining about this finding.
Finally, we note that, on balance, the best interests of the children would be better served by awarding custody to defendant and the court’s findings are affirmed.
Affirmed. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was arrested following an execution of a search warrant and was charged with possession of over 650 grams of cocaine, MCL 333.7403(2)(a)(i); MSA 14.15(7403)(2)(a)(i). Following a preliminary examination, she was bound over for trial on the charge. Defendant subsequently moved to suppress the evidence and to quash the information, claiming that the search warrant was defective. The prosecution appeals as of right from the trial court’s order granting defendant’s motion. We reverse.
A warrant to search a citizen’s home may not be issued absent probable cause. Const 1963, art 1, § 11; MCL 780.651; MSA 28.1259(1). A magistrate may only consider the information in the affidavit in determining whether or not probable cause exists to issue a search warrant. Probable cause exists when the facts and circumstances would warrant a person of reasonable prudence to believe that the evidence of a crime or contraband sought are in the stated place. The magistrate’s determination of probable cause is entitled to great deference and should be upheld absent an abuse of discretion. People v Sundling, 153 Mich App 277, 285-286; 395 NW2d 308 (1986). The trial court’s decision on a motion to suppress will be reversed only if the trial court abused its discretion or if its decision was clearly erroneous. People v Tanis, 153 Mich App 806, 808; 396 NW2d 544 (1986).
When a search warrant is based on informant-supplied information, the affidavit in support must: (1) contain affirmative allegations that the informant spoke with personal knowledge; (2) set forth facts from which one can conclude that the informant is credible; and (3) demonstrate that the information is reliable. People v Sherbine, 421 Mich 502, 509-510; 364 NW2d 658 (1984); MCL 780.653; MSA 28.1259(3). In this case, the trial court found the affidavit in support of the search warrant deficient in all three aspects of the Sherbine test. We find this holding of the trial court clearly erroneous.
The magistrate could reasonably infer from the information concerning the informant’s cooperation in other narcotics investigations that the informant could identify the substance he saw in defendant’s home as cocaine.
We also disagree that the facts were insufficient to support a finding that the informant was credible. The fact that the information supplied by the informant had only led to further investigations does not compel the trial court’s finding. It is sufficient that independent investigation had verified his information in the past.
Finally, the magistrate could reasonably conclude that the informant’s information was reliable. The affiant had placed defendant’s home under surveillance on February 20 and February 21, 1986. During this time, he observed a jeep traveling from defendant’s home to an apartment building. The driver of the jeep left defendant’s home with a large paper bag and carried the bag into the apartment building where he stayed for approximately five minutes. Within a few minutes, other people entered the apartment building, remained for a short time, and then took up positions on nearby street corners. The affiant’s observations sufficiently corroborated the informant’s assertion that he observed a quantity of cocaine in defendant’s home on February 23, 1986.
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Per Curiam.
In the following order, the Supreme Court has remanded this case to the Court of Appeals for reconsideration:
By order of January 28, 1986, the application for leave to appeal was held in abeyance pending the decision in Rouch v Enquirer & News of Battle Creek (Docket No. 75044). On order of the Court, the decision having been issued on December 26, 1986, 427 Mich 157 (1986), the application is again considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(F)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the case to the Court of Appeals for reconsideration in light of Rouch v Enquirer & News of Battle Creek, 427 Mich 157 [398 NW2d 245] (1986). [See 428 Mich 886 (1987).]
In Rouch, the Supreme Court adopted the negligence standard of Gertz v Robert Welch, Inc, 418 US 323; 94 S Ct 2997; 41 L Ed 2d 789 (1974), and, while proceeding on a different analysis of the issues, affirmed the Court of Appeals result. We interpret the above-quoted Supreme Court order, which vacates our judgment in favor of defendants, 144 Mich App 205; 375 NW2d 391 (1985), to require that the trial court proceed in accordance with the Supreme Court decision in Rouch. To that end, we reverse the grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants made by the trial judge.
In so doing, we do not preclude defendants from renewing their motion for summary judgment, so long as the law set forth in Rouch is applied. We assume consideration will be given to the following language in Rouch:
We hold that a report of an arrest and of the facts used to establish the probable cause for the arrest amount to speech of public concern and that the rule of Philadelphia Newspapers [Inc v Hepps, 475 US —; 106 S Ct 1558; 89 L Ed 2d 783 (1986)] applies. Because of the importance of this type of information in a free society, plaintiffs who choose to bring actions in libel on the basis of such reports must first prove that the statements were false in addition to proving that defendants were negligent in so reporting. [Rouch, supra at 206.]
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). On August 28, 1985, a Wayne Circuit Court jury found defendant guilty of two counts of first-degree. murder and one count of felony-firearm and, on September 23, 1985, defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment on each of his first-degree murder convictions and two years’ imprisonment on his felony-firearm conviction. Credit was given for six months and twenty-one days already served. Defendant appeals as of right. We affirm.
Defendant filed many motions including a forensic examination request to determine if defendant was competent to stand trial, as well as motions to quash and motions to suppress. Defendant has raised a lengthy series of objections, most of which involve trial of the matter. This Court will deal with these seriatim.
Defendant complains that he was not allowed to call Robert Pancow, who out of the presence of the jury indicated that he intended to assert his Fifth Amendment right not to testify. Our Supreme Court in People v Dyer, 425 Mich 572, 576; 390 NW2d 645 (1986), resolved this issue against defendant by indicating that neither party may call a witness knowing that the witness will avail himself of his right not to testify relative to self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment.
At the start of trial, defense counsel filed a motion in limine seeking to prohibit testimony regarding a suppressed diamond ring. The trial court denied the motion with regard to Kimberly Faydenko’s testimony concerning the ring. Faydenko saw the ring prior to the police’s seeking a search warrant. She was a private citizen not involved in any aspect of the police investigation or subsequent execution of search warrants in the case. In Silverthorne Lumber Co v United States, 251 US 385, 392; 40 S Ct 182; 64 L Ed 319 (1920), the United States Supreme Court ruled that the exclusionary rule had no application where the government learned of the evidence from an independent source. Clearly Faydenko had an independent observation of the ring that was free from any taint; thus, her testimony rightly was not suppressed.
After the people had rested, defense counsel moved for a directed verdict of acquittal. The test, as properly set forth in People v Hampton, 407 Mich 354, 368; 285 NW2d 284 (1979), cert den sub nom Michigan v Hampton, 499 US 885; 101 S Ct 239; 66 L Ed 2d 110 (1980), requires a trial judge when ruling on such a motion to consider the evidence presented by the prosecutor up to the time the motion is made, view the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecutor, and determine whether a rational trier of fact could find that the essential elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In the present case, the trial judge used the civil standard and thus was in error; however, the error was harmless. In People v Buchanan, 107 Mich App 648, 649-650; 309 NW2d 691 (1981), this Court found that the trial court erred in applying the "scintilla” or "any evidence” standard to a defendant’s motion for a directed verdict rather than the appropriate standard as set forth in Hampton, supra, when it denied a motion for a directed verdict. However, the Buchanan case states:
[Reversal is not required unless the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to justify a reasonable factfinder in concluding that all of the essential elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. [Buchanan, supra, p 650.]
Defendant claims that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt premeditation and deliberation, necessary elements of first-degree murder. Premeditation and deliberation need not be established by direct evidence, but may be inferred from defendant’s conduct in light of the circumstances. However, such an inference must have an adequate basis in the record evidence. People v Hoffmeister, 394 Mich 155, 158-159; 229 NW2d 305 (1975). Factors to be considered in determining the existence of premeditation and deliberation include facts about the manner of the killing from which a jury could infer a preconceived plan to kill. People v Jones, 115 Mich App 543, 553; 321 NW2d 723 (1982), aff'd 419 Mich 577; 358 NW2d 837 (1984). In People v Gill, 43 Mich App 598, 602-603; 204 NW2d 699 (1972), this Court set forth three basic categories of evidence relative to a finding of premeditation and deliberation. The planning activity and preconceived design, two of the three categories, are analytically much the same. Evidence of motive, the other category, without evidence of either a preconceived design or planning activity is not sufficient to find first-degree murder. Gill, supra, p 603.
In the instant case, there is sufficient evidence to allow a factfinder to infer that defendant killed decedents Roberts and Steffey over a drug-related debt. The evidence also strongly suggests that the defendant received payment from Pancow for killing both decedents. Harvey’s testimony placed defendant at the crime scene at the time the killings took place. A young man living in the home, Robby Roberts, testified that after being awakened by four gunshots he saw a person who fit defendant’s description leave the house, though he admitted he saw the back only. Finally, there was evidence that Roberts and the defendant were having an argument and that the defendant left after arguing with Roberts. This fact, in and of itself, showed there was time for defendant to cool off before returning to Roberts’ house. Thus we are satisfied that sufficient evidence was submitted to allow a reasonable factfinder to conclude that the prosecution established premeditation and deliberation beyond a reasonable doubt.
Next, defendant raises various claims of error in regard to the trial court’s instructions to the jury. Defendant challenges the trial court’s instructions on the intoxication defense relative to a charge of first-degree murder. The court, in its first statement as to the intoxication defense, misinstructed the jury regarding the applicability of the defense of intoxication as to first-degree murder. However, once the trial court was made aware of this error, the court reinstructed the jury with regard to the elements of first and second-degree murder and the intoxication defense. In reinstructing the jury, the trial court properly stated the law with defense counsel indicating no objection.
Defense counsel relies on People v Crittle, 390 Mich 367; 212 NW2d 196 (1973), in support of his claim of error regarding the intoxication instructions; however, we note that the Michigan Supreme Court in People v Savoie, 419 Mich 118, 134; 349 NW2d 139 (1984), said:
We are convinced that that portion of our opinion in Crittle which concluded that the "capacity standard” is improper, per se, was not a correct statement of the law. The proper standard is that articulated by Justice Christiancy more than a century ago — whether the degree of intoxication was so great as to render the accused "incapable of entertaining the intent”. To this extent this opinion diverges from Crittle. Crittle is overruled.
Jury instructions are viewed in their entirety in order to determine if error occurred and are not extracted piecemeal in an effort to establish error requiring reversal. People v Bender, 124 Mich App 571, 574; 335 NW2d 85 (1983). Even where instructions are imperfect, there is no error if the instructions "fairly presented to the jury the issues to be tried and sufficiently protected the rights of defendant.” People v Kalder, 284 Mich 235, 241-242; 279 NW 493 (1938); People v Burgess, 153 Mich App 715, 726; 396 NW2d 814 (1986). A verdict will not be set aside based on an alleged error in the jury instructions where no objection was made to the alleged erroneous instruction at trial unless it resulted in a miscarriage of justice. Id. We find that no miscarriage of justice occurred in this case.
Defendant also claims that the trial court erred in refusing to give the "pure circumstantial evidence instructions.” The prosecution’s case was based on both circumstantial and direct evidence. Therefore, the trial court accurately instructed the jury on the issue of mixed direct and circumstantial evidence as found in proposed CJI 4:2:02. See People v Burgess, supra, pp 726-727.
Defendant also challenges the ruling of the trial court concerning demonstrative evidence (shells that were introduced during the testimony of Trooper Donald Jones, who had been qualified as an expert in firearms and ammunition identification). Trqoper Jones testified that he was present when autopsies were done on both decedents and that he received bullet fragments removed from their bodies. He testified about the characteristics of the bullet fragments which led him to conclude that they were from a .22 caliber shell. Jones then stated that he had bullets on his person which he could show the jury to help the jurors understand the witness’ conclusions. Defense counsel objected. The trial court properly sustained defendant’s objection as to Jones’ narrative testimony but properly overruled his objection as to the use of a brass wash'and a quantity of #12 birdshot to help show why Jones concluded that the fragments came from a .22 caliber shell. In determining whether relevant and material evidence should not be excluded because its probative value substantially outweighs its prejudicial effect, a court must balance many factors including the time necessary to present the evidence and the potential for delay, how directly it tends to prove the facts in support of which it is offered, whether it would be needless presentation of cumulative evidence, how important or trivial the facts sought to be proved are, the potential for confusing or misleading the jury, and whether the facts sought, to be proved can be proved in some other way. People v Oliphant, 399 Mich 472, 490; 250 NW2d 443 (1976). In determining whether to refuse to admit evidence because of its prejudicial effect, the trial judge must take into consideration, defendant’s theory of the case. People v Spillman, 399 Mich 313, 321; 249 NW2d 73 (1976).
In this case, the pathologist testified that the wounds on both decedents suggested that a .22 caliber or .25 caliber bullet caused the injuries. The testimony of both Lisa Bonner and Richard Miller indicated that they had observed defendant in possession of a .22 caliber revolver and shells. Clearly, the demonstration shells were relevant to allow the jury to understand why the firearms expert concluded that the fragments came from a .22 caliber shell. The shells also helped the jury understand the testimony of Richard Miller, with regard to the various ammunition defendant claimed to have on the night in question. Thus the evidence was properly admitted.
At trial the prosecution made an offer to enter six photographs of the victims as they were found at the crime scene. Over defendant’s objection, the trial court admitted four of the six photographs. Defense counsel claimed that the photographs were substantially more prejudicial than probative under MRE 403. However, the trial court agreed with the prosecution’s theory that the photographs would establish that there was no blood spattering and thus little blood at the crime scene which in turn would explain why no blood was found in defendant’s automobile or on defendant’s gray suit. The trial court relied on People v Eddington, 387 Mich 551; 198 NW2d 297 (1972), for the rule that the decision to admit gruesome photographs is left to the discretion of the trial court. The trial court ruled that the evidence was admissible because Sergeant Mitten of the Michigan State Police testified that there was no trace evidence found on the automobile or two gray suits that were seized, and the pathologist testified that there was a possibility of blood spattering when a person receives a gunshot wound to the head. The court felt that the photographs were not particularly gruesome and admitted the photographs because they showed that there was no blood splattering at the crime scene.
The trial court in this situation recognized it had discretion in admitting the photographs and determined that the photographs were substantially necessary and instructive on a material issue in the case. We find no abuse of discretion. People v Bryant, 129 Mich App 574, 580-581; 342 NW2d 86 (1983).
Defendant next claims that the trial court erred by denying defendant’s motion for a mistrial as a result of a remark made by a prospective juror during voir dire. The juror stated that she knew an officer of the City of Taylor Police Department who would be a witness in the case. Her brother had apparently been arrested by that officer and prosecuted. She claimed not to harbor any bad feelings toward the officer, she had good feelings about the Taylor Police Department, and could carry out her duties as a juror. The trial court denied the motion for mistrial. A grant or denial of a motion for mistrial rests within the sound discretion of the trial court. Reversal should be had only on a finding that the trial court abused that discretion. People v Green, 131 Mich App 232, 236; 345 NW2d 676 (1983); People v Robertson, 87 Mich App 109, 111-112; 273 NW2d 501 (1978). In People v Nick, 360 Mich 219, 230; 103 NW2d 435 (1960), the Supreme Court stated the standard of review to be applied in cases where there is an allegation of juror misconduct:
[I]t is well-established that not every instance of misconduct in a juror will require a new trial. The general principle underlying the cases is that the misconduct must be such as to affect the impartiality of the jury or disqualify them from exercising the powers of reason and judgment. A new trial will not be granted for misconduct of the jury if no substantial harm was done thereby to the party seeking a new trial, even though the misconduct is such as to merit rebuke from the trial court if brought to its notice.
Our review of this juror’s inadvertent reference to her opinion regarding the police department leads us to conclude that the statement was not prejudicial to the defendant, nor did it affect the impartiality of the jury in any manner. No error was committed.
After the jury was sworn, one juror indicated that he knew prosecution witness Richard Miller because he had played on a softball team one summer with the witness. The juror stated that he did not really know the man and had not seen him for over five years. Nevertheless, the juror was dismissed for cause. Again, the defendant has raised what basically amounts to a nonissue by charging that the trial court erred by failing to grant defendant’s motion for a mistrial. The juror was promptly examined out of the presence of the balance of the jury. Thereafter the trial court determined that the juror should be dismissed for cause. The court noted that there were still twelve jurors left even with the juror being excused. Thus, there was no need to grant a mistrial. Defendant is dealing strictly in speculation and has shown nothing which would indicate that the jury was biased. In Shiner v Detroit, 150 Mich App 420, 423-424; 387 NW2d 872 (1986), lv den 426 Mich 859 (1986), this Court stated that whether a new trial should be awarded on the ground that a jury was biased in favor of or against a party is discretionary with the trial court. The appellate court reviews such a decision only for an abuse of that very broad discretion. There is no abuse shown here.
Defense counsel complains that the trial judge erred by limiting closing arguments by defense counsel to two hours and by continually reminding counsel to conclude his summation. This Court is sympathetic to the trial judge in view of the fact that defense counsel on appeal has raised a multitude of issues and then in conclusion complains because he was limited to a fifty-page brief and could not brief and argue some fourteen other items. This convinces us that the trial judge correctly exercised his discretion in setting a limit on argument after the jury had been sitting for a rather lengthy trial. The standard as to whether a trial judge pierces the veil of judicial impartiality is found in MCL 768.29; MSA 28.1052 which provides:
It shall be the duty of the judge to control all proceedings during the trial, and to limit the introduction of evidence and the argument of counsel to relevant and material matters, with a view to the expeditious and effective ascertainment of the truth regarding the matters involved. The court shall instruct the jury as to the law applicable to the case and in his charge make such comment on the evidence, the testimony and character of any witnesses, as in his opinion the interest of justice may require. [Emphasis added.]
The test to be applied when there is an allegation that a trial judge’s comments were of such a nature as to unduly influence a jury is for the reviewing court to examine the record and determine whether the trial court pierced the veil of judicial impartiality. People v Rogers, 60 Mich App 652; 233 NW2d 8 (1975), lv den 406 Mich 918 (1979). In this case, we find that the judge did not pierce the veil of judicial impartiality and used excellent judgment in limiting the argument to two hours.
Finally, with regard to the bedsheet list of fourteen other errors that defense counsel says he could not deal with within the limits of MCR 7.212(B), we find that these claims of error have been abandoned on appeal because no support is cited for this argument. Wojciechowski v General Motors Corp, 151 Mich App 399, 405; 390 NW2d 727 (1986). Defendant was not denied his right to a fair and impartial trial, nor was defendant denied due process of law. Defendant was not precluded in any way from presenting his defense and this Court is satisfied that defendant received a fair trial.
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Per Curiam.
Defendant pled guilty to breaking and entering an unoccupied building, MCL 750.110; MSA 28.305, in exchange for the prosecutor’s agreement to recommend a sentence of one year or less to be served in the county jail. At the sentencing hearing, the judge informed defendant that the recommendation would not be followed. Defendant declined to withdraw the guilty plea. Defendant was then sentenced to a prison term of five to ten years. Defendant appeals as of right. We reverse.
In People v Killebrew, 416 Mich 189, 209-210; 330 NW2d 834 (1982), the Court held that the sentencing court’s rejection of the prosecutor’s nonbinding sentence recommendation (pursuant to the sentence bargain) requires that the defendant be afforded the opportunity to withdraw his plea. In so holding, the Court required adherence to the following procedure: "[T]he trial judge must explain to the defendant that the recommendation was not accepted by the court, and state the sentence that the court ñnds to be the appropriate disposition.” Id., 209. (Emphasis added).
In the instant case, the court’s failure to specify defendant’s sentence prior to defendant’s affirmance of his plea renders the plea deficient.
Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. Defendant may withdraw his plea. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from the trial court’s orders granting summary disposition for defendants and denying plaintiff’s motions for rehearing and delayed rehearing. We affirm.
Defendant City of Pontiac employed plaintiff as a police officer. As such, plaintiff was a member of defendant union Police Officers’ Association of Michigan and its local affiliate, defendant union Pontiac Police Officers’ Association (ppoa). Plaintiff was a recruiting and training officer. Apparently, this position was desirable because plaintiff was only required to work Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Plaintiff claims that on June 3, 1982, defendant James Hildebrand, Chief of the Pontiac Police Department, called him into his office and told him that he was promoting four people including plaintiff. Plaintiff agreed to accept the promotion on the condition that he did not have to become a city resident. Apparently, the city and the union were involved in a dispute as to whether officers accepting new positions were required to become city residents. Hildebrand told plaintiff not to worry because "things are in the works.” Moreover, Hildebrand indicated that it was his policy to have officers who were being promoted go on road patrol for sixty days so that they could become better acquainted with criminal procedures. Plaintiff agreed to go on road patrol and, therefore, he resigned his job as a recruiting and training officer and transferred to the road patrol. Plaintiff began road patrol on September 19, 1982, and Hildebrand told him that he would be promoted when the new recruits finished their police academy training on approximately November 1.
At the time the promotion was allegedly offered to plaintiff, plaintiff believed that there were five or six available positions. The collective bargaining agreement between the city and the unions provided:
11.5: Eligible Lists - Qualifications. The names of employees who have qualified in a given promotional examination will be placed on an eligible list. An eligible list shall remain in force for two years from the date of the last eligible list established or until the names on the list have been exhausted, whichever occurs first. At that time, the list will be discarded.
C. Top Three. A promotion may be made from any of the top three (3) names on the promotional list at the discretion of the Chief of Police. Each promotional list shall remain in effect for a period of two (2) years unless sooner exhausted. A promotional list for each position shall be maintained on a continuous basis so that any existing vacancies may be filled without undue delay.
11.6: Positions vacated by retirement, resignation, or death shall be filled from eligible lists within a period of ninety (90) days provided that the Chief of Police shall have the discretion of determining if such vacated position or positions shall be filled.
The promotion list involved in this case was established on October 19, 1981, and, therefore, it expired on October 19, 1983. Plaintiff was fourth on the promotion list.
As of November 1, 1982, neither plaintiff nor anyone else was promoted. Nonetheless, plaintiff claims that Hildebrand continued to indicate that plaintiff would be promoted at any time by telling plaintiff "things are in the works” and by asking plaintiff "[have you] got your [detective] suits ready?” Although plaintiff asked Hildebrand at least once a month about his promotion, Hildebrand never gave plaintiff a clear reason for not promoting him.
In January, 1983, Homer Ellsworth, one of the top three candidates on the promotion list, was promoted. Plaintiff then became one of the top three candidates on the promotion list.
In June, 1983, plaintiff met with Neal Craig, president of the ppoa. Plaintiff told Craig of Hildebrand’s promotion offer in June of 1982. Craig told plaintiff that he believed plaintiff did not have a legitimate grievance under the bargaining agreement because the decision to fill vacancies from the top three positions on the promotion list was within the chiefs discretion. Craig showed plaintiff what Craig believed to be a similar grievance which he had earlier filed and lost. Plaintiff told Craig he believed that his case was different than Craig’s. Nevertheless, Craig reiterated his belief that plaintiff did not have a proper grievance under the bargaining agreement.
On July 22, 1983, plaintiff and eight other officers sent a letter to Craig demanding that the union file a grievance against the city "to convince the city that promoting officers” to now-vacant positions would be in the city’s best interest. Moreover, plaintiff and the other officers asked the union to file for injunctive relief in the Oakland Circuit Court to "freeze” the present promotion lists.
On August 7, 1983, plaintiff sent a letter to defendant Wallace Holland, Mayor of the City of Pontiac, asking him to fill the vacant positions and explaining Hildebrand’s offer. On September 2, 1983, plaintiff sent a letter to Hildebrand stating that he was filing an individual grievance because the union failed to pursue a grievance on his behalf. Plaintiffs letter suggested that his petition concerned the city’s failure to fill vacant positions. By September 13, 1983, plaintiff had already reached the third step of the individualized grievance procedure. On September 13, 1983, Benjamin L. Anderson, director of the personnel department, denied plaintiff’s grievance, finding that the city was exercising its right not to fill vacant positions and that the promotion lists would expire on October 19, 1983.
On December 21, 1983, plaintiff filed suit against defendants city, Hildebrand, and Holland. On January 9, 1984, these defendants filed an answer and, as affirmative defenses, alleged that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and that plaintiff had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. On January 26, 1984, plaintiff filed an amended complaint and on March 27, 1984, plaintiff added the unions as defendants. On August 30, 1984, plaintiff filed his second amended complaint, claiming: (1) express breach of contract concerning plaintiffs June 2, 1983, promotion offer, (2) breach of the collective bargaining agreement by defendant unions for allowing the promotion list to expire and for failing to bring a grievance concerning plaintiff’s transfer to the road patrol as well as Hildebrand’s promise, (3) misrepresentation concerning Hildebrand’s promise, (4) promissory estoppel concerning Hildebrand’s promise, and (5) intentional infliction of emotional distress concerning Hildebrand’s promise.
Defendants filed motions for summary disposition. On September 30, 1985, defendant unions’ motion for summary disposition was heard. Defendant unions claimed that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to whether the unions had breached their duty of fair representation to plaintiff. MCR 2.116(0(10). Moreover, the unions claimed that plaintiff’s complaint was barred by the statute of limitations. MCR 2.116(C)(7). The trial court granted the unions’ motion under MCR 2.116(0(10). First, the trial court noted that the explicit language of the collective bargaining agreement allowed promotions from the top three names on the promotion list only at the chiefs discretion and that the agreement allowed the promotion list to remain in effect for only two years. Then, the trial court turned to Craig’s grievance which ended when an arbitrator ruled that under the collective bargaining agreement the chief was not required to fill any vacancies. The court then held:
This Court finds that the union’s [ppoa’s] acts which plaintiff complains of do not constitute a breach of duty of fair representation. While plaintiff obviously disagrees with the union’s position, this Court finds that the union properly exercised its discretion in deciding whether to proceed with this grievance, and the decision was not unreasonable, arbitrary, discriminatory, or inept, nor was it a gross abuse of discretion.
Rather, the union official made the decision that, based on the language of the contract and previous experiences with the city’s decisions regarding promotions, the plaintiff did not present a viable grievance.
On October 18, 1985, the trial court entered the order granting summary disposition to defendant unions. The court did not reach the issue whether plaintiffs complaint was timely.
On November 5, 1985, the trial court heard the remaining defendants’ motion for summary disposition. The remaining defendants claimed that plaintiffs suit was based on a contract entered outside of the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. To promote plaintiff would be an act outside of the agreement and, under the doctrine of preemption, plaintiffs claim was an unfair labor practice which must first be reviewed by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission. The trial court held:
The Court notes at the outset that when the question is whether a state administrative agency or a state court has jurisdiction to hear a claim, the doctrine of preemption is inapplicable. Federal preemption is based on the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution and prevents the states from regulating conduct which is "plainly within the central aim of federal regulation because it involves too great a danger of conflict between power asserted by Congress and requirements imposed by state law.” Bescoe v Laborers’ Union Local No 334, 98 Mich App 389, 396 [295 NW2d 892] (1980) [lv den 411 Mich 887 (1981)].
In response to defendants’ contention that enforcement of the alleged oral agreement between plaintiff and the city’s representatives would constitute an unfair labor practice, plaintiff states in his response to motion for summary disposition by City defendants:
"Officer Ramsey has consistently maintained that, in addition to the fact that no secret or private negotiations occurred, as has been alleged by the defendants in the case at bar, all actions taken by Officer Ramsey were consistent with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. In other words, Officer Ramsey has alleged that his conduct complied with the collective bargaining agreement, but the City breached the collective bargaining agreement.”
Article vi of the agreement provides for a four step grievance procedure culminating in arbitration. The rule consistently followed by Michigan courts is that "an employee may not maintain an action against his employer for an alleged breach of a collective bargaining agreement where the employee has not first exhausted the grievance and arbitration procedures established under the collective bargaining agreement upon which he bases his suit.” Pompey v General Motors Corp, 385 Mich 537, 560 [189 NW2d 243] (1971).
Moreover, once the final step of the grievance procedure is reached, paragraph p of Article vi provides that "the award of the arbitrator shall be final and binding upon the City, the Association, and the affected employee.” Therefore, where plaintiff is claiming a breach of the collective bargaining agreement, he must seek relief via avenues provided by that agreement and may not proceed in court.
Plaintiff in his briefs cites a number of cases which deal with an individual’s right to proceed in court against his union and his employer where the union has wrongfully failed to press an individual grievant’s claim, and has therefore breached its duty of fair representation. Such cases are inapplicable to the case at bar, since defendants here represent the employer, not the union.
Additionally, this Court has already granted the union’s motion for summary disposition on the fair representation claim.
Wherefore, defendants’ motion for summary disposition is hereby granted.
The trial court entered its order granting summary disposition to the remaining defendants pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(4) on December 3, 1985.
On December 10, 1985, plaintiff filed a motion for rehearing as to the December 3 order and a motion for delayed rehearing as to the October 18 order. The trial court heard plaintiff’s motions on January 8, 1986. The trial court noted that a motion for rehearing could be filed only seven days after the entry of the order disposing of the motion. MCR 2.119(F). Because plaintiff’s motion con cerned the unions’ duty of fair representation, the trial court ruled that plaintiff’s motion was untimely and, therefore, the trial court denied it. Defendant unions asked for costs under MCR 2.114(E), which the trial court granted. On January 8, 1985, the trial court entered the order denying plaintiff’s motions and assessing costs of $150 in favor of defendant unions. As noted above, plaintiff appeals as of right.
Plaintiff first claims the trial court erred when it granted defendant unions’ motion for summary disposition. A motion for summary disposition on the ground that there is no genuine issue of material fact tests the factual support for a party’s claim. Ambro v The American Nat’l Bank & Trust Co of Michigan, 152 Mich App 613, 620; 394 NW2d 46 (1986). In ruling on such a motion, the court must consider pleadings, affidavits, depositions, admissions, and other documentary evidence. Id. Moreover, the court, while giving the benefit of reasonable doubt to the nonmoving party, must determine whether the kind of record which might be developed would leave open an issue upon which reasonable minds might differ. Id. This Court is liberal in finding a genuine issue of material fact. Id.
In Goolsby v Detroit, 419 Mich 651, 661; 358 NW2d 856 (1984), the Court held that a union breaches its duty of fair representation if its conduct toward a member is arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith. The Court then defined arbitrary conduct as "impulsive, irrational, or unreasoned conduct” as well as "inept conduct undertaken with little care or with indifference to the interests of those affected.” Id. at 679. The Court further ruled:
We think the latter proscription includes, but is not limited to, the following circumstances: (1) the failure to exercise discretion when that failure can reasonably be expected to have an adverse effect on any or all union members, and (2) extreme recklessness or gross negligence which can reasonably be expected to have an adverse effect on any or all union members. [Id.]
Plaintiff relies heavily on Lowe v Hotel & Restaurant Employees Union, Local 705, 389 Mich 123; 205 NW2d 167 (1973). In Lowe, the union declined to take the discharged plaintiff’s case to arbitration. The union based its decision on the recommendation of an investigator predisposed against plaintiff. The investigator’s recommendation was made after one telephone call. The Court held that the union breached its duty of fair representation by making no effort to settle the plaintiff’s grievance and by processing it in a perfunctory manner. Id. at 152.
Plaintiff claims his case is similar to Lowe. We disagree. Plaintiff cannot dispute the language in the. collective bargaining agreement which provides that promotions may only be made, in the chiefs discretion, from the top three names on the promotion list. Any promise made to plaintiff, fourth on the promotion list, by Hildebrand could not be enforced under the terms of the agreement. Moreover, the unions’ decision to press a grievance demanding that plaintiff, not properly in line for a promotion, be granted a promotion would not be in the interests of the unions’ other members. Id. at 146. In addition, at the time plaintiff met with Craig, Craig showed him a previously unsuccessful grievance which made clear that a decision to promote was within the chiefs discretion and that the unions could not demand that a vacant position be filled.
Still, plaintiff claims the unions had a duty to investigate his claim. Id. We believe that the unions accepted plaintiffs allegations as true; however, because Hildebrand’s alleged promise was made in plain violation of the collective bargaining agreement, the unions did not have to investigate further. The unions’ duty was to uphold the terms of the agreement for its members. Id.
Similarly, the unions could not demand that the promotion list be frozen because the bargaining agreement clearly provided for its expiration after a two-year period. Regarding plaintiffs claim of an involuntary transfer, we note that this issue was not raised until after plaintiff filed his complaint with the circuit court. Hence, the unions’ "refusal” to act on a claim never presented to them cannot serve as a basis for a breach of duty of fair representation claim. We agree with the trial court that the unions did not breach their duty of fair representation as defined by Goolsby, supra, and Lowe, supra.
Plaintiff next claims the trial court improperly assessed costs against him for filing a "delayed” motion for rehearing as to the October 18 order granting the unions’ motion for summary disposition. Again, we disagree. The motion rules only allow a motion for rehearing to be made within seven days after the entry of the order disposing of the motion. MCR 2.119(F). Plaintiffs motion was made on December 10. The court rules do not provide for "delayed” motions for rehearing. As such, plaintiffs motion was frivolous and costs were properly imposed. MCR 2.113, 2.114.
Finally, plaintiff claims his counts alleging misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and promissory estoppel are "alternative pleadings” of separate tort claims under Michigan law and should have been allowed even if his action for breach of the collective bargaining agreement was dismissed. We believe plaintiffs tort claims are factually indistinguishable and inseparable from his claim that the bargaining agreement was violated and a possible unfair labor practice claim which he did not allege. The union properly refused to pursue the grievance under the agreement. Any unfair labor practice claim would fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission, MCL 423.216(a); MSA 17.455(16)(a). Therefore, we find no error in precluding plaintiff from pursuing these identical claims under different names. Given this context, we agree with the trial court that any discussion of preemption is inappropriate.
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff Jason Mithrandir, in propria persona, appeals as of right from a Marquette Circuit Court grant of summary disposition under MCR 2.116(I)(2) in favor of defendant. We affirm.
At the times pertinent to this appeal, the four plaintiffs were maximum security prisoners in administrative segregation at the Marquette Branch Prison. Between August 25, 1985, and September 4, 1985, each plaintiff made a written request under the Freedom of Information Act (foia), MCL 15.231 et seq.; MSA 4.1801(1) et seq., to inspect Department of Corrections legal files. Except for information exempted from disclosure, the Department of Corrections, acting through George Pennell, the administrative assistant to the warden, initially granted plaintiffs’ requests on condition that they appoint a representative to inspect the files. Later, Pennell denied plaintiffs’ requests, but again allowed plaintiffs to appoint a representative to inspect the files or, alternatively, to obtain copies of the files upon paying the appropriate fee.
The files themselves consisted of over five hundred separate folders, each containing all the legal actions filed by a single prisoner. The files filled five drawers in two file cabinets located in the administrative section of the prison. The administrative section is located outside of the prison’s security perimeter. As maximum security prisoners, plaintiffs were not allowed outside of the security perimeter.
Plaintiffs were not satisfied with Pennell’s response to their foia requests. Consequently, they filed suit in the circuit court against Pennell as the representative of the Department of Corrections. Plaintiff Mithrandir subsequently moved for summary disposition seeking a right to personally inspect the files. In denying the motion, the circuit court concluded that defendant’s response satisfied foia requirements. Judgment was granted in favor of defendant under MCR 2.116(I)(2) as to all plaintiffs’ foia claims.
We note at this point that MCR 2.116(I)(2) permits a trial court to enter a judgment for the party opposing a motion for summary disposition if it appears that the opposing party, and not the moving party, is entitled to judgment. In the present case, plaintiff Mithrandir’s motion was based on MCR 2.116(0(10), which asserts that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Such a motion tests the factual basis for a plaintiff’s claim. Linebaugh v Berdish, 144 Mich App 750, 753; 376 NW2d 400 (1985). The trial court must consider the affidavits, together with the pleadings, depositions, admissions and documentary evidence then filed or submitted by the parties. MCR 2.116(G)(5). On appeal, neither party argues that a factual issue exists. The relief sought by plaintiff is an order compelling disclosure of the files.
Plaintiff first argues that the circuit court misinterpreted the foia’s requirements in granting judgment in favor of defendant. We disagree.
In reviewing this argument, we first look to the basic policy of the foia:
It is the public policy of this state that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and public employees, consistent with this act. The people shall be informed so that they may fully participate in the democratic process. [MCL 15.231(2); MSA 4.1801(1X2).]
The foia confers upon the public the dual right to inspect nonexempt public records and to obtain copies of such records. Cashel v Regents of the University of Michigan, 141 Mich App 541, 547; 367 NW2d 841 (1985). These rights seem to contemplate a brief perusal of certain files, followed by a request for copies of specific records found during the search. Id., p 549. However, these rights are not without limitation. Safeguards have been established so as not to overly burden the public body. Id., p 547. For instance, MCL 15.234; MSA 4.1801(4) permits a public body to charge a fee for providing a copy of a public record. More over, MCL 15.233(2); MSA 4.1801(3X2) contains the following reasonableness limitations:
A public body shall furnish a requesting person a reasonable opportunity for inspection and examination of its public records, and shall furnish reasonable facilities for making memoranda or abstracts from its public records during the usual business hours. A public body may make reasonable rules necessary to protect its public records and to prevent excessive and unreasonable interference with the discharge of its functions.
In the present case, it is undisputed that plaintiff is a "person” within the meaning of the foia. MCL 15.232(a); MSA 4.1801(2)(a), MCL 15.233(2); MSA 4.1801(3)(2). At first blush, it thus appears that plaintiff should have a reasonable opportunity to personally inspect nonexempt records of a public body, whether that public body is the Department of Corrections or some other public body located outside of the prison. However, there is a salient difference between persons who are members of the public community and prison inmates in that the latter, by law, are prohibited from exercising the rights and privileges they enjoyed as free members of society. Martin v Dep’t of Corrections, 424 Mich 553, 558-559; 384 NW2d 392 (1986). Lawful incarceration brings about the necessary withdrawal or limitation of many privileges and rights justified by considerations underlying the penal system. Dickerson v Warden, Marquette Prison, 99 Mich App 630, 635; 298 NW2d 841 (1980). Moreover, a prison’s internal security is peculiarly a matter normally left to the discretion of prison administrators. Rhodes v Chapman, 452 US 337, 349, n 14; 101 S Ct 2392; 69 L Ed 2d 59 (1981).
As can be seen from these principles, the De partment of Corrections has obligations with regard to prison security and the confinement of prisoners which are separate and distinct from its duty under the foia to provide a reasonable opportunity for persons to inspect its nonexempt public records. Considerations peculiar to the penal system may very well justify imposing limitations on a prisoner’s right to inspect its public records.
In order for the Department of Corrections to provide plaintiff with an opportunity to personally inspect its legal files, either plaintiff would have to be transported to the files or the files would have to be transported to plaintiff. As support for his position that he should be provided with an opportunity to personally inspect the files, plaintiff asserts that it would only take three business days for the proposed inspection. By contrast, Pennell’s affidavits established that plaintiff was a maximum security prisoner in administrative segregation because of a prior escape attempt and that transporting plaintiff to the files would constitute an unwarranted security risk to both staff and the general public. Plaintiff has not established any genuine factual issue with regard to these averments. The alternative course of action, that of transporting the files to plaintiff within the security perimeter, similarly raises no genuine factual issue. Pennell’s affidavits established that it would be physically burdensome to transport the files into the security perimeter, would be disruptive to staff who refer to the files, and would require staff time and effort to sit with the prisoner as he inspects the files to guard against theft and to remove exempted materials.
The circuit court correctly concluded that both alternatives were incompatible with the duties of the Department of Corrections and defendant Pennell. We find no error in the circuit court’s interpretation of the foia and its application in this case. We also find no error in the circuit court’s determination that the solution proposed by defendant was reasonable. By providing plaintiff with an opportunity to obtain copies of the records or to appoint a representative to inspect the files, defendant satisfied foia’s disclosure requirements. All that was denied was plaintiff’s request for disclosure in the precise manner sought. This action was justified by considerations peculiar to the penal system. Accordingly, we conclude that the circuit court correctly granted judgment in favor of defendant under MCR 2.116(I)(2).
Plaintiff next argues that the circuit court should have compelled disclosure in the manner he sought because Pennell’s response to his foia request was based on a Department of Corrections policy directive issued as a guideline, instead of being promulgated as an administrative rule under the Administrative Procedures Act, MCL 24.201 et seq.; MSA 3.560(101) et seq. The subject guideline, pd — dwa—23.04, was expressly established to fully implement the foia. Although Pennell did indicate that his response was based on the guideline, we note that MCL 15.233(2); MSA 4.1801(3X2) does not require a public body to act pursuant to an administrative rule. Once an foia request is /-made, a public body is obligated to respond in a reasonable manner. See Csishel, supra, p 549. The circuit court’s concern in reviewing a denial of an foia request is whether disclosure should be compelled. MCL 15.240; MSA 4.1801(10). Having concluded that foia disclosure requirements were satisfied, we agree with the circuit court’s determination that it is not necessary to decide the validity of the guideline.
Our resolution of this case makes it unnecessary to address the remaining issues raised by plaintiff.
Affirmed. | [
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P. R. Joslyn, J.
This appeal is from an order for the forfeiture of certain currency in favor of the prosecutor pursuant to MCL 333.7521 et seq.; MSA 14.15(7521) et seq. The order resulted from a bench trial conducted by Wayne Circuit Judge Richard D. Dunn. Parties in interest include Randall Upshaw, who the prosecutor claims earned the money through illegal drug transactions, his mother, Muriel Parker, in whose purse the money was found, and Vivian Turner, Upshaw’s live-in girl friend, who Parker initially claimed gave her the money. The prosecutor cross-appeals from the denial of an order of forfeiture regarding a 1980 Mercedes-Benz.
The case arises out of the murder of Raymond “Bam Bam” Repress on November 13, 1984. Sergeant Lloyd Clemons of the Detroit Police Department, Homicide Unit, testified that suspicion centered on Upshaw, and his residence in Detroit was watched.
On the afternoon of November 14, 1984, Sergeant Clemons observed Parker entering a car parked in the driveway of Upshaw’s residence. Clemons and two other officers pulled their unmarked police car behind the car, blocking Parker’s exit. Parker initially identified herself as a "friend” of the resident, and she denied having any identification in her possession. Clemons asked her if they could discuss the homicide investigation. While sitting in the police car discussing the homicide, Parker repeatedly looked in the direction of the parked car. The officer then asked her if there was something in her car. Parker said no and the officer exited from the police car and walked toward the parked car. Upon looking in the car, Clemons observed two pieces of luggage and a men’s suit hanger case. Suspecting that Parker knew where Upshaw was hiding and suspecting that she was acting in aid of Upshaw, the officers placed Parker under arrest.
While in custody, Parker gave a statement indicating that she was directed by Vivian Turner to go to Upshaw’s residence, pick up some things, return home and await another call. After interviewing Parker and determining that she would not give any further information and therefore would be released, Clemons searched her purse seeking positive identification. Inside her purse Clemons observed large quantities of United States currency wrapped in several different bags. An evidence technician was called and the purse and its contents were photographed and these photographs were introduced at trial. Parker stated that the money belonged to Turner.
The forfeiture hearing was devoted primarily to Upshaw’s drug sales activity during September and October of 1984. Three witnesses testified that they had worked for Upshaw either selling cocaine or preparing cocaine for sale. Each testified that they saw Upshaw collect the money from cocaine sales and distribute cocaine while driving the Mercedes Benz.
Parker was called by the prosecutor as an adverse witness. She offered contradictory testimony as to how she came to have over $20,000 in her purse. Parker testified that either Randall called and indicated that he was in trouble, or her ex-husband, J. C. Upshaw, called to indicate that she should gather as much money as possible so that they could hire an attorney and put up bond because Randall was in trouble. Parker also testified that the money belonged to Vivian Turner. Finally, Parker testified that she received $10,000 from her ex-husband in September, 1984, $5,000 from winning an illegal street lottery and $5,000 from her mother.
In addition to the testimony, there was also significant documentary evidence relative to the automobile. The application for title was in Vivian Turner’s name, although Randall Upshaw signed the application and his father’s address was given as Turner’s address. There was also a transfer of title to West Detroit Medical Clinic, whose sole incorporator and president was Randall Upshaw, on May 19, 1985, three days after the beginning of hearings in the instant case.
The trial court ruled that the owner of the money was Randall Upshaw and that the money was gained though the unlawful enterprise of selling cocaine and granted the prosecutor’s forfeiture petition. The trial court also ruled that Vivian Turner was the owner of the Mercedes Benz and, although the vehicle was shown to have been used in the trafficking of narcotics, there was an absence of proof as to her knowledge of these activities. The court concluded that the vehicle should be returned to her. From these rulings respondent brings three claims of error and the prosecutor claims one error.
Parker first claims that the trial court erred in admitting evidence obtained from her when she was arrested without a warrant. Forfeiture proceedings are quasi-criminal in character and evidence derived from a search in violation of the Fourth Amendment is inadmissible. One 1958 Plymouth Sedan v Pennsylvania, 380 US 693; 85 S Ct 1246; 14 L Ed 2d 170 (1965).
Parker properly notes that the issue of the legality of her arrest and the subsequent admission of relevant evidence was raised several times below. Inexplicably, the trial judge never ruled on the suppression motion, although the forfeiture hearing went forward and photographs of the currency and Parker’s testimony were introduced. The trial judge relied, in part, on the photographs in his ruling and used Parker’s testimony in his evaluation of the credibility. Therefore, this Court will treat the trial judge’s implicit acceptance of the evidence as a denial of the suppression motion.
This Court will not reverse a denial or grant of a motion to suppress unless the trial judge’s decision is clearly erroneous. People v Burrell, 417 Mich 439, 448; 339 NW2d 403 (1983); People v United States Currency, 148 Mich App 326, 329; 383 NW2d 633 (1986). A finding is clearly erroneous where, although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court is firmly convinced that a mistake has been made. People v Goss, 89 Mich App 598; 280 NW2d 608 (1979).
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects against an unreasonable search and seizure. It is, however, well settled that a contemporaneous search and seizure made incident to a valid arrest is an exception to the warrant requirement and is not in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Weeks v United States, 232 US 383; 34 S Ct 341; 58 L Ed 652 (1914); People v Cumbus, 143 Mich App 115; 371 NW2d 493 (1985).
A search of an arrestee’s clothing or containers or articles in his possession at the time of his arrest is proper without a warrant, if it is part of an established inventory procedure. Illinois v Lafayette, 462 US 640; 103 S Ct 2605; 77 L Ed 2d 65 (1983); People v Cicotte, 133 Mich App 630, 633-634; 349 NW2d 167 (1984). Herein, Sergeant Clemons’ testimony was that he searched Parker’s purse to ascertain her identity so that he could run a standard check for outstanding warrants. While this may not have been an inventory search, the purse check was a standard operating procedure which falls within the Lafayette exception.
Such a procedure was valid because of the legality of the arrest. The testimony presented at trial justified Parker’s arrest as an accessory after the fact. People v Lucas, 402 Mich 302; 262 NW2d 662 (1978). Police observed Parker entering a car parked in the driveway of Upshaw’s residence. Parker refused to identify herself when approached by police. Parker denied there was any property in the car and attempted to block the officer from looking into the vehicle. However, the officer observed a hanging bag containing men’s clothing through the window of the car. It is reasonable to infer that Parker had just emerged from Randall Upshaw’s residence carrying luggage which belonged to the murder suspect. Based upon the evidence presented, the trial judge did not err in admitting the evidence obtained from Ms. Parker at the time of her arrest.
Parker next argues that the currency should have been suppressed by the trial judge because it was discovered through an improper search. As has already been stated, the trial judge properly ruled that the evidence was admissible.
Michigan law provides that anything of value which can be traced to an exchange for a controlled substance is subject to forfeiture. MCL 333.7521(1X0; MSA 14.15(7521X1X0. Michigan law also provides that such property may be seized without process where there is probable cause to believe that the property is being used or intended to be used in an exchange for a controlled substance. MCL 333.7522(d); MSA 14.15(7522)(d). This rule that property may be seized if probable cause can be supported by untainted evidence that the money or property involved was linked to illegal activity has been applied by the federal courts and one other state court. See United States v US Currency $31,828, 760 F2d 228 (CA 8, 1985); United States v Monkey, 725 F2d 1007 (CA 5, 1984); United States v Eighty-Eight Thousand, Five Hundred Dollars, 671 F2d 293 (CA 8, 1982); Lowrey v Nelson, 43 Wash App 747; 719 P2d 594 (1986).
The statute clearly provides that the property is subject to forfeiture if traceable to an exchange for controlled substances. Thus, the trial judge need only find that there was probable cause to believe that the money was traceable to drug exchanges. A probable cause finding requires only facts which would induce a fair-minded person of average intelligence and judgment to believe that the statute was violated. People v Oliver, 417 Mich 366, 374; 338 NW2d 167 (1983).
In the instant case there was sufficient evidence to establish probable cause to believe that the money’s source was Upshaw’s illegal drug business. The testimony of witnesses was clear that Upshaw was in charge of the business of selling cocaine. Testimony also indicated that Parker was discovered with over $22,000 after emerging from Upshaw’s residence. Finally, testimony showed that Upshaw made daily collections from his "employees” which totaled several thousand dollars a day. Such overwhelming evidence was enough to support a finding of probable cause that the money was linked to the illegal sale of drugs.
Parker also claims that there was insufficient evidence produced by the prosecutor linking the money to drug sales. Findings of fact in a bench trial will not be disturbed unless clearly erroneous. People v United States Currency, supra, 148 Mich App 332; see also MCR 2.613(C). In criminal bench trials, the standard for sufficiency of the evidence is that, when viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecutor, a rational trier of fact could have found that the essential elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. People v Petrella, 424 Mich 221, 268-269; 380 NW2d 11 (1985).
This Court cannot state that the trial judge’s findings of fact were clearly erroneous. The evidence, when viewed in a light most favorable to the prosecutor, clearly indicates that Upshaw was involved in or oversaw the mixing, cooking, packaging, delivering and selling of cocaine. There was also testimony that Upshaw bound the money from drug sales in the same way as the money that was found in Parker’s purse. The evidence was clearly sufficient to support an order of forfeiture.
Lastly, the prosecutor claims that the trial court erred in refusing to order forfeiture of the Mercedes-Benz automobile. We agree.
As has been noted, there was a significant amount of evidence indicating that Upshaw used the automobile in the delivery of cocaine and recovery of cocaine sales money. There was also significant documentary evidence that the placing of the title in Turner’s name was a mere subterfuge. According to J. C. Upshaw, Turner never lived at his address. Yet, Randall Upshaw registered the automobile to his father’s address. There was also testimony that Randall Upshaw and Vivian Turner lived together and purchased the vehicle together. The mere placing of the automobile in Ms. Turner’s name cannot prevent forfeiture. This vehicle was used to convey and sell controlled substances and thus is subject to forfeiture pursuant to MCL 333.7521(l)(d); MSA 14.15(7521)(l)(d). The evidence presented cannot support the conclusion that Ms. Turner had no knowledge of Upshaw’s activities.
The trial judge’s decision granting the prosecutor’s forfeiture petition regarding the currency is affirmed; however, the trial judge’s decision returning the 1980 Mercedes-Benz to Vivian Turner is reversed.
Affirmed in part and reversed in part. | [
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Weaver, P.J.
Following a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCL 750.520d(l)(a); MSA 28.788(4)(l)(a). He was sentenced to from ten to fifteen years in prison. Defendant appeals his conviction and sentence as of right. We affirm.
I
Defendant first argues that jury bias denied him a fair trial as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and by the Michigan Constitution, Const 1963, art 1, § 20, and that the trial court’s denial of his motion for a mistrial was an abuse of discretion. We disagree.
The trial court’s finding that a juror has the ability to render an impartial verdict may only be reversed for clear abuse of discretion. People v Roupe, 150 Mich App 469, 474; 389 NW2d 449 (1986), lv den 426 Mich 863 (1986). Similarly, the trial court’s discretionary decision regarding a motion for a mistrial will only be reversed for abuse — error so gross that it deprived the defendant of a fair trial and resulted in a miscarriage of justice. People v Green, 131 Mich App 232, 236; 345 NW2d 676 (1983). It is true that a mistrial may be granted where one or more jurors are shown to be biased against a defendant. People v Johnson, 103 Mich App 825, 830; 303 NW2d 908 (1981), lv den 417 Mich 962 (1983). However, error requiring reversal is not presumed merely because a juror has been exposed to prejudicial remarks about a defendant made by a stranger or passerby, but only occurs where actual prejudice can be shown. The mere possibility of prejudice is insufficient. MCL 768.10; MSA 28.1033. People v Hayes, 126 Mich App 721, 729; 337 NW2d 905 (1983). People v Dean, 103 Mich App 1, 5; 302 NW2d 317 (1981).
We find no abuse of discretion, either in regard to the trial court’s ruling on jury impartiality or in regard to its denial of the motion for a mistrial. Since there is no showing that any jurors overheard or learned anything adverse about defendant outside of courtroom testimony, there is no showing of juror prejudice or bias. Hayes, supra. Hence there is no basis for finding that the trial court abused its discretion in its ruling on jury impartiality. Although defense counsel contends that the trial court denied his in-chambers request to individually voir dire the jury, counsel never objected on the record to this denial, and declined to further question the jury when invited to do so. Defense counsel’s only request was that the trial court engage in a general inquiry and present the informant, Mrs. Heppner, to jog the memories of the individual jurors. The trial court complied with this request. Hence there is no basis for finding abuse of discretion in the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion for mistrial.
II
Defendant also argues that the trial court committed error requiring reversal by reprimanding defendant during cross-examination. This argument is without merit. Trial courts have a duty to control trial proceedings, with wide powers of discretion in fulfilling this duty. MCL 768.29; MSA 28.1052. People v Burgess, 153 Mich App 715, 719; 396 NW2d 814 (1986). Reversal is not warranted unless the judge "pierces the veil of judicial impartiality” by commenting in such a way as to unduly influence the jury and deprive defendant of a fair trial. Id.
The record is clear that the trial court was merely exercising control over the proceedings to see that defendant’s testimony did not wander from the facts in repeated unresponsive answers on cross-examination. Defendant had accused the prosecutor’s chief witness, the fourteen-year-old boy who was the victim in this case, of having been caught selling marijuana at school, although defendant conceded that he had no basis for this assertion. When defense counsel asked the judge to assist defendant in answering questions in order to prevent the prosecutor from arguing with defendant, the judge admonished defendant in clear and certain terms. This the judge was entitled to do in fulfilling his duty to control the proceedings. Hence his reprimand of defendant did not "pierce the veil of judicial impartiality” and did not deny defendant a fair trial.
III
Likewise without merit is defendant’s next argument, which he had previously presented at the motion to quash — that a "kiss” only involves the "lips,” that the "lips” are not part of the "mouth,” and that therefore at the preliminary examination insufficient evidence of "fellatio” existed to establish "sexual penetration” in order to bind defendant over on a charge of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
We find this argument unpersuasive. The distinction is meaningless when determining whether oral stimulation of a penis occurred.
The "sexual penetration” defined by the third-degree criminal sexual conduct statute, MCL 750.520d; MSA 28.788(4), includes "fellatio ... or any other intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person’s body.” MCL 750.520a(l); MSA 28.788(1). Fellatio is defined generally as "oral stimulation of the penis” or "a sexual activity involving oral contact with the male genitals,” but does not require an actual intrusion, since the activity is as offensive to the victim and society as is forcible penetration. People v Camon, 110 Mich App 474, 487; 313 NW2d 322 (1981), lv den 414 Mich 859 (1982). "Oral” is defined as "relating to the mouth.” Stedman’s Medical Dictionary 21st edition, p 1132. "Mouth” is defined as "the system of related organs including the lips.” The American Heritage Dictionary, 2d college edition, p 818.
It is impossible to conceive that, when an adult "kisses” the penis of a fourteen-year-old child, such activity does not constitute "fellatio.” Whether "lips” are considered part of the mouth or only related to the mouth, use of the lips on a penis certainly falls within the definition of "fellatio” — "oral stimulation of the penis” or "a sexual activity involving oral contact with the male genitals,” — since lips are, concededly, at least related to the mouth. This emphasis on using the "lips” to define kissing a penis as constituting "fellatio” is consistent with the belief that such contact is as offensive to a victim and society as is a forcible penetration. Camón, supra.
Thus the evidence at the preliminary examination indicating that defendant kissed the victim’s penis was sufficient to support the amended information charging defendant with fellatio in violation of the third-degree criminal sexual conduct statute. The trial court properly denied defendant’s motion to quash.____
IV
Defendant next argues that error requiring reversal occurred in the trial court’s jury instruction for third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Defendant’s argument is essentially the same as that set forth in the previous issue. Defendant argues that, since the "lips” are not part of the "mouth,” no sexual penetration occurred because defendant’s "mouth” never came in contact with the victim’s penis, and therefore the standard jury instruction for third-degree criminal sexual conduct (CJI 20:4:02) was inadequate.
We find no error in the court’s instruction. As shown in analysis of the previous issue, contact between defendant’s "lips” and the victim’s penis was sufficient to establish the sexual penetration needed for fellatio and third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Hence the instruction was not erroneous when stating that the prosecutor must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant’s "mouth” came in contact with the victim’s penis. To hold otherwise would contravene established law by extracting piecemeal one word from the jury instructions to find error requiring reversal. People v Wesley, 148 Mich App 758, 761; 384 NW2d 783 (1985). Although the instruction was not perfect, there is no basis for reversal where the instructions in their entirety fairly presented the issues to the jury and tried sufficiently to protect the rights of the accused. People v Federico, 146 Mich App 776, 785; 381 NW2d 819 (1985), lv den 425 Mich 867 (1986). Further, defense counsel never objected to the instruction at trial; hence the alleged error does not require reversal absent a miscarriage of justice. Id., pp 784-785. MCL 769.26; MSA 28.1096. MCR 2.516(C). No miscarriage of justice is apparent here.
V
Defendant next argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to indorse two witnesses as res gestae witnesses.
Although defense counsel was made aware at the preliminary examination of the existence of the two younger boys who were with the victim when he first separated himself from his friends and approached defendant, the record discloses no attempts by defense counsel at that time to have the boys indorsed and produced by the prosecutor. It was not until after the trial court denied defendant’s motion for a mistrial that defense counsel moved to indorse and produce the two boys. Defense counsel argued that the boys could testify about the victim’s condition and potential prior inconsistent statements.
When denying the motion, the trial court noted that the victim’s condition when he left was not relevant because the victim had left with defendant voluntarily, the incident occurred several hours after the victim and defendant left together, and defense counsel could just as easily have asked the victim’s friends about his condition. The court also noted that defense counsel had made no effort to contact the two boys.
A trial court’s ruling as to the status of an alleged res gestae witness will not be reversed on appeal unless clearly erroneous — that is where, upon review of the entire record, this Court is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. People v Lamar, 153 Mich App 127, 138; 395 NW2d 262 (1986).
Here, we are not left with the definite and firm conviction that the trial court was mistaken in ruling that the two boys were not res gestae witnesses. Defendant’s argument indicates that his purpose in seeking indorsement and production of the two witnesses was merely to attack the victim’s credibility rather than to have the boys testify about facts surrounding commission of the offense. There is no evidence that the boys ever overheard the conversation between defendant and the victim. Defendant himself testified that they never heard anything. The incident at issue occurred at a different location, hours after defendant and the victim had left the area. Thus the trial court’s ruling that the two boys were not res gestae witnesses is not clearly erroneous.
VI
Defendant argues that he should be resentenced because the trial court heard testimony about a pending charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct during the sentencing proceeding.
The trial judge held two sentencing hearings. At the first hearing, the prosecutor noted that there was a charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct pending against defendant, to which charge defendant stood mute. When defense counsel objected to the court’s consideration of such information, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing to ascertain its validity and heard testimony from the alleged victim in the pending first-degree criminal sexual conduct case. _
The trial court had wide discretion in sentencing and could consider defendant’s other criminal activity that did not result in conviction if defendant had a chance to refute the information. Wesley, supra at 762-763. Here, defendant had a chance to refute the information but stood mute. Because defendant’s silence could be construed as a denial of the charge, the trial court properly held an evidentiary hearing to ascertain the validity of the information. People v Naugle, 152 Mich App 227, 238; 393 NW2d 592 (1986). Even so, the testimony adduced at this hearing was not considered by the trial judge in imposing sentence.
Use of the sentencing guidelines is mandatory, but imposing sentence based on the recommended ranges is not. People v Ridley, 142 Mich App 129; 369 NW2d 274 (1985). The sentencing judge may deviate from these guidelines if he finds them inappropriate. People v McLeod, 143 Mich App 262; 372 NW2d 526 (1985). Here, the judge found the guidelines inappropriate, stating on the record that relevant factors were punishment and the protection of society. People v Coles, 417 Mich 523, 550; 339 NW2d 440 (1983). The sentence imposed does not exceed the statutory maximum, is not excessive, and does not shock our conscience. Id.
VII
Defendant’s final argument is that the cumulative effect of trial court errors deprived him of a fair trial. It is true that, while a single error may not of itself justify reversal, the totality of errors may justify reversal if defendant is denied a fair trial. People v Morris, 139 Mich App 550, 563; 362 NW2d 830 (1984). However, a defendant is not entitled to a perfect trial, only a fair one. People v Missouri, 100 Mich App 310, 325; 299 NW2d 346 (1980).
Defendant in this case was not denied a fair trial, because none of defendant’s arguments have been persuasive to this Court. Defendant showed no jury prejudice. The trial court’s cautioning of defendant during cross-examination was not erroneous. The trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to quash the information. The trial court’s instruction to the jury on the charge of third-degree criminal sexual conduct did not amount to error requiring reversal, and any possible error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because no juror would have voted for acquittal. People v Christensen, 64 Mich App 23, 32-33; 235 NW2d 50 (1975), lv den 397 Mich 839 (1976). The trial court did not err in determining that the two younger boys were not res gestae witnesses.
Affirmed.
J. R. Kirwan, J. concurred.
One of the jurors, Dean Fenwick, had asked to be excused from jury duty because of prejudicial information about defendant. When questioned, Fenwick said that Arlene Heppner (a prospective juror for another trial) had told him in the judge’s deliberation room, during recess in voir dire for the instant case, that defendant was kicked out of her bowling alley for following little boys into the restroom. However, when the trial court, the prosecutor and defense counsel questioned Mrs. Heppner under oath, Mrs. Heppner maintained that, although her husband had contacted the police about defendant’s activities, she had not told Fenwick about defendant’s being kicked out; rather, she had only told him that she knew defendant as a customer at the bowling alley. She also maintained that Fenwick had told her that he had seen defendant at the bowling alley before. She asserted that she never said anything to any of the other jurors.
The prosecutor and defense counsel agreed to excuse Fenwick. Upon questioning the jury, each juror denied having overheard Fen-wick’s conversation or having acquired any information about the case before, during or after jury selection. When defense counsel presented Mrs. Heppner to the jury as a memory refresher, the jury’s response remained unchanged. Both attorneys were satisfied with the jurors’ responses, and declined further questioning.
However, defense counsel then moved for a mistrial on grounds that the conversation had taken place in cramped quarters with a large number of people present and that, because Heppner’s statement conflicted with Fenwick’s, Heppner’s statement was untrustworthy. When denying the motion for mistrial, the trial judge stated his belief that all thirteen jurors could not have been mistaken or lying. As between Heppner and Fenwick, the judge chose to believe Heppner, because Fenwick did not want to serve as a juror and could have confused his sources of information.
We note in passing that defendant’s allusions to general committee comments of the Criminal Jury Instructions are not binding on this Court. People v Petrella, 424 Mich 221, 277; 380 NW2d 11 (1976).
A res gestae witness is an eyewitness to some event in the continuum of a criminal transaction whose testimony would aid in developing full disclosure of the facts surrounding the alleged commission of an offense. People v Baskin, 145 Mich App 526, 530-531; 378 NW2d 535 (1985). The witness need not be an eyewitness to the actual criminal event in order to be a res gestae witness. Id. It is the prosecutor’s duty to indorse and produce at trial all res gestae witnesses. Id. MCL 767.40; MSA 28.980.
When imposing sentence, the trial court also noted defendant’s two previous sexually-related offenses in 1977 and 1979. Defendant only challenges the trial court’s consideration of the pending first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge. | [
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D. E. Holbrook, Jr.,
J. In this appeal from divorce proceedings, the primary issue presented is the proper valuation of a law degree and license to practice law as marital property for the purpose of effecting an equitable distribution to the nonstudent spouse in the aftermath of the dissolution of the marriage. In a prior appeal from the same proceedings, another panel of this Court reversed the trial court’s determination that the degree had no intrinsic value and remanded for evaluation of the degree. Thomas v Thomas, 131 Mich App 830; 346 NW2d 595 (1984). The Supreme Court reversed the decision of this Court on the issue of alimony, but denied leave to appeal with respect to this Court’s holding that the degree was a marital asset. Thomas v Thomas, 419 Mich 942; 355 NW2d 617 (1984). On remand, the trial court valued the law degree in the amount of $27,120 and awarded defendant, the nonstudent spouse, one-half of that amount.
At the divorce trial, the following evidence was adduced pertinent to the value of the law degree: The parties were married in March, 1966, and separated in August or September, 1979. At the time of their marriage, plaintiff was employed as a production worker by the Fisher Body Division of General Motors. This employment continued through September, 1969, except for an interlude when plaintiff worked for the State Highway Department as a student technician. After he left Fisher Body, plaintiff worked as a patrol officer with the Lansing Police Department until 1977, earning either $8,400 or $8,700 per year at the outset and $15,000 per year at the time of his departure from the police department. At the time of the marriage, defendant worked full-time as a cosmetologist, although her hours were reduced later in order to care for the parties’ children. Defendant testified that, as of the time of trial, her cosmetology business grossed $75 to $100 per week, before deduction of work-related expenses.
Plaintiff was a high school graduate at the time of the marriage. In January, 1968, he enrolled in Lansing Community College and continued there until June, 1969. From January, 1970, to June, 1972, he attended Michigan State University. In January, 1973, plaintiff matriculated at Cooley Law School and commenced studies that culminated in his earning a law degree in January, 1976. Plaintiff financed his studies through a combination of va benefits, loans, and his employment. The va benefits were sufficient to pay for all educational expenses plus some living expenses for the periods that he received them, but these benefits were terminated halfway through the course of his law studies. Both parties worked part-time jobs from time to time. Both parties also engaged in domestic chores and the care of their four children, although defendant assumed most of these duties. During plaintiff’s enrollment in law school, he cared for the children on Saturdays while defendant worked, but defendant assumed most of the household tasks and child care responsibilities.
Plaintiff commenced his legal career with the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office in January, 1976, at a salary of about $10,600 per year. At the time of his departure to assume his new responsibilities as a judge, he was earning a salary of $26,900 per year. He was elected as a district judge in 1980. His starting salary was about $46,000. At the time of the divorce trial, he was earning about $51,900 per year.
On remand, the trial court purported to apply the restitution method for computing the value of the law degree. The court found that plaintiffs change in employment from Fisher Body to the Lansing Police Department resulted in a net loss of $27,120 to the family during the period of time from 1969 to 1976 while plaintiff was engaged in academic studies. The court fixed the value of the law degree at this amount and decided that defendant was entitled to one-half of this value. Defendant was awarded $13,550, payable in monthly installments over a five-year period.
The division of marital property is committed to the sound discretion of the trial court. On appeal to this Court, relief may be granted only if we are convinced that we would have reached a different result if we had occupied the position of the trial court. The trial court’s findings of fact, including its valuation of marital assets, may not be disturbed by this Court unless those findings are clearly erroneous. Kowalesky v Kowalesky, 148 Mich App 151, 155; 384 NW2d 112 (1986), lv den 425 Mich 876 (1986). We have applied this standard to the trial court’s award for the law degree and conclude that reversal is required.
In Woodworth v Woodworth, 126 Mich App 258; 337 NW2d 332 (1983), lv den 419 Mich 856 (1984), this Court discussed two methods of compensating the nonstudent spouse for his or her interest in an advanced degree: (1) a percentage share of the present value of future earnings made possible by the degree, or (2) restitution for funds contributed by the nonstudent spouse toward the acquisition of the degree. Even if it is assumed that the restitution method was properly utilized in the instant case, we think that the trial court’s calculation was erroneous. Given that plaintiff was the primary source of familial support during the pendency of his schooling and the lack of any evidence suggesting that defendant made substantial monetary contributions toward plaintiffs education, a proper application of the restitution method suggests that defendant’s recovery would be negligible. Although the trial court purported to apply restitution principles, it is difficult to see how its calculation reflected an attempt to return to defendant what she had contributed financially toward the law degree.
However, we need not decide the proper application of restitution principles because we conclude, in keeping with the principles of Woodworth, that defendant’s compensation for the law degree should be computed as a percentage of the present value of the future earnings. The application of this same method in Woodworth was premised upon the Court’s perception that the law degree was the "end product of a concerted family effort” and the "result of mutual sacrifice and effort” by both parties. Id., pp 260, 261. The Court further observed that the judicial remedy upon dissolution of a marriage was to compensate the nonstudent spouse’s expectation in realizing the deferred rewards of the student spouse’s education, an expectation that would otherwise be frustrated by the divorce. The underlying concern is to achieve a remedy that is consistent with fairness and equity. In the instant case, we think that it is important for the property settlement to recognize defendant’s intangible, nonpecuniary contributions. Although we do not read Woodworth as compelling compensation for the loss of future earnings in every instance, see Watling v Watling, 127 Mich App 624, 625-628; 339 NW2d 505 (1983), we conclude that the method of compensation used by the trial court failed to achieve an equitable result. Rather than remand for another evaluation of the law degree, we exercise de novo review of the evidence to decide upon an appropriate award. See Diephouse v Diephouse, 127 Mich App 526; 339 NW2d 42 (1983); MCR 7.216(A)(7).
As an initial matter, we note that defendant offered expert testimony of the present value of future earnings attributable to the degree on two factual bases. The expert made this calculation on the basis of facts known at the time of trial in 1981 and also, on a separate record, on the basis of facts known at the time of the 1985 remand hearing, which took account of occurrences after the 1981 trial. Questions of the admissibility of evidence are committed to the sound discretion of the trial court. People v Solak, 146 Mich App 659, 673; 382 NW2d 495 (1985). The question of the determination of the proper time for valuation of a marital asset is also committed to the discretion of the trial court. Curylo v Curylo, 104 Mich App 340, 351-352; 304 NW2d 575 (1981). See also Schamber v Schamber, 41 Mich App 589; 200 NW2d 454 (1972). One of the considerations having an impact on the making of a proper award for an advanced degree is the division of the parties’ other marital property. Woodworth, supra, p 269. Since that division was decided in the context of facts known in 1981, it would be anomalous to value the law degree under circumstances known in 1985, particularly in view of the lapse of almost four years between the trial and remand hearing. The trial court’s decision to exclude the valuation using 1985 as a point of reference was not an abuse of discretion.
We accept the valuation of $337,664 by defendant’s expert, using the facts known in 1981, as being a correct application of the present value of those future earnings which were in excess of what plaintiff would probably have earned without obtaining a degree. No contrary computation applying this method was offered.
What remains to be decided is the percentage share of the value which, in fairness and equity, should belong to defendant. The Court in Woodworth posited three factors for our consideration: "[T]he length of the marriage after the degree was obtained, the sources and extent of financial support given plaintiff [the student spouse] during his years in law school, and the overall division of the parties’ marital property.” Id., p 269. The parties separated about three and one-half years after plaintiff’s graduation from law school. Although the parties dispute some of the details of the financial repercussions of the property settlement, it is clear that defendant received the bulk of the marital assets other than the value of the law degree, including the entirety of the equity in the marital home. As we have already acknowledged, defendant’s contributions to the acquisition of the decree were significant, but plaintiff’s contributions were also significant. Unlike Woodworth and other cases decided by this Court, plaintiff retained his role as the primary source of the family’s support in addition to bearing the burden of his own education. Cf. Olah, supra; Carlson v Carlson, 139 Mich App 299; 362 NW2d 258 (1984); Vaclav v Vaclav, 96 Mich App 584, 590-592; 293 NW2d 613 (1980). Under this state of affairs, we conclude that defendant is entitled to one-eighth of the value of the law degree, or $42,208. We direct the trial court to amend the judgment of divorce to reflect this award, which shall be payable in monthly installments over a five-year period.
Defendant also argues that the trial court abused its discretion by awarding only $3,500 for her attorney fees incurred during her previous appeals to this Court and the Supreme Court and during the remand proceedings in the circuit court. This award was made in response to the remand directions issued by this Court in the first appeal. Thomas, supra, p 832. We find no abuse of discretion. However, we believe that it is appropriate that defendant be awarded appellate attorney fees incurred in the instant appeal. Accordingly, we remand with the direction that the trial court, in its discretion, determine an appropriate award for attorney fees incurred in this appeal. MCR 3.206(A)(3).
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.
We are cognizant that a split exists in this Court as to the propriety of treating an advanced degree as a marital asset. Compare Woodworth, supra, with Olah v Olah, 135 Mich App 404; 354 NW2d 359 (1984). We need not address the conflict in this case because the Woodworth approach is the law of the case. CAF Investment Co v Saginaw Twp, 410 Mich 428, 454; 302 NW2d 164 (1981). | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was charged with first-degree murder, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, for the killing of his wife. During the second day of trial, after the prosecution rested, but before the defense began, a plea bargain was reached. In accordance with the plea agreement, defendant pled guilty to second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; MSA 28.549. Sentenced to a prison term of from twenty to sixty years, defendant appeals as of right raising two issues.
First, defendant contends that his plea was not voluntarily tendered due to counsel’s ineffective assistance. Specifically, defendant claims that he entered a plea of guilty to second-degree murder because his counsel did not subpoena a Dr. Michael Abramsky to testify as to defendant’s state of mind at the time of the killing. Defendant claims that Dr. Abramsky would have testified that, due to his diminished capacity, he was incapable of forming the requisite intent to commit first- or second-degree murder. Prior to tendering his plea, the defense requested a 1 Vi-week adjournment of the trial. The court offered to seek out the doctor and have him brought in to testify. The defense refused and no further attempt to subpoena the doctor was taken. Since the doctor was unavailable to testify at the time of trial, defendant alleges that, at the advice of trial counsel, he pled guilty to second-degree murder rather than risk a conviction of first-degree murder.
Subsequent to his sentencing, defendant moved to vacate his plea. The hearing took place on August 1, 1986. Defense counsel, Jane Thurston, defendant, and the prosecutor, Marilyn Eisenbraun, testified at the hearing.
Ms. Thurston stated that the defense theory was that defendant committed manslaughter when he killed his wife, not first- or second-degree murder. To prove this theory, Dr. Abramsky would have been called to testify that defendant did not possess the intent to commit any type of murder. Rather, this crime was committed "in a frenzied state of mind.”
Defendant testified that he spoke with his attorney as to offering a plea to second-degree murder because Dr. Abramsky was not available to testify. According to defendant, his plea was tendered because the doctor would not be able to testify regarding the defense of diminished capacity.
Following the hearing, the trial court issued a written opinion on September 9, 1986. In its opinion, the court concluded that defense counsel performed well for her client in obtaining the approval of the prosecutor for the entry of defendant’s plea and that defendant’s plea was voluntarily tendered.
Defendant argues that he was denied effective assistance of counsel under both the Michigan and federal constitutions. In People v Garcia, 398 Mich 250, 264-266; 247 NW2d 547 (1976), reh den 399 Mich 1041 (1977), our Supreme Court established a bifurcated test for ineffective assistance of counsel claims. First, defense counsel must perform at least as well as a lawyer with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law. Second, even though the first test is satisfied, counsel must not make a serious mistake but for which the defendant would have had a reasonably likely chance of acquittal.
Generally, a motion for a new trial or for an evidentiary hearing is a prerequisite for appellate review unless the error is apparent from the record to permit this Court to decide the issue. People v Juarez, 158 Mich App 66, 73; 404 NW2d 222 (1987). Trial counsel is presumed to have afforded effective assistance. This presumption can only be overcome by a showing of counsel’s failure to perform an essential duty, which failure was prejudicial to the defendant. Id.; People v Carr, 141 Mich App 442; 367 NW2d 407 (1985).
Under federal constitutional law, the standard to determine ineffective assistance of counsel was formulated in Strickland v Washington, 466 US 668; 104 S Ct 2052; 80 L Ed 2d 674 (1984). The United States Supreme Court held that when a convicted defendant claims under the Sixth Amendment that counsel’s assistance was so defective as to require reversal, he must establish the following: (1) Counsel’s performance was deficient (A performance inquiry is then engaged in to determine whether counsel’s assistance was reasonable considering all the circumstances. The inquiry looks at whether counsel "made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.” 466 US 687). (2) The deficient performance prejudiced the defense and that, absent the error, there was a reasonable probability that the factfinder would have had a reasonable doubt respecting guilt. Id.
The defense of diminished capacity is only rele vant to the question of a defendant’s ability to form the specific intent necessary to commit a particular crime. People v Fields, 64 Mich App 166, 173; 235 NW2d 95 (1975); People v Jones, 151 Mich App 1, 5; 390 NW2d 189 (1986), lv den 426 Mich 852 (1986). This defense is not available where evidence solely establishes that a defendant could not fully appreciate the consequences of his acts. People v Denton, 138 Mich App 568, 573; 360 NW2d 245 (1984). Second-degree murder is not a specific-intent crime since it does not require intent to kill, but rather, only wanton and wilful disregard of the likelihood that the natural tendency of the person’s behavior is to cause death or great bodily harm must be shown. People v Langworthy, 416 Mich 630, 651; 331 NW2d 171 (1982).
In this case, we find that defendant received effective assistance of counsel. Counsel’s failure to secure the expert’s testimony had no effect on the outcome of the proceedings. Had Dr. Abramsky testified and the jury believed his evaluation of defendant’s state of mind at the time of the killing, the jury would have convicted defendant of the same offense to which he pled guilty. Defendant made no showing that, with the expert’s testimony, a manslaughter instruction would have been warranted. Hence, we find no error.
Defendant’s second ground for error is also without merit. He complains that there was an insufficient factual basis to support his guilty plea. A factual basis for acceptance of a plea exists if an inculpatory inference may reasonably be drawn from the facts admitted by the defendant even if an exculpatory inference may also be drawn. It is not necessary for a defendant pleading guilty to second-degree murder to admit he acted with malice or intended to kill. Guilty Plea Cases, 395 Mich 96, 130-131; 235 NW2d 132 (1975), cert den sub nom Sanders v Michigan, 429 US 1108; 97 S Ct 1142; 51 L Ed 2d 561 (1977).
Malice is an essential element of any murder, whether the murder occurs in the course of a felony or otherwise. People v Aaron, 409 Mich 672, 728; 299 NW2d 304 (1980). Malice is the intention to kill, the intention to do great bodily harm, or the wanton and wilful disregard of the likelihood that the natural tendency of defendant’s behavior is to cause death or great bodily harm. Id.
In this case, the colloquy between the court and defendant reveals that defendant had knowledge that the death of his wife was the probable result of his beating her with the lamp base.
Moreover, the defendant admitted at the entry of his guilty plea that the testimony presented at his aborted trial was correct. The testimony of both pathologists indicated that Mrs. England’s death was the result of repeated blows (five to six) to her skull causing a fracture and exposing the brain. The victim also had injuries to her arms, hands and right shoulder which resulted when she tried to defend herself from the defendant. Thus, we find that there was a sufficient factual basis to support defendant’s plea.
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W. A. Porter, J.
Plaintiff appeals from an order of the circuit court granting summary disposition in favor of defendant David Lustig pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(7). The basis of the decision was the court’s conclusion that the period of limitation provided by MCL 600.5805; MSA 27A.5805 and former MCL 600.5838; MSA 27A.5838, now MCL 600.5838a; MSA 27A.5838(1), barred the medical malpractice claim against Lustig.
Plaintiff instituted this action by filing a complaint on May 19, 1983, against Lustig, Mt. Clemens General Hospital, and various other physicians. The primary allegation was a misdiagnosis of an árteriovenous malformation in plaintiffs thoracic spine.
It is defendant Lustig’s contention that the two-year period of limitation began to run on February 11, 1981, which was the last date that Lustig alleges that he treated plaintiff in a professional capacity. Thus, defendant argues, the claim was barred after February 11, 1983, and plaintiffs subsequently filed complaint was untimely. The parties do not dispute that Lustig examined plaintiff on February 11, 1981. What is disputed is whether Lustig performed any later services. Lustig stated in an affidavit that he reviewed his medical records, which indicated that his only professional contact with plaintiff occurred on February 11, 1981. Lustig further averred that he never saw, treated, examined, or rendered any professional care of any kind whatsoever to plaintiff thereafter. Defendant also cites plaintiffs June 6, 1984, deposition where plaintiff testified that it was "possible” that Lustig did not see plaintiff in Lustig’s office after plaintiffs February, 1981, hospitalization.
In response, plaintiff swore in an affidavit on November 30, 1984, that he had an appointment in June of 1981 and that his medical treatment was discussed with Lustig at that time. Plaintiff also submitted a copy of a medical bill on the letterhead "David Lustig, D.O., P.C.,” which indicated that a neurological reevaluation was performed on June 23, 1981.
The applicable period of limitation for a malpractice action, MCL 600.5805; MSA 27A.5805, is two years in duration. At the time of the events pertinent to this appeal, 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. [1975 PA 142.]
On appeal, plaintiff argues that summary disposition was erroneous because there was a material question of fact as to the date of Lustig’s last service in a professional capacity. If, as plaintiff contends, the last date of treatment occurred in June of 1981, the claim against Lustig accrued at that time and the complaint was timely filed within the two-year period of limitation.
MCR 2.116(G)(5) provides that affidavits, pleadings, depositions, admissions and documentary evidence then filed or submitted by the parties must be considered when a motion is brought under MCR 2.116(C)(7). Where there is a material factual dispute raised by such documents, summary disposition under the subrule is improper. Pendell v Jarka, 156 Mich App 405, 411-412; 402 NW2d 23 (1986), lv den 428 Mich 880 (1987).
The record indicates that there was a material factual dispute concerning whether Dr. Lustig in fact consulted with or treated plaintiff within the two-year period preceding the filing of the complaint. Defendant argues that plaintiffs deposition testimony that it was possible that no further consultation or treatment occurred after February 11, 1981, is insufficient to create a material issue of fact because that statement was mere conjecture. Kelleher v Mills, 70 Mich App 360, 365; 245 NW2d 749 (1976). We would be inclined to agree if plaintiff had submitted nothing more by way of evidentiary support for his position. However, averments of plaintiffs later affidavit directly contradict defendant’s allegation that treatment ended in February of 1981.
Defendant also cites Gamet v Jenks, 38 Mich App 719, 725-727; 197 NW2d 160 (1972), for the proposition that a party may not contradict his own unfavorable deposition testimony by a subsequently submitted affidavit. Rather, the deposition is "considered as conclusively binding against him in the absence of any explanation or modification, or of a showing of mistake or improvidence.” Id., 726. It is apparent that this holding is premised upon an underlying policy to preclude a party from contriving factual issues by the simple expedient of completing an affidavit when that party’s unfavorable deposition testimony has already indicated that the assertion in the affidavit is likely to be vexatious and ill-founded. We believe that the policy to deter bad-faith affidavits is best effectuated by the imposition of the sanctions provided in MCR 2.116(F). Moreover, we note that, unlike in Garnet, plaintiff’s deposition testimony in the instant case did not clearly and unequivocally establish facts contrary to those set forth in the affidavit. At the time of the deposition, plaintiff was simply unsure of the facts. Cf. Miller v Foster, 122 Mich App 244; 332 NW2d 454 (1982). We decline to accord plaintiff’s deposition testimony the conclusive effect of a binding admission.
Since plaintiff’s affidavit was sufficient to create a material factual dispute, we reverse the order of summary disposition. On remand, the circuit court may, in its discretion, resolve this factual dispute in accordance with the immediate trial procedure set forth in MCR 2.116(I)(3), or it may defer a decision until trial in accordance with MCR 2.116(I)(4). We express no opinion at this time whether the alleged consultations in June of 1981, if true, constituted a treatment within the meaning of MCL 600.5838(1); MSA 27A.5838(1).
Plaintiff also argues that defendant Lustig and a codefendant, Dr. Kaner, held themselves out as partners. Since it is undisputed that Dr. Kaner treated plaintiff in June of 1981, plaintiff argues that that date should be imputed to Lustig as the last date of treatment for purposes of MCL 600.5838(1); MSA 27A.5838(1). Defendant argues that Lustig and Kaner were not partners, but rather that their legal relationship was one of coemployees of the same professional corporation. The proper resolution of this question depends on whether Kaner can be said to have been acting as Lustig’s agent. See Whitmore v Fabi, 155 Mich App 333; 399 NW2d 520 (1986). If it is true that Kaner and Lustig were partners, then it is likely that Kaner was acting as Lustig’s agent at the time of the June, 1981, treatment, thus delaying the commencement of the period of limitation until that time. See MCL 449.9; MSA 20.9. On the other hand, even if defendant’s characterization of the legal relationship is correct, an agency relationship between Lustig and Kaner with respect to plaintiffs treatment would not necessarily be precluded. See Whitmore, supra, 338-339. Since the question of the relationship between Lustig and Kaner with respect to plaintiffs treatment is not factually developed on the record, we decline to provide a definitive ruling on this issue in its present posture. Instead we remand with the direction that the circuit court reconsider this issue in light of the principles discussed in Whitmore, assuming that a sufficient evidentiary record is first developed in accordance with MCR 2.116(G)(3) and MCR 2.302(H).
Reversed and remanded.
We are not deciding today, directly or by implication, whether the grounds set forth in MCR 2.116(C)(7) may be brought under MCR 2.116(C)(10) to establish that there is no genuine issue of material fact that the claim is barred, thereby limiting the court to consideration of affidavits, depositions, admissions, or other documentary evidence and excluding the court’s consideration of the pleadings of the parties. MCR 2.116(G)(3)(b), (4), and (5). | [
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Holbrook, Jr., J.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from an order of the trial court granting summary disposition to defendant under MCR 2.116(C)(10). We affirm.
The underlying facts are not in dispute. Plaintiff, the financial credit arm of the Ford Motor Company, is the titleholder of each of the motor vehicles that the Ford Motor Company leases. From April 13, 1995, through November 30, 1999, defendant issued more than 22,000 parking violation tickets, with fines totaling in excess of $861,000, to lessees of Ford Motor Company motor vehicles. Defendant has attempted to collect for these violations from plaintiff.
In July 2000, plaintiff filed its complaint for declaratory relief under MCR 2.605, followed by its motion for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(10). In both filings, plaintiff argued that under MCL 257.675a. and MCL 257.675b, it could not be held liable for the parking violations of its lessees. Defendant countered that §§ 675a and 675b did not apply because the matter involved civil, not criminal, infractions. Defendant argued that, instead, the matter was governed by MCL 257.675c and that defendant was entitled to summary disposition under MCR 2.116(I)(2). The court granted summary disposition to defendant, reasoning as follows:
The court thus finds that since Ford Motor Credit Company is the registered owner of the vehicles to which the parking violations were issued, and since violations of ordinances of this type are civil infractions then under both the City of Detroit Ordinance 55-6-32 and MCL 257.675(c) [sic] Ford Motor Credit is responsible for the violations.
Plaintiff first argues that the trial court fundamentally misread, and thus misapplied, the provisions of MCL 257.675c. Resolution of this issue turns on an interpretation of the statute, which we review de novo on appeal. McAuley v Gen Motors Corp, 457 Mich 513, 518; 578 NW2d 282 (1998). “The overriding goal guiding judicial interpretation of statutes is to discover and give effect to legislative intent. The starting place for the search for intent is the language used in the statute.” Bio-Magnetic Resonance, Inc v Dep’t of Pub Health, 234 Mich App 225, 229; 593 NW2d 641 (1999) (citations omitted). If the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous, then no further interpretation is required.
At the time that the parking tickets were issued and the judicial proceedings had begun, MCL 257.675c read in pertinent part:
(1) If a vehicle is stopped, standing, or parked in violation of sections 672, 674, 674a, 675, 676, or other state statute, or a local ordinance prohibiting or restricting the stopping, standing, or parking of a vehicle and the violation is a civil infraction, the person in whose name that vehicle is registered in this state or another state at the time of the violation is prima facie responsible for that violation and subject to section 907.
Section 675c is a public welfare statute, created by the Legislature under its police power authority. People v Lardie, 452 Mich 231, 240; 551 NW2d 656 (1996); People v Roby, 52 Mich 577, 579; 18 NW 365 (1884). Experience demonstrates that the enforcement problems attendant to parking violations are significant, given that most parking tickets are not issued while the driver is present. Instead of requiring the local governmental unit issuing the ticket to identify and pursue the particular driver who violated the parking law, the Legislature has created a rebuttable prima facie case based on vehicle registration. We acknowledge that application of this principle potentially can result in the imposition of vicarious liability on one person for the acts of another. We believe, however, that it is within the Legislature’s constitutional authority to institute the public policy judgment expressed by subsection 675c(l), Lardie, supra.
Specifically, subsection 675c(l) indicates in plain language that “the person in whose name the vehicle is registered” is “prima facie responsible” for violations of the specified stopping, standing, or parking prohibitions. Because “prima facie” is a legal term of art that has “acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in the law,” MCL 8.3a, we turn to a legal dictionary to ascertain its meaning. People v Jones, 467 Mich 301, 304; 651 NW2d 906 (2002). When used as an adverb, as in the phrase “prima facie responsible,” prima facie is defined to mean: “At first sight; on first appearance but subject to further evidence or information.” Black’s Law Dictionary (7th ed), p 1209. Thus, subsection 675c(1) creates a rebuttable prima facie case that the person in whose name an illegally parked vehicle is registered is responsible for the violation.
In other words, proof that a vehicle is registered in the name of an identified person creates a question for the trier of fact regarding that person’s responsibility for the parking violation. In the absence of any competing evidence, when the requirements of subsection 675c(l) have been met, sufficient evidence has been adduced to permit a trier of fact to find the person in whose name the vehicle is registered liable for the parking violation. However, such a person’s prima facie responsibility can be rebutted with evidence that someone else is responsible for the violation. Such shifting in the burden of production does not violate due process, because the burden of proof continues to remain with the governmental unit seeking to enforce the parking ticket. United States v Park, 421 US 658, 672; 95 S Ct 1903; 44 L Ed 2d 489 (1975).
Further, the Michigan Vehicle Code (mvc), MCL 257.1 et seq., defines “person” to mean “every natural person, firm, copartnership, association, or corporation and their legal successors.” MCL 257.40. Thus, while the article “the” in subsection 675c(l) implies the singular, the definition of “person” provided in the MVC explicitly states that when used in the MVC, the term “person” can encompass more than one entity, i.e., a vehicle may be registered under the name of one or more persons at the same time. Therefore, the prima facie case of responsibility can be established against more than one “person,” if the vehicle is registered in the name of more than one “person.”
To summarize, we hold that the statute provides that a prima facie case for imposing responsibility on a person for a parking violation is established when proof is presented (1) that a vehicle was illegally parked, and (2) that the vehicle is registered in that person’s name, regardless of whether that person was operating the vehicle at the time the violation occurred. Once prima facie responsibility is established, the presumed violator has the burden of producing evidence establishing that someone else should be held responsible for the violation. We do not believe, however, that the Legislature intended that subsection 675c(l) be used by a local governmental unit to reflexively utilize a leasing company as its collection agency for parking violations. We caution against such a practice.
We note that in subsection 675c(3), the Legislature provided an avenue for a person actually found responsible pursuant to subsection 675c(l) to recover from the individual who actually illegally parked the vehicle in issue:
The registered owner of a vehicle who is found to be responsible for a civil infraction as the result of subsection (1) has the right to recover in a civil action against the person who parked, stopped, or left standing the vehicle in question damages in the amount of any civil fine or costs, or both, imposed pursuant to section 907. The registered owner of a vehicle may provide in a written agreement that the person who parked, stopped, or left standing the vehicle in violation of a state statute or local ordinance, when the violation is a civil infraction, shall indemnify the registered owner for any civil fine and costs imposed upon the registered owner for that civil infraction.
“Owner” is defined by MCL 257.37(b) to include “a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle.” The MVC does not define “registered,” and the provided definition of “registration” is limited to the indices of the act of registration. “Registered” is defined in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1996), p 1520, to mean, “Having the owner’s name listed in a register,” and “register” is defined as “[a] formal or official recording of . . . names . . . .” Thus, we conclude that as it is used in subsection 675c(3), the term “registered owner,” refers to a person holding legal title of a vehicle, whose possession of legal title has been listed in an official recording of names. Plaintiff falls within this definition.
Thus, in the event that a long-term lessor like plaintiff sustains damages as a result of liability incurred under subsection 675c(l) for the parking violations of someone else, the lessor is authorized by subsection 675c(3) “to recover in a civil action” damages from that other person, or to indemnify itself in a written agreement (e.g., a lease) for the damages incurred.
The trial court’s opinion is somewhat unclear. Given the nature of plaintiff’s action and the arguments raised by both parties, we read the court’s opinion as indicating that because plaintiff can be held vicariously responsible under subsection 675c(l) for the parking violations incurred by its lessees, it could not maintain its action for declaratory judgment. We hold that this is the correct result. We also believe that summary disposition should have been granted under MCR 2.116(C)(8), but find the court’s citation of subrule C(10) to be harmless. Etefia v Credit Technologies, Inc, 245 Mich App 466, 470; 628 NW2d 577 (2001) (“[T]his Court will not reverse a trial court’s order if it reached the right result for the wrong reason.”). Because of our resolution of this issue, we need not reach the other arguments raised by plaintiff on appeal.
Affirmed.
Sections 675a, 675b, and 675c were substantially rewritten by the Legislature in 2000. 2000 PA 268. These amendments corrected some significant ambiguities and contradictions in the legislative scheme that complicated resolution of this matter below. For example, the evidentiary presumption created by section 675b before its amendment in 2000 was rendered void in those very situations that it should have applied by subsection 675b(2), which read: “This section does not apply to a violation which is a civil infraction.”
When the driver is present, the citation can be issued directly to that person. In such instances, the governmental unit that issued the ticket need not turn to subsection 675c(l) to obtain payment.
Subsection 675c(2) states that
[t]he owner of a vehicle cited for a stopping, standing, or parking violation pursuant to subsection (1) may assert as an affirmative defense that the vehicle in question, at the time of the violation was in the possession of a person whom the owner had not knowingly permitted to operate the vehicle.
There is nothing in the language employed in this passage that indicates that the defense identified is the only possible way to counter the prima facie case established in subsection 675c(l). Further, there is nothing inherent in the nature of a statutory prima facie case that necessarily limits the potential defenses to those specified in the statute. We presume that a legislature intending to limit the number of potential defenses would explicitly so state in the legislation itself.
We note that House Legislative Analysis, HB 4758, August 26, 1980, indicates that the phrase “prima facie responsibility” means that “the owner of a vehicle would be held responsible for the civil infraction unless the affirmative defense provided were asserted ....” Id. at 2. As our Supreme Court has observed, however, “in Michigan, a legislative analysis is a feeble indicator of legislative intent and is therefore a generally unpersuasive tool of statutory construction.” Frank W Lynch & Co v Flex Technologies, Inc, 463 Mich 578, 587; 624 NW2d 180 (2001). While under certain circumstances a legislative analysis might serve as additional authority supporting a given statutory construction, id. at 588-589 (Kelly, J., concurring), we do not believe that such circumstances exist in the case at bar, where the Legislature has chosen to employ a legal term of art that embraces the notion that presumptions can be rebutted.
The full text of subsection 37(b) reads: “Except as otherwise provided in section 401a, a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle.” MCL 257.401a reads:
As used in this chapter, “owner” does not include a person engaged in the business of leasing motor vehicles who is the lessor of a motor vehicle pursuant to a lease providing for the use of the motor vehicle by the lessee for a period that is greater than 30 days.
We do not read MCL 257.401a as exempting long-term lessors from the definition of owner set forth in MCL 257.37(b). Rather, we read subsection 37(b) to mean that the definition therein provided cannot be used to expand the scope of hable persons under the civil liability act, MCL 257.401 et seq. In other words, section 401a forecloses the argument that under MCL 257.37(b) a long-term lessor could be, for example, vicariously liable under MCL 257.402 for a rear end collision.
“ ‘Registration’ means a registration certificate, plate, adhesive tab, or other indicator of registration issued under this act for display on a vehicle.” MCL 257.50. | [
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Kelly, J.
Defendant appeals as of right his jury trial conviction of resisting and obstructing a police officer (resisting arrest), MCL 750.479. The trial court sentenced him to eight months in jail, with the last four months held in abeyance. We affirm.
I. BASIC PACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
This case arises from an incident that began with defendant and his friends out for a night of carousing. At some point during a stroll with a case of beer in their possession, one of defendant’s friends, Justin Brasseur, stopped to urinate behind a wall while his friends waited for him on the sidewalk. Officer Ronald White noticed this activity and stopped. Officer White instructed the group on the sidewalk to continue walking and questioned Brasseur about his activity. The group on the sidewalk proceeded to walk away, but became boisterous. Officer White testified that defendant turned and yelled, “You f — ing pig.” As the group proceeded on their way, they encountered several relatives and acquaintances who were also out that night. Some of the women requested that defendant accompany them to a bar for dancing. However, defendant and his friends crossed the street and began to walk in the opposite direction. Defendant and the women yelled back and forth across the street. Another man, Thomas Kortz, joined in hollering and swearing across the street for defendant and his Mends to join them. Both Kortz and defendant used the word “f — .” A couple of men from the other side of the street yelled questions to defendant and his friends about what happened with the police. Someone from defendant’s group yelled back that “the pigs” were “messing with” Brasseur.
Meanwhile, Officer White’s partner, Officer Rick McNew, arrived in a separate vehicle. Officers White and McNew drove down the street to arrest defendant. Officer White walked up to defendant and told him he was under arrest. When defendant asked why he was being arrested, Officer White responded that he was being disorderly. Officer White testified that he had no reservations regarding whether defendant violated the disorderly conduct ordinance. As Officer White arrested him, defendant began swearing and swinging his left arm. Defendant also spit on Officer McNew, who grabbed defendant’s left arm as the officers led him away from the crowd that had gathered. However, the crowd followed them. At one point, Officer White, unable to see Officer McNew, concluded that he had been pulled into the crowd. Officer White then became concerned and pulled defendant’s feet from under him. Officer McNew reappeared and tried to restrain defendant’s feet as defendant thrashed about. A woman grabbed Officer McNew’s hair and a man yelled that the officers should release defendant. Officer White was struck in the face and fell backward, blacking out for a brief instant.
After Officer White revived, he and Officer McNew managed to restrain defendant and place him in the police vehicle. During the struggle, Officer McNew called for backup, contacting Sergeant Michael Newman. When Sergeant Newman arrived, he saw several intoxicated people yélling at the officers.
At trial, Officer White testified that defendant was screaming, “You f — ing pigs,” from a block away. Officer White could hear him “as clear as day.” Officer White also testified, “My concern was who else could hear it.” Officer White also testified, “I charged him raider the disorderly code which has I believe twenty some statutes and I believe it was statute number ten for creating a disturbance in a public place.” In response to a question about why he arrested defendant, when he had not arrested people in the past for swearing at him, Officer White responded, “Because it wasn’t just the ‘F You,’ it was the voice that he used— the constant screaming a block away.”
Although defendant’s arrest sheet for the incident lists both resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, defendant was only charged and tried for resisting arrest. Before trial, defendant moved to dismiss the charge, arguing that the disorderly conduct ordinance under which he was arrested was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. The trial court denied the motion to dismiss, holding that the ordinance included specific standards regarding what constituted a violation. At trial, the trial court did not instruct the jury regarding the elements of the disorderly conduct ordinance, but, rather, instructed that in order to fulfill the lawful arrest element of resisting arrest, the jury had to find that Officer White had probable cause to believe that defendant violated the disorderly conduct ordinance.
Defendant appeals his conviction, arguing that the lawful arrest element of resisting arrest was not satis fled because his arrest was unlawful based on the unconstitutionality of the disorderly conduct ordinance.
H. STANDARD OF REVIEW AND RULES FOR CONSTRUCTION
Constitutional questions are reviewed de novo. In re Hawley, 238 Mich App 509, 511; 606 NW2d 50 (1999). Statutes are presumed to be constitutional unless their unconstitutionality is clearly apparent. In re AH, 245 Mich App 77, 82; 627 NW2d 33 (2001). Statutes must be construed as proper under the constitution if possible. In re Trejo Minors, 462 Mich 341, 355; 612 NW2d 407 (2000). The party opposing the statute bears the burden of overcoming the presumption and proving the statute unconstitutional. Id.; In re AH, supra at 82. This Court must consider the factual evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, People v Nowack, 462 Mich 392, 399-400; 614 NW2d 78 (2000), and leave questions of credibility for the jury, People v Avant, 235 Mich App 499, 506; 597 NW2d 864 (1999).
ni. ANALYSIS
The elements of the crime of resisting arrest are (1) the defendant resisted arrest, (2) the arrest was lawful, (3) the person arresting the defendant was an officer of the law at the time, (4) the defendant knew the person was an officer, (5) the defendant knew the person was making an arrest, and (6) the defendant intended to resist arrest. MCL 750.479; People v Little, 434 Mich 752, 755, n 5; 456 NW2d 237 (1990). A person may use reasonable force to resist an unlawful arrest. People v Wess, 235 Mich App 241, 244; 597 NW2d 215 (1999).
Defendant challenges the second element, arguing that the arrest was unlawful. Specifically, defendant contends that he was justified in resisting arrest because he was arrested pursuant to a city ordinance that was unconstitutionally overbroad and vague. At the time of the arrest, the disorderly conduct ordinance had not been held unconstitutional nor has it been since the time of the arrest. Thus, defendant ruges us to address the constitutionality of the ordinance for the first time. However, because we hold that an arrest is not rendered unlawful if it is made pursuant to a law that is found unconstitutional after the arrest, we do not find it necessary to address whether the ordinance is unconstitutional. People v Higuera, 244 Mich App 429, 441; 625 NW2d 444 (2001).
A. LAWFUL ARREST
We first consider whether the arrest was lawful regardless of the constitutionality of the ordinance. “ ‘[WJhether an officer is authorized to make an arrest ordinarily depends, in the first instance, on state law.’ ” Univ Emergency Services, PC v Detroit, 141 Mich App 512, 519; 367 NW2d 344 (1984), quoting Michigan v DeFillippo, 443 US 31, 36; 99 S Ct 2627; 61 L Ed 2d 343 (1979). A custodial arrest is permitted if an arresting officer possesses enough information demonstrating probable cause to believe that an offense has occurred and that the defendant committed it. People v Champion, 452 Mich 92, 115; 549 NW2d 849 (1996), citing MCL 764.15. “Probable cause to arrest exists where the facts and circumstances within an officer’s knowledge and of which he has reasonably trustworthy information are sufficient in themselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that an offense has been or is being committed.” Id.
In this case, Officer White had probable cause to arrest defendant for disorderly conduct. The ordinance section pursuant to which defendant was arrested provides:
No person shall:
10. Engage in any disturbance, fight, or quarrel in a public place or encourage such activity; disturb the public peace and quiet by loud, boisterous or vulgar conduct or conduct himself or herself in any manner to disturb a meeting of municipal or public officials or allow any place, public or private, occupied or controlled by him or her to be a resort of noisy, boisterous or disorderly conduct. [Cheboygan, Michigan Code of Ordinances, § 20.062(10).]
Here, defendant was yelling “at the top of his lungs” in a continuous manner, in a public place. Officer White could hear defendant “as clear as day” from down the street. In response to a question about why he arrested defendant, when he had not arrested people in the past for swearing at him, Officer White responded, “Because it wasn’t just the ‘F You,’ it was the voice that he used — the constant screaming a block away.” Considering this evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and leaving questions of credibility to the jury, Officer White had probable cause to justify an arrest pursuant to the ordinance.
B. DETERMINATION OF UNCONSTITUTIONALITY POST-ARREST
Having determined that the arrest was otherwise lawful, we next turn to the issue whether a subsequent finding that the ordinance is unconstitutional would render the arrest unlawful. In People v Hunter (On Remand), 94 Mich App 50, 52; 287 NW2d 366 (1979), this Court, relying on DeFillippo, supra, held, “The validity of [an] arrest is not affected by the subsequent judicial determination that the ordinance is unconstitutional.” In DeFillippo, the United States Supreme Court held that a subsequent determination that an ordinance is unconstitutionally vague does not undermine the validity of the arrest made for violating that ordinance. In DeFillippo, the defendant was arrested pursuant to a Detroit city ordinance permitting a police officer to stop and question an individual if the officer had reasonable cause to believe that the individual’s behavior warranted further investigation. DeFillippo, supra at 33-34. The ordinance provided that it was unlawful for the person stopped to refuse to identify himself and produce evidence of his identity. Id. When the defendant was taken into custody, a search revealed contraband. Id. at 34.
Although DeFillippo involved the suppression of evidence discovered incident to a lawful arrest, the underlying issue is the same as that presented in this case: whether an arrest is unlawful if made pursuant to an ordinance that is subsequently found unconstitutional. The Supreme Court determined that, “[t]he answer is clearly negative.” Id. at 37. The Court reasoned:
Police are charged to enforce laws until and unless they are declared unconstitutional. The enactment of a law forecloses speculation by enforcement officers concerning its constitutionality — with the possible exception of a law so grossly and flagrantly unconstitutional that any person of reasonable prudence would be bound to see its flaws. Society would be ill-served if its police officers took it upon themselves to determine which laws are and which are not constitutionally entitled to enforcement. [Id. at 38.]
The duties of police officers, who are members of the executive branch of government, do not extend to the analysis and determination of the constitutionality of laws. This function properly lies within the duties of the judicial branch of government. We recognize, however, that a police officer’s duties include enforcing laws in good faith. Within the context of resisting arrest in particular, we note that public policy supports our decision. Public order is better served if a person, subject to an arrest pursuant to an existing law, challenges the constitutionality of that law in the courts, rather than through resisting arrest. Little progress would be made if the constitutionality of laws were debated between officers and those arrested on the streets. As seen in this case, the violence that ensued from defendant’s resistance posed a danger to defendant, the officers, and others who gathered and took part in the melee. This Court previously expressed a strong stance against allowing resistance to arrest. Wess, supra at 245. In Wess, this Court stated that:
Courts and legislatures in other jurisdictions have found the right to resist an unlawful arrest to be outmoded in our contemporary society. For example, the Washington Supreme Court [has] examined the common-law right to resist unlawful arrest and found that the policy concerns that once supported the right were, for the most party, no longer serious concerns. Specifically, the court noted that the right arose at a time when mere imprisonment often resulted in death or serious physical harm. Our modem judicial processes have been reformed so that arrestees eryoy the right to reasonable bail, the right to counsel at critical stages of the trial, and the right to a prompt judicial determination of probable cause. ... [In a number of states,] courts have regularly voiced concern that allowing this kind of “outmoded common law rule ... fosters unnecessary violence in the name of an obsolete self-help concept . . . .” [Id. (citations omitted).]
Therefore, reaffirming this Court’s ruling in Hunter, supra, we hold that the validity of an arrest is not affected by the subsequent judicial determination that the ordinance is unconstitutional. Because defendant’s arrest was lawful, he was not permitted to use reasonable force to resist.
Affirmed.
We note that even if we did find that defendant was permitted to use reasonable force to resist arrest, defendant makes no argument regarding whether his resistance constituted reasonable force.
In support of our conclusion that Officer White arrested defendant pursuant to subsection 10 is Officer White’s testimony, “I charged him under the disorderly code which has I believe twenty some statutes and I believe it was statute number ten for creating a disturbance in a public place.” Additionally, defense counsel referred to subsection 10 during a hearing on defendant’s motion to dismiss. We note that the ordinance has since been renumbered, but use the numbering in effect at the time of defendant’s arrest.
In Hunter, the defendant challenged the lawfulness of an arrest because a search incident to the arrest uncovered contraband. Hunter, supra at 51. | [
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Hoekstra, J.
Defendant’s appeal is before us by an order of the Supreme Court that, in lieu of granting leave to appeal, remanded the case to this Court for consideration as on leave granted. 463 Mich 910 (2000). The issue presented on appeal is, in essence, whether the prosecution introduced sufficient evidence at the preliminary examination to require defendant to stand trial on the charge of child abandonment, MCL 750.135. After taking testimony at the preliminary examination, the district court dismissed the charge. The prosecution appealed to the circuit court and that court reversed the order of the district court and reinstated the charge against defendant. On application for interlocutory leave to appeal, this Court denied leave. Unpublished order of the Court of Appeals, entered October 9, 2000 (Docket No. 229502). After consideration of the merits of the appeal, we agree with defendant and reverse the circuit court’s order and remand the matter for further proceedings.
The charge against defendant of child abandonment stems from an allegation that defendant transferred possession of his ten-month-old daughter to an undercover police officer for financial gain. At the preliminary examination, the prosecution introduced testimony from defendant’s daycare provider, who had contacted the police after defendant asked her if she knew anyone who wanted to buy his youngest child, and a police officer, who had posed as a well-to-do real estate broker that desired to obtain a baby for his childless “son” and “daughter-in-law.” These witnesses testified that defendant willingly agreed to sell his daughter for $60,000 without verifying the background of the prospective buyer and his “son” and “daughter-in-law” and to relinquish all his parental rights to the child. After negotiating the terms and conditions of the “sale,” defendant gave his daughter to a police officer posing as the buyer’s son and received in exchange $10,000 in cash and the promise of an additional $50,000 within two days. Defendant also reduced to writing the financial terms of the agreement. The undercover police officer “buyer” testified that the child was never without care, having been transferred directly from defendant’s presence to the buyer’s “son.” In addition, defendant informed them of the child’s food requirements and discussed feeding and other procedures.
After hearing the witnesses’ testimony and the arguments of the parties, the district court dismissed the child abandonment charge against defendant. The district court found that the prosecution had not met its burden of proof to show evidence of the elements of child abandonment. Specifically, the district court found that the term “wholly abandoned” in the child abandonment statute indicated placing the child in a situation where there is no one to care for it, and con- eluded that at no time was the child placed in a situation where she was without care.
The prosecution appealed as of right to the circuit court, and that court reversed the district court’s order dismissing the child abandonment charge. The circuit court found that the district court erred in its interpretation of the child abandonment statute. According to the circuit court, “intent to wholly abandon” concerns only the defendant’s conduct and the defendant’s actions “must be analyzed without reference to the likelihood or unlikelihood that his child would befall harm at the hands of the prospective parents.” The circuit court concluded that the prosecution presented sufficient evidence on that element to bind over defendant for trial. In addition, the circuit court found that the element of exposure was adequately shown by defendant’s failure to protect his daughter from danger by failing to make reasonable inquiries into the moral and financial fitness of the prospective parents.
On appeal, defendant argues that the circuit court erred in reversing the district court’s dismissal of the child abandonment charge because the circuit court’s interpretation of the elements of child abandonment was incorrect. Specifically, the parties dispute whether the evidence established the elements of (1) exposure and (2) intent to wholly abandon. Ordinarily, the decision of the district court on a motion to bind over is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. People v Stone, 463 Mich 558, 561; 621 NW2d 702 (2001). However, here the decision to deny binding over defendant involved a determination by the district court that defendant’s alleged conduct did not fit within the scope of the child abandonment statute, which raises a question of statutory interpretation that we review de novo. Id.
At the time that the alleged offense occurred, the child abandonment statute, MCL 750.135, provided:
Any father or mother of a child under the age of 6 years, or any other person who shall expose such child in any street, field, house or other place, with intent to injure or wholly to abandon it, shall be guilty of felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not more than 10 years.
MCL 750.135 has remained basically unchanged since it was first interpreted in 1858, in Shannon v People, 5 Mich 71 (1858). We are aware of no other prece dential Michigan case that has addressed the statute. In Shannon, our Supreme Court explained that once the person that is alleged to have abandoned the child is found to be either the child’s parent or guardian, there are two additional elements of the crime of child abandonment. These elements are (1) exposing the child and (2) the intent to wholly abandon the child. Id. at 81, 89. According to the Shannon Court, “to ‘expose’ the child is the substantive act — the ‘intent to abandon’ is the secondary ingredient; both must concur to complete the offense.” Id. at 89.
Here, with respect to whether defendant intended to wholly abandon the child, we agree with the circuit court that sufficient evidence was introduced to satisfy that element of the charged offense. The proofs showed that defendant sold his child to an undercover police officer for $10,000 cash and a note for $50,000, with the understanding that defendant did not retain any ability to visit the child or exercise his parental rights. The police officer testified that defendant was informed and agreed that the police officer’s “family” was planning to raise the child as their own, without any intervention by defendant. From this evidence it is reasonable to conclude that defendant intended to “renounce all care or protection of” the child. See id. Although defendant asked for the address where the child would be located, the record reveals that the reason that defendant requested that information was to cover up the sale, if the child’s mother returned from Texas and wanted to see her. It is clear from the evidence that defendant did not intend to participate in the child’s life after the sale. Therefore, we conclude that the prosecution’s proofs established the element that defendant intended to wholly abandon his daughter.
However, we conclude that the evidence presented did not establish the element of exposure. With regard to exposure, the Shannon Court stated:
The connection in which this section stands in our statute, in the chapter entitled, “Of Offenses against the Lives and Persons of Individuals,” as well as the severity of the punishment, we think very clearly indicate that the exposure contemplated by this section must be such as may sub ject the child to hazard of personal ipjury — such as may peril the life or health of the child, or produce severe suffering or serious bodily harm; and, hence, that to leave a child, with the intent wholly to abandon it, “in a house (or other place) where it would be certain to be cared for,” would not constitute the exposure contemplated by the statute. We can not suppose the legislature intended to inflict so severe a punishment, to protect “persons not parents or guardians from being burdened with the care and custody of children,” if they choose to assume that care and custody; or, in other words, from an unexpected demand upon their benevolence, from which they might rid themselves at any time by applying to the officers having charge of the poor. Such severity, for such a puipose, would be unprecedented in the history of legislation. On the other hand, it is perfectly clear that no actual injury need ensue from the exposure. Id. at 90.
The Court then looked further at the Legislature’s intent in passing the child abandonment statute, concluding that “[t]he object of the statute obviously was to meet the exposure in injury in limine; to prevent the hazard of injury, and to punish as a crime the act creating the hazard.” Id. at 91. The Court continued:
The question, therefore, upon this point, is simply this: Did the acts of the party leaving or abandoning the child, viewed in connection with the time, place, and all the accompanying and surrounding circumstances, subject the child to the hazard of such personal injury? If so, this is an exposure. . . .We do not intend, by this, to say that a bare possibility of injury would constitute the exposure; but the only safe and practical rule upon this point, we think, is this: If, from the time, place, and manner of leaving the child — its age, dress, the state of the weather, and all the circumstances surrounding and accompanying the transaction — the jury shall believe that there was reasonable ground to apprehend, or fear, that such injury might thereby happen to the child, then, if accompanied with the intent wholly to abandon, it is an exposure within the stat ute, and the crime is complete; but if, judging from the like premises, there was no reasonable ground to fear or apprehend that such injury might occur, then the exposure required by the statute did not exist. This may be rendered more definite by saying, that if the child be left at such a time, in such a place, and under such circumstances, as would render a parent, or other person (to whom it is confided) of ordinary prudence and humanity, reasonably apprehensive of such injury to the child, then the hazard may be said to exist, and it is an exposure within the statute.
* * -15
No parent, or other person entrusted with the custody and protection of helpless infancy, can be permitted to divest himself of the responsibility which this trust imposes, until that custody and protection have been committed to or assumed by other hands. And if, in the attempt to throw off the responsibility, he abandons the child, he must be required first to see that there is at least a reasonable certainty that some other person will assume it before the risk of injury shall occur from the abandonment; he must be held to the highest degree of diligence. The safety of a human being depends upon his acts. The law extends its protection only to acts which are legal; he is in the performance of an illegal act — he has renounced the protection of the law, and must look to his own acts and his own diligence alone to protect him from criminal responsibility. [Id. at 91-92, 95-96 (emphasis supplied).]
From Shannon, it is apparent that the child abandonment statute was implemented to prevent young children from being left unattended, with the intent to wholly abandon them, without some arrangements being made to ensure the children’s safety and minimize the hazards of personal injury from the abandonment. Although society may have changed since 1858, the statute has remained basically the same, and we are bound by our Supreme Court’s interpreta tion of the statute. See People v Beasley, 239 Mich App 548, 556; 609 NW2d 581 (2000). Here, unlike the circuit court, we conclude that defendant’s minimal inquiry into the moral and financial background of the police officer and his “family” cannot be construed as “exposing” the child to the possibility of personal injury as anticipated under this statute. The testimony at the preliminary examination demonstrated that defendant handed over his child to a person to care for her. Under these circumstances, there is no basis on which to find that the child would be left without care, putting the child at risk of personal injury from abandonment. Although defendant’s actions were repugnant, the evidence does not support the required statutory element of exposure as interpreted by our Supreme Court in Shannon. Therefore, the circuit court’s reversal of the district court’s order dismissing the charge against defendant is reversed.
In response to this case and the publicity it generated, the Legislature enacted with unusual quickness a specific criminal statute that prohibits the sale or purchase of people, MCL 750.136c. While the ex post facto guarantees of our state (Const 1963, art 1, § 10) and federal (US Const, art I, § 10) constitutions bar defendant’s prosecution under this new criminal provision, others who commit the proscribed conduct after the effective date of the act are subject to the new criminal penalties.
In addition, defendant may have committed a common-law felony by his attempt to sell his child. In particular, MCL 750.505 provides:
Any person who shall commit any indictable offense at the common law, for the punishment of which no provision is expressly made by any statute of this state, shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not more than 5 years or by a fine of not more than $10,000.00, or both in the discretion of the court.
See, generally, People v Coutu (On Remand), 235 Mich App 695, 704-707; 599 NW2d 556 (1999); People v Cunningham, 201 Mich App 720, 722-723; 506 NW2d 624 (1993).
Because defendant has not been charged with committing a common-law felony and the prosecutor has not raised the issue, we express no opinion on the question whether attempted child selling was an indictable offense at common law. Rather, we note that our reversal is without prejudice to the filing of common-law felony charges in the event it is determined that defendant’s actions were indictable at common law.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction.
Griffin, J., concurred.
The statute, as it read in 1858, stated:
“If the father or mother of any child under the age of six years, or any person to whom such child shall have been confided, shall expose such child in any street, field, house, or other place, with the intent wholly to abandon it, he or she shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than ten years.” [Shannon, supra at 81.]
In relevant part, the statute currently reads:
A father or mother of a child under the age of 6 years, or another individual, who exposes the child in any street, field, house, or other place, with intent to injure or wholly to abandon the child, is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment for not more than 10 years. [MCL 750.135(1).]
Further, in 2000, the statute, MCL 750.135, was amended to add the following section encouraging parents of unwanted newborns to deliver them to emergency service providers instead of abandoning them:
(2) Except for a situation involving actual or suspected child abuse or child neglect, it is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under subsection (1) that the child was not more than 72 hours old and was surrendered to an emergency service provider under chapter XH of the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 712.1 to 712.20. A criminal investigation shall not be initiated solely on the basis of a newborn being surrendered to an emergency service provider under chapter XH of the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 712.1 to 712.20.
Emergency service providers are defined in subsection 3 of the statute, MCL 750.135(3).
Although the dissent states that “the Shannon Court’s definition of the term ‘expose’ is dicta,” post at 127, we disagree. In People v Higuera, 244 Mich App 429, 437-438; 625 NW2d 444 (2001), this Court explained:
Black’s Law Dictionary (7th ed) defines obiter dictum as “[a] judicial comment made during the course of delivering a judicial opinion, but one that is unnecessary to the decision in the case and therefore not precedential (though it may be considered persuasive).” The Michigan Supreme Court has declared, however, that “ ‘[w]hen a court of last resort intentionally takes up, discusses and decides a question germane to, though not necessarily decisive of, the controversy, such decision is not a dictum but is a judicial act of the court which it will thereafter recognize as a binding decision.’ ” Detroit v Michigan Public Utilities Comm, 288 Mich 267, 299-300; 286 NW 368 (1939), quoting Chase v American Cartage Co, Inc, 176 Wis 235, 238; 186 NW 598 (1922). A decision of the Supreme Court is authoritative with regard to any point decided if the Court’s opinion demonstrates “application of the judicial mind to the precise question adjudged, regardless of whether it was necessary to decide the question to decide the case.” People v Bonoite, 112 Mich App 167, 171; 315 NW2d 884 (1982).
We believe that the Shannon Court’s analysis with respect to the term “expose” in the statute under which the defendant was charged is authoritative. After finding one exception decisive to the cause, the Court continued to address, discuss, and decide other issues that were germane to the controversy. As the Shannon Court itself stated, “there are other important questions presented by the exceptions . . . .” Shannon, supra at 82, 88. We believe that the Shannon Court’s analysis is binding. Higuera, supra at 437.
MCL 750.136c provides:
(1) A person shall not transfer or attempt to transfer the legal or physical custody of an individual to another person for money or other valuable consideration, except as otherwise permitted by law.
(2) A person shall not acquire or attempt to acquire the legal or physical custody of an individual for payment of money or other valuable consideration to another person, except as otherwise permitted by law.
(3) A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 20 years or a fine of not more than $100,000.00, or both. | [
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Zahra, J.
In these consolidated appeals, plaintiffs appeal as of right from the trial court’s order granting summary disposition for defendants. We reverse and remand to the extent that these cases relate to defendant Corby Energy Services, Inc. (Corby).
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
In June 1999, defendant Corby ruptured a water main while performing underground work on behalf of defendants MCI WorldCom, Inc., MCI WorldCom Communications, Inc., and MCI WorldCom Network Services, Inc. (collectively the MCI defendants). Plaintiffs brought this negligence action, alleging that as a result of the broken water main, they were without running water for several days, they had to boil their drinking water for several days, and the business plaintiffs were forced to close or curtail their operations. Plaintiffs also brought a claim alleging negligence per se based on defendants’ failure to obtain a permit authorizing the excavating work. Defendants moved for summary disposition, arguing that the economic loss doctrine and public policy considerations precluded any recovery by plaintiffs because plaintiffs sought purely economic damages. The trial court granted summary disposition for defendants and these appeals followed.
Oral argument in this case was heard in May 2002. On August 2, 2002, the MCI defendants filed a notice of bankruptcy in these consolidated appeals. On August 16, 2002, this Court ordered the administrative closure of the appeals on the ground that further proceedings were stayed by 11 USC 362 because of the MCI defendants’ bankruptcy filing. Plaintiffs filed a motion for rehearing of the stay order. This Court granted in part the motion for rehearing, allowing the appeals to proceed only as they relate to defendant Corby.
ANALYSIS
Plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in granting summary disposition on the basis that the economic loss doctrine barred plaintiffs’ claims. We review de novo a trial court’s decision on a motion for summary disposition. Spiek v Dep’t of Transportation, 456 Mich 331, 337; 572 NW2d 201 (1998). Under MCR 2.116(C)(8), a motion for failure to state a claim for which relief may be granted tests the legal sufficiency of the pleadings. Simko v Blake, 448 Mich 648, 654; 532 NW2d 842 (1995). “All well-pleaded factual allegations are accepted as true and construed in a light most favorable to the nonmovant.” Maiden v Rozwood, 461 Mich 109, 119; 597 NW2d 817 (1999). Summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(8) is proper when a claim is so clearly unenforceable as a matter of law that no factual development could establish the claim and justify recovery. Simko, supra.
A large majority of jurisdictions in the United States have adopted some form of a judicially created limitation on tort actions that seek to recover economic damages resulting from commercial transactions. This limitation is known as the economic loss doctrine. Mt Lebanon Personal Care Home, Inc v Hoover Universal, Inc, 276 F3d 845, 848 (CA 6, 2002), citing Frumer & Friedman, Products Liability, (2000), § 13.11[1]. The economic loss doctrine is derived from the Uniform Commercial Code (ucc). According to White & Summers, Uniform Commercial Code (Hornbook Series, 4th ed), p 386, “the economic loss doctrine [is] a crude proxy for the dividing line between what is tort and what is not.” The doctrine’s basic premise is that economic losses that relate to commercial transactions are not recoverable in tort. White and Summers reason:
Putting aside injury to third parties that arises out of conventional tortious behavior and ignoring personal injury to the buyer, we see no reason why all other liability arising out of defective goods ought not be under Article 2. By hypothesis the parties to these suits negotiate with one another. If the buyer does not protect its own interest adequately, adequate backup protection is given by Article 2 doctrines such as unconscionability in 2-302, restriction of disclaimers under 2-316, and limitation on disclaimer of remedy under 2-719. Courts should be particularly skeptical of business plaintiffs who — having negotiated an elaborate contract or having signed a form when they wish they had not — claim to have a right in tort whether the tort theory is negligent misrepresentation, strict tort, or negligence. [Id., pp 386-387.]
The Michigan Supreme Court formally adopted the economic loss doctrine in Neibarger v Universal Coop, Inc, 439 Mich 512; 486 NW2d 612 (1992), explaining that
“ ‘[w]here a purchaser’s expectations in a sale are frustrated because the product he bought is not working properly, his remedy is said to be in contract alone, for he has suffered only “economic” losses.’ ” This doctrine hinges on a distinction drawn between transactions involving the sale of goods for commercial purposes where economic expectations are protected by commercial and contract law, and those involving the sale of defective products to individual consumers who are injured in a manner which has traditionally been remedied by resort to the law of torts. [Id. at 520-521 (citations omitted).][ ]
If a commercial purchaser were allowed to sue in tort to recover economic loss, the UCC would be rendered meaningless and “ ‘contract law would drown in a sea of tort.’ ” Id. at 528, quoting East River Steamship Corp v Transamerica Delaval Inc, 476 US 858, 866; 106 S Ct 2295; 90 L Ed 2d 865 (1986).
Since Neibarger, the economic loss doctrine in Michigan has been applied in the context of various transactions for goods or products to bar recovery in tort when damages are recoverable under the Uni form Commercial Code. Sherman v Sea Ray Boats, Inc, 251 Mich App 41; 649 NW2d 783 (2002) (involving the sale of a boat); MASB-SEG Prop/Cas Pool, Inc v Metalux, 231 Mich App 393; 586 NW2d 549 (1998) (involving the sale of a light fixture); Citizens Ins Co v Osmose Wood Preserving, Inc, 231 Mich App 40; 585 NW2d 314 (1998) (involving the sale of flame-retardant chemicals applied to roofing materials); Huron Tool & Engineering Co v Precision Consulting Services, Inc, 209 Mich App 365; 532 NW2d 541 (1995) (involving the sale of a software system); Krupp PM Engineering, Inc v Honeywell, Inc, 209 Mich App 104; 530 NW2d 146 (1995) (involving the sale of a furnace component). This Court has extended the economic loss doctrine beyond commercial transactions involving sophisticated users to the sale of consumer goods, even when the plaintiff consumer enters into a transaction with an entity of greater knowledge or bargaining power. Sherman, supra at 47-50 (economic loss doctrine applied when the individual consumer plaintiff purchased a boat from the defendant manufacturer).
A factor present in all cases in which Michigan courts have applied the economic loss doctrine is that the parties to the litigation were involved, either directly or indirectly, in a transaction for goods. For example, in Metalux, supra at 402, this Court focused on the parties involved and the nature of the product’s use in concluding that the economic loss doctrine applied. Both parties were “sophisticated commercial entities who had the knowledge and ability to allocate liability in their purchase and sale agreement.” Id. Furthermore, the purchase was for a commercial purpose. Id. This Court concluded that the economic loss doctrine applied and the plaintiff’s exclusive remedy was provided by the ucc because the consequences of the product’s potential failure were likely to have been contemplated by the parties when they entered into the agreement for the sale. Id.
This Court has declined to apply the economic loss doctrine where the claim emanates from a contract for services. See Higgins v Lauritzen, 209 Mich App 266; 530 NW2d 171 (1995). This Court has also concluded that the economic loss doctrine does not apply when a plaintiff could not have anticipated a safety hazard involved in a product through bargaining or negotiation at the time of the transaction or purchase. Detroit Bd of Ed v Celotex Corp (On Remand), 196 Mich App 694, 705; 493 NW2d 513 (1992). In Celotex Corp, this Court determined that the economic loss doctrine did not apply where the plaintiffs sued the defendant manufacturer of asbestos products that were used in the plaintiffs’ school buildings. Id. at 703-705. This Court explained that the economic loss doctrine applied to commercial transactions where “the parties have the ability to bargain for the terms of sale, including warranties, disclaimers, and limitation of remedies.” Id. at 702. In Celotex Corp, the plaintiffs did not claim that the products at issue, which contained asbestos, were inferior in quality, deteriorated, or caused injury to other products, but instead claimed that the products were safety hazards that created a potential health risk. Id. at 704-705. This Court observed that the economic loss doctrine was not applicable because the plaintiffs could not have anticipated and bargained over the hazards of asbestos at the time of the sale. Id. at 705.
On the basis of Neibarger and its progeny, we conclude that parties to a transaction for goods are precluded recovery in tort for economic loss caused by inferior products where: (1) the parties or others closely related to them had the opportunity to negotiate the terms of the sale of the good or product causing the injury, and (2) their economic expectations can be satisfied by contractual remedies. Neibarger, supra at 520-529; Celotex Corp, supra at 702-703; Sullivan Industries, Inc v Double Seal Glass Co, Inc, 192 Mich App 333, 339-340; 480 NW2d 623 (1991). In the present case, there was not a contract, commercial transaction, or any other kind of relationship that existed between the parties. Without a contract or transaction, plaintiffs could not have bargained for any terms of the service or anticipated any risks in defendant Corby’s underground work. Thus, this case does not involve a situation where the parties’ economic expectations have been bargained for and established by agreement. Plaintiffs are consumers of water who allege that their access to the water supply was interrupted as a result of defendant Corby’s negligence in damaging the water main. Because there is no underlying sale of goods, transaction, or contract between the parties or others closely related to them, plaintiffs have no recourse against Corby under commercial or contract law. Utilizing the broadest interpretation of Michigan’s economic loss doctrine, plaintiffs are not limited to remedies in contract or the UCC, but have a proper remedy in tort.
Defendant Corby’s only argument in support of applying the economic loss doctrine is that the damages sustained by plaintiffs are purely economic. However, a negligence claim may advance solely on a claim of economic loss. See, e.g., Case v Consumers Power Co, 463 Mich 1; 615 NW2d 17 (2000). In order for the economic loss doctrine to bar recovery in tort, there must be a transaction that provides an avenue by which the parties are afforded the opportunity to negotiate to protect their respective interests. The transactions in the present case are not sufficiently related to plaintiffs’ claim to give rise to application of the economic loss doctrine. We recognize that it may be argued that plaintiffs purchased their water from their local unit of government and thus there was a transaction for goods that would give rise to application of the ucc. However, defendant Corby was not in any way related to this transaction in such a manner that it may be said that Corby was either directly or indirectly involved in the transaction. Rather, defendant Corby contracted with the MCI defendants to provide excavating services. In the course of performing their contract, Corby’s allegedly tortious behavior resulted in injury to plaintiffs — third parties unrelated to the Corby-MCI transaction. This type of claim does not fall within the scope of the ucc and should not be barred by the economic loss doctrine. See White & Summers, supra, p 386 (expressly precluding from the economic loss doctrine “injur[ies] to third parties that arise [] out of conventional tortious behavior . . .”). Given that this case involves only negligence claims and there is no underlying contract governing the parties’ economic expectations, the economic loss doctrine does not apply.
Defendant Corby’s reliance on Rinaldo’s Constr Corp v Michigan Bell Tel Co, 454 Mich 65; 559 NW2d 647 (1997), and Mieras v DeBona, 452 Mich 278; 550 NW2d 202 (1996), to support summary disposition in this case is misplaced. Corby cites a portion of Mieras in which Justice Boyle quoted from an Oregon case: “Standing alone, without a duty to plaintiff derived from defendant’s contractual undertaking, plaintiff’s tort claim would confront the rule that one ordinarily is not liable for negligently causing a stran ger’s purely economic loss without injuring his person or property.” Id. at 300 (Boyle, J.), quoting Hale v Groce, 304 Or 281, 283-284; 744 P2d 1289 (1987). That quote must be considered in context. The issue in Mieras, was whether a beneficiary named in a will may pursue a tort action against the attorney who drafted the will. The majority determined that an intended will beneficiary may enforce an attorney’s contractual duty to his testator client to include the beneficiary in the will and that the same contract creates a legal duty of care to the intended beneficiary based on that party’s status as a third-party beneficiary under the will. Mieras, supra at 299-302 (Boyle, J.). Accordingly, the majority held that “beneficiaries named in a will may bring a tort-based cause of action against the attorney who drafted the will for negligent breach of the standard of care owed to the beneficiary by nature of the beneficiary’s third-party beneficiary status.” Id. at 308 (Boyle, J.). As discussed, in the present case there was no contractual relationship between the parties. Thus, the Court’s reasoning in Mieras with respect to whether tort damages could be recovered on the basis of the defendant’s failure to perform his contractual duties is inapplicable.
Likewise, the holding in Rinaldo’s Constr Corp is not directly applicable to this case. That case held that for the purpose of determining whether an alleged failure to perform under a contract supports an action in tort, the threshold inquiry is whether the plaintiff alleges a violation of a legal duty separate and distinct from the contractual obligation. Rinaldo’s Constr Corp, supra at 83-84; see Sherman, supra at 48. Again, in the present case there was no contract between the litigants or entities closely related to them. Further, plaintiffs’ tort claim is not based on the failure to perform a contract. Thus, this Court’s discussion in Rinaldo’s Constr Corp, supra at 84-85, regarding recovery of economic loss in the context of whether a separate, distinct duty arises during the performance of a contract, is not dispositive of this case.
Our conclusion that the economic loss doctrine does not apply in this case is not altered by prior cases in which this Court “expressly rejected the argument that the economic loss doctrine does not apply in the absence of privity of contract.” Citizens Ins Co, supra at 45, citing Freeman v DEC Intl, Inc, 212 Mich App 34; 536 NW2d 815 (1995), and Sulli van, supra. In each of the cases where the economic loss doctrine was applied absent privity of contract, the defendant was a supplier of a product, the plaintiff was the consumer of that product, and the economic losses emanated from the failure of the product to meet the expectations of the product consumer. In each case, there was a contract or commercial transaction that governed the plaintiffs economic expectations.
Thus, while this Court has applied the economic loss doctrine to bar tort claims against parties who were suppliers of components of goods purchased by the plaintiffs, there is no support for applying the doctrine in the absence of a transaction between the parties or others closely related to them, whereby the allocation of risks could be negotiated. Here, there was no transaction between the parties that is used as the basis of plaintiffs’ claims. Accordingly, there is no basis for applying the economic loss doctrine in this case to bar plaintiffs’ tort claim, and we refuse to extend this judge-made doctrine to these circumstances.
We also decline to consider at this time defendant Corby’s alternative argument for dismissal that is based on public policy grounds. According to Corby, plaintiffs’ negligence claim is barred by a policy against “mass tort claims” by potentially thousands of plaintiffs proceeding solely on allegations of economic damages. Corby cites several cases from other jurisdictions in making its public policy argument. Significantly, the trial court in this case did not rule on the Water Main Break Litigation plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. The court determined the issue was moot after it ruled that plaintiffs’ claims were barred by the economic loss doctrine. Under these circumstances, Corby’s assertion that this case involves a mass tort claim with the potential for disproportionate economic exposure is speculative. Given that the number of plaintiffs in this case is defined by the pleadings below, we are not inclined to speculate regarding the proper policy in the event a class is certified or the number of plaintiffs is significantly increased.
Reversed and remanded. We do not retain jurisdiction.
In this opinion, “plaintiffs” refers to Quest Diagnostics, Inc., and the Water Main Break Litigation plaintiffs, a purported class of individuals and businesses, including David Shea, Pam Carveth, Kim and Mark Aumann, The lk Off Card Shop, Inc., Pravis Industries, Inc., Cosmetic Dermatology and Vein Centers of North Oakland County, P.C., and all other “individuals, proprietorships, partnerships, corporations and other businesses and legal entities in Michigan that were affected by the damage to the water main in Auburn Hills in June 1999.” The Water Main Break Litigation plaintiffs brought a motion for class certification, but defendants’ motion for summary disposition was granted before the trial court ruled on the issue of class status.
On appeal, plaintiffs do not specifically challenge the trial court’s dismissal of the claim alleging negligence per se.
The Supreme Court recognized that the term “economic loss” may be a misnomer:
“It would be better to call it a ‘commercial loss,’ not only because personal injuries and especially property losses are economic losses, too — they destroy values which can be and are monetized — but also, and more important, because tort law is a superfluous and inapt tool for resolving purely commercial disputes. We have a body of law designed for such disputes. It is called contract law. Products liability law has evolved into a specialized branch of tort law for use in cases in which a defective product caused, not the usual commercial loss, but a personal injury to a consumer or bystander.” [Id. at 522, quoting Miller v United States Steel Corp, 902 F2d 573, 574 (CA 7, 1990).]
A majority of jurisdictions limit the economic loss doctrine to those cases in which only the product itself is damaged or the damage is closely related to the use of that product. See, e.g., East River Steamship Corp, supra at 871 (admirality law); Miller, n 3 supra at 574-576 (applying Wisconsin law); Kershaw Co Bd of Ed v United States Gypsum Co, 302 S C 390, 393; 396 SE2d 369 (1990); Clark v Int’l Harvester Co, 99 Idaho 326, 333; 581 P2d 784 (1978). Michigan’s economic loss doctrine is broader than other jurisdictions in that it not only includes damage to the product itself, but may also include damage to other property when “this damage was within the contemplation of the parties to the agreement . . . Neibarger, supra at 532; see also Detroit Bd of Ed v Celotex Corp (On Remand), 196 Mich App 694, 703; 493 NW2d 513 (1992).
While a small minority of jurisdictions limit the economic loss doctrine to business purchases, most jurisdictions extend its application to both business and consumer purchases. Mt Lebanon Personal Care Home, Inc, supra at 848.
As noted in In re Starlink Corn Products Liability Litigation, 212 F Supp 2d 828, 839, n 6 (ND Ill, 2002), although the economic loss doctrine traditionally applies to cases involving defective products, the doctrine has expanded in some jurisdictions to include most contractually acquired services. However, there is considerably less uniformity among jurisdictions, particularly with respect to the growing number of exceptions courts have carved out, when applied to services. Id.
We reject plaintiffs’ assertion that they have also alleged personal injury. As stated by the trial court in its opinion granting summary disposition:
[T]he plaintiffs in the Water Main Break file alleged only that “[e]ven after water service is restored, residents and businesses will be forced to boil city water to avoid becoming sick from bacteria and other contaminants which infected the water as a result of Defendants’ damage to the water main.” However, this is not an allegation of an injury. It is only an allegation of what steps may have to be taken to avoid injury. The balance of Plaintiffs’ allegations are not for personal injury or property damage.
In Citizens Ins Co, the builders of a restaurant installed wood trusses and a plywood roof decking that had been treated for flame retardancy with chemicals manufactured by the defendant. Id. at 41-42. A subcontractor had treated the wood materials according to instructions provided by the defendant. Id. at 42. The plaintiff, an insurer holding the subrogated rights of the restaurant owner, alleged that the materials treated with the defendant’s chemicals deteriorated and collapsed, causing damage to the restaurant. Id. Although there was no privity of contract between the parties, an underlying contract existed between the restaurant owner (the commercial consumer) and the builder of the restaurant, who had hired the subcontractor to treat the roofing materials with the defendant’s chemicals. Id. In the present case, on the other hand, there is no underlying contract that governed plaintiffs’ economic expectations.
In Freeman, the plaintiff dairy farmers purchased an electric milking system that had parts manufactured by the defendant. Id. at 35. The plaintiffs sued the defendant after discovering that a decline in milk production was attributable to stray voltage from the milking system. Id. This Court explained that, regardless of privity of contract, the ucc applies when the plaintiff is a commercial buyer suing a manufacturer of goods for economic losses. Id. at 38. This Court then held that the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by the ucc statute of limitations. Id. at 38-39. As in Citizens Ins Co, the parties in Freeman were not in privity of contract, but the plaintiffs’ expectations were governed by an underlying contract between the plaintiffs and the seller of the milking system. The parties had the opportunity to negotiate the terms of the purchase and their economic expectations could be satisfied by contractual remedies.
Sullivan is another case where this Court held that the plaintiffs claims were limited by the UCC where the plaintiffs expectations were governed by a commercial transaction. In Sullivan, one of the defendants, a sealant manufacturer, supplied sealant to the other defendant, a glass part supplier, who, in turn, supplied glass parts to the plaintiff manufacturer for making doors and windows. Sullivan, supra at 336-337. The plaintiff brought claims based on tort and contract against the defendants after the glass parts turned out to be defective. Id. at 337-338. This Court held that the absence of privity between the sealant manufacturer defendant and the plaintiff did not preclude application of the economic loss doctrine and that the plaintiffs tort claims against the sealant manufacturer defendant were barred. Id. at 344-345. Once again, this Court found the economic loss doctrine to be applicable in a case where privity was not present, but a contract for goods existed, which governed the underlying transaction.
Plaintiffs’ argument regarding tortious ejectment was not preserved for our review because it was not raised and addressed below. Thus, we decline to address it. Fast Air, Inc v Knight, 235 Mich App 541, 549; 599 NW2d 489 (1999). Moreover, given our conclusion that the trial court erred in granting summary disposition to defendants on the basis of the economic loss doctrine, we need not consider plaintiffs’ additional argument that their claims fit a “danger exception” to the economic loss doctrine. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant appeals as of right from his jury trial convictions on one count of possession with intent to deliver less than fifty grams of cocaine and one count of possession with intent to deliver less than fifty grams of heroin. MCL 333.7401(2) (a) (iv). Defendant was sentenced to consecutive prison terms of 2V2 to 40 years on each count. We affirm defendant’s convictions, but remand for resentencing and correction of the presentence investigation report.
Defendant first argues that the trial court did not comply with the requirements to establish that he knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived counsel before allowing him to act as his own attorney at trial. MCR 6.005(D); People v Anderson, 398 Mich 361, 366-367; 247 NW2d 857 (1976). Defendant contends that he neither stated that he waived counsel nor unequivocally requested to proceed pro se, a necessary prerequisite to invoke his right of self-representation. Id. at 367. Further, defendant’s expression of dissatisfaction with counsel is not an unequivocal request to represent himself, People v Pruitt, 28 Mich App 270, 272; 184 NW2d 292 (1970), nor does the presence of standby counsel legitimize an invalid waiver of counsel, People v Lane, 453 Mich 132, 138; 551 NW2d 382 (1996). The prosecutor argues that defendant’s conduct and refusal to accept representation by appointed counsel constituted a knowing and intelligent waiver of his constitutional right to counsel. We agree with the prosecutor.
In this case, defendant continually complained about his court-appointed counsel. Defendant’s first appointed counsel, Paul Mitchell, was permitted to withdraw after defendant complained of his representation. Defendant’s complaints concerning Mitchell mirrored those he would later raise about Damian Nunzio, who was appointed to replace Mitchell. On the first day of trial, defendant asked that Nunzio be removed and substitute counsel be appointed. Defendant’s complaints concerning Nunzio included lack of communication and failure to furnish discovery, that Nunzio lacked belief in his innocence, that Nunzio failed to file a “14-day rule” motion, and that defendant had filed a grievance, which neither Nunzio nor the trial court could confirm. Nunzio indicated that he had repeatedly attempted to communicate with defendant, that he had explored all relevant issues, that he had completed discovery, and that he was prepared to try the case. Nunzio acknowledged that he and defendant had “a different point of view” concerning the trial. Defendant acknowledged that his problem communicating with Nunzio resulted from a personality conflict. The trial court found that defendant had developed personality difficulties with two “of the very best lawyers available” from the local bar. The trial court also found that Nunzio was a good, experienced lawyer who had succeeded in getting some evidence suppressed and, accordingly, the trial court found that no valid reason existed to replace him with substitute counsel.
The trial court is in the best position to determine whether facts exist that establish “good cause” to replace appointed counsel. MCR 2.613(C); People v LeBlanc, 465 Mich 575, 579; 640 NW2d 246 (2002); People v Ahumada, 222 Mich App 612, 614; 564 NW2d 188 (1997). In this case, good cause was not demonstrated by the allegations of defendant that counsel did not see things defendant’s way, People v Meyers (On Remand), 124 Mich App 148, 165-166; 335 NW2d 189 (1983). Further, that counsel did not pursue futile motions or meaningless discovery did not demonstrate good cause because matters of general legal expertise and strategy fall within the sphere of the professional judgment of counsel. See People v Traylor, 245 Mich App 460, 462; 628 NW2d 120 (2001) (filing frivolous motions), People v Jones, 168 Mich App 191, 195; 423 NW2d 614 (1988) (questioning witnesses), and People v O’Brien, 89 Mich App 704, 708; 282 NW2d 190 (1979) (questioning witnesses and juror voir dire). Moreover, it is apparent that the trial court was concerned that appointing substitute counsel, when the jury was waiting to hear a case that had already experienced substantial delay, would unreasonably disrupt the judicial process. People v Mack, 190 Mich App 7, 14; 475 NW2d 830 (1991); Jones, supra at 194. Thus, the record supports the trial court’s conclusion that good cause had not been shown to warrant appointment of substitute counsel. Additionally, granting the request would have disrupted the judicial process without necessarily resolving defendant’s complaints. Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defen dant’s request to appoint substitute counsel. Traylor, supra at 462; Mack, supra.
With respect to waiver of counsel at trial, the United States Supreme Court has held that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel also implies the right of self-representation. Faretta v California, 422 US 806, 821; 95 S Ct 2525; 45 L Ed 2d 562 (1975). In Michigan, the right of self-representation is explicitly recognized by our constitution and by statute. Const 1963, art 1, § 13; MCL 763.1; People v Adkins (After Remand), 452 Mich 702, 720; 551 NW2d 108 (1996). But a defendant cannot exercise both his right to self-representation and his right to counsel; he must choose one or the other. Id.; People v Dennany, 445 Mich 412, 442; 519 NW2d 128 (1994) (Griffin, J.). Thus, because self-representation involves forgoing the right to counsel, a defendant must knowingly and intelligently waive his right to counsel before being permitted to represent himself. Faretta, supra at 835. “The defendant must exhibit ‘an intentional relinquishment or abandonment’ of the right to counsel, and the court should ‘indulge eveiy reasonable presumption against waiver’ of that right.” Adkins, supra at 721, quoting Johnson v Zerbst, 304 US 458, 464; 58 S Ct 1019; 82 L Ed 1461 (1938). A defendant may only enter into self-representation “with his eyes open,” aware of the dangers of acting as his own counsel. Faretta, supra; Adkins, supra at 725.
In the present case, when defendant expressed dissatisfaction with appointed counsel, the trial court indicated its willingness to appoint substitute counsel, provided defendant had a valid reason other than a personality clash to do so. The trial court made it clear, however, that if defendant failed to establish good cause, his options were (1) retain his own counsel, (2) continue with court-appointed counsel, (3) represent himself, or (4) represent himself with court-appointed counsel as a legal advisor. The trial court repeatedly advised defendant of the options that were available to him. The trial court also warned defendant of the dangers of self-representation, including, “unless you are legally trained . . . there are many pitfalls there for the unwary,” and “I’m suggesting that you don’t know legal procedure.” The trial court also advised defendant as follows:
I should advise you that there is an ancient adage in the law, for good reason, that a man who acts as his own counsel has a fool for a client. The corollary to the rule is that he also has a fool for a lawyer, but, as a practical matter, it all winds up in the same place.
My guess is that you will not fare well in that approach, but you have a right to take that approach if you wish to do it. And, while I would not advise it, I will certainly guard your rights and see to it that you have the opportunity to present your own defense, if that’s your wish.
After ruling that defendant had not shown good cause to replace his appointed counsel, the trial court twice strongly urged defendant to accept representation by Nunzio, who the court opined had done a good job preparing the case, and who the trial court described as one of the best lawyers of the local bar. Throughout the waiver colloquy, the trial court on several occasions suggested a recess to give defendant an opportunity to consult with court-appointed counsel. Further, the trial court took two recesses before allowing defendant to proceed pro se, the first for twenty minutes and the second for IV2 hours, to give defendant the opportunity to consult with coun sel and weigh his options. Although the trial court did not explicitly comply with that portion of MCR 6.005(D)(1) that requires “advising the defendant of the charge, the maximum possible prison sentence for the offense, any mandatory minimum sentence required by law,” during the first trial court recess defendant was provided with a copy of the information, which would contain those facts, along with items such as the police reports, register of actions, and other discovery items.
The record demonstrates that defendant was thoroughly advised of the risks of self-representation and was repeatedly advised that if he chose to reject court-appointed counsel, his options were self-representation or to retain counsel. Defendant made his unequivocal choice, not by explicitly demanding to represent himself, but implicitly by repeatedly rejecting representation by court-appointed counsel in the face of numerous warnings and advice to the contrary.
Thus, by his own conduct defendant demonstrated his unequivocal choice to proceed in pro se. Defendant confirmed this choice again after jury selection when he again asserted that he did not want Niinzio to participate in the trial. In Mack, supra at 13, the defendant also argued that his appointed counsel was ineffective and the trial court, as in the case at bar, offered the defendant the choice of either keeping appointed counsel or representing himself. Although the facts of Mack are slightly different, the totality of the circumstances in this case, “including the background, experience and conduct of the accused,” Anderson, supra at 370; People v Riley, 156 Mich App 396, 399; 401 NW2d 875 (1986), established the same conclusion, that defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to counsel aware of the dangers of self-representation. Adkins, supra at 725; Mack, supra at 15-16.
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant’s request for substitute appointed counsel. The trial court also substantially complied with the Anderson rules and MCR 6.005(D) and did not err in finding that defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to counsel. Finally, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in permitting defendant to proceed in pro se. Adkins, supra at 721, n 16.
Defendant also argues that the trial court erred in failing to comply with MCR 6.005(E) at sentencing and that, as a consequence, he did not effectively waive his right to counsel. Further, defendant argues that even if the claim of error was forfeited, it nonetheless was plain error and affected his substantial rights. We agree with defendant that a remand for resentencing with the offer of appointed counsel is required.
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel extends to every critical stage of the proceeding. People v Anderson (After Remand), 446 Mich 392, 402; 521 NW2d 538 (1994); People v Marsack, 231 Mich App 364, 377; 586 NW2d 234 (1998). Sentencing is a critical stage at which a defendant has a constitutional right to counsel that includes the right to effective assistance of counsel. People v Pubrat, 451 Mich 589, 594; 548 NW2d 595 (1996). Thus, if a defendant “either was denied counsel or denied the effective assistance of counsel, he is entitled to relief.” Id.
The record in this case clearly indicates that at the sentence proceedings the trial court did not comply with MCR 6.005(E), which provides:
If a defendant has waived the assistance of a lawyer, the record of each subsequent proceeding (e.g., preliminary examination, arraignment, proceedings leading to possible revocation of youthful trainee status, hearings, trial or sentencing) need show only that the court advised the defendant of the continuing right to a lawyer’s assistance (at public expense if the defendant is indigent) and that the defendant waived that right. Before the court begins such proceedings, (1) the defendant must reaffirm that a lawyer’s assistance is not wanted; or (2) if the defendant requests a lawyer and is financially unable to retain one, the court must appoint one; or (3) if the defendant wants to retain a lawyer and has the financial ability to do so, the court must allow the defendant a reasonable opportunity to retain one.
Our Supreme Court has explained that this court rule is not onerous.
MCE 6.005(E) requires only that the record show that the court advised the defendant of the right to an attorney and informed the defendant that an attorney would be appointed for him if the defendant were indigent, and that defendant either waived the right to counsel or requested a lawyer. In most circumstances, these requirements would be adequately met by the judge telling the defendant that in the upcoming proceeding he has the right to an attorney, at public expense if necessary, and asking the defendant whether he wishes to have an attorney or to continue to represent himself. [Lane, supra at 137.]
Our Supreme Court concluded in Lane, supra at 141, that although the failure to comply with MCR 6.005(E) could have been outcome determinative because the defendant might otherwise have requested counsel, it nevertheless affirmed because prejudice had not been alleged by the defendant, ha this case, defendant alleges prejudice because he wanted counsel and did not validly waive counsel. Moreover, defendant alleges prejudice because his sentence might have been less if he had been represented by counsel and because he did not have the assistance of counsel to implement correction of the presentence report by submitting an order for the trial court to enter. The prosecutor argues that the trial court’s error in not complying with MCR 6.005(E) was harmless because the positions of defendant and the trial court had not changed from the time of the trial, that is, defendant would not accept Nunzio’s representation and the trial court would not appoint substitute counsel. We disagree.
Although the record confirms that defendant’s position had not changed in that he wanted to be represented by counsel, but was unwilling to accept Nunzio as court-appointed counsel, the premise relied on to find a valid waiver of counsel at trial may no longer have existed at the time of sentencing two months after the trial. Defendant’s waiver of counsel at trial was premised on the trial court’s proper denial of defendant’s motion for substitute counsel, and thereafter, defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily chose to proceed pro se rather than accept court-appointed counsel. At the time of sentencing, however, the continued vitality of that premise, that defendant was not entitled to appointment of substitute counsel, was questionable. While the record from the trial supports the conclusion that Nunzio was ready, able, and willing to effectively represent defendant at trial, the record from the sentencing indicates that it might have been an abuse of discretion for the trial court to have denied a request for substitute counsel had it been made.
At the sentencing, Nunzio was clearly “tired” of defendant’s constant complaining. Nunzio acknowledged that he had not talked to defendant at the jail before the sentencing. Although Nunzio indicated that he was still patient and willing to assist defendant, he also revealed that defendant had filed “a formal complaint against counsel,” which Nunzio had received after the trial and that Nunzio had asked to be removed as legal advisor before imposition of the sentence. The record also suggests that Nunzio viewed the situation as pointless. Further, at one point, the trial court was willing to accommodate defendant’s concerns about Nunzio by asking Nunzio to leave.
Moreover, at the time of the sentencing, the trial court did not have a jury waiting in the wings to hear a case that had already been delayed. Rather, the speedy-trial clock had stopped ticking and defendant was incarcerated pending sentencing on two convictions that require consecutive sentences of up to life in prison. Delaying defendant’s sentencing for a week or two to facilitate appointment of substitute counsel would not have been an undue burden on the criminal justice system.
The complete denial of counsel at a critical stage of a criminal proceeding is structural error rendering the result unreliable and requiring automatic reversal. Gideon v Wainwright, 372 US 335; 83 S Ct 792; 9 L Ed 2d 799 (1963); People v Duncan, 462 Mich 47, 51-52; 610 NW2d 551 (2000). Moreover, the failure to comply with MCR 6.005(E) denied defendant the substantial right of being offered appointed counsel and this trial error seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings, mandating the remand of this matter for resentencing. People v Carines, 460 Mich 750, 763; 597 NW2d 130 (1999).
At the sentencing proceeding, defendant claimed that the presentence report incorrectly reported he had been on probation in 1972 and 1973 (as a juvenile for truancy and “disobedience”), and he also disputed that he had threatened a cab driver with a gun as part of a 1991 conviction of carrying a concealed weapon. The trial court accepted defendant’s version and agreed to enter an order to strike the objectionable material upon submission, but the report was not corrected. The prosecutor agrees that defendant is entitled to have the objectionable material stricken from the presentence report.
Both MCL 771.14(6) and MCR 6.425(D)(3)(a) require that information in the presentence report that the trial court determines is inaccurate or irrelevant must be either corrected or stricken from the report. Therefore, a remand for the ministerial task of correcting the presentence report is required.
Defendant’s convictions are affirmed, but the case is remanded for appointment of counsel, if defendant so desires, for resentencing, and for correction of the presentence report. We do not retain jurisdiction. | [
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Per Curiam.
A jury convicted defendant of aggravated stalking, MCL 750.41 li, and the trial court sentenced defendant as a fourth-offense habitual offender, MCL 769.12, to a term of six to twenty years’ imprisonment. He appeals as of right, and we affirm.
Aggravated stalking consists of the crime of “stalking,” MCL 750.41 1h(1)(d), and the presence of an aggravating circumstance specified in MCL 750.411i(2). Here, the prosecution argued that defendant was guilty of aggravated stalking because he engaged in stalking under the circumstances set forth in MCL 750.411i(2)(a) and (c):
(a) At least 1 of the actions constituting the offense is in violation of a restraining order and the individual has received actual notice of that restraining order or at least 1 of the actions is in violation of an injunction or preliminary injunction.
* * *
(c) The course of conduct includes the making of 1 or more credible threats against the victim, a member of the victim’s family, or another individual living in the same household as the victim.
Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence with respect to the requirement in subsection 411i(2)(a) that the defendant receive “actual notice” of a personal protection order (ppo). Although defendant does not contend that the evidence was insufficient to establish aggravated stalking under subsection 411i(2)(c), he asserts that where two alternative theories of guilt are submitted to the jury and the evidence supporting one theory is legally insufficient, reversal is required because it is impossible to tell on which theory the conviction was based. See People v Sammons, 191 Mich App 351, 370; 478 NW2d 901 (1991); People v Grainger, 117 Mich App 740; 754-755; 324 NW2d 762 (1982); People v Olsson, 56 Mich App 500; 224 NW2d 691 (1974). Because we hold that there is sufficient evidence of “actual notice,” we need not address defendant’s “alternative theory” defense.
The term “actual notice” is not defined in subsection 411i(2)(a). Defendant argues, erroneously, that the term should be construed in accordance with the requirements of MCL 600.2950a relative to service of a ppo. Because the evidence failed to show that he was personally served with a copy of the PPO as required by MCL 600.2950a, defendant asserts that the evidence was therefore insufficient to establish “actual notice” for purposes of subsection 411i(2)(a).
The primary goal of judicial interpretation of statutes is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the Legislature. People v Webb, 458 Mich 265, 273-274; 580 NW2d 884 (1998). The rules of statutory construction require that every phrase be given its commonly understood meaning. Id. Here, in asking this Court to construe the term “actual notice” in the aggravated stalking statute in accordance with MCL 600.2950a, defendant appears to rely on the “in pari materia” rule. However, that interpretative aid should be used only where a statute is first determined to be ambiguous. Tyler v Livonia Pub Schools, 459 Mich 382, 392; 590 NW2d 560 (1999).
We are not persuaded that the term “actual notice” is ambiguous and, therefore, reject defendant’s invitation to construe the term in a manner that incorporates the service requirements of MCL 600.2950a. Moreover, were we to examine MCL 600.2950a to determine what is required to demonstrate “actual notice” under the aggravated stalking statute, we would find that it does not support defendant’s claim that “actual notice” must be equated with service. MCL 600.2950a(8)(g), and (10) refer to “receiv[ing] actual notice” and “befing] served” in the alternative. These references indicate that, under MCL 600.2950a, “actual notice” is not the equivalent of service.
Viewed in a light most favorable to the prosecution, the evidence is sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant had actual notice of the ppo. People v Johnson, 460 Mich 720, 723; 597 NW2d 73 (1999). The complainant’s testimony demonstrated that defendant made several statements from which his knowledge of the PPO could reasonably be inferred, that he had evaded service, and that defendant spoke with both the complainant and an investigator about the PPO. The evidence is sufficient to establish that defendant had “actual notice” of the order.
Affirmed.
The complainant testified that defendant told her, “I better stop playing and — and get this ... up off of him.” She understood that defendant was referring to the ppo because “[h]e had left messages to that effect before and that’s the document that’s on file against him.” The complainant further testified that defendant referred to a court order or court document in September or October and that, on another occasion, defendant talked about information that was included in the attachment to the ppo. | [
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Per Curiam.
In this premises liability action involving a slip and fall, defendant city of South Lyon appeals by leave granted the trial court’s order denying its motion to name Enertel, Inc., a nonparty at fault. We affirm.
Plaintiff alleged that she tripped and fell on a sidewalk located within South Lyon. According to plaintiff, Enertel had recently replaced the sidewalk in question under a contract to install fiber optic cable for Ameritech, Inc. Plaintiff claimed that the newly installed concrete slabs sank below the level of the adjoining slabs, creating an uneven and hazardous surface. Plaintiff further asserted that South Lyon was informed of the problem well before her accident. She alleged that defendants negligently, carelessly, and improperly maintained and constructed the sidewalk.
Both Enertel and South Lyon moved for summary disposition on the ground that the danger was open and obvious. While the trial court granted Enertel’s motion, it denied South Lyon’s motion, citing Haas v Ionia, 214 Mich App 361; 543 NW2d 21 (1995), because a municipality cannot rely on the open and obvious danger defense where liability is premised on a failure to repair its sidewalk. After the trial court denied its motion, South Lyon requested permission to identify Enertel, under MCR 2.112(E), as a non-party at fault and the trial court granted this request at the conclusion of the hearing. However, plaintiff subsequently objected to Enertel being named a non-party at fault and filed a motion to set aside the trial court’s order. Plaintiff asserted that naming Enertel a nonparty at fault would be inconsistent with the trial court’s determination that Enertel had no duty because of the open and obvious danger doctrine. The trial court agreed and set aside its previous order.
On appeal, South Lyon contends that Michigan’s several liability system permits it to name Enertel as a potential nonparty at fault. South Lyon argues that the fact that Enertel was previously dismissed from the lawsuit under the open and obvious doctrine does not preclude the trial court from apportioning fault to Enertel under MCL 600.6304(8). We disagree. A trial court’s decision to grant relief from a judgment is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Detroit Free Press, Inc v Dep’t of State Police, 233 Mich App 554, 556; 593 NW2d 200 (1999). However, issues involving statutory interpretation are reviewed de novo on appeal as issues of law. Oade v Jackson Nat’l Life Ins Co, 465 Mich 244, 250; 632 NW2d 126 (2001).
The primary goal of statutory interpretation is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the Legislature. Hinkle v Wayne Co Clerk, 245 Mich App 405, 414; 631 NW2d 27 (2001). The Legislature is presumed to intend the meaning it plainly expressed. Guardian Photo, Inc v Dep’t of Treasury, 243 Mich App 270, 276-277; 621 NW2d 233 (2000). “In reviewing the statute’s language, every word should be given meaning, and we should avoid a construction that would render any part of the statute surplusage or nugatory.” Wickens v Oakwood Healthcare Sys, 465 Mich 53, 60; 631 NW2d 686 (2001). However, when the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous, judicial construction is neither required nor permitted. Frankemnuth Mut Ins Co v Marlette Homes, Inc, 456 Mich 511, 515; 573 NW2d 611 (1998).
The common-law doctrine of joint and several liability among multiple tortfeasors was replaced with the doctrine of several liability as a result of Michigan’s 1995 tort reform legislation. Smiley v Corrigan, 248 Mich App 51, 53; 638 NW2d 151 (2001); see also MCL 600.2956. As a result of the Legislature’s “fair share liability” system, each tortfeasor is responsible for a portion of the total damage award according to their percentage of fault. Smiley, supra at 55. According to MCL 600.2957:
(1) In an action based on tort or another legal theory-seeking damages for personal injury, . . . the liability of each person shall be allocated under this section by the trier of fact and, subject to section 6304, in direct proportion to the person’s percentage of fault. In assessing percentages of fault under this subsection, the trier of fact shall consider the fault of each person, regardless of whether the person is, or could have been, named as a party to the action.
* * =1=
(3) Sections 2956 to 2960 do not eliminate or diminish a defense or immunity that currently exists, except as expressly provided in those sections. Assessments of percentages of fault for nonparties are used only to accurately determine the fault of named parties. If fault is assessed against a nonparty, a finding of fault does not subject the nonparty to liability in that action and shall not be intro duced as evidence of liability in another action. [Emphasis added.]
Thus, under MCL 600.2957(1), the trier of fact in a tort action must allocate liability among those at fault.
MCL 600.6304(l)(b) further provides that in personal injury actions involving the fault of more than one person, the trier of fact must specifically determine the plaintiffs total damages and the percentage of fault attributed to all persons involved, “regardless of whether the person was or could have been named as a party to the action.” Under MCL 600.6304(8), “ ‘fault’ includes an act, an omission, conduct, including intentional conduct, a breach of warranty, or a breach of a legal duty, or any conduct that could give rise to the imposition of strict liability, that is a proximate cause of damage sustained by a party.”
South Lyon asserts that it would have been able to name Enertel as a potential nonparty at fault if Enertel had been previously dismissed because of release, the running of a period of limitation, or a doctrine of immunity. As such, South Lyon proposes that the open and obvious doctrine, while protecting Enertel from liability, should not preclude South Lyon from allocating damages that were attributable to Enertel. South Lyon claims that the summary disposition only established that Enertel had no duty to warn or protect plaintiff, but faded to specifically determine that it was without fault according to MCL 600.6304(8). South Lyon opines that fault in this case was established because Enertel’s “conduct” was a proximate cause of plaintiffs injuries.
Fundamental principles of tort law require that the following be established to prove a prima facie negli gence claim: (1) a duty; (2) breach of that duty; (3) proximate cause; and (4) damages. Case v Consumers Power Co, 463 Mich 1, 6; 615 NW2d 17 (2000); Riddle v McLouth Steel Products Corp, 440 Mich 85, 96, n 10; 485 NW2d 676 (1992). “It is axiomatic that there can be no tort liability unless defendants owed a duty to plaintiff.” Beaty v Hertzberg & Golden, PC, 456 Mich 247, 262; 571 NW2d 716 (1997). Consequently, a duty must first be proved before the issue of fault or proximate cause can be considered.
When addressing the issue of comparative negligence, the Supreme Court noted:
“In a common law negligence action, before a plaintiffs fault can be compared with that of the defendant, it obviously must first be determined that the defendant was negligent. It is fundamental tort law that before a defendant can be found to have been negligent, it must first be determined that the defendant owed a legal duty to the plaintiff.” [Riddle, supra at 99, quoting Ward v Kmart Corp, 136 Ill 2d 132, 145; 554 NE2d 223 (1990).]
The Court in Riddle farther noted that the adoption of a comparative negligence doctrine does not act to create negligence where none existed before. Riddle, supra at 98, n 12. Similarly, a party adjudicated to be without fault may not have fault allocated to him under the guise of the doctrine of several liability. Such a result would be contrary to the basic principles of tort law.
The Michigan Supreme Court has determined that the open and obvious doctrine directly “attacks the duty element that a plaintiff must establish in a prima facie negligence case.” Id. at 96. In the instant case, the trial court concluded that Enertel had no legal duty to plaintiff because the condition of the sidewalk was open and obvious. Absent a legal duty to plaintiff, Enertel could not be named a nonparty at fault in this negligence action. Accordingly, we find no error in the trial court’s decision.
Affirmed.
We note that the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s denial of South Lyon’s motion for summary disposition in Jones v Enertel, Inc, 467 Mich 266; 650 NW2d 334 (2002), following the Court of Appeals denial of South Lyon’s interlocutory application for leave to appeal the trial court’s denial of the motion. Unpublished order of the Court of Appeals, entered June 12, 2001 (Docket No. 233814). | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of operating a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, third offense, MCL 257.625(1); and driving while his license was suspended, MCL 257.904(1). The trial court departed upward from the sentencing guidelines and sentenced defendant to serve forty to sixty months for his operating under the influence conviction. Defendant appeals his sentence as of right. We affirm. This appeal is being decided without oral argument pursuant to MCR 7.214(E).
According to the police officers who testified at trial, defendant was driving a vehicle in excess of the speed limit. When the vehicle was stopped by the police officers, field sobriety tests led them to conclude that defendant was intoxicated and, later, blood drawn from the defendant showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.22, far in excess of the legal limit for driving. See MCL 257.625(1). However, defendant and his passenger contended that the passenger, not defen dant, had been driving the car. Although defendant was in the passenger seat at the time the car was stopped, the police officers testified that they saw activity indicating that the two occupants of the vehicle had switched positions. The jury apparently sided with the police officers in finding defendant guilty.
Defendant first argues that the trial court incorrectly scored offense variable (ov) 19 by determining that defendant had “interfered with or attempted to interfere with the administration of justice” and assigning ten sentencing points as a result. See MCL 777.49(c). Defendant here presents a question of statutory interpretation that we review de novo. People v Hegwood, 465 Mich 432, 436; 636 NW2d 127 (2001). We agree with defendant’s position.
“Interference with” justice is equivalent in meaning to “obstruction of” justice. Gamer, A Dictionary of Modem Legal Usage (2d ed), p 611. Obstruction of justice “is a broad phrase that captures every willful act of corruption, intimidation, or force that tends somehow to impair the machinery of the civil or criminal law.” Id. (emphasis added). Interference with the administration of justice thus involves an effort to undermine or prohibit the judicial process by which a civil claim or criminal charge is resolved. See, e.g., People v Coleman, 350 Mich 268; 86 NW2d 281 (1957) (affirming a conviction of obstruction of justice involving witness tampering).
Defendant here did not engage in any conduct aimed at undermining the judicial process by which the charges against him would be determined. Instead, he tried to evade those charges altogether by switching seats with his passenger and refusing an immediate blood-alcohol content test. If we were to conclude that this evasive and noncooperative behavior justified the imposition of points under ov 19, that variable would apply in almost every criminal case. Defendants almost always seek to hide their criminal behavior and rarely step forward to offer evidence proving their guilt.
Accordingly, the imposition of ten sentencing points against defendant under ov 19 was error. As defendant himself admits, the guidelines sentencing range that applies in the absence of those points has an upper limit only one month lower than that employed by the trial court. In light of the trial court’s reasons for exceeding the guidelines as well as our conclusion that a significant departure upward was appropriate here (see discussion below), we conclude that the slight ov 19 error was harmless and do not remand for resentencing. MCR 2.613(A).
Defendant further argues that the trial court improperly imposed a sentence that departed upward from the guidelines range. The longest minimum term authorized by that range was twenty-four months; the trial court imposed a minimum sentence of forty months. We review this issue to determine “whether the trial court had ‘a substantial and compelling reason’ to depart from the guidelines.” People v Babcock, 244 Mich App 64, 74; 624 NW2d 479 (2000), quoting MCL 769.34(11); see also MCL 769.34(3). In doing so, we may consider factors already taken into account during guidelines scoring if we find from the facts in the record that those factors were given inadequate weight. MCL 769.34(3)(b).
We do not find that the sentencing departure here was in error. As pointed out by the prosecutor, although defendant’s history of misdemeanors and felonies was partially accounted for in the scoring of prior record variables, that scoring did not account for the number or extent of those offenses. Other factors not accounted for in the guidelines scoring indicate that defendant is unwilling or unable to accept responsibility for his actions or make the changes needed to protect the public from further driving offenses by him. For example, he was on probation for drunken driving at the time of his offense, he had a blood-alcohol level far in excess of the legal limit, he was driving although his license had been suspended, and he has been sentenced to jail for numerous drunken driving offenses.
We affirm. | [
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Per Curiam.
Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of perjury, MCL 750.422, and was sentenced to serve twenty-four months’ probation and to perform fifty hours of community service. She appeals as of right. We reverse.
This case arises from testimony defendant provided to the circuit court, in an earlier case, in persuading it to set aside a default judgment of divorce. She asserted that she had no notice of the divorce until informed by her husband and her attorney that a final judgment had been entered. The trial court set aside the default judgment, stating, “The law doesn’t favor defaults, especially defaults that are ten [days] old, like this. Listening to it all, it sounds to me like the mother ought to have known there was a divorce going on, but I’m not convinced.” Defendant’s statements at the hearing, along with an affidavit she provided in support of the motion, formed the basis for her conviction of perjury.
Defendant argues that the trial court erred in deciding the perjurious statements were material as a matter of law. Perjury occurs when a person under oath knowingly makes a false statement concerning a material issue, and there was a legal duty to take the oath. People v Kozyra, 219 Mich App 422, 428-429; 556 NW2d 512 (1996); MCL 750.423. Thus, materiality is an element of the crime of perjury. A materially false statement is one that could have affected the course or outcome of the proceeding. Kozyra, supra at 432.
The Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the United States Constitution “ ‘require criminal convictions to rest upon a jury determination that the defendant is guilty of every element of the crime with which he is charged, beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” People v Carines, 460 Mich 750, 761; 597 NW2d 130 (1999), quoting United States v Gaudin, 515 US 506, 510; 115 S Ct 2310; 132 L Ed 2d 444 (1995). Gaudin concerned a prosecution for making false statements on federal loan documents. Id. at 508. Materiality was an element of the offense. Id. at 508-509. The Court recognized that materiality is substantially a question of law, but rejected the argument that the right to have a jury decide the elements is restricted to factual questions. Id. at 511-513. The Court further rejected the suggestion that materiality in perjury cases constitutes a traditional exception:
The existence of a unique historical exception to the principle — and an exception that reduces the power of the jury precisely when it is most important, i.e., in a prosecution not for harming another individual, but for offending the Government itself — would be so extraordinary that the evidence for it would have to be convincing indeed. It is not so. [Id. at 515.]
In the present case, the trial court ruled before trial that defendant’s alleged statements concerned a material matter. In instructing the jury on the elements of perjury, the trial court made no mention of materiality (despite defense counsel's efforts to include the issue in the instructions), and the jury did not decide the matter. We find that the trial court erred in pre eluding the jury from considering that element, and instead deciding it as a matter of law.
An error in omitting an element of a crime is one of constitutional import. Carines, supra at 761. Where a defendant shows preserved, constitutional error, “[i]f the error is not a structural defect that defies harmless error analysis, the reviewing court must determine whether the beneficiary of the error has established that it is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 774 (appendix), citing People v Anderson (After Remand), 446 Mich 392; 521 NW2d 538 (1994). As in Carines, we do not find the court’s failure to instruct the jury on one element of a crime to be a structural defect defying harmless-error analysis. See Carines, supra at 769-771. The question, then, is whether the prosecutor can persuade this Court beyond a reasonable doubt that the error is harmless.
In the instant case, the jury could well have decided to regard the subject matter of defendant’s alleged misstatements as immaterial. The trial court indicated that it was “not convinced” that defendant’s statements were false; and apparently set aside the default under a general sense of fairness pursuant to MCR 2.612(C)(f) (“[a]ny other reason justifying relief”), expressing concerns about the general disfavoring of defaults, the short life of the default in question, and the lack of a custody decision on its merits. Thus, a jury could have found defendant’s assertions that she lacked notice did not affect the outcome of the motion to set aside the default.
We note that, in the past, this Court has held that the question of materiality in prosecutions concerning misstatements of fact is for the court to decide, not the jury. See People v Noble, 152 Mich App 319, 326- 327; 393 NW2d 619 (1986), citing People v Hoag, 113 Mich App 789, 798; 318 NW2d 579 (1982). However, these cases were decided before 1990, and therefore are not binding on this Court. MCR 7.215(I)(1). We agree with the reasoning in Carines, supra, and Gaudin, supra, and hold that because materiality of the statement is an element of perjury, it is a matter for the jury to decide.
Defendant also argues that the evidence of materiality was insufficient to support the bindover, denial of her motion to quash, and denial of her motion for a directed verdict. We review a district court’s decision to bind a defendant over for trial, and a trial court’s decision on a motion to quash an information, to determine whether the court abused its discretion. People v Hamblin, 224 Mich App 87, 91; 568 NW2d 339 (1997). We review a trial court’s decision on a motion for a directed verdict de novo as a question of law. Meagher v Wayne State Univ, 222 Mich App 700, 708; 565 NW2d 401 (1997).
We first note that defendant argues not that the evidence was insufficient to prove she testified falsely, but rather that her statements themselves were immaterial to the matter at hand, as a matter of law. Defendant asserts that the trial court did not rely on her testimony in deciding to set aside the default. However, at issue is whether the allegedly false testimony could have affected the outcome, not necessarily whether it actually did so. People v Jeske, 128 Mich App 596, 603; 341 NW2d 778 (1983). In this case, the court hearing the divorce action did not firmly resolve the question of defendant’s truthfulness: “Listening to it all, it sounds to me like the mother ought to have known there was a divorce going on, but I’m not convinced.” The court may have considered the possibility that defendant had no notice as a factor in its decision to set aside the default. Defendant’s protestations about lack of notice could have affected the outcome; therefore, we do not find her testimony and affidavit in the divorce action were immaterial with respect to the question whether to set aside the default. Id. Likewise, the trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion for a directed verdict because there was a question for the trier of fact to resolve at trial.
Moreover, we find no error in the district court’s decision to bind defendant over for trial. The district court must bind a defendant over for trial if, at the end of the preliminary examination, it concludes that probable cause exists to believe that a felony has been committed and that the defendant committed it. People v Abraham, 234 Mich App 640, 655; 599 NW2d 736 (1999); MCR 6.110(E); MCL 766.13. The obvious conflict in the evidence concerning whether defendant had received notice that divorce proceedings were pending established probable cause to believe that defendant had knowingly testified falsely. Further, the testimony in question went to a material matter. The evidence presented at the preliminary examination thus supported the district court’s decision to bind defendant over for trial.
Because we do not agree with defendant that the trial court found her statements immaterial as a matter of law, we need not consider her arguments that the doctrines of collateral estoppel and res judicata preclude litigating the element of materiality. However, we reverse because the jury could have found defendant’s statements immaterial and acquitted her of perjury.
Reversed. We do not retain jurisdiction. | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendants appeal by leave granted the trial court’s order denying leave to file a motion to dismiss pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8). We reverse and remand for entry of an order dismissing plaintiff’s claim with prejudice.
This case arose from a traffic accident involving one vehicle occupied by Ricki Ash and James Nicastri; one vehicle driven by Barry Maus, who was employed by the University of Michigan Regents; and a semi track driven by defendant Cecil R. Lawson, who was employed by defendant American Beauty Turf Nurseries, Inc. Plaintiff in this case is the insurer of Maus and the regents. Ash, Nicastri, and Lawson sued Maus and the regents for their injuries; the cases were settled with plaintiff, on behalf of the regents, paying Ash and Nicastri approximately $2.2 million and Lawson $85,000.
Plaintiff then filed a complaint against defendants for statutory contribution pursuant to MCL 600.2925a. Defendants answered, asserting inter alia that plaintiff “failed to state a cause of action upon which relief may be granted.” Several months later, defendants filed a motion for summary disposition that alleged plaintiff and the regents had not complied with the notice requirements of the contribution statute. The motion was denied.
One year later, after the trial court’s dispositive motion cutoff date, mediation, and settlement conferences, defendants moved for leave to file a motion to dismiss pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8). Defendants argued that the 1995 tort reforms, specifically MCL 600.2956, MCL 600.2957(1), and MCL 600.6304(1), abrogated plaintiff’s cause of action for contribution. Without addressing the substantive issue, the trial court denied defendants’ motion, stating, “The period for raising such issues was long since passed. The case is ready for trial. The motion for leave to file a motion to dismiss based on this case law from over a year ago is denied.” The trial court also issued an order denying defendants’ motion for a stay.
We review a trial court’s refusal to allow further filings after a discovery deadline under an abuse of discretion standard. See, e.g., Carmack v Macomb Co Community College, 199 Mich App 544, 546; 502 NW2d 746 (1993). A decision on a motion for summary disposition is reviewed de novo. Singerman v Muni Service Bureau, Inc, 455 Mich 135, 139; 565 NW2d 383 (1997). Questions regarding the interpreta tion and construction of statutes are questions of law, which this Court also reviews de novo. Stozicki v Allied Paper Co, Inc, 464 Mich 257, 263; 627 NW2d 293 (2001).
Whether the 1995 tort reform legislation permits contribution in cases where one tortfeasor settled with the injured party is a question of first impression for this Court. Our primary goal when interpreting statutes is to give effect to the intent of the Legislature. Nawrocki v Macomb Co Rd Comm, 463 Mich 143, 159; 615 NW2d 702 (2000). We must first examine the language of the statute, affording the words their common and ordinary meaning. Stozicki, supra at 263; Nawrocki, supra at 159. If the statutory language is clear and unambiguous, it reflects the intent of the Legislature and judicial construction is not permitted. Michalski v Bar-Levav, 463 Mich 723, 731; 625 NW2d 754 (2001). Furthermore, this Court will not read anything into the statute that is not within the manifest intent of the Legislature as gathered from the act itself. In re SR, 229 Mich App 310, 314; 581 NW2d 291 (1998).
In its enactment of 1995 PA 161 and 1995 PA 249 (the 1995 tort reform legislation), the Legislature made many changes to the Revised Judicature Act, including the elimination of joint liability in a variety of circumstances. See MCL 600.2956, MCL 600.2957, and MCL 600.6304; Kokx v Bylenga, 241 Mich App 655, 662; 617 NW2d 368 (2000).
MCL 600.2956 states:
Except as provided in section 6304, in an action based on tort or another legal theory seeking damages for personal iiyury, property damage, or wrongful death, the liability of each defendant for damages is several only and is not joint. However, this section does not abolish an employer’s vicarious liability for an act or omission of the employer’s employee.
MCL 600.2957(1) further provides:
In an action based on tort or another legal theory seeking damages for personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death, the liability of each person shall be allocated under this section by the trier of fact and, subject to section 6304, in direct proportion to the person’s percentage of fault. In assessing percentages of fault under this subsection, the trier of fact shall consider the fault of each person, regardless of whether the person is, or could have been, named as a party to the action.
Moreover, MCL 600.6304 provides, in relevant part:
(1) In an action based on tort or another legal theory seeking damages for personal ii\jury, property damage, or wrongful death involving fault of more than 1 person, including third-party defendants and nonparties, the court, unless otherwise agreed by all parties to the action, shall instruct the jury to answer special interrogatories or, if there is no jury, shall make findings indicating both of the following:
(a) The total amount of each plaintiff’s damages.
(b) The percentage of the total fault of all persons that contributed to the death or injury, including each plaintiff and each person released from liability under section 2925d, regardless of whether the person was or could have been named as a party to the action.
(4) Liability in an action to which this section applies is several only and not joint. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (6), a person shall not be required to pay damages in an amount greater than his or her percentage of fault as found under subsection (1).
Also relevant to the instant action is the contribution statute, MCL 600.2925a(1), enacted before the 1995 tort reform legislation, which provides, in pertinent part:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this act, when 2 or more persons become jointly or severally liable in tort for the same iryury to a person or property or for the same wrongful death, there is a right of contribution among them even though judgment has not been recovered against all or any of them.
(2) The right of contribution exists only in favor of a tortfeasor who has paid more that his pro rata share of the common liability and his total recovery is limited to the amount paid by him in excess of his pro rata share. A tortfeasor against whom contribution is sought shall not be compelled to make contribution beyond his own pro rata share of the entire liability.
The 1995 tort reform legislation applies to contribution claims; thus, contribution claims based on tort involving the fault of more than one person are no longer viable because there is no joint liability in those circumstances. Kokx, supra at 663-664. Specifically, this Court has stated:
[U]nder the plain and mandatory language of the revised statutes, a defendant cannot be held liable for damages beyond the defendant’s pro-rata share, except in certain specified circumstances. Accordingly, in actions based on tort or another legal theory seeking damages for personal injury . . . there would be no basis for a claim of contribution. Moreover, because joint liability remains in certain circumstances, the Legislature would have no reason to repeal § 2925a, which provides for a right of contribution .... [Id. at 663.]
Further, this Court held: “[T]o the extent that the statutes enacted as part of the Legislature’s 1995 tort reform do not allow a person to be held responsible for paying damages beyond the person’s pro-rata share of responsibility as determined under § 6304, claims for contribution are no longer viable.” Id. at 664.
Plaintiff, however, argues that this rule does not apply where the action from which the contribution claim arises has been settled before trial, that there must be a specific finding regarding the fault of each tortfeasor to determine its pro rata share of the common liability, and that it must be given the opportunity to establish that it has paid more than its pro rata share of the common liability.
We find plaintiff’s argument unpersuasive. The statutory provisions at issue are clear and unambiguous, as is the case law. Smiley v Corrigan, 248 Mich App 51, 56; 638 NW2d 51 (2001); Kokx, supra. The 1995 tort reform legislation abolished joint and several liability, replacing it with “fair share liability” in actions of this nature; the parties never become jointly and severally liable in tort as required by MCL 600.2925a. Smiley, supra at 55. The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that exposure to liability is limited to a party’s own pro rata degree of fault. Id. Therefore, there is no longer a basis for a party to assert that it was exposed to liability greater than its pro rata share, and parties in these instances are no longer entitled to contribution. For purposes of settlement, a party must assess its pro rata share of liability in arriving at the settlement amount, that is, the amount for which it could be found liable if the action were to proceed to trial. Under the 1995 tort reform legislation, plaintiff was not exposed to liability beyond its pro rata share; therefore, plaintiff’s decision to voluntarily pay pursuant to a settlement must be attributed to its own assessment of liability based on its insured’s negligence. Plaintiff’s claim for contribution based on its allegation that it made a payment greater than its pro rata share thus cannot be sustained.
In light of the dispositive nature of defendants’ proposed motion for summary disposition, we find that the trial court abused its discretion in denying them leave to file the motion for summary disposition. Because plaintiff may not seek contribution from defendants, defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law; on remand, the trial court should dismiss plaintiff’s claim with prejudice.
Although the time set forth in the scheduling order for dispositive motions had expired, the court rules expressly provide that defendants may “at any time” assert that plaintiff has failed to state a cause of action. MCR 2.116(D)(3). MCR 2.116(D)(3) “serves to remove any time limit for asserting [MCR 2.116(C)(8)] as a basis for summary disposition.” Yee v Shiawassee Co Bd of Comm’rs, 251 Mich App 379, 392, n 16; 651 NW2d 756 (2002). This is clearly logical, because no party should have to defend a claim that is not recognized in the state. Moreover, a scheduling order cannot give rise to a cause of action that does not exist. We find the denial of defendants’ motion, on the basis of its relative untimeliness, was an abuse of discretion and, therefore, in error.
Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction. | [
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Per Curiam.
Respondent appeals as of right from a decision of the Michigan Tax Tribunal affirming a hearing referee’s decision overturning respondent’s tax assessment under the Single Business Tax Act (sbta), MCL 208.1 et seq., for the tax years 1989 through 1992. The referee determined that petitioner had a sufficient nexus with the state of California and, therefore, respondent improperly assessed petitioner under the sbta for sales made by petitioner to its parent corporation in California during the tax years in question. We affirm.
The parties submitted stipulated facts to the Tax Tribunal. Petitioner is a Michigan corporation, of which ninety percent is owned by Kaiser Aerospace & Electronics Corporation (kaec). Kaec is a Nevada corporation with offices in California. During the years in question, 1989-1992, petitioner operated a manufac taring facility in Michigan; however, petitioner and KAEC did not file consolidated returns in Michigan.
During the tax years of 1989 through 1992, most of petitioner’s primary accounting and financial functions were performed in California by personnel of the Kaiser Electronics Division of KAEC. The personnel performing the accounting and financial services for petitioner were compensated directly by Kaiser Electronics Division. Petitioner received monthly invoices from Kaiser Electronics Division seeking reimbursement for compensation and benefits Kaiser Electronics Division paid to the accounting staff relative to accounting and financial services for petitioner.
All petitioner’s accounting books and records were maintained and kept in California. Kaiser Electronics Division assessed petitioner a use and occupancy charge on a monthly basis for maintaining petitioner’s accounting books and records in California. During the tax years in question, sales made by petitioner in California were made to Kaiser Electronics Division and were treated, in effect, as California sales by KAEC on its unitary California franchise tax return when Kaiser Electronics Division resold the products and materials purchased from petitioner.
During an audit conducted by respondent at Kaiser Electronics Division’s offices in California, respondent determined that sales made by petitioner in California during the 1989 through 1992 tax years should have been included in petitioner’s tax base for purposes of Michigan’s Single Business Tax (sbt) under the SBT “throwback rule.” Following the audit, respondent assessed a total of $64,028 in SBT liability against petitioner.
Petitioner petitioned the Tax Tribunal on the basis of the above-stipulated facts. After applying the Department of Treasury’s Revenue Administrative Bulletin (rab) 1998-1 to the facts, the hearing referee concluded that petitioner had a sufficient nexus with the state of California to preclude respondent from “throwing back” the sales in California to this state for purposes of the sbta. After respondent filed exceptions to the referee’s ruling, the Tax Tribunal adopted the referee’s findings and conclusions.
In the absence of fraud, an appellate court’s review of a Tax Tribunal decision is confined to determining if the tribunal erred in applying the law or adopting a wrong principle. Any factual findings made by the tribunal are conclusive if supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence on the whole record. Danse Corp v Madison Hts, 466 Mich 175, 178; 644 NW2d 721 (2002). However, in the case at bar, the parties stipulated the facts. Where parties agree to submit a case on stipulated facts, courts generally accept those facts as conclusive. Columbia Assoc, LP v Dep’t of Treasury, 250 Mich App 656, 665; 649 NW2d 760 (2002).
Respondent argues that the hearing referee and the Tax Tribunal erred in concluding that petitioner had a nexus with the state of California because of the accounting and financial services performed for petitioner there. Under the sbta, a taxpayer whose business is subject to taxation both in Michigan and in another state shall apportion its tax base. MCL 208.41. In order to be able to apportion a tax base under the sbta, the taxpayer must be subject to taxation in another state under the following criteria:
[A] taxpayer is taxable in another state if, (a) in that state he is subject to a business privilege tax, a net income tax, a franchise tax measured by net income, a franchise tax for the privilege of doing business or a corporate stock tax, a tax of the type imposed under this act, or (b) that state has jurisdiction to subject the taxpayer to 1 or more of the taxes regardless of whether, in fact, the state does or does not. [MCL 208.42.]
Thus, an examination of petitioner’s activities in California is necessary to determine its tax liability under the sbta, because sales made to customers located in other states where petitioner is not subject to taxation are considered Michigan sales for purposes of petitioner’s sbta tax liability. Magnetek Controls, Inc v Revenue Div, Dep’t of Treasury, 221 Mich App 400, 404; 562 NW2d 219 (1997). Petitioner need only have been subject to taxation in California; the California tax need not have been actually imposed. Id.
The parties do not dispute that California has a form of business tax that would qualify under MCL 208.42. The dispute here is whether petitioner had a sufficient nexus to California to subject it to taxation there for sales to petitioner’s parent corporation in California. The parties agree that it was appropriate for the referee to rely on RAB 1998-1 to decide this question. Rab 1998-1(I)(1), (2), and (6) provide, in part, as follows:
I. An out-of-state [Michigan] business is subject to Michigan’s [California’s] single business tax jurisdiction when it engages in any of the following activities:
* * *
1) It has one or more Michigan [California] resident employees conducting business activity in Michigan [California].
2) It owns, rents, leases, maintains, or has the right to use and uses tangible personal property or real property that is permanently or temporarily physically located in Michigan [California].
* * *
6) It regularly and systematically conducts in-state business activity through its employees, agents, representatives, independent contractors, brokers or others acting on its behalf, whether or not these individuals or organizations reside in Michigan [California].
In this case, the referee’s decision was apparently based on a determination that petitioner’s arrangement to lease space and have shared employees in California for its accounting operations was sufficient to establish a nexus with California. Because only one ground need be established under RAB 1998-1 to establish a nexus, if the referee’s findings on this issue are affirmed, respondent would not be entitled to any relief.
The stipulated facts establish that petitioner leased space, or reimbursed a division of its parent corporation, for purposes of storing its financial books and records in California. In addition, petitioner shared employees with a division of its parent corporation under a similar arrangement and those employees handled all petitioner’s accounting and financial functions in California. Rab 1998-1(I)(2) merely requires that a taxpayer maintain or have the right to use either tangible personal property or real property in the other state to establish a nexus there. Because the presence of petitioner’s accounts and financial records in California was part of its activity in that state, the use of this space in California was sufficient to establish a nexus with California under RAB 1998-1(I)(2). Respondent has failed to show an error of law by the hearing referee. Danse, supra.
Respondent’s argument that the location of petitioner’s books and records in California is insufficient to establish a nexus with California is without merit. Respondent’s reliance on J C Penney Nat’l Bank v Johnson, 19 SW3d 831 (Tenn App, 1999), is misplaced because that case is distinguishable. Indeed, we believe that the decision in J C Penny actually supports petitioner’s position. In J C Penny, supra at 840, the court held that the location of up to seventeen thousand credit cards in Tennessee did not establish' a nexus with that state; rather, any nexus related to the credit card accounts as property was centered in Delaware, where the accounts for those cards were located. In the case at bar, to the extent that peti tioner’s accounts are property, they are located in California, not Michigan.
Respondent argues that petitioner is relying only on its parent corporation’s presence in California to establish a nexus with that state and cites three decisions from other jurisdictions as support for its position that a nexus cannot be established solely by the presence of an affiliated corporation in the subject state. Current, Inc v State Bd of Equalization, 24 Cal App 4th 382; 29 Cal Rptr 2d 407 (1994); SFA Folio Collections, Inc v Bannon, 217 Conn 220; 585 A2d 666 (1991); Bloomingdale’s By Mail, Ltd v Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 130 Pa Commw 190; 567 A2d 773 (1989). This argument is likewise without merit. We find each of these cases distinguishable from the case at bar because the affiliated corporations in those cases did not have a separate physical presence in the state at issue, but relied solely on their associations with other corporations to establish a nexus. This case is distinguishable because petitioner has shown that it has a separate presence in California based on its accounting and financial activities there.
Similarly, respondent’s reliance on Phillip Morris, Inc v Director of Revenue, 760 SW2d 888 (Mo, 1988), is misplaced. Respondent argues this case is factually similar to Phillip Morris and that this Court should therefore conclude that petitioner’s parent corporation was the actual employer of the individuals performing accounting services for petitioner in California. In this case, however, the stipulated facts do not establish that petitioner does not have any right to control the individuals in California. Accordingly, respondent’s argument relying on Phillip Morris is without merit. Moreover, because the referee based his decision on RAB 1998-1(I)(2), which does not require the presence of employees in the other state, whether petitioner could be considered the employer of the individuals is not a ground for overturning the referee’s decision.
Respondent also argues that the exception found at rab 1998-1(I)(6)(c) bars petitioner from establishing a nexus with California. That subsection provides as follows: “Lawyers, accountants, investment bankers, and other similar professionals in Michigan [California] who perform services for an out-of-state [Michigan] business in their professional capacity shall not be considered to be conducting in-state business activity on behalf of the out-of-state [Michigan] business.” The hearing referee apparently concluded that this exception did not apply because the individuals who were performing the financial activities in question were not a group of licensed professionals providing services to the public, as contemplated by the exception.
The exception in rab 1998-1(I)(6)(c) lists certain professionals who perform work in a professional capacity, to be distinguished from employees, agents, or others working on behalf of a taxpayer in another state. This exception appears to be aimed at barring a taxpayer from establishing a nexus with another state simply by retaining legal counsel or an accountant in that state. That clearly is not the situation in this case. Thus, the hearing referee did not err in failing to find that this exception was not applicable.
Respondent’s argument regarding rab 1998-1(I)(4) need not be addressed because it is clear that the referee did not rely on that subsection as a basis for his decision.
Respondent further contends that the accounting and financial duties that were performed in California do not qualify as “business activity” for purposes of the sbta or the Commerce Clause of the federal constitution, US Const, art I, § 8. Although the hearing referee relied on rab 1998-1(I)(2), which does not specifically require that a taxpayer engage in “business activity” in the other state, we will briefly address respondent’s argument because it appears that the hearing referee believed it was clear that petitioner was engaged in business activity in California sufficient to establish a nexus there under rab 1998-1.
Under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, a state has the power to compel a business to comply with its tax laws where the tax applies to an activity that has a substantial nexus with that state. Magnetek, supra at 406, following Complete Auto Transit, Inc v Brady, 430 US 274, 279; 97 S Ct 1076; 51 L Ed 2d 326 (1977).
Faced with a commerce clause challenge, courts will sustain a tax so long as it: (1) is applied to an activity which has a substantial nexus with the taxing state, (2) is fairly apportioned, (3) does not discriminate against interstate commerce, and (4) is fairly related to services provided by the taxing state. [Guardian Industries Corp v Dep’t of Treasury, 198 Mich App 363, 376; 499 NW2d 349 (1993), following Complete Auto Transit, supra at 285.]
In this case, the parties only address whether the facts satisfy the “substantial nexus” element. In Magnetek, supra at 408, this Court noted that, under Quill Corp v North Dakota, 504 US 298, 315; 112 S Ct 1904; 119 L Ed 2d 91 (1992), the substantial nexus requirement would be satisfied by “the presence in the taxing State of a small sales force, plant, or office.” Alternatively, under In re Orvis Co, Inc v Tax Appeals Tribunal of the State of New York, 86 NY2d 165; 654 NE2d 954 (1995), the conduct of economic activities in the taxing state performed by either the taxpayer’s personnel or others on its behalf, can satisfy the test for a substantial nexus. Magnetek, supra at 411-412.
A substantial nexus was shown in this case on the basis of petitioner’s occupancy of space in California to perform its accounting functions. By having the staff in California perform accounting services for it, petitioner was deriving an economic benefit from its presence in California. Id. at 412. Petitioner also established that it had a sufficient physical presence in California to establish a substantial nexus with that state. Id. at 408.
In conclusion, the Tax Tribunal properly determined that petitioner had a sufficient nexus with the state of California under RAB 1998-1. Therefore, we find no error with the tribunal’s decision that respondent was precluded from exercising a “throwback” to Michigan and had improperly assessed petitioner under the sbta for sales made by petitioner to its parent corporation in California during the tax years in question.
Affirmed.
With regard to the functions performed by personnel, the parties’ stipulated facts state:
During the tax years in question, the supporting accounting personnel included a senior accountant, an accounts payable staff consisting of approximately five employees, an accounting clerk and the general accounting manager, who spent approximately 50%, 20%, 20% and 10%, respectively, of their employment time with Kaiser Electronics Division performing such functions for and on behalf of Petitioner. Of the five employees on the accounts payable staff, one employee generally devoted all of his or her time to Petitioner’s accounts payable matters. The general accounting manager functioned as Petitioner’s Controller, and performed all of the duties for Petitioner that a Controller would normally perform. Petitioner did not have its own Controller during the tax years in question.
Rab 1998-1(11) states that the same standards used to determine nexus for out-of-state taxpayers will be applied to determine whether a taxpayer is taxable in another state for purposes of apportionment under the sbta.
While respondent refers to the Due Process Clause, it appears to base its argument primarily on the Commerce Clause.
Similarly, petitioner’s presence in California may have qualified as “business activity” under the definition of that term in MCL 208.3(2) because, as defined in that statute, “business activity” is not limited to sales. | [
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J. H. Gillis, J.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of unlawful delivery of marijuana in violation of MCLA 335.341(l)(c); MSA 18.1070(41)(l)(c). He was sentenced to 2-1/2 to 4 years in prison, and appeals as of right.
At the trial, Dr. Hare, the State’s expert witness, stated that he had performed the "Duquenois-Lavine” test and various microscopic tests on the substance in question, and had conclusively determined it to be marijuana. The defendant stipulated to Dr. Hare’s qualifications to identify marijuana, and did not object to his use of the Duquenois-Lavine test. Nonetheless, defendant now asks us to take judicial notice of the fact that the Duquenois-Lavine test is unreliable. We decline to do so. When defendant, at the trial stage, specifically stipulates to an expert’s qualifications, and voices no objection to that expert’s methods, he is foreclosed from later attacking those methods on appeal. People v Musser, 53 Mich App 683, 690; 219 NW2d 781 (1974).
Defendant further argues that the Michigan laws which prohibit the possession, use and sale of marijuana violate his right to privacy, equal protection and due process. These same arguments have been raised in many other jurisdictions, and have met with little success. We also find them to be without merit.
In United States v Kiffer, 477 F2d 349 (CA 2, 1973), the second circuit of the United States Court of Appeals faced the same issues as are raised here. In that case defendant was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and with conspiracy. The Court held that Congress could constitutionally regulate the sale and distribution of marijuana. We find the second circuit’s rationale convincing, and we adopt it. In Kiffer, supra, 352-355, the Court began by noting the policy considerations present in this type of case:
"Any court asked to undertake review of the multifarious political, economic and social considerations that usually underlie legislative prohibitory policy should do so with caution and restraint. In this case, the challenged legislation incorporates conclusions or assumptions concerning an array of medical, psychological and moral issues of considerable controversy in contemporary America. Indeed, as a recent perceptive study suggests, 'Marijuana, in fact, has become the symbol of a host of major conflicts in our society, each of which exacerbates any attempt at a rational solution to the problem.’ Kaplan, Marijuana — The New Prohibition (World Publishing Co ed 1970), p 3. This should serve as a reminder that in most instances the resolution of such sensitive issues is best left to the other branches of government.
"Reflecting this judgment, courts usually review challenged legislative acts with the understanding that they are presumed valid and will be so found unless it is shown that the statute in question bears no rational relationship to a legitimate legislative purpose. E.g., Williamson v Lee Optical, Inc, 348 US 483, 485-488; 75 S Ct 461; 99 L Ed 563 (1955); United States v Carolene Products Co, 304 US 144, 152-154; 58 S Ct 778; 82 L Ed 1234 (1938). The only cases that require a stricter standard of review are those that involve an infringement of a right explicitly enunciated in the Constitution or otherwise recognized as fundamental. E.g., Roe v Wade, 410 US 113; 93 S Ct 705; 35 L Ed 2d 147 (1973); Griswold v Connecticut, 381 US 479; 85 S Ct 1678; 14 L Ed 2d 510 (1965); Aptheker v Secretary of State, 378 US 500, 505-514; 84 S Ct 1659; 12 L Ed 2d 992 (1964). See United States v Carolene Products Co, supra, 304 US at 152-153 n 4; 58 S Ct 778; 82 L Ed 1234.
"To invoke this stricter scrutiny in this case, appellants assert the existence of a fundamental 'right of the individual to control of his own body and to indulge in private in what may be condemned in public or deemed immoral or unacceptable to society at large.’ In support of this proposition they cite the Supreme Court decisions in Griswold v Connecticut, supra, and Stanley v Georgia, 394 US 557; 89 S Ct 1243; 22 L Ed 2d 542 (1969), respectively invalidating convictions for use of contraceptives and for private possession of obscene materials. These cases are of little assistance to appellants. Whatever may be the merits of a claim to a protected right by one who is prosecuted for the private possession or use of marijuana, appellants are not in that position. * * * (Their conviction dealt with selling and not the mere use of marijuana.) Thus, analogies to the holdings of Griswold and Stanley ave inappropriate. Far more comparable are those decisions holding that, notwithstanding Stanley’s protection of the ultimate consumer of obscene material, the Government may prohibit the commercial importation or mail distribution of pornography. See United States v Thirty-Seven Photographs, 402 US 363; 91 S Ct 1400; 28 L Ed 2d 822 (1971) ; United States v Reidel, 402 US 351; 91 S Ct 1410; 28 L Ed 2d 813 (1971).
"Since there is no colorable claim of a fundamental constitutional right to sell marijuana — even partisans of the old economic due process analysis might blush at that notion — appellants must establish that prohibition of commercial distribution of marijuana lacks any reasoned justification. They have not succeeded in doing so.
" * * * [Rjecent discussions of this issue suggest that the present state of knowledge of the effects of marijuana is still incomplete and marked by much disagreement and controversy. Compare, e.g., Bartimo, Marijuana, 30 Fed BJ 343 (1971), with Trachtenberg & Paper, Marijuana: A Further View, 31 Fed BJ 258 (1972) . Thus, although it is apparently generally accepted that most users do not suffer any significant ongoing harm, at least some — perhaps predisposed to such episodes — are reported to suffer severe temporary trauma, as Dr. Tennant reported in this case. See Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding, The Official Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse 72 (Bantam ed 1972); Bartimo, supra, at 344-45, 347-48. Moreover, the long-term physical and psychological effects are as yet unclear.”
Thus, the Court held that Congress could reasonably believe marijuana to be a dangerous substance. The Court continued:
"Appellants also argue that marijuana is much less harmful than tobacco and alcohol; the legal availability of the latter substances, they say, proves the irrationality of singling out marijuana for criminal penalties. Our knowledge is not sufficient for us to accept or reject appellants’ initial premise. But even if it is correct, see J. Kaplan, supra, at 263-310 (as to alcohol), this does not render the statute here unconstitutional. If Congress decides to regulate or prohibit some harmful substances, it is not thereby constitutionally compelled to regulate or prohibit all. It may conclude that half a loaf is better than none. See McDonald v Board of Election Commissioners, 394 US 802, 809-811; 89 S Ct 1404; 22 L Ed 2d 739 (1969); Williamson v Lee Optical, Inc, supra, 348 US at 489; 75 S Ct 461.”
Appellant lastly contends that his sentence of 21/2 to 4 years in prison is "cruel and unusual”. This sentence is within the statutory guidelines. This conviction is defendant’s fourth conviction of a felony. There is no merit to this argument.
Affirmed.
All concurred.
See United States v Maiden, 355 F Supp 743 (D Conn, 1973); People v Aguiar, 257 Cal App 2d 597; 65 Cal Rptr 171 (1968); cert den 393 US 970; 89 S a 411; 21 L Ed 2d 383 (1968); State v Nugent, 125 NJ Super 528; 312 A2d 158 (1973); State v Kantner, 53 Hawan 327; 493 P2d 306 (1972); State v Leppanen, 252 Ore 352; 449 P2d 447 (1969); Commonwealth v Leis, 355 Mass 189; 243 NE2d 898 (1969); United States v Rodriquez-Comacho, 468 F2d 1220 (CA 9, 1972).
MCLA 335.341(lXc); MSA 18.1070(41XlXc), provides for a sentence of up to four years with a $2,000 fine for sale of marijuana. | [
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R. B. Burns, J.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of buying, receiving or concealing stolen property contrary to MCLA 750.535; MSA 28.803. He appeals, claiming he was denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial.
Defendant was arrested May 3, 1971, but his trial did not start until November 20,1972. During the interim, on June 24, 1972, Robert Mager, the prosecution’s main witness, died.
While the record does not show official motions for adjournments or the reason for the adjournments, a reading of the record does show that the trial judge assigned to the case was in poor health and died during the period.
In People v Grimmett, 388 Mich 590; 202 NW2d 278 (1972), the Supreme Court in determining whether the right to a speedy trial had been violated, adopted the balancing test, taking into account the four factors set forth in Barker v Wingo, 407 US 514; 92 S Ct 2182; 33 L Ed 2d 101 (1972).
The four factors are length of delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant’s assertion of his right, and prejudice to the defendant.
Eighteen months and 17 days elapsed between the date of the defendant’s arrest and the start of the trial.
Barker was imprisoned over 5 years before he was brought to trial and Grimmett’s case was delayed for 19 months. Therefore, the length of delay by itself does not violate the defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights.
As previously stated, the reason for the delay was the illness of the trial judge assigned to hear the case. Such a delay is classified in Barker as one to weigh against the state as it is the state’s ultimate responsibility to go forward with the case.
Both Barker and Grimmett make it clear that a defendant is not required to assert his right to a speedy trial and his failure to assert the right does not waive it. Nevertheless, the defendant’s assertion or lack of assertion of this right is a factor to be weighed. In this case the defendant demanded a speedy trial on July 19, 1972, and again on November 6, 1972.
Barker v Wingo, supra, also held that prejudice to a defendant is obvious if a witness dies. Robert Mager, the main witness against the defendant, died June 24, 1972. However, his testimony at the preliminary examination, where defense counsel cross-examined him, was heard by the jury. This testimony consisted of the tape recording taken in the district court and played to the jury. Defendant objected to the introduction of this testimony as there were 7 places in the tape that were inaudible. The tape was played a second time.
At oral argument this Court listened to the recording and, while it left much to be desired as far as its audibility was concerned, by careful listening the recording was understandable.
For balancing the various factors to determine if defendant’s right was violated, a comparison of the following cases involving a denial of a speedy trial is enlightening:
People v Broyer, the present case.
Barker v Wingo, supra.
People v Den Uyl, 320 Mich 477; 31 NW2d 699 (1948).
People v Grimmett, supra.
People v Collins, 388 Mich 680; 202 NW2d 769 (1972).
As stated in Barker v Wingo, supra, any time a person is arrested he is prejudiced to a certain extent. His liberty is restricted and his social life is affected. There may be complications affecting his employment and domestic life. Therefore, when we mention prejudice in the following paragraphs, we mean prejudice affecting his ability to conduct a proper defense to his case.
In Barker, the delay was 5 years. The delay was for the sole purpose of enabling the state to secure testimony from a witness then under indictment. The defendant demanded a speedy trial. The defendant did not suffer any real prejudice. His conviction was affirmed.
In Den Uyl, the delay was 19 months between arrest and completion of the preliminary examination. The delay was to obtain testimony from a witness. He made a demand for a speedy trial. He did not suffer any real prejudice. The state was ordered to complete the examination within 60 days.
In Grimmett, the delay was 19 months. The delay was caused by the state waiting to complete prosecution in another case. There, was no demand for a speedy trial and the defendant did not suifer any real prejudice. The conviction was affirmed.
In Collins, the delay was 15 months. The delay was caused by the state waiting for the completion of another case against the defendant. The defendant did not demand a speedy trial. He did not suifer any real prejudice. The case was affirmed.
In the present case, Broyer’s case was delayed 18-1/2 months. The delay was caused by the illness and eventual death of the trial judge assigned to hear the case. The defendant did demand a speedy trial. He did suffer some prejudice. As stated in Barker, supra, any time a witness dies it is obvious that the defendant has been prejudiced. However, the prejudice was minimal as there was a tape recording of the witness’s testimony conducted in the district court, which was introduced and played to the jury.
By comparison of the above cases, in our opinion the defendant was not denied his right to a speedy trial.
Affirmed.
All concurred. | [
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Elliott, J.
After arguing over a $15.00 debt, defendant killed Curtis Johnson in an apartment shared by defendant’s brother, Fred Harris, and Christine Johnson, sister of the deceased. There was sufficient evidence for the jury to find that defendant kicked open the door and pursued deceased into a bathroom where he shot him twice as the deceased, unarmed, pleaded for his life. There was also evidence to support defendant’s claim of self-defense, that the deceased was advancing with a knife when defendant gunned him down.
The jury needed all of the information it could get to evaluate the conflicting testimony of the friends and relatives of the deceased or of the defendant who witnessed the shooting. They gave statements to the police soon after the gunfire. Six of the thirteen questions presented concern use of these prior statements. We consider them in the first six sections of this opinion.
I.
Both the trial judge and defense counsel shared a mistaken idea that res gestae witnesses, endorsed on this information, could not be impeached unless hostility to the prosecutor was shown. This is not the law; People v Bruno, 30 Mich App 375; 186 NW2d 339 (1971); People v Foster, 33 Mich App 291; 189 NW2d 821 (1971); People v Hood, 37 Mich App 195; 194 NW2d 472 (1971); People v Coates, 40 Mich App 212; 198 NW2d 837 (1972). MCLA 767.40a; MSA 28.980 (1) accords with the common law. The prohibition against impeaching one’s own witness never applied to a witness that a party is required to call, as for example, "where the prosecution is by statute under a duty to call all witnesses whose names are endorsed on the indictment”; Morgan, Basic Problems of Evidence, pp 63, 64. Professor Morgan agrees with Professor McCormick that "the rule against the showing of the prior statements of one’s own witness, to aid in evaluating his testimony, is a serious obstruction to the ascertainment of truth”; McCormick, Law of Evidence, § 38, p 73.
Both of these eminent commentators have long supported the purpose of proposed Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 607: "The credibility of a witness may be attacked by any party, including the party calling him”. A comment on a similar provision in California Evidence Code, § 785, says (citations omitted):
"Section 785 eliminates the present restriction on attacking the credibility of one’s own witness. Under the existing law, a party is precluded from attacking the credibility of his own witness unless he has been surprised and damaged by the witness’ testimony. * * * In large part, the present law rests upon the theory that a party producing a witness is bound by his testimony. * * * This theory has long been abandoned in several jurisdictions where the practical exigencies of litigation have been recognized. * * * A party has no actual control over a person who witnesses an event and is required to testify to aid the trier of fact in its function of determining the truth. Hence, a party should not be 'bound’ by the testimony of a witness produced by him and should be permitted to attack the credibility of the witness without anachronistic limitations. Denial of the right to attack credibility may often work a hardship on a party where by necessity he must call a hostile witness. Expanded opportunity for testing credibility is in keeping with the interest of providing a forum for full and free disclosure.”
It is high time that Michigan permit any party to impeach any witness at least by allowing the jury to know of his prior self-contradictions. However, because the claims of error concern only endorsed res gestae witnesses, it is unecessary to so rule in this case.
One of the claims of error is that rulings of the trial judge that one witness was "reluctant” and another "hostile” prior to permitting them to be impeached, were unnecessary and prejudicial comments on the evidence. Although we agree with defendant’s appellate counsel that it was unnecessary to so rule, only such a ruling would satisfy defendant’s trial counsel. We consider the rulings to be alternative reasons for allowing impeach ment and not prejudicial comment on what the jury also observed about the demeanor of the witnesses.
II.
A witness who testified that the deceased picked up a knife and came at defendant was impeached by his prior statement in which he told of the fight and shooting and in which he never mentioned the knife that he placed in the decedent’s hand by his trial testimony. A jury can discredit a witness because he failed to include in a narrative of an event, soon after it happened, something important that it would be natural to mention, if true; see McCormick, supra, § 34, p 64. It is for the jury to decide whether a prior statement is materially inconsistent and what effect, if any, it has upon the believability of the testimony of that witness.
III.
A witness claimed to have lost part of his memory. He could remember things about the evening that were favorable to defendant, but he could not remember unfavorable things that he told the police on the night of the shooting. He could remember making the statement and signing it, and he recognized his signature, but he said he could not remember saying some of the things his signed statement contained. Denial, or lack of memory, of a prior statement does not prohibit its use. Rather, that is the foundation for extrinsic proof of it. See People v Dozier, 22 Mich App 528; 177 NW2d 694 (1970). Selective memory does not call into play the rule of People v Durkee, 369 Mich 618; 120 NW2d 729 (1963). That rule applies only when the witness has such a lack of memory about the event that his testimony is not a version of what occurred. In other words, if a witness is going to "stonewall it” by claiming a lack of memory, he must do so all the way so that his testimony is not a version of the happening that is inconsistent with the more complete and more damaging prior statement.
IV.
Christine Johnson’s testimony varied from her statement given on the night of the shooting. After reading her statement, to herself, she corrected her testimony to correspond to what she had said earlier. She claimed that the statement "refreshed” her recollection. Refreshing the memory of a witness by a writing is obviously "leading”, but permissibly so because she is led not by suggestions from the mind and lips of an attorney but by her own earlier recorded recollection of the event.
"The refreshing of a witness’ memory is a matter resting largely in the discretion of the trial court.” 98 CJS, Witnesses, § 357, p 80.
The purpose of a trial is to ascertain the truth. If the witness does not recollect, or is not certain, or if the examiner is aware that the witness has omitted or misstated a detail, the judge may allow the witness to refresh her memory from a statement made when memory was fresh. We fully agree with and rely on the quotation from 5 Jones, Blue Book of Evidence, in Hileman v Indreica, 385 Mich 1, 7, 8; 187 NW2d 411, 412, 413 (1971).
If the witness adopts as true the facts contained in the prior statement, it becomes substantive evidence; People v Couch, 49 Mich App 69; 211 NW2d 250 (1973). And if the witness does not accept the earlier statement, the jury should be aware of the inconsistency in order to assess the value of the witness’ testimony; see heading I., supra.
V.
The prosecutor’s argument referred to prior statements of witnesses as the truth although the witnesses had not adopted that part of their statements. Defense counsel did not object and he did not request a curative instruction. Very properly, the judge instructed the jury, sua sponte, that prior statements, unless adopted by the witness, could be considered only for the limited purpose of assessing the credibility of the witness and could not be considered as evidence of the truth of the fact stated out of court. Reversal is required only when a curative instruction is requested and refused; People v Coates; supra.
We wish to point out that, despite earlier contrary expressions in Michigan decisions, the United States Supreme Court has determined in California v Green, 399 US 149; 90 S Ct 1930; 26 L Ed 2d 489 (1970), that there is no constitutional violation when the prior statement of a witness presented at trial is used as substantive evidence as urged by Wigmore and McCormick.
VI.
Finally, with respect to prior statements, an officer was called to prove a prior statement of a witness who did not remember making it. The officer had written a report stating what the witness had uttered at the scene of the shooting. He was allowed to read that report aloud as his re freshed recollection. No doubt defendant’s appellate counsel is correct that he was really giving the jury his "past recollection recorded”. However, the report met the requirements of the "past recollection recorded” exception to the hearsay rule then in effect. The trial was before People v Rosborough, 387 Mich 183; 195 NW2d 255 (1972). Rosborough’s contribution to the law of evidence, that police fragmentary notes must be produced, is not retroactive; People v Banks, 50 Mich App 622; 213 NW2d 817 (1973).
VII.
During the examination of the witness with the peculiar memory, the prosecutor brought out his conviction of crimes:
"Q. Mr. Baldwin, have you ever been arrested and convicted of any crime?
"A. I have been arrested.
"Q. And convicted?
'A. What do you mean when you say convicted — sent up?
”Q. Found guilty or pled guilty?
’A. I have been found guilty.
”Q. Of what crime or crimes?
’A. Unlawful failure to register pistol.
"Q. Failure to register a pistol?
’A. Uh — huh—and I was joyriding.
"Q. You were found guilty of joyriding — that’s a conviction for joyriding?
’A. Yes.”
There was no objection to these questions. "Joyriding” could be either a circuit court misdemeanor, MCLA 750.414; MSA 28.646, or a felony; MCLA 750.413; MSA 28.645, People v Stanley, 349 Mich 362; 84 NW2d 787 (1957). It is difficult to know what statute or ordinance was violated by a "failure to register a pistol”. Such a conviction is almost always a plea-bargain reduction of a firearm felony to a misdemeanor.
"One way of discrediting the witness is to introduce evidence of a prior criminal conviction of that witness. By so doing the cross-examiner intends to afford the jury a basis to infer that the witness’ character is such that he would be less likely than the average trustworthy citizen to be truthful in his testimony. The introduction of evidence of a prior crime is thus a general attack on the credibility of a witness.” Davis v Alaska, 415 US 308, 316; 94 S Ct 1105, 1110; 39 L Ed 2d 347, 353-354 (1974).
The Michigan Supreme Court has limited such impeachment to convictions of felonies in People v Renno, 392 Mich 45, 55; 219 NW2d 422, 425 (1974), which said:
"We do not hesitate in this case to prohibit the further use of municipal ordinance or misdemeanor convictions used by the prosecution solely for impeachment purposes. ”
Presumably this applies to any witness and not only to a defendant, and bars such questions by defense counsel as well as by the prosecutor, but we do not think the rule will apply to civil cases which are governed by GCR 1963, 607. By "further use” the Supreme Court was indicating that its decision is not to be applied retroactively. Under the principles discussed in People v Hampton, 384 Mich 669; 187 NW2d 404 (1971), Renno should not be applied to this case. Compare the nonretroactivity given the holding in People v Brocato, 17 Mich App 277; 169 NW2d 483 (1969), that inquiry into prior arrests not resulting in convictions is im proper, by People v Giacalone, 52 Mich App 428; 217 NW2d 444 (1974).
VIII.
Defendant further claims that since constitutionally infirm convictions cannot properly be used to impeach a defendant, Loper v Beto, 405 US 473; 31 L Ed 2d 374; 92 S Ct 1014 (1972), they cannot be used to impeach a witness such as Mr. Baldwin who admitted to "joyriding” and "failure to register a pistol”. There is nothing in the record to indicate where, when, or how those convictions were obtained or even what law was violated. As we have said, there was no objection by defense counsel to this impeachment of Baldwin.
IX.
Next, defendant claims he was entitled to an instruction that he need not retreat if assaulted in his own home. There was no such request and there was no objection to the self-defense instruction given. If the shooting occurred in defendant’s home, the conflict between People v Broom, 50 Mich App 337; 213 NW2d 247 (1973), and People v Paxton, 47 Mich App 144; 209 NW2d 251 (1973), would be presented; that is, whether a judge must so instruct in the absence of a request. However, defendant was not in his own home. He lived in an apartment on the first floor of the apartment house. The shooting occurred in an apartment on the second floor, or, possibly, in the hallway in front of that second-floor apartment. The common passageways of an apartment building in which defendant resides, or another apartment in the same building are not areas to which the no-retreat rule applies. This would be especially true when, as here, the person shot also had a right to use the common area or the other apartment. Compare the excellent opinion in People v Godsey, 54 Mich App 316; 220 NW2d 801 (1974).
X.
Defendant’s real name was Alphus Harris but he was generally known as "Bob” to his friends and relatives and the information added "a.k.a. Robert Harris” to his name. Defendant took the stand and admitted his use of "Robert”. He was further examined:
”Q. Have you ever gone by any other name other than Robert or Alphus Harris?
"A. No.
"Q. Well, why did you use a different name at the car wash?
“A. That’s the only time.
”Q. Did you use the same name at the Rufus Paint Co.?
"A. I guess so.
"Q. You mean you can’t tell us what name you used at Alvito’s car wash?
"A. No.
”Q. You’re positive you didn’t use your real name?
”A. Right.”
Defendant’s brief contends:
"Here reference to an alias can be considered evidence of other criminal activity because in the minds of the average juror only persons involved in unlawful behavior need to use an assumed name.”
We cannot agree with the contention of defendant. When the defendant takes the stand he puts his credibility in issue. His use of a fictitious name at two places of employment, which the record shows were recent employments, and his claim that he could not remember what name he had used, are matters that are probative of untruthfulness and of a defective memory. A purpose of cross-examination is to probe the credibility of a witness. It would certainly be an ineffective tool if the questioning above was considered improper.
XI.
We conclude that the prosecutor’s remarks in final argument about the credibility of a witness did not exceed permissible limits. See People v Couch, supra.
XII.
We do not remand for resentence because the sentencing judge considered a prior conviction. No showing was made as required by People v Moore, 391 Mich 426; 216 NW2d 770 (1974). Resentence is not indicated because the judge asked defendant, before sentence, about an arrest while on parole and learned that defendant was released without being charged.
XIII.
The final claim of error is based upon a statement by the judge early in the trial:
"I want to say to all members of the jury that there was a discussion regarding a circumstance of one of the jurors in this case and at this time it appears that that subject or request cannot be followed. It was a discussion among the attorneys in this case and the court in chambers.”
The conference was obviously about a question of law or procedure due to a juror’s request and the juror was not present at the conference. Both the prosecutor and defense counsel have sworn that they do not remember what it was about. There is no complaint about the selection, supervision, or impartiality of the jury. Neither he nor his attorney complained, at the time, that he was not present, if defendant was absent.
There is no constitutional reason why counsel and the court cannot confer about a question of law or procedure in the absence of the defendant. See the proposed Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 43(c)(3).
Counsel commonly ask during a trial to "approach the bench” to discuss something out of the hearing of the jury and, necessarily, out of the hearing of the defendant also. To avoid being overheard, the court and counsel may step into the chambers briefly, but that does not cause automatic reversal where no objection was made and no prejudice is shown. The incident is far more innocent than conferences out of the presence of a defendant in People v Carroll, 49 Mich App 44; 211 NW2d 233 (1973), and People v Plozai, 50 Mich App 131; 212 NW2d 721 (1973).
Affirmed.
All concurred. | [
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Van Valkenburg, J.
It is undisputed that plaintiff was assaulted by defendant Calvin Hopkins, chief union steward at the Huber Avenue foundry of the Chrysler Corporation. The assault took place in Hopkins’ office at said plant while plaintiff was in the office for the purpose of filing a grievance. Plaintiff thereafter commenced this action for assault against Hopkins personally and against both defendant plant UAW local and the international UAW on the theory of respondeat superior. All three defendants moved for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s complaint. The trial court granted each defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and plaintiff now appeals as of right.
As to defendant Hopkins, the trial court held that Hopkins and plaintiff were both employees of Chrysler Corporation and thus the sole avenue of recovery with respect to Hopkins personal liability was the exclusive remedy provided by the Workmen’s Compensation Act. The sole question on appeal with respect to Hopkins is thus whether a union steward, while performing his duty of processing grievances, is a "natural person in the same employ” within the meaning of MCLA 418.827(1); MSA 17.237(827X1).
The labor-management agreement between Chrysler and the UAW provides that the employees in each district shall be represented by a chief steward "who shall be a regular employee having seniority and working in the district”. The agreement further provides that the chief steward shall be paid by Chrysler, shall be provided with an office by Chrysler and shall be subject to the supervision of the foreman of any department he enters.
It is well settled that MCLA 418.827(1), supra, exempts from liability all fellow employees carrying on the activities of the employer, regardless of what those activities may be. See Fidelity & Casualty Co of New York v DeShone, 384 Mich 686; 187 NW2d 215 (1971). Plaintiff however argues that since Hopkins’ function was to process grievances, Hopkins was not carrying on the activities of Chrysler and thus was not a natural person in the same employ within the meaning of MCLA 418.827(1), supra.
We feel that plaintiff has placed an unnecessarily restrictive definition upon what is meant by the concept of carrying on the activities of the employer. While in the narrow sense the processing of grievances can be viewed as being contrary to the carrying on of the activities of the employer, the better rationale would be to view the processing of grievances as being an integral part of the labor-management process. Clearly, viewed in this light, the processing of grievances by a chief union steward is an activity which is in the interest of the employer in that it provides a method by which labor-management disputes can be resolved in an orderly fashion. Accordingly, we hold as a matter of law that Hopkins’ activities in processing grievances were activities carried on on behalf of Chrysler. It follows that plaintiff and Hopkins were natural persons in the same employ; and thus, plaintiff is precluded from bringing this action against Hopkins personally.
As to defendant local union and defendant international union, it should be noted that plaintiff’s claim against them is premised upon the assertion that Hopkins was at the time of the assault acting as an agent of both the local and international union and that he was acting within the scope of his duties. Both unions argue that the assault, as a matter of law, was beyond the scope of Hopkins’ agency and thus they are not liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior.
Both unions cite ample authority for the proposition that a positive wrong by a servant beyond the scope of the master’s business which is intentionally or recklessly done will not give rise to liability on the part of the master; however, this simply begs the question of whether the assault was beyond the scope of the master’s business or grant of authority. If plaintiff can prove the fact of the agency relationship and the fact that the assault by the agent was within the scope of the agency as alleged in the complaint, plaintiff would be entitled to a judgment in his favor for any damages incurred as a result of the assault. Cronk v Chevrolet Local 659, 32 Mich App 394; 189 NW2d 16 (1971). Since it cannot be said that it would be impossible to prove those factual contentions, there is a disputed question of fact which precludes summary judgment. Rizzo v Kretschmer, 389 Mich 363; 207 NW2d 316 (1973); Johnston v American Oil Co, 51 Mich App 646; 215 NW2d 719 (1974). The trial court therefore erred in granting summary judgment in favor of defendant unions.
Defendant international union’s exhaustion of intra-union remedies argument is likewise without merit. See Cronk v Chevrolet Local 659, supra.
Affirmed as to defendant Hopkins. Reversed and remanded for trial as to defendant unions. No costs with respect to Hopkins, a public question being involved; costs to abide the final result with respect to the remaining parties.
All concurred.
Plaintiff also made a workmen’s compensation claim and received an award for injuries arising out of the assault.
Anderson v Schust Co, 262 Mich 236; 247 NW 167 (1933); Martin v Jones, 302 Mich 355; 4 NW2d 686 (1942); Vinson v Thomas, 318 Mich 175; 27 NW2d 523 (1947); Renda v International Union, UAW, 366 Mich 58; 114 NW2d 343 (1962); Gifford v Evans, 35 Mich App 559; 192 NW2d 525 (1971). | [
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Holbrook, P. J.
Defendant appeals as of right from his jury conviction of delivery of heroin contrary to MCLA 335.341(l)(a); MSA 18.1070(41)(l)(a).
At trial, a police informant testified that, working in concert with narcotics officers, he purchased from defendant two bags of heroin in front of a pool room in Benton Township, Michigan. Expert testimony revealed that chemical analysis had shown that the material in packets was heroin. The witness related that the total amount of material in one packet was .049 gram and the weight of the material in the other packet was .085 gram. The witness further testified that no qualitative analysis had been performed, that the substance was not pure heroin, but rather a combination of heroin and other non-narcotic substances, and that he estimated that the concentration of heroin was perhaps 4%. Based upon this testimony and assumption, the total gross weight of the drug allegedly sold by defendant was approximately 5 milligrams. Defendant here asserts that his conviction for delivery of heroin cannot stand in light of the small amount of heroin involved; that the trial judge committed reversible error in refusing to give the defendant’s requested instruction that to establish delivery of heroin the jury would have to determine that it could be reasonably inferred that the quantity of heroin actually delivered was but a remnant of a larger, usable amount. Defendant cited as authority therefor the cases of People v Harrington, 33 Mich App 548; 190 NW2d 343 (1971), and People v Eugene Harris, 43 Mich App 531; 204 NW2d 549 (1972). The trial court denied the request on the basis that there was evidence from which the jury could infer reasonably that the amount of heroin was sufficient "in street terms” as to be prohibited by the statute, that both the Eugene Harris and Harrington cases were decided under the statutes existing prior to the Controlled Substances Act, MCLA 335.301 et seq; MSA 18.1070(1) et seq. The court stated it did not propose to give the instruction found to be in error in the Eugene Harris and Harrington cases which stated that any amount of narcotics, no matter how insignificant, was a violation of the statute. Further, the court distinguished the cases, stating that they involved unlawful possession of heroin, whereas the present case involved delivery. The court pointed out, moreover, that it was unable to understand how the giving of the requested instruction could do other than confuse the jury rather than clarify the matter.
Harrington, supra, was an appeal from a conviction for unlawful possession, MCLA 335.153; MSA 18.1123. The Court there found that a reasonable compromise would be struck between the minority and majority views by accepting the view that the amount sufficient to substantiate a conviction for possession would be that which could be reasonably inferred as a remnant of a larger, usable amount. In Harris, defendant was also convicted of possession of narcotics. On appeal he asserted, among other things, that the trial judge committed error by instructing the jury that any quantity of narcotics was sufficient to support a conviction. The Court applied the test of Harrington and found that the amount involved (24 grains of bulk heroin) was sufficient to satisfy the Harrington standard in that it was clearly a usable amount.
The defendant relies upon the case of People v Jones, 38 Mich App 512, 516-517; 196 NW2d 817, 819 (1972), as implicitly applying the Harrington test to a case for sale of narcotics, MCLA 335.152; MSA 18.1122. There, the Court wrote:
"The defendant contends that a reversal is required because of a remark by the prosecutor, in his opening statement, that possession of any amount of heroin was a violation of the law. The defendant relies on People v Harrington, 33 Mich App 548; 190 NW2d 343 (1971), where we held that when a defendant has been found in possession of minute quantities of heroin it must be determined, on all of the facts and circumstances of the case, that the quantity of narcotics actually discovered is a remnant of a larger usable amount.
"This case is distinguishable from Harrington. In Harrington the defendant was in possession of an amount of heroin that was clearly less than a usable amount. In this case the record clearly shows that a usable amount of heroin was involved. Furthermore, in this case the trial court instructed the jury that in order to be guilty the defendant must have had knowledge that he was dealing with heroin and the intent to deal with heroin.”
Recently, in two cases, a panel of this Court has ruled upon whether the standard of Harrington applies in cases of unlawful sale of heroin. People v Gaffney, 51 Mich App 526; 215 NW2d 587 (1974), and People v McCullough, 51 Mich App 534; 215 NW2d 774 (1974). In Gaffney, p 529; 215 NW2d 589, the Court wrote:
"Harrington’s rule, formulated in a possession case, should be limited in its application to cases of close fact similarity and to charges of possession. It is inapplicable to the case at bar which is a prosecution for sale.
"We reject the contention that the Harrington rule was extended to sale cases by People v Jones, 38 Mich App 512; 196 NW2d 817 (1972).
"We do so first because the Jones panel explicitly distinguished Harrington on the facts. Additionally, it incorporated a requirement which might generally be characterized as a guilty knowledge and an intent factor.”
The panel in McCullough, p 536; 215 NW2d 775-776 said:
"Charges and cases involving sale of heroin are clearly distinguishable from those involving possession. The language in Jones, supra, provides the key to the distinction. In a sale case the amount of heroin may not always be of paramount importance. If an alleged seller were to agree to sell heroin and furnished a substance purporting to be heroin which in fact contained heroin it would not be argued that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction merely because the seller cheated his customer by adulterating the goods. However, in a possession case a totally innocent person may have a trace of some contraband in his possession without realizing it. Refusal to give the requested instruction was not error.” (Emphasis in original.)
The Gaffney and McCullough cases were cited with approval in People v Koehler, 54 Mich App 624; 221 NW2d 398 (1974), for the proposition that Harrington is inapplicable to prosecutions for sale or delivery of narcotics. See also People v Stewart, 52 Mich App 477, 485-486; 217 NW2d 894, 898 (1974).
In Jones, supra, the approved instruction stated that in order to be guilty the defendant had to have knowledge that he was dealing with heroin and the intent to deal therewith. In the present case the trial court instructed the jury that the defendant had been charged with knowingly delivering a controlled substance. It said:
''[I]n order to convict the defendant of this crime, the prosecutor must have proven beyond a reasonable doubt each and all of the following elements:
“1. That the crime occurred on or about the 12th day of December, 1972, in Benton Township, Berrien County, Michigan.
"2. That this defendant intended to and did deliver a substance which, in fact, was heroin.
”3. That at the time and place the defendant knew the substance was, in fact, heroin.”
Thus, it is readily apparent that the proper instructions were given, that an instruction based upon Harrington would have been incorrect, and that no error is present.
Affirmed.
All concurred.
The minority view being that the amount must be sufficient for the drug’s common use. See People v Leal, 64 Cal 2d 504; 50 Cal Rptr 777; 413 P2d 665 (1966), and Greer v State, 163 Tex Crim 377; 292 SW2d 122 (1956). The majority view is that the amount is immaterial. See cases cited in People v Harrington, 33 Mich App 548, 549-550; 190 NW2d 343, 344-345 (1971).
As to cases for possession, the Harrington approach has recently been approved as striking "a just compromise between individual rights and law enforcement needs”. People v Stewart, 52 Mich App 477, 487; 217 NW2d 894, 899 (1974). | [
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Smith, J.
This case visits us for the second time. In Harry v Muskegon, 41 Mich App 642; 200 NW2d 460 (1972), this Court held that there was a question of fact as to whether the police officers’ failure to assist plaintiff in removing a stalled travel trailer and motor vehicle, which was obstructing traffic on a public street, constituted a breach of defendants’ duty to keep the streets in a reasonably safe and fit condition for travel as required by MCLA 242.1; MSA 9.591. A jury trial resulted in a verdict in favor of both plaintiffs in the sum of $175,000 against all the defendants. A motion at the conclusion of plaintiffs’ case for a directed verdict and motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict were denied. This is an appeal from the denial of these motions.
On Sunday, February 28, 1965, at approximately 2 a.m. Mr. Jonas and wife were proceeding easterly on Muskegon Avenue just west of Jefferson Street in the City of Muskegon in a car which was towing a travel trailer. The Jonas vehicle stalled and stopped in the middle lane of Muskegon Avenue about one car length west of Jefferson Street. Muskegon Avenue has four lanes, the northerly lane was limited to parking and the three southerly lanes for traffic. Muskegon Avenue is a one way street for traffic going easterly. The intersection of Muskegon Avenue and Jefferson Street is controlled by traffic lights which were in operation at the time of the ensuing events.
Jonas left his vehicle to call his friend Billie Harry who agreed to assist in removing the stalled vehicles. Plaintiff Billie Harry arrived shortly with his wife and proceeded to inspect the stalled car. At approximately 2:40 a.m., while plaintiff was standing between the front bumpers of the Jonas car and his own car, he having parked his car in front of the Jonas car with an intervening distance of 12 or 18 inches, and while he was attempting to attach jumper cables between the batteries of the two cars, a car driven by defendant Crabill struck the trailer from the rear, pushing it forward, thereby pinning plaintiff between the two bumpers. As a result plaintiff Billie Harry lost his right leg just above the knee.
From the record the jury could find that Muskegon Avenue was well lighted from overhead lights, that the front lights of plaintiff’s car shown against the front of the Jonas car, that plaintiff had no problems with lighting as he proceeded to work on the Jonas car, that about 20 cars were able to pass the stalled vehicles without incident, that the rear of the trailer was marked with a red fluorescent 1 to 1-1/2 inch tape along the bottom and with two red lights and three yellow lights, and that plaintiff had been on the scene between the two cars from 20 to 30 minutes before he was injured.
Before plaintiff arrived on the scene defendant police officers Mead and Russell, during the course of their duties for the City of Muskegon, came upon the stalled vehicles. The officers asked if help was needed. When Mr. Jonas responded that help was on the way the officers left the scene and testified they did not thereafter return. There was testimony however that after plaintiff arrived and while he was working on the Jonas car two other Muskegon officers stopped to inquire if any help was needed and plaintiff replied that he thought he had the problem solved whereupon these officers drove away.
Defendant Crabill testified that he saw the trailer standing in the center lane when he was 200 or more feet west of it but that the traffic light was red and since he was only traveling about 25 miles an hour he did not slow up believing the trailer would move when the light changed to green. When Crabill realized the trailer was not going to move as he believed it would it was too late to avoid the rear-end collision. Crabill does not appeal the verdict.
It is the claim of plaintiffs that officers Mead and Russell and the City of Muskegon are liable because the officers were negligent in carrying out their duties as police officers by failing to remain at the scene and render aid and assistance and warn other motorists of the situation.
MCLA 242.1; MSA 9.591 provides:
"Any person or persons sustaining bodily injury upon any of the public highways or streets in this state, by reason of neglect to keep such public highways or streets * * * in reasonable repair, and in condition reasonably safe and fit for travel by the * * * city * * * shall be liable to and shall pay to the person or persons so injured or disabled, and to any person suffering damages by reason of such injury, just damages, to be recovered in an action of trespass on the case before any court of competent jurisdiction.”
The verdict of the jury reflects a finding that officers Mead and Russell and the City of Muskegon were negligent by reason of the officers’ failure to take the necessary steps to keep the street in a reasonably safe condition and fit for travel and that plaintiff Billie Harry was not guilty of contributory negligence. From the denial of the motions for a directed verdict and judgment n.o.v. defendants Mead, Eussell and the City of Muskegon appeal.
Five allegations of error merit discussion.
Did the court commit reversible error by refusing to instruct the jury that they could consider age, intelligence, and experience of the plaintiff in determining contributory negligence?
The trial court charged the jury on contributory negligence in the language of SJI 11.01 and on proximate cause in the language of SJI 15.01. The trial court charged the jury on defendant’s claims as follows:
"Billie Harry had three companions available to watch for him and warn him of any approaching danger but did not ask any of them to do so.
"He claims that he told two police officers that he did not need any help and that he was just about done and he thought that he had it under control. Mr. Harry is a college graduate and also has attained a Master’s Degree in Special Education. He has taught school and also taught Driver’s Training, including safe driving practices for many years.
"The defendants also claim that the plaintiffs were in a position to use their best judgment in deciding whether Billie Harry should attempt to use the jumper cables while the stalled car and trailer were out in the street. Billie Harry was intelligent and a highly educated man and had taught Driver’s Training and was capable of exercising reasonable care for his own safety. The defendants claim that Mr. Harry knew or should have known what a reasonably careful person would do under the circumstances; that a reasonably careful person would not have stood in between the fronts of the two cars, in the middle of the street for twenty or more minutes and Billie Harry was negligent and his negligence would bar any recovery of damages in this case, even if the Police Officers were also negligent as claimed by the Plaintiffs.
"The defendants also claim that Billie Harry voluntarily placed himself in a position that could become dangerous and voluntarily remained there and could have removed himself from such a position at any time. There was no emergency present and the plaintiff cannot cast responsibility on others for the consequences of his own purely voluntary act.
"The defendants have the burden of proving that Mr. Harry was contributorily negligent in one or more ways claimed by the defendants as stated to you in these instructions and that such negligence was a proximate and contributing cause of the injuries and damages to the plaintiff.”
These instructions set forth in substance what defendants were requesting the court to charge. They bring to the attention of the jury that Billie Harry had a college degree, a master’s degree, that he was a teacher, and especially that he taught driver’s training for a number of years. We can only conclude that the jury gave these facts the same consideration that they gave other portions of the court’s charge. Defendants’ objections to the charge as given and to the failure to give requests in the precise form submitted are without merit. Ferries v Copco Steel & Eng Co, 344 Mich 345, 350; 73 NW2d 850 (1955).
Did the court commit reversible error by refusing to instruct the jury that if the plaintiff was a pedestrian and violated MCLA 257.655; MSA 9.2355 he was negligent per se?
We have recently addressed ourselves to this issue in Bird v Gabris, 53 Mich App 164; 218 NW2d 871 (1974), wherein we held that one who was attempting to flag down an oncoming vehicle in order to avoid an accident was not a pedestrian within the meaning of the aforesaid statute. We would apply the reasoning in Bird to our present facts and hold that plaintiff Harry, while attempt ing to start a stalled vehicle on the right-of-way, was not a pedestrian within the meaning of the statute.
Did the trial court commit reversible error by refusing to charge the jury that one who "voluntarily and unnecessarily assumes the danger would be guilty of contributory negligence”?
Such language was discussed in Felgner v Anderson, 375 Mich 23, 56; 133 NW2d 136 (1965). There the Court concluded:
"Assumption of risk should not again be used in this state as a substitute for, or as a supplement to, or as a corollary of, contributory negligence; nor should it be used to explain a law violator’s enlarged duty of due care resulting from his violation of law. The traditional concepts of contributory negligence are more than ample to present that affirmative defense to established negligent acts.”
We find the charge given by the trial court on the subject of contributory negligence to be sufficient without the requested supplemental language.
Did the court commit reversible error by failing to find that the plaintiff was contributorily negligent as a matter of law?
Defendants argue strenuously that plaintiff voluntarily exposed himself to danger and that he was aware of it. To substantiate this claim they quote the following from the record:
”Q. But, you knew you couldn’t be seen by a car coming from the rear?
"A. Oh, yes, I was standing in front of the car.
”Q. And you knew Mr. Jonas couldn’t be seen?
’A. Yes.
”Q. So, you preferred to hide your car behind the trailer?
"A. I was looking to silhouette the trailer by having the lights on.
”Q. Did you go to the rear of the trailer and see what kind of a job you were doing on silhouetting it?
"A, No, I did not. I thought I would try to get him out of there as fast as possible.
”Q. And you knew the car could be seen?
”A. I was hoping the light would silhouette the trailer.
”Q. You never checked that out?
"A No, I never checked that out.
"Q. You were working in the middle of a highway between two cars and just never happened to think about any cars approaching and you didn’t think it was a danger. Correct?
'A. I recognized it as a dangerous situation, and that is why I was trying to hurry and get him out of there.
”Q. If you thought it was dangerous, why didn’t you tell the police to stay?
"A. I thought we were done. I thought we had hooked up the cables.
”Q. Mr. Harry, just so I understand you correctly, are you saying you didn’t think it was a dangerous situation or just didn’t think?
”A. No. Any car stalled in the middle of the highway, I would say is a dangerous situation.
”Q. When you then realized it was a dangerous situation, why didn’t you either call a wrecker or have him wave down cars, rather than having him stand around you?
"A I was busy. I was busy trying to get the car to run. I was thinking in terms of getting the motor to go to get that car out of there. I was not thinking about getting anybody out to wave to traffic.
"Q. Oh, you weren’t thinking about your own safety?
"A. I was thinking of getting the car running then. What I could have thought about, I was not aware of.
”Q. Were you thinking of your own safety at all?
"A. I am not aware of that at this time.”
When we place plaintiff in this well-lighted setting, with plenty of room for traffic to pass on either side of the stalled vehicles, with the back of the trailer marked with lights and fluorescent tape and with all drivers seeing the vehicles in time to stop, can we say as a matter of law that plaintiff, in the act of alleviating a potentially dangerous situation at some risk to himself, was acting unreasonably? The fact question for jury consideration was reasonable. They so found and we cannot disagree under the circumstances here. See Schweim v Johnson, 10 Mich App 81; 158 NW2d 822 (1968); Megge v Lumbermens Mut Casualty Co, 45 Mich App 119; 206 NW2d 245 (1973); Ford v American National Ins Co, 46 Mich App 368; 208 NW2d 226 (1973).
Did the court commit reversible error by submitting the question of the liability of the defendant police officers and the defendant municipality to the jury?
Defendants argue that since plaintiffs claim and the jury found that plaintiff Billie Harry was not guilty of contributory negligence and that he was acting reasonably under the circumstances these same circumstances should be sufficient to find that the police officers likewise acted reasonably after appraising the situation. A cursory examination of this claim might lead one to agree. But upon reflection we believe the argument should fail.
A jury might find that the circumstances warranted the risk involved in removing the danger on the street and at the same time find that it was the duty of the officers under the above statute to reduce the risk by whatever means at hand, and failure to do so would amount to negligence. This is not to say that the police officers had a greater duty than the ordinary person under the circumstances. But it would seem reasonable to require the officers to remain at the scene with their oscillating light to warn that this was not an ordinary situation of a car and trailer waiting for the traffic light to turn green.
We find the evidence in this case justifies the jury verdict and affirm the trial court’s denial of a directed verdict, motion n.o.v., and motion for new trial. Costs to plaintiffs.
All concurred. | [
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T. M. Burns, J.
This is an interlocutory appeal granted by this Court on February 15, 1974. Defendant has been charged with violation of § 41(l)(b) of the Controlled Substances Act. MCLA 335.341(l)(b); MSA 18.1070(41)(l)(b). He appeals from an order of the Recorder’s Court denying his motion to quash the information.
Defendant is a 76-year-old licensed physician who has been practicing medicine in the City of Detroit for nearly half a century. He is charged on two separate counts of violation of the aforementioned statute. Preliminary examinations were held in Recorder’s Court on June 20 and 21,1973.
Testimony at the June 20, 1973, preliminary examination disclosed that on March 22, 1973, officer Robert Ulieru visited defendant’s office under the pseudonym of Gregory Wilson. Defendant inquired as to whether he had ever treated him before, and the witness stated that he had previously been to the doctor’s office in 1972. Defendant further inquired as to the reason for the witness’s visit and was requested to issue a prescription for Desoxyn (a diet pill) and one for Seconal (a seda tive). Defendant asked the witness if he had ever used these drugs before, and the witness replied that he had.
The officer then testified that he also requested a Seconal prescription for his girlfriend and that he told the defendant the reason she needed the pills was because she was "high-strung” and sometimes had trouble sleeping. The defendant wrote the prescriptions as requested and gave them to the witness. He charged the officer $14 for that visit.
At the June 21, 1973, preliminary examination, officer Donald Hollifield, an employee of the Department of Licensing and Regulation of the State of Michigan, testified that on March 23, 1973, he went to the defendant’s office under the pseudonym of Ray Kent. When asked by the defendant if he had ever been treated by him before, he replied that he had been to the defendant’s office in October of 1972. He asked the defendant to write him a prescription for Desoxyn and one for Tuinal (a sedative). The witness also requested a Tuinal prescription for his wife, telling the defendant that she was having trouble sleeping. Defendant wrote the prescriptions as requested, gave them to the witness, and charged him $11 for that visit.
At the conclusion of the preliminary examinations, the examining magistrate bound the defendant over for trial on both counts. The defendant filed a motion to quash the information claiming that the prosecution had failed to show any violation of § 41 of the Controlled Substances Act. The motion to quash was denied by the trial court; and as already stated, we granted defendant leave to take an interlocutory appeal from that denial.
The sole meritorious issue raised on appeal is whether the examining magistrate erred in holding that a . crime had been committed and by binding defendant over for trial. Defendant so claims and seeks an order reversing the trial court’s denial of his motion to quash the information.
The information filed in the instant case charged defendant with:
"being a person licensed as required under the provisions of the Controlled Substances Act WILLIAM V. KERWIN, did unlawfully issue deliver and dispense two prescriptions in the name of GREGORY WILSON for 18 Tablets of Desoxyn Gradumets 15 mg and 18 Capsules of Seconal 1-1/2 Grain and one prescription in the name of MARY KIRBY for Seconal 1-1/2 Grain 18 Capsules to ROBERT D. ULIERU and in so unlawfully issuing delivering and dispensing said prescriptions for Desoxyn a Methamphetamine under Schedule 2 of the Controlled Substances Act and Seconal under Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act, and in so doing he, the said WILLIAM V. KERWIN, did not act in the ordinary course of professional medical practice in the State nor did he do so for legitimate medical purposes, contrary to Sec. 335.341, Sub. Sec. 16(c).”
Thus we see that the actual charge against the defendant is that:
"WILLIAM V. KERWIN did not act in the ordinary course of professional medical practice in the State nor did he do so for legitimate medical purposes, contrary to Sec. 335.341 * * * .”
The pertinent part of § 41, MCLA 335.341; MSA 18.1070(41) provides as follows:
"(1) Except as authorized by this act, it is unlawful for any person to manufacture, deliver or possess with intent to manufacture or deliver, a controlled substance. Any person who violates this subsection with respect to:
"(b) Any other controlled substance classified in schedules 1, 2 or 3, except marihuana, is guilty of a felony and upon conviction may be imprisoned for not more than 7 years or fined not more than $5,000, or both.”
Section 32(2), MCLA 335.332(2); MSA 18.1070(32) provides in relevant part:
"(2) Persons registered by the administrator under this act to manufacture, distribute, prescribe, dispense or conduct research with * * * those substances to the extent authorized by their registration and in conformity with the other provisions of this chapter.”
It is not disputed that the defendant is a physician within the meaning of § 7(3)(a), MCLA 335.307(3)(a); MSA 18.1070(7)(3)(a) and that, therefore, under the provisions of § 32(2), supra, he may prescribe controlled substances to the extent authorized by his registration.
Defendant has been charged with violating MCLA 335.341; MSA 18.1070(41), supra. That section only prohibits any person from manufacturing, delivering or possessing with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance. The section does not forbid the writing of prescriptions for controlled substances by a physician authorized under the act to prescribe such substances.
Furthermore, neither MCLA 335.341; MSA 18.1070(41) nor any other section of the act contains any provision dictating the manner in which a licensed physician may prescribe controlled substances. Nowhere in the act is there a prohibition against the prescribing of controlled substances by a licensed physician without his first having conducted a physical examination of the patient. There is also no provision in the act which forbids the writing of a prescription for one who does not appear personally at the doctor’s office.
It is quite possible that the defendant in this case did not act in accordance with accepted medical practice by writing the prescriptions in question. However, even though this may be true, such action does not constitute a violation of MCLA 335.341; MSA 18.1070(41) or of any other section of the Controlled Substances Act.
The examining magistrate erred in holding that a crime had been committed and by binding defendant over for trial. Defendant’s motion to quash should have been granted.
Having resolved this issue in defendant’s favor, we find it unnecessary to consider defendant’s entrapment argument.
Reversed and remanded.
The second information filed against the defendant is identical to that quoted above with the only exception being that officer Donald Hollifield was the party to whom defendant delivered the prescriptions, and that Tuinal was the second drug given to Hollifield rather than Seconal. | [
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J. H. Gillis, J.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from a February 27, 1973 circuit court judgment affirming an order of a collective bargaining arbitration panel.
Contract negotiations between the City of Alpena and Local 623 of the International Association of Fire Fighters reached an impasse in June of 1971, and arbitration proceedings were begun under the compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in municipal police and fire departments act, MCLA 423.231, et seq.; MSA 17.455(31), et seq. On December 23, 1971, an order and award were entered by the arbitration panel, the city delegate dissenting.
The only portion of the order challenged on appeal is the "manpower” award which specifies:
"That the manpower status quo shall continue (eight man shifts when no one is on vacation and seven man shifts when one is on vacation).”
Plaintiff contends we must reverse the "man power” award because the panel did not comply with certain statutory procedures. Specifically, the city claims the panel failed to (1) make findings of fact as required by MCLA 423.238; MSA 17.455(38); (2) base its decision on the criteria set out in MCLA 423.239; MSA 17.455(39); (3) make a verbatim record of the proceedings as required by MCLA 423.236; MSA 17.455(36); and (4) deliberate as a panel as contemplated by the entire act.
First, we must answer the threshold question: Are these alleged statutory violations subject to judicial review? With regard to the scope of review, MCLA 423.242; MSA 17.455(42), provides:
"Orders of the arbitration panel shall be reviewable by the circuit court for the county in which the dispute arose or in which a majority of the affected employees reside, but only for reasons that [1] the arbitration panel was without or exceeded its jurisdiction; [2] the order is unsupported by competent, material and substantial evidence on the whole record; or [3] the order was procured by fraud, collusion or other similar and unlawful means. The pendency of such proceeding for review shall not automatically stay the order of the arbitration panel.”
We do not think that the errors alleged by the city come within any of the three statutorily defined grounds for review. Of course, a claimed procedural violation may, under certain circumstances, be reviewable under MCLA 423.242; MSA 17.455(42). If a party were to allege that an arbitration panel’s failure to follow statutory requirements was the product of fraud or collusion, then the allegation would be reviewable under this section. But, plaintiff has made no such allegation here.
Our conclusion that plaintiff’s claimed errors are not reviewable under MCLA 423.242; MSA 17.455(42), does not necessarily mean they are beyond appellate scrutiny. Where the errors alleged are of constitutional magnitude, the allegations are reviewable. See Crowell v Benson, 285 US 22; 52 S Ct 285; 76 L Ed 598 (1932); Dation v Ford Motor Co, 314 Mich 152; 22 NW2d 252 (1946); Michigan Bell Telephone Co v Michigan Public Service Commission, 332 Mich 7; 50 NW2d 826 (1952); Carter Oil Co v State, 205 Okla 541; 240 P2d 787 (1951).
Due process of law requires that the arbitration panel make a record which is capable of being reviewed by the courts. If the evidence on which the panel bases its order is unascertainable, then a party’s right of appeal is effectively denied. Cf. Dation v Ford Motor Co, supra; Hunter v Zenith Dredge Co, 220 Minn 318; 19 NW2d 795 (1945). By claiming that the panel did not make findings of fact, did not base its decision on the statutory criteria, and did not make a verbatim record of the proceedings, plaintiff is contending that it was denied due process of law because the panel failed to make a record capable of meaningful appellate review. Therefore, we will review these three allegations of error.
Plaintiff claims the panel erred because it did not base its order on criteria of MCLA 423.239; MSA 17.455(39), which provides in pertinent part:
"[T]he arbitration panel shall base its findings, opinions and order upon the following factors, as applicable:
"(a) The lawful authority of the employer.
"(b) Stipulations of the parties.
"(c) The interests and welfare of the public and the financial ability of the unit of government to meet those costs.
"(d) Comparison of the wages, hours and conditions of employment of the employees involved in the arbitration proceeding with the wages, hours and conditions of employment of other employees performing similar services and with other employees generally:
"(i) In public employment in comparable communities.
"(ii) In private employment in comparable communities.
"(e) The average consumer prices for goods and services, commonly known as the cost of living.
"(f) The overall compensation presently received by the employees, including direct wage compensation, vacations, holidays and other excused time, insurance and pensions, medical and hospitalization benefits, the continuity and stability of employment, and all other benefits received.
"(g) Changes in any of the foregoing circumstances during the pendency of the arbitration proceedings.
"(h) Such other factors, not confined to the foregoing, which are normally or traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of wages, hours and conditions of employment through voluntary collective bargaining, mediation, fact-finding, arbitration or otherwise between the parties, in the public service or in private employment.” (Emphasis supplied.)
On the manpower question, the only evidence offered concerned the present practices in Alpena. We think present practices are a factor "normally or traditionally taken into consideration [criterion (h)]”. The statute does not require that the panel consider each factor; if no evidence is presented upon a particular factor, the panel can’t be expected to base its decision on it. We find that the panel complied with MCLA 423.239; MSA 17.455(39).
Plaintiffs second allegation of error is that the panel failed to make "written findings of fact”. MCLA 423.238; MSA 17.455(38). The panel found that the "manpower status quo” constituted "eight man shifts when no one is on vacation and seven man shifts when one is on vacation”. This is a sufficient finding of fact.
The third error claimed by the city is the panel’s failure to make a "verbatim record of the proceedings”. MCLA 423.236; MSA 17.455(36). At the outset the arbitrator told the parties that since Alpena’s only court reporter was out of town, he would tape record the proceedings. From the tapes, a transcript was made. We take judicial notice of the fact that tape transcription is a process replete with difficulty. While there are no "expletives deleted” in this transcript, there are many sections labeled "inaudible”. However, plaintiff did not object to this means of recording, nor does it claim to have been prejudiced thereby. Moreover, we have examined that portion of the transcript dealing with manpower, and, while there are a few small gaps, it is comprehensible and substantially complete.
We conclude that plaintiff’s allegations of statutory violations are without merit; plaintiff has not been denied due process of law.
Next, plaintiff claims that the manpower award is not supported "by competent, material and substantial evidence on the whole record”. MCLA 423.242; MSA 17.455(42). We disagree. The only testimony on this point was that of the union representative, one of the firemen. He testified as to present practices and as to the union’s proposal for a slight manpower increase. The city did not respond to the union position. Nevertheless, the panel rejected the union proposal and ordered that the "manpower status quo be continued”. There was sufficient evidence to support this order.
Lastly, plaintiff contends that the panel did not have jurisdiction to make the manpower award. An arbitration panel has jurisdiction over labor "disputes” between firemen and policemen, and their employers. MCLA 423.231; MSA 17.455(31). MCLA 423.244; MSA 17.455(44), makes the compulsory arbitration act supplementary to the public employment relations act, MCLA 423.201 et seq.; MSA 17.455(1) et seq. Under § 15 of that act, MCLA 423.215; MSA 17.455(15), "wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment” are made mandatory subjects of bargaining. See Detroit Police Officers Association v Detroit, 391 Mich 44; 214 NW2d 803 (1974). MCLA 423.239(h); MSA 17.455(39)(h), also refers to "wages, hours, and conditions of employment”. Therefore, we conclude that the jurisdiction of an arbitration panel extends, at a minimum, to "disputes” concerning "wages, hours, and conditions of employment”.
The union representative testified that the number of firemen on duty affected not only the public safety, but also the firemen’s safety. This position was supported by extensive testimony concerning fire fighting practices and procedures. A safety practice is a condition of employment. NLRB v Gulf Power Co, 384 F2d 822 (CA 5, 1967); NLRB v Miller Brewing Co, 408 F2d 12 (CA 9, 1969); Fibreboard Paper Products Corp v NLRB, 379 US 203; 85 S Ct 398; 13 L Ed 2d 233 (1964), Mr. Justice Stewart concurring; see Annotation, Subjects of mandatory collective bargaining under Federal Labor Relations Act, 12 ALR2d 265. We hold, therefore, that the manpower award was within the subject matter and jurisdiction of the arbitration panel.
We affirm the circuit court judgment. No costs, a public question being involved.
All concurred.
The statute provides for a three-person panel: one delegate chosen by the employer, one delegate chosen by the employee, and an impartial arbitrator selected by the two delegates. MCLA 423.234-235; MSA 17.455(34M35).
Plaintiffs allegation that the panel did not deliberate as a panel is not an allegation of constitutional error, and, therefore, is not reviewable. | [
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V. J. Brennan, J.
Plaintiff, George E. Snyder Associates, Inc., appeals from a decision of the Jackson County Circuit Court granting defendant Midwest Bank’s motion for summary judgment. GCR 1963,117.2(3).
On March 26, 1971, plaintiff entered into a loan and security agreement with the defendant bank. By this agreement defendant loaned plaintiff $200,000 on a term loan basis with a five-year schedule of repayment. Defendant also extended to plaintiff a loan option of an additional $200,000 on a revolving credit loan basis. Plaintiff agreed to deposit all of its revenue in a "cash collateral account” with the defendant bank. This account was designed to allow plaintiff to meet its operation and payroll expenses and to serve as collateral for the loans. In mid-December plaintiff requested that funds from the cash collateral account be transferred to its operating account so that it could meet its payroll expenses. This request was refused by defendant bank as were several subsequent similar requests.
In early January, 1972, plaintiff ceased to operate due to its inability to pay its employees. The money remaining in the cash collateral account was applied to the payment of plaintiff’s outstanding loan indebtedness.
On January 14, 1972, plaintiff instituted the instant action against defendant bank claiming that the bank’s failure to transfer funds from the cash collateral account constituted a breach of contract resulting in the complete shutdown of corporate operations and causing a loss of $600,-000. Defendant answered plaintiff’s complaint denying the material allegations thereof and setting up a section of the Security Agreement as an affirmative defense pursuant to GCR 1963, 111.7. Following a number of preliminary proceedings defendant filed a motion for summary judgment under GCR 1963, 117.2(3) contending there was no genuine issue as to any material fact. The trial court took the motion under advisement and ordered the parties to take depositions. On November 29, 1973, the trial court rendered its opinion granting defendant bank’s motion for summary judgment. It is from this decision that plaintiff now appeals.
A motion for summary judgment under GCR 1963, 117.2(3), made before trial has commenced, is not to be granted unless it can be said, giving the benefit of every reasonable doubt to the party opposing the motion, that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact. Rizzo v Kretschmer, 389 Mich 363; 207 NW2d 316 (1973); Rowen & Blair Electric Co v Flushing Operating Corp, 49 Mich App 89; 211 NW2d 527 (1973). In determining whether such an issue does indeed exist, a court is required to consider all affidavits filed in the action "together with the pleadings, depositions, admissions and documentary evidence then filed in the action or submitted by the parties”. GCR 1963, 117.3. After reviewing these materials summary judgment is not to be granted unless it is impossible for plaintiff’s claim to be supported at trial "because of some deficiency which cannot be overcome”. Rizzo v Kretschmer, supra.
The section of the security agreement set up as an affirmative defense by defendant provides that plaintiff shall be in default if defendant deems itself insecure, "in good faith believing that the prospect of payment * * * is impaired”. Plaintiff, in its answer to defendant’s affirmative defense, stated that "defendant had no valid 'good faith’ basis for believing that the prospect of payment of the indebtedness or performance of the Agreement was impaired”. The issue of defendant’s good faith, therefore, was squarely put in issue. In his affidavit Robert O. Shelley stated that defendant was advised by plaintiff that it was unable to meet its payroll, that plaintiff had not been generating any new business of consequence, that ten employees of plaintiff would soon be discharged and that plaintiff would probably go into dissolution. Mr. Richard Huttenlocher, by his counteraffidavit, stated that he advised Mr. Shelley that certain employees were to be laid off, but as part of a corporate change to reduce costs and promote efficiency and that he did not state that plaintiff was unable to meet its payroll or that plaintiff was seeking dissolution. These discrepancies or seeming inconsistencies all involve questions of fact which might relate to the ultimate issue of defendant’s good faith. Therefore, under these circumstances and in light of our Supreme Court’s recent decision in Rizzo, we find ourselves unable to say, giving plaintiff the benefit of every reasonable doubt, that it is impossible for plaintiff’s claim to be supported at trial "because of some deficiency which cannot be overcome”. Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the trial court and remand the case for trial.
Reversed and remanded.
All concurred.
A section of tin additional security agreement was also set up as an affirmative defense. Plaintiff, in its answer to defendant’s affirmative defenses, alleged full compliance with this section. The specific application of this section was not, however, explored by the trial judge. At trial both parties should be given full opportunity to explore its relevance and applicability to this particular fact situation.
Defendant’s motion in this regard was supported by affidavit as required by DeMare Brothers Construction Co, Inc, v Teska, 49 Mich App 642; 212 NW2d 602 (1973). | [
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Van Valkenburg, J.
It is uncontroverted that plaintiff Finis Stone was severely injured when a tire manufactured by defendant tire company exploded while Stone was attempting to mount the tire on a rim. Stone purchased the tire in question from an undisclosed customer of the service station at which Stone worked. At the time of Stone’s purchase of the tire it had an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 miles of use. On the day prior to the accident Stone mounted the subject tire on his rim and placed it in his automobile as a spare. On the day of the accident one of the tires on his automobile went flat and plaintiff placed the tire in question on his automobile. The subject tire also went flat after about a block and a half of driving. Stone removed the tire for the purpose of repair and then, as he was attempting to remount the tire on the rim by means of a Coats 10-10 tire changer, it exploded causing substantial injuries to plaintiff.
It is further uncontroverted that the tire exploded when the bead wires gave way while the tire was being filled with air during the mounting operation. The sole question at trial was whether the bead failure was attributable to a defect caused by defendant company’s manufacturing process. Plaintiffs’ expert opined that four layers of the five layer bead bundle were broken on the vulcanizing machine at defendant’s plant and that defect lay hidden until the fifth bundle broke during the mounting by plaintiff. Plaintiffs’ expert was of the opinion, based upon his examination of the tire, that the bead break was not a result of any prior mismounting or damage in use although the prior history of the tire was unknown. This expert admitted his theory of causation was based upon his empirical study rather than experimental data obtained from the actual use of a vulcanizer, and the chances of such a defect being caused in this manner would be in the order of one in a million.
Defendant’s two experts, on the other hand, opined that it was impossible to develop the amount of force necessary to break the tire bead wires in the vulcanizer. Both of defendant’s experts testified that they had never seen or heard of broken bead wires resulting from the use of the vulcanizer. Both of these witnesses were of the opinion that this bead failure was the result of the bead hanging up on the rim during the mounting of the tire on the rim and that a tire with a bead break such as theorized by plaintiffs’ expert would not survive the 3,000 to 5,000 mile use this tire had undergone before one of the plaintiffs purchased it.
Upon these proofs the jury returned a verdict of no cause of action. Plaintiffs moved for a new trial, which was denied and now appeals as of right.
The sole issue raised by plaintiffs in this appeal is whether the trial court erred reversibly in refusing to allow plaintiffs to offer evidence with respect to a new Goodyear tire with a broken bead which plaintiffs’ expert allegedly observed in a tire store. The trial court refused to permit plaintiff’s expert to testify as to this other tire.
Plaintiffs’ counsel made an oral offer of proof with respect to what he intended to prove concerning this other tire. Counsel indicated that plaintiffs’ expert would testify that he saw a Goodyear tire in a Goodyear dealership with a broken tire bead. Counsel further indicated that the employees of the tire store would testify that the tire had not been mounted and that plaintiffs’ expert would testify that it appeared that the tire had not been mounted. Although defense counsel strenuously objected to plaintiffs’ counsel’s characterization of what the testimony of the store employees would be, the trial court assumed that the offer of proof was accurate and, nevertheless, ruled that the evidence was inadmissible because it had no relevancy or probative value, since it would require the jury to weigh the plaintiffs’ expert’s testimony as to his theory of causation and his belief that the tire had not been mounted against defendant’s experts’ testimony that if such defect existed the tire must have been mounted or otherwise physically damaged because the vulcanizer could not cause a bead break. The trial court thus premised his ruling on the conclusion that at best it would be cumulative and at worst it would introduce an entirely separate conflict between the opinions of the opposing experts which the jury would have to decide.
While there is ample authority holding that evidence as to the nature of similar products is not admissible, there is also ample authority holding that such evidence is admissible under certain circumstances. This same dichotomy is also reflected in the cases arising in other jurisdictions. It will suffice to say that there is some authority supporting the trial court’s ruling that evidence of the sort we have here would be collateral and thus properly kept out.
We do not feel it is necessary to attempt to determine where the fine line between what is admissible evidence and what is inadmissible evidence is to be drawn, or on which side of that line this evidence falls. Even if we assume arguendo that the evidence was admissible, we do not find that the trial court’s error in denying its admission constituted error of such proportions that plaintiffs were denied substantial justice.
While the fact that the testimony as to the other tire required the resolution of the same conflict between the experts’ opinions as the tire which exploded might not render such testimony inadmissible, that fact certainly must be considered with respect to whether the error in denying its admission was such that reversal is mandated. In the final analysis, even had the plaintiffs’ proofs with respect to this other tire comported exactly with their offer of proof, the question with respect to this other tire would have ultimately required the jury to resolve the same question of the relative persuasiveness of plaintiffs’ expert versus defendant’s experts. In both instances the resolution of that question ultimately rested upon whether the jury believed plaintiffs’ expert’s testimony that there was no evidence of mismounting of either tire. Since the impact of the admission of the testimony with respect to this other tire would appear to have been minimal, we hold that the error in refusing to allow such testimony was not inconsistent with substantial justice; and, thus, reversal for a new trial is not warranted. GCR 1963, 529.1.
Affirmed. Costs to the defendants.
All concurred.
D M Osborne & Co v Bell, 62 Mich 214; 28 NW 841 (1886); McCormick Harvesting Machine Co v Cochran, 64 Mich 636; 31 NW 561 (1887); Second National Bank v Wheeler, 75 Mich 546; 42 NW 963 (1889); Watkins v Phelps, 165 Mich 180; 130 NW 618 (1911); Royal Mink Ranch v Ralston Purina Co, 18 Mich App 695; 172 NW2d 43 (1969).
Avery v Burrall, 118 Mich 672; 77 NW 272 (1898); Waterman-Waterbury Co v School District No. 2, 182 Mich 498; 148 NW 673 (1914); Budd v Ann Arbor R Co, 200 Mich 250; 166 NW 927 (1918); McNamara v E W Ross Co, 225 Mich 335; 196 NW 336 (1923); Savage v Peterson Distributing Co, 379 Mich 197; 150 NW2d 804 (1967).
See generally 42 ALR3d 780.
Post v Manitowoc Engineering Corp, 88 NJ 199; 211 A2d 386 (1965).
We think the better practice in a situation such as we have here would have been to make a separate record of the testimony of the witnesses having testimony with respect to the offer of proof. | [
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R. L. Smith, J.
The defendant appeals as of right from his March 15, 1973 jury conviction of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. MCLA 750.84; MSA 28.279. We reverse and remand for a new trial.
The defendant and a companion, Michael Bernia, had been drinking from about 3 p.m. on December 30, 1972 to some time before 2:45 a.m. the next morning. Bernia estimated that they consumed at least a case of beer and several rounds of whiskey. The defendant and Bernia drove around Muskegon and Ottawa counties engaging in the pastime of shooting at road signs with a .22-caliber pistol.
Sometime around 2:45 a.m. these two men arrived at the intersection of Beech Tree Street and Robins Road in Grand Haven. Bernia was driving and the defendant was seated next to him with the window open. As they approached the intersection they passed two boys. According to the testimony of the boys the person seated on the passenger side leaned out of the front window and pointed something down at them. They heard a shot, saw a flash, and one of the boys felt something hit his foot. It was subsequently discovered that one of the boys had been hit in the foot with some metal fragments.
Bernia, testifying for the people, stated that the defendant said he was going to "shoot one of those guys” and after firing a shot said "I think I got one of them”. The defendant testified that he said he was going to shoot one of those signs and that when it appeared to him that one of the boys, who he claimed not to have seen before he shot, may have been hurt he requested Bernia to stop the car but that Bernia instead sped away. Bernia testified in rebuttal that he was 50% sure that the defendant stated that he was going to shoot one of those guys but that he could be mistaken. Bernia denied that the defendant requested him to stop or that he sped away.
In his cross-examination of Bernia, defendant’s attorney developed the fact that Bernia may have talked with one of the officers about dropping a pending charge in return for his cooperation in this case and that he may have had some hope that this would occur. In response to this development the prosecutor on redirect examination engaged in the following colloquy:
”Q. The charge has to be dropped or you hope it can be dropped is in what county?
”A. Muskegon County.
"Q. What happened there?
'A. I shot a guy there.
"Q. When?
’A. The same night.
”Q. With what?
'A. A .22-caliber pistol.
”Q. Who was with you?
’A. Larry Haukom.
"Q. Were you in the car when you shot him?
“A. Yes.”
Defendant’s motion for a mistrial was denied. The defendant claims reversible error and a denial of a fair trial by reason of the disclosure of the shooting incident in Muskegon County.
The defendant does not dispute the prosecutor’s right to explain the testimony upon which a claim of bias may be made but contends that his right to do so stops short of any disclosure that the defendant may have been present during the commission of another crime. It appears that it was unnecessary to state the time of the Muskegon incident or the fact of the defendant’s presence in order to fully inform the jury of any possible deal Bernia may have had in mind. The prejudicial effect of such a disclosure is apparent. No cautionary statement was made to the jury either at the time of the disclosure or in the court’s charge.
Such disclosure associated the defendant with a similar incident that same evening, even though there is nothing in the record to indicate his reaction to it or his participation in it. The jury was left to speculate as to its relevancy and defendant’s connection therewith. A somewhat similar situation was before this Court in People v Page, 41 Mich App 99; 199 NW2d 669 (1972). In Page, in spite of the court’s cautionary instruction, this Court held that a gratuitous remark by a police officer associating defendant with a dope house by the mere assertion that the arrest was made in front of such a place irreparably damaged defendant’s opportunity to receive a fair trial. In the case at bar the irrelevant testimony was elicited directly in response to the prosecutor’s question and there was no cautionary instruction. Thus, the reasons for reversal are stronger here than they were in Page.
Defendant claims his constitutional right to remain silent was infringed by the prosecutor’s questions. The record discloses that the defendant testified that the shooting was an accident. Thereafter, he testified that he told the police nothing except that he wanted an attorney. There is nothing to indicate that the prosecutor was attempting to get before the jury the fact that the defendant remained silent in the face of questioning. We find no error. People v Bobo, 390 Mich 355; 212 NW2d 190 (1973).
The defendant claims error in the failure of the trial court to sua sponte give a limiting instruction confining jury consideration of defendant’s prior criminal record solely to the issue of credibility. We are not persuaded that the current law of Michigan requires the trial judge to give such an instruction sua sponte. People v DerMartzex, 390 Mich 410; 213 NW2d 97 (1973).
There was sufficient evidence upon which to warrant denial of the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict of acquittal.
Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
All concurred. | [
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Long, J.
This is an action brought in the circuit court for the county of Osceola by Elizabeth Doty as plaintiff, against Wellington Postal, Frank S. Postal, and Orville M. Bush as defendants, to recover damages sustained by her to her means of support, occasioned by the death of her husband, Frank Doty, which death was caused by the intoxication of Seymour Bailey and others at the saloon of defendant Wellington Postal. Seymour Bailey, while so intoxicated, shot and killed the husband of plaintiff. The action is based upon section 20, Act No. 313, Laws of 1887 (3 How. Stat. § 2283 e 3). The defendant Wellington Postal is the principal, and Frank S. Postal and Orville M. Bush, the other two defendants, are sureties upon his liquor bond, which bond bears date the 26th day of May, A. D. 1888, and is executed, duly approved, and filed in conformity with the statute. The intoxication and death occurred on or about the 6th day of April, A. H. 1889, at which time the said defendant Wellington Postal was the keeper of a saloon in the village of Evart, and was doing business under the bond sued upon.
It is claimed by counsel for the plaintiff that the proofs tend to show that on the evening of tht 6th day of April, 1889, Seymour Bailey, George Bailey, Harvey Smith, James Curry, and James Powell, who resided in and around the village of Sears (a small place lying three miles east of Evart), came to Evart, and were together during that evening, and purchased and drank liquor at defendant Postal's saloon and at other places-in Evart. About 10 o’clock that evening these parties-from Sears finally congregated on Main street of the village of Evart, near a mill where the F. & P. M. Railroad track crosses the street east and west; Main street running north and south, the mill standing on the east-side of Main street, facing the west. While these five boys were engaged in a noise and disturbance, the plaintiff's husband and some other parties, who were at that time, in a hotel which was situated on the west side of Main street, and some distance north from where this Sears crowd had congregated, having their attention attracted by the noise, came out of the hotel, went across the street, and down where this crowd was. The railroad track before mentioned leads east from Evart through Sears, said track being the usual route taken by these boys going home. As they saw these parties coming across the street from the hotel, the Sears party started up the track east towards home, Seymour Bailey, the person who shot plaintiffs husband, and George Bailey, remaining behind the rest; and when the plaintiffs husband and Seymour Bailey met or came together, Bailey shot and killed plaintiffs husband. He fired two shots at him in rapid succession, only a second or two intervening, one of which entered the cheek of deceased just below the eye, passing through the brain, lodging against the skull, causing his immediate death;
It was claimed by the defense that Bailey was hit by the deceased in the face on their first coming together, and the theory of the defense was that Bailey shot and killed plaintiffs husband in self-defense; that Doty, the deceased, was the aggressor in the affray, and, he (Doty) being the aggressor, the plaintiff could not recover, even though Bailey was drunk at the time of the shooting; while the plaintiff's theory was that Bailey was the aggressor, and not Doty; and, further, that it made no difference whether Bailey or Doty was the aggressor, — if Bailey was intoxicated at the time of the shooting, and became intoxicated, in whole or in part, from liquors procured at the defendant's saloon, then a right of action had accrued in favor of the plaintiff; and, further, that the plaintiff was entitled to go to the jury on the questions of fact presented in the case, whether the drunkenness of Bailey was the cause of the shooting and death, and whether there was any connection between the intoxication of -.Bailey and the shooting of Doty, and whether the same thing would have happened had Bailey not been intoxicated, and whether the shooting of Doty was in any manner traceable to the intoxication of Bailey.
About five hours after the shooting an officer arrested Bailey at his home, which was about five miles from Evart, and found in his pocket a revolver, and a large stone the size of a man's fist.
At the time plaintiff's husband was shot and killed he was 23 years of age, sound, healthy, and industrious, and was plaintiff's only means of support.
After the plaintiff had rested her case, the court held that there could be no recovery in the case as against the sureties on the bond, for the reason that the plaintiff had not shown that Bailey was a person in the habit of getting intoxicated, and therefore the sale of the liquor to him was not an unlawful sale, and would not raise a liability against the sureties. The court also held that Doty was the aggressor, and for that reason the plaintiff could not recover. The defendants offered no testimony in the case,, but at the close of the plaintiff's proofs also rested their case.
It appears from the record that the plaintiff offered upon several occasions during the progress of the trial to show that Seymour Bailey, who killed the plaintiff's husband, was a person in the habit of getting intoxicated, but was not permitted to make this proof, the court holding that, unless he was intoxicated upon the night in question by liquors procured at defendant Postal’s saloon, the fact that he was a person in the habit cf getting intoxicated Avas wholly immaterial. The court stated in this connection that—
“The case might arise where the mere fact that he was in the habit of getting intoxicated would support an action. In this case the gist of the action is the death of this man. You claim the loss of support by reason of his death purely and simply, and nothing else arising from the sale of liquor by the defendant to this man who did the killing. There is the proposition, clear enough. Before you can recover you must show, first; that the liquor was furnished by the defendant to this man w.ho did the killing; and, second, that he was intoxicated at that time, and, by means of it, he took that man's life by reason of it; and then the consequential damages."
The court for this reason expressed the opinion that no recovery could be had against the sureties upon the bond. The court did not rest the case wholly upon this question in directing the jury to return a verdict in favor of the defendants. He charged the jury further as follows:
“ If I keep a saloon, and a man comes into it drunk and intoxicated, and gets liquor, and then goes out and gets to quarrelling with another, and it is pretty difficult to tell who is to blame, they get into a row, and one is hurt and injured, the courts say that the jury cannot speculate much in a case of that kind to'find out who is to blame, as the saloon-keeper is in-fault, and I take it an action will lie. When, however, the party who is injured is confessedly the aggressor from first to last, and stands in the wrong, then no action will lie for his injury, even if the other man is .drunk or sober. It cannot be said in that case that it is a necessary or natural result of the intoxication."
The court further charged the jury that “the proofs show that Doty was the aggressor."
The court was clearly in error in ruling put the evidence offered to show that Bailey was a person in the habit of getting intoxicated. This was competent for the purpose of showing the unlawful sale to Bailey by defendant Póstal. Clearly, the defendant Postal, as well as the sureties upon his liquor bond, would be liable, if. the sales made by Postal were unlawful, for all damages resulting from such sales, as the bond is given for the purpose of protecting parties from damages resulting by reason of such unlawful sales. Bell v. Zelmer, 75 Mich. 73.
The court was also in error in holding that Doty was the aggressor. That was a* question of fact for the jury, under the testimony which was offered in the case. The testimony was contradictory upon this point. The plaintiff contended that Doty went out simply to inquire into the cause of the noise and disturbance made by the Sears party, and was wantonly shot and killed by Seymour Bailey, without provocation, and that Doty was not, the aggressor.
The action was brought under section 20, Act No. 313, Laws of 1887. This s.ectioh provides that—
“ Every wife * * * who shall be injured in person or property or means of support or otherwise by any intoxicated person, or by reason of the intoxication of any person, or by reason of the. selling, giving, or furnishing any spirituous, intoxicating, fermented, or malt liquors to any person, shall have a right of action in his or her own name against any person or persons who shall, by selling or giving any intoxicating or malt liquor, have caused or contributed to the intoxication of such person or persons, or who have caused or contributed to such injury, and the principal and sureties to the bond hereinbefore mentioned shall be liable, severally and jointly, with the person or persons so selling, giving,” etc.
In Brockway v. Patterson, 72 Mich. 122, it appeared that Brockway, the husband of the plaintiff, was killed by one Lane; that Brockway and Lane became intoxicated with liquors procured at the saloon of defendant, Patterson, and by reason of the drinking of which Lane struck Brockway a blow, causing his death. It was contended in that case that the injury to Brockway, which resulted in his death, could not be considered as a natural and legitimate result of -the selling of the liquor, or the intoxication that resulted from drinking it. Plaintiff’s counsel contended in that ease that it was not necessary to trace the injury to the intoxication; that the fact of intoxication was enough; and that, if Lane was intoxicated when he struck the blow that caused the death of Brockway, the case comes within the express words of the statute; which reaches any injury to ihe wife’s 'means of support by any intoxicated person. That action was brought ■under Act No. 1,91, Laws of 1883, which contains a provision similar to section 20 of the act under which the present suit is brought. It was said by Mr. Justice Morse in that case that—
“Plaintiff’s counsel cites New v. McKechnie, 95 N. Y. 632, which fully supports the plaintiff’s contention. It is there held expressly that it is not essential to maintain an action of this kind that the plaintiff must show that the act of the intoxicated person which caused the injury was the natural, reasonable, or probable consequence of his intoxication. It is sufficient if it appears that the act was done while the person was intoxicated, in. whole or in part, by liquors sold by the defendant. In my opinion, this construction of the statute is the only proper one.”
The court below in that case directed the jury that they must find the injury to have resulted from the intoxication of Lane, and that they must find that the intoxication of Lane was so connected with his act of striking the blow that they could say, according to reason, obser. vation, and experience, the intoxication of Lane was the efficient' cause of the blow, and‘that the result must be fairly traced to Lane’s intoxication. It was held by. this ■Court in that case that the instruction given to the jury was sufficiently favorable to the defendant.
The question was raised in that ease whether the action eould be maintained, although the sales of liquors to Lane and Brockway were lawful; but it appeared in that case that the liquors were furnished to both of them after they had become intoxicated, and therefore the question as to lawful sales was not involved in that case, and this Court did not pass upon it. In the present case testimony was offered to show unlawful sales by defendant Postal to Seymour Bailey, by reason of his being a person in the habit of getting intoxicated. The liquor bond of defendant Postal expressly provides that no sales shall be made to this class of persons. It also-appeared in Brockway v. Patterson, supra, that Lane and Brockway had a quarrel on their way home after the drinking of the liquor furnished them by defendant, after they had become intoxicated; that Brockway struck Lane twice, and Lane hit Brockway with a stone just above and back of the left temple, which resulted in Brockway’s death. The judgment in that case was affirmed.
In Thomas v. Dansby, 74 Mich. 398, plaintiff’s husband, in an altercation with one Free, was injured by the breaking of his leg, whereby he became unable to support and maintain the plaintiff. It appeared that Thomas and Free were persons in the habit of becoming intoxicated, to the knowledge of defendant, before the time of' selling them the liquor which resulted in the injury. A recovery was had in that case by the plaintiff, and the-judgment affirmed in this Court. It was there said:
“If the injury was occasioned by reason of the intoxication of Thomas or Free, and such intoxication was produced in whole or in -part by the liquors sold or furnished by defendant Dansby, then the case.would fall within the terms of the statute, and a recovery could be had if the plaintiff by reason thereof was injured in her means of support.”
Counsel for defendant attempted to distinguish the present case from Brockway v. Patterson, 72 Mich. 122, from the fact that it appeared in that case that Brock-way, and Lane, who assaulted him and caused his death, were both intoxicated by liquors furnished them by the defendant; and also to distinguish' the present case from Thomas v. Dansby, 74 Mich. 398, by reason of the fact that Thomas and Free were both intoxicated by liquorB furnished by defendant. We are unable to discover how such a. distinction can relieve the defendant in the present case from, liability. If, upon a fair submission of the case to the jury, they should find that the death of the plaintiff’s husband was occasioned by the unlawful furnishing of liquors to Seymour Bailey by defendant Postal, he, as well as the sureties upon his liquor bond, would be liable for the damages suffered by the plaintiff by reason of the death of her husband.
It is urged in the argument here that the plaintiff’s husband was the aggressor, and no recovery can be had by plaintiff for that reason. But that was a matter in dispute upon the trial, and was a question for the jury.
Sdme of the testimony tended to show that Seymour Bailey, by reason of his intoxication, shot and killed the plaintiff’s husband, and that he and not Doty was in fault. These are questions that must be submitted to the jury for their determination. The plaintiff was, under the ruling of the court, shut out from presenting these issues. In this the court was clearly in error.
The judgment of the court below must be reversed,, with costs, and a new trial ordered.
The other Justices concurred.
See Peacock v. Oaks, 85 Mich. 578. | [
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Morse, J.
The plaintiff, as assignee of Theodore Romeyn, deceased, brought suit in the Wayne circuit court based upon the following contract:
“It is agreed between Samuel H. Davis, Thomas B. Rayl, and David W Davis, of the first part (jointly and severally), and Theodore Romeyn, of the second part, as follows:
“First. The contracts of the 2d September, 1879, and all obligations resting upon or springing from them, are relinquished.
“Second. The said first parties having settled their difference with George H. Hammond, of Detroit, and he having agreed to pay to them certain sums on conditions and at the times specified in a certain contract between them and him dated the 18th September, 1880, the said first parties (jointly and severally) agree with said Romeyn to pay to him, for value received, one-fourth part of whatever said Hammond shall pay to them, being twenty thousand dollars in hand, and ten thousand dollars when the validity of certain patents for refrigerator-cars shall be established by the judgment or decree of the circuit court of the United States for the first circuit of Boston, Massachusetts, as is more fully set forth in the agreements between the parties of the first part hereto and said Hammond.
“Whatever said first parties may receive from said Hammond for damages recovered in his name against the infringers of said patents for preserving and transporting meats and fish and other perishable articles shall be divided equally with said Romeyn.
“ Said Romeyn, on his part, agrees to give his professional services, including advice and the trial of matters in court, in any suits or other proceedings to establish the validity of said patents,, or to recover damages for their infringement, without any charge against the parties of the first part or said Hammond, but he is not bound to leave for such purposes the city of Detroit.
“The patents referred to are those of the Davis refrigerator boxes and cars, dated 16th June, 1868, to William Davis, and re-issued on 15th September, 'to him jointly with Samuel H. Davis and Thomas B. Rayl, and the patent to David W. Davis for improvement in refrigerators, number 220,915, dated on the 28th October, 1879.
“ [Signed] Theodore Roheyn.
“ [Signed] S. H. Davis,
“By His Attorney in Fact, Thomas B. Rayl.
“Thomas B. Rayl.
“David W. Davis.”
—And claimed under it one-fourth of the judgment obtained by defendants against the estate of George H. Hammond in the Wayne circuit court, and affirmed in the Supreme Court (see Davis v. Hammond, 75 Mich. 1); the full amount of said judgment amounting to $15,819.
The defendants pleaded the general issue, and gave notice that they would prove a settlement with said JJomeyn in his life-time in full satisfaction and discharge of his claims under said contract, and, further, that he neglected and refused to give his professional services, and that there was an entire want and failure of consideration on the part of said Romeyn for said contract.
The defendants had verdict and judgment on a trial in the court below. No exception is taken to the admission or rejection of evidence, but a large number of errors are assigned upon the charge of the court to the jury.
It is contended by plaintiff’s counsel that his case was prima facie established by showing the contract, and the payment to defendants of the judgment, which was based on the fact that Hammond settled the suit in the United States court at Boston referred to in the agreement sued upon. The agreement, in thus referring to the suit in Boston, also refers to an agreement between the defendants and Hammond. That agreement provided, among other things, that Hammond should pay the defendants $10,000 in case he should recover in the Boston suit, or •should make a settlement of the matters in said suit without proceeding to a final decree. The judgment ■obtained by the defendants against the Hammond estate was grounded upon such settlement, which was established in their suit against the Hammond estate upon their contract with Hammond. The court instructed the jury that the burden of proof was upon the plaintiff to make out his case. The plaintiff’s counsel insists that the burden of proof was upon the defendants to establish a settlement with Eomeyn of his claim under this contract. This is true, as it was a matter strictly of defense, and must be shown by the defendants. But under the second defense, that Eomeyn had violated his part of the contract by neglecting oj refusing to perform the services agreed to be given in the contract, although this was made a matter of defense by the plea and notice of the defendants, still, as soon as any evidence was introduced tending to show such neglect or refusal, the burden of proof was upon the plaintiff to show that Eomeyn performed his contract, or stood always willing and ready to do so. The court erred in not properly separating these two defenses, and applying the rule as to the burden of proof to each of them.
The fourth request of plaintiff’s counsel was as follows:
“The evidence shows that the said Eomeyn commenced a suit against the defendants in this case in the superior court of Detroit, which suit was settled and discontinued. The receipt offered in evidence purports to be a settlement of all matters embraced in that suit, and, unless said receipt expressly shows a settlement of matters other than those embraced in said suit, it cannot be construed to be a settlement of Mr. Eomeyn’s claim under this contract, there being no evidence in this case to show that his claim under this contract was embraced in that suit. The claim under said contract had not accrued at the time of the settlement and discontinuance of said suit, and did not accrue until the payment of the ten thousand dollars provided for in said contract, by the said Hammond or his representatives, namely, after final judgment was obtained against said Hammond or his estate in this court, and until said judgment was satisfied.”
The court stopped at the word “ contract,” and refused to give the balance of the request, commencing, “there being no evidence in this case to show,” etc.
The receipt which was put in evidence, after -being entitled in the cause, reads as follows:
“Received, Detroit, June 8, 1885, of Thomas B. Rayl and Samuel H. Davis, per C. I. Walker, their attorney, ninety-three ($93) dollars, in full of all claims in the above-entitled cause and of all accounts. They have also paid seven ($7) dollars towards the costs in said suit. Said suit is to be discontinued, without costs to either-party.
“(Sd.) Theodore Romeyn,
“By James W. Romeyn,
“His Attorney in Fact.
“June 8, 1885.
“Received seven dollars for disbursements in above ■suit, and in settlement thereof, in addition to the above-amount paid plaintiff in person.
“(Sd.) Dickinson, Thurber & Hosmer,
“ Plaintiff’s attorneys.
“June 11, 1885.”
Theodore Romeyn commenced the suit in which this receipt was given against these defendants February 26, 1885, filing his declaration in assumpsit for professional services. A bill "of particulars of his demand was also, filed, but could not be found on this trial. The declaration makes no reference to the contract upon which the-present suit is based. It is admitted that Romeyn received his one-fourth of the $20,000.' The plaintiff’s counsel contends that the words, “and of all accounts,”' cannot refer to Romeyn’s share or claim to a share of the $10,000, because at that time no money had been received by defendants from Hammond, and there seemed. but little likelihood of anything being obtained from Hammond on account of the Boston suit; that the suit in which defendants recovered this $10,000 and interest was not commenced until August 27, 1886, over a year after Romeyn’s death, which occurred July 22, 1885, and, if it had been intended to settle this claim, the contract would have been referred to in the receipt. We think the receipt itself, without any other testimony, would hardly warrant a court or jury in finding that it settled this claim upon the contract. But there is some correspondence which is significant. August 25, 1884, Romeyn wrote the defendants the following letter:
“Detroit, August 25, 1884.
“ To David W. Davis and Samuel H. Davis and Thomas
B. Rayl:
“I have an unsettled claim against you for legal services in the suit of David W. Davis, Samuel H. Davis, Thomas B. Rayl, and George H. Hammond against Minna Alpern, William B. Isbell, and Emma J. Merrill in the Wayne circuit court. The suit w'hich Mr. Hammond was prosecuting in the' United States circuit court in Boston was dismissed for want of prosecution, and under such circumstances as would probably exempt Mr. Hammond from every liability upon his contract to pay $10,000, though Mr. Trowbridge and Mr. Kane, counsel for David W. Davis, do not concede this; as Mr. Hammond, by the terms of his contract, was only to pay in case he got judgment in the court in Boston, or if he 'should make settlement of the matters in said suit without proceeding to final decree/
“Hammond’s counsel here say that he was forced to buy out Mr. Isbell, to whom Alpern had made some conveyance, and that you, S. H. Davis and D. W. Davis, refused to pay what was necessary to pay Isbell, and that the suit in Boston was dismissed against the wishes and consent of Hammond and his counsel for want of prosecution, and that Hammond was forced to this step in consequence of the title, that had been given to Alpern.
“I put my claim for services and disbursements, for clerical work and court fees, and so forth, at a very low figure, namely, five hundred dollars.
“In speaking to Judge Walker about it, he said that he had no instructions or authority, and that it was best to address you directly.
“On December 29, 1882, I wrote to yourself, Mr. Rayl, and the two Davises, upon the subject of my fees in this matter, but -nothing has been done towards paying me. I therefore give notice that, unless I. hear from you within a reasonable time concerning the settlement of this matter, I will be compelled to take legal proceedings against you, although I should very much prefer an arrangement without suit. I said to Judge Walker this morning that I was entirely willing to submit my claim to him and abide by his decision. . He declined to accept the responsibility, and said I had better address you. I am willing to submit the matter to arbitration. Let me hear from you soon.
“Yours truly, Theodore Romeyn.”
To which David W. Davis replied as follows:
“ Cleveland, August 27, 1884.
“Theodore Romeyn,—
“Dear Sir: Yours of August 25, 1884, inclosing a copy of letter to T. B. Rayl and S. H. Davis, received. I think you presume too much in this note, and that you have no claim whatever for any legal services in the Hammond matter. The arrangements that I made with you in regard to the suit settlements against Hammond were all settled with you except your interest in the $10,000 agreement of Hammond, of which you ibill receive your share just as soon as it can be collected. * * * *
“Respectfully, D. W. Davis.”
It is evident from these letters that Romeyn supposed his claim for one-fourth of the $10,000 could not be enforced, because the defendants would not be able to recover it from Hammond, while Davis considered the contract in force, and that Romeyn was entitled to such share in case the $10,000 was ever collected. The letter shows that Romeyn at that time was claiming pay outside of the contract, for services’ rendered in the Wayne circuit court; and it is claimed by the defendants on this trial that this letter, and the suit brought by Romeyn against them subsequently, is evidence that Eomeyn failed to perform his contract, and consequently the plaintiff cannot recover in this case, because the suit brought by him was for the services mentioned in Romeyn's letter, and such services under the contract were to be furnished free, in consideration of the contract. We shall refer to this in another part of this opinion.
It is strenuously insisted by - plaintiff's counsel that there is not a scintilla of evidence to show that the settlement did include this claim. Hon. C. I. Walker was the attorney of the defendants in the suit of Eomeyn against them, and he did all the negotiating of the settlement in their behalf. Dickinson, Thurber & Hosmer were Romeyn's attorneys. Mr. Walker testified on direct examination that the action was for services rendered by Eomeyn in a professional character. He understood the receipt to have been given in settlement of all claims on the part of Eomeyn against the defendants. “ The paper was drawn for it.” On cross-examination, he stated that the suit was not brought on any contract, and did not recollect that the bill of particulars referred to any contract. “I only know it was for professional services against these gentlemen.”
“Q. You knew, did you not, of the existence of this contract between Eomeyn and Davis, by which he was to get one-fourth of the $10,000 of certain moneys which were to come from George H. Hammond?
“A. I knew there had been a good many complications growing out of that matter; while I knew something about them generally, I was not familiar with all the details.
“ Q. You knew at that time that the matter with reference to Hammond had not been settled with the Davises, didn't you?
“A. No, sir; I clearly understood that Mr. Eomeyn had no further claims against these defendants growing out of that.
“ Q. Growing out of that contract?
“A. Yes, sir.
“ Q. At the time this settlement was made, was that contract delivered up to be canceled?
“ A. I don’t know.
“ Q. It wasn’t referred to?
“A. Not specially, no, sir; but this was a settlement of all claims he had against these defendants. That I have a very clear recollection of.
“ Q. You mean, don’t you, that it was a settlement of all matters in that suit?
“A. I understood that it was a settlement of all matters between them in relation to the services.
“ Q. It could not have been a settlement of anything which was still outstanding and hadn’t been determined?
“A. I don’t know anything about that.
“ Q. If it had been the intention of the parties in settling this suit to have settled so important a matter as one-fourth interest in a $10,000 contract, would not they have drawn that up in the receipt?
“A. That I don’t know.
“ Q. In settling so important a matter as a fourth interest in a $10,000 contract, if you intended to settle anything else except this suit, would it not have been natural for you to have included that in the receipt?
“A. The idea was that he had no claim against these defendants growing out of that $10,000 suit, and therefore there was no need of embracing that.
“ Q. Your idea was based upon the fact that this matter between Hammond and them was still undetermined?
“ A. I supposed there was something undetermined, but I had no idea that Mr. Komeyn had a claim against these defendants growing out of that. That was my idea.
“ Q. At that time these defendants had not received any of this money, had they?
“ A. I don’t know anything about that.
“ Q. Don’t you know, as a matter of fact, that a suit was brought by them a long time after this settlement to recover this money?
“A. I had nothing to do with that. I don’t know anything about that except what I have heard.
“ Q, Except what you have heard?
“A. I have heard of some suit, whether brought by these defendants or not I don't know.
“Court: Do you refer to the so-called 'Boston suit?'
“A. No, I mean to the suit in this court, brought by the Davises against Hammond, on which they recovered on this $10,000 contract.
"Q. But at the time you made this settlement, that matter was still undetermined.
“A. I suppose it was.
“Mr. Corliss: As far as Mr. Bomeyn was concerned, you understood that their relations and contracts were at an end?
“A. I understood that everything was at an end between them. I mean Mr. Bomeyn's claim for professional services and claims against these defendants was settled. That was all.
“Mr. Flowers: That is what you understood? It was simply to settle all claims he had for professional services against them?
“A. Well, professional and others, — settling the whole matter, as I understood it. I didn't know, perhaps, that he had any claim growing out of a special contract. I cannot say as to that. But my understanding was that we were settling everything that Mr. Bomeyn had against these defendants. That is my idea; but I did not know about all those contracts.
“Q. You didn't know anything about the $10,000 contract, or anything of that kind?
“A. I may have known it in a general way, that there were some contracts of that sort, but I was not familiar with it.
“Q. You didn't think you were settling any claim that had not matured did you?
“A. No, sir; I didn't think anything about that. I did think they were settling all claims they had against these defendants."
Judge Hosmer, who acted as attorney for Mr. Bomeyn, and drafted the declaration, had no recollection whether this claim was included in the settlement or not.
We think there was some evidence, though it may be slight, to go to the jury on this question. Mr. Bomeyn evidently supposed that he had nothing to expect from this $10,000 agreement, and may have therefore been willing to settle everything in this receipt. His letter would seem to carry the idea that he expected nothing further under his agreement with defendants, and was therefore making this claim against them. If not, his reference to the Boston suit, and the fact that Hammond probably could not be held for the $10,000, would seem to have no relevancy to the main subject-matter and purpose of his letter. We can perceive no injury done to plaintiff by the refusal to give the whole of his fourth request.
The next question to be determined is whether there was any testimony warranting the jury in finding specially, as they did in answer to a special question, that James W. Romeyn had authority from his father to make such a settlement as defendants claim was made.
James W. Romeyn was a son of Theodore Romeyn, and was living in New York at the time of this trial. He has since died. The evidence shows that his father was in feeble health and confined to his house at the time James made this settlement and gave this receipt. The fact that the attorneys of Theodore Romeyn accepted the receipt as a valid settlement of the suit, and received part of the amount paid in such settlement, as evidenced by their receipt, goes very strongly to show that James was at least authorized to settle all matters involved in such-suit. The testimony also shows on behalf of the plaintiff that at this time James was associated with his father in business. Mr. Walker testifies that in the settlement of the suit he consulted with James W. Romeyn and also with Theodore Romeyn; that James at the time was an attorney at .law in practice with his father. The receipt was prepared in Walker's office, and is in the handwriting of one of his clerks. Judge Hosmer testified that he did not make the settle ment on behalf of Mr. Romeyn; that Mr. Romeyn effected the settlement himself. • .
In the absence of any showing that James W. Romeyn was not fully authorized to act for his father in this settlement, we think the jury were justified in the presumption and finding that he had authority to settle all of the claims of his father against these defendants. The charge of the circuit judge in regard to such authority cannot be justly complained of, and he did not err in refusing to give plaintiff’s request that James’ authority must be shown by direct proof, or that the presumption would be that he only had authority to settle the matters involved in the suit.
The plaintiff also requested the court to instruct the jury as follows:
“ The receipt offered in evidence by the defendants, given in the suit in the superior court, cannot be claimed to be a release of the claim of said Romeyn under this contract. The claim not having accrued at that time, if it was the intention of the parties to embrace it in the settlement it should have been expressly mentioned in said receipt, and, not being mentioned, the presumption is it was not intended to be included.’’
It was not error to refuse it. The receipt, using the words “of all accounts,’’ might be claimed, under the facts and circumstances attending its execution, to be a release of all claims of Romeyn against defendants, whether resting upon express or implied contract. We are not prepared to say that there would be any presumption that this claim was not intended to be included in this receipt. It would depend upon what was meant by the words “ of all accounts.” If there was any legal presumption at all, we should be disposed to consider it in favor of the claim that everything between the parties was intended to be settled by it. The suit was evidently for professional services rendered in the Alpern case, mentioned in Romeyn’s letter; and by the words “and of all accounts,” after the words “in full of all claims in the above-entitled cause,” it is very certain that it was intended to settle something further than the matters embraced in the suit. But, as we have before said, we think there was no presumption by which the matter could be determined from the receipt standing alone, but that it was for the jury to determine from the receipt, and the facts and circumstances attending its execution, what was settled by it. . Whether or not the words “ all accounts” would embrace the claim arising out of this contract' is not so certain as to create any legal presumption one way or the other. It is an expression which needs explanation. If it had read “all claims and accounts,” the presumption of settlement would have reached the claim of plaintiff; but by the use of the word “accounts” it may be asserted, with some show of reason, that an indebtedness then due, and not contingent, was intended; and, on the other hand, it may also, with the same show of reason, be contended that it was meant to cover all claims, contingent or otherwise.
The plaintiff also presented the following request:
“Under the contract in this case, the said Romeyn was under no obligation to commence proceedings against the said Hammond to enforce the collection of the $10,000 mentioned in the contract. The contract simply required him to render services in proceedings to establish the validity of the patents referred to in said contract, and there is no evidence in this case that he refused or neglected to render any services required of him under said contract.”
The court gave all of said request, except the last clause, for which it substituted the following:
“And I leave it to you to say if there is any evidence in this case to show that he had refused and neglected to render any services required of him under said contract.”
There was no error in this. It may he that Romeyn was under no obligation to commence proceedings against Hammond to collect the $10,000, but he agreed to “give his professional services, including advice and the trial of matters in court, in any suits or other proceedings to establish the validity of said patents, or to recover damages for their infringement, without any charge” against defendants. It appears very clearly from this record that the suit brought by these defendants and Hammond against Alpern and others in the Wayne circuit court came within the contract and agreement. If so, he refused to furnish his services free of charge to these defendants, and violated his contract, not only in planting his suit, but also in receiving money upon a settlement of such suit.
The court also refused to give the following request:
“The fact that said Romeyn expressed doubts as to the recovery of the claim of the defendants against said Hammond cuts no figure in this case. If, as a matter of fact, said claim was a good and valid claim, as it after-wards proved to be by the judgment of this court, and of the Supreme Court of this State, said Romeyn, or his representatives, are entitled to recover their share of it. The defendants cannot retain the fruits of their contract, ■and avoid paying the share to which said Romeyn was entitled because he expressed doubts as to their right to recover.”
This was properly refused as it stood. The expression of doubts by Romeyn would not preclude his recovery, but part of this request was faulty. It did not follow, as the facts were disclosed, that, if the Davis claim against Hammond was good, the plaintiff was entitled to recover one-fourth of it.
We do not think there was any evidence in the case tending to show that Romeyn became the attorney of Hammond, and, in consequence thereof, advised defendants’ attorneys that they had no right of action against said Hammond to recover upon the $10,000 contract, and the court was in error in instructing the jury that if they so found the plaintiff could not recover.
The court on his own motion said to the jury:
“ There has been considerable comment by counsel both for the plaintiff and defendant upon the absence of Mr. Hitchcock. Mr. Hitchcock has not appeared here before the court, gentlemen of the jury, and it is for you to say from the evidence in this case what effect that shall have upon you in your'deliberations, because it is one of the elements in controversy whether Mr. Hitchcock has interest enough in this case that he should attend court or not.”
This reference to Mr. Hitchcock was error. It plainly appears in the case that he, being an assignee of the claim, had no knowledge whatever of the facts in issue; and it was in no wise material to the issue whether he was present in court or not, as long as attorneys were present, authorized to fully represent him in the conduct of the trial.
Complaint is also made of the language of the court in .his reference to Mr. Buttrick in his instructions to the jury. Mr. Buttrick is a son-in-law of Theodore Romeyn, and took a very prominent part in the proceedings. He was one of the principal witnesses in the case for the plaintiff, and testified to a conversation with Judge Walker, which, if true, tended to impeach the latter’s evidence. It was also shown by his own testimony that he had agreed with the plaintiff to assist him in collecting this claim, and, in pursuance of such agreement, had before the trial sought out both Judge Walker and Judge Hosmer, and had a conversation with each of them, making a memorandum of such talk as soon as he left them. Such memorandum did not agree with their testimony. The question of his interest in the claim was raised upon the trial, and he Avas recalled by the defendants and examined as to such interest. He denied that either he or his wife had any interest whatever in the suit. The court, speaking upon his own motion of Mr. Buttrick, said:
“Now, here, gentlemen, I think it is my duty to call your attention to the witness Buttrick. Mr. Buttrick has testified that he has no interest in the case; that his wife, who is the daughter of Mr. Bomeyn, and that James Bomeyn, ^who now resides in New York, and is his brother-in-law, have no interest in the case, they having assigned their interest to this plaintiff. It is for you to say, gentlemen, whether Mr. Buttrick has any interest in it or not; it is for you to say why he would be here, and, under the circumstances, why he has been, unless he had an interest. With that I have nothing whatever to do. It is for you, and 'you only, to say. You may give his presence here such consideration as you think it is entitled to.”
Under the circumstances, I do not think this reference to Buttrick was error.
We have endeavored to discuss all the leading allegations of error in the proceedings below. Some of the minor assignments are disposed of by such discussion, and we find no other errors in the record.
The judgment is reversed, and a new trial granted, with costs of this» Court to plaintiff.
The other Justices concurred.
Theodore Romeyn died July 22, 1835, and January 20, 1890, the administratrix of his estate, with the consent of the heirs and pursuant to an order of the probate court of Wayne county, assigned the contract to the plaintiff. | [
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Champlin, C. J.
This is an action of ejectment, brought to recover possession of the equal undivided one-half of the N. E. £ of section 10, in township 12 N., of range 8 E., which the plaintiffs claim in fee. The land is situated in the township of Juniata, in the county of .Tuscola. The defendant had judgment in the court below, and the plaintiffs bring the case here upon writ of error.
Fourteen errors are assigned, all of which are waived except the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth, which read as follows:
“11. The court erred in charging the jury as follows: ‘ I take it that a sale might be made to a person who was in collusion with the guardian or an administrator, and yet a subsequent purchaser act in good faith. He would be one who had no knowledge of the collusion; who had not notice of it; was not aware of the want of authority. The question here turns as to whether these proceedings are such as to put Mr. Truax upon notice that there was bad faith in the proceedings.'
“12. The court erred in charging the jury as follows: ‘Now, the question of bad faith even in the purchase, the purchase at the guardian's sale, is one entirely of presumption. He presumed it without any proof. Why Wright did afterwards deed to the guardian is possibly explained in the record. It would be an act in the line of the guardian's trust to have taken that deed back again to himself. It would not be a violation of his trust; it would be regularly included in the line of that trust. Taking it while he was guardian, it inured to the benefit of his ward. The trust would be just the same, and there is nothing inconsistent with the actual good faith of a guardian in taking a deed to himself for the purpose of making a more advantageous sale; that is quite often done. A sale is very often made in this State to a party who holds simply in trust, that a guardian or administrator may afterwards make a more advantageous sale by having time. So the question of bad faith by a guardian only is open upon this record, and the question of good faith of Mr. Truax is apparent on the record; that is, he is not charged as a bad-faith purchaser, except constructively by the record; and that turns again upon the question of whether that record affords enough notice, even to an inquiring lawyer, so that he could say that these proceedings were notice of bad faith. * * * " This is-an ejectment case, and the defendant is in possession, and has made his improvements there. If that construction is to be put upon that particular section of the statute, I prefer the Supreme Court to put it on. Under this impression of the law* it would be my duty to direct a verdict for the defendant/
“13. The court erred in directing the jury to find a verdict in favor of the defendant, and as against the plaintiffs.”
The facts shown by the record are that in 1873 Andrew Shultz owned the S. W. £ of the N. E. £ and the N. £ of the S. E. £ of the N. E £ of section 10, township 12 N., of range 8 E., being in Tuscola county, Mich. On the 14th of January of that year he made his last will and testament as follows:
“I, Andrew Shultz, of Juniata, in the county of Tuscola, in the State of Michigan, being of sound mind and memory, do make and declare this, my last will and testament, in manner following, that is to say: I give and devise unto my daughter, Naamah Lucia Shultz, of my farm the following described tracts of land, namely: The north half of the south-east quarter of the north-east quarter of section ten, in township twelve north, of range eight east, in the county of Tuscola and State of Michigan; to have and to hold the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments, with the appurtenances, to her, the said Naamah Lucia Shultz, her heirs and assigns, forever.
“ It is my last will that the remainder of my said farm and my personal property be sold at a reasonable time, and at a reasonable price, for the payment of all my just, debts and funeral expenses; and that the personal property shall be sold and disposed of by my brother-in-law, Gear-hart Kile; and that the real estate, namely, the southwest quarter of the north-east quarter of section ten aforesaid, be sold by my executor. I do hereby constitute and appoint my friend John Cole executor of this my last will and testament, and I also appoint him guardian of my said daughter and only child.”
Afterwards, on the 26th day of December, 1876, he died, owning the whole of the N. E. £ of section 10. His will was admitted to probate in the probate court of Tuscola county, and John Cole was appointed as executor thereof. It does not distinctly appear from the record, which is very confusing and imperfect, who the heirs at law of Andrew Shultz were. The record of the probate ■ court was offered in evidence, but it is not returned, nor are its contents stated, showing who such heirs were. We are left to presume that the' daughter, Naamah Lucia Shultz,. was the sole heir, and, if so, it is not perceived what use there was for a will. For the purpose of this case, we will assume that she was the sole heir. The record shows that she died, leaving as her heirs two children, viz., Helen E. Tucker and Leondard Sweet. Helen E. Tucker, on the 21st day of December, 1877, by deed executed that day, and recorded December 31, 1877, conveyed the whole of the north-east quarter of section 10, township 12 N., of range 8 E., to John S. Lewis for a consideration of $400.
The plaintiffs introduced in evidence a copy of the proceedings of the probate court of Geauga county, Ohio, showing that, upon February 6, 1878, Helen E. Tucker was, upon an inquest of lunacy, adjudged insane, and. Cyrus A. Kellogg appointed her guardian. The order of appointment appoints Kellogg guardian of her person, but says nothing of guardianship of her property. On the same day a bond was filed, conditioned that Kellogg—
*• Shall discharge with fidelity the trust reposed in him as guardian of the person and property of Helen E. Tucker, of the county and state aforesaid, and shall faithfully account with the probate court for the county of Geauga, aforesaid, for the management of the property and estate, together with the profits ensuing therefrom, to the order of said court or the direction of law, and shall in all respects perform the duty of guardian to the said Helen E, Tucker until discharged as the law requires.”
Thereupon, on the same day, letters of guardianship were issued, of which the following is a copy:
“The State oe Ohio, Geauga county.
SS.
“ To O. A. Kellogg, of the county and state aforesaid, greeting:
“ Whereas, ,at a probate court held at the office of the judge of probate in the town of Chardon, within and for said county, on the 6th day of February, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, — present H. K. Smith, judge of probate of said county, — it appearing necessary that a guardian should be appointed to take care of the property of Helen E. Tucker, who is demented and insane, of said county, ,aged sixty-five years, and I having the fullest confidence in your jirudence, fidelity, and circumspect conduct, have, and by these presents do, constitute and appoint you, the said O. A. Kellogg, guardian of the estate of said Helen E. Tucker during her incapacity, unless sooner discharged by the court or the law. You are therefore hereby authorized and required to perform the duty of guardian to the estate of your said ward in ail respects in conformity to the laws and statutes in such case made and provided.
£Seal.] “H. K. Smith,
“ Judge of the Court of Probate.”
It will be observed- that the letters of guardianship appoint Kellogg guardian of the estate, and not of the person, of Helen E. Tucker during her incapacity.
On March 1, 1878, John S. Lewis conveyed the whole of the N. E. \ of section 10 to Cyrus A. Kellogg. This deed was recorded March 25, 1878, and purports to be in consideration of $800. On March 4, 1878, a petition not signed, but verified by Kellogg, was filed with the probate court of Tuscola county, alleging:
1. That he, Cyrus A. Kellogg, the legal guardian of said insane and incompetent person, Helen E. Tucker, is the owner of the following real estate to wit: An undivided half interest in the N. E. -£- of section 10, in the township of Juniata, in said county, — which said interest in said real estate is worth $2,800; that said Helen E. Tucker has no other property whatever.
2. That it would be for the best interest of his said ward to have said real estate sold, and the proceeds thereof placed at interest. /
3. That said ward is indebted to various persons to the amount of $1,400 or thereabouts, and, in order bo preserve her interest in said land, it is necessary to sell Ihe same, and pay said indebtedness.
Therefore he prays that he may be empowered and licensed to sell the real estate described according to the statute in such case made and provided.
A hearing was had before the probate court on the 1st day of April, Í878, and the court on that day, in consideration of the premises, ordered, adjudged, and decreed that Cyrus A. Kellogg, guardian as aforesaid, be and thereby was empowered, authorized, and licensed to sell, pursuant to the statute in such cases made and provided, the said real estate, “ subject to all incumbrances, by mortgage or otherwise; existing at the time of the granting of this license, and also subject to the right of dower and the homestead rights of the widow of said deceased therein.” The court also ordered the guardian to give a bond in the penal sum of $4,000, with two sureties, and to give public notice of the time and place of such sale by posting up notices' in three of the most public places in the township of Juniata, and also publish such notice in a newspaper printed in the county of Tuscola for six weeks successively next before such sale, and before making the sale to take, the oath prescribed by the statute in such case, and further to make return of his doings to the court. Afterwards, on the 20th day of May, 1878, Kellogg filed a bond with Franklin Fairman and Simeon Wright as sureties, which was approved by the court on that day. He further gave notice of the sale to occur the 24th day of May, 1878, by posting notices in three public places in the township of Juniata on the 23d day of May, 1878, and made an' affidavit of such posting on the 25th day of May, 1878. He also published a notice in the Tuscola Advertiser six weeks, as required. On the 24th day of May, 1878, he acted as auctioneer, and sold the .premises to the highest bidder, to' wit, Simeon F. Wright, for the sum of $2,200, and made a report of such sale, and of his doings under the license, to the probate court, who duly confirmed the same by an order made on the 12th day of August, 1878. The deed to Wright was not executed until the 13th of February, 1879, as will be referred to hereafter.
On May 20, 1878, John M. Cole, as executor of the-last will of Andrew Shultz, deceased, conveyed to Cyrus A. Kellogg, of Claridon, Ohio, the S. W. J of the N. E. £ of section 10, township 12 N., of range 8 E., for $800, as appears by said deed.
On February 13, 1879, the guardian’s deed was executed by Kellogg to Simeon F. Wright, and was recorded the same day, and on the same day Wright reconveyed to Kellogg individually the same premises for the same-consideration, viz., $2,200, and this deed was recorded on the 17th day of February, 1879. On March 12, 1879, Kellogg conveyed by warranty deed the N. E. J of section 10 to Jacob Truax, the defendant in this suit, for $4,800.
On March 1, 1888, Helen E. Tucker died intestate, leaving four children, viz., Mrs. Winter, Mary Griffiths, Susan Strong, and August Shultz. August Shultz Tucker died leaving no issue, nor father nor mother, him surviving. On January 19, 1889, Jabez Griffiths and Mary E. Griffiths conveyed by deed to Martha Winter and Susan M. Strong, the plaintiffs in this suit, all of their interest in the land in question.
Oyrus A. Kellogg may possibly have acted throughout without fraud, and for the benefit of his ward, but this record does not show it. So far as he, as guardian, conveyed to Wright, and Wright immediately reconveyed to- him, individually, for the same consideration, no title passed by the transaction. This case must be ruled by the case of McKay v. Williams, 67 Mich. 547. The whole record abounds with evidence of the efforts of Kellogg to get the legal title of this land in his individual name; and aside from the deed from Wright to him, which is void, his transactions would require very satisfactory evidence to explain why he assumed fiduciary relations with the estate of Helen E. Tucker, if he already had a valid title through Cole and Lewis.
Defendant’s counsel urge that we should treat the deed to Lewis, and from him to Kellogg, as valid, inasmuch as it antedates the adjudication of insanity; but, aside from the facts apparent on the face of the deed, that Mrs. Tucker conveyed her whole interest in the undivided half of the N. E. ¿ to Lewis for $400, when it was worth more than 10 times that amount, we are only required to decide whether the charge of the court with reference to the guardian’s deed to Wright, and from him back to Kellogg, is a correct instruction as to the law which should be applied to and govern the case. When the authority appears upon the face of the instruments, there is no presumption of honesty in a transaction by which the title of a cestui que trust is divested, and invested in the trustee.
The instructions of the court were erroneous, the judgment is reversed, and a new trial ordered.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Grant, J.
Beplevin for a horse.
In 1888, one Samuel Mannausau brought an action of replevin for this same horse, in a justice’s court in the county of Wayne, against the plaintiff in this case. In the former suit judgment was rendered for the defendant, who took judgment' for the return of the property. Samuel Mannausau, upon the delivery of the property to him by the officer, took it to the county of Washtenaw, and sold it to the defendant. McGlora Mannausau, being unable to obtain the property under an execution in Wayne county, went to the defendant in Washtenaw county, made a demand of defendant for its possession, and, upon his refusal, brought this action of replevin. Verdict and' judgment went for the plaintiff.
Samuel Mannausau did not, by his action of replevin, obtain the title to the property; The Michigan replevin statute expressly provides for a return of the property to the defendant if he so elect. The bond also expressly provides for a return of the property. These provisions of the law were idle if it were the intention to give to the plaintiff the absolute right to a disposal of the property. Although, the property is delivered to the plaintiff, still it remains in the custody of the law, and, if judgment be for the defendant, he- may recover it by execution if found within the jurisdiction of the defendant: if not, then by replevin. If a person has no title, he cannot obtain one by suing out a writ of replevin, and, having no title, he cannot convey one. It is immaterial, therefore, whether the defendant purchased in good faith or not. Possession is no more conclusive evidence of title in such case than in any other.
Cary v. Hewitt, 26 Mich. 236, is not decisive in favor of the defendant. The question was not directly involved, and the facts in that case were entirely different from those in the present case. The language there used must be construed in reference to the facts. The Court there hold that the bond “in a special se?ise”. becomes a substitute for the goods. This is very far from saying that the title had passed.
Judgment affirmed, with costs.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Morse, J.
In the winter 6f 1888 and 1889 there was talk among the people of the village of St. Joseph about building a large hotel under the auspices of an incorporated hotel company. This agitation was occasioned by the visit of John 0. Plank to the village, who.represented to its citizens that he would cause the erection in the village of a large summer hotel, with a capacity of entertaining 500 guests or more, said hotel to cost $150,000, in case the people of St. Joseph would subscribe $20,000, to be taken in stock in a corporation to be organized for the construction and operation of such a hotel. An informal meeting of citizens was held, and at such meeting it was thought best by those present to accept Mr. Plank’s proposition, and a committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions. Neither of the defendants attended the meeting, and they testify that they had never. heard of Mr. Plank at the time they subscribed the following paper, which was presented to them by the committee, and signed, as they claim, with reluctance, and upon the representation that the hotel was to cost $150,000:
“We, the undersigned citizens of St. Joseph, promise to pay the trustees of the hotel to be built at St. Joseph the sums set opposite our names, to be taken as stock, $25 per share.”
This was signed by a large number of persons, and by the defendants as copartners, as follows: “Burkhard Bros., $200.” Defendants also testified that they were told before signing that this paper was not binding.
“It was merely to see what they could do. They said they would be around with the binding list afterwards.”
It seems that afterwards tbe committee did go around with a more formal paper, and, as fast as it was signed by those signing the first paper, their names were erased from the first subscription. There was evidence on the part -of the plaintiff tending to show that there was no abandonment of this first list, and that the second paper was drawn up for the purpose merely of getting all the subscribers on one paper, as several subscription lists had been circulated in the first place. But there was testimony tending to show that this first paper was informal, and not meant as the final binding subscription, which is also corroborated by the erasures on the first list of the names of those signing the more formal subscription paper. Unfortunately this last paper was not produced, nor was there any clear, testimony as to its contents. When this second paper came around, the' defendants absolutely refused to sign it, and declined to pay anything towards the building of the hotel. Subsequently to this ' refusal a corporation was formed called “The Plank’s Tavern Company,” for the purpose of building a hotel in the said village, with a capital stock stated in the articles of incorporation to be $250,000, and the number of shares to be 10,000, and the shares to be $25 each. The stockholders in such corporation were five in number, as follows:
David Carter, Detroit, 480 shares.
Norman Beekley, Elkhart, Ind., 600 shares.
John O. Plank, Detroit, 8 shares.
John Bell, Benton Harbor, 8 shares.
John Highman, Jr., St. Joseph, 20 shares.
The office of the corporation was located at Detroit, Mich., and the articles of association were acknowledged iby the said stockholders between, the 22d day of April and the 4th day of May, 1889. September 10, 1889, 8 shares of the stock of this corporation were made out to tbe defendants, and soon thereafter tendered to them. They refused to receive the certificate. This suit was commenced in justice’s court upon defendants’ subscription, and judgment obtained by plaintiff. On appeal t’o the circuit court of Berrien county, the judge of that court directed a verdict for the defendants,- giving his reasons at some length for so doing.
The hotel was built by this incorporated company, but its whole cost, including furniture and everything else necessary to equip the hotel for business, did not exceed $110,000, if it reached that figure. The directors of the company have mortgaged the hotel to John 0. Plank for $60,000.
The theory of the plaintiff is that the hotel was built relying upon the promise of the defendants to pay their subscription, and it is argued that the case is ruled by Peninsular Railway Co. v. Duncan, 28 Mich. 130, and the late case of International Fair & Exposition Ass’n v. Walker, 83 Mich. 386. But we think there is a material difference between the case before us and either of the cases relied on by plaintiff’s counsel. In the case against Duncan, he had signed a preliminary subscription paper, provided for and authorized by statute, as one of the original associates for the formation of a railway company, and signed a subscription agreeing to take a certain number of shares of the capital stock of the proposed company, and to pay therefor—
“At such times and in such sums as the same shall be assessed, demanded, and required to be paid by the directors of said company.”
In the-majority opinion, at page 138, it is said:
“In the present case it does not become necessary to discuss the question whether a party who expressly revokes his subscription before the corporation is formed can be compelled to pay it afterwards.”
In the same opinion, at page 134, it is also said that the agreement must be mutual, and that there would be no difficulty at common law in enforcing the—
ce Promises contained in an agreement of this general nature against the several promisors, where the object to be accomplished was lawful, where a beneficial purpose was in view, and where • it was possible to make to the several promisors the return which their subscriptions called for. In such cases the promises are mutual; acts are done and moneys expended in reliance upon the subscriptions; and the moment the promises are Accepted by the organization and action of the corporation to which they are provisionally made, there can generally be no difficulty in their enforcement, if the corporation then has it in its power to give the stock subscribed for, and offers to do so.”
In the present case the defendants expressly revoked their subscription' before the corporation waB formed, and nothing could have been done in "reliance upon it; nor was there enough of the subscription paper to form a. contract in and of itself. It was necessary for the plaintiff, in order to make a case upon it, to supplement and add to its terms by parol evidence. It was not as full and definite as either of the subscriptions in the two cases cited by plaintiff’s counsel. Nor did the defendants here, as in Walker’s case, attend any meeting of the subscribers, or take any part in forming or organizing the corporation. They did not stand by, as he did, and see the moneys being expended, the ground purchased, and the buildings erected, but, on the contrary, had nothing to do with the matter, and gave neither express nor silent assent. The corporators well knew when the company was organized and the moneys expended that defendants expressly repudiated the whole arrangement.
And there is nothing in the agreement connecting defendants’ subscription with the plaintiff corporation. As was well said by the circuit judge, if, at the same time that John 0. Plank and his four associates were perfecting their organization, five or more of the subscribers to this subscription paper, living at St. Joseph, had, in good faith, executed other articles of association for' the purpose of constructing a hotel in that village, it would not have been an easy matter to determine the identical corporation had in mind by the defendants when they signed the subscription paper. The identity had to be found by parol evidence, and, when we go into the realm of oral testimony to fix the liability of these defendants, we find, without serious dispute, that the hotel built by the plaintiff was not such a hotel as was contemplated by the signers to this paper, and that it failed to meet in many particulars the representations made to the defendants to obtain their signatures as copartners.
The circuit judge was right, and the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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McGrath, J.
Relator asks for writs of mandamus to compel respondent to proceed with the work of certain pavements in the city of Grand Rapids.
Under the charter of the city of Grand Rapids, the abutting owner pays tbe cost and expense of all paving. 'The charter provides that—
“ The common council shall have the care and supervision of the highways, streets, bridges, lanes, alleys, parks, and public grounds in said city, and it shall be their duty to give directions for the repairing, preserving, improving, cleansing, and securing of such highways, ^ bridges, lanes, alleys, parks, and public grounds, and cause jthe same to be repaired, cleansed, improved, and secured from time to time as may be necessary; to regulate the roads, streets, highways, lanes," parks, and alleys already laid out,'or which may hereafter be laid out, and to alter such of them as they shall deem inconvenient, subject to the restrictions contained in this title."
Section 2 of title 6 provides that—
“The board of public works of said city shall have power and are empowered to grade, gravel, raise, level, ■ repair, amend, pave, or cover,- with broken or pounded stone, plank, or other material, ■ all streets, alleys, lanes, highways, public grounds, or sidewalks in said city, and such designated portions of any street, alley, lane, •or highway in said city, as the common council; by a 'majority vote- of all the aldermen- elect, shall by resolution declare to be a necessary public improvement, whether the same has previously been graded, graveled, raised, leveled, repaired, amended, paved, or covered as aforesaid, or not: Provided, That the common council shall not have authority to declare the grading or paving of any street, lane, alley,' or highway a necessary public improvement, unless it shall' have been petitioned so to do by the owners of a majority of all property on said street, lane, alley, or highway, or •designated portion thereof, proposed to be improved, residing in the city of Grand Eapids, after the grade .shall have been established; but this proviso shall not apply when said common council shall, by a vote of five-sixths of all the members elect of said common council, declare such grading or paving a necessary public improvement."
The charter contains the following further provisions:
“Sec. 6. Said board of public works is hereby empowered to determine and establish, the grade lines of all streets, highways, lanes, alleys, sidewalks, and publio grounds in said city; to locate all necessary sewers, drains, culverts, vaults, arches, and bridges, wells, pumps, and reservoirs in said city; to cause to be graded, graveled, paved, planked, or covered with other materials all such streets, highways, lanes, alleys, sidewalks, and public grounds in said city, and to construct all such main and lateral sewers, drains, culverts, vaults, arches, and bridges, wells, pumps, and reservoirs, in said city, as the common council of the city of Grand Eapids shall by resolution declare to be necessary improvements.
“ Sec. 7. Said board of public works shall have charge and control of the erection and construction of engine-houses, city hall, and other public buildings, except, school-houses, in said city. In the erection of public buildings, and in the grading, graveling, paving, planking, or covering with other material any street, highway,, lane, alley, or public ground, and in constructing sewers, drains, and other public works or improvements, including works for supplying said city with water, said board shall advertise for proposals to execute the work, and for materials, according to plans and specifications adopted .by said board, and may contract with the lowest responsible bidder: Provided, said board shall require security for the performance of proposals tendered to said board,, if the bid is accepted, and security for the performance-of contracts: And provided, it'shall be at the option of the board to reject any or all bids or proposals made; and, if all bids are rejected, shall thereupon readvertise for proposals to execute the work, and- for materials, as-often as may be necessary, unless some responsible party-will take the contract at the lowest bid previously offered, which the board may accept if, in their judgment, it is-for the best interests of the city.
“ Sec. 8. When the common council of said city decide-that the construction of any public work in said city is a-necessary improvement, the board of public works, with all convenient dispatch, shall determine as to the particular kind and quantity of materials to be used therefor,, and estimate the probable cost and expense of such work,, and of the materials to be used, in detail, and cause to-be prepared, so far as necessary, plans and specifications-for such work, and report their estimate to the common council as a basis for assessing or otherwise raising,. •according to law, the funds necessary to enable the board to go forward and complete such work.
“ Sec. 9. The paving, grading, graveling, planking, or covering with other materials, of all streets, highways, .alleys, lanes, sidewalks, and other public places, the building and construction of all sewers, drains, culverts, .arches, and bridges, wells, and reservoirs, and the erection of public buildings and works, which the common ■council shall by resolution declare to be necessary improvements, shall be done under the direction and supervision of the board of public works, and upon contracts and under plans and specifications to be prepared by the city surveyor, and approved by such board; and all moneys raised or appropriated by the common council for ■such purposes shall be expended by said board of public works for the purposes designed, so far as shall be necessary, and to be drawn from time to time from the appropriate fund, by order of the council, upon ■estimates of amounts earned or payable, to be made by the board and reported to the council in accordance with such contract, and no money shall be drawn from the city treasury under this act except upon the order of the common council. All contracts prepared in accordance with this section, or any section of this act, or the act of which this ■ act is amendatory, shall be first submitted to the common council of said city for approval, before the adoption and execution thereof; and the said council shall have power to reject said contracts, if it shall see fit so to do.”
Under these provisions, a majority of all the resident property-owners on Grandville avenue, between Bartlett ■street and Hall street, petitioned the common council to ■cause said street to be graded, graveled, and the gutters thereof paved with cobble-stone, with vertical curb; and a petition was also presented to the common council by .a majority of the residents of Erie street, asking for the improvement by paving with cobble-stone; with Medina stone curb. These petitions were referred to the proper ■committee, who reported thereon. The board of public works furnished to the common council the required estimates, and the common council adopted the following-resolutions:
“Resolved, by the common council of the city of Grand Eapids, that the grading and graveling of Grandville avenue, a public street in the city of Grand Eapids, from the center line of Bartlett street, a public street in said-city, to the north line of Hall street, a public street in-said city, including the construction of a vertical stone-curb in said described portion of said Grandville avenue, and also including the construction of the necessary bridges, culverts, paved gutters, cross-walks, man-holes, catch-basins, approaches, and cess-pools in said described portion of said Grandville avenue, is a necessary public-improvement.”
“Resolved, by the common council of the city of Grand Eapids, that the grading and paving with cobble-stones of Brie street, a public street in the city of Grand Eapids, from Canal street, a public street in said city, to-Bank street, a public street in said city, including the-construction of a vertical Medina stone curb in said described portion of said Erie street, and also including the construction of the necessary bridges, culverts, gutters, cross-walks, man-holes, catch-basins, approaches, and cess-pools in said described portion of said Erie street, is a necessary improvement.”
The board of public works declined to proceed with the work, saying in the Grandville avenue case that—
“Grandville avenue is one of the most important, thoroughfares in the city of Grand Eapids, the travel upon which is continuous and heavy. The material prescribed in the resolution for the improvement of this street (especially from Bartlett street to Fifth avenue, the portion of said avenue in which the water-mains are laid, and is sewered) is not, in the judgment of the board of public works, such as the importance of the work demands; and, as the board is the judge of material to be used in the improvement of streets, we respectfully decline to proceed with the work under the resolution above mentioned.”
In the Erie street case it was said that—
“The determination of the kind and quality of material to be used in paving streets belongs to the board of public works. At a meeting of said board held Saturday, May 16, 1891, it was decided not to proceed further with said improvement under the resolution above referred to, as the materials prescribed are not, in the judgment of the board, such as the improvement requires.”
It was the evident intention of the Legislature to provide a way in which resident owners of property could procure the pavement of streets, to afford the best measure of protection to such owners against unwarranted burdens, and to provide a way in which streets could be improved without the concurrence of the resident owners if the necessities of any particular case demanded such improvement. Clearly, the intention was to prevent the common council from imposing a burden upon the owners without the consent of such owners, unless by a five-sixth vote of the aldermen elect. It will not be seriously urged, if the protection of the owners against, burdens which they did not care to assume was the purpose of the restriction upon the powers of the council, that, in case the owners petitioned for a certain kind of pavement, the council could impose a different and more-expensive pavement upon them, without the necessary five-sixths vote. Inasmuch as the council has the right, in its discretion, to refuse to grant the - prayer of the-petition, the public is protected. It was clearly not the intention of the Legislature to afford a way in which owners could procure the improvement of the streets in front of their property, through the common council, and then to empower the board of public works to block the improvement, and force the common council ta declare some other kind of pavement a public necessity.. Nor was it the intention of the Legislature to empower-the board of public works arbitrarily to determine the .general character of public improvements. It is difficult to imagine how the common council could intelligently declare a work to be a necessary improve’ment without any reference to the general character of such work. The same provisions apply to all public improvements. A resolution declaring that a city hall, an engine-house, a police station, or a sewer was a necessary improvement, without referring to cost, size, capacity, or general character, would not satisfy even the letter of the charter. These considerations must enter into the determination ■of the question of the necessity. A building of given dimensions might be inadequate for one locality, and be too large for another; and to allow the board of. public works to determine either question would practically empower that body to determine the question of ■ the .necessity of the improvement.
It is unquestionably the duty of the council to avail itself of whatever information or knowledge the board of public works possesses, but the authority for these expenditures must originate with the common council, and that authority includes the.right to determine the question of cost, dimensions, and general character. If the board has the power to defeat the expressed will of the property-owners, and the determination of a majority of the council, because it does not consider the pavement adequate, then it may defeat the determination arrived at by a live-sixths vote. The Legislature did not intend to vest this power in the board of public works, even though it The conceded that the Legislature could divest the council of such power. The authority to determine the “particular kind and quantity of materials” has reference to .detail, and not to the general character of the work. The ■use of the word “particular” in that connection is sig'nificant, and the evident intention of the Legislature was to empower the board of public works to provide detail where the same was necessary. If the owners should petition for a cedar block paveruent, and the common council-should grant their prayer, the specifications therefor would necessarily involve • detail as to soundness, diameter, and length of blocks. It will not be insisted that the board might substitute oak or pine for cedar. If a sand foundation was suggested, they could not substitute concrete, although they might name the particular kind of sand. It does not follow that, because they .are empowered to determine the particular kind of material, they may change the character of the work, or any substantial element of it. The size of the cobble-stone in the Brie-street case affected materially the character of the pavement, and the selection of Medina stone was as much a matter of discretion as the selection of Ionia or Lake Superior stone for a public building would have been, and the selection of either would involve detail as to size, facing, setting, etc.
The writs must issue as prayed.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Champlin, C. J.
These three cases are heard as- one case.
The defendants are owners of land situated in the townships of Allis, Case, Bogers, Belknap, and Metz, in the county of Presque Isle, assessed for the taxes of the year 1888. These taxes were not paid, and the lands were returned as delinquent therefor; and, in answer to the petition of the Auditor General for the sale, filed in the circuit court for said county, defendants appeared, and filed written objections to the validity of the taxes. On the 4th day of April defendants paid to the county treasurer of said sounty all taxes decreed valid, and appealed to this Court.
The only questions involved are as to the legality of the following taxes, amounting to $1,169.58: Contingent and highway taxes in all of the townships; school taxes in Case, Allis, Belknap, and Metz townships; Union School tax in Bogers township; and poor tax in Belknap township. The defendants insist that the supervisors of the several townships had no authority under the law to. spread any of the various taxes on these rolls.
The township clerks of the ■ various townships, under section 23, Act No. 153, Laws of 1885, on or before the first day of October in each year, are required to deliver to the supervisor of each township a certified copy of all statements and certificates on file, and of all records of any vote or resolution, in his office, authorizing or directing moneys to be raised in his township for township, school, highway, and all other purposes, together with a. statement of the aggregate amount thereof, and the supervisors are to lay these copies before the board of supervisors at the October session. The board of supervisors is required by section 2i of the same act then to examine all these certificates, statements, papers, and records so submitted to them, and, if it shall appear that any of these certificates, papers, statements, and records is not properly certified, or that the same is in any wise defective, or that, any proceedings'to authorize the raising of any such money has not been had, or is in any wise imperfect, and such certificate, statement, paper, record, or proceeding can then be corrected, supplied, or had, the board may authorize it to be done. The prosecuting attorney is required to give a written opinion to the board as to those certificates, proceedings, etc., being sufficiently regular to warrant and' justify the raising of the taxes contained therein. The board shall direct that such of the several amounts of money proposed to be raised for the purposes named, as shall be authorized by law, be spread on the assessment roll of the proper township.
This was all done in the county in question, and, at the October session of the board in the year 1888, the certificates from the various township clerks were laid before it, as follows:
“Exhibit A.
“ Oeeice oe the Township Clerk,
“Allis Township, October, 1888.
“ To the Supervisor of the Township of Allis, Oounty of
Presque Isle, State of Michigan:
“I hereby certify that the annexed are true copies of all-statements and certificates on file and of record of votes and resolutions in my office, authorizing and directing moneys to be raised in the township of Allis by taxation for township, school, highway, drain, and all other purposes, and that the aggregate amount of said money is as follows:
[Signed] “James Sandison,
“ Town-Olerk.
“Township tax, one-half of one per cent.; highway tax, one per cent., one-half labor and one-half cash; school-district No. 1, $347; No. 2, $260; No. 3, $270; No. 4, $300; No. 5, $404.”
“Exhibit B.
“ Office of the Township Clerk,
“Metz Township, October 8, 1888.
“ To the Supervisor of the Township of Metz, County of
Presque Isle, Michigan:
“I hereby certify that the annexed are true copies of all statements and certificates on file, and of all other record of votes and resolutions, in my office, authorizing or directing money to be raised in the township of Metz by taxation for township, school, highway, drain, and all other purposes, and the aggregate amount of said money is as follows:
“Watson D. Centale,
“ Township Clerk.
“Town tax, $1,000; special, one-half of one per cent.; town tax for indebtedness, $890.94; school-district No. 1, 5 mills, being $57.56; No 2, 15 mills, being $135.69.”
“Exhibit C.
“I do hereby certify that the following is a true and correct copy of all statements on file or of record in my office to be raised therein by taxation for all purposes, and that the aggregate amount thereof is the sum of --dollars: Contingent fund, $600; highway fund, $519.63; special highway, $311.73; school-district No. 1,* $275; school-district No. 2, $270; school-district No. 3, $283.10; No. 4, $400; No. 5, $375.
“In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this--day of September, 1888.
“Louis Godin,
“Town-Clerk, Case Township.”
“Exhibit D.
“ To the Supervisor of the Township of Belknap:
“I do hereby certify that the following is a true and correct copy of all statements on file or of record in my office of moneys proposed to be raised therein by taxation for all purposes, and that the aggregate amount thereof is hereunder:
“ By highway tax, one per cent.; by town highway tax, 5 mills; for town poor purposes, two and one-half mill; for school purposes, district No. 1, 8 mills.; No. 2, 10 mills; No. 3, 12 mills; No. 4, 15 mills; No. 5, 15 mills.
“In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 6th day of October, 1888.
“Christian Brege,
“Township Clerk."
No other evidence was laid before the board showing the authority to order the levy and assessment of said taxes, and no'proofs relating thereto or in support thereof were submitted on the hearing of the cause other than that contained in said certificates, except as to the taxes of the township of Rogers.
The assessment roll is by the statute made prima facie evidence of the legality of the taxes contained in it. The counsel for defendant insist that, under section 89, the burden is thrown upon the .petitioner, viz., the Auditor General, to establish in some form the legality of a tax not authorized or warranted by the certificates, statements, records, and papers filed with the board of supervisors; that the only evidence justifying the contingent and highway taxes’ in all of said townships, the school tax in Case, Allis, Belknap, and Metz, and the poor tax in Belknap, is contained in Exhibits A, B, C, and D, and that these contain no showing sufficient to warrant the board of supervisors in ordering a levy, or the individual supervisors in assessing any of such taxes; that these exhibits do not show whether the electors voted such taxes at the annual township meetings or at a special meeting, or whether they voted them at all; that they may have been voted by the township board, but that no evidence is contained therein which would guide the board in determining whether all the members of the township board were present, or but a part of them, or whether it was a regular or a special meeting thereof; that, for all that appears therein, these taxes, if ever directed by any one, may have been by private individuals not vested by law with the authority to impose a burden upon their neighbors’ property and their own, and denominate it a “tax;” that the presumption of the legality of the taxes being overcome by introducing the certificates, and showing their insufficiency, they must fall, as no proof is offered by the Auditor General giving jurisdiction to impose them; that he must assume the burden which the law throws upon him; that every essential proceeding in the levy of taxes must appear of record; citing Moser v. White, 29 Mich. 59; Sinclair v. Learned, 51 Id. 335; Case v. Dean, 16 Id. 12; Peninsular Iron Co. v. Township of Crystal Falls, 60 Id. 510; Sage v. Auditor General, 72 Id. 638; Gamble v. Auditor General, 78 Id. 302.
We think it clear that the board of supervisors cannot certify the taxes to be raised in any township without the certificate of the township clerk, but, if the supervisor levies a tax not appearing in the certificate to the supervisors,, it must be shown that such tax was not voted by the proper authorities, or, in other words, that the tax was unauthorized. If it was authorized by competent authority in the first instance, the want of a certificate by the township clerk to the board of supervisors will not invalidate a tax duly directed to be raised by the board, as required by section 24, Act No. 153, Laws of 1885. The certificates .are prima facie sufficient, and, if irregular, we do not think the statute intended to shift the burden of proof to the township to show that such taxes were voted by competent authority, but the person against whom the tax is assessed has the burden of showing that no such tax or item as stated in the certificate was authorized. It does not appear upon the face of these certificates that the tax therein, contained was for an illegal purpose, or for an illegal sum, and the board of supervisors was justified in regarding them as a sufficient statement, without requiring -the clerk to certify when and by whom the taxes were voted. We held in Robbins v. Barron, 33 Mich. 124, that a tax which was authorized to be spread upon the roll by law, if so spread by the supervisor, was not illegal, although the same had not been certified to the board of supervisors, and by them directed to be levied. This was approved in Upton v. Kennedy, 36 Mich. 215, and reaffirmed in Boyce v. Sebring, 66 Mich. 218. It is true that the act of 1885 amplifies the law as it' existed when Robbins v. Barron was decided, but the purpose is the' same. The object of the statute is to guard, as far as possible, against the imposition of illegal taxes, and the consequent embarrassment to the collection of the taxes levied; but it does not prevent the levying of legal taxes, and the spreading thereof upon the rolls. The assessment roll is prima facie evidence of the legality of the taxes contained in it, thus casting upon those who contest its validity the burden of showing wherein such tax is illegal. The decree of the circuit court is correct, so far as the taxes referred to in the certificates are concerned.
The township tax of the township of Eogers, the special tax for bridge purposes, and the special tax to defray iñdebtedness, each ror $1,000, stand upon a different footing. The proceedings of the township board of the last named township, as contained in the record kept by the clerk, were offered in evidence by defendants, and are as follows:
“ Meeting of the township board held at the township clerk's office, the first day of October, 1888.
• “'Paul Bittner, supervisor; William E. Bice, township clerk; and Justice James B. Watson.
“ Meeting called to order by the chairman, and the board proceeded to settle with the.township treasurer for the year 1888, with satisfactory results. Minutes of last meeting read and approved.
“ Motion made and carried that the township of Rogers raise $1,000 for the year 1888, to defray township expenses, to be assessed on the. tax roll of 1888. Motion made and carried that the township of Rogers raise $1,000' special tax for bridge purposes, to be assessed on the supervisor’s roll for 1888. Motion made and carried that the township raise $1,000 special tax to defray indebtedness, to be assessed on the tax roll of 1888.”
These taxes are illegal under our previous decisions. Township of Beaver Creek v. Hastings, 52 Mich. 528; Harding v. Bader, 75 Id. 316; Gamble v. Auditor General, 78 Id. 302; Newaygo Co. Manfg. Co. v. Echtinaw, 81 Id. 416.
The Union School tax of the .township of Rogers is-the only one not disposed of, and, as to this, it was void, for the. reason that it was spread over but part of the territory comprised within the limits of the district. This district was organized by Act No. 408 of the Local Acts of 1871, and amended by Act No. 387 of the Local Acts of 1885. Section 1 of the amended act reads as-follows:
“That township thirty-four north, of ranges four, five, and six east, and township thirty-five north, of ranges four - and five east, and township thirty-six north, of ranges two, three, four, and five east, and township thirty-seven north, of range two east, which are now embraced in the limits of what is known as the £ Township of Rogers,’ in the county of Presque Isle, constitute one school-district, which shall be a body corporate by the name and style of the “'Union School-district of the township of Rogers,” and by that name may sue and be sued, and shall be subject to all the general laws of this State relative to corporations, so far as the same may be applicable,” etc.
The records of tbe proceedings of the board of trus tees of the Union. School-district were offered in evidence, at a meeting held on the 28th day of July, 1888, which read as follows:
“ Meeting called to order by the president, and a full board found to be present. The following resolution was adopted:
“ Resolved, that this board think .it advisable and do hereby advise the annual school meeting to raise one per cent, of the assessed valuation of said district for school purposes, and one-half of the same to be spread for teachers’ wages, and one-half of one per cent, for repairing.’’
The record of the annual meeting of the school electors of said district on August 6, 1888, was offered in evidence, and reads as follows:
ifA motion was made by D. E. Gunn, and was duly seconded, that the district raise $500 for the purpose of building a suitable addition to the Bogers City schoolhouse. Motion was carried by a clear vote. Motion made and carried that the district raise one per cent, of the assessed valuation for school purposes, one-half of said one per cent, to be a special tax for teachers’ wages.’’
This tax was not assessed upon all the property in the Union School-district, none of said tax being spread upon any of the following territory within said district: Townships 35 N., range 4 E.; 34 N., range 4 E.; 34 N., range 6 E.; and 35 N., range 5 E. The law organizing the Union School-district requires all taxes to be spread upon all the taxable property in the district, and why such a large portion was omitted, including the township in which Bogers City is located, is not shown by this record. The whole act organizing this school-district is a remarkable specimen of legislation, to say the least, and the attempt of the supervisors to lay these taxes upon the least improved part of the district is more remarkable. The imposition of a tax which omits from the roll four surveyed townships in one school-district cannot be upheld.
The decree of the court below must be modified in accordance with this opinion, and, as modified, affirmed. The defendants having only partially succeeded on this appeal, no costs will be awarded to either party.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Per Curiam.
By order of the Supreme Court dated May 4, 1987, we revisit this case solely to determine "whether the trial court erred in classifying the instant action as spurious in nature.” Alexander v Detroit, 428 Mich 896; 405 NW2d 877 (1987). We conclude that it did not.
The nature of the rights asserted by plaintiffs in this case were several and distinct, connected only because of common questions of law or fact. As stated by plaintiffs in their 1969 complaint:
That the character of the right sought to be enforced in this suit is several and this suit involves questions of law and fact that are common to all owners of multiple dwellings of more than four units in the City of Detroit in connection with waste, trash, rubbish and garbage removal.
The trial court thus did not err in concluding that the instant class action is spurious in nature. See GCR 1963, 208.1(3); Grigg v Michigan National Bank, 405 Mich 148, 172, 174; 274 NW2d 752 (1979).
The Supreme Court by its order of May 4, 1987, held that, if this class action is spurious, then unlocated class members in this case who did not opt in were not entitled to a portion of the judgment.
After indicating in the order that this Court had previously held that the unlocated class members had become entitled to the unclaimed portion of the fund by virtue of the claim filed on their behalf by the public administrator appointed by the probate court, the Supreme Court noted that both the statute authorizing appointment of a public administrator, MCL 567.33; MSA 26.1053(23), and the order entered by the probate court limits the appointment to administering the rights of the "owners of abandoned property.”
The Supreme Court’s order then stated that the issue whether the unlocated class members in this case were the owners of abandoned property turns on the nature of the class action involved. Citing Grigg, supra, the Court determined that, if, in fact, this were a spurious class action, the unlocated class members who did not opt in would not be entitled to a portion of the judgment and consequently would not be the "owners of abandoned property” for which a public administrator could be appointed.
Although we are compelled pursuant to the order of remand to affirm the trial court, we do so reluctantly, for we do not believe that the unlocated class members’ status as "owners” for purposes of MCL 567.33; MSA 26.1053(23) is determined by the nature of the class action involved.
As described in Grigg, supra, a spurious class action has been considered to be a liberal permissive joinder device. 405 Mich 172. A judgment in such an action only binds those who opt in. Id.
Under the Michigan Code of Escheats, MCL 567.11 et seq.; MSA 26.1053(1) et seq., "owner” is defined as a person having legal or equitable title to property. MCL 567.15(c); MSA 26.1053(5)(c). In this case, the names of the owners of the property were known. The question as we see it then becomes whether the actions of the public administrator, who filed a written claim before the cutoif deadline for opting in on behalf of the owners of the property who could not be located, bound the unlocated owners in this action.
Notwithstanding our assessment of this issue, we must rule in accordance with the order of remand. The trial court is, therefore, affirmed.
Affirmed.
MCL 567.33; MSA 6.1053(23) provides in relevant part:
The attorney general, or the state public administrator, may cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted in the probate court of the proper county of this state for the administration of the estate of any person who is the owner of abandoned property discovered as provided for in this act or of which he otherwise has knowledge. | [
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Shepherd, P.J.
Plaintiff appeals from a grant of summary disposition in favor of defendant. The court found that plaintiff’s claim was barred by the exclusive remedy provision of the Workers’ Disability Compensation Act. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.
Plaintiff contacted defendant Jeffrey Vore (hereinafter defendant) about a job with defendant’s garbage removal business. Defendant told plaintiff he would need extra help on December 26, 1983, due to the increased rubbish volume generated during the holidays. Defendant told plaintiff he would be paid between $15 and $20 for working December 26. Some discussion was had concerning the possibility of more work in the following days.
Defendant drove the truck while plaintiff and Phil Schibe picked up the customers’ trash and threw it into the truck. Defendant’s "packer” truck used blades to compress the rubbish. Plaintiff alleged that it had no safety mechanisms. Defendant told plaintiff to place the trash deep into the bin. To do so, plaintiff had to place his hands inside the crusher blades. After they had been working a few hours, Schibe activated the packing mechanism while plaintiff was loading trash. Plaintiff’s hand was caught between the blades and was severely injured.
Defendant moved for summary disposition alleging that plaintiff was an employee whose cause of action was barred by the act’s exclusive remedy provision, MCL 418.131; MSA 17.237(131). Plaintiff’s response alleged that he was not an employee within the meaning of the act. The trial court found that plaintiff was an employee and granted summary disposition. Plaintiff subsequently filed what was essentially a motion for reconsideration. Our review of that motion indicates that it raised the issue of whether defendant was an employer subject to the act, which issue plaintiff again raises on appeal. We find that issue dispositive.
Section 111 of the act, MCL 418.111; MSA 17.237(111), provides:
Every employer, public and private, and every employee, unless herein otherwise specifically provided, shall be subject to the provisions of this act and shall be bound thereby.
The definition of "employer” includes a person hiring another person in service under an oral contract of hire. MCL 418.151; MSA 17.237(151). The act specifically applies to certain employers enumerated in MCL 418.115; MSA 17.237(115), which provides in part:
This act shall apply to:
(a) All private employers, other than agricultural employers, who regularly employ 3 or more employees at 1 time.
(b) All private employers, other than agricultural employers, who regularly employ less than 3 employees if at least 1 of them has been regularly employed by that same employer for 35 or more hours per week for 13 weeks or longer during the preceding 52 weeks.
We conclude that the enumeration of these specific groups of private employers indicates that the act does not apply to other private employers, although we note that the remaining nonagricultural private employers are not expressly excluded as are certain agricultural employers in MCL 418.115; MSA 17.237(115). This conclusion causes some tension with regard to MCL 418.111; MSA 17.237(111). Any other conclusion would render the specific enumeration meaningless, however.
At oral argument, defendant’s attorney conceded that defendant was not an employer within the meaning of the act. Given this concession, this case is controlled by Viaene v Mikel, 349 Mich 533, 539; 84 NW2d 765 (1957), which held that where an employer has fewer than the statutorily required number of employees, an injured employee’s remedy is a common-law action for negligence rather than a worker’s compensation proceeding. Although Viaene was decided at a time when the worker’s compensation statutes applied to employers with eight or more employees, we believe the holding has equal force under the current statutes. The jurisdictional facts pertaining to defendant’s status as an employer under the act are facts exclusively within defendant’s knowledge, Viaene, supra, and we are bound by defendant’s admission that he is not an employer. Accordingly, the act does not apply to defendant and plaintiff is entitled to maintain this common-law action.
This result is borne out by the exclusive remedy provision itself, MCL 418.131; MSA 17.237(131), which provides:
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.
On its face, the provision requires that there be an "employer,” or a person closely identified with an "employer,” in order for coverage to exist under the act. Moreover, the "right to recovery of benefits” is the "exclusive remedy against the employer.” As Professor Larson notes, 2A Larson, Workmen’s Compensation Law, § 65.40, pp 12-25 to 12-26:
If, as stated earlier, the exclusiveness defense is a "part of the quid pro quo by which the sacrifices and gains of employees and employers are to some extent put in balance,” it ought logically to follow that the employer should be spared damage liability only when compensation liability has actually been provided in its place, or, to state the matter from the employee’s point of view, rights of action for damages should not be deemed taken away except when something of value has been put in their place.
A distinction must be drawn, however, between an injury which does not come within the fundamental coverage provisions of the act, and an injury which is in itself covered but for which, under the facts of the particular case, no compensation is payable. In the former class are, of course, all the cases in which the relation of employment did not exist, or in which plaintiff or his employer was within an excluded category, or in which there was no "injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment.”
The applicability of the exclusive remedy provision turns not upon the characterization of the asserted cause of action, but upon whether the employee has a right to recover benefits under the act. Jones v General Motors Corp, 136 Mich App 251, 257; 355 NW2d 646 (1984). If defendant is not an employer within the meaning of the act, then plaintiff has no right to recover benefits under the act and no consequent exclusive remedy.
Defendant cites Hoffman v National Machine Co, 113 Mich App 66; 317 NW2d 289 (1982), in support of his position that the exclusive remedy provision nonetheless applies. Hoffman involved an employee assigned to work for the defendant through a labor broker. This Court held that the exclusive remedy provision as amended was intended to apply "regardless of whether that employer was liable for payment of compensation benefits.” Given the circumstances of Hoffman, including an apparent dual or special employment relationship, we believe that case addresses only specific employer liability rather than a situation where a plaintiff has no right to recover benefits.
Our holding makes it unnecessary to consider plaintiff’s additional claim that he was not an employee within the meaning of the act.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. | [
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Wahls, J.
Henry C. Meadows (hereafter plaintiff) and his wife brought suit against defendants in Wayne Circuit Court, seeking damages for injuries arising out of plaintiffs discharge from employment as a police officer, based on wrongful discharge, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, loss of consortium, defamation, and violation of due process rights. Plaintiff also sought a writ of mandamus to compel his reinstatement with back pay. He now appeals as of right from a grant of summary disposition in favor of defendants based on governmental immunity. We affirm.
This case involves various tort and contract claims brought against the City of Detroit, its police department, and certain officials within that department by a Detroit police officer who was discharged from employment in May, 1973. The serpentine nature of the history of this case, which was filed in 1983, is as labyrinthine as it is lengthy. This is because prior to the commencement of the instant action the underlying facts in this case generated several years of adjudication, arbitration, and litigation in administrative and federal court forums. A somewhat detailed review of these underlying facts is necessary in order to place the present lawsuit in context.
Plaintiff was employed as a police officer for the City of Detroit from 1965 until May, 1973, when he was suspended without pay from the Detroit Police Department on the same day that he was indicted by a Wayne County grand jury on criminal charges arising out of a 1972 narcotics investigation. In September, 1974, a Detroit Recorder’s Court jury found plaintiff not guilty of criminal wrongdoing. Nevertheless, in October, 1974, plaintiff was notified by the department that he was being charged with having violated several departmental rules and regulations. Specifically, plaintiff was suspected of having failed to report the accep tance of a bribe by his partner in the police department, having intentionally falsified a search warrant affidavit, and having neglected to turn over property seized from arrested persons to the proper officials without unnecessary delay. Following a hearing in October, 1974 before defendant Philip Tannian, then Chief of the Detroit Police Department, plaintiffs discharge without pay was affirmed.
Pursuant to departmental procedure and an applicable collective bargaining agreement, plaintiff appealed Chief Tannian’s decision to the Detroit Police Department Trial Board, which consisted of Defendant William L. Hart, then deputy chief of police, and Inspectors Richard Dungy and Rufus Anderson. See Detroit Charter, article 7, ch 11, § 7-1101 et seq. In May, 1975, a de novo hearing was held before the trial board to determine the validity of the charges against plaintiff. Following that hearing, the trial board found plaintiff guilty of all but two charges and thus upheld his discharge. This decision was appealed to an arbitration panel, as permitted by the applicable collective bargaining agreement, and in an opinion issued in April, 1976, all but one of the charges against plaintiff were set aside. The arbitration panel upheld the trial board’s finding that plaintiff had failed to report that his partner had accepted a bribe and remanded the case to the trial board for the limited purpose of determining whether the penalty meted out to plaintiff was "unduly harsh” in light of the substantial reduction of charges sustained on appeal. The arbitration panel noted explicitly that plaintiff would be permitted to bring his case before the arbitration panel again once the trial board had evaluated the fairness of the penalty he had been given.
In December, 1976, plaintiff was notified that the trial board reaffirmed its support of the penalty rendered previously. Apparently, the composition of the trial board at that time was the same as it had been earlier, with the only change being that defendant Hart had since replaced defendant Tannian as chief of police. At this point, plaintiff’s union evidently refused to continue handling plaintiff’s grievance by returning to the arbitration panel. In any case, the trial board’s reaffirmance of the propriety of the penalty was not taken by plaintiff back to arbitration. Instead, in October, 1978, approximately twenty-two months after the trial board issued its reaffirmance, plaintiff filed suit against defendants in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, alleging various claims grounded on the underlying facts in this case and apparently joining his wife as a plaintiff after several amendments to his complaint. Plaintiff’s federal lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Charles Joiner pursuant to defendants’ motion for summary judgment, and that dismissal was affirmed on appeal by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Thereafter, plaintiff’s writ for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court was denied.
On May 10, 1983, plaintiff filed the instant lawsuit in Wayne Circuit Court. Defendants moved for accelerated judgment under GCR 1963, 116, now MCR 2.116, on several bases. In an opinion dated May 15, 1984, then Circuit Judge Joseph B. Sullivan granted accelerated judgment on those of plaintiff’s claims arising out of the collective bargaining agreement, including challenges to the procedures employed in processing plaintiffs discharge, on the ground that plaintiffs failure to exhaust his contractual remedies (i.e., his failure to appeal to the arbitration panel a second time) precluded judicial review. Judge Sullivan took notice of plaintiffs claim that the union had refused to take plaintiffs case back to arbitration, noting, however, that plaintiffs collective-bargaining claims were still precluded until plaintiff alleged and proved that the union had breached its duty of fair representation in handling plaintiffs grievance. Judge Sullivan observed that nothing prevented plaintiff from amending his complaint to add such a claim. Moreover, Judge Sullivan found that plaintiffs suit was not barred by the three-year statute of limitations, which all parties agreed was applicable in the case, because the limitations period was tolled during the contractual grievance procedures and the federal court litigation. After a rehearing was denied, plaintiff was successful in obtaining permission to amend his complaint to add an allegation that the union’s refusal to pursue a second appeal to the arbitration panel was wrongful and amounted to a breach of its duty of fair representation.
In response to plaintiffs amended complaint, defendants filed a motion for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8) — failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted — arguing that plaintiffs tort claims were barred by governmental immunity, his contract claims were barred by the statute of limitations, and his request for a writ of mandamus was barred by a failure to exhaust his administrative remedies. A hearing was conducted on April 23, 1986, before Judge Richard D. Dunn, resulting in an amended order dated June 6, 1986, granting summary disposition to defendants based on governmental immunity. It is from this order which plaintiff now appeals as of right, arguing that the trial court erred in ruling that his tort claims were barred by governmental immunity and in dismissing his claims based on contract.
A motion for summary disposition brought under MCR 2.116(C)(8) tests the legal basis of the complaint, not whether factual support exists. The motion is to be judged by reliance on the pleadings alone and may not be granted unless a claim is so clearly unenforceable as a matter of law that no factual development can possibly justify a right to recover. Brown v Northville Regional Psychiatric Hospital, 153 Mich App 300, 303; 395 NW2d 18 (1986).
First, plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in determining that defendants in this case are entitled to governmental immunity. MCL 691.1401 et seq.; MSA 3.996(101) et seq. Pursuant to the rules enunciated by the Supreme Court in Ross v Consumers Power Co (On Rehearing), 420 Mich 567, 591-592; 363 NW2d 641 (1984), we will determine the applicability of governmental immunity in this case first regarding the individual defendants and then regarding the municipal defendant. Regarding the individual defendants, Ross differentiates between officials at the highest levels of government and lower-level officials. The test applicable to the former was set forth as follows:
Judges, legislators, and the highest executive officials of all levels of government are absolutely immune from all tort liability whenever they are acting within their respective judicial, legislative, and executive authority. [420 Mich 592.]
In this case, defendants Tannian and Hart, at different times, functioned as the chief of police. Tannian was acting as the highest executive officer of the Detroit Police Department when he discharged plaintiff. The city charter, article 7, ch 11, § 7-1106, describes the chief of police as the chief executive officer of the police department and gives the chief the authority to suspend and discharge employees of the department. Since Tannian was thus acting within his executive authority upon discharging plaintiff without pay, he was absolutely immune from tort liability for his action. That he may have erred in discharging plaintiff "without pay,” absent action by the board of police commissioners, does not change this result.
For these same reasons, defendant Hart was also absolutely immune from tort liability for his participation in the trial board after remand from the arbitration panel, since by that time he had assumed the position of chief of police. In addition, Hart is entitled to the cloak of governmental immunity due to his high executive position for the allegedly defamatory comments he made in a July 24, 1984, letter. In that letter, addressed to Alger T. Scott, president of the Democratic Organization in the First Congressional District, Hart stated that not only was plaintiff in violation of departmental regulations by failing to report that his partner had accepted a bribe, but that his actions amounted to "criminal misconduct.” This letter was apparently written in response to a citizen complaint concerning plaintiff’s discharge. Sections 7-1108 and 7-1109 in article 7, chapter 11 of the Detroit Charter describe some of the duties of the chief of police regarding citizen complaints:
Sec. 7-1108. Complaints.
Complaints concerning the police department filed anywhere in the department shall be forwarded immediately to the board secretary. Copies of the complaint shall be made available to each member of the board, the chief investigator, and the chief of police. The chief shall investigate a complaint immediately and file a report of findings with the board within 45 days. However, the board may, in its discretion, at any time order an investigation by its own investigative staff instead of, or subsequent to, that of the chief.
The board secretary shall keep a public docket of complaints and the disposition of each complaint after investigation.
Sec. 7-1109. Resolution of complaints.
If a complaint is not resolved as a result of investigation to the satisfaction of the complainant, the respondent employee, or a member of the board of police commissioners, either the complainant, the respondent employee, or the board member may request the board to hear or review the matter. The board may, at its option, when it determines that a hearing or review is warranted by the evidence, hear or review the matter itself or refer the matter to a fact finder.
We thus conclude that, as a part of his duties as chief of police, Hart was implicitly authorized to respond to and, if possible, to resolve complaints concerning the police department, even complaints regarding the discharge of a police officer.
The applicability of governmental immunity to those defendants who participated on the trial board, including defendant Hart prior to his elevation to the status of chief of police, is also questioned by plaintiff on appeal. The test applicable to lower-level officers was set forth by the Supreme Court in Ross:
Lower level officers, employees, and agents are immune from tort liability only when they are
a) acting during the course of their employment and are acting, or reasonably believe they are acting, within the scope of their authority;
b) acting in good faith; and
c) performing discretionary-decisional, as opposed to ministerial-operational, acts.
"Discretionary-decisional” acts are those which involve significant decision-making that entails personal deliberation, decision, and judgment. "Ministerial-operational” acts involve the execution or implementation of a decision and entail only minor decision-making. [420 Mich 592.]
Plaintiff argues that Hart and the other department officials participating in the trial board’s decision were lower-level officials performing only ministerial acts and were therefore not shielded by governmental immunity for torts arising out of their failure to follow the mandatory provisions of the city charter and the police department rules and regulations (e.g., failure to comply with public meeting provision, improper denial of plaintiff’s pay absent approval by at least four members of the board of police commissioners, etc.). Defendants, on the other hand, argue that the members of the trial board are entitled to absolute immunity because they function in a judicial or quasi-judicial capacity.
In support of their position, defendants rely on Wall v Trumbull, 16 Mich 228 (1867). We do not believe, however, that this case established the trial board’s entitlement to absolute immunity. More than one hundred years ago, the Wall Court held that members of a township board of supervisors were immune from tort liability for their imposition of an illegal tax because the board was performing a "judicial” duty. In Wall, however, the Court was merely using the term "judicial” as a synonym for "discretionary” — or, to express ourselves in the negative, as an antonym for "ministerial.” Thus, Justice Cooley stated:
In determining whether the members of the township board voting for the allowance are liable, the first question which arises is, whether the nature of their duties is judicial, or ministerial only; for the rule of liability is altogether different in the two cases. A ministerial officer has a line of conduct marked out for him, and has nothing to do but to follow it; and he must be held liable for any failure to do so which results in the injury of another. A judicial officer, on the other hand, has certain powers confided to him to be exercised according to his judgment or discretion; and the law would be oppressive which should compel him in every case to decide correctly at his peril. [16 Mich 234.]
This reading of Wall is borne out by the Supreme Court’s use of the case in Ross to help explain the distinction between discretionary and ministerial acts. Ross, supra, p 626.
Viewing, therefore, the trial board members as lower-level executive officials, we conclude that they are not entitled to governmental immunity from tort liability under the Ross rule. Application of the mandatory provisions of the Detroit Charter and the rules and regulations of the Detroit Police Department is a ministerial act not entitled to governmental immunity. Young v Ann Arbor (On Remand), 147 Mich App 333; 382 NW2d 785 (1985), lv den 425 Mich 862 (1986); Brown, supra. Lower-level government officials who cause tortious injuries by their failure to follow established administrative procedures are not shielded by governmental immunity. Young, supra; Brown, supra; Bandfield v Wood, 421 Mich 774; 364 NW2d 280 (1985).
Nevertheless, we affirm the trial court’s result concerning these officials because, after reviewing plaintiff’s claims against them, we find that plaintiff has failed to state a tort claim against the trial hoard members. The members’ failure to follow established procedures may have constituted a prima facie case for breach of contract under the collective bargaining agreement or violation of due process, but it does not establish tortious conduct on the part of the relevant defendants. Accordingly, we affirm on this issue because the trial court reached the right result, albeit for the wrong reason. Warren v Howlett, 148 Mich App 417, 426; 383 NW2d 636 (1986).
Next, we consider whether the trial court erred in dismissing plaintiff’s claims against the defendant city. Plaintiff argues that the city is vicariously liable for the torts of its employees in the Detroit Police Department. The vicarious liability of a municipality for the torts of its employees is based on the doctrine of respondeat superior. Such liability generally can be imposed only where the individual tortfeasor acted during the course of his or her employment and within the scope of his or her authority. Ross, supra, p 624. Moreover, a governmental agency can be held vicariously liable "only when its officer, employee, or agent, acting during the course of employment and within the scope of authority, commits a tort while engaged in an activity which is nongovernmental or proprietary, or which falls within a statutory exception.” Id., p 625.
In this case, the trial court correctly concluded that the City of Detroit was not vicariously liable for the alleged torts of its employees. It is undisputed that the maintenance of a police force is a governmental function. Ross, supra, p 661. It is equally clear that the Detroit Charter vested the chief of police and members of the trial board with the authority to discipline, suspend, and discharge police officers for misconduct. Detroit Charter, article 7, ch 11 §§7-1106(4), 7-1107(3). Contrary to plaintiff’s contention, logically implicit in this au thority is the power to conduct departmental investigations to determine whether the suspension or discharge of a police officer was warranted. Failing to find investigative authority implicit in this provision would merely invite arbitrary discharges without proper investigation. As a result, since the chief of police and trial board members were authorized to conduct disciplinary proceedings, and impliedly authorized to conduct investigations logically incident to such proceedings, they were performing governmental functions and the city cannot be held vicariously liable for their actions. To the extent that those actions were ultra vires (e.g., actions deliberately performed contrary to the mandatory procedures set forth in the city charter), the city also cannot be held vicariously liable. Ross, supra, pp 624-625.
Plaintiff also mentions that the defense of governmental immunity is an affirmative defense and must therefore be raised in the first responsive pleading or motion. MCR 2.111(F)(2), (3). Since defendants failed to assert this defense by way of either of these two methods, plaintiff contends that they have waived their right to assert it. MCR 2.111(F)(2). We decline to agree with plaintiff for several reasons. First, sovereign or governmental immunity is not an affirmative defense, but rather a characteristic of government which prevents imposition of tort liability. Ross, supra, p 621, n 34. Thus, Michigan courts have held that plaintiffs must plead affirmatively in avoidance of sovereign or governmental immunity to state a claim against governmental entities. Hoffman v Genesee Co, 157 Mich App 1; 403 NW2d 485 (1987). Second, although immunity is not an inherent characteristic of individual government employees and therefore must be raised as an affirmative defense in responsive pleadings under the new court rules, MCR 2.111(F)(2), (3)(a), the court rules in effect at the time defendants in this case were required to file their first responsive pleading, filed in October and November of 1983, did not list "immunity granted by law” as an affirmative defense, GCR 1963, 111.7. This phrase was added to the list of affirmative defenses only in a January, 1985, amendment to the new rule, MCR 2.111(F)(3)(a). It would be unjust to punish defendants for their failure to assert governmental immunity prior to the time that "immunity granted by law” was listed as an affirmative defense in the applicable court rule. MCR 1.102.
Finally, plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in dismissing plaintiff’s contract claims. We note that the trial court rather peremptorily granted the motion for summary disposition in favor of defendants "on the basis of Ross v Consumers Power.” To the extent that the court’s decision to dismiss plaintiff’s contract claims was based on governmental immunity, that decision is clearly erroneous. As plaintiff correctly points out on appeal, governmental immunity is not a defense to a contract claim. Ross, supra, p 647. However, even though the lower court apparently employed erroneous reasoning in dismissing plaintiff’s contract claims, we find that the proper result was achieved, and thus we affirm. Warren, supra.
Plaintiff alleged certain contractual claims, including wrongful discharge, regarding his termination from employment as a police officer based on provisions in the Detroit Charter and the collective bargaining agreement between the city and plaintiff’s union. Plaintiff complied with an earlier suggestion by the circuit court and amended his complaint to include the allegation that the Detroit Police Officers Association, plaintiff’s union, breached its duty of fair representation by failing to represent him a second time before an arbitration panel after the trial board reaffirmed its support of the penalty earlier imposed. The suggestion for plaintiff to amend his complaint to include this allegation was apparently intended to permit plaintiff to attempt to avoid a dismissal for failure to exhaust his contractual remedies. Vaca v Sipes, 386 US 171; 87 S Ct 903; 17 L Ed 2d 842 (1967). It was also apparently premised on a belief that a three-year period of limitations applied in plaintiff’s case. Although we agree that plaintiff was obligated to allege the union’s breach of its duty of fair representation to avoid a dismissal based on a failure to exhaust contractual remedies available under the collective bargaining agreement, we disagree that the applicable period of limitations in this case is three years. The proper period of limitations is six months.
When a duty of fair representation claim is asserted by itself or in combination with a claim of wrongful discharge, this Court has held that a six-month period of limitations applies. Romero v Paragon Steel Div, Portec, Inc (On Remand), 129 Mich App 566, 572-573; 341 NW2d 546 (1983), lv den 419 Mich 861 (1984); Ray v Organization of School Administrators & Supervisors, Local 28, AFL-CIO, 141 Mich App 708; 367 NW2d 438 (1985); Ogletree v Local 79, SEIU, AFL-CIO, 141 Mich App 738, 745; 368 NW2d 882 (1985), lv den 423 Mich 854 (1985). The adoption of such a brief limitations period is based on the following sound policy rationale:
Where the parties have contracted to settle claims among themselves, their final decisions should not be exposed to collateral attack for long periods but should become final rather quickly. See UMW v Barnes & Tucker Co, 561 F2d 1093, 1096 (CA 3, 1977) ("It is not arbitration per se that federal policy favors, but rather final adjustment of differences by a means selected by the parties.”) Otherwise, the internal system will be just another step in a lengthy process of litigation rather than an efficient and unitary method of disposing of the high volume of grievances generated under any large scale employment contract. [Romero, supra, p 569, quoting Badon v General Motors Corp, 679 F2d 93 (CA 6, 1982). See also DelCostello v Int’l Brotherhood of Teamsters, 462 US 151; 103 S Ct 2281; 76 L Ed 2d 476 (1983).
In this case, plaintiff was notified of the trial board’s second decision, which was not appealed to an arbitration panel, in December, 1976. The instant lawsuit was filed in May, 1983. Even if the period of limitations was tolled during the pendency of the federal litigation in this matter, the date that plaintiff filed suit in federal court — October, 1978 — still falls well outside the applicable six-month period. Accordingly, the result of the trial court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s claims based in contract was proper.
In conclusion, we find appropriate the lower court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of defendants based on plaintiff’s failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted. For the reasons stated above, including governmental immunity available to defendant chief of police; an absence of vicarious liability against defendant municipality; failure to state a claim in tort against defendant trial board members; and failure to file this action, which includes an allegation of breach of a union’s duty to fairly represent plaintiff, within the applicable six-month period of limitations, we affirm the trial court.
Affirmed.
In the proceedings below, a default judgment apparently was requested against defendant George Bennett for failure to file an answer. Defendants suggest that Bennett was a member of the trial board which upheld plaintiffs discharge. We have been unable to verify Bennett’s role in this matter; however, his liability is not directly at issue on appeal. | [
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R. M. Maher, P.J.
Defendant appeals as of right from the February 2, 1987, order of the Ontonagon Circuit Court which reversed defendant’s decision to deny plaintiff retroactive medical assistance (Medicaid) benefits. We reverse the lower court’s order and reinstate the denial of Medicaid benefits to plaintiff._
In the late spring of 1985 plaintiff had open heart surgery, for which he incurred substantial medical expenses. Following surgery, he submitted a claim to Medicare, his primary medical insurance carrier, which took several months to process. In November, 1985, Medicare informed him that approximately $3,250 of his expenses was not covered under the government program. Thereafter, he filed a claim with his private supplemental medical insurer for that unpaid balance. He was subsequently informed that the supplemental policy did not fully cover the balance owing. On December 5, 1985, he applied for Medicaid benefits through the Ontonagon Department of Social Services. That application was denied on the ground that his medical expenses had been incurred outside the three-month retroactive coverage period prescribed by federal law, 42 USC 1396a(a)(34) and 42 CFR 435.914(a), and defendant’s departmental policy.
Plaintiff filed a timely request with defendant for review of that denial. He argued that the medical expenses were "incurred,” within the meaning of defendant’s policy, when he was notified that neither Medicare nor the supplemental policy covered his entire expenses and he was billed personally for the unpaid balance. Defendant disagreed with that argument, holding that the medical expenses were incurred on the date the medical services were rendered. Since plaintiff did not apply for Medicaid benefits within three months of that date, the denial of his application for retroactive coverage was upheld.
Thereafter, plaintiff filed a petition for review with the Ontonagon Circuit Court. On February 2, 1987, an order was issued, reversing defendant’s decision and holding that plaintiff’s medical expenses were incurred when he received the bills for such in November, 1985, which was within the three-month retroactive coverage period. It is from that order that defendant brings its appeal of right.
Judicial review of a decision by an administrative agency is delineated by statute. MCL 24.301 et seq.; MSA 3.560(201) et seq. Where an agency rules on a question of law which is within its jurisdiction to decide, its decision cannot be set aside unless substantial rights of a party were prejudiced as a result of a substantial and material error of law. MCL 24.306(1X0; MSA 3.560(206)(l)(f). An administrative agency’s long-standing interpretation of a statute falling within its powers to administer is entitled to great weight and should not be overruled by a court without the most cogent of reasons. Bd of Ed of Oakland Schools v Superintendent of Public Instruction, 401 Mich 37, 41; 257 NW2d 73 (1977); Kent Co v Dep’t of Social Services, 149 Mich App 749, 753; 386 NW2d 663 (1986). However, an administrative interpretation of a statute is not conclusive and cannot overcome a logical reading of the statute. People v Dunn, 104 Mich App 419, 425; 304 NW2d 856 (1981).
Although this Court has not had prior occasion to interpret the federal statute and regulation in question, there can be no legitimate dispute that under the federal scheme the state provider (here defendant) must provide retroactive coverage only back through the third month prior to the month of initial application. See Martin v Dep’t of Public Welfare, 99 Pa Commw Ct 345, 359-360; 514 A2d 204 (1986); Berry v Dep’t of Public Welfare, 42 Pa Commw Ct 640; 401 A2d 602 (1979). Indeed, plaintiff concedes this. However, he asserts that such an interpretation is based on the express language of 42 USC 1396a(a)(34) and 42 CFR 435.914(a), which differs from the language of defendant’s depart mental policy. He further argues that the federal law prescribes a minimum, not a maximum, term of eligibility and that defendant’s policy language extends the period of coverage. Without deciding whether the federal law establishes only a minimum period of coverage, we do not believe that this state has extended the eligibility period even if such was permitted.
Pursuant to the Michigan Social Welfare Act, defendant is the state agency responsible for administering and disbursing Medicaid benefits. MCL 400.10; MSA 16.410. Defendant has done this in accordance with the policy directives found in its program administration manual (pam) and the glossary of its program reference manual (prm). The pam states that benefits are available back to the first day of the third calendar month prior to the most recent application for benefits if, among other things, there was an "incurred medical expense” during that time period. Furthermore, the prm glossary defines a "retroactive benefit month” as the first, second, or third calendar month prior to the most recent application for benefits. Hence, defendant’s policy provides that medical assistance may be obtained for a period three months prior to the most recent application date if the medical expenses were "incurred” during that time. The critical question now before us is whether plaintiff’s medical expenses were incurred at the time he was billed for the unpaid balance or at the time the services were rendered.
Unfortunately, neither the pam nor the prm define the term "incurred.” It is a well-established rule of statutory construction, though, that a term not defined by statute is to be given its ordinary meaning. Statutes must be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language. Resort to dictionary definitions is an appropriate method of achieving this result. In re Condemnation of Lands, 133 Mich App 207, 211; 349 NW2d 261 (1984), lv den 421 Mich 856 (1985). We believe those rules apply equally in construing the policies of administrative agencies.
The term "incur” has been defined as "to become liable or subject to.” Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (1973). In the context of other areas of law, several decisions of this Court have adopted that definition. Harris v Mid-Century Ins Co, 115 Mich App 591, 596; 322 NW2d 718 (1982) (no-fault insurance); Hoehner v Western Casualty & Surety Co, 8 Mich App 708, 717; 155 NW2d 231 (1967), lv den 380 Mich 758 (1968) (medical insurance contract). It is hornbook law that one generally becomes liable to pay for goods or services at the time they are received or rendered, unless the parties have agreed otherwise. Billing for the goods or services is not usually a prerequisite for legal liability. See Simpson, Contracts (2d ed), §§ 5, 8, pp 5, 7.
Applying the common definition of "incurred,” plaintiff’s medical expenses were incurred at the time the medical services were rendered — in May and June of 1985. Since he did not apply for Medicaid benefits within three months of those dates, his application was not timely.
To adopt the position urged by plaintiff would produce ludicrous results and render the three-month time reference without effect. If the three-month retroactive period was a minimum, not a maximum, time limit, a person could apply for Medicaid benefits many years after the expenses were incurred. This would encourage stale claims. The purpose of the three-month retroactive period is to protect persons who are eligible for Medicaid but do not apply for assistance until after receiving care either because they did not know about the eligibility requirements or because the sudden nature of their illnesses prevented their applying. Martin, supra, p 360 (citing 8 HR Rep No 231, 92d Cong, 2d Sess, reprinted in 1972 US Code Cong & Ad News 4989, 5099). Here, plaintiffs delay in applying for benefits was not caused by ignorance of the eligibility requirements or sudden illness. In any case, the three-month period has been deemed a sufficient time in which to apply for benefits after incurring the expenses. Because defendant is charged with the responsibility of administering the Medicaid program, which it has done consistent with federal law, we are loath to interpret its policy differently than it has done.
Plaintiff also argues that, even if defendant’s policy mandates only a three-month retroactive period, the equities of this case require that his tardiness in applying for benefits be excused. Although equity is "not bound by the strict rules of the common law,” Spoon-Shacket Co, Inc v Oakland Co, 356 Mich 151, 163; 97 NW2d 25 (1959), it is not without its limitations. Equitable principles cannot be applied in derogation of an unambiguous legislative requirement. Lansing v Lansing Twp, 356 Mich 641, 650; 97 NW2d 804 (1959). We believe that rule applies equally to agency policies. Plaintiff has presented no proof that he could not have discovered his personal liability, either because of extended illness or because the terms of his Medicare and supplemental policies misled him, prior to the expiration of the three-month retroactive period. He alleges only that his Medicaid application was tardy because he waited for Medicare to process his claim. Even assuming that the delay in being informed of his liability was unavoidable, any relief from the existing three-month retroactive period must come from Congress or our Legislature, not this Court. Lansing, supra, p 650. While we certainly sympathize with plaintiffs plight, the federal law and defendant’s policy — being clear on their face — cannot be disregarded in the interests of doing "justice.” Martin, supra, pp 360-361. The circuit court lacked authority to disregard a clearly applicable law and policy out of sympathy for a particular litigant. Baldwin Co Welcome Center v Brown, 466 US 147, 152; 104 S Ct 1723; 80 L Ed 2d 196 (1984). "Hard cases should not shipwreck the law.” Brogdon v American Automobile Ins Co, 290 Mich 130, 137; 287 NW 406 (1939).
The order of the circuit court is reversed and the decision of defendant denying plaintiff retroactive Medicaid benefits is reinstated.
Réversed. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff, Dr. Anant B. Bhogaonker, appeals as of right from the orders entered by the trial judge granting defendant’s motions for summary disposition and entering a judgment of no cause of action in favor of defendant. We affirm.
This case arises out of the termination of plaintiffs employment as a physician by defendant, Metropolitan Hospital. Plaintiff is a medical doctor licensed to practice in the State of Michigan. In November, 1974, when plaintiff was hired by defendant as a physician, defendant indicated that it would provide him with employment so long as his work was satisfactory. Plaintiff successfully completed the two-year probationary period specified in the medical staff by-laws of defendant hospital. He thereupon received a permanent appointment as of November, 1976, subject to termination only for good cause.
In 1981, plaintiff’s employment was terminated by defendant because of a reduction in staff due to budget cuts. The 1981-82 expense budget of the hospital had to be reduced by $4,000,000. There was no factual dispute that plaintiffs employment was terminated because of economic reasons which resulted in staff reduction.
On May 9, 1984, plaintiff filed a complaint against defendant alleging that defendant terminated plaintiffs employment without cause and thus violated its contractual obligations. Plaintiff alleged five counts: breach of contract, estoppel, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, negligence, and, alternatively, that defendant failed to give adequate notice of the termination and failed to pay all benefits due and owing to plaintiff upon termination.
Defendant subsequently filed motions for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(4), (8) and (10), and, after hearings, the trial court ruled that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction and granted defendant’s motions. Plaintiff claims that this ruling was in error.
We first note that even if the court’s ruling that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction were erroneous, summary disposition would still have been proper under MCR 2.116(0(10) as there was no dispute as to any material facts and defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Plaintiff did not and does not contest the economic necessity for the termination of his employment. As we explained in Friske v Jasinski Builders, Inc, 156 Mich App 468, 472; 402 NW2d 42 (1986):
Case law indicates 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. See, e.g., Bouwman v Chrysler Corp, 114 Mich App 670, 681-682; 319 NW2d 621 (1982), lv den 417 Mich 989 (1983); Sahadi v Reynolds Chemical, 636 F2d 1116, 1118 (CA 6, 1980); FS Royster Guano Co v Hall, 68 F2d 533, 535 (CA 4, 1934). We find that these cases are analogous to the instant case and support a holding that, as a matter of law, plaintiff’s discharge for economic reasons, as deter mined by and within the complete discretion of the board of directors of defendant corporation, constitutes termination for sufficient cause. To hold otherwise would impose an unworkable economic burden upon employers to stay in business to the point of bankruptcy in order to satisfy employment contracts and related agreements terminable only for good or sufficient cause.
See also J A Hackney & Sons, Inc v National Labor Relations Bd, 426 F2d 943 (CA 4, 1970).
In any event, we also agree with the trial court’s determination that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction in this case. Although plaintiff alleged breach of contract in this case, it is clear beyond peradventure that plaintiff is actually seeking judicial intervention into a decision of a hospital to terminate his employment as a physician due to economic necessity. Such a decision is not subject to review by the circuit court. Hoffman v Garden City Hospital-Osteopathic, 115 Mich App 773, 778; 321 NW2d 810 (1982), lv den 417 Mich 1027 (1983); Veldhuis v Central Michigan Community Hospital, 142 Mich App 243, 246; 369 NW2d 478 (1985), lv den 422 Mich 970 (1985); Regualos v Community Hospital, 140 Mich App 455, 460-61; 364 NW2d 723 (1985).
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Per Curiam.
Defendants appeal by leave granted from a temporary restraining order granted May 12, 1986, and an order to show cause for contempt, an order of contempt, and a preliminary injunctive order ordering the union’s strikers to refrain from interfering with plaintiff’s business, issued May 16, 1986, by the Branch Circuit Court.
On April 22, 1986, defendant Local Union No. 2194 commenced a strike against plaintiff after the parties’ collective bargaining agreement expired. Plaintiff thereupon filed an unverified complaint against defendants for injunctive relief, alleging that defendants engaged in various strike activi ties which hindered plaintiffs business, including obstructing the entrances to plaintiffs facility, resisting efforts by police to disperse the picketers, and throwing eggs and rocks at plaintiffs buses and at individuals who attempted to cross the picket line. Plaintiff prayed that defendants be enjoined from such activities. Plaintiff also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, along with an affidavit by plaintiffs vice-president. The motion stated that unless an ex parte temporary restraining order was issued, plaintiff would suffer "immediate, substantial, and irreparable injury as plaintiff [would] otherwise be unlawfully deprived of delivering a work force to its facilities causing stoppage of production and loss of clients and customers.”
The court issued an ex parte temporary restraining order on May 12. The order stated that plaintiff would suffer immediate and irreparable injury to its business if the restraining order did not enter. The order continued:
It is hereby ordered that the Defendants, Local Union #2194, of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, UAW, Teresa Estlow and David M. Demott, their agents, employees, servants and attorneys, and those persons acting in concert or participation with them who received [sic] actual notice of this Order are hereby enjoined from any and all activity which hinders or prevents, by mass picketing, unlawful threats or force, the pursuit by the Plaintiff of its lawful work, from obstructing or interfering with entrance to or egress from the Plaintiffs premises and from obstructing or interfering with the free and uninterrupted use of the public roads, streets and highways adjacent to the Plaintiffs premises at the following locations and adjacent areas:
42 Cole Street, Quincy, Michigan
87 Taylor Street, Quincy, Michigan
Plaintiffs plant located in Coldwater, Michigan.
The order also set a hearing for May 14, 1986, to show cause why the ex parte temporary restraining order should not be made a preliminary injunctive order.
On May 14, 1986, the parties agreed to extend the temporary restraining order for fourteen days, while the court took under advisement plaintiffs request to make the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunctive order and defendants’ motion to quash the temporary restraining order and dismiss the complaint.
On May 16, 1986, plaintiff filed a petition for an order to show cause why defendants should not be held in contempt for violating the temporary restraining order. Attached to the petition were affidavits executed by Gary Chester, acting Police Chief for the City of Coldwater, and C. John Pollack, undersheriff of the Branch County Sheriffs Department. Testimony was taken at the show cause hearing, after which the court held defendants in contempt for violating the temporary restraining order. The court imposed a $2,500 fine on defendants, with $2,000 to be suspended if no further violations occurred within the next thirty days. The court then converted the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction, stating that there would be "unavoidable and extreme harm suffered by the entire community if there were not restrictions involved on the parties.” The injunction provided that no more than five picketers could congregate at any of plaintiffs gates; that the five picketers must be at least thirty feet from the gate; that there could be no more than thirty picketers within half a mile of each plant; that the picketers could not block or obstruct traffic; and that the picketers could not damage plaintiff's property or employees or threaten plaintiffs employees. The court further ruled that a violation of the order by an individual would result in a $500 fine or a jail sentence of up to forty-five days; that on any day in which a violation occurred, the union would be fined $2,500; and that any union official in a leadership position found to instigate such violation would be put in jail for up to ninety days.
On appeal, defendants first claim that the May 12, 1986, temporary restraining order was improperly granted because the requirements of MCR 3.310(B) were not met. Initially, we note that an argument may be made that this issue is moot, since the temporary restraining order expired by its own terms and has been superseded by the May 16 preliminary injunction. However, we find this issue important enough to warrant discussion and choose to address the merits. See Robson v Grand Trunk Western R Co, 5 Mich App 90, 99-100; 145 NW2d 846 (1966).
MCR 3.310(B)(1) permits a temporary restraining order to be granted without written or oral notice to the adverse party only if
(a) it clearly appears from specific facts shown by affidavit or by a verified complaint that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to the applicant from the delay required to effect notice or from the risk that notice will itself precipitate adverse action before an order can be issued;
(b) the applicant’s attorney certifies to the court in writing the efforts, if any, that have been made to give the notice and the reasons supporting the claim that notice should not be required; and
(c) a permanent record or memorandum is made of any nonwritten evidence, argument, or other representations made in support of the application.
The complaint in the instant case was not verified as required by subsection (a). In addition, there were no facts in the affidavit filed with the complaint that suggested that plaintiff would suffer irreparable harm from the delay required to effect notice or that notice itself would precipitate additional harm. Finally, plaintiff’s attorney did not certify to the court in writing the efforts to give notice and the reasons supporting the claim that notice should not be required.
MCR 3.310(B)(2)(b) requires that a temporary restraining order granted without notice must "describe the injury and state why it is irreparable and why the order was granted without notice.” The temporary restraining order in the instant case did not describe the injury and state why it was irreparable; it said only that plaintiff would suffer immediate and irreparable injury to its business if a temporary restraining order did not enter. No mention at all was made of why the order was granted without notice.
Plaintiff argues that defendants have waived their objection to the propriety of the temporary restraining order by agreeing, at the May 14 proceedings, to an extension of the temporary restraining order for fourteen days. We do not find that the issue is waived. The court expressly stated that it was holding under advisement both plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction and defendants’ motion to dissolve the temporary restraining order and dismiss the complaint. On May 16, two days after this agreement, the court heard and decided both plaintiff’s and defendants’ motions in addition to conducting the show cause hearing for contempt. Therefore, the propriety of the temporary restraining order was still considered an issue at that time, and defendants should not be deemed to have waived their objections thereto.
Next, defendants claim that the May 12 temporary restraining order and May 16 preliminary injunctive order were improperly granted because there was no showing of imminent and irreparable injury which the police could not handle. The Michigan Supreme Court has held that a labor injunction regulating picketing cannot be issued unless there is a clearly persuasive showing that the plaintiff will suffer imminent and irreparable injury which is beyond the power of the regularly constituted police authorities to control. Holland School Dist v Holland Education Ass'n, 380 Mich 314; 157 NW2d 206 (1968); Cross Co v UAW Local No 155 (AFL-CIO), 371 Mich 184, 197; 123 NW2d 215 (1963). The Michigan Supreme Court has frequently cautioned against the issuance of labor injunctions. Holland, supra; Cross, supra; Booth Broadcasting Co v American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, 366 Mich 559; 115 NW2d 380 (1962); Town & Country Motors, Inc v Local Union No 328, 355 Mich 26; 94 NW2d 442 (1959).
In the instant case, at both the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction stages, there was an insufficient showing of imminent and' irreparable injury beyond the power of the regularly constituted police authority to control. In plaintiff’s complaint for injunctive relief, the motion for an ex parte temporary restraining order, and the supporting affidavit, plaintiff alleged that defendants’ representatives blocked entrances and threw eggs and rocks at vehicles. These documents did not say that local law enforcement officials were unable to maintain order, nor was a lack of order illustrated. Additionally, plaintiff alleged that, unless an ex parte temporary restraining order was granted, it would suffer immediate and irreparable injury by being unlawfully deprived of delivering a work force to its facilities, causing stoppage of production and loss of clients. However, economic injuries are not irreparable, as they can be remedied at law. Van Buren Public School Dist v Wayne Circuit Judge, 61 Mich App 6; 232 NW2d 278 (1975). Two additional affidavits, filed in support of plaintiffs petition for contempt, stated no more than that approximately fifty persons picketed plaintiffs facilities and that the law enforcement officers had to move some of them, that litter was strewn on the driveway, that the company truck drove on the lawn to avoid the litter, and that the presence of law enforcement officers was necessary for the plaintiffs buses and trucks to enter the plaintiffs property. Each of the affiants did state that he believed that it would "not be possible to maintain this extensive police involvement for extended periods of time in that such involvement cause [sic] almost a total and complete use of city police and sheriffs deputies then on duty.” Despite this latter statement in the affidavits, the testimony of the local law enforcement officers in their affidavits and at the May 16 hearing does not show that the situation was beyond their power to control. Rather, it shows that the Branch County sheriffs office and the Coldwater police were fully able to deal with any illegal strike activity. They were able to effectively clear the way for vehicles to exit and enter the company’s premises. They did so without making any arrests and without asking for any warrants to be issued. Because the Cross standards were not met, both the temporary restraining order and the preliminary injunction were improperly ordered. Thus, both orders must be vacated.
In addition, we agree with defendants that the order of contempt was improper, as it was not supported by competent evidence. The burden of proof was on plaintiff to establish that defendants violated the temporary restraining order. Detroit Bd of Ed v Detroit Federation of Teachers, 55 Mich App 499; 223 NW2d 23 (1974), lv den 394 Mich 807 (1975). The standard of proof in contempt proceedings is more stringent than the usual preponderance test applied in other civil actions; contempt may be found only where it is clearly and unequivocally shown. Id. at 506. The court in the instant case found defendants local union, Estlow, and DeMott jointly in violation of the temporary restraining order. As to the two named defendants, there was no "clear and unequivocal” showing of contempt. The petition and supporting affidavits make no reference to any action by the named defendants. At the May 16 hearing, the only reference to any local union representative was made by Undersheriff Pollack, who testified that he had told defendant Estlow that she had done a fine job on the picket line that day and that he had seen and heard her read the terms of the temporary restraining order to the strikers. Estlow testified that she advised the strikers of the terms of the restraining order and also advised them to move out of the way when told to do so. No testimony was adduced demonstrating any violation of the temporary restraining order by Estlow. As to defendant DeMott, the record is totally silent.
Nor should defendant local union have been found in contempt. A local union may be found responsible for the acts of its agents and members. However, a union is not responsible for every act, but only for instances where there is "union participation and union responsibility for acts which occurred . . . .” Cross Co v UAW Local No 155 (AFL-CIO), 377 Mich 202, 225; 139 NW2d 694 (1966). In Cross, the Court upheld the finding of union liability where it had been specifically shown that individuals found in contempt were officials of the union. In the instant case, it was not shown that union officials were involved in a violation. In fact, no specific names were mentioned and it was not even shown that the violators were members of the union.
We also agree with defendants that the sanctions imposed upon defendants for contempt violated MCL 600.1715(1); MSA 27A.1715(1). This statute states:
Except as otherwise provided by law, punishment for contempt may be a fine of not more than $250.00, or imprisonment which, except in those cases where the commitment is for the omission to perform an act or duty which is still within the power of the person to perform shall not exceed 30 days, or both, in the discretion of the court.
For a single act of contempt a court can impose a fine of no more than $250 on a defendant. City of Ann Arbor v Danish News Co, 139 Mich App 218; 361 NW2d 772 (1984), lv den 424 Mich 863 (1985). In the instant case, the court, upon the finding of a single act of contempt, imposed a fine of $2,500. This amount greatly exceeded the express amount permitted.
Plaintiff argues that since fifty strikers were alleged to have blocked ingress and egress to the plant, a fine of $2,500 was not excessive as it could be divided among all fifty. This argument is without merit. The fine was imposed upon the two individual defendants and the local union, not upon individual union members. Plaintiff alternatively argues that since the trial judge suspended $2,000 if no further violations occurred within thirty days, the $500 fine actually imposed did not exceed the limit. This argument is also without merit. The fact that the trial court suspended the fine on a good behavior provision does not remedy the fact that the fine imposed was excessive and should not have been entered.
Since we vacate the ex parte temporary restraining order and the preliminary injunction, as well as the orders holding defendants in contempt, we need not address the issue whether defendants were denied due process because they received insufficient notice of the show cause hearing.
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D. E. Holbrook, Jr., J.
Following a jury trial in district court, defendant was convicted of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor (ouil), MCL 257.625(1); MSA 9.2325(1). Defendant appealed to the circuit court, which reversed his conviction. The people now appeal by leave granted.
At approximately 7:30 p.m. on April 1, 1984, a Michigan State Police trooper observed defendant’s car parked on the shoulder of northbound I-75 in Madison Heights approximately XA mile away from the next exit. Defendant was found unconscious, slumped over behind the wheel. The car was in park but the engine was running. When the officer opened the car door he smelled a strong odor of liquor. The officer shook defendant for approximately two minutes before defendant awakened. Defendant’s eyes were bloodshot and watery, his speech was slurred and he appeared dazed. Defendant was unable to walk on his own, say the alphabet or count backwards. Breathalyzer tests subsequently administered to defendant at 9:04 and 9:22 p.m. indicated that defendant had a blood-alcohol content of 0.25 percent.
At the close of the prosecutor’s case, defendant made a motion for directed verdict which was denied. On appeal to the circuit court defendant argued that under People v Pomeroy (On Rehearing), 419 Mich 441; 355 NW2d 98 (1984), there was insufficient evidence presented that he was operating the vehicle at the time of his arrest. The circuit court agreed and reversed defendant’s conviction, concluding that there was insufficient proof that defendant operated the vehicle in an intoxicated condition. On appeal the prosecutor claims that the circuit court’s decision was erroneous. We agree.
In People v Schinella, 160 Mich App 213; 407 NW2d 621 (1987), a panel of this Court confronted a similar factual situation. In Schinella the defendant’s vehicle was found off the road, straddling a ditch. Defendant was behind the wheel, awake but glassy-eyed. While the engine was not running, there were indications at the scene that defendant had attempted to dislodge his vehicle just moments before. There was a strong smell of alcohol on defendant’s breath. While defendant was able to recite the alphabet and count backwards, he failed two physical dexterity tests.
With respect to the application of Pomeroy, the panel stated:
The holding of People v Pomeroy, supra, is narrow: where there is no evidence of prior impaired driving, a defendant arrested while asleep at the wheel of a stationary car cannot be found guilty of driving while impaired (or by extension, ouil) because he is not presently "operating” the vehicle at the time of his arrest. See 419 Mich 447. Stated otherwise, to sustain an ouil conviction, there must be direct or circumstantial evidence that a person arrested while asleep at the wheel was operating a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants at some time prior to his arrest.
In the instant case, as the circuit court found, defendant clearly was not "operating” his vehicle at the time of his arrest. Thus, the question to be decided is whether there was sufficient direct or circumstantial evidence that defendant had operated his vehicle while under the influence at some point before he was arrested. [Schinella, supra, 216. Emphasis in original.]
When a challenge is made to the sufficiency of the evidence, the reviewing court must examine the evidence presented by the prosecution and determine whether a rational trier of fact could find that the essential elements of the offense were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. People v Hampton, 407 Mich 354, 368; 285 NW2d 284 (1979), reh den 407 Mich 1164 (1980), cert den 449 US 885 (1980).
Here there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to sustain defendant’s conviction. Defendant was parked on the shoulder of 1-75. There was a 45-degree embankment next to the shoulder of the road. The nearest exit was one-quarter mile away. Defendant was alone and seated on the driver’s side of the car. Unlike the facts involving defendant Fulcher in Pomeroy, there were no bottles or cans found in the car that would support the theory that defendant became drunk while parked. Unlike Fulcher, where the defendant was parked in front of a bar, it was unlikely in the instant case that defendant could have gotten to the shoulder of 1-75 unless he had driven while intoxicated. Hence there was evidence from which a rational trier of fact could find that defendant had operated a vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor just prior to his arrest.
Reversed and remanded for reinstatement of conviction. | [
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M. R. Knoblock, J.
Defendant appeals from an order of the circuit court granting plaintiffs motion for summary disposition on the basis that there existed no genuine issue of material fact. MCR 2.116(0(10).
The facts are not in dispute. Plaintiff was divorced from Lawrence Pirtle on April 2, 1979. By the terms of the judgment of divorce, Pirtle was awarded title to the marital home. The judgment also provided:
It is further ordered and adjudged that the plaintiff, Lawrence A. Pirtle, shall execute a Mortgage in the amount of Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) payable to the defendant, Barbara Ann Pirtle upon the sale of the marital home located at 1265 Argentine Road, Howell, Michigan. Said mortgage shall have no interest.
On April 2, 1979, a mortgage was executed by Pirtle in accordance with the above provision. The mortgage was recorded on April 27, 1979.
On August 17, 1981, Pirtle executed a second mortgage of the subject property to the Brighton State Bank in the amount of $25,000. He subsequently defaulted on this mortgage and the bank commenced a foreclosure action on May 2, 1983. On June 2, 1983, a default judgment of foreclosure was entered in that action which provided that a total of $27,165.13 was due, including interest, costs and attorney fees.
On August 5, 1983, plaintiff in this action intervened as a party plaintiff in the bank foreclosure action. On the same date, a consent judgment was entered providing that the subject property be listed for sale and appointing the bank as agent and receiver of the property and authorizing the bank to take "any and all actions necessary for the completion of said sale.” It was further ordered that the mortgage debt owed to the bank be paid as a first priority with the lien in favor of plaintiff in this action subordinated to that of the bank.
On December 8, 1983, Pirtle conveyed his interest in the subject property by quitclaim deed to the bank. On May 8, 1984, the bank conveyed the subject property to the defendant in this action by quitclaim deed in consideration of the payment of $31,029.11. On August 31, 1984, the bank granted Pirtle a discharge of mortgage.
On May 29, 1985, plaintiff commenced this action in which she asserted that the conveyance of the subject property by Pirtle to the bank on December 8, 1983, constituted a sale, thereby causing her mortgage to become due and payable, and in default. She claimed a balance due of $15,000 and prayed for a judgment of foreclosure and sale of the subject property to satisfy the debt. Defendant answered, denying any liability for payment of the debt and affirmatively asserting an accord and satisfaction of the mortgage by the August 5, 1983, consent judgment and the conveyance by Pirtle to the bank on December 8, 1983.
On July 31, 1985, plaintiff served requests for admissions on defendant, pursuant to MCR 2.312, which requested that defendant admit:
(1) that prior to April, 1979, the plaintiff was married to Lawrence Allen Pirtle.
(2) that Lawrence A. Pirtle and plaintiff were divorced by judgment of the trial court dated April 2, 1979, and case number 79-7112-DO.
(3) that pursuant to the terms of the judgment in said case number 79-7112-DO, plaintiff was granted a mortgage for $20,000 on real property commonly known as 1265 Argentine Road, Howell.
(4) that plaintiff’s mortgage on the aforesaid property was recorded in Liber 921, p 500, of the records of the Livingston County Register of Deeds on April 27, 1979.
(5) that Lawrence A. Pirtle sold his interest in the aforesaid real property to the Brighton State Bank by way of quit claim deed which was recorded with the Livingston County Register of Deeds on December 16, 1983.
(6) that on May 8, 1984, the Brighton State Bank sold its interest in the aforesaid real property to the defendant, Russell Steven Cockerham.
(7) that plaintiff has been paid $5,000, towards the aforesaid mortgage amount of $20,000 leaving a current principal balance of $15,000.
Defendant filed a motion to strike plaintiff’s request for admissions which came on for hearing on September 25, 1985. At the hearing, counsel for both parties announced on the record a stipulation that defendant would respond to the request to admit within seven days. A proposed order was submitted to the trial court under the seven-day rule (MCR 2.602) and, no objections having been filed, an order encompassing the terms of the stipulation was entered by the trial court on October 10, 1985. Defendant thereafter failed to respond to the requests.
On November 8, 1985, plaintiff filed a motion for summary disposition claiming that, as a result of defendant’s failure to respond, the facts asserted in the requests to admit were "conclusively established” pursuant to MCR 2.312(D). The motion was heard on November 18, 1985, on which date defendant filed his response to the motion, denying that any sums of money were due from defendant to plaintiff. The trial court rendered its decision in a written opinion finding that defendant could not assert that no sums were due plaintiff because this fact was established by the admissions which had not been denied. Although defendant had not at any time requested permission to file late responses to the requests to admit, the trial court never theless balanced the factors enumerated in Janczyk v Davis, 125 Mich App 683; 337 NW2d 272 (1983), concerning whether a trial court should allow a party to file a late response. Finding that defendant’s disregard of the court’s order, together with the unexplained absence of any response to plaintiff’s requests to admit, far outweighed any countervailing consideration, the court concluded that defendant was not entitled to file a late response. The court subsequently entered a judgment of foreclosure and decreed that there was due to plaintiff the sum of $15,000 plus taxable costs. The court further held that the defendant was not personally liable for payment of the sum due, but that, if it was not paid within twenty-one days, the premises would be ordered sold at public auction with the proceeds to be used to satisfy the debt.
As a preliminary matter it should be noted that defendant’s brief on appeal does not comply with the provisions of MCR 7.212(C) by setting forth separately each issue raised followed by an argument on each issue. For this reason, defendant’s arguments are extremely difficult to understand and analyze. Defendant does not appear to contest the trial court’s conclusion that the facts listed in plaintiff’s request to admit must be considered conclusively established. Defendant maintains, however, that these facts are not prima facie sufficient to establish plaintiff’s right to summary disposition because they do not establish who is responsible to pay the amount due plaintiff, nor do they address defendant’s affirmative defense of accord and satisfaction.
MCR 2.116(0(10) provides that a motion for summary disposition should be granted when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. A motion based upon GCR 1963, 117.2(3), now MCR 2.116(0(10), is designed to test the factual support for a claim or defense. Maccabees Mutual Life Ins Co v Dep’t of Treasury, 122 Mich App 660; 332 NW2d 561 (1983), lv den 417 Mich 1100.15 (1983); Detroit Edison Co v Richmond Twp, 150 Mich App 40; 388 NW2d 296 (1986). The court must consider the pleadings, affidavits and other available evidence and be satisfied that the claim or position cannot be supported by evidence at trial because of some deficiency which cannot be overcome. Maccabees, supra. The court must give the benefit of any reasonable doubt to the party opposing the motion and inferences are to be drawn in favor of that party. Id.
A mortgage is an interest in real estate. Tromley v Lange, 236 Mich 240; 210 NW 202 (1926); Purification Systems, Inc v Mastan Co, 40 Mich App 308; 198 NW2d 807 (1972), overruled on other grounds in Rogers v Colonial Federal Savings & Loan Ass’n of Grosse Pointe Woods, 405 Mich 607, 620; 275 NW2d 499 (1979). A real estate mortgage in Michigan is but a security for a debt in the nature of a specific lien. Equitable Trust Co v Milton Realty Co, 263 Mich 673; 249 NW 30 (1933). In the present case, plaintiffs lien was on the real estate. After concluding, based on the facts established by the record including the admissions, that plaintiff had a valid lien on the real estate, the trial court was correct in ordering that it be sold to satisfy plaintiffs claim. The court was not obligated to determine who was responsible to pay the debt which the mortgage secured.
The bank abandoned its foreclosure action by accepting the quitclaim deed from Pirtle. A quitclaim deed conveys only the grantor’s interest. Putnam v Russell, 86 Mich 389; 49 NW 147 (1891); Koenig v Koenig, 311 Mich 12; 18 NW2d 259 (1945). Thus, by definition of a quitclaim deed and operation of law, the bank acquired only the interest Pirtle had in the real estate which was subject to plaintiffs mortgage. By the terms of plaintiffs judgment of divorce, Pirtle’s conveyance of the property made the debt due and payable. The bank conveyed its interest to defendant by way of a quitclaim deed which stated on its face that it was subject to instruments of record. Since plaintiff’s lien was never extinguished, the title defendant received from the bank was subject to the plaintiffs mortgage. We are of the opinion that the trial court was correct in concluding that, on the record presented, there existed no genuine issue of material fact and that plaintiff was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
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Wiest, J.
(dissenting). October 23,1934, while in the employ of the Escanaba Paper Company, plaintiff’s body was caught between a backing truck and a cement mixer. He was given a slip to go and see the company doctor. The doctor taped plaintiff’s body. The company, on December 3, 1934, filed a noncom pensable report. The day after the accident plaintiff resumed work and so continued until January 10, 1935, when he had the flu and was sick for three weeks. He then returned to work and continued until April 28,1935, when he quit. August 18, 1937, he filed an application for compensation, claiming suffering from the time of the accident but that the need of money kept him at work. The defendant denied any accidental disabling injury and invoked statutory provisions claimed to bar an award. The deputy commissioner found no compensable disability caused by the accident. Upon review the department found total disability due in part to infected teeth and tonsils and in part to the accidental injury; that the accident in connection with his previous physical condition brought total disability.
Upon review it is contended that plaintiff is es-topped by failure to claim compensation within the period of two years following the alleged injury and the filing of the noncompensable report.
Plaintiff resumed his work the day after the alleged injury and the noncompensable report was proper. 2 Comp. Laws 1929, § 8456 (Stat. Ann. § 17.191).
Defendant had knowledge of the claimed injury.
The question of unqualified claim for compensation within six months after the injury has been examined, and we are constrained to agree with the department that such a claim was made.
Charles Beck, who was foreman at the Escanaba Paper Company at the time of the injury and had plaintiff in his crew, was a witness and testified:
“Q. (Deputy Commissioner) Did he ever come to you and say, ‘I want compensation. I request it.’
“A. Yes; he did say that; but I figured he should have gone to see the master mechanic; he was above me.
“Q. When did he come to yon and ask for compensation?
“A. About a week or ten days after he got hurt.”
If the disability was occasioned by the effect of the injury upon his previous physical condition and there was competent evidence to establish the relation, then plaintiff is entitled to an award.
The sole medical witness in behalf of plaintiff testified to statements made to him by plaintiff relative to the accident and the consequences thereof and, over objection, was permitted to consider such unsworn statements in expressing' an opinion upon the relation between such alleged injury and plaintiff’s ailments. This was error. Illustrative of the above we quote the following from the testimony of Dr. Gross, the physician called by plaintiff, who, after describing the condition of plaintiff, testified:
“Q. To what did you attribute these injuries, or his condition; his condition of September 11, 1937?
“Mr. Bushton: I object; incompetent.
“Deputy Commissioner: Take the answer.
“A. The chain of events and history obtained in January, 1935', and seeing this man throughout with the history of injury of approximately two months before to his chest, such as he described to me, I would believe that the injury which he had was partially responsible for the chain of events which followed. * * *
“Q. Could that accident contribute to his condition?
“A. Yes, it is my opinion that it could.”
Medical opinion evidence must be based upon testimony in a case and brought out by hypothetical questions.
Under questioning by the deputy commissioner Dr. Gross testified:
“Q. What structural damage has he at the present time that causes these pains? Nerve injury or muscle injury or some damage to the bone structure?
“A. As far as I could determine there was no damage to the bone structure. I think his continued disability is due to the infection which he is harboring there. It is definitely localized in the spots possibly where he was injured. I tried several times to get the city of Escanaba to take his tonsils and teeth out and I can’t get any reaction on it at all.
“ Q. Could injury such as he had incite infection that was present in his system at the time? Light it up?
“A. I don’t know whether or not. It would not incite the infection, I don’t think.”
The finding of the department was based upon wholly incompetent testimony so far as it connected the claimed injury with plaintiff’s other ailments.
For this reason the award should be vacated and the case remanded, with costs to defendant.
Chandler, J., concurred with Wiest, J.
Bushnell, J.
The award should be affirmed. No objection was made by defendants to the opinion expressed by Dr. Gross, who had seen “this man throughout,” as shown in testimony quoted by Mr. Justice Wiest.
The medical opinion evidence was based on testimony in the case and the witnesses ’ own observations of plaintiff’s condition. What better evidence could be produced? No hypothetical questions were necessary under the circumstances, and no one contends that they were necessary. The opposition to the medical testimony is on other grounds.
The award is affirmed, with costs to appellee.
Butzel, C. J., and Sharpe, Potter, North, and McAllister, JJ., concurred with Bushnell, J. | [
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Young, J.
Plaintiff, now an adult, suffers from cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and a number of other neurological and physical ailments. He argues, through his mother as next friend, that these conditions are the proximate results of defendants’ negligence in treating his mother during her labor leading to his delivery. Specifically, plaintiff maintains that defendants administered an excessive amount of a contraction-inducing medication to his mother and were unable to detect signs of fetal distress because they failed to make appropriate use of fetal monitoring devices. The trial court denied defendants’ request to hold a Davis-Frye hearing on expert testimony that purported to draw a causal connection between these breaches of the standard of care and plaintiffs present neurological and physiological condition.
Following a five week trial, the jury returned a verdict in plaintiffs favor. The trial court thereafter determined that defendant Henry Ford Health System was liable as a successor corporation to defendant Associated Physicians, EC. The trial court denied the defendants’ motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial. The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of liability, but ordered remittitur on lost wage earning capacity. We reverse and remand the matter for entry of judgment in defendants’ favor.
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
This appeal arises out of the events surrounding plaintiffs birth on July 16, 1980. Plaintiffs mother, Kimberly Craig, received prenatal care from defendant Associated Physicians, EC. Associated Physicians employed four obstetricians, including defendants Dr. Elias Gennaoui and Dr. Ajit Kittur. Ms. Craig met with each obstetrician at some point before plaintiffs birth, but was primarily attended to by Dr. Gennaoui during plaintiffs delivery.
Ms. Craig’s amniotic and chorionic membranes ruptured at approximately 5:30 A.M. on July 16, 1980, and she was admitted to defendant Oakwood Hospital within a half hour. The resident doctor on call at the time noted that plaintiffs fetal heart tones were within a normal range. Dr. Kittur, who was the attending physician on staff when Ms. Craig was admitted, requested that Ms. Craig be given an intravenous (IV) “keep open” line to maintain hydration and to establish a channel for the intravenous administration of medication, should the need arise. Nurses applied an external fetal-uterine monitor to Ms. Craig at approximately 9:30 A.M., at which time she still had not experienced contractions. At 10:00, Ms. Craig began to receive 1000 cc of a 5% Ringer’s lactate solution through the “keep open” IV line.
Dr. Gennaoui, who had taken over for Dr. Kittur sometime after Ms. Craig was admitted, met with Ms. Craig at approximately 11:00 A.M. He was concerned that Ms. Craig and her child had been exposed to infection since her membranes burst earlier that morning, and concluded that Ms. Craig should be given ten units of Pitocin in order to induce labor. From 11:30 A.M. to 6:00 P.M., Ms. Craig was given doses of Pitocin in increasing amounts.
One of the central issues at trial was the precise amount of Pitocin administered to Ms. Craig and whether, as plaintiff argued, she had mistakenly received a double dosage. Plaintiffs standard of care expert, Paul Gatewood, M.D., testified that Ms. Craig’s medical records reveal that she was inadvertently given two doses of Pitocin. The first was administered shortly after 11:00 A.M. upon Dr. Gennaoui’s order. Nurse Quinlan wrote a check on Dr. Gennaoui’s order for Pitocin to indicate, according to Dr. Gatewood, that she had performed Dr. Gennaoui’s request and had administered Pitocin through the 5% Ringer’s lactate solution.
Dr. Gatewood noted, however, that another nurse, Tyra, had written in Ms. Craig’s records that she had administered Pitocin through a solution other than the 5% Ringer’s lactate Ms. Craig was already receiving intravenously. Thus, according to Dr. Gate-wood’s testimony, Dr. Gennaoui had given a single order for Pitocin that had been filled twice — once by Nurse Quinlan through the 5% Ringer’s lactate solution, and once by Nurse Tyra through the D5W solution.
Also contested at trial was whether Ms. Craig’s labor presented any complications. Medical records compiled after plaintiffs birth show that Ms. Craig began experiencing contractions of “moderate” strength after receiving Pitocin and that “moderate” contractions continued until plaintiffs delivery.
Plaintiff contends, however, that the records from a fetal uterine monitor tell a different story. These records, according to Dr. Gatewood, show that plaintiff experienced recurrent decelerations of his heart rate, or bradycardia, after Ms. Craig began to receive Pitocin. Dr. Gatewood explained at trial that the decelerations occurred because the Pitocin administered to Ms. Craig caused contractions of excessive intensity and duration. Plaintiffs umbilical cord became compressed because of these contractions, thereby decreasing the amount of blood flowing to plaintiff. The result was the pattern of decelerations in heart rate shown by the fetal uterine monitor and a decrease in the amount of oxygen flowing to plaintiffs brain, or “hypoxia” in medical parlance.
Plaintiff was born shortly before 7:00 P.M. that day. His Apgar scores, 8 and 9 (on a one to ten scale), were well within the typical range, indicating that plaintiff appeared to be a normal, healthy baby. Plaintiff also contests this Apgar assessment, maintaining that a picture of plaintiff taken shortly after his birth depicts an infant who had recently suffered head trauma. Specifically, plaintiff points to a “large ridge” across his forehead as evidence of “facial or brow molding,” and argues that the photograph clearly reveals bruising and edema, both sure signs of trauma. In addition, plaintiff contends that the postdelivery picture shows him “gazing” to the right while holding his left hand in a cortical position and that these “are indicative of acute brain injury.”
Two days after his birth, plaintiff was examined by pediatrician Dr. Carolyn Johnson, who concluded that plaintiff seemed to be healthy and displayed normal cognitive functions. Plaintiff received a vastly different diagnosis approximately one year later. On June 6, 1981, Ms. Craig had plaintiff examined by Dr. Michael Nigro, a pediatric neurologist, after noticing that plaintiff began to seem developmentally slow after his third month. Dr. Nigro diagnosed plaintiff with nonprogressive encephalopathy with global developmental delay and mild spasticity. He concluded at the time and maintained throughout this trial that the etiology or cause of plaintiffs condition was unclear.
Plaintiff initiated the present lawsuit in 1994 through his mother, Kimberly Craig, as next friend. He alleged that Drs. Gennaoui and Kittur committed medical malpractice in failing to monitor plaintiffs heartbeat with an internal uterine catheter until 2:30 P.M. on July 16, 1980. Further, he alleged that Dr. Gennaoui and his colleagues negligently administered Pitocin to Ms. Craig despite the fact that she presented physical symptoms indicating that Pitocin was unnecessary and potentially harmful. As a result, plaintiff alleged, plaintiff sustained brain damage either through hypoxia or through the pounding of plaintiffs head against his mother’s “pelvic rim” before birth.
Plaintiff also named Associated Physicians, PC., the employer of Drs. Kittur and Gennaoui, under a theory of vicarious liability. In addition, plaintiff named Oakwood Hospital, where plaintiff was delivered, and named Henry Ford Hospital under a successor liability theory.
On January 21, 1997, defendant asked the Court to exclude the testimony of Dr. Ronald Gabriel, plaintiffs proposed causation expert, or, in the alternative, to conduct a.Davis-Frye hearing. This motion was denied.
Henry Ford filed a successful motion to sever. However, the trial court found after conducting a bench trial that Henry Ford was liable to plaintiff as a successor to Associated Physicians, PC.
After the jury found in plaintiffs favor, the court entered judgment of $21 million, reflecting the present value of the $36 million awarded by the jury. The trial court denied defendants’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial.
On February 1, 2002, the Court of Appeals affirmed the jury verdict in plaintiffs favor, but ordered remittitur because of the jury’s overestimation of plaintiffs lost wage earning capacity. The panel also affirmed the trial court’s conclusion that Henry Ford was liable to plaintiff as a successor corporation.
We granted defendants’ applications for leave to appeal on September 12, 2003, limiting the parties to the following issues: “(1) Whether the witnesses’ testimony was based on facts not in evidence and whether the trial court erred in permitting the testimony of plaintiffs expert witnesses; (2) Whether the trial court erred in finding defendant Henry Ford Hospital liable on a successor liability theory.” We denied plaintiffs application for leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeals.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
We review a trial court’s decision to admit or exclude evidence for an abuse of discretion. A court necessarily abuses its discretion when it “admits evidence that is inadmissible as a matter of law.” However, any error in the admission or exclusion of evidence will not warrant appellate relief “unless refusal to take this action appears .. . inconsistent with substantial justice,” or affects “a substantial right of the [opposing] party.”
We review de novo a trial court’s decision to grant or deny a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. In conducting this review de novo, we “ ‘review the evidence and all legitimate inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.’ ” Only when “the evidence viewed in this light fails to establish a claim as a matter of law” is the moving party entitled to judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV).
The doctrine of successor liability is “ ‘derived from equitable principles.’ ” Its application is therefore subject to review de novo.
III. IMPROPER ADMISSION OF EXPERT TESTIMONY
We turn, first, to the trial court’s erroneous conclusion that defendant Oakwood Hospital was not entitled to a Davis-Frye hearing before the admission of Dr. Ronald Gabriel’s expert testimony. Defendant contends that the trial court erred when it denied its motion to exclude the expert opinion testimony of Dr. Gabriel or, in the alternative, to hold a Davis-Frye hearing. We agree.
A. MRE 702 AND DAVIS-FRYE ANALYSIS
Expert testimony is admitted pursuant to MRE 702, which provided, at the pertinent times:
If the court determines that recognized scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise ....
In construing this rule of evidence, we must apply “ ‘the legal principles that govern the construction and application of statutes.’ ” When the language of an evidentiary rule is unambiguous, we apply the plain meaning of the text “ ‘without further judicial construction or interpretation.’ ”
The plain language of MRE 702 establishes three broad preconditions to the admission of expert testimony. First, the proposed expert witness must be “qualified” to render the proposed testimony. Generally, the expert may be qualified by virtue of “knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education.” In a medical malpractice action such as this one, the court’s assessment of an expert’s “qualifications” are now guided by MCL 600.2169(2):
In determining the qualifications of an expert witness in an action alleging medical malpractice, the court shall, at a minimum, evaluate all of the following:
(a) The educational and professional training of the expert witness.
(b) The area of specialization of the expert witness.
(c) The length of time the expert witness has been engaged in the active clinical practice or instruction of the health profession or the specialty.
(d) The relevancy of the expert witness’s testimony.
Second, the proposed testimony must “assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue . .. ,” In other words, the expert opinion testimony “must serve to give the trier of fact a better understanding of the evidence or assist in determining a fact in issue.”
Finally, under MRE 702 as it read when this matter was tried, expert testimony must have been based on a “recognized” form of “scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge.” The Court of Appeals properly construed this language in Nelson v American Sterilizer Co (On Remand):
The word “recognized” connotes a general acknowledgement of the existence, validity, authority, or genuineness of a fact, claim or concept. The adjective “scientific” connotes a grounding in the principles, procedures, and methods of science. Finally, the word “knowledge” connotes more than subjective belief or unsupported speculation. The word applies to any body of known facts or to any body of ideas inferred from such facts or accepted as truths on good grounds.[ ]
Continuing along these lines, the word “technical” signifies grounding in a specialized field of knowledge, or a particular “art, science, or the like.” Similarly, “specialized” suggests a foundation in a specific field of study or expertise.
When this case was tried, the admission of expert testimony was subject not only to the threshold requirements of MRE 702, but also to the standard articulated in People v Davis, now generally known in Michigan as the Davis-Frye test. In Davis, we held that expert opinion based on novel scientific techniques is admissible only if the underlying methodology is generally accepted within the scientific community. Thus, in determining whether the proposed expert opinion was grounded in a “recognized” field of scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge as was required by MRE 702, a trial court was obligated to ensure that the expert opinion was based on accurate and generally accepted methodologies. The proponent of expert testimony bears the burden of proving general acceptance under this standard.
B. THE TRIAL COURT’S FAILURE TO PERFORM ITS GATEKEEPING ROLE UNDER MRE 702
In this case, defendant Oakwood Hospital moved in limine to exclude the testimony of Dr. Ronald Gabriel on the basis that Dr. Gabriel’s theory of how plaintiff sustained brain damage was not generally accepted within the medical community, as required by Davis-Frye. Dr. Gabriel’s etiological theory, as summarized by defendant in arguing its motion, was that “hyperstimulat[ion]” of the uterus caused the head of the fetus (plaintiff) to pound against his mother’s pelvic anatomy, thereby producing permanent brain damage. This theory, according to defendant, was novel enough to be excluded and, at best, was admissible only once it passed through the crucible of Davis-Frye analysis.
In response to this motion, plaintiffs attorney produced several articles and authorities that were meant to demonstrate a link between the use of Pitocin and the type of injury sustained by plaintiff. But while some of these articles described a correlation between the use of Pitocin and generalized brain injury, none of these authorities supported the theory of causation actually put forth by Dr. Gabriel. That is, none supported a causal connection between Pitocin and brain injury incurred through repeated pounding of the fetal head against maternal anatomy.
However, the court did not rely on authorities proffered by plaintiff in denying defendant’s motion for a Davis-Frye hearing. Instead of consulting plaintiffs proffered scientific and medical literature, the court erroneously assigned the burden of proof under Davis-Frye to defendant — the party opposing the admission of Dr. Gabriel’s testimony — and held that defendant was not entitled to a hearing because it failed to prove that Dr. Gabriel’s theory lacked “general acceptance.”
When the MRE 702 principles described above are properly applied, it is evident that the trial court abused its discretion in denying defendant’s motion for a Davis-Frye hearing. This abuse of discretion was predicated on two fundamental legal errors.
First, the trial court erred in concluding that it had no obligation to review plaintiffs proposed expert testimony unless defendant introduced evidence that the expert testimony was “novel.” Under MRE 702, the trial court had an independent obligation to review all expert opinion testimony in order to ensure that the opinion testimony satisfied the three Beckley preconditions noted above — that it was rendered by a “qualified expert,” that the testimony would “assist the trier of fact,” and, under the rules of evidence in effect during this trial, that the opinion testimony was rooted in “recognized” scientific or technical principles. These obligations applied irrespective of the type of expert opinion testimony offered by the parties. While a party may waive any claim of error by failing to call this gatekeeping obligation to the court’s attention, the court must evaluate expert testimony under MRE 702 once that issue is raised.
Second, the trial court erred in concluding that there was no justification for a Davis-Frye hearing. At issue was Dr. Gabriel’s opinion that Pitocin administered to Ms. Craig produced contractions of excessive duration and force, that these contractions caused plaintiffs head to be repeatedly ground against Ms. Craig’s pelvic anatomy, and that the resulting head trauma caused plaintiffs cerebral palsy. This causal sequence, defendant argued, has “never been described in medical literature” and was at odds with the testimony of plaintiffs other expert witnesses.
Plaintiff failed to introduce a single authority that truly supported Dr. Gabriel’s theory in response to defendant’s motion. Instead, plaintiff repeatedly stressed that medical literature amply supported the proposition that Pitocin could cause brain damage — a proposition defendant did not contest — and supplied the court with literature to that effect. But this literature had little to do with Dr. Gabriel’s causal theory and therefore did not counter the proposition that his expert opinion was based on novel science.
Therefore, a Davis-Frye hearing was more than justified in light of the information before the trial court when it ruled on defendant’s motion in limine. The proponent of expert opinion testimony bears the burden of proving that the contested opinion is based on generally accepted methodology. Because there was no evidence to indicate that Dr. Gabriel’s theory was anything but novel, the trial court was required to conduct the Davis-Frye inquiry requested by defendant.
Had the trial court conducted the assessment required by MRE 702, it might well have determined that Dr. Gabriel’s theory was not “recognized” as required by our rules of evidence. Indeed, the evidence plaintiff offered in support of Dr. Gabriel should have provided sufficient notice to the trial court that his theory lacked general acceptance in the medical community. For one thing, Dr. Gabriel was unable to cite a single study supporting his traumatic injury theory during a voir dire conducted at trial. The only authorities he offered for the proposition that excessive amounts of Pitocin may cause cerebral palsy through the traumatic mechanism he described at trial were studies he cited in which Pitocin caused cerebral palsy in animals when given in excessive amounts. These studies did not involve the “bumping and grinding” mechanism on which Dr. Gabriel’s expert testimony relied. In fact, Dr. Gabriel expressly distinguished the mechanism to which he attributed plaintiffs injuries from those at work in the animal studies. It would appear, then, that there was little evidence that Dr. Gabriel’s theory was “recognized,” much less generally accepted, within pediatric neurology.
Second, had the court conducted the MRE 702 inquiry requested by defendant, it might have discovered that Dr. Gabriel’s theory lacked evidentiary support. Dr. Gabriel was unable to identify the specific part of Ms. Craig’s anatomy with which, according to his theory, plaintiffs head repeatedly collided during labor. Indeed, Dr. Gabriel pointedly refused to identify this anatomical structure on a chart, contending that such testimony was beyond his expertise. This failure to root his causal theory in anything but his own hypothetical depiction of female anatomy indicates that Dr. Gabriel’s testimony may have been too speculative under MRE 702 to assist the trier of fact.
Finally, a Davis-Fryef.MRE 702 hearing should have alerted the court to the error described in part IV. At no point did Dr. Gabriel opine that the traumatic and vascular mechanisms he described could cause cerebral palsy, or that those mechanisms might produce the asymmetrical development shown in plaintiffs MRI. Thus, Dr. Gabriel’s testimony supported plaintiffs medical malpractice claim only if the jury was permitted to assume, without supporting evidence, that a causal connection existed between these elements. As shown in part IV, this is not a permissible inference. Consequently, the court again had reason to conclude that Dr. Gabriel’s testimony could not have “assist[ed] the trier of fact” given the yawning gap between Dr. Gabriel’s testimony and the conclusions plaintiff hoped the jury would draw from it.
Although the trial court clearly erred in declining to review Dr. Gabriel’s testimony before its admission, we need not determine whether reversal on this basis alone is warranted under the “substantial justice” standard of our court rules. For the reasons stated below, remand for SiDavis-Frye hearing is unnecessary given plaintiffs failure to establish the causation element of his medical malpractice claim.
IV JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT
Even if plaintiff were able to show upon remand that Dr. Gabriel’s testimony was properly admitted, defendants would nevertheless be entitled to JNOV. The record reveals that the proofs submitted by plaintiff do not support the verdict rendered by the jury because of plaintiffs failure to establish that defendants’ breach of the applicable standard of care proximately caused his cerebral palsy. We therefore reverse and remand for entry of judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
A. STATUTORY AND COMMON LAW BACKGROUND
In order to establish a cause of action for medical malpractice, a plaintiff must establish four elements: (1) the appropriate standard of care governing the defendant’s conduct at the time of the purported negligence, (2) that the defendant breached that standard of care, (3) that the plaintiff was injured, and (4) that the plaintiffs injuries were the proximate result of the defendant’s breach of the applicable standard of care. These common-law elements have been codified in MCL 600.2912a, which requires a plaintiff alleging medical malpractice to show that
[t]he defendant, if a specialist, failed to provide the recognized standard of practice or care within that specialty as reasonably applied in light of the facilities available in the community or other facilities reasonably available under the circumstances, and as a proximate result of defendant failing to provide that standard, the plaintiff suffered an injury.
Furthermore, the plaintiff in a medical malpractice case must establish the proximate causation prong of his prima facie case by a preponderance of the evidence.
“Proximate cause” is a legal term of art that incorporates both cause in fact and legal (or “proximate”) cause. We defined these elements in Skinner v Square D Co:
The cause in fact element generally requires showing that “but for” the defendant’s actions, the plaintiffs injury would not have occurred. On the other hand, legal cause or “proximate cause” normally involves examining the foreseeability of consequences, and whether a defendant should be held legally responsible for such consequences.[ ]
As a matter of logic, a court must find that the defendant’s negligence was a cause in fact of the plaintiffs injuries before it can hold that the defendant’s negligence was the proximate or legal cause of those injuries.
Generally, an act or omission is a cause in fact of an injury only if the injury could not have occurred without (or “but for”) that act or omission. While a plaintiff need not prove that an act or omission was the sole catalyst for his injuries, he must introduce evidence permitting the jury to conclude that the act or omission was a cause.
It is important to bear in mind that a plaintiff cannot satisfy this burden by showing only that the defendant may have caused his injuries. Our case law requires more than a mere possibility or a plausible explanation. Rather, a plaintiff establishes that the defendant’s conduct was a cause in fact of his injuries only if he “set[s] forth specific facts that would support a reasonable inference of a logical sequence of cause and effect.” A valid theory of causation, therefore, must be based on facts in evidence. And while “ ‘[t]he evidence need not negate all other possible causes,’ ” this Court has consistently required that the evidence “ ‘exclude other reasonable hypotheses with a fair amount of certainty.’ ”
In Skinner, for example, we held that the plaintiff failed to show that the defendant’s negligence caused the decedent’s electrocution. Skinner was a product liability action in which the plaintiff claimed that the decedent was killed because an electrical switch manufactured by the defendant had malfunctioned. The plaintiffs decedent had built a tumbling machine that was used to wash metal- parts, and had used the defendant’s switch to turn the machine on and off. Wires from the defendant’s switch were attached to the tumbling machine with alligator clips. Immediately before his death, the plaintiffs decedent was found with both alligator clips in his hands while electricity coursed through his body.
In order to find that a flaw in the defendant’s product was a cause in fact of that electrocution, the jury would have had to conclude, in effect, that the decedent had disconnected the alligator clips and that the machine had somehow been activated again, despite being disconnected from its power source. Not only was this scenario implausible, but there was no evidence to rule out the possibility that the decedent had been electrocuted because he had mistakenly touched wires he knew to be live. There was no evidence to support the plaintiffs theory of causation. Consequently, we concluded that the trial court had properly granted summary disposition to the defendant.
Mulholland v DEC Int’l, provides a useful factual counterpoint to Skinner. In Mulholland, the plaintiffs’ herd of milking cows contracted mastitis, a bacterial infection of the udder, after the plaintiffs began to use a milking system built by the defendants. Key expert testimony was provided by Sidney Beale, an expert in agriculture and dairy science. Mr. Beale had observed a milking at the plaintiffs’ farm and deduced that the mastitis was related to the improper configuration of the milking system. He suggested that the plaintiffs implement certain changes, and, indeed, once these were put into practice, the plaintiffs noticed “a decrease in mastitis and an increase in milk production in the herd.”
We held, on the basis of this expert testimony, that the trial court improperly granted a directed verdict to the defendant. Because Mr. Beale’s testimony was based on his direct observation of the milking machinery, its use on the plaintiffs’ herd, and teat inflammation in the plaintiffs herd following milking, a jury could have reasonably concluded, on the basis of this testimony, that the milking machinery caused mastitis. While Mr. Beale’s testimony did not rule out every other potential cause of mastitis, this fact merely re lated to the credibility of his testimony; his opinion was nevertheless admissible and sufficient to support a finding of causation.
B. PLAINTIFF’S FAILURE TO ESTABLISH CAUSATION
The statutory and common-law background provided above makes it clear that a plaintiffs prima facie case of medical malpractice must draw a causal connection between the defendant’s breach of the applicable standard of care and the plaintiffs injuries. In this case, the evidence adduced at trial cannot support the jury’s verdict because plaintiff has failed to make the necessary causal links. Even if plaintiff had shown that defendants breached the standard of care, the jury had no basis in the record to connect this breach to the cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and other injuries now presented by plaintiff.
At trial, plaintiff attempted to connect defendants’ purported violations of the applicable standard of care to plaintiffs injuries through the expert testimony of Drs. Paul Gatewood and Ronald Gabriel. Dr. Gatewood testified principally as a standard of care witness, interpreting the medical records of plaintiff and Ms. Craig, and opining that defendants breached the applicable standard of care by administering excessive amounts of Pitocin and by failing to use an internal uterine pressure catheter. Dr. Gatewood also testified that records from fetal and uterine monitors indicated that Ms. Craig experienced excessive and severe contractions, and that these reduced the flow of oxygenated blood to plaintiff both by compressing the umbilical cord and by reducing the periods of oxygenation between contractions. Dr. Gatewood testified that, as a result, plaintiff suffered from hypoxia and correlated decelerations in his heart rate.
While Dr. Gatewood’s testimony connected defendants’ alleged breach of the standard of care to physiological symptoms displayed by plaintiff before his birth, he specifically declined to connect these prebirth conditions to the particular injuries for which plaintiff sought compensation. Indeed, Dr. Gatewood denied he had the requisite expertise to make the causal linkage and expressly refused to testify to a causal relationship between plaintiffs neurological diseases and his prenatal care. He insisted instead that “what happened to the baby’s brain” was “[within] the purview of a neurologist.”
Plaintiff contended that the link between defendants’ negligence and plaintiffs injuries was to be supplied instead by the expert testimony of Dr. Ronald Gabriel. Dr. Gabriel opined that plaintiffs injuries were attributable to two mechanisms that affected plaintiffs brain before delivery; he referred to these mechanisms as “traumatic” and “vascular.” According to Dr. Gabriel’s testimony, plaintiff sustained “traumatic” injuries when excessive uterine contractions induced by Pitocin caused plaintiffs head to be “pounded or grinded [sic] into [his mother’s] pelvic rim” during her labor. Be cause of this pounding, plaintiffs brain sustained compression injuries, which resulted in elevated venous “pressures” and impeded “arter[ial] blood flow.” Dr. Gabriel analogized this “venous component” to the distribution of water through a lawn sprinkler system, explaining that increased pressure in certain areas of the brain reduced the flow of oxygenated blood to outlying, “watershed” regions of the brain just as “the last sprinkler who [sic] gets the pressure is the least able to provide water for that area of the lawn.” The crux of Dr. Gabriel’s theory, then, was that plaintiff suffered traumatic head injury during labor and was detrimentally affected by that trauma and the accompanying vascular effects.
Even if we accept Dr. Gabriel’s testimony in full, a fatal flaw remains in plaintiffs prima facie case: Dr. Gabriel never testified that the injuries stemming from this pounding and its accompanying vascular effects could cause cerebral palsy, mental retardation, or any of the other conditions now presented by plaintiff.
Dr. Gabriel began his testimony by explaining that an MRI image showed that plaintiffs brain tissue had developed asymmetrically. He failed, however, to trace this asymmetric development either back to the traumatic and vascular mechanisms he described or forward to the specific neurological conditions presently displayed by plaintiff. Thus, how exactly the mechanisms he described led to cerebral palsy (as opposed to any other neurological impairment) and how they were connected to the asymmetric brain development depicted in plaintiffs MRI was never explained.
It is axiomatic in logic and in science that correlation is not causation. This adage counsels that it is error to infer that A causes B from the mere fact that A and B occur together. Given the absence of testimony on causation supplied by Dr. Gabriel, the jury could have found for plaintiff only if it indulged in this logical error — concluding, in effect, that evidence that plaintiff may have sustained a head injury, combined with evidence that plaintiff now has cerebral palsy, leads to the conclusion that the conduct that caused plaintiffs head injury also caused his cerebral palsy.
Such indulgence is prohibited by our jurisprudence on causation. We have long required the plaintiff to show “that ‘but for’ the defendant’s actions, the plaintiffs injury would not have occurred.” Where the connection between the defendant’s negligent conduct and the plaintiffs injuries is entirely speculative, the plaintiff cannot establish a prima facie case of negligence.
Here, any causal connection between plaintiffs cerebral palsy and the events described by Dr. Gabriel had to be supplied ex nihilo by the jury. Therefore, the trial court erred as a matter of law in denying defendants’ motion for JNOV. We reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
V SUCCESSOR LIABILITY
Although we have established that plaintiff has failed to state a valid claim of medical malpractice, we must also correct an erroneous legal conclusion in the published opinion of the Court of Appeals.
The panel held that Henry Ford Health Care Corporation (Henry Ford) was liable as a corporate successor to Associated Physicians, EC. To the contrary, we conclude that the trial court erroneously imposed successor liability on Henry Ford.
At the time of the alleged malpractice in 1980, defendant Drs. Kittur and Gennaoui were employees of Associated Physicians, EC., which was a medical professional corporation organized under the Professional Service Corporation Act.
Six years after plaintiffs birth, Associated Physicians, EC., began to consider the possibility that Henry Ford might take over its administrative and bookkeeping services. While Henry Ford was interested in pursuing this arrangement with Associated Physicians, the latter’s corporate form posed an obstacle. As a professional corporation, Associated Physicians, EC., could neither legally merge with nor sell its shares to Henry Ford, given that Henry Ford’s shareholders were not physicians.
Consequently, Associated Physicians, EC., split into two entities. Its administrative portion was incorporated Associated Physicians Medical Center, Inc., a business corporation in which nonphysicians could legally share ownership and control. Its medical practice, however, became APMC, EC., a new professional corporation.
Henry Ford purchased all the shares of Associated Physicians Medical Center, Inc., in accordance with the Business Corporation Act. Henry Ford thereby became the parent corporation of Associated Physicians Medical Center, Inc. As the parties intended before the sale, APMC, EC., entered into an agreement with Associated Physicians Medical Center, Inc., in which the latter controlled billing, record keeping, and other administrative aspects of the medical practice. This arrangement ended in 1993, when APMC, EC., dissolved before the initiation of the present lawsuit.
Henry Ford argued that, because it assumed the ownership of only the administrative portion of Associated Physicians, EC. (which was vicariously liable to plaintiff), the equitable concerns that justify the imposition of successor liability are not present in this case. The trial court severed the issue of Henry Ford’s successor liability. After a one-hour bench trial, the trial court held that Henry Ford was liable as a successor corporation to Associated Physicians, EC. The Court of Appeals agreed. Both courts relied in part on the factors listed in Turner v Bituminous Cas Co as supporting the imposition of successor liability.
We recently described the scope of successor liability in Foster v Cone-Blanchard Machine Co. There, we observed the “traditional rule” that successor liability requires an examination of “the nature of the transaction between predecessor and successor corporations.” In a merger in which stock is exchanged as consideration, the successor corporation “generally assumes all its predecessor’s liabilities.” When the successor purchases assets for cash, however, the successor corporation assumes its predecessor’s liabilities only
(1) where there is an express or implied assumption of liability; (2) where the transaction amounts to a consolidation or merger;[ ] (3) where the transaction was fraudulent; (4) where some of the elements of a purchase in good faith were lacking, or where the transfer was without consideration and the creditors of the transferor were not provided for; or (5) where the transferee corporation was a mere continuation or reincarnation of the old corporation.[ ]
Plaintiff has not alleged that the sale of Associated Physicians Medical Center, Inc., was fraudulent, in bad faith, or lacking in consideration. Likewise, plaintiff has adduced no evidence that Henry Ford expressly or impliedly assumed the liabilities of Associated Physicians Medical Center, Inc. Our inquiry therefore must focus on whether (1) the transaction was a consolidation or merger (either de jure or de facto), and (2) whether Henry Ford is a “mere continuation” of Associated Physicians.
Plaintiffs claim fails on both accounts. First, plaintiff does not allege that a de jure merger took place, and he has not demonstrated that a de facto merger occurred. A de facto merger exists when each of the following requirements is met:
(1) There is a continuation of the enterprise of the seller corporation, so that there is a continuity of management, personnel, physical location, assets, and general business operations.
(2) There is a continuity of shareholders which results from the purchasing corporation paying for the acquired assets with shares of its own stock, this stock ultimately coming to be held by the shareholders of the seller corporation so that they become a constituent part of the purchasing corporation.
(3) The seller corporation ceases its ordinary business operations, liquidates, and dissolves as soon as legally and practically possible.
(4) The purchasing corporation assumes those liabilities and obligations of the seller ordinarily necessary for the uninterrupted continuation of normal business operations of the seller corporation. [ ]
This transaction is not a de facto merger simply because Henry Ford, the purchasing corporation, paid in cash rather than stock. Thus, there is no “continuity of shareholders which results from the purchasing corporation paying for the acquired assets with shares of its own stock . . . .”
We also conclude that Henry Ford is not a “mere continuation” of Associated Physicians Medical Center, Inc. As the history recited above shows, Associated Physicians split into two entities immediately before Henry Ford’s purchase of Associated Physicians Medical Center, Inc. The professional corporation— Associated Physicians’ medical practice — became APMC, PC. Henry Ford was therefore able to purchase only the administrative aspects of the former professional corporation. The core functions of the entity that originally became vicariously liable to plaintiff were carried on exclusively by APMC, PC., a professional corporation, rather than the business corporation purchased by Henry Ford. Having analyzed the “nature of the transaction,” we can only conclude that the only company even arguably liable as a successor to Associated Physicians, PC., is that which continued its medical practice — namely, APMC, PC.
Moreover, we have never applied successor liability in the medical malpractice context. Plaintiff has adduced no reason why we should do so in this case. Not only are the Turner/Foster requirements not met here but, more important, the policies that justify the imposition of successor liability are noticeably inapplicable here. We stated in Foster that
[t]he thrust of the decision in Turner was to provide a remedy to an injured plaintiff in those cases in which the first corporation “legally and/or practically becomes defunct.” . .. The underlying rationale for the Turner Court’s decision to disregard traditional corporate law principles was to provide a source of recovery for injured plaintiffs.[ ]
Here, plaintiff has already sought and obtained a judgment from Drs. Gennaoui and Kittur, from Associated Physicians, EC., and from Oakwood Hospital. Because plaintiff obtained a judgment against other sources, there was no need to impose successor liability on Henry Ford, even if the Turner/Foster factors had justified such liability. The trial court erred in imposing successor liability on Henry Ford and the Court of Appeals erroneously affirmed this ruling.
VI. CONCLUSION
We conclude that the trial court erred when it refused to grant defendants’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Plaintiff failed to present any evidence from which the fact-finder could reasonably conclude that any breach of the applicable standard of care by defendants proximately caused his cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and other neurological conditions. In addition, the trial court improperly denied defendant Oak-wood Hospital’s motion to compel an evidentiary hearing regarding the qualifications and theories propounded by one of the plaintiffs expert witnesses. Finally, the trial court erred in concluding that Henry Ford Health Care Corporation was a corporate successor to the professional medical corporation that employed Dr. Gennaoui. For those reasons, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the matter for entry of judgment in defendants’ favor.
Corrigan, C.J., and Weaver, Taylor, and Markman, JJ., concurred with YOUNG, J.
249 Mich App 534; 643 NW2d 580 (2002).
Dr. Kittur is not a party to this appeal because the jury determined that he was not negligent.
Dr. Gennaoui testified that amniotic fluid, which was discharged when plaintiffs amniotic and chorionic membranes burst, protected the fetus from infection.
“Pitocin” is a brand name for synthetic oxytocin.
Plaintiff contends that records from a fetal uterine monitor show that Ms. Craig was, in fact, experiencing contractions before Dr. Gennaoui’s decision to administer Pitocin.
Dr. Gatewood described this solution as a mix of dextrose and water.
An Apgar score represents an evaluation of a newborn infant’s physical condition immediately after birth. An infant is evaluated at one and five minutes after birth on five criteria: heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, skin color, and response to stimuli. Each criterion is assigned a value between zero and two, with a score of ten indicating the best condition. Attorney’s Dictionary of Medicine Illustrated, vol 1, p A-475.
An “edema” is an “effusion of serious fluid into the interstices of cells in tissue spaces or into body cavities.” Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (2d ed, 2001).
“Encephalopathy” is a general term for any disease of the brain. Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (2d ed, 2001).
Dr. Nigro gave a slightly different diagnosis later, on October 30, 1981, when he opined that plaintiff had chronic, nonspecific encephalopathy with retardation or psychomotor delay, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy. When plaintiff was in his early teens, Dr. Nigro diagnosed him with profound encephalopathy, spastic quadriplegia, mental retardation, and aphasia. “Aphasia” is “the loss of a previously held ability to speak or understand spoken or written language, due to injury of the brain.” Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (2d ed, 2001).
Henry Ford had purchased the administrative portion of Associated Physicians Medical Center, Inc., a business corporation created from the professional corporation that had employed defendants Dr. Gennaoui and Dr. Kittur at the time of the alleged malpractice. The relationships between the corporate entities are discussed in greater detail below.
See People v Davis, 343 Mich 348; 72 NW2d 269 (1955); Frye v United States, 54 App DC 46; 293 F 1013 (1923).
249 Mich App 534, 544.
469 Mich 880 (2003) (citations omitted).
People v Katt, 468 Mich 272, 278; 662 NW2d 12 (2003).
Id.
MCR 2.613(A).
MRE 103(a).
Sniecinski v Blue Cross & Blue Shield, 469 Mich 124, 131; 666 NW2d 186 (2003).
Id., quoting Wilkinson v Lee, 463 Mich 388, 391; 617 NW2d 305 (2000).
Id.
Stevens v McLouth Steel Products Corp, 433 Mich 365, 376; 446 NW2d 95 (1989), quoting Musikiwamba v ESSI, Inc, 760 F2d 740, 750 (CA 7, 1985).
Stachnik v Winkel, 394 Mich 375, 383; 230 NW2d 529 (1975).
CAM Constr v Lake Edgewood Condo Ass’n, 465 Mich 549, 554; 640 NW2d 256 (2002), quoting Grievance Administrator v Underwood, 462 Mich 188, 193; 612 NW2d 116 (2000).
Id.
People v Beckley, 434 Mich 691, 710-711; 456 NW2d 391 (1990) (opinion of Brickley, J.).
MRE 702.
Id.
MRE 702.
Beckley, supra at 711 (opinion of Brickley, J.).
MRE 702. This rule was amended effective January 1, 2004, and now provides:
If the court determines that scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert hy knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise if (1) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.
223 Mich App 485, 491; 566 NW2d 671 (1997) (citations and quotation marks omitted).
Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (2d ed, 2001).
Id.
343 Mich 348; 72 NW2d 269 (1955).
See Frye v United States, 54 App DC 46; 293 F 1013 (1923).
Davis, supra at 370.
Id. at 372. See also People v Young, 418 Mich 1, 24; 340 NW2d 805 (1983) (“The Davis-Frye standard is the means by which the court can determine that the novel evidence offered for admission here enjoys such recognition.”).
People v Young (After Remand), 425 Mich 470, 475; 391 NW2d 270 (1986).
Indeed, the trial court was explicit in this regard:
[Allocating the burden of proof to the proponent of novel scientific testimony] would mean that everybody can come in here and allege that whatever everybody’s expert is saying is not supported by scientific data, and I would have to hold a Davis-Frye hearing in every single case where any expert had to testify. And that’s not the standard. You have to submit some evidence to me that I need a Davis-Frye hearing, other than you just saying it.
The dissent makes the same error. See post 100-103. But compare Young (After Remand), supra at 475 (allocating the burden of proof under Davis-Frye to the proponent of novel scientific evidence).
The position advocated by the trial court and the dissent is not only at odds with our Davis-Frye jurisprudence, but it also defies logic. The trial court’s rule would require the party opposing expert testimony to prove a negative — that the expert’s opinion is not generally accepted. This is an unreasonable and thoroughly impractical allocation of the burden of proof.
See MRE 702.
Young (After Remand), supra at 475.
MCR 2.613(A).
Weymers v Khera, 454 Mich 639, 655; 563 NW2d 647 (1997).
See MCL 600.2912a(2) (stating that “the plaintiff has the burden of proving that he or she suffered an injury that more probably than not was proximately caused by the negligence of the defendant or defendants”).
Skinner v Square D Co, 445 Mich 153, 162-163; 516 NW2d 475 (1994).
Id. at 163 (citations omitted).
Id.
Id. See also Prosser, Torts (4th ed, 1971), p 239.
Jordan v Whiting Corp, 396 Mich 145, 151; 240 NW2d 468 (1976).
Skinner, supra at 172-173.
Id. at 174.
Id. at 166.
Id. at 166, quoting with approval 57A Am Jur 2d, Negligence, § 461, p 422.
Skinner, supra at 157.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
432 Mich 395; 443 NW2d 340 (1989).
Id. at 399.
Id. at 400.
Id.
Id. at 398.
Id. at 413.
id.
This is a critical fact; the dissent’s analysis suffers for paying insufficient heed to Dr. Gatewood’s disclaimer of expertise regarding the etiology of cerebral palsy. See post at 107.
Indeed, the dissent seems to conflate the testimony of plaintiffs two principal experts by concluding that Dr. Gabriel’s “bumping and grinding” theory of causation was somehow supported by Dr. Gatewood’s testimony about the dangers of excessive doses of Pitocin. In reality, there was a fundamental gap between the theories proffered by these experts. Dr. Gabriel testified that excessive doses of Pitocin caused plaintiffs head to be ground against his mother’s pelvic anatomy and that this grinding, in turn, led to hypoxia. Dr. Gabriel did not testify that an excessive dosage of Pitocin alone — that is, without head compression injuries sustained from repeated contact with maternal anatomy- — could have caused plaintiffs cerebral palsy.
Compare 1st of America Bank, Mid-Michigan v United States, 752 F Supp 764, 765 (ED Mich, 1990) (finding that the negligence of Air Force physicians proximately caused a child’s cerebral palsy where the plaintiff and the defendant presented extensive testimony on the etiology of cerebral palsy); Bradford v McGee, 534 So 2d 1076 (Ala, 1988) (holding that the plaintiffs presented evidence sufficient for the jury to determine that the defendant’s negligence proximately caused their son’s cerebral palsy); Dick v Lewis, 506 F Supp 799 (D ND, 1980).
United States v O’Hagan, 521 US 642, 691 n 7; 117 S Ct 2199; 138 L Ed 2d 724 (1997) (Thomas, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).
Skinner, supra at 163 (emphasis added).
See id. at 174.
Henry Ford Health Care Corporation became Henry Ford Heath System in 1989. For the sake of clarity, we refer to both as “Henry Ford.”
MCL 450.221 et seq.
See, generally, Professional Services Corporation Act, MCL 450.221 et seq. The “shares” of a professional corporation may not be
sold or transferred except to an individual who is eligible to be a shareholder of the corporation or to the personal representative or estate of a deceased or legally incompetent shareholder or to a trust or split interest trust, in which the trustee and the current income beneficiary are both licensed persons in a professional corporation. [MCL 450.230.]
An individual may not become a shareholder in a professional services corporation unless he or she is a “licensed person.” MCL 450.224. A “licensed person” is “an individual who is duly licensed or otherwise legally authorized to practice a professional service by a court, department, board, commission, an agency of this state or another jurisdiction, or any corporation all of whose shareholders are licensed persons.” MCL 450.222(a).
MCL 450.1101 et seq.
397 Mich 406, 430; 244 NW2d 873 (1976).
See Turner, 397 Mich 430:
(1) There was basic continuity of the enterprise of the seller corporation, including, apparently, a retention of key personnel, assets, general business operations, and even the [corporate] name.
(2) The seller corporation ceased ordinary business operations, liquidated, and dissolved soon after distribution of consideration received from the buying corporation.
(3) The purchasing corporation assumed those liabilities and obligations of the seller ordinarily necessary for the continuation of the normal business operations of the seller corporation.
(4) The purchasing corporation held itself out to the world as the effective continuation of the seller corporation.
460 Mich 696; 597 NW2d 506 (1999).
Id. at 702.
Id.
See Turner, supra at 419-420 (“It is the law in Michigan that if two corporations merge, the obligations of each become the obligations of the resulting corporation.”).
Id. at 702 (citations omitted).
Id.
Turner, supra at 420 (citations, quotation marks, and emphasis deleted), quoting Shannon v Samuel Langston Co, 379 F Supp 797, 801 (WD Mich, 1974).
Id.
Foster, supra at 702.
Foster, supra at 705-706. | [
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Markman, J.
We granted leave to appeal to consider whether the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap, MCL 600.1483(1), applies to a wrongful death action where the underlying claim is medical malpractice. The jury awarded plaintiff $10 million in noneconomic damages. The trial court denied defendants’ motion for remittitur or a new trial, concluding that the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap does not apply to wrongful death actions. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Because we conclude that the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap does apply to wrongful death actions where the underlying claim is medical malpractice, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand this case to the Court of Appeals for consideration of the constitutional issues raised by plaintiff that were not resolved by the Court of Appeals in light of its analysis of the statutory issue.
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Plaintiff brought this wrongful death action against defendants, seeking to recover damages for the death of her mother that allegedly resulted from defendants’ medical malpractice. Plaintiffs decedent began treating with defendant Dr. Jayesh Patel shortly after being hospitalized for a stroke. Plaintiff contends that Dr. Patel negligently managed the decedent’s renal disease and hypertension, which ultimately led to her death. Plaintiff sought damages for the loss of society and companionship sustained by the decedent’s seven children and seven siblings. The jury awarded plaintiff $10 million in noneconomic damages.
Defendants filed a motion for remittitur or for a new trial, arguing that the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap, MCL 600.1483(1), requires a reduction in the damage award, and, in the alternative, that the award is excessive. The trial court held that the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap does not apply to wrongful death actions. The trial judge further held that, although the award is excessive, he could not determine an appropriate amount of damages because he was not personally present at the trial to hear the testimony of the witnesses and judge their credibility. Therefore, he let the jury’s $10 million verdict stand. In a published decision, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision that the medical malpractice non-economic damages cap does not apply to wrongful death actions. The Court of Appeals, however, remanded the case to the trial court, holding that the trial court, having found the award to be excessive, must either set a remittitur amount or grant a new trial on damages only. One of the judges on the panel wrote a concurring opinion to emphasize her belief that the language of the wrongful death act precludes application of the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap. We granted defendants’ application for leave to appeal.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
Whether the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap, MCL 600.1483(1), applies to a wrongful death action where the underlying claim is medical malpractice is an issue of statutory interpretation, which is a question of law that this Court reviews de novo. Morales v Auto-Owners Ins Co (After Remand), 469 Mich 487, 490; 672 NW2d 849 (2003).
hi. ANALYSIS
MCL 600.1483, also referred to as the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap, provides, in pertinent part:
(l)In an action for damages alleging medical malpractice by or against a person or party, the total amount of damages for noneconomic loss recoverable by all plaintiffs, resulting from the negligence of all defendants, shall not exceed $280,000.00 unless, as the result of the negligence of 1 or more of the defendants, 1 or more of the following exceptions apply as determined by the court pursuant to section 6304, in which case damages for noneconomic loss shall not exceed $500,000.00:
(a) The plaintiff is hemiplegic, paraplegic, or quadriplegic resulting in a total permanent functional loss of 1 or more limbs caused by 1 or more of the following:
(1) Injury to the brain.
(ii) Injury to the spinal cord.
(b) The plaintiff has permanently impaired cognitive capacity rendering him or her incapable of making independent, responsible life decisions and permanently incapable of independently performing the activities of normal, daily living.
(c) There has been permanent loss of or damage to a reproductive organ resulting in the inability to procreate.
(2) In awarding damages in an action alleging medical malpractice, the trier of fact shall itemize damages into damages for economic loss and damages for noneconomic loss.
(3) As used in this section, “noneconomic loss” means damages or loss due to pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, physical disfigurement, or other non-economic loss.
The wrongful death act, MCL 600.2922, provides, in pertinent part:
(1) Whenever the death of a person or injuries resulting in death shall be caused by wrongful act, neglect, or fault of another, and the act, neglect, or fault is such as would, if death had not ensured, have entitled the party injured to maintain an action and recover damages, the person who or the corporation that would have been liable, if death had not ensued, shall be liable to an action for damages, notwithstanding the death of the person injured, and although the death was caused under circumstances that constitute a felony.
(2) Every action under this section shall be brought by, and in the name of, the personal representative of the estate of the deceased person ....
(6) In every action under this section, the court or jury may award damages as the court or jury shall consider fair and equitable, under all the circumstances including reasonable medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses for which the estate is liable; reasonable compensation for the pain and suffering, while conscious, undergone by the deceased person during the period intervening between the time of the injury and death; and damages for the loss of financial support and the loss of the society and companionship of the deceased.
There is no common-law right to recover damages for a wrongfully caused death. Instead, the wrongful death act provides the exclusive remedy under which a plaintiff may seek damages for a wrongfully caused death. Courtney v Apple, 345 Mich 223, 228; 76 NW2d 80 (1956). That does not mean, however, that the wrongful death act is the only act that is applicable in a wrongful death action. For instance, the medical malpractice statute of limitations, MCL 600.5838a, applies to wrongful death actions where the underlying claim is medical malpractice because “in all actions brought under the wrongful death statute, the limitations pe riod will be governed by the provision applicable to the liability theory of the underlying wrongful act.” Hawkins v Regional Medical Laboratories, PC, 415 Mich 420, 436; 329 NW2d 729 (1982); Waltz v Wyse, 469 Mich 642; 677 NW2d 813 (2004). Additionally, actions brought under the wrongful death act “accrue as provided by the statutory provisions governing the underlying liability theory . ...” Hawkins, supra at 437. Accordingly, when the underlying claim is medical malpractice, the medical malpractice accrual statute, MCL 600.5838a, applies to a wrongful death action. Further, this Court has recently applied the medical malpractice notice of intent requirement of MCL 600.2912b, the medical malpractice tolling provision of MCL 600.5856(d), the medical malpractice affidavit of merit requirement of MCL 600.2912d, and the medical malpractice expert witness qualification requirements of MCL 600.2169(l)(a) to wrongful death actions. Waltz, supra; Grossman v Brown, 470 Mich 593; 685 NW2d 198 (2004); Halloran v Bhan, 470 Mich 572; 683 NW2d 129 (2004).
Clearly, the wrongful death act is not the only act that is pertinent in a wrongful death action. “The mere fact that our legislative scheme requires that suits for tortious conduct resulting in death be filtered through the so-called ‘death act’, MCL 600.2922; MSA 27A.2922, does not change the character of such actions except to expand the elements of damage available.” Hawkins, supra at 436. That is, a wrongful death action grounded in medical malpractice is a medical malpractice action in which the plaintiff is allowed to collect damages related to the death of the decedent.
The statute at issue here, MCL 600.1483, specifically provides that it applies to “an action for damages alleging medical malpractice ... .” Plaintiffs action is clearly an “action for damages alleging medical malpractice . .. .” Section 1483(1). This fact is undisputed. Although the Court of Appeals recognized that “§ 1483 applies in an action for damages alleging medical malpractice, and that the case before us, with respect to the subject matter from which the negligence arose, is such an action,” Jenkins v Patel, 256 Mich App 112, 122; 662 NW2d 453 (2003), it went on to conclude that “the Legislature did not intend [§ 1483’s noneconomic] damages cap to limit those damages in a wrongful-death, medical-malpractice action.” Id. at 125-126. It reached this conclusion on the basis that § 1483(3)’s definition of “noneconomic loss” does not specifically include losses related to wrongful death, such as loss of society and companionship.
Section 1483(3) defines “noneconomic loss” as “damages or loss due to pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, physical disfigurement, or other noneconomic loss.” The wrongful death act, MCL 600.2922(6), specifically provides that “the loss of the society and companionship of the deceased” is an available remedy in a wrongful death action. The Court of Appeals concluded that the damages referred to in § 1483(3) “relate to damages sustained by an individual surviving plaintiff rather than damages sustained by next of kin in a wrongful-death action ....” Jenkins, supra at 124. Thus, the Court of Appeals concluded that § 1483 is not meant to limit damages that a next of kin would seek for his own suffering, such as loss of society and companionship.
The Court of Appeal’s reasoning is flawed, in our judgment, because it fails to give meaning to all the words of the statute and “[c]ourts must give effect to every word, phrase, and clause in a statute and avoid an interpretation that would render any part of the statute surplusage or nugatory.” State Farm Fire & Cas Co v Old Republic Ins Co, 466 Mich 142, 146; 644 NW2d 715 (2002). If the definition of “noneconomic loss” in § 1483(3) does not encompass damages sought by a next of kin under the wrongful death act for his own suffering, as the Court of Appeals concluded, then such definition also would not encompass such damages when sought by a next of kin of a plaintiff who survived the medical malpractice. If that is so, then the Legislature’s specific directive that § 1483 limits the total damages recoverable by “all plaintiffs” means nothing. However, this language has to mean something. In our judgment, the “all plaintiffs” language means that the plaintiff who most directly suffered from the medical malpractice is not necessarily the only plaintiff in a medical malpractice action. Rather, the “plaintiffs” next of kin may also be plaintiffs in a medical malpractice action and they may seek damages for the losses that they have suffered as a result of the medical malpractice, such as the loss of society and companionship. Blackwell v Citizens Ins Co of America, 457 Mich 662, 664 n 1; 579 NW2d 889 (1998)(a plaintiffs husband’s loss of consortium claim is derivative of the plaintiffs medical malpractice claim).
Furthermore, § 1483(3)’s definition of “noneconomic loss” is not limited to “damages or loss due to pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, [and] physical disfigurement. . . .” Rather, § 1483(3) specifically includes within the definition of “noneconomic loss” all the things mentioned above and “other non-economic loss.” Therefore, just because a noneconomic loss, such as loss of society, is not specifically listed under § 1483(3), does not mean that it is not a covered noneconomic loss. Section 1483(2) directs the trier of fact to “itemize damages into damages for economic loss and damages for noneconomic loss.” Noneconomic damages are subject either to the $280,000 cap or the $500,000 cap, while economic damages are not subject to either of these caps. Damages awarded in an action for medical malpractice can obviously only be economic or noneconomic. The damages awarded in this case for loss of society and companionship are clearly noneconomic damages. Rusinek v Schultz, Snyder & Steele Lumber Co, 411 Mich 502, 504-505; 309 NW2d 163 (1981)(loss of consortium, which is defined as including loss of society and companionship, is a noneconomic loss). This fact is undisputed. Accordingly, we agree with defendants that § 1483’s definition of “noneconomic losses,” which includes “other noneconomic loss,” includes noneconomic losses not specifically listed, including those sought by plaintiffs next of kin for their own pain and suffering. Otherwise, a plaintiffs next of kin would not be able to recover for such things as loss of consortium, loss of society, and loss of companionship in a medical malpractice action, and, as discussed above, a medical malpractice plaintiffs next of kin can most certainly recover such damages. See Blackwell, supra.
Further support for our conclusion that the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap applies to a wrongful death action where the underlying claim is medical malpractice can be found in the allocation of liability statute, MCL 600.6304. Section 1483(1) refers expressly to § 6304, stating that if the court determines, pursuant to § 6304, that one of the enumerated exceptions apply, then the $500,000 cap, rather than the $280,000 cap, is applicable. Section 6304 provides, in pertinent part:
(1) In an action based on tort or another legal theory-seeking damages for personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death .. . the court, unless otherwise agreed by all parties to the action, shall instruct the jury to answer special interrogatories or, if there is no jury, shall make findings indicating both of the following:
(a) The total amount of each plaintiffs damages.
(b) The percentage of the total fault of all persons that contributed to the death or injury ....
(3) The court shall determine the award of damages to each plaintiff in accordance with the findings under subsection (1), subject to any reduction under subsection (5).. . and shall enter judgment against each party, including a third-party defendant.....
(5) In an action alleging medical malpractice, the court shall reduce an award of damages in excess of 1 of the limitations set forth in section 1483 to the amount of the appropriate limitation set forth in section 1483. The jury shall not be advised by the court or by counsel for either party of the limitations set forth in section 1483 or any other provision of section 1483. [Emphasis added.]
Section 6304(1), requiring the jury to allocate fault among all persons, expressly applies to wrongful death actions, because it explicitly states, “In an action based on . .. wrongful death . . . .” Section 6304(3) then requires the court to reduce the plaintiffs award in all subject actions, including wrongful death actions, according to the jury’s allocation of fault and subject to any reduction required under subsection 5. As noted above, subsection 5 is the subsection requiring the court to apply the noneconomic damages cap of § 1483. Thus, subsection 3 of § 6304 incorporates the noneconomic damages cap of § 1483 into wrongful death actions by ensuring that in any action subject to § 6304, expressly including wrongful death actions, the court will reduce the plaintiffs verdict both on the basis of the allocation of fault and on the basis of § 1483 — the noneconomic damages cap for medical malpractice cases.
Plaintiff argues that the wrongful death act expressly precludes application of the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap to wrongful death actions. As noted above, MCL 600.2922(6) provides, in pertinent part:
In every action under this section, the court or jury may award damages as the court or jury shall consider fair and equitable, under all the circumstances including reasonable medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses for which the estate is liable; reasonable compensation for the pain and suffering, while conscious, undergone by the deceased person during the period intervening between the time of the injury and death; and damages for the loss of financial support and the loss of the society and companionship of the deceased.
Plaintiff argues that this provision governs damages in wrongful death claims, in such a manner that other provisions are rendered inapplicable. However, this Court has held that other statutory and common-law limitations on the amount of damages apply to wrongful death actions. For instance, comparative negligence principles and the collateral source setoff rule, MCL 600.6303(1), apply to wrongful death actions. Solomon v Shuell, 435 Mich 104; 457 NW2d 669 (1990); Rogers v Detroit, 457 Mich 125; 579 NW2d 840 (1998), overruled on other grounds by Robinson v Detroit, 462 Mich 439; 613 NW2d 307 (2000).
Contrary to plaintiffs contention, § 1483 and § 2922(6) are not incompatible. Notwithstanding § 1483, in accordance with § 2922(6), “[i]n every action under” the wrongful death act, “the court or jury may award damages as the court or jury shall consider fair and equitable,” including “reasonable compensation for the pain and suffering, while conscious, undergone by the deceased person during the period intervening between the time of the injury and death; and damages for the loss of financial support and the loss of the society and companionship of the deceased.” Only after the court or jury has, in its discretion, awarded damages as it considers fair and equitable does the court, pursuant to § 6304(5), apply the noneconomic damages cap of § 1483. This is made explicitly clear in § 6098(1), which states:
A judge presiding over an action alleging medical malpractice shall review each verdict to determine if the limitation on noneconomic damages provided for in section 1483 applies. If the limitation applies, the court shall set aside any amount of noneconomic damages in excess of the amount specified in section 1483.
Section 6304(5) similarly provides:
In an action alleging medical malpractice, the court shall reduce an award of damages in excess of 1 of the limitations set forth in section 1483 to the amount of the appropriate limitation set forth in section 1483. The jury shall not be advised by the court or by counsel for either party of the limitations set forth in section 1483 or any other provision of section 1483.
Although § 1483 reduces the damages awarded by the trier of fact, it does nothing to impinge upon the trier of fact’s ability to determine an amount that is “fair and equitable.” That is, § 1483 does not diminish the ability of the trier of fact to render a fair and equitable award of damages; it merely limits the plaintiffs ability to recover the full amount awarded in cases where the cause of action is based upon medical malpractice and the amount exceeds the cap. See Phillips v Mirac, Inc, 470 Mich 415; 685 NW2d 174 (2004).
As the Court of Appeals in Zdrojewski v Murphy, 254 Mich App 50, 76; 657 NW2d 721 (2002), quoting Phillips v Mirac, Inc, 251 Mich App 586, 594; 651 NW2d 437 (2002), aff'd 470 Mich 415; 685 NW2d 174 (2004), explained when it held that the noneconomic damages cap does not violate a plaintiffs right to a jury trial, the noneconomic damages cap “ ‘does not impinge on a jury’s right to ... determínete]... the amount of damages ... incurred.’ ” Instead, it “ ‘only limits the legal consequences of the jury’s finding.’ ” That is, “ ‘[o]nce the jury has reached its verdict, the trial judge merely enters a judgment on the verdict that is consistent with the law.’ ” Zdrojewski, supra at 76-77. “Plaintiff was able to try this case in front of a jury that rendered a verdict awarding plaintiff damages. Because MCL 600.6304(5) prohibits the trial court from informing the jury of the noneconomic damages limitation of MCL 600.1483, the jury rendered its damages award on the basis of the facts of the case, unaware of the limitation of the statute.” Id. at 77. Accordingly, the noneconomic damages cap does not violate a plaintiffs statutory right to have the court or jury “award damages as the court or jury shall consider fair and equitable.” Section 2922(6).
IV CONCLUSION
We conclude that the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap does apply to wrongful death actions where the underlying claim is medical malpractice. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand this case to the Court of Appeals for consideration of the constitutional issues raised by plaintiff, which were not resolved by the Court of Appeals in light of its analysis of the statutory issue.
Corrigan, C.J., and Weaver, Taylor, and Young, JJ., concurred with MARKMAN, J.
The judge who presided over the jury trial was subsequently appointed to a federal judicial position and was no longer on the trial court at the time the motion for remittitur or for a new trial was heard.
256 Mich App 112; 662 NW2d 453 (2003).
The Court of Appeals further instructed the trial court that it could revisit its ruling concerning whether the verdict was excessive if it acknowledged that its previous ruling was “nondefinitive” in light of its concern at the time that it had not been present at trial.
469 Mich 958 (2003).
The dissent is correct that neither this Court nor the parties in these cases addressed whether these medical malpractice provisions apply to wrongful death actions; their application was just assumed. Post at 179.
See also Anthony v Forgrave, 126 Mich App 489, 493; 337 NW2d 546 (1983), in which the Court of Appeals held that “in a wrongful death action, venue is determined through application of the venue statutes governing personal injury actions; focus is on the cause of action which underlies the wrongful death claim.”
The dissent contends that “the limitation on noneconomic damages does not always apply in an ‘action alleging medical malpractice,’ ” post at 179, as indicated by MCL 600.6098(1), which provides, “If the limitation applies, the court shall set aside any amount of noneconomic damages in excess of the amount specified in section 1483.” [Emphasis added.] We agree that the cap does not always apply in an action alleging medical malpractice. Instead, the cap applies only in medical malpractice actions in which the plaintiff is awarded an amount of noneconomic damages that exceeds the pertinent cap. The Legislature’s use of the word “if,” however, does not, as the dissent contends, indicate that the cap never applies in a wrongful death action.
Pursuant to MCL 600.1483(4), “[t]he state treasurer shall adjust the limitation on damages for noneconomic loss set forth in subsection (1) by an amount determined by the state treasurer at the end of each calendar year to reflect the cumulative annual percentage change in the consumer price index.” The 2004 limitations are $366,000 and $653,500. See http://www.michigan.gov/documents/nonecohmitl01_3658_7.pdf.
The 1986 version of § 1483 provided, in pertinent part:
(1) In an action for damages alleging medical malpractice against a person or party specified in section 5838a, damages for noneconomic loss which exceeds $225,000.00 shall not be awarded unless 1 or more of the following circumstances exist:
(a) There has been a death.
The 1986 version of § 1483 capped noneconomic damages at $225,000 unless one of seven exceptions, including death, applied. Section 1483 was amended in 1993 to adopt a two-tiered cap system. Under this two-tiered cap system, the lower cap applies unless one of three exceptions, not including death, applies. While the 1986 version of § 1483 specifically provided that the noneconomic damages cap does not apply to wrongful death actions, the current version does not specifically provide that the cap does not apply to wrongful death actions.
The dissent is correct that neither this Court nor the parties in these cases addressed whether these limitations apply to wrongful death actions; their application was just assumed. Post at 179.
Because no allegation has been made that plaintiff was hemiplegic, paraplegic, quadriplegic, or had permanently impaired cognitive capacity, or that there had been permanent loss of or damage to a reproductive organ because of defendants’ medical malpractice, we conclude that the lower cap applies. Cf. Shinholster v Annapolis Hosp, 471 Mich 540; 685 NW2d 275 (2004).
Because we conclude that the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap applies to actions filed under the wrongful death action where the underlying claim is medical malpractice, and because defendants have not argued that an award so capped is excessive, noneconomic damages in this case must be reduced in accordance with § 1483, consistent with this opinion. | [
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Corrigan, C.J.
In this declaratory action, we must determine: (1) whether House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 115 (1998), the Legislature’s approval by resolution of tribal-state gaming compacts, constituted “legislation” and therefore violated Const 1963, art 4, § 22; (2) whether the compacts’ amendatory provision providing that the Governor may amend the compacts without legislative approval violates the separation of powers doctrine found in Const 1963, art 3, § 2; and (3) whether HCR 115 is a local act in violation of Const 1963, art 4, § 29.
We hold that the Legislature’s approved of the compacts through HCR 115 did not constitute legislation. In approving those compacts by resolution, the Legislature did not modify Michigan law in any respect; instead, the Legislature simply expressed its approval of valid contracts between two independent, sovereign entities. Although Michigan’s gaming law would have applied to gaming on tribal lands in the absence of a tribal-state compact, it applied only as a matter of federal law. Compacts establishing the terms of class III gaming on tribal lands modified only federal law. Therefore, our Constitution does not require that our Legislature express its approval of these compacts through bill rather than resolution.
We further hold that although the issue of the amendment provision in the compacts may now be ripe for review, the lower courts have yet to review this issue and make any specific findings regarding whether the amendatory provision in the compacts, as now invoked by Governor Granholm, violates the separation of powers provisions found in Const 1963, art 3, § 2. Finally, we hold that HCR 115 is not a “local act” and therefore does not violate Const 1963, art 4, § 29. Accordingly, we remand the amendment provision issue to the Court of Appeals for consideration, but otherwise affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals.
I. FACTUAL history and procedural posture
A. BACKGROUND: FEDERAL LAW REGARDING TRIBAL GAMING
Knowledge of the underlying federal law is necessary to understand the factual posture of this case. In California v Cabazon, 480 US 202, 207; 107 S Ct 1083; 94 L Ed 2d 244 (1987), the United States Supreme Court held that state laws may only be applied to tribal lands “if Congress has expressly so provided.” The Court held that because Congress had not provided for the regulation of tribal gaming, a state could only prohibit gaming on tribal lands if the state completely prohibited all gaming within its borders.
In response to Cabazon, Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), 25 USC 2701 et seq., which divides gaming activities into three classes. Class I gaming consists of “social games solely for prizes of minimal value or traditional forms of Indian gaming engaged in by individuals as a part of, or in connection with, tribal ceremonies or celebrations.” 25 USC 2703(6). Class II gaming includes bingo and card games (but not banking card games) that are played in conformance with state laws and regulations regarding hours of operation and limitations on wagers or pot sizes. 25 USC 2703(7). Class III gaming includes all other forms of gambling, including casino gaming. 25 USC 2703(8).
At issue in this case is class HI gaming. Under IGRA, tribes may engage in class III gaming only pursuant to a tribal-state compact that is approved by the Secretary of the Interior. 25 USC 2710(d) provides, in relevant part:
(1) Class III gaming activities shall be lawful on Indian lands only if such activities are—
(B) located in a State that permits such gaming for any purpose by any person, organization, or entity, and
(C) conducted in conformance with a Tribal-State compact entered into by the Indian tribe and the State under paragraph (3) that is in effect.
(3) (A) Any Indian tribe having jurisdiction over the Indian lands upon which a class III gaming activity is being conducted, or is to be conducted, shall request the State in which such lands are located to enter into negotiations for the purpose of entering into a Tribal-State compact governing the conduct of gaming activities. Upon receiving such a request, the State shall negotiate with the Indian tribe in good faith to enter into such a compact.[ ]
(C) Any Tribal-State compact negotiated under sub-paragraph (A) may include provisions relating to —
(i) the application of the criminal and civil laws and regulations of the Indian tribe or the State that are directly related to, and necessary for, the licensing and regulation of such activity;
(ii) the allocation of criminal and civil jurisdiction between the State and the Indian tribe necessary for the enforcement of such laws and regulations;
(iii) the assessment by the State of such activities in such amounts as are necessary to defray the costs of regulating such activity;
(iv) taxation by the Indian tribe of such activity in amounts comparable to amounts assessed by the State for comparable activities;
(v) remedies for breach of contract;
(vi) standards for the operation of such activity and maintenance of the gaming facility, including licensing; and
(vii) any other subjects that are directly related to the operation of gaming activities.
(5) Nothing in this subsection shall impair the right of an Indian tribe to regulate class III gaming on its Indian lands concurrently with the State, except to the extent that such regulation is inconsistent with, or less stringent than, the State laws and regulations made applicable by any Tribal-State compact entered into by the Indian tribe under paragraph (3) that is in effect.
Through § 2710(d), Congress expressly provided for tribal-state negotiations regarding class III gaming. Through this compacting process, the tribes and the states may agree to the terms governing such gaming.
B. FACTUAL HISTORY
The compacts at issue in this case were first signed by Governor Engler and four Indian tribes in January of 1997. Each compact provided that it would take effect after “ [endorsement by the Governor of the State and concurrence in that endorsement by resolution of the Michigan Legislature.” The compacts were modified and re-executed in December 1998, and the Legislature then approved the compacts by resolution through HCR 115.
The validity of the 1998 compacts was challenged through several lawsuits. Plaintiffs filed this suit against defendant in the Ingham Circuit Court, seeking a declaratory judgment that the compacts do not comport with various constitutional provisions. Plaintiffs argue that the compacts amount to legislation and, therefore, pursuant to Const 1963, art 4, § 22 the Legislature was required to adopt them by bill rather than approve them by resolution. The circuit court held that the compacts should have been approved by bill. The Court of Appeals reversed the circuit court decision, concluding that the compacts do not constitute legislation because they contain no enforcement provision that would ensure that their terms are satisfied and because the power of the state to legislate in this area is preempted by federal law. The Court of Appeals opined that the compacts constitute mere contracts and, therefore, approval by resolution was not constitutionally infirm.
Plaintiffs also contend that the provision in the compacts that purports to empower the Governor to amend them without legislative approval violates Const 1963, art 3, § 2, the “separation of powers” doctrine. The circuit court agreed with plaintiffs. The Court of Appeals, however, reversed the decision of the circuit court on the basis that the amendatory provision issue was not ripe for review because the Governor had not yet attempted to amend the compacts.
Plaintiffs further argue that the compacts violate Const 1963, art 4, § 29, the “local acts” clause. The circuit court disagreed, holding that art 4, § 29 is not implicated. The Court of Appeals agreed and affirmed the circuit court on this issue.
This Court granted leave to appeal.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
This Court reviews de novo a trial court’s decision regarding a motion for summary disposition. Van v Zahorik, 460 Mich 320, 326; 597 NW2d 15 (1999). The constitutionality of a legislative act is a question of law that is reviewed de novo. DeRose v DeRose, 469 Mich 320, 326; 666 NW2d 636 (2003).
III. THE LEGISLATURE’S APPROVAL OF THE COMPACTS WAS NOT LEGISLATION
Resolution of whether HCR 115 constituted legislation necessarily turns on the definition of “legislation.” Plaintiffs argue that the Legislature’s approval of the compacts must be legislation because HCR 115 had the effect of altering legal rights and responsibilities. We find this definition of “legislation” overly simplistic. Although it is true that legislation alters legal rights and responsibilities, not everything that alters legal rights and responsibilities can be considered legislation. Legal rights and responsibilities may also be altered through contracts. Therefore, the fact that the legal rights or responsibilities of the parties involved may have been altered in some way is not dispositive.
We hold that a more accurate definition of “legislation” is one of unilateral regulation. The Legislature is never required to obtain consent from those who are subject to its legislative power. Boerth v Detroit City Gas Co, 152 Mich 654, 659; 116 NW 628 (1908). This unilateral action distinguishes legislation from contract: “ ‘The power to regulate as a governmental function, and the power to contract for the same end, are quite different things. One requires the consent only of the one body, the other the consent of two.’ ” Detroit v Michigan Pub Utilities Comm, 288 Mich 267, 288; 286 NW 368 (1939), quoting City of Kalamazoo v Kalamazoo Circuit Judge, 200 Mich 146, 159-160; 166 NW 998 (1918).
Here, the Legislature was required to approve the compacts only as the result of negotiations between two sovereigns: the Legislature could not have unilaterally exerted its will over the tribes involved. Because the tribes’ consent is required by federal law, the compacts can only be described as contracts, not legislation.
A. THE STATE’S LIMITED ROLE UNDER IGRA
In order to understand the contractual nature of the compacts, it is essential to understand the state’s limited role under federal law generally, as well as IGRA. Since at least 1832, the United States Supreme Court has recognized tribal sovereignty. In Worcester v Georgia, 31 US 515, 557; 8 L Ed 483 (1832), the United States Supreme Court noted that the tribes were “distinct political communities, having territorial boundaries, within which their authority is exclusive, and having a right to all the lands within those boundaries, which is not only acknowledged, but guarantied by the United States.” This tribal sovereignty is limited only by Congress: “The sovereignty that the Indian tribes retain is of a unique and limited character. It exists only at the sufferance of Congress and is subject to complete defeasance.” United States v Wheeler, 435 US 313, 323; 98 S Ct 1079; 55 L Ed 2d 303 (1978). Similarly, only the federal government or the tribes themselves can subject the tribes to suit; tribal immunity “is not subject to diminution by the States.” Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v Mfg Technologies, Inc, 523 US 751, 754, 756; 118 S Ct 1700; 140 L Ed 2d 981 (1998). Through IGRA, however, Congress has permitted the states to negotiate with the tribes through the compacting process to shape the terms under which tribal gaming is conducted. The states have no authority to regulate tribal gaming under the IGRA unless the tribe explicitly consents to the regulation in a compact.
Although 25 USC 2710(d)(1)(C) provides that class III gaming activities are only lawful if conducted in conformance with a tribal-state compact, that does not mean the states have any authority to regulate class III gaming activities in the absence of a compact. States may not enforce the terms of IGRA; rather, the only enforcement provided for in the IGRA is through the federal government. The IGRA provides that civil enforcement lies only with the tribes themselves or with the National Indian Gaming Commission, which was created by IGRA. 25 USC 2713. Judicial review of the Commission’s decision may only be obtained in federal court. 25 USC 2714. Similarly, criminal enforcement is left solely to the federal government under 18 USC 1166(d). See also Gaming Corp of America v Dorsey & Whitney, 88 F3d 536, 545 (CA 8, 1996) (“Every reference to court action in IGRA specifies federal court jurisdiction.... State courts are never mentioned.”). In other words, although it may be “unlawful” for the tribes to engage in class III gaming absent a compact, the Legislature is powerless to regulate or prohibit such gaming. State legislatures have no regulatory role under IGRA aside from that negotiated between the tribes and the states.
In Gaming Corp, supra at 546-547, the court explained:
Congress thus left states with no regulatory role over gaming except as expressly authorized by IGRA, and under it, the only method by which a state can apply its general civil laws to gaming is through a tribal-state compact. Tribal-state compacts are at the core of the scheme Congress developed to balance the interests of the federal government, the states, and the tribes. They are a creation of federal law, and IGRA prescribes “the permissible scope of a Tribal-State compact, see § 2710(d)(3)(C).” Seminole Tribe of Florida v Florida [517 US 44; 116 S Ct 1114; 134 L Ed 2d 252 (1996).] Such compacts must also be approved by the Secretary of the Interior. § 2710(d)(3)(B).
Congress thus chose not to allow the federal courts to analyze the relative interests of the state, tribal, and federal governments on a case by case basis. Rather, it created a fixed division of jurisdiction. If a state law seeks to regulate gaming, it will not be applied. If a state law prohibits a class of gaming, it may have force. The courts are not to interfere with this balancing of interests, they are not to conduct a Cabazon balancing analysis. This avoids inconsistent results depending upon the governmental interests involved in each case. With only the limited exceptions noted above, Congress left the states without a significant role under IGRA unless one is negotiated through a compact.
The only way the states can acquire regulatory power over tribal gaming is by tribal consent of such regulation in a compact.
In fact, our Legislature has recognized that the state’s regulatory authority cannot extend to tribal gambling. MCL 432.203(5) provides that state regulation of tribal casinos can only occur “[i]f a federal court or agency rules or federal legislation is enacted that allows a state to regulate gambling on Native American land.” Absent such federal authorization, MCL 432.203(2)(d) acknowledges that the state’s gambling regulatory requirements do not apply to “[g]ambling on Native American land and land held in trust by the United States for a federally recognized Indian tribe on which gaming may be conducted under [IGRA].”
Further, contrary to plaintiffs’ contentions, 18 USC 1166 does not change this analysis. Section 1166 provides:
(a) Subject to subsection (c), for purposes of Federal law, all State laws pertaining to the licensing, regulation, or prohibition of gambling, including but not limited to criminal sanctions applicable thereto, shall apply in Indian country in the same manner and to the same extent as such laws apply elsewhere in the State.
(b) Whoever in Indian country is guilty of any act or omission involving gambling, whether or not conducted or sanctioned by an Indian tribe, which, although not made punishable by any enactment of Congress, would be punishable if committed or omitted within the jurisdiction of the State in which the act or omission occurred, under the laws governing the licensing, regulation, or prohibition of gambling in force at the time of such act or omission, shall be guilty of a like offense and subject to a like punishment.
(c) For the purpose of this section, the term “gambling” does not include—
(1) class I gaming or class II gaming regulated by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, or
(2) class III gaming conducted under a Tribal-State compact approved by the Secretary of the Interior under section 11(d)(8) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act [25 USC 2710(d)(8)] that is in effect.
(d) The United States shall have exclusive jurisdiction over criminal prosecutions of violations of State gambling laws that are made applicable under this section to Indian country, unless an Indian tribe pursuant to a Tribal-State compact approved by the Secretary of the Interior under section 11(d)(8) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act [25 USC 2710(d)(8)], or under any other provision of Federal law, has consented to the transfer to the State of criminal jurisdiction with respect to gambling on the lands of the Indian tribe. [Emphasis added.]
Section 1166 does not grant the state regulatory authority over tribal gaming; rather, it simply incorporates state laws as the federal law governing nonconforming tribal gaming. Thus, although a state’s gaming laws apply in the absence of a tribal-state compact, they apply only as federal law. It follows that when the Legislature approves a tribal-state compact, it approves a change in federal law rather than its own.
Moreover, this “federalization” of state law regulating gambling does not give a state enforcement power over violations of state gambling laws on tribal lands because “the power to enforce the incorporated laws rests solely with the United States.” United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians v Oklahoma, 927 F2d 1170, 1177 (CA 10, 1991). The state remains powerless to assert any regulatory authority over tribal gaming unless the tribes have assented to such authority in a compact under IGRA. AT&T Corp v Coeur D’Alene Tribe, 295 F3d 899, 909 (CA 9, 2002).
Although 18 USC 1166(d) effectively “borrows” Michigan law for purposes of federal law, it does not delegate any regulatory power to the states. Section 1116(d) is not a way to extend the state’s power to regulate tribes through the federal government. Rather, the federal government may conclude at any time that it will no longer apply state law and so amend the IGRA. In other words, the fact that, for purposes of expediency, the federal government has currently chosen to apply Michigan law for purposes of federal law does not mean that it will always choose to do so. Therefore, § 1166(d) cannot be viewed as a delegation of regulatory power to the states.
B. THE CONTRACTUAL NATURE OF COMPACTS
As explained above, IGRA only grants the states bargaining power, not regulatory power, over tribal gaming. The Legislature is prohibited from unilaterally imposing its will on the tribes; rather, under IGRA, it must negotiate with the tribes to reach a mutual agreement. As further noted above, the hallmark of legislation is unilateral imposition of legislative will. Such a unilateral imposition of legislative will is completely absent in the Legislature’s approval of tribal-state gaming compacts under IGRA.. Here, the Legislature’s approval of the compacts follows the assent of the parties governed by those compacts. Thus, the Legislature’s role here requires mutual assent by the parties — a characteristic that is not only the hallmark of a contractual agreement but is also absolutely foreign to the concept of legislating. Rood v Gen Dynamics Corp, 444 Mich 107, 118; 507 NW2d 591 (1993). See Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation v Johnson, 135 Wash 2d 734, 750; 958 P2d 260 (1998) (“Tribal-state gaming compacts are agreements, not legislation, and are interpreted as contracts.”).
Further, the compacts approved by HCR 115 do not apply to the citizens of the state of Michigan as a whole; they only bind the two parties to the compact. Legislation “ ‘looks to the future and changes existing conditions by making a new rule to be applied thereafter to all or some part of those subject to its power.’ ” Dist of Columbia Court of Appeals v Feldman, 460 US 462, 477; 103 S Ct 1303; 75 L Ed 2d 206 (1983), quoting Prentis v Atlantic Coast Line Co, 211 US 210, 226; 29 S Ct 67; 53 L Ed 150 (1908). Here, the compacts approved by HCR 115 have no application to those subject to legislative power; rather, they only set forth the parameters within which the tribes, as sovereign nations, have agreed to operate their gaming facilities. Under the terms of the compacts, the tribes themselves, not the state, regulate the conduct of class III gaming on tribal lands. The Legislature has no obligations regarding the regulation of gaming whatsoever, nor can the state unilaterally rectify a violation of the compacts.
Similarly, in approving the compacts at issue here, the Legislature has not dictated the rights or duties of those other than the contracting parties. Despite plaintiffs’ arguments to the contrary, we find that § 18 of the compacts does not obligate local units of government to create local revenue sharing boards. Indeed, because the local government units are not parties to the contract, it would not be possible for the compacts to impose any obligations on the local governments. Third parties cannot be bound by the terms of the compacts. Instead, the compacts make local units of government third-party beneficiaries of the compacts, with the creation of the revenue sharing boards simply a condition precedent to receiving those benefits. A party is a third-party beneficiary if the promisor “has undertaken to give or do or refrain from doing something directly to or for said person.” MCL 600.1405(1). Here, the tribes have promised to give 2% of their net earnings to local communities, provided those communities create the revenue sharing boards to receive and disburse the payments. If the local governments choose not to create the sharing boards, they simply can no longer receive the benefit of the funds. But they are under no obligation to create the revenue sharing boards and receive the benefit granted by the tribes.
Further, we reject plaintiffs’ argument that the Legislature’s approval by resolution has affected the rights of state citizens by setting age limitations for gaming or employment in the tribal casinos. These restrictions are not restrictions on the citizens of Michigan; rather, they are restrictions only on the tribes. The compacts provide the minimum requirements that the tribes agree to use in hiring and admitting guests to the casinos. The state has no power to regulate the casinos or enforce violations of the compact, but must use the dispute resolution procedure provided in the compacts if a violation occurs.
Finally, we hold that the Legislature’s approval of the tribal-state compacts does not create any affirmative state obligations. The compacts do not create any state agencies or impose any regulatory obligation on the state. The state also has no responsibility to enforce the compacts’ requirements — that responsibility falls on the tribes alone. In this way, the compacts here can be distinguished from those at issue in the cases relied upon by plaintiffs. In Kansas v Finney, 251 Kan 559; 836 P2d 1169 (1992), the compact at issue created a state gaming agency responsible for monitoring the tribe’s compliance with the contract, and the compact was not submitted to the legislature for any form of approval. The court found that, under Kansas law, the creation of a state agency was a legislative function. Absent an appropriate delegation of power by the legislature or legislative approval of the compact,, the compacts could not bind the state to the increased obligations. Unlike the compact in Finney, however, the compacts at issue here do not create any state agencies and were presented to the Legislature for approval.
Similarly, in New Mexico v Johnson, 120 NM 562; 904 P2d 11 (1995), the compacts authorized more forms of gaming than were otherwise permitted in New Mexico. As in Finney, the compacts were not presented to the state legislature for any form of approval. The court held that the governor could not enter into the compacts and thereby create new forms of gaming without “any action on the part of the legislature.” Id. at 574. Unlike the compacts in Johnson, the compacts here do not create new forms of gaming and were presented to the Legislature for approval. Thus, the compacts do not impose new obligations on the citizens of the state subject to the Legislature’s power; they simply reflect the contractual terms agreed to by two sovereign entities.
C. LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL VIA RESOLUTION WAS APPROPRIATE
Once it is determined that HCR 115 did not constitute legislation, we must then determine whether resolution was an appropriate method of legislative approval of the compacts. We therefore turn to our Constitution. Our Constitution does not prohibit the Legislature from approving contracts, such as the compacts at issue here, by concurrent resolution. Unlike the federal constitution, our Constitution “is not a grant of power to the legislature, but is a limitation upon its powers.” In re Brewster Street Housing Site, 291 Mich 313, 333; 289 NW 493 (1939). Therefore, “the legislative authority of the state can do anything which it is not prohibited from doing by the people through the Constitution of the State or the United States.” Attorney General v Montgomery, 275 Mich 504, 538; 267 NW 550 (1936). This has been discussed by this Court in the past by analogizing our Legislature to the English Parliament. See Young v City of Ann Arbor, 267 Mich 241, 243; 255 NW 579 (1934), in which this Court stated:
A different rule of construction applies to the Constitution of the United States than to the Constitution of a State. The Federal government is one of delegated powers, and all powers not delegated are reserved to the States or to the people. When the validity of an act of congress is challenged as unconstitutional, it is necessary to determine whether the power to enact it has been expressly or impliedly delegated to congress. The legislative power, under the Constitution of the State, is as broad, comprehensive, absolute and unlimited as that of the parliament of England, subject only to the Constitution of the United States and the restraints and limitations imposed by the people upon such power by the Constitution of the State itself.[ ]
Regarding any limitations in our constitution, art 4, § 22 only requires the approval of legislation by bill, but is silent regarding the approval of contracts.
We have held that our Legislature has the general power to contract unless there is a constitutional limitation. Advisory Opinion on Constitutionality of 1976 PA 240, 400 Mich 311; 254 NW2d 544 (1977). It is acknowledged by all that our Constitution contains no limits on the Legislature’s power to bind the state to a contract with a tribe; therefore, because nothing prohibits it from doing so, given the Legislature’s residual power, we conclude that the Legislature has the discretion to approve the compacts by resolution.
This understanding of legislative power is well-established. Our Legislature has in the past used the resolution process to ratify amendments of the federal constitution. This Court has declared the resolution process proper in such a circumstance because the Legislature did not engage in a legislative act that enacted a law, but merely expressed its assent to the proposed amendment. Decher v Secretary of State, 209 Mich 565, 571; 177 NW 388 (1920). In the same way, the Legislature here is merely expressing its “assent” to the compacts through HCR 115.
More importantly, because our Legislature had the discretion to approve the compacts by resolution rather than by bill, the courts cannot interfere with that legitimate exercise of legislative discretion. As this Court recognized long ago in Detroit v Wayne Circuit Judge, 79 Mich 384, 387; 44 NW 622 (1890):
It is one of the necessary and fundamental rules of law that the judicial power cannot interfere with the legitimate discretion of any other department of government. So long as they do no illegal act, and are doing business in the range of the powers committed to their exercise, no outside authority can intermeddle with them ....
Therefore, this Court should not interfere with the Legislature’s discretionary decision to approve the compacts by resolution.
IV THE BLANK/CHADHA FACTORS
For the above reasons, we are not persuaded by plaintiffs’ argument that the factors set forth in the lead opinion in Blank v Dep’t of Corrections, 462 Mich 103; 611 NW2d 530 (2000), adopted from Immigration & Naturalization Service v Chadha, 462 US 919; 103 S Ct 2764; 77 L Ed 2d 317 (1983), apply to this case. Blank and Chadha involved the Legislature’s power to alter or amend the statute delegating rule-making authority without doing so by statute. Blank held that once the Legislature grants power to an agency by statutory action, it cannot then diminish or qualify that power except by further statutory action. This “legislative veto” practice at issue in Blank also had a significant state constitutional history. Const 1963, art 4, § 37 allowed temporary legislative vetoes of agency regulations between legislative sessions. In 1984, the people rejected a proposal to amend § 37 and permit the type of permanent legislative veto at issue in Blank. The fact that the legislative veto at issue in Blank was not permitted by the Constitution and had been rejected by the people further illuminates the Blank decision.
No such environment exists here, however, as our Constitution is silent regarding the proper form of legislative approval of tribal-state gaming compacts under IGRA and the people have not expressed a view on this question. Therefore, we do not believe that the Blank/Chada analysis should be applied here.
In response to Justice Markman’s dissent, however, we note that even were the Blank/Chadha analysis to be applied, the factors do not demonstrate that the Legislature’s approval of the compacts was an act of legislation.
A. THE COMPACTS DO NOT ALTER THE LEGAL RIGHTS, DUTIES, AND RELATIONS OF PERSONS OUTSIDE THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
To make sense, this factor must apply to persons outside the legislative branch who are subject to the Legislature’s authority. Here, the compacts do not give the state the power to alter the rights, duties, or relations of anyone subject to the Legislature’s authority. Rather, the compacts only set forth the parameters the tribes agree will apply to their operation of gaming facilities. The Legislature has no regulatory duty under the compacts, nor do the compacts confer any “rights” upon the state other than contractual rights. For example, although the state may inspect tribal facilities and records, it has no power to enforce those provisions. Any contractual disputes under the compacts must be submitted to the dispute resolution procedure outlined in the compacts. All duties and restrictions in the compacts fall on the tribes themselves, who are sovereign entities and have consented to the restrictions and additional duties.
B. THE RESOLUTION DID NOT SUPPLANT LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Unlike the actions taken in Blank, HCR 115 did not have the effect of amending or repealing existing legislation when it approved the compacts. As noted above, given the Constitution’s silence regarding the form of approval necessary for tribal-state gaming compacts, the Legislature had the discretion to approve the compacts by resolution. Further, as explained above, the compacts do not impose any affirmative obligations on the state, create rules of conduct for Michigan citizens, or create new state agencies. Such changes would require legislation, but are absent from the compacts. Therefore, legislation is not required and this Court should not interfere with the Legislature’s discretion in approving the compacts by concurrent resolution.
C. THE COMPACTS DO NOT INVOLVE POLICY DETERMINATIONS REQUIRING LEGISLATION
First, it must be remembered that not all policy decisions made by the Legislature are required to be in the form of legislation. See Blank, supra at 170 (Cavanagh, J.). As the United States Supreme Court explained in Yakus v United States, 321 US 414, 424; 64 S Ct 660; 88 L Ed 834 (1944), “[t]he essentials of the legislative function are the determination of legislative policy and its formulation and promulgation as a defined and binding rule of conduct.... ” (Emphasis added.) Here, HCR 115 neither promulgated a legislative policy as a defined and binding rule of conduct nor applied it to the general community. Instead, HCR 115 simply assented to the negotiated contract between two sovereign entities, recognizing that the compacts created no new legal rights or duties for the state or its citizens. Indeed, HCR 115 could never be considered a “promulgation of a legislative policy as a defined and binding rule of conduct” because the Legislature lacks the authority to bind the tribes at all. Without the tribes’ approval, the compacts have no force. Through IGRA, Congress has determined that states may not unilaterally impose their will on the tribes regarding gaming; rather, the states may only negotiate with the tribes through the compacting process.
D. CHADHA’S CONSTITUTIONAL FACTOR IS NOT APPLICABLE GIVEN THE NATURE OF OUR STATE CONSTITUTION
As noted above, our Constitution differs from the federal constitution: the federal constitution grants Congress its power, while our Constitution limits the plenary power of our Legislature. As this Court has recognized:
A different rule of construction applies to the Constitution of the United States than to the Constitution of a state. The federal government is one of delegated powers, and all powers not delegated are reserved to the states or to the people. When the validity of an act of Congress is challenged as unconstitutional, it is necessary to determine whether the power to enact it has been expressly or impliedly delegated to Congress. The legislative power, under the Constitution of a state, is as broad, comprehensive, absolute, and unlimited as that of the Parliament of England, subject only to the Constitution of the United States and the restraints and limitations imposed by the people upon such power by the Constitution of the state itself. [Young v Ann Arbor, 267 Mich 241, 243; 255 NW 579 (1934).]
Thus, the fourth Chadha factor, which was not applied in Blank, is inapplicable here because our Constitution does not grant authority to the Legislature, but instead limits the Legislature’s plenary authority. As explained above, our Constitution’s silence regarding the form of approval needed for tribal-state gaming compacts, therefore, does not lead to the conclusion that the Legislature is prohibited from approving the compacts by resolution; rather, it leads to the conclusion that the form of the approval is within the discretion of the Legislature.
V THE AMENDMENT PROVISION ISSUE SHOULD BE REMANDED
Although we agree with plaintiffs that Governor Granholm’s recent amendments make the amendment provision issue ripe for review, the lower courts have not yet been able to assess this issue since the amendments. It is not proper for us to do so now. Therefore, we remand this issue to the Court of Appeals to consider whether the provision in the compacts purporting to empower the Governor to amend the compacts without legislative approval violates the separation of powers doctrine found in Const 1963, art 3, § 2. The Court of Appeals should remand to the trial court if it determines that further fact-finding is necessary to resolve the issue.
VI. HCR 115 DOES NOT VIOLATE CONST 1963, ART 4, § 29
The “local act” provision of art 4, § 29 of Michigan’s Constitution provides:
The legislature shall pass no local or special act in any case where a general act can be made applicable, and whether a general act can be made applicable shall be a judicial question. No local or special act shall take effect until approved by two-thirds of the members elected to and serving in each house and by a majority of the electors voting thereon in the district affected.
In Hart v Wayne Co, 396 Mich 259; 240 NW2d 697 (1976), this Court considered whether a provision of the municipal courts of record act requiring Wayne County to supplement salaries for recorder’s court judges constituted a “local act” subject to Const 1963, art 4, § 29. We held that the provision did not constitute a “local act” because a recorder’s court performs state functions and the funding of such a court is a state function. Id. at 272. In Attorney General ex rel Eaves v State Bridge Comm, 277 Mich 373; 269 NW 388 (1936), this Court considered whether state legislation authorizing a bridge to Canada located at Port Huron constituted a local act. We held again that it did not, stating: “The bridge in question is international in character and will be used by those from all parts of both nations who desire to enter or leave the United States through Port. Huron.” Id. at 378.
Hart and Eaves, applied to the facts of this case, lead to the same conclusion: tribal-state compacts are not “local acts.” In the absence of express congressional consent, the Legislature has no authority to regulate casino gambling on Indian lands. Like the bridge in Eaves, Indian casinos, located as they are on tribal lands, are “international in character” and are likely to be frequented by Michigan citizens from throughout the state as well as by members of various Indian tribes. Therefore, the approval of state compacts regarding Indian casinos pursuant to IGRA constitutes a unique state function with interests “international in character,” rather than a function of a local unit of government with predominantly local interests. Thus, we hold that the compacts are not “local acts.”
Further, tribal lands subject to compact negotiations are declared as such not by the state or even by the tribes, but by the Department of the Interior. The Department of the Interior has thus far granted to the tribes lands located in the counties specified in the compacts. If, however, the department were to grant to a tribe lands located outside such counties, IGRA would direct the state to negotiate in good faith with the tribe to reach a compact applicable to that land as well. For this additional reason, we are not persuaded that the compacts are “local acts” merely because they reference those specific counties in which the tribes have thus far been granted lands by the department.
Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals that the compacts do not violate Const 1963, art 4, § 29, albeit for the reasons expressed above.
VII. CONCLUSION
We hold that HCR 115 was a valid method of approving the compacts. The compacts, and hence the Legis lature’s approval of those compacts, do not alter the legal rights or duties of the state or its citizens, nor do they create any state agencies. Therefore, no legislation is required to approve them. Rather, the compacts are simply contracts between two sovereign entities. Without the compacts, the state is prohibited under IGRA from unilaterally regulating tribal gaming in any manner. Further, our Constitution does not limit the Legislature’s discretion regarding the proper approval method for tribal-state gaming compacts. Absent a constitutional limitation, the Legislature has discretion to determine the appropriate method for approving a contract. Moreover, we hold that HCR 115 is not a “local act” and so does not violate Const 1963, art 4, § 29. Finally, because no lower courts have had the opportunity to consider the issue of the amendment provision in the compacts since the issue became ripe for review, we remand that issue to the Court of Appeals for consideration. In all other respects, we affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals.
Taylor and Young, JJ., concurred with Corrigan, C.J.
CAVANAGH, J., concurred only with respect to part IV.
MARKMAN, J., concurred only with respect to part VI.
In Seminole Tribe of Florida v Florida, 517 US 44; 116 S Ct 1114; 134 L Ed 2d 252 (1996), the United States Supreme Court held that 25 USC 2710(d)(7), which permits Indian tribes to sue a state in federal court when that state has refused to negotiate in good faith for a tribal-state compact, was an unconstitutional violation of state sovereign immunity as preserved by the Eleventh Amendment of the United States Constitution.
These tribes are the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, and the Nottawaseppi Huron Potawatomi. The Little Traverse Bay Band and the Little River Band currently operate casinos.
See § 11 of the compacts.
Although a bill must be passed by a majority of elected and serving members of the Legislature, a resolution may be passed by a majority vote of those legislators present at the time, provided a quorum is present. The House of Representatives approved the compacts by a resolution vote of 48 to 47, and the Senate followed suit by a resolution vote of 21 to 17.
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Lake Superior sued in federal court to enjoin the operation of the new casinos, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit dismissed this suit on standing grounds. Sault Ste Marie Tribe v United States, 288 F3d 910 (CA 6, 2002). Two state legislators also challenged the approval of the Secretary of Interior of Michigan’s 1998 compacts, but that suit was also dismissed on standing grounds by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Baird v Norton, 266 F3d 408 (CA 6, 2001).
Igra even prohibits the state from frustrating the tribe’s desire to enter into class III gaming by refusing to negotiate. In the event that a state will not negotiate or an agreement cannot he reached, although under Seminole Tribe the state may not be sued, it appears that the tribe may approach the Secretary of the Interior, who can approve a compact under 25 USC 2710(d)(8).
The court did not specify what form that legislative approval would have to take.
See also Thompson v Auditor General, 261 Mich 624, 642; 247 NW 360 (1933), in which the Court stated:
The power of the legislature of this State is as omnipotent as that of the parliament of England, save only as restrained by the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State. ... 1 Cooley, Constitutional Limitations (8th Ed.), p. 354.
In fact, action by concurrent resolution is common when the Constitution is silent regarding the appropriate procedure. Various constitutional provisions require legislative action but fail to specify its form: Const 1963, art 4, § 53 (appointment of auditor general), Const 1963, art 11, § 5 (approval of certain civil service pay increases), Const 1963, art 4, § 17 (establishing special legislative committees), and Const 1963, art 10, § 5 (designation of land as part of state land reserve). In such situations, the Legislature has historically acted by concurrent resolution.
The mere fact that Indian land is located in a specific county does not give that county jurisdiction over that land, just as Michigan does not have absolute jurisdiction over all tribal lands located within its borders. As already noted, absent express congressional consent, neither the state nor a local unit of government may regulate tribal affairs. Thus, the compacts are not “local acts” because the tribal lands that they regulate are not subject to local jurisdiction as contemplated by Const 1963, art 4, § 29. | [
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Moore, J.
This case was. brought to recover damages for personal injuries received by the plaintiff, in a collision between his one-horse wagon and an automobile owned and driven by the defendant. The case was tried by a jury, which returned a verdict in favor of the defendant. A motion was made for a new trial. In overruling the motion the judge stated, in part, as follows:
“While the testimony of the plaintiff as given probably raised a question which should have been, and was, left to the jury to pass upon, still under his own testimony it may well be doubted as to whether or not the defendant was. not entitled to have the verdict directed by the court.”
The plaintiff was going west driving an old gentle horse hitched to a truck wagon. There was a bridge in the highway over a creek. The plaintiff left the bridge at his right, driving through the creek, and after watering his horse continued on his journey west. Shortly after he rejoined the highway, his attention was diverted by a threshing machine, which was 10 or 12 rods away in front and to the right of him. The road west of him was slightly upgrade and was in plain view for 25 or 30 rods. It is plaintiff’s claim that he was driving on the right side of the traveled portion of the highway, that he neither heard nor saw, though his eyesight and hearing were good, the automobile until it was within 10 feet of him, when it almost instantly struck the rear wheel of his wagon, injuring it somewhat and hurting the plaintiff.
It is the claim of defendant, who was driving his own automobile, his wife and a lady friend being on the back seat, that when he was 12 or 15 rods away from the plaintiff he signaled with his horn, and did' so several times; that he slowed down his machine and turned completely out of the traveled part of the way, and, supposing the plaintiff would give part of the right of way, expected to pass in safety; that he passed the horse and the front part of the wagon, and would have passed the whole of it if the road had not narrowed back of the wagon so that to avoid going into the ditch, which was 3 or 4 feet deep, he had to turn toward the traveled part of the road, and in doing so hit the back wheel of the wagon; and that he stopped his automobile within 3 feet of the rear part of the wagon.
Some of the men who were at the threshing outfit were at the scene of the accident within two or three minutes, and they were called as witnesses by the plaintiff. They say the hind wheels of the automobile were just about opposite the back tracks of the wagon, that the tracks of the wagon were nearly in the middle of the road, that the automobile tracks showed it was being driven on the right side of the road, and if the automobile had kept straight ahead it would not have touched the wagon, but if it had kept straight on it would have gone into a three-foot ditch.
A witness who seemed to be entirely disinterested gave the following version of the occurrence:
“I was along that road on the day the accident occurred. I was going west at the time, following Mr. Jordan. I had just crossed the bridge. I imagine I was, 15 or 20 rods behind him. I was driving a double team. Mr. Jordan was in the center of the highway. Mr. Wixson was coming down the hill, and he was not coming at a very rapid pace. He was going at the average gait of an automobile. I think he was not going at a rapid rate. Mr. Jordan was very busy engaged watching them thresh, and was not paying attention to what was going on in the road. Mr. Wixson turned out to his own side of the road and gave him all he could. Mr. Wixson had to hit him or go into the ditch himself. He sounded his horn several times. It was sounded loudly enough so that I could hear it from where I was. Both women jumped up from the back seat and hollered. Mr. Wixson hollered himself, ‘Get out of the way.’ From what I observed there, and from the position of Mr. Jordan’s wagon in the center of the road, it was impossible for Mr. Wixson to have got by there without going into the ditch himself, or without striking the carriage. He gave him sufficient warning so that he had a chance to have observed that there was danger ahead. After they got Mr. Jordan into the road and fixed up, he stood there, and he says: T am awfully sorry. It was my fault.’ He says: T didn’t hear you. Why didn’t you stop?’ Mr. Wixson did not go over two or three feet beyond the point where he struck the wagon. I observed Mr. Jordan looking over at the threshing machine. I could not help büt see him. His horse was walking along very slowly.”
All of the witnesses who saw the transaction except the plaintiff testified substantially the same as the witness whose testimony we have quoted.
The errors claimed are (we quote from the brief of counsel): .
First, error in the court’s charge as to the degree of care required of the plaintiff.
Second, error in the court’s charge in regard to the degree of care required of the defendant.
Third, error in refusing to give proper requests to charge.
Counsel quote a few sentences from different portions of the charge, and say they were improper statements of the law. The following is an instance:
“Bear in mind that the law also places the duty upon the plaintiff in this case to exercise the same degree of care and caution as he approached the automobile from the one direction as is placed upon the driver of ■the automobile under the circumstances of this case. In other words, the plaintiff himself was bound to use every reasonable means to avoid a collision between the two approaching vehicles.”
The argument is (we again quote from the brief):
“This court has recognized the difference between the use of ‘every reasonable precaution’ and ordinary care, and has reversed a case for the error of the trial judge in charging that a party must use both.” Levyn v. Koppin, 183 Mich. 232 (149 N. W. 993).
The trial judge, after stating the. claims of the parties, charged the jury, in part, as follows:
“I think at the outset it is advisable for me to read to you,.from the motor vehicle statute, portions which may apply to the issue which is to be submitted to you, ■and the material portions of which are, in substance, iis follows:
“ ‘Every motor vehicle operated and driven upon the public highways of this State shall be provided with adequate brakes sufficient to control the vehicle at all times and a suitable adequate bell, horn, or other device for signalling. Whenever a person operating a motor vehicle shall meet on the highway any other persons riding or driving a horse or horses or other draft animal or any other vehicle the person operating such motor vehicle shall seasonably turn the same to the right of the center of the traveled portion of the highway while the person approaching shall likewise turn from the center of the traveled portion of the highway so as to pass the motor vehicle on the opposite side of the center of the highway to which the motor vehicle is being turned. ,,
“ ‘No person .shall operate a motor vehicle upon the public highway at a rate of speed greater than is reasonable and proper, having regard to the traffic and the use of the highway, or so as to endanger the life or limb of any person or the safety of any property and shall not in any event while upon any highway run at a higher rate of speed than twenty-five miles per hour.
“ ‘Upon approaching a person walking in the roadway of a public highway or a horse or horses or other draft animals being led, or driven thereon, the person operating the motor vehicle shall slow down to a speed not exceeding ten miles an tour and give reasonable warning of its approach and use every reasonable precaution to insure tbe safety of sucb person or animal.’ * * *
“If you find from the evidence in this case that the defendant did not comply with this duty, and the injury resulted from his failure to do so without any negligence on the part of the plaintiff concurring, then plaintiff would be entitled to a verdict.
“You are further instructed that it was the duty of the defendant, when approaching plaintiff and his rig, to slow down to a rate of speed not exceeding ten miles per hour, and give reasonable warning of the approach of his automobile, and also to use every reasonable precaution to insure safety of the plaintiff and his horse;; and if you find that the defendant did not slow down to a speed of ten miles per hour or less, upon approaching the plaintiff, and that the injury to plaintiff resulted from his failure to do so and without any negligence upon the part of the plaintiff; and if you find that the defendant did not use every reasonable precaution to insure the safety of the plaintiff and his horse upon so approaching the plaintiff, and that the injuries resulted from defendant’s failure so to do and without negligence on the part of the plaintiff — your verdict as before stated would be in favor of the plaintiff. But in that regard, gentlemen, you should bear in mind that the law also places the duty upon the plaintiff in this case to exercise the same degree of care and caution as he approached the automobile from the one direction as is placed upon the driver of the automobile under the circumstances of this case. In other words, plaintiff himself was bound to. use every reasonable means to avoid a collision between the two approaching vehicles.”
It is clear, when that part of the charge which is criticised is read in connection with what precedes and follows it, that the criticism is shown to be without merit, and it distinguishes the instant case from Levyn v. Koppin, supra.
The charge was long, filling more than ten pages of the printed record, and fully covered every phase of the case. We do not think it misled the jury. We do not see how they could have arrived at a different verdict under the evidence.
Judgment is affirmed.
Brooke, C. J., and Person, Kuhn, Stone, Ostrander, Bird, and Steere, JJ., concurred. | [
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Steere, J.
Petitioner was decreed an absolute divorce from defendant by the Muskegon county circuit court in chancery on the ground that the material facts charged in her “petition are true, and that the defendant has been guilty of the several acts of extreme cruelty therein charged,” and for the further reason it appeared to the court “that it is for the best interest of said parties that an absolute decree of divorce be granted to said petitioner from said defendant.” This she neither asked nor desired, and has appealed from said decree, claiming it was in that particular neither within the power of the court nor proper under the proofs, nor for the best interests of said parties, that the same be granted. Her application to the court for relief was in the form of a petition filed in compliance with and under the provisions of Act No. 243, Pub. Acts 1889 (3 Comp. Laws, §§ 8686, 8687 [4 How. Stat. (2d Ed.) §§ 11534, 11535]), entitled:
“An act to provide wives with property and maintenance from their husband’s estates when neglected or deserted by them, or when the husband has become an habitual drunkard or has practiced extreme cruelty towards his wife or committed any offense sufficient to entitle the wife to a decree of divorce or separation.”
In this petition she neither prayed for a divorce or separation. Her prayer was for financial aid and maintenance. Under the provisions of said act it was necessary for her to set out in her petition extreme cruelty or such other offense as would entitle her to a decree of divorce or separation, had she asked it, and she alleged extreme cruelty, neglect, abandonment, and nonsupport. Defendant filed an answer and cross-bill praying that he be decreed a divorce from petitioner on the ground of extreme cruelty, to which she filed replication and answer in denial. Proofs were taken in open court, and at conclusion of the testimony the court announced an opinion that the charges made by petitioner were fully sustained, while those made by defendant in his cross-bill were wholly unsupported in all material features, severely censuring and condemning defendant’s treatment of his wife, stating that neither the court nor the law had “much use for him,” and expressed the view that, as “no woman can live with him long because he is too selfish to live with a woman,” a divorce should be granted in the interest of all parties, “not for his sake, but for public policy’s sake, so that he won’t pretend that he can go with young girls and not have any right to do it.” A decree of absolute divorce was thereafter filed and entered in favor of petitioner, awarding her as alimony $600 payable in installments of 16 and a fraction dollars per month, and for the support of their infant son 19 months old, of whom she was granted custody, $12.50 per month until he arrived at the age of 14 years.
The parties were married at Muskegon, in April, 1911, where defendant was employed, but shortly after their marriage they moved to Albion, Mich., where he engaged in the moving picture business for a time and later was employed by a concern in the moving picture business located at Gary, where petitioner joined him, and they resided together for some months, when, as the time of her confinement approached, he took her to her mother’s home in Gas City, Ind., and left her, since which time he has neglected and deserted petitioner, refusing to accept her as his wife or live with her. Defendant is an expert machinist, and eventually returned to his former employment in Muskegon, where he was employed at a salary of $130 per month, when petitioner finally sought to join him, in March, 1913, and until the hearing of this case. He did not go to Gas City at the time or after the child was born nor send for his wife, and when she went with their infant to him at Muskegon he refused to receive them, telling her to take her baby and go back to her mother, declining to live with her or properly provide for her and her child, or do anything for her unless she would get a divorce. This she declined to do and endeavored unsuccessfully to prevail on him to receive her. He left Muskegon for Detroit, but returned to his former employment soon after. She remained in Muskegon, obtaining such employment as she could, but experiencing great difficulty in doing so, owing to the fact that she had her baby to care for. She finally reached a point of destitution where she was obliged to. accept assistance from certain charitably inclined women who discovered her distress. Further details of their domestic difficulties, which culminated in this proceeding, may be passed with the reflection that we find no occasion to disagree with the trial court’s conclusions as to defendant’s conduct and delinquencies.
He is shown to be without property, real or personal, and execution proof. He desired a divorce from petitioner, whether because of new found preferences, as intimated, or for other reasons, is immaterial. He had ' urged her to get a divorce, which she declined to do, and he tried unsuccessfully to secure one by cross-bill in this proceeding. By decreeing a divorce to her the court severed the marriage relations as to both and furnished defendant in that particular just what he wanted.
By the decree he is given immunity from pressure by criminal proceedings for deserting and abandoning his wife and child. People v. Dunston, 173 Mich. 368 (138 N. W. 1047, 42 L. R. A. [N. S.] 1065). Punitory proceedings for contempt of the chancery court in disobeying its order requiring him to pay petitioner alimony are contingent upon his being found within 'the jurisdiction of the court. It is stated in the brief of counsel for petitioner that'he has not complied with the court’s order and has left this State. No counsel appeared for him in this court and no brief was filed in his behalf.
The power conferred upon the court by the act under which this petition is filed is as follows:
“The circuit court in chancery of any county in this State in which said husband or wife shall reside, shall, on the application of the wife by petition, allot, assign, set apart and decree to her as alimony the use of such part of her husband’s real and personal estate, or such proportion of his earnings, income or revenue as the court may determine, in its discretion, and during the pendency of the proceeding may require the husband to pay such sums to carry on the proceeding, or for her support, as it shall deem necessary, in like manner as * * * in case of suit for divorce.”
This petition is confined strictly to the provisions of said act, the first and second paragraphs of the prayer for relief are in the exact language of the act, and the fourth paragraph makes reference in general terms to the statute. The only suggestion in the pleadings that a divorce or separation was desired appeared in defendant’s cross-bill, which the court dismissed with emphasis.
While, in suits for divorce either limited or absolute, the court to which application may be made is held vested with discretionary authority to grant an absolute divorce against the desires of the complaining spouse found to be in the right (although only a limited divorce with separate maintenance has been requested) we do not find that under this statute, where no separation of any kind is asked or desired by petitioner, a decree forcing an absolute divorce upon an innocent wife has been sustained.
The recognized reason moving courts to decree absolute divorce against the desires of the innocent party, in cases where the testimony is such as in the opinion of the court shows reconciliation impossible or improbable, is said to be “on the ground of public policy to prevent the mischiefs arising from turning out into the world in enforced celibacy persons who are neither married nor unmarried.” By that test, if recognizable in any case under the statute, it is questionable whether public policy demands that this delinquent defendant be turned out into the world, according to his desires, against petitioner’s protest, freed from the restraints of his marital relations with her and at legal liberty to repeat the conduct which the court now condemns, with some other woman.
The evidence shows that petitioner refused defend ant’s request to institute divorce proceedings against him to nullify their marriage. She testified that she was ready, willing, and desired to live with him again; was, after all which had occurred, attached to him and objected to a divorce, not only on her account, but particularly that of her infant son, saying of defendant:
“I would be glad to make a home for him for the sake, of the baby, because I think the baby boy should have his father’s companionship.”
We think public policy does not demand that this woman should be deprived against her protest of her wifely rights, but should be left to seek such redress as the courts of law, civil or criminal, may in the future afford. As is well said in Coon v. Coon, 163 Mich. 644 (129 N. W. 12):
“Certainly it is not for the interest of the State that the guilty husband, who has violated his. marriage covenant, should obtain by indirection a divorce from his innocent wife, who is willing to condone his offense and renew marital relations.”
The decree must be modified and limited to come within the scope of the petition in this case and the statute under which it is filed, omitting absolute divorce and limiting its provisions to maintenance of the neglected and deserted wife and child, with her monthly allowance continuing until the further order of the trial court, with costs to petitioner.
Brooke, C. J., and Person, Kuhn, Stone, Ostrander, Bird, and Moore, JJ., concurred. | [
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Person, J.
Plaintiff’s intestate was employed by defendant as a fireman upon one of its engines, and on the 17th day of June, 1912, while the train with which he was connected was distributing gravel and other material for the maintenance of defendant’s roadbed and tracks, he received an injury, attributed to defendant’s negligence; from which he died on the following day. The judgment in this action, which was brought because of such alleged negligence and consequential injury, was recovered by plaintiff under the provisions of the Federal employers’ liability act of April 22, 1908 (35 U. S. Stat. 65), as amended by the Act of April 5, 1910 (36 U. S. Stat. 291). The original declaration, however, by which the action was begun, did not refer to the Federal act, nor did it, in express terms, charge that the defendant was engaged in interstate commerce, but, on the contrary, counted solely upon the Michigan railroad liability act (Act No. 104, Pub. Acts 1909) ; and it was not until the trial had been some time in progress, and more than two years after the right of action had accrued, that an amendment was made, bringing the case under the Federal act. It is conceded by both parties that the action should have been brought under that act originally, but the amendment was strongly objected to by defendant’s counsel, not only on the ground that it operated to introduce a new cause of action, but because, also, the two years’ limitation for bringing the action, embraced in the Federal act, had then intervened. The right to this amendment raises the first question argued before this court. The other questions relate to the measure of damages under the Federal law.
1. It was not error to permit the amendment. This court has already said, in Fernette v. Railroad, Co., 175 Mich. 653, 674 (144 N. W. 834, 835):
“It should be borne in mind that the declaration sets out.facts which would impose a liability upon defendant under the Federal act, if it had charged that, at the time of the collision, defendant was engaged in interstate commerce. We are of opinion that it was not necessary for plaintiff to plead either statute, but that, upon the coming in of the proofs, it was the duty of the trial court to permit an amendment of the pleadings to conform thereto.”
Nor did the amendment introduce any new cause of action. Congress is given power to regulate commerce between the States, and when it has acted, as in passing the Federal employers’ liability act, such enactment becomes the general law of the land and supersedes all State laws upon the same subject. Therefore the reference to the State law in the declaration might well have been struck out as surplusage, and as if the reference had been to a law that had been repealed. The charges of negligence and of injury remained the same as before the amendment, and stated in substantially the same words. Had there been no allegation in the declaration that the defendant was engaged in interstate commerce and that the decedent was employed by it therein, the addition of such matter to the declaration would have amounted to simply an elaboration of the old matter, and not to the introduction of new. Gainesville, etc., R. Co. v. Vandiver, 141 Ga. 350 (80 S. E. 997). But the orig inal declaration in this case averred that the defendant owned, at the time of the injury, and was operating, a railway system extending through the States of Michigan and Indiana, and that the decedent was employed by it in the construction, repairing, and maintaining of the roadbed of such railway. This amounted to an allegation that the defendant was engaged in interstate commerce and that the decedent was employed by it in such commerce. Ft. Worth, etc., R. Co. v. Stalcup (Tex. Civ. App.), 167 S. W. 279. The Federal statute, as we have said, is a general law, as much in force in Michigan as anywhere, and therein this case differs from Wingert v. Circuit Judge, 101 Mich. 395 (59 N. W. 662), where it was attempted by amendment to plead a foreign law, and thereby to introduce into the declaration a cause of action that did not exist under our laws. Although the amendment, in the instant case, was made more than two years after the injury occurred, it stated no new cause of action, but related back to the original declaration, which was filed and served in due season so that the bar of the statute had not intervened. Grand Trunk, etc., R. Co. v. Lindsay, 238 U. S. 42 (34 Sup. Ct. 581, Am. & Eng. Ann. Cas. 1914C, 168); Missouri, etc., R. Co. v. Wulf, 226 U. S. 570 (33 Sup. Ct. 135, Am. & Eng. Ann. Cas. 1914B, 134); Michigan, etc., R. Co. v. Vreeland, 227 U. S. 59 (33 Sup. Ct. 192, Am. & Eng. Ann. Cas. 1914C, 176); Smith v. Railroad Co., 210 Fed. 761 (127 C. C. A. 311); Hogarty v. Railway Co., 245 Pa. 443 (91 Atl. 854); Vandalia R. Co. v. Stringer, 182 Ind. 676 (106 N. E. 865, 107 N. E. 673); Flanders v. Railway Co., 68 Fla. 479 (67 South. 68).
2. But the trial' court was in error in allowing the loss of future earnings to be included in the damages under the Federal act. This undoubtedly came from a misunderstanding of the construction given to that act by the Federal courts, and a natural inclination to apply to it the construction given to various State statutes.
Under the law and practice of this State it has been held that the statute commonly called the “death act” (3 Comp. Laws, § 10427; 5 How. Stat. [2d Ed.] § 13702) is applicable only to cases of instantaneous death; that where death is not instantaneous the action should be brought under the so-called “survival act” (3 Comp. Laws, § 10117; 5 How. Stat. [2d Ed.] § 12761); and that both rights of action, for the same injury, cannot exist at the same time (Oliver v. Railway Co., 134 Mich. 367 [96 N. W. 434, 104 Am. St. Rep. 607, 3 Am. & Eng. Ann. Cas. 53]; Storrie v. Elevator Co., 134 Mich. 297 [96 N. W. 569]; West v. Railway, 159 Mich. 269 [123 N. W. 1101]; Ely v. Railway, 162 Mich. 287 [127 N. W. 259]). And while the "“death act” is recognized as creating a new right of action, unknown to the common law, and authorizing damages with reference strictly to the pecuniary injury, suffered by certain beneficiaries, the “survival act” is treated as effecting a continuance of the right of action that had vested in the decedent, with such damages as he could have recovered, including the present worth of his probable future earnings had he lived. The Michigan railroad liability act of 1909 (Act No. 104, Pub. Acts 1909) has also been construed as allowing probable future earnings, in cases where death was not instantaneous, to be included among the damages in an action under that act. Habitz v. Railroad Co., 170 Mich. 71 (135 N. W. 827).
The Supreme Court of the United States has taken a somewhat different view of the Federal employers’ liability act. The first section of that act reads as follows:
“Section 1. That every common carrier by railroad while engaging in commerce between any of the several States or Territories, or between any of the States and Territories, or between the District of Columbia and any of the States or Territories, or between the District of Columbia or any of the States or Territories and any foreign nation or nations, shall 'be liable in damages to any person suffering injury while he is employed by such carrier in such commerce, or, in case of the death of such employee, to his or her personal representative, for the benefit of the surviving widow or husband and children of such employee; and, if none, then of such employee’s parents; and, if none, then of the next of kin dependent upon such employee, for such injury or death resulting in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents, or employees of such carrier, or by reason of any defect or insufficiency, due to its negligence, in its cars, engines, appliances, machinery, tracks, roadbed, works, boats, wharves, or other equipment.” 35 U. S. Stat. 65, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1913, § 8657.
Like our State statutes, this section provides for two distinct actions, one for the benefit of the employee himself where death is not instantaneous, and the other for the benefit of certain relatives whereby they are to receive compensation for their financial loss and damage resulting from the employee’s death. But as the act originally stood it contained no provision for the survival of the action that might be brought by the employee himself, that right, of course, ending with his death. Subsequently the act was amended (Act of April 5,1910, 36 U. S. Stat. 291), by adding the following section:
“Sec. 9. That any right of action, given by this act to a person suffering injury shall survive to his or her personal representative, for the benefit of the surviving widow or husband and children of such employee, and, if none, then of such employee’s parents; and, if none, then of the next of kin dependent upon such employee, but in such cases there shall be only one recovery for the same injury.” U. S. Comp. Stat. 1913, § 8665.
As the act now stands amended, there can, of course, be but one action if the injury results immediately in the employee’s death, and that is the . action to compensate the relatives for their financial loss because of his death. But when the injury does not result in immediate death the construction given to the act differs from that given to the State statutes, at least in this: That the right of action for the benefit of the relatives does not depend upon the instantaneous death of the employee, but will arise whenever such death does occur, providing it results from the injury; and the right which the employee himself had to bring an action will survive, so that both rights will be in existence at the same time, and may be united by the personal representative in one action. And when so united the personal representative will recover,, not only compensation for such financial loss as the beneficiaries have suffered from the employee’s death, but also such damages as the employee might have recovered, including those for pain and suffering, but not those for the loss of future earnings.
In St. Louis, etc., R. Co. v. Craft, 237 U. S. 648 (35 Sup. Ct. 704), the construction of the Federal act, and the theory upon which damages may be recovered under it, are very fully set forth. The action in that case was brought by an administrator to recover for injuries to, and the death of, his intestate, and the damages sought to be recovered were for (a) the pecuniary loss to the father by reason of the death, and (b) conscious pain and suffering of the decedent before the injuries proved fatal. The court, among other things, said:
“If the matter turned upon the original act alone, it is plain that the recovery here could not include damages for the decedent’s pain and suffering, for only through a provision for a survival of his right could such damages be recovered after his death. But the original act is not alone to be considered. On April 5, 1910, prior to the decedent’s injuries, the act was ‘amended.’ * * * No change was made in section 1 [U. S. Comp. Stat. 1913, § 8657]. Taylor v. Taylor 232 U. S. 363, 370 [34 Sup. Ct. 350]. It continues, as before, to provide for two distinct rights of action; one in the injured person for his personal loss and suffering where the injuries are not immediately fatal, and the other in his personal representative for the pecuniary loss sustained by designated relatives where the injuries immediately or ultimately result in death. Without abrogating or curtailing either right, the new section provides in exact words that the right given to the injured person ‘shall survive’ to his personal representative ‘for the benefit of’ the same relatives in whose behalf the other right is given. Brought into the act by way of amendment, this provision expresses the deliberate will of Congress. Its terms are direct, evidently carefully chosen, and should be given effect accordingly. It does not mean that the injured person’s right shall survive to his personal representative and yet be unenforceable by the latter, or that the survival shall be for the benefit of the designated relatives and yet be of no avail to them. On the contrary, it means that the right existing in the injured person at his death — a right covering his loss and suffering while he lived but taking no account of his premature death or of what he would have earned or accomplished in the natural span of life — shall survive to his personal representative to the end that it may be enforced and the proceeds paid to the relatives indicated. And when this provision and section 1 are read together the conclusion is unavoidable that the personal representative is to recover on behalf of the designated beneficiaries, not only such damages as will compensate them for their own pecuniary loss, but also such damages as will be reasonably compensatory for the loss and suffering of the injured person while he lived. Although originating in the same wrongful act or neglect, the two claims are quite distinct; no part of either being embraced in the other. One is for the wrong to the injured person and is confined to his personal loss and suffering before he died, while the other is for the wrong to the beneficiaries and is confined to their pecuniary loss through his death. One begins where the other ends, and a recovery upon both in the same action is not a double recovery for a single wrong, but a single recovery for a double wrong. * * *
“Much stress is laid upon the concluding clause in the new section, ‘but in such cases, there shall be only one recovery for the same injury.’ Passing and reserving the question of its application where there has been a recovery by the decedent in his lifetime (see Michigan, etc., R. Co. v. Vreeland, supra [227 U. S. 59, 70, 33 Sup. Ct. 192, Am. & Eng. Ann. Cas. 1914C, 176]), we think this clause, as applied to cases like the present, is not intended to restrict the personal representative to one right to the exclusion of the other, or to require that he make a choice between them, but to limit him to one recovery of damages for both, and so to avoid the needless litigation in separate actions of what would better be settled once for all in a single action. This view gives full effect to every word in the clause and ascribes to it a reasonable purpose without bringing it into conflict with other provisions the terms of which are plain and unequivocal. Had Congress intended that the personal representative should make an election between the two rights of action and sue upon one only, it is not easy to believe that it would have chosen the words in this clausé to express that intention.”
The construction given to the Federal act by the Supreme Court of the United States is controlling. And because of the misconception of the trial court as to the scope of the act, thus construed, and as to the damages that may be recovered under it, its judgment is reversed, and a new trial granted.
Brooke, C. J., and Kuhn, Stone, Ostrander, Bird, Moore, and Steere, JJ., concurred.
This case having been submitted on briefs, without oral argument, was reassigned after the death of Justice McAlvay. | [
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Ostrander, J.
There was a contract between defendants, as vendors, and plaintiffs’ decedent, as vendee, for the purchase and sale of certain lumber. The vendee made an advancement upon the purchase price. The lumber burned. The vendee sued to recover his advancement. The vendors claimed that the title to the lumber had passed to the vendee, and asked for a judgment for the balance of the purchase price. Upon the trial of the cause, both parties having rested, counsel for plaintiffs and counsel for defendants each, moved for a peremptory instruction. The court thereupon said:
“I understand the position of the parties on both sides. The plaintiff in this case claims his position is that under the facts in this case it is purely a question of law for the judge, and it is the duty of the judge to direct a verdict for the plaintiff; and the defendant, on the other hand, contends that it is purely a question of law, and that it is the duty of the judge to direct a verdict for the defense on the conterclaim. If that is not your position, I want you to state it.”
Counsel for both parties said that their position was as stated by the court. The court expressed the opinion that the question of the intent of the parties was involved, and was a proper question for a jury. At considerable length — the jury being absent — he went over portions of the testimony and referred to authority, concluding by saying:
“That is the reason I have suggested to you before that I thought that really this was a case for the jury, and not the court. But, as you have put it up to the court, I am disposed to decide it.”
The jury having returned into court, he instructed them to return a verdict for defendants, and in doing so said, among other things:
“After examining all the correspondence in this case, and the memorandum of agreement made and offered' in evidence here, and all the testimony in the case, I am of the opinion that it was the intent of both parties that all the 4 — 4 lumber, Norway, and all the 5 — 4 Norway at Loud’s mill was sold to Germain, and the consequence is that at that time it was the duty of the Louds, under the memorandum of agreement, to load that lumber on the cars, but it was for Germain to pay the freight and to pay for the lumber.”
Much else was said by the court which makes it plain that he regarded the question to be decided as one of the intention of the parties, to be ascertained from all of the testimony. In this court the plaintiffs, appellants, affirm that:
“There is no evidence in the record that it was the intention of the parties that the title to the lumber in question would pass to the plaintiff'Germain, until it had been inspected, the kind, quality, quantity, and price ascertained, and the lumber actually delivered f. o. b. cars Au Sable.”
And in the reply brief say:
“We contended in the court below, and contend here, that upon the evidence the court should have directed a verdict for plaintiff; but if we were wrong in this position, and the court was satisfied that there was an issue of fact in the case which should be submitted to the jury, we insist it was his duty to submit such question to the jury, notwithstanding the attorneys for the respective parties did make the claim for their respective clients that the verdict should be directed in their favor. Notwithstanding the claims of counsel, •the court still has a duty to perform according to its best judgment, and if the court was satisfied that the case should be submitted to the jury, it cannot justify directing a verdict for the defendants, because the plaintiff, too, had asked a verdict directed for it. We now claim that if, on all the evidence in the case, this court should find there was a question of fact which should have been submitted to the jury, the judgment should be reversed.”
The errors relied upon are based upon the charge and the direction of a verdict for defendants.
Unless the parties to a contract for the sale of personal property, not paid for and not delivered, have specifically agreed that the title thereto shall or shall not pass, the question whether title has passed to the buyer is one of intention, to be gathered from all the circumstances attending the bargain. It is a question of fact, to be answered by construction of whatever agreement was made. In construing the agreement of the parties, the courts indulge various presumptions, none of them conclusive, and it sometimes occurs, the terms of the contract and the acts of the parties with reference thereto and to the subject-matter being undisputed, that the courts are able to and do determine the question. Instances are: Whitcomb v. Whitney, 24 Mich. 486; Carver v. Sherman, 172 Mich. 264 (137 N. W. 519); Tyler Lumber Co. v. Charlton, 128 Mich. 299 (37 N. W. 268, 55 L. R. A. 301, 92 Am. St. Rep. 452). There is no occasion to attempt to restate or to amend the statements of the controlling rules found in Lingham v. Eggleston, 27 Mich. 324, and in Byles v. Colier, 54 Mich. 1 (19 N. W. 565).
In the case at bar, there was no specific agreement about the title to the lumber. The intention of the parties, a fact, is to be found in the terms of the bargain they made, the circumstances attending its making, and the acts of the parties. There is no occasion to set out in detail the history of the transaction. It covers a period of more than two years. Early in the year 1909 a contract was made for the purchase and sale of 'all o'f certain lumber, dry and in piles. Telephone conversations regarding the arrangement occurred, but because of the death of Mr. Germain before trial what was said is not before us. For various reasons the plumber was not all of it shipped, and some of it was sold to other parties by the vendors, with the approval and presumably by the direction of the vendee. But, repeatedly, both parties to' the agreement recognized the fact that the lumber, the quantity having been estimated, was sold to Mr. Germain. In 1911, under date of February 6th, a writing was made, signed by both parties, reading as follows:
“To H. M. Loud Sons’ Company:
“Agreeable to conversation we had with Mr. E. F. Loud, we learned that there is still about 80,000 feet or less of 4 — 4 Norway and tamarack, about 167,000 5 — 4 Norway, with a small percentage of tamarack, at the mill left unshipped on purchase made some time ago, which was purchased 'at the price $14' for the common and better Norway, $10 for the culls, Norway, and $12 common and better tamarack,' and $8 for the culls — above prices f. o. b. Au Sable, Michigan. We agree to pay $2,000 on or before May 1, 1911, and balance to be paid on or before June 1, 1911, and, if lumber is not all shipped, settlement to be made based on average value of lumber, based on the above prices, and final adjustment to be made when lumber is all shipped. It is also understood that we will use our very best efforts to ship this lumber at an early period. In the event of lumber being moved, payment to be made on 10th of month following, net.”
An inspector was agreed upon, and he inspected whatever lumber was shipped after this agreement was made; each party paying one-half the inspection fees. Evidence of the intention of the parties is to be found in the agreement above set out, and in the fact that it was made after the vendor had insisted upon some completion of the original agreement. Under date of January 13, 1910, the vendors (defendants) had written to the vendee (plaintiffs’ decedent) as follows:
"Last March we entered your order for all the 4 — 4 and 5 — 4 Norway which we had in stock at that time. This order included the 4 — 4 and 5 — 4 tamarack that was filled in with the Norway. On this order we shipped 107,345 feet of 4 — 4 and 99,774 feet of 5 — 4. There still remains unshipped, as near as we can estimate, 216,000 4 — 4 and 167,000 of 5 — 4. You stopped us shipping in May last, and, although we have repeatedly asked that you allow us to resume shipment, you have for one reason or another refused to allow us to do so. We have for a long time felt that you were abusing our good nature in this matter, and, while we have tried to have patience, we have arrived at a point where we feel that something must be done. We must either have a check for the lumber, or you must take it in at once. Otherwise we must take some steps to obtain our rights, whatever they may be. Please let us hear from you at once, and oblige.”
No objection was made to the recitals contained in this letter, but the answer, dated January 22, 1910, was:
"Replying to yours of the 13th, regarding the 4 — 4 and 5 — 4 Norway and tamarack, which you have for us, beg to ask what percentage of tamarack there is in this stock, and when the lumber was shipped, and, would you be willing to separate the Norway from the tamarack in loading? We understand from your letter that the 216,000 feet of 4 — 4 and 176,000 feet of 5 — 4 covers both the Norway and tamarack.”
There was further correspondence. The vendors again insisted upon shipping orders, conversations were had, and finally the written memorandum of agreement was made. Under date May 29, 1911, the vendee paid the $2,000. Further evidence of the intention of the parties appears. The original order given by the vendee was for all of the lumber described in a memorandum made by the vendors’ agent and submitted to Mr. Germain. The estimated quantity was stated. This lumber was piled separately from other lumber — was identified. Before February 6, 1911, the vendee had received and paid for a considerable quantity of it. He therefore knew its quality. What remained to be done, after February 6, 1911, was to in-. ,spect the remainder as it was loaded upon cars, and,' if it was not shipped, it was nevertheless to be paid for' by the vendee, as per the memorandum of agreement.! Prices had been agreed upon; an inspector mutually selected. Nothing was left to further agreement; nothing but to load the lumber as it was called for by the 'vendee was to be done by the vendors.
I. am of opinion, therefore, that there was evidence that it was the intention of the parties that it was understood and agreed that title to the lumber passed to the vendee and that the understanding was mutual before and after February 6, 1911. While, perhaps, different minds might be differently affected by the testimony which is substantially undisputed — diferent minds might draw different inferences — counsel for both parties requested the court to decide the controlling question, and it was not error for the court to do so. Culligan v. Alpern, 160 Mich. 241 (125 N. W. 20). Whether we say it was decided as a question of law or one of fact is not very material. Counsel for appellants insists here that a verdict should have been directed for his clients. That it would have been error to do so, I have sufficiently pointed out.
The judgment is affirmed.
Brooke, C. J., and Person, Kuhn, Stone, Bird, Moore, and Steere, JJ., concurred. | [
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Van Valkenburg, J.
The factual basis of this appeal is not in dispute. On April 20, 1971, at approximately 12:15 a.m., defendant Burdo’s automobile ran into the rear of the automobile operated by one Glen Tapis as that automobile was stopped for a red light at the intersection of Sims Street and Wayne Road in the City of Wayne. The police were summoned and about five minutes later a City of Wayne patrolman arrived to take the accident report. The officer observed defendant at the scene and asked him if he had been driving the vehicle to which the officer received an affir mative reply. The officer observed that defendant was unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred and his breath smelled of intoxicants. After taking the accident report, the officer announced that defendant was under arrest for driving under the influence of intoxicating liquors.
Defendant was then taken to the police station, which was located some 150 feet from the scene of the accident. At the station defendant was given the statutorily required warning of his rights with respect to the taking of a Breathalyzer test, after which defendant indicated that he would take the Breathalyzer test. The test resulted in a reading of .24%.
Prior to trial in the district court defense counsel moved to suppress the Breathalyzer results on the ground that the officer’s arrest of defendant for a misdemeanor not committed in his presence and without a warrant was illegal. Counsel argued that since the arrest was illegal the Breathalyzer results must be excluded. The motion was denied by the district court judge. At the trial Mr. Tapis identified defendant as the driver of the automobile that struck him. Both Tapis and the officer testified that defendant appeared to be intoxicated. The officer who administered the Breathalyzer test testified as to the results, over the objection of defense counsel. The jury thereafter returned a verdict of guilty of driving under the influence of an intoxicating liquor. Defendant’s motion for a new trial was denied by the district court.
Defendant appealed to Wayne Circuit Court alleging error in the admission of the Breathalyzer results. The circuit court judge reversed defendant’s conviction, concluding that the arrest was unlawful and that the evidence should have been suppressed. From that opinion and order of the circuit court, the people appeal on leave granted.
Defendant argued before the district court judge and the circuit court judge, and now argues before this Court, that since the arrest was illegal, the Breathalyzer test results must be suppressed because of the per se exclusionary rule. Plaintiff argues that a police officer may arrest for the misdemeanor of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquors, even in the absence of a warrant, where the officer has probable cause to believe that defendant was driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquors.
Defendant is clearly correct in his assertion that his arrest for the misdemeanor of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquors was illegal, where, as here, the arresting officer did not observe the defendant driving the automobile. The Michigan Legislature has clearly ordained that a peace officer may arrest without a warrant for a misdemeanor only when the misdemeanor is committed in his presence. MCLA 764.15(a); MSA 28.874(a). Since the offense charged herein was not committed in the presence of the officer, the officer’s arrest exceeded his statutory power to arrest and was thus unlawful.
While granting that defendant’s arrest was unlawful in that it exceeded the officer’s statutory power to arrest, it does not necessarily follow, as defendant argues, that the per se exclusionary rule mandates that the results of the subsequent Breathalyzer test be suppressed. The per se exclusionary rule as enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in Weeks v United States, 232 US 383; 34 S Ct 341; 58 L Ed 652 (1914), and made applicable to the states in Mapp v Ohio, 367 US 643; 81 S Ct 1684; 6 L Ed 2d 1081 (1961), arose out of and applies to constitutionally invalid arrests. Constitutionally valid arrests are dependent upon whether probable cause exists at the moment the arrest was made by the officer. Since defendant herein never argued nor asserted that the officer did not have probable cause to arrest him, and the facts clearly support a finding that probable cause did exist, defendant’s arrest was not constitutionally invalid, but rather merely statutorily illegal; therefore the per se exclusionary rule is not applicable. See State v Eubanks, 283 NC 556; 196 SE2d 706 (1973).
Defendant’s arrest not being invalid in the constitutional sense and therefore not subject to the constitutionally mandated per se exclusionary rule, the question thus becomes whether this State, as a matter of its own public policy, should fashion a similar exclusionary rule with respect to statutorily illegal arrests. We have not found any Michigan precedent which would mandate such a rule, nor do we find that such a rule is necessary to protect the basic rights of one illegally arrested as was defendant herein. Where, as here, the officer had probable cause to believe that the crime had been committed, and therefore had the constitutionally required basis to search and seize, there would appear to be no need to suppress such evidence, even though the arrest was statutorily illegal. Further, to the extent that an exclusionary rule must be required to discourage police officers from making statutorily illegal arrests, that func tion is adequately served by the fact that the officer can be held personally liable for damages in a civil action for false arrest.
Defendant’s assertion that the Breathalyzer test results must be suppressed because of the illegal arrest is, in fact, inapposite, since the test was given only after defendant had been informed that he need not take the test and nevertheless consented to take it. The test results therefore did not flow from the illegal arrest, but rather flowed from defendant’s own consent. Since a consensual search is not dependent upon an arrest, be it legal or illegal, the fact that there was an illegal arrest would only be germane to the extent that it might vitiate the voluntariness of the consent, a question not raised by defendant. The test being consensual, the results were properly entered into evidence.
The order of the circuit court is reversed and the judgment and sentence of the district court is reinstated.
All concurred.
Street v Surdyka, 492 F2d 368 (CA 4, 1974).
We are aware of the dissenting opinion in People v Robinson, 388 Mich 630; 202 NW2d 288 (1972), which appears to indicate that the constitutionally mandated exclusionary rule is applicable to statutorily illegal arrests; however, we would note that the dissent appears to arrive at that conclusion on the erroneous assumption that an illegal arrest automatically falls under the constitutionally mandated exclusionary rule. Thus, it cannot be said that the dissent in Robinson constitutes an expression by even those joining in the dissent that such a rule should be implemented as a matter of this State’s public policy.
Defendant at no time asserted or argued that his consent was coerced either by the illegal arrest or the statutorily mandated warnings with respect to the effect of his refusal to take the test vis-avis administrative revocation of his license. We therefore do not decide whether in appropriate circumstances an illegal arrest or the statutory warnings, alone or synergistically, could operate to coerce consent and thereby vitiate its operative effect. | [
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T. M. Burns, J.
Plaintiffs Theodore S. and Regina A. Kurrle are the land contract vendees of Lots 59 and 60 of the Plat of New Highlands, County of Antrim, State of Michigan, and have had possession of said real estate since its purchase in 1965. Defendant Charles T. Walker is the owner of certain real estate described by a metes and bounds description lying immediately adjacent to the above described Lots 59 and 60 and to the south of said lots. Both the plaintiffs’ and the defendant’s land are bordered on the east by the Torch River, and a navigable pond having a navigable outlet to the Torch River lies partially in the southern portion of plaintiffs’ property and partially in the northern portion of defendant’s property.
In 1969, defendant began a project whereby he would construct a marina on his property. Pursuant to this project, defendant began dredging the area and also drove pilings across the northern portion of the pond in an east-west direction in such a manner that water lay on both sides of the pilings. Defendant then attached boards to these pilings, thereby erecting a wall which effectively precluded plaintiffs from access to and use of said pond.
On October 6, 1969, plaintiffs filed a complaint in Antrim Circuit Court alleging that defendant had wrongfully driven the aforementioned pilings into the bayou off the Torch River, the water of which encroached on plaintiffs’ property, and excluded plaintiffs from erecting and maintaining a fence along his northern boundary to the Torch River, and from erecting wharves on the land in the artificial basin dredged by defendant.
A hearing was held on November 10, 1969, at which defendant attempted to show cause why he should be allowed to continue with the dredging project and the construction of the marina. The court issued a temporary injunction against the defendant proceeding further in erection or improvement of the wall and further ordering the removal of a part of the wall and pilings in order to allow "reasonable size boats” to approach the plaintiffs’ property from the south.
On July 17, 1970, another hearing was held following the issuance of an ex parte order by the trial court directing defendant to widen the opening in the fence to ten feet to allow easier passage for boats of plaintiffs and their guests.
Defendant proceeded to construct and erect certain covered docks and piers into the bayou before trial on the substantive issues. On December 28, 1971, the plaintiffs moved to amend their pleadings, seeking $125,000 in damages and an order requiring removal of all docks, piers and other structures which defendant had built into the bayou.
Trial on the merits was held on January 12, 13 and 14, 1972, before the court without a jury. On July 18, 1973, judgment was rendered for plaintiffs and defendant was ordered to remove the entire barricade constructed along the northern portion of said pond as well as all structures, piers, docks, and slips constructed over the waters of, or in the bed of, the pond that interfere with plaintiffs’ use of the entire surface of the pond for any purpose. This appeal followed. We have consolidated the numerous questions raised by both parties into two issues which we deem worthy of discussion.
Defendant first contends that the trial court committed reversible error by finding that the plaintiffs had riparian rights on the bayou and that this body of water is and was navigable. We disagree.
Whether an action is in law or equity, principle regard must be given to the special opportunity of the trial court to judge the credibility of witnesses, and findings of fact will not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. GCR 1963, 517; Meyering v Russell 53 Mich App 695, 701; 220 NW2d 121 (1974); Alexander v City of Detroit, 392 Mich 30, 36; 219 NW2d 41 (1974); Crawley v Schick, 48 Mich App 728, 734; 211 NW2d 217 (1973); Rencsok v Rencsok, 46 Mich App 250, 253; 207 NW2d 910 (1973). A careful and thorough review of the record in the case at bar reveals sufficient facts present from which the trial court could have determined that riparian rights existed on the bayou and that the body of water in question was navigable. Therefore, since no clear error has been demonstrated, the trial court’s findings will not be disturbed on appeal.
The second and final issue to be decided on this appeal is whether the defendant’s construction of docks and piers on the navigable inlet of the Torch River was such an interference with plaintiffs’ riparian rights that the trial court was justified in ordering all structures removed from the water.
In Rice v Naimish, 8 Mich App 698, 703; 155 NW2d 370 (1967), this Court defined the right of a littoral (riparian) owner to the use of lake waters as follows:
"Among the rights of a littoral owner is the right to use his upland property to gain access to the lake waters; the right to put out in a boat or on foot from his upland property where it touches the lake waters; the right, after so embarking, to go boating, swimming, water skiing, fishing, ice skating or sledding or to engage in other aquatic sports, in or upon the lake waters; and the right to use the entire surface and subsurface lake waters for such purposes. Burt v Munger, 314 Mich 659; 23 NW2d 117 (1946); Manney v Prouse, 248 Mich 655; 227 NW 685 (1929); Kerley v Wolfe, 349 Mich 350; 84 NW2d 748 (1957). Each littoral owner shares such rights with all other littoral owners and none may interfere, unreasonably, with like rights of the others. Beach v Hayner, 207 Mich 93; 173 NW 487 (1919).”
In Rice, the plaintiffs constructed a fence which would have interfered with the defendants’ riparian rights. The trial court concluded that the defendants were justified in pulling up the posts of the fence. This Court, in affirming the judgment of the lower court, found that defendants were littoral owners and stated at p 704; 155 NW2d 374:
"Nevertheless, if the defendants’ land in the bay area were littoral, and the plaintiffs’ projected fence interfered with the defendants’ exercise of any of the previously described littoral rights, the defendants would be privileged to prevent construction of the fence or to demolish it during construction or thereafter, and the defendant would not need permission of a court to do so.”
As we stated earlier, plaintiffs in the instant case were littoral owners and, therefore, had rights in the entire surface of the bayou. It is equally clear from the above discussion that this Court can properly order the removal of the fence which blocked plaintiffs’ full access to the bayou.
Plaintiffs, however, desire much more than the mere removal of the barrier fence. They seek the destruction of defendant’s entire commercial marina, suggesting that defendant is trespassing on their property. We disagree. All the construction was done on the land owned by defendant, and plaintiffs have the right to use and enjoyment of the bayou for navigation, fishing, swimming, etc. Therefore, there is not a trespass, but rather a nuisance which plaintiffs seek to abate in equity. MCLA 600.2940; MSA 27A.2940.
We are of the opinion that it would be inappropriate for this Court to order the destruction of this $250,000 marina. Plaintiffs have asked for both injunctive and legal relief in the form of damages. Equity will abate nuisances only when legal remedies are inadequate. Adams v Kalamazoo Ice & Fuel Co, 245 Mich 261; 222 NW 86 (1928). Michigan courts have been reluctant to bar a lawful business and such action should be taken only where it is essential to abate a continuing nuisance. Fortin v Vitali; 15 Mich App 657, 661; 167 NW2d 355 (1969), appeal after remand, 28 Mich App 565; 184 NW2d 609 (1970).
"If a nuisance is private and arises out of a particular manner of operating a legitimate business, we will do no more than point to the nuisance and decree the adoption of methods calculated to eliminate the injurious features. MacKenzie v Frank M Pauli Co, 207 Mich 456 [; 174 NW 161] (6 ALR 1305) [1919]. Where it is possible to eliminate the objectionable features which infringe upon the ordinary rights of others, equity may so decree instead of compelling an abatement of the entire business. Waier v Peerless Oil Co, 265 Mich 398 [; 251 NW 552 (1933)].” Smith v City of Ann Arbor, 303 Mich 476, 486; 6 NW2d 752 (1942).
It is clear from the record in the case at bar that virtually the only use which plaintiffs or their predecessors made of the bayou was as a channel for navigation. The bayou was not suitable for swimming due to its shallowness and mucky bottom. While it is true that fishing would no longer be possible, it is also true that the defendant has increased the navigability of the water. The other rights mentioned are so minor that a decree of complete abatement would be shocking to the conscience of this Court.
It has been held that to determine whether damages at law are an adequate remedy, the extent of the nuisance, the value of the properties to be destroyed and similar considerations are to be weighed to achieve an equitable result. Turner v Hart, 71 Mich 128; 38 NW 890 (1888). Removing the barrier fence from in front of plaintiffs’ docks will be sufficient to restore to plaintiffs their access to the bayou for navigational purposes. The loss of fishing and other recreational rights on the pond is minor and can be adequately compensated at law.
In two recent cases, Michigan courts have referred similar cases back to the circuit court for more equitable decrees. Fortin v Vitali, supra; Obrecht v National Gypsum Co, 361 Mich 399; 105 NW2d 143 (1960). In Obrecht, the defendant constructed a shipping complex in the middle of a residential-cottage area without the permission of the state government. The Supreme Court found the complex to be a nuisance, but would only allow monetary relief, stating at p 420,105 NW2d 152-153:
"Equity cannot now abate that which, originally should have been enjoined. Such a decree would amount to outright destruction and loss of valuable property constituting an even greater wrong than that which the company has perpetrated.”
Plaintiffs claim that complete abatement is warranted since the trial court warned defendant not to proceed before he in fact completed the bulk of his construction work. However, no order was ever issued by the trial court to that effect, and there appears to have been no intent to do so, since at that time plaintiffs were merely requesting that the barrier fence be removed.
Since we have concluded that an order requiring destruction of the entire marina would be harsh and excessive, we remand this case to the trial court for a determination of monetary damages due to the plaintiffs. As the Supreme Court noted in Obrecht, supra:
"[W]ith the dredging done and the dock constructed near the approximate center of this sector, we are persuaded by the record that National Gypsum has moved an otherwise lawful industrial operation into an area constituting the wrong place for it. In so doing it has actionably offended the personal and property rights of these plaintiffs and, the ’fait’ being ’accompli’ now beyond judicial abatement, has subjected itself to payment of damages to such of these plaintiffs as may on remand be able to prove same.” 361 Mich 418; 105 NW2d 152.
We are of the opinion that the same remedy should be applied in the instant case.
Affirmed in part and reversed in part. Remanded to the Antrim Circuit Court for further proceedings to be conducted in accordance with this opinion. No costs, neither party having fully prevailed. This Court retains no further jurisdiction.
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Holbrook, P. J.
On November 6, 1968, while employed as a cookie packer for the Keebler Company, the plaintiff fell in the parking lot and suffered an injury to her knees. Defendant-appellant, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, was the workmen’s compensation insurer at the time of the accident. The plaintiff consulted the company doctor and missed several days of work due to problems with her knees. Plaintiff returned to the same job, doing somewhat less standing, and in April 1969 suffered another injury when she fell from a stool. The defendant-appellee, Lumbermen’s Mutual Casualty Company, was insurer at this time. On November 26, 1969, the plaintiff petitioned for a hearing with the Workmen’s Compensation Bureau. The hearing was held on November 19, 1970. At the hearing, a doctor’s deposition described the plaintiff’s condition as a softening or fraying of the knee cartilage and stated that the fall in April 1969 probably intensified the plaintiff’s condition; but that the primary cause of the disability was the November 1968 injury. The plaintiff testified that the discomfort and pain from her knees had grown progressively worse. The referee found that Helen Gibbs suffered a compensable injury on November 6, 1968, which injury was the sole cause of her current disability. The referee specifically found that the injury of April 1969 did not relate to the disability.
The referee’s order for compensation was affirmed upon appeal by the Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (hereinafter referred to as WCAB), in an opinion which sets forth its findings. The WCAB, however, did increase the rate of interest on the award from 5% to 6%. Two issues are here presented for consideration. Compensability is not at issue, rather the primary issue to be decided is which insurance carrier is liable for such compensation.
In Moore v Gundelfinger, 56 Mich App 73; 223 NW2d 643 (1974), this Court reiterated the teaching of McClary v Wagoner, 16 Mich App 326, 328; 167 NW2d 800, 801 (1969), and Lamb v John's Tavern, 37 Mich App 678; 195 NW2d 278 (1972), to the effect that the WCAB must indicate the testimony adopted, the standard followed, and the reasoning used in reaching a decision. Further, Justice O’Hara’s statement in Couch v Saginaw Malleable Iron Plant, Central Foundry Division of General Motors Corp, 51 Mich App 317, 321-322; 214 NW2d 885, 887-888 (1974), that the WCAB "should make those findings clear and unequivocal” was set out. In the present case, in pertinent part, the WCAB stated:
"Medical testimony by James Glessner, Jr., M.D., establishes that plaintiff has chondromalacia of both knees, more on the right than the left, that this is a condition almost certainly due to trauma in her case, the initial fall in the parking lot in November, 1968, possibly aggravated by the fall from the stool at work on April 6, 1969, and/or by the general duties of her job which required some standing, bending and, on occasion, crawling under the conveyor belt which carried the cookies, in order to perform an operation on the other side."(Emphasis supplied.)
As the board found the condition was "almost certainly” due to the injury in the parking lot which was "possibly aggravated by the fall from the stool * * * and/or by the general duties of her job”, the opinion is not clear and unequivocable. The testimony adopted is obvious as that was the only medical testimony introduced. The legal standard applied is certainly less obvious. The reasoning used may only be inferred by this Court. Logic discloses that the cause of disability, in this case, could be due to four distinct and different situations, each with differing operational definitions and which could lead to differing conclusions as to which carrier is liable for the compensation award.
The first possible cause of disability in this case is the first traumatic injury. This is the obvious workmen’s compensation claim where there is a clearly specifiable injury, occurring on a given date, i.e., attributable to a single event. See, for instance, Schinderle v Ford Motor Co, 316 Mich 387; 25 NW2d 568 (1947).
The second situation is where a single distinguishable traumatic injury and the working conditions cause disability. This may be said to be the situation where a preexisting injury, condition, or infirmity is aggravated to disability, or where the injury is not attributable to a single event. See, for instance, Sheppard v Michigan National Bank, 348 Mich 577, 585; 83 NW2d 614, 617 (1957), where it is said:
"[W]e clearly established at an early date that disability caused by an aggravation of a pre-existing condition by a compensable event was compensable. We were not concerned with the nature of the pre-existing condition. Our attention, rather, went to the nature of the event causing the final disability.”
This situation may also include the so-called occupational disease cases. See Smith v Lawrence Baking Co, 370 Mich 169; 121 NW2d 684 (1963), Sosnowski v Dandy Hamburger, 384 Mich 221; 180 NW2d 761 (1970), and generally 25 Callaghan’s Michigan Civil Jurisprudence, Workmen’s Compensation, § 49, pp 404-405.
The third possibility is that there have been two successive traumatic injuries from which either the first or both in combination have caused disability. In this regard, in 3 Larson’s Workmen’s Compensation Law, §95.12, pp 508.130-508.133, Professor Larson has written:
"The Massachusetts-Michigan rule in successive-injury cases is to place full liability upon the carrier covering the risk at the time of the most recent injury that bears a causal relation to the disability.
"If the second injury takes the form merely of a recurrence of the £rst, and if the second incident does not contribute even slightly to the causation of the disabling condition, the insurer on the risk at the time of the original injury remains liable for the second. In this class would fall most of the cases discussed in the section on range of consequences in which a second injury occurred as the direct result of the first, as when claimant falls because of crutches which his first injury requires him to use. This group also includes the kind of case in which a man has suffered a back strain, followed by a period of work with continuing symptoms indicating that the original condition persists, and culminating in a second period of disability precipitated by some lift or exertion.
"On the other hand, if the second incident contributes independently to the injury, the second insurer is solely liable, even if the injury would have been much less severe in the absence of the prior condition, and even if the prior injury contributed the major part to the final condition. This is consistent with the general principle of the compensability of the aggravation of a preexisting condition.”* *** (Emphasis supplied.)
The fourth situation, which is conceivably applicable in the present case, is where the two single traumatic injuries in combination with the working conditions cause disability. This is, in the factual context of this case, the situation outlined as number 2 above.
Of the two carriers here in conflict, under the foregoing situations, in the first, the first carrier is liable; in the second, the second carrier is liable; in the third, either the first or second could be liable depending upon the causal relationship between injuries and disability; and, in the fourth, the second carrier is liable. Thus, we must remand for determination of which of the foregoing situations is present. While we may seemingly be asking the WCAB to determine what could not be so determined by physicians with medical certainty, i.e., the date of disability, the WCAB is charged as the trier of facts in these cases and, as such, must make such determination. Our decision herein is not a futile action, rather it is a consistent conclusion with that of the similar case of Baareman v Blackport Packing Co, 16 Mich App 429; 168 NW2d 324 (1969), lv den 382 Mich 778 (1969). In that case, the claimant suffered a fall in June 1962. On May 25, 1964, after lifting and carrying over a 10-hour period, plaintiff collapsed and was hospitalized. In June 1964, claimant returned to work, on a different job. In January 1965, claimant fell and sustained a hernia. He was hospitalized for corrective surgery. After the surgery, in February 1965, he returned to work, but back problems persisted until plaintiff again sought medical attention and, in November 1965, surgery was performed. The defendant-employer had been insured by three different insurance companies from 1958 until the date plaintiff last worked. The workmen’s compensation referee found that the claimant suffered a personal injury on May 25, 1964. This Court found that "there seems to have been no question that the conditions characteristic of and peculiar to the nature of plaintiff’s employment made him a prime candidate for occupational disability due to a back injury * * * ”, 16 Mich App 432; 168 NW2d 325. After quoting from MCLA 417.1(c); MSA 17.220(c); MCLA 417.1(a); MSA 17.220(a); and MCLA 417.2; MSA 17.221, the Court found "that in order to make a correct finding as to the date Mr. Baareman suffered his disabling personal injury, it is necessary first to determine at what point he reached 'the state of being disabled’ as defined by the act”. Id. at 433; NW2d at 326. The Court found it was further necessary to decide whether the disability was worsened by subsequent work activity and said that it had been guided by Smith v Lawrence Baking Co, 370 Mich 169; 121 NW2d 684 (1963). The case was remanded for specific findings.
The assertion that the WCAB’s award of 6% interest per annum is incorrect is answered by this Court’s opinion in Morris v Baker Auto Parts, 57 Mich App 65; 225 NW2d 179 (1974), which we choose to follow.
Affirmed as to the interest issue, and reversed and remanded for the WCAB to make full findings of fact delineating the standards of law used in determining this matter. We do not retain jurisdiction.
All concurred.
We note that had there been any implication from the record that the second injury alone or the working conditions solely or a combination of these two factors had caused disability, there would be seven situations to consider.
Cf. Riddle v Broad Crane Engineering Co, 53 Mich App 257, 260; 218 NW2d 845, 847 (1974); and, Regis v Lansing Drop Forge Co, 25 Mich App 637; 181 NW2d 656 (1970), where a claimant originally injured his back and later reinjured his back, the Court found that the injury was not attributable to a single event and that disability was specified as the last day subject to the working conditions from which the disability could arise. This is to be contrasted with "situation number 3”. And compare Brown v Warren Iron & Metal Co, 44 Mich App 458; 205 NW2d 276 (1973), lv den 392 Mich 792 (1974). Regis should be compared with Smith v Lawrence Baking Co, 370 Mich 169; 121 NW2d 684 (1963), see Aseltine v Leto Construction Co, 43 Mich App 559, 561; 204 NW2d 262, 263 (1972).
Quoted in Mullins v Dura Corp, 46 Mich App 52, 55-56; 207 NW2d 404, 405-406 (1973), lv den 392 Mich 792 (1974). With Mullins compare Beelman v Boice Bird & Sons, 34 Mich App 607; 192 NW2d 35 (1971).
Cook v Charles Hoertz & Son, 198 Mich 129; 164 NW 464 (1917), where the Court found that had not the first injury occurred plaintiff would not have been on crutches and was still suffering from the first injury. Cramer v West Bay City Sugar Co, 201 Mich 500; 167 NW 843 (1918), where plaintiff was originally injured by a heavy iron bar which he was using for his job as a fireman. Later, while going for a haircut, his crutch slipped and he fell. There was an inference that the injury was aggravated by the fall. The Court, using a proximate cause analysis, found the case to be similar to Cook, supra, and Reiss v Northway Motor & Mfg Co, 201 Mich 90; 166 NW 840 (1918). In Reiss, plaintiff originally caught his foot between a belt and a pulley and fractured his leg. Later, he fell on the way home from work and rebroke his leg. The Court affirmed the industrial accident board which had concluded that the second fall was a natural result of the first break. These cases are discussed in Brinkert v Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Co, 297 Mich 611, 614-615; 298 NW 301, 302 (1941), where it is said that Cook, Reiss and Cramer had been found to be cases where "the disability in question was a direct result of the prior accident”. See also O’Brien v Albert A Albrecht Co, 206 Mich 101, 103; 172 NW 601, 601; 6 ALR 1257, 1258 (1919), and Adkins v Rives Plating Corp, 338 Mich 265; 61 NW2d 117 (1953). Generally see 99 CJS, Workmen’s Compensation, §§ 179, 180, 181, pp 605-609. The Brinkert Court found that the previous accident "in no way contributed to or brought about the [second] accident * * * ”, supra, p 615; NW 302. Mullins, supra, fn 3, p 56; NW2d 406 says that Brinkert was a case "where an independent intervening force caused a second disabling injury”. (Emphasis supplied.)
See Sheppard v Michigan National Bank, 348 Mich 577; 83 NW2d 614 (1957), and its various progeny. | [
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McGrath, J.
This matter comes here by certiorari, to test the validity of certain proceedings to condemn land for cemetery purposes.
The board of health of Portage township filed a petition in the circuit court for the county of Kalamazoo, under chapter 181, How. Stat., to condemn certain land belonging to respondent for cemetery purposes. Respondent demurred to the petition, alleging, among others, the following grounds:
1. Said petition is insufficient to confer upon said court jurisdiction of the subject-matter of said petition.
2. The statutes confer no authority upon said court to summon a jury in cases of the kind alleged and set forth in said petition.
3. It appears by said petition that said cemetery which it is proposed to enlarge is not owned by a corporation organized to establish a rural cemetery, and provide for the care and maintenance theréof.
Chapter 39, How. Stat., makes it the duty of the township board of health to provide and maintain burial grounds, but contains no provisions for the condemnation of land for cemetery purposes.
In 1869 the Legislature passed an act entitled ffAn act to authorize and encourage the formation of corporations to establish rural cemeteries, and provide for the care and maintenance thereof.” This act contained no provision for the acquirement of lands except by purchase or gift. The act provided for the formation of stock companies for the purpose of establishing and maintaining cemeteries; that the articles should contain a statement of the amount of land to be purchased, and of the amount of capital necessary to make the purchase and improve the grounds. It provided for the issue of scrip or certificates of stock to the-subscribers, and that such scrip should be personal property, and transferable by the holder. It empowers the board of directors to purchase land for the use of such association; to levy assessments upon subscribers to the articles of association, not exceeding the amount subscribed; to dispose of the rights of burial, fix the prices thereof, make conditions in relation to burials within the cemetery grounds, and guarantee to the grantees of burial rights the care and preservation of the grounds; to establish such rules and regulations for the control and management of the grounds, and all matters and things incident, thereto,' as they shall deem for the best interests of the corporation; to sell any part or portion of the lands owned by such ■corporation, in case the same .shall not be occupied or required for burial purposes, or for the uses of such cemetery; to invest the moneys received from the sale of .burial rights; and to prescribe, from time to time, the interest or dividends which shall be paid to the holders of the scrip. It provides for the reservation out of the proceeds of the sale of burial rights of an amount which, in the opinion of the board of directors, shall be sufficient to create a fund which, when invested, shall produce an income sufficiently large to meet the expense of keeping the ground in good condition; and it further provides that all grants of rights of burial shall be transferable only upon compliance with such conditions as shall be prescribed by the board of directors.
In 1875 the last-named act was amended (Act No. 219, Laws of 1875) by adding 10 new sections, providing that “ whenever the board of directors of said corporation, the. board of health of any township, or the common council, board of health, or board of trustees of any city or village, shall deem it to be desirable and necessary to enlarge the limits of any cemetery which has been or may be hereafter established,” application may be made to a. circuit judge for a jury to ascertain and determine the compensation to be made for the land required, and the necessity for using the same; and, after providing for the summoning of a jury, notice to the owners, a hearing, and a determination by said jury, the amending act provides that judgment shall be rendered by the court for the amounts found by the jury, and, upon proof of payment of such amounts, the court “shall, by an order or decree, adjudge and determine that the title in fee of such real estate shall * * * forever thereafter be vested in such board of directors, board of health;" etc.
The contention of respondent is that there is no valid statute which authorizes or permits the condemnation of private property for the enlargement of this cemetery; that the act of 1869 authorized the formation of corporations to establish rural cemeteries, and provided for the care and maintenance of rural cemeteries so established, and only such as are so established.
In my judgment, although the point is not made hr the briefs, the amendment of 1875 is, as applicable to rural cemeteries established by corporations formed under the act of 1869, unconstitutional and void, as it attempts to invoke the exercise of the power of eminent domain for the condemnation of lands at the instigation of a private corporation for private uses.
Eminent domain is that sovereign power vested in the people by which they can, for any public purpose, take possession of the property of any individual, upon just •compensation paid to him. 6 Amer. & Eng. Cyc. Law, .511; 2 Kent, Com. 33'9. It has been defined by this 'Court to be—
“The rightful authority which exists in every sovereignty to control and regulate those rights of a public nature which pertain to its citizens in common, and to appropriate and control individual property for the public benefit, as the public safety, necessity, convenience, and welfare may demand. Trombley v. Auditor General, 23 Mich. 471, 474.
It was held in that case that the State had no authority, by virtue of its eminent domain, to condemn private lands for the purpose of turning them over to the United States for the erection and maintenance of light-houses; that the act which undertook to authorize the Governor to do this was unconstitutional, as appropriating property of individuals without due process of law; and that the right of eminent domain in any sovereignty exists ■only for its own purposes.
In Ryerson v. Brown, 35 Mich. 333, the Court say that, in authorizing condemnation proceedings, it is essential that the statute should require the use to be public in fact, — in other words, that it should contain provisions ■entitling the public to accommodations; that property oan never be condemned for private improvements, except where they belong to a class that cannot usually exist without the exercise of that power, and where the public welfare requires that they shall be encouraged.
The exercise of the right of eminent domain is limited to cases in which the public have an interest. Cody v. Rider, 1 S. W. Rep. (Ky.), 2. It can never be just to take property, under pretence of public benefit, which is not needed by the public, however much it may advance interests in which the public have no concern. Paul v. Detroit, 32 Mich. 108, 119. The state has no right to take the property of one citizen, and give it to another, whether with or without compensation. 3 Washb. Real Prop. 539; Tied. Lim. § 1215, p. 390. As has been said, -“■When one man wants the property of another, the legislature will not aid him in the acquisition.” Taylor v. Porter, 4 Hill, 147. See Wilkinson v. Leland, 2 Pet. 658; Heyward v. Mayor, 3 N. Y. 324.
It was held in People v. Salem, 20 Mich. 452, that a legislative act originating proceedings, by or in pursuance of which individual property was to be taken under the forms of taxation for the benefit of a private corporation, , could not be justified as an exercise of legislative power. It was not, therefore, due process of law.
Mr. Cooley says:
“The public use implies a possession, occupation, and enjoyment of the land by the public at large, or by public agencies; and a due protection to the rights of private property will preclude the government from seizing it in the hands of the owner, and turning it over to another, on vague grounds of public benefit, to spring from the -more profitable use to which the latter may devote it.”' Cooley, Const. Lim. (6th ed.), 654.
The use must be* by the general public of the locality, and not by particular individuals. McQuillen v. Hatton, 42 Ohio St. 202; Ross v. Davis, 97 Ind. 79. A use which may be monopolized or absorbed by the few, and from which the general public may and must ultimately be excluded, is in no sense a public use. Land cannot be condemned for the purpose of enabling those instigating1 the proceedings to parcel it out to private individuals. Nor is a use which is not common to the public, and over which the state has surrendered that control and regulation necessary to secure such common use, a public use. The use of land for railways and turnpikes has been declared to be a public use, because it is open to all upon the payment of tolls, which are regulated by law, and the law requires such ways to be kept open for use by the public impartially.
As has been said, the question whether the use is public or private depends upon the right of the public to use the road, and to require the corporation, as a common carrier, to transport passengers or freight over the same. Railroad Co. v. Railway Co., 41 Minn. 461 (43 N. W. Rep. 469); De Camp v. Railroad Co., 47 N. J. Law, 47; Phillips v. Watson, 63 Iowa, 33; Clarke v. Blackmar, 47 N. Y. 156; Lewis, Em. Dom. § 166.
It has been held that condemnation proceedings cannot he resorted to, to take lands for the construction of spur tracks which are made for the accommodation of individual shippers. In re Railway Co., 108 N. Y. 375 (15 N. E. Rep. 429); In re Railroad Co., 110 Id. 119 (17 N. E. Rep. 678); Railroad Co. v. Wiltse, 116 Ill. 449 (6 N. E. Rep. 49); Railroad Co. v. Iron Works, 31 W. Va. 710 (8 S. E. Rep. 453).
To justify the condemnation of lands for a private corporation, not only must the purpose be.one in which the public has an interest, but the state must have a voice in the manner in which the public may avail itself of that use. In Gilmer v. Lime Point, 18 Cal. 229, a public use is defined to be a use which 'concerns the whole community, 'as distinguished from a particular individual. The use which the public is to have of such property must be fixed and definite. The general public must have a right to a certain definite use of the private property, on terms and for charges fixed by law, and the owner of the property must be compelled by law to permit the general public to enjoy it. It will not suffice that the general prosperity of the community is promoted by the taking of private property from the owner, and transferring it8 title and control to a corporation, to be used by such corporation as its private property, uncontrolled by law as to its use. In other words, a use is private so long as the land is to remain under private ownership and control, and no right to its use, or to direct its management, is conferred upon the public. In re Eureka Basin Co.; 96 N. Y. 42. It is for the court to determine whether or not the use is a public one. In re Cemetery Ass’n, 66 N. Y. 569 (23 Amer. Rep. 86); In re Railroad Co., 77 Id. 248; Savannah v. Hancock, 91 Mo. 54 (3 S. W. Rep. 215); Railroad Co. v. Iron Works, 31 W. Va. 710; Tied. Lim. § 121a, p. 378; Cooley, Const. Lim. (6th eel.), 660.
This very question arose in Cemetery Ass’n v. Beecher, 53 Conn. 551 (5 Atl. Rep. 353), and the court say.
“The complaint alleges that the plaintiff is an association duly organized under the laws of this state for the purpose of establishing a burying ground; that it now owns one; that it desires to enlarge it; and that such enlargement is necessary and proper. There is no allegation that the land which it desires to take for such enlargement is for the public use in the sense indicated in this opinion. The demurrer, for the reason that the complaint does not set out any right in the plaintiff to acquire title to the land of the defendants otherwise than by their voluntary deed, must be sustained."
In re Cemetery Ass’n, 66 N. Y. 569, it was held that the statute authorizing rural cemetery associations to acquire land by exercising the right of eminent domain was unconstitutional and void, for the reason that the use was a private one. The court say:
“The land is to be vested in trustees, with power to divide into lots, and sell these lots to individual owners. It is difficult to 'see what interest the public will have in the lands or in their use. No right on the part of the public to buy lots or bury their dead there is secured. The prices at which the lots are to be sold are to be fixed by private agreement. The corporation is to be managed by trustees elected by the lot-owners. The lots, or the rights of the owners therein, are to descend as private property to the heirs of these owners; and by the act of 1874 the owners may, by leave of the courts, sell their lots, and put the proceeds in their pockets. The substantial right of enjoyment of the property is vested in the individual lot-owner; and the whole effect of the incorporation of these cemetery associations is to enable a number of private individuals to unite in purchasing property for their own use and that of their descendents as a place of burial, and- to secure a permanent management of it through the instrumen tality of trustees appointed by themselves, and subject to no other control, with the privilege,' when they cease to nse their lots as a place of burial, to sell them, and receive the proceeds for their own benefit.
“It is argued that the property is to be used' as a place of burial, and that the burial of the dead is a public benefit, and, therefore, the use is public. But the answer to this argument is that the right of burial in these grounds is not vested in the public or in the public authorities, or subject to their control, but only in the individual lot-owners. If the fact that it is a benefit to the public that the dead should be buried is sufficient to make a. cemetery a public use, the legislature might authorize A. to take the land of B. for a private burial place of A. and his family. The fact that this land is taken for the benefit of a number of individuals for division among themselves or their grantees, for their own use as a cemetery, makes the case no stronger than if taken for the benefit of a single individual.”
Precisely the same may be said of a corporation formed under the act in question. The lands owned by it are under the absolute control and dominion of the corporation. It may sell to A., and refuse to sell to B., and by its sale to A. it excludes every other person from that parcel. Not only may it sell to A. for burial purposes5 but it may sell to any other person for any purpose, if, in its judgment, the lands are not occupied or required for burial purposes.
It may be urged that the petitioner here is not a private corporation; but I think that the entire amende ment must fail. The original act provided for the formation of corporations to establish rural cemeteries. An amendment is made which is intended to confer certain powers upon these corporations, and also upon other corporations and agencies not alluded to in the original act. The power sought to be conferred upon the corporations organized under the original act cannot be exercised, because not warranted by the Constitution. It is very clear that the only purpose had in view by the Legislature in attaching this amendment to this act was to confer this very power upon these corporations, and that the only purpose of the introduction by the amendment of these other corporations and agencies was to enable, such agencies to exercise this power. Thus we have an act providing for the organization of a certain class of corporations, which is amended by conferring a power the exercise of which by the corporations so formed is prohibited by the Constitution, and, at the same time, the amendment introduces another class of corporations, which are created by virtue of other statutory provisions, for the purpose of clothing them with the very powers which cannot be exercised by the corporations formed under the original act. The amendment confers no additional powers upon the corporations created by the act, and it does not subject the other agencies introduced to any of the provisions thereof. Inapplicable to corporations formed under the act, the amendment is clearly irrelevant, and its incongruity apparent.
The petition filed in the court below must therefore be dismissed, with costs to respondent.
Morse, Long, and Grant, JJ., concurred with McGrath, J.
Champlin, C. J., concurred in the result.
How. Stat. §§ 4768-4777.
How. Stat. §§ 4778-4787. | [
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Champlin, C. J.
The complainant is the owner of the following described parcel of land situated in the county of Menominee, in the State of Michigan, viz:
“Commencing at a point- on the section line between sections thirty-four (34) and thirty-five (35), in township thirty-two (32) north, of range number twenty-seven (27) west, sixty-four (64) rods north of the quarter-section corner on said line; running thence east to the bay shore; thence northerly, along the line of said bay shore, to the section line between sections thirty-five (35) and twenty-six (26); thence west, along said section line, to the north-west corner of said section thirty-five (35); thence south, along the section line between said sections thirty-four (34) and thirty-five (35), to the place of beginning; together with all the riparian rights thereunto belonging •or in any wise appertaining.”
The defendants are the owners and in possession of the following described lands and premises, adjoining those of the complainant on the south, viz.:
“Commencing at a point on the line between sections thirty-four (34) and thirty-five (35), in township thirty-two (32) north, of range twenty-seven (27) west, 208.86 feet south of the quarter-section corner on said line; thence north, along said line, to a point sixty-four (64) rods north of said quarter-section corner; thence east to the bay shore; thence south, along the line of- said bay shore, to the north line of the property conveyed to A. Spies by the Coleman Lumber Company, by deed dated May 15, 1885; thence north, eighty-four degrees and thirty-two minutes west, about four chains, to the place of beginning; together with all the riparian rights thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining.”
The lands border upon the waters of Green Bay, and the question in dispute relates to the division line of the respective holdings under the waters of the bay. Green Bay is part of the waters of Lake Michigan, and is navigable for all classes of vessels. The general course of, the center line of the bay is, according to the United States survey, north 31 degrees 30 minutes east. The shore of the bay consists alternately of headlands and bays or coves, of greater and lesser dimensions. The map on following page shows the original shore of the bay, according to the United States government survey.
The land of complainant is shaded with horizontal lines, and the land of defendants with diagonal lines. There is a headland jutting out into the bay, marked on the map as “Point 2.” Both parties own and are operating saw-mills, and have constructed wharves to the deep water of the bay, upon which to pile and from which to ship their lumber. The saw-mill of complainant is built about 500 feet easterly from Point 3, and it has constructed docks from this in a south-easterly direction a distance of nearly 700 feet, and at the end of such docks the water is from 12 to 15 feet in depth. The defendants have also erected a mill in the bay in front of their premises 500 feet from the shore line, and have constructed docks which extend in an easterly direction about 1,000 feet from the shore line, where the depth of water is from 13 to 15 feet. They have driven piles with the intention of still further extending their docks, and for booming logs, and, if perminted to do so, the lines of their docks will cross those of complainant, and pre vent access to the south side of complainant’s docks, and cut off the land lying between such docks and the land of complainant from the privileges of navigable water. This bill is filed to prevent the execution of such work, and to settle the boundaries between the parties.
Map showing the original shore line, from north line of section 26 to mouth of Menominee river.
The defendants claim in their answer that the boundary line between the respective parties extends into the waters of Green Bay at right angles to the section line between sections 34 and 35 to the center of the most usual ship canal of the Green Bay.
The cause was heard upon the pleadings and proofs, and the court decreed as follows:
“The common boundary between the said lands and premises of the complainant and the said lands and premise's of the defendants in the waters, and land lying under the waters, of the Green Bay, of Lake Michigan, within the limits of this decree mentioned, to be as follows: Commencing at a point where a-line extended east from a point on the section line between sections thirty-four and thirty-five (34 and 35), in township thirty-two (32) north, of range twenty-seven (2.7) west, sixty-four (64) rods north of the quarter-section corner on said line, intersects said shore; running thence north, seventy-nine (79) degrees and eight (8) minutes east, one hundred and nineteen (119) feet; thence south, eighty-eight (88) degrees and forty-eight (48) minutes east, two hundred and twenty-nine and four-teentb (229 4-10) feet; thence south, eighty-two (82) degrees and three (3) minutes east, two hundred and twenty-nine and four-teenths (229 4-10) feet; thence south, seventy-six (76) degrees and fifty-two (52) minutes east, three hundred and forty (340) feet; thence south, .eighty-two (82) degrees and twenty-nine (29) minutes east, seven hundred and thirty-six and eight-tenths (736 8-10) feet.
“And it is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that said complainant, within six months from and after the date of this decree, do remove all piles, pilings, docks, .and all other obstructions whatever by it erected or maintained on the said lands and premises of the defendants in the water, or on the lands under the water, of Green Bay aforesaid, south of the common boundary line between the same and the said lands and premises of said ■complainant, as herein defined and established.
“And it is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the said defendants recover of the said complainant their •costs incurred in this suit to be taxed, and that the said defendants have execution therefor.”
It appears from the proofs that this line was arrived at by dividing the shore line from Poplar Point to the mouth of the Menominee river, into two distinct coves; the headlands of the northern cove being indicated by Poplar Point and Point 2 on the map, and the southern cove, by. Point 2 and the intersection of the river with the bay. The surveyor, by a series of measurements and surveys, apportioned the distance upon the base line, drawn from the headland at Poplar Point to the mouth of the river, which the owners of the north cove would have in proportion to the shore line owned by them, and upon the map prepared by him had delineated the division line between the complainant’s land and the owner next north of it by course and distance. He also made similar calculations and apportionments between those owning the shore of the south cove. Before the proofs were finally closed, the defendants introduced a map upon which was delineated the division line between complainant and its neighbor oh the north, as before stated.
Section 35, as will be seen by a reference to the map, is fractional. The part lying north of the east and west quarter line is lot one, and the part lying south of such line is lot two, by the government survey. The surveyor who made the map last referred to drew right lines, one from the south-east corner of lot two to the point where the quarter .line intersects the shore line of the bay, and the other from the north-east corner of lot one to the same point. He then projected a line from this point into the bay, dividing the angle made by the intersection of these two lines, and called it a “Medium Line.” Those two lines, running from the corners of lots one and two, did not follow the shore of the hay, but in some places ran across the headlands, and in some places across the water. The line from the corner of lot one left the headland at Point 2 wholly upon the bay side. It entirely ignored its existence as a fact of any importance, although it had been used in forming the north cove and the division line of complainant’s water-rights on the north. The surveyor then projected what he-styled a “ medium line,” from the point where the eighth line of the section, produced east, intersected the shoreline, into the bay, which he stated to be a medium line between the north boundary of complainant’s water-rights and the medium line projected from the quarter' post. He then drew another medium line between these last-named lines, starting it at the point on the shore where-the south boundary of complainant’s land touched such shore, and this he called the “ division line upon the: basis of least availability,” and this line the court adopted in its decree. This line cannot be correct. The north-line from which this medium line is calculated was based upon the full length of the shore of the north cove, and is the line of greatest availability for that cove, but this-rule is ignored in getting the medium line on the souths
The object to be kept in view in cases of this kind is. to secure to each proprietor access to navigable water, and an equal share of the dockage line at navigable water in proportion to his share on the original shore line of the bay. The lands bordering upon Green Bay derive-the greater part of their value from the benefit of the-public easement for landing-places, docks, or wharves in the vicinity of manufacturing establishments, and this is more particularly essential to mill-owners, and manufacturers of lumber. Upon consideration of the authorities: cited, we think the rule adopted by Massachusetts will,. in cases like this, secure a nearer measure of justice than those adopted by the courts of any other state. We cannot deal with Green Bay as we could with the rivers in this State, where the lines are to be drawn at right angles to the thread of the stream. The rules laid down for the boundaries of owners of land bordering upon the ocean and great inland seas are more proper for the disposition of the case before us. The rule early defined in Massachusetts is:
1. To measure the whole extent of the ancient bank or line of the cove or bay, and compute how many rods, yards, or feet each riparian owner upon such line has.
2. To divide the newly-formed line into as many equal portions as those contained in the shore'line, and then draw straight lines from the point at which the proprietors respectively bounded on the old to the points thus determined as the points of division on the newly-formed line.
It is freely admitted that this rule may re'quire modification under particular circumstances in order to secure equal justice, and that, in ascertaining the shore line or margin of the water, a general line ought to be taken, and not the actual length of the line on that margin, if it happens to be elongated by deep indentations or sharp projections, so that the line shall > embrace the general available line of the shore. This is exactly what the meanders run by the United States government do. The lines are run straight, disregarding indentations and projections which are not available for any general useful purpose. The shore line in this cáse is a meander line of the government survey, and we have by that survey the available line, not elongated by deep indentations or long projections. The headline at Point 2 is too important to be disregarded in tracing the shore line. It is nearly or quite 1,000- feet in length, and 400 feet in width. The.United States government recognized it as of sufficient importance to be included in its meander line and computation of quantity of land in lot one, and it is available for beneficial use and enjoyment, and valuable for manufacturing purposes or a town site. The difficulty is greatest where the shores are irregular.
In the case before us. the waters to be dealt with may be considered a cove from station 6 to station 12, map A, complainant's exhibits. There has been no survey made of the line of navigable water between these two points, which must be done before a final decree can be made. We suppose, however, that such a line will fall within a right line uniting the headlands of the cove as hereinafter described. Based upon this assumption, the proper rule to be applied is that laid down in Wonson v. Wonson, 14 Allen, 71, and in following this rule we direct the following method to be observed, namely:
1. Turn right angles to the shore lines from stations 5 and 6, and 6 and 7, at 6, on the east side thereof. Bisect the angle thus made, and produce a line from the point of intersection to navigable water, say to water 15 feet in depth .that is navigable.
2. 'Turn right angles to the shore lines from stations 11 and 12, and 12 and 13, on the east side thereof, at 12. Bisect the angle formed by these lines, and produce a line from the point of intersection to navigable water 15 feet in depth.
The points thus reached upon these lines may be considered the headlands of the cove, between which draw a line upon the general course of navigable water of the depth of 15 feet, and divide this line'of navigable water into as many parts as there are feet on the shore line between stations 6 and 12, and give to the complainant and defendants their proportionate share, according to their ownership of the shore line, and divide their proprietorship by straight lines running from the shore to the line of navigability. The map on page 503 will show the points referred to above.
The decree of the circuit court will be reversed, without costs to either party. The case will be remanded to the court below to take further proof to be made of the general line of navigable water 15 feet in depth, as indicated above, and proceed to decree in accordance with the method above described.
We do not think this is a case for imposing costs on either party in this Court, or in the court below.
Morse, McGrath, and Long, JJ., concurred. Grant, J., did not sit. | [
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McGrath, J.
Complainants are the minor children of Martha W. and Frank E. Crittenden. Martha W. Crittenden was the daughter of Edward 0. and Elizabeth K. Gallup. Elizabeth K. Gallup was the daughter of Christian Clemens. Edward C. Gallup died August 28, 1877, leaving Elizabeth K. Gallup, his wife, and Martha W. Gallup, an only child, then 26 years of age. Martha married in 1880, and died in 1887, leaving surviving her complainants and Thomas C. Crittenden. Thomas died in October, 1887. Elizabeth K. Gallup died testate, April 5, 1889. By her will, executed June 18, 1887, Arthur L. Canfield was made executor, and the property in question was devised to defendants in trust for complainants- and said Thomas 0. Crittenden. The will provided that the homestead should be conveyed to Rebecca L. Crittenden -when she should become of age, and that, when the youngest survivor of her grandchildren should arrive at the age of 21, all of said property then remaining, after deducting the homestead, should be divided between said grandchildren, or the survivors of them; that, in case said Rebecca L. should die before arriving at the age of 21 years, the homestead should be divided between the survivors; that, in case all of said grandchildren should die without issue before the distribution provided for, the estate then remaining should be distributed between the heirs at law of the testatrix, as though she had died without issue.
Christian Clemens died in 1844=, leaving, as his sole heirs at law, four daughters, — Harriet, wife of George Lee; Ann, wife of "William Canfield; Elizabeth* K., wife of Edward 0. Gallup; and Louisa M. Clemens. In 1841, Christian Clemens, intending thereby to make an anto mortem disposition of his property for the benefit of his daughters, conveyed by deed to his sons-in-law and Louisa M. Clemens, as tenants in common, certain real estate, including the land in question, which contained 20 acres, which is now a part of the city of Mt. Clemens. After the death of Clemens, the said grantees partitioned the property so conveyed, and this 20 acres was assigned to Edward C. Gallup, who with his wife and family occupied it from 1844 until his death. In 1856, Edward C. Gallup and wife gave to his brother, James Gallup, a deed of this 20 acres, and on August 24, 1877, James conveyed the same to Elizabeth K.
The bill claims that the deed to James was a mortgage to secure the payment of an indebtedness due James; that this indebtedness was adjusted four days before the death of Edward C. Gallup; that the deed from James to Elizabeth was not. delivered until after the death of Edward, and that Elizabeth, through Arthur L. Canfield, one of the defendants, fraudulently procured the deed to herself, instead of to Edward; that Martha W. was the only heir of Edward 0.; that complainants are the legal heirs of Martha W., — and asks that the conveyance from Edward to James be decreed to be a mortgage; that the same be declared to be fully paid by Edward; that the deed to Elizabeth be declared to be in fraud of complainants’ rights; and that the title to the residue of the 20 acres may be decreed to be vested in complainants.
The answer sets up that, at the time of the conveyance by Edward to James, Edward was financially embarrassed, and that the object of the conveyance was to protect the 'property from Edward’s creditors. It admits the indebtedness to James, but insists that the indebtedness arose some years before the deed of conveyance; that the deed from James to Elizabeth was procured at the instance and express direction of Edward C., and without fraud, and that the same was procured and delivered to Elizabeth before th'e death of Edward, and that such delivery was made in the presence of, and with full knowledge and by the direction of, Edward, and that at the time of the procurement of said deed the indebtedness to' James was adjusted by the payment to him of the sum of $850 out of moneys furnished by Elizabeth.
It must be conceded that, in 1853, Edward became indebted to James in the sum of $2,500; that prior to the 21th day of August, 1877, Edward had paid upon this indebtedness over $2,000; that, in the spring of 1856, Edward embarked in a mercantile enterprise at Milwaukee, and, anticipating possible failure, executed in April, 1856/ the deed to James; that said deed was not recorded until September 29, 1856; that said James had no knowledge of the execution or recording of said deed until the same was sent by mail to him at New York, nor was there any understanding between James and Edward as to the execution of said deed; that, on the same day upon which said deed to James was recorded, another deed of other property from Edward to another brother was also recorded, and about a year afterwards the other property was reeonveved to Edward, but the deed reconveying’’ was not recorded until January 22, 1858, on which day another deed running from Edward and wife of the same property to one French was also recorded; that Edward C. Gallup died August 38, 1877; that, four or five days before his death, Arthur L. Canfield, one of the defendants, was employed by Edward C. Gallup to go to Grand Rapids, where James Gallup then resided, adjust the matter of the indebtedness of Edward to James, and procure a deed of the 30 acres from him; that said Canfield did go to Grand Rapids, did adjust the indebtedness, and on the 34th day of August, 1877, procured a deed from James Gallup to Elizabeth K. Gallup, and, returning to Mt. Clemens, reported to Edward and exhibited to him the deed; that the indebtedness from Edward to James was settled by the payment of $850, the balance of which was sent to James after the death of Edward, as appeared from the following receipt signed by James, and sent to Arthur L. Canfield:
“Oreice or James Gallup,
“ Grand Rapids, Mich., Sept. 6, 1877.
“Received of Mrs. Elizabeth K. Gallup, of Mt. Clemens, a draft on New York for three hundred and fifty dollars, it being the balance of eight hundred and fifty dollars for a quitclaim deed to her, bearing date August 34, 1877.
“James Gallup.”
That after the return of Arthur L. Canfield from Grand Rapids, and before the death of Edward C. Gallup, the said Canfield, at Edward’s suggestion, prepared, and the said Edward C. and Elizabeth K. Gallup executed and delivered to Martha W. Gallup, a deed of other property in the township of Lenox, then owned by the said Edward C., and consisting of about 50 acres of land; that, after the death of Edward, Elizabeth' K. continued to reside upon said property until the time of her death, and Martha W., the daughter, resided with her continuously till some ■ time in 1883, and was with her more or less afterwards, until the time of the death of Martha W.; that Elizabeth K. Gallup in her life-time platted said property into-lots, and sold and conveyed away several of said lots, and gave away others; that Martha W. was fully cognizant of the platting of said property, and of the sales and conveyances and gifts made by her mother, and during her life-time said Martha W. fully recognized her mother's ownership in said property, and áid not claim to. own or to have any interest in said property; that, at the time Edward 0. sent said Oanfield to Grand Eapids, he, the said Edward C., was fully conscious of approaching death, and. his mind continued to be clear up to the very last day of his lifej that in conversation with one Van Eps, who was an intimate friend, the said Edward 0. talked with said Van Eps about his approaching death, told him about the situation of his property, and the transaction between himself and James; whereupon Van Eps suggested the making of a will, but said Edward 0. told Van Eps that Canfield had gone or was going to Grand Eapids to arrange the matter with James, and that he (Edward 0.) had made arrangements for the distribution of his property, and that a will would not be necessary.
Arthur L. Canfield was sworn for defendants, and complainants contend that, he being a nephew of Elizabeth K. , his testimony was inadmissible under the statute. We have deemed -it unnecessary to consider the testimony of Arthur L. Canfield, and it is therefore unnecessary to determine the question as to its admissibility. There is no testimony tending to show fraud on the part of Arthur L, Canfield, and none tending to show collusion between said: Canfield and Elizabeth K. Gallup.- Canfield was sent to Grand Eapids by Edward C. Gallup to adjust the account with James, and to procure a deed of this property from James. He did adjust the matter, and he pro cured the deed in question, and, independently of the testimony of said Canfield, it is shown that he returned to Mt. Clemens, made a report, and exhibited to Edward C. Gallup the deed to Elizabeth, and, in the absence of any showing that he disobeyed instructions, or of collusion with Elizabeth, it must be presumed that he acted in good faith, and in accordance with his instructions. The witness Van Eps testified that he was present at the interview between Edward and Canfield, upon the latter’B return from Grand Rapids; that he heard Canfield say that he had procured the papers he went for; that he had the papers there; that Gallup saw them, expressed himself as satisfied, and seemed to be greatly relieved, because he was afraid he was going to die before Canfield’s return; that he seemed very anxious for him, and called for him almost every hour. Under these circumstances, it will not be presumed, either that Edward C. Gallup was ignorant of what had been done by his agent, or that his agent acted fraudulently, or in collusion with Elizabeth K. Gallup. In the light of this very deed, and the conveyance to his daughter, ip is very clear what Gallup referred to when he told Van Eps that it was unnecessary for him to make a will.
The contention of complainants is that the interest of James in said property was a mortgage interest; that Elizabeth took no greater estate than that held by James; that the debt has been paid by the estate of Edward, and Martha’s heirs are entitled to take. Whatever interest James had at the time of the conveyance to Elizabeth, the legal title was in him. By the conveyance to Elizabeth, the legal title was vested in hex'. Conceding that the deed to James was intended as security for a debt, whatever interest Edward C. had rested in parol. The property had come from his wife’s father. He had always recognized her equitable interest therein. Being about to die, he was anxious, and manifested a desire, to make a distribution of this and other property, and, by his express direction, this property was conveyed by James to Elizabeth, and the property in Lenox was by himself and wife conveyed to Martha.
The rule is well settled that a right resting in parol may be surrendered or extinguished by parol. In First Nat’l Bank v. McAllister, 46 Mich. 397, the. husband had taken a deed of certain lands from one Bourn in 1872, and before recording it, at the request of his wife,- he surrendered or destroyed this deed, and had Bourn execute another to his wife to secure her for advances which she had made exceeding in amount the purchase price. A few months afterwards the wife made arrangements to purchase the land absolutely," at an advance of $500, and she surrendered to the husband evidences of debt to the full amount. In 1879 a levy was made upon the property, to satisfy a debt of the husband, and a bill was filed against the wife in aid of execution. The Court upheld the title of the wife, and say:
“ The canceling of the debt was a complete payment of consideration, and no further ceremony was needed to make the contract a completely executed one, if she already held the title. * * * As between the parties, it is, we think, settled law that one who has deliberately, and without any fraud or deceit practiced on him, but, on the contrary, with the intent for good reasons to have the legal title placed in some one else, obtained a transfer which has all the apparent qualities of such a title, cannot assail it by parol evidence, and show the existence of a former deed to himself, which he has suppressed without recording for the very purpose of having the land reconveyed by his own grantor. The case comes within the rule laid down in Gugins v. Van Gorder, 10 Mich. 523. * * * In this case it is complainants, and not defendants, that rely on parol evidence to show a title. Mrs. McAllister holds the legal title of, record. The presumptions in her favor cannot be destroyed without proof of an earlier right which is based on superior equities, because tbe first deed recorded is presumptively the best. There would be no equity whatever in allowing a party who has been the procuring agent in giving her this legal priority to destroy it in his own favor, by showing by parol evidence that he once had an unrecorded deed from the same grantor. Complainants show no equity whatever, and are bound by the estoppel against McAllister."
Edward C. Gallup having an equitable right to a reconveyance from James, had an undoubted right to relinquish such equitable interest, and bestow it by way of gift upon Elizabeth; and when the title was conveyed to her at his request, it became a gift as valid as if he had taken a reconveyance from James, and conveyed direct to her, in consideration of love and affection, and in anticipation of approaching death.
This proceeding was instituted by Charles D. Crittenden as next friend of the infant complainants. It appears that, some time prior to the commencement of this suit, the said Charles D. Crittenden procured from Frank E. Crittenden, the father of Thomas 0. Crittenden, deceased, a quitclaim deed of any interest which the said Frank E. might have in the property in controversy as heir of Thomas C. Crittenden, deceased. Charles D. has therefore a personal interest in the result which he sought to bring about. He cannot be allowed to litigate his interests at the expense of these minors.
The decree below is affirmed, the bill dismissed, with costs of both courts to defendants, and against Charles D. Crittenden, the next friend.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Long, J.
This is an action of replevin, brought in the circuit court for the county of Clinton. The plaintiff replevied the property under the writ, and, on the trial before the court and jury, had verdict by direction of the court. Upon judgment being entered on the verdict, defendants bring the case to this Court by writ of error.-
It appears that the defendants on April 1, 1889, were the owners of a ñouring-mill situate in that county, and on that day made a lease of the mill to on,e Quincy A. Hughes for one year next ensuing. By the terms of the lease, the party of the second part was to be at one-half the expense of repairing and 'keeping in repair the waterpower, dam, race, etc., in- a sum not to exceed $50, during his term. The party of the second part was to keep the books, which were to be open for the inspection of both parties; and as soon as the profits of the milling business should reach the sum of $300 in the aggregate, or when that amount should be on hand, an account of stock was to be taken, and the account settled between the parties, which was to be as often as once a month, and -neither party was at liberty to reduce the stock below $300 without the other’s consent. At the end of the term the party of the second part was to yield and surrender up the premises. It was provided that should the rent above reserved, or any part thereof, be behind or unpaid at the time the payment became due, the first party had the right to re-enter. The lease contains the following provision:
“The party of the second part agrees to furnish two 4-roller mills, either new or in first-class condition for use, to be delivered at said mills for use in same, to be used during continuance of this lease, with right to remove the same, unless parties of the first part pay said party of second part amount paid by him for said machinery, in which event the same are ”ot to be removed.”
Quincy A. Hughes took possession of the mill under the lease, and operated it for the full year. After taking possession of the mill, he put in the rollers, as agreed under the lease. On February 26, 1890, Quincy A. Hughes, being indebted to the plaintiff in this case, gave him a chattel mortgage upon these two roller-mills, which were then being used in the flouring-mill, then under his control under the. lease. This mortgage was filed in the town-clerk’s office on March 3, 1890. It appears that after the expiration of the lease, and on April 12, 1890, Q. A. Hughes executed a bill of sale to the defendants of the two roller-mills as follows:
“Wacousta, April 12, 1890.
“This is to state that I have this day sold Daniells & Go. two frame roller-mills, now in their mill, and they are free and clear of all incumbrance.”
Quincy A. Hughes was called as a witness, and testified, in relation to the sale of the mills to the defendants, that they were to pay in cash for the same; that the defendants asked him if the mills were free and clear, and he told them that they were not; that he still -owed Hutchinson on them, and lacked money to pay for and discharge the chattel mortgage,' and that he wrote the plaintiff, his brother, that he would pay him the chattel mortgage as soon as Daniells paid for the mills; that at this time the defendants had a claim against him of $118, and they were to pay him the difference between that amount and the cost of the roller-mills; that on the same day after lie made out the bill of sale to the defendants, instead of paying him the difference in money, they tendered him the following note:
“Grand Ledge, Mich., July 20, 1888.
“ On or before one year after date, I promise to pay to Geo. M. Berry or bearer four hundred and twenty dollars, value received, with, interest at the rate of ten per cent., payable at Loan and Deposit Bank.
“Q. A. Hughes.”
Indorsed on back as follows:
“April 12, 1891. Paid on the within note two hundred eighty-seven dollars.”
That this was the first that witness knew that defendants held that note.
The defendants gave evidence tending to show that they arranged with Q. A. Hughes for the purchase of the mills some two weeks before the 12th day of April; that there was $118 due them from Mr. Hughes, and they tendered him the note above set forth for the balance; that they asked Hughes if he had the discharge of the mortgage he gave to his brother, and he said he had, but had left it up at the house; that he said he would go and get it; that this was about 9 or 10 o’clock in the morning, and in the afternoon of the same day he came back, and said he was ready to close up the matter, but they then forgot to ask him for the discharge of the mortgage; that they then took the note, and told him he could indorse the balance, $287, on the note, when he said: “You can’t come that game on us.” They then told him they would indorse the balance on the note, which they did, and tendered him the note. He refused to take it, and went away. The defendants testified that the rolls were worth at that time $405.
The plaintiff testified in his own behalf that the con sideration for the chattel mortgage was his signing a §160 note for his brother to buy these mills: that he signed another note of §100 for him, and loaned him $60 or $70; that, his brother being unable to. pay the notes, he paid them, and took them up, and had not been repaid; that he made a demand upon the defendants for these roller-mills under the mortgage, and they refused to surrender them. The mortgage given' to plaintiff recited a consideration of §600,' but all the plaintiff claimed as due thereunder was the amount of these two notes and the $60 or $70 loaned.
The assignments of error are:
First. That the circuit judge erred in permitting the defendant Carey E. Daniells to be questioned as to what he paid for the note which he tendered Q. A. Hughes, and the arrangement under which he procured it.
Second. That the circuit judge erred in refusing to give defendants5 requests to charge.
Third. That the circuit judge erred in taking the case from the jury, and directing a verdict for the plaintiff.
These requests to charge are as follows:
<fl. The contract between Quincy Hughes and Daniells provides, among other things, that he, Quincy Hughes, furnish two roller-mills, either new or in first-class condition, to be delivered at said mill for use in the same, to be used during the continuance of this lease, with right to remove the same, unless parties of the first part pay said party of the second part the amount paid by him for said machinery, in which event the same are not to be removed; and I charge you that, if Daniells did settle and pay him, Hughes, as agreed in the lease, the mortgage given to plaintiff would be void as to the rolls.
“2. If you find from the evidence that Daniells and Quincy Hughes did have a settlement as claimed on the 12th day of April, and they then figured up, and Quincy Hughes turned over possession to Daniells of the rolls in question, and at the same time gave him a bill of sale, as he did in this case, and accepted the sum of $118 in payment therefor, then that would be a transfer of title to the rolls to Daniells, and the plaintiff cannot recover.
" 3. It is claimed by Quincy Hughes that the obtaining of the bill of sale on the 12th day of April, and the acceptance of the $118 to apply on the same, and the relinquishing of the possession of the rolls to Daniells, was with the understanding that cash, and nothing else, should be received in payment for the balance. Then I charge you that, before the plaintiff can recover in this cause, he must show that he, Quincy Hughes, disaffirmed Daniells’ understanding of the settlement by returning, or, in other words, paying back, to Daniells the $118 he had received on the rolls.
“i. It is a well-settled principle of law that wherever ■a party enters into a bargain or agreement to do a thing ■or receive an article, and at the same time receives part payment therefor, if he wishes to be released from the terms of the agreement by reason of misunderstanding, fraud, or otherwise, before he can do so he must restore to the other party what he has received, because, if he retains the same, it would be a confirmance of the understanding; so, in this case, if you find that Quincy Hughes settled with Daniells, and in the settlement received part payment on the rolls, and delivered to Daniells actual or constructive possession of the same, then -I charge you that the plaintiff cannot recover in this suit.”
The. argument of counsel for defendants upon his third assignment is that, if the conversation between Quincy Hughes and the defendants was to the effect that the defendants were to keep the roller-mills and settle for them, and no particular time was set to close up the settlement, and this understanding was followed up by the bill of sale, together with possession delivered to defendants of the mills, this would constitute a sale to defendants, or, at least, it became a question for the determination of the jury; that it was the duty of Quincy A. Hughes, under the terms of the lease, to pay defendants the $118 he owed them, as this indebtedness arose by Quincy A. Hughes keeping and holding in his possession this amount, which were profits of the mill belonging to the defendants, and that the non-payment of this amount due the defendants was a violation of the lease, and rendered it void, as to any promise made by Daniells to pay for the mills to prevent Hughes from i'emoving them under the terms of the lease, and that Hughes was absolutely barred from any rights whatever under the lease to enforce it, and could only put himself in condition to claim anything by reason of the lease by paying to the defendants this sum; that not having done this, and not having offered to pay this sum, the defendants had the right to retain the rolls.
We cannot agree with the counsel in this contention. Defendants had the right, by the terms of the lease, to pay for the roller-mills, and keep them; and had payment been made, or tender of payment been made, to Q. A. .Hughes, under the circumstances, the mortgagee would have had no right to remove them. It is admitted that the defendants did not pay, nor tender payment, for the roller-mills in such a manner that Q. A. Hughes was bound to accept it. It is apparent that at the time the bill of sale was made Hughes expected that the bal: anee, over and above the amount he owed to the defendants, would be paid to him in cash, and he could not be compelled to deliver them until payment was so made or tendered. The title would not pass to the defendants until such payment or tender was made. The tender made by defendants of the past-due paper of Hughes was not a tender of payment, within the terms of the contract of sale, as explained by the defendants themselves. One of the defendants testifies that he said noth, ing to Hughes about paying for the mills in that way, or that he held the note, until after the bill of sale was made. Such a tender as defendants claim to have made would not be binding upon Q. A. Hughes or his mort gagee. Hale v. Holmes, 8 Mich. 37; Williams v. Jackson, 31 Id. 485; Allen v. Hartfield, 76 Ill. 358; Bush v. Bender, 113 Penn. St. 94 (4 Atl. Rep. 213). There was consequently no payment or tender of payment by the defendants for these rolls.
It appears that, when the agreement was made between these parties that the $118 owing by Hughes to the •defendants should be applied as a part of the purchase money, it was expected that the balance would be paid in cash, and therefore, the defendants haying failed to pay the balance in cash, Q. A. Hughes could not be held to the repayment of the $118 before his mortgagee could have the right to claim the roller-mills under his mortgage. There was no question upon the trial in the court below but that the mortgage was given for a valid consideration, and taken by the plaintiff in good faith, to secure him for the indorsement of ' these notes and the moneys advanced. One of these notes for $160, was for the money used by Hughes in the purchase of these identical mills.
Some claim is made in this Court that, the mortgage being given for a larger amount than the real consideration, the question should have been submitted to the jury as to the bona fides of the mortgage. We cannot find that that question was raised in the court below, and, if it was, we see nothing in the record which should charge the plaintiff with bad faith in the taking of this mortgage. We think the court very properly refused defendants5 requests to charge, and directed the jury to return a verdict in favor of the plaintiff. In this view we need not discuss the other questions raised.
The judgment must be affirmed, with costs.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Hood, J.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from an order of the Wayne Circuit Court ordering plaintiff to authorize the Michigan Department of Treasury to pay $375 per month from his monthly pension payments directly to defendant, his ex-wife, to fulfill his obligation under the parties’ judgment of divorce.
Plaintiff, a retired Michigan state trooper, and defendant were divorced on November 21, 1980. The property settlement portion of the judgment of divorce awarded defendant the marital home and a vacant lot, while plaintiff was awarded another residence. The property settlement also contained the following paragraphs:
D) It is further ordered and adjudged that commencing February 1, 1982, that [sic] Plaintiff, Richard Sommerville, shall pay to Defendant, Kathleen Joan Sommerville, the sum of Three Hundred Seventy-Five ($375.00) Dollars per month each month for Fifteen (15) years, and that said payment constitutes a settlement of marital property rights and is unconditional.
K) It is further ordered and adjudged that the Plaintiff, Richard E. Sommerville, shall receive, free and clear of any claim of the Defendant, Kathleen Joan Sommerville, his entire interest in all benefits from his employment, including the proceeds from his annuity plan, accumulated sick hours and other retirement benefits, and other benefits.
Plaintiff soon stopped making the $375 monthly payments and, after defendant filed a motion for appointment of a receiver, defendant was appointed receiver and was authorized to discover and liquidate all property held by plaintiff necessary to satisfy the judgment. Defendant discovered that one of plaintiff’s assets was his state trooper’s pension. Plaintiff received approximately $1,400 per month from this pension. After discovering the existence of the pension, defendant obtained a writ of garnishment to garnish a portion of the pension, but the Department of Treasury refused to honor the writ. Defendant then acquired an order of income withholding through the office of the Friend of the Court. However, the circuit court' later vacated the order because the statute authorizing income withholding allowed such withholding only for alimony or child support. The payments to defendant of $375 per month over a fixed period, as part of the property settlement, are not alimony. Firnschild v Firnschild, 67 Mich App 327; 240 NW2d 790 (1976), lv den 397 Mich 863 (1976).
On February 17, 1986, defendant filed a motion to require payment of the $375 obligation from plaintiff’s pension on the basis of a revision of MCL 28.110; MSA 3.340, now MCL 38.1643; MSA 5.4002(43), which, in conjunction with MCL 552.18; MSA 25.98, allowed the distribution of state pensions as a part of marital assets. The motion was heard by a referee, who ordered the Department of Treasury to pay from plaintiff’s pension $375 per month until the obligation was paid in full. When the department refused to obey the court order, the referee ordered plaintiff to authorize the department to withhold that amount and forward it to defendant. Plaintiff appealed from that order to the circuit court. After argument, the trial court determined that the referee’s decision was correct, under the above-mentioned statutes. The court further ordered that plaintiff’s action in authorizing payment would be enforced by the contempt powers of the court, if necessary. Plaintiff appeals from this order.
On appeal, plaintiff claims that revised MCL 28.110; MSA 3.340, which became effective June 13, 1985, now MCL 38.1643; MSA 5.4002(43), effective October 1, 1986, may not apply retroactively to a judgment of divorce entered in 1980. We agree and reverse the decision of the trial court.
Prior to June 13, 1985, state troopers’ pensions were exempt from any legal process, including garnishment. MCL 28.110; MSA 3.340 stated:
No pension under the provisions of this act [the state police pension, accident and disability fund act, MCL 28.101 et seq.; MSA 3.331 et seq.], either before, or after, its order of distribution, shall be held, seized, taken, detained, or levied on by virtue of any legal process issued out of any court against the beneficiary, but the same shall be paid directly to the beneficiary thereof.
In deference to that statute, but recognizing the unfairness to the spouse of a state trooper, this Court in Hutchins v Hutchins, 71 Mich App 361; 248 NW2d 272 (1976), held that, although a state trooper’s pension could not be awarded to the spouse, the pension was to be taken into account by the trial court in its determination of a proper property settlement. See also Lindner v Lindner, 137 Mich App 569, 572; 358 NW2d 376 (1984).
In conformity with the statute in effect at the time, plaintiff in the instant case was awarded his retirement benefits from his employment. However, in 1985, the Legislature amended MCL 28.110; MSA 3.340 to allow pensions to be distributed as marital assets. The amendment stated in pertinent part:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), no pension under the provisions of this act, either before or after its order of distribution, shall be held, seized, taken, detained, or levied on by virtue of any legal process issued out of any court against the beneficiary, but the same shall be paid directly to the beneficiary thereof.
(2) The right of a member or retirant to a pension, deferred pension, accumulated contributions, or other benefit under the provisions of this act shall be subject to award by a court pursuant to section 18 of chapter 84 of the Revised Statutes of 1846, being section 552.18 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, and to any other order of a court pertaining to child support.
This amendment was to go into effect June 13, 1985.
MCL 552.18; MSA 25.98, also effective June 13, 1985, provides:
(1) Any rights in and to vested pension, annuity, or retirement benefits, or accumulated contributions in any pension, annuity, or retirement system, payable to or on behalf of a party on account of service credit accrued by the party during marriage shall be considered part of the marital estate subject to award by the court under this chapter.
(2) Any rights or contingent rights in and to unvested pension, annuity, or retirement benefits payable to or on behalf of a party on account of service credit accrued by the party during marriage may be considered part of the marital estate subject to award by the court under this chapter where just and equitable.
On October 1, 1986, the Legislature enacted the State Police Retirement Act, MCL 38.1601 et seq.; MSA 5.4002(1) et seq. This act completely repealed the existing state police pension, accident, and disability fund act. The State Police Retirement Act is an expanded, more detailed version of the former act, providing for the administration of retirement benefits specifically for state police. Section 43 of the act, MCL 38.1643; MSA 5.4002(43), is virtually identical to amended MCL 28.110; MSA 3.340, except the words "retirement allowance” have been substituted for "pension”. Section 43 states:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a retire ment allowance, either before or after its order of distribution, shall not be held, seized, taken, detained, or levied on by virtue of any legal process issued out of any court against the beneficiary, but shall be paid directly to the beneficiary of the allowance.
(2) The right of a member or retirant to a retirement allowance, deferred retirement allowance, accumulated contributions, or other benefit under this act shall be subject to award by a court pursuant to section 18 of chapter 84 of the Revised Statutes of 1846, being section 552.18 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, and to any other order of a court pertaining to child support.
On appeal, plaintiff emphasizes that amended MCL 28.110(2); MSA 3.340(2), now MCL 38.1643(2); MSA 5.4002(43X2), states that retirement benefits are "subject to award by a court pursuant to [MCL 552.18; MSA 25.98].” Plaintiff argues that when the court made its property settlement provision on November 21, 1980, it did not award a portion of plaintiffs pension to defendant pursuant to MCL 552.18; MSA 25.98 and, in fact, such an award would have been illegal at that time. Thus, the statutes cannot support the trial court’s action.
The question is simply whether current MCL 38.1643; MSA 5.4002(43) and MCL 552.18; MSA 25.98 apply retroactively to judgments of divorce awarded prior to June 13, 1985, the effective date of MCL 552.18; MSA 25.98. There is a presumption against retroactive operation of statutes affecting valuable property rights. Van Fleet v Van Fleet, 49 Mich 610, 613; 14 NW 566 (1883); Mary v Lewis, 399 Mich 401, 414; 249 NW2d 102 (1976). In Chesapeake & OR Co v Public Service Comm, 5 Mich App 492, 506; 147 NW2d 469 (1967), aff'd 382 Mich 8; 167 NW2d 438 (1969), this Court stated:
It is a fundamental principle of statutory con struction that statutory amendments not be given any retroactive effect unless the legislature clearly and unequivocally indicates otherwise. The statutory amendment during the pendency of a suit has no bearing upon the rights of the parties fixed by law before its enactment. [Citations omitted.]
There is no indication on the face of the statutes in question that they were intended to have retroactive effect. We have also reviewed the legislative history of the statutes and have discovered no intent by the drafters that the statutes operate retroactively. We therefore conclude that MCL 38.1643; MSA 5.4002(43) and MCL 552.18; MSA 25.98 do not apply to judgments of divorce awarded prior to June 13, 1985. Thus, the trial court erred in using the statutes to order that a portion of plaintiff’s pension be paid to defendant to fulfill plaintiff’s obligation to pay defendant $375 per month.
We realize this appears to be a harsh result in light of the fact that plaintiff is substantially in arrears in his monthly payments. However, we note that defendant’s appointment as receiver remains in effect. As such, defendant is authorized to discover and liquidate all property held by plaintiff necessary to satisfy the property settlement provision of the judgment of divorce.
Our resolution of this case on this issue makes it unnecessary to discuss plaintiff’s arguments that the trial court’s order circumvents the statutory protection afforded judgment debtors, that the order denied plaintiff equal protection, and that the court exceeded its authority in ordering plaintiff to authorize payment under threat of citing him for contempt of court.
The decision of the trial court is reversed.
T. M. Burns, J., concurred. | [
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Sawyer P.J.
In this case, we are called upon to review the circuit court’s refusal to exercise jurisdiction over this child custody dispute pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (uccja), MCL 600.651 et seq.; MSA 27A.651 et seq. We affirm.
Plaintiff and defendant were granted a divorce in 1981 by an Arkansas chancery court. The divorce judgment awarded custody of the child to plaintiff, subject to the reasonable visitation rights of defendant. The divorce judgment was twice modified by the chancery court, in 1982 and 1983, to reflect changes in visitation rights and child support. In August of 1984, plaintiff and the minor child moved to Michigan. The divorce judgment did not require permission of the Arkansas chancery court prior to the move.
On June 14, 1985, defendant petitioned the Arkansas chancery court to modify the decree of divorce and grant him custody of the child. On August 27, 1985, the chancery court granted defendant custody of the child based on its findings that plaintiff had continually denied defendant visitation and all contact with the child contrary to the prior orders of the court and that plaintiff had neglected the child’s education. The chancellor granted plaintiff reasonable visitation rights, but only on the condition that plaintiff appear and explain her violation of the prior court orders.
On August 30, 1985, the minor child was playing with a friend outside plaintiff’s home when a person or persons unknown swept the child away, leaving a copy of the Arkansas court order with the child’s playmate. Approximately two months later, plaintiff received a letter from the child dated September 28, 1985, which indicated that the child was with her father in Japan, where he was apparently serving on active duty as a career officer in the United States Air Force.
On February 28, 1986, plaintiff filed a motion in the Saginaw Circuit Court to have the August 27, 1985, Arkansas order set aside or modified. Plaintiff argued in the alternative that the Arkansas court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to issue the custody decree and that Michigan now had jurisdiction to modify the Arkansas decree. Defendant did not appear before the circuit court.
The circuit court issued an opinion concluding that it lacked jurisdiction to determine whether Arkansas had jurisdiction to modify the terms of the divorce decree and that Michigan was an inconvenient forum to resolve the dispute given the fact that the child was presently living in Japan. The circuit court did indicate, however, that it would reconsider its ruling on the forum non conveniens issue in the event that the child returned to the United States. Plaintiff now appeals.
We do not believe that the issue directly before us, or for that matter before the circuit court, is whether a Michigan court has jurisdiction to determine whether or not a sister state had jurisdiction to issue a custody order. Rather, the question before us and the circuit court is whether a Michigan court now has jurisdiction to issue its own custody decree and whether it should exercise that jurisdiction. However, as will be discussed below, the resolution of that issue does involve, at least indirectly, the question of the proper jurisdiction of the Arkansas court.
The jurisdiction of the circuit court to issue a custody decree is contained in MCL 600.653(1); MSA 27A.653(1), which provides as follows:
A court of this state which is competent to decide child custody matters has jurisdiction to make a child custody determination by initial or modification decree or judgment if any of the following exist:
(a) This state is the home state of the child at the time of commencement of the proceeding or had been the child’s home state within 6 months before commencement of the proceeding and the child is absent from this state because of his removal or retention by a person claiming his custody or for other reasons, and a parent or person acting as parent continues to live in this state.
(b) It is in the best interest of the child that a court of this state assume jurisdiction because the child and his parents, or the child and at least 1 contestant, have a significant connection with this state and there is available in this state substan tial evidence concerning the child’s present or future care, protection, training, and personal relationships.
(c) The child is physically present in this state and the child has been abandoned or it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child has been subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse or is otherwise neglected or dependent.
(d) It appears that no other state would have jurisdiction under prerequisites substantially in accordance with subdivisions (a), (b), or (c) or another state has declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that this state is the more appropriate forum to determine the custody of the child and it is in the best interest of the child that this court assume jurisdiction.
Turning to § 653(l)(a), we believe that the circuit court could exercise jurisdiction under this provision. MCL 600.652(e); MSA 27A.652(e) defines "home state” as follows:
"Home state” means the state in which the child immediately preceding the time involved lived with his or her parents, a parent, or a person acting as parent, for at least 6 consecutive months, and in the case of a child less than 6 months old the state in which the child lived from birth with any of the persons mentioned. Periods of temporary absence of the named persons are counted as part of the 6-month or other period.
In the case at bar, the minor child was in Michigan until August 30, 1985. The instant action was filed in the Saginaw Circuit Court on February 28, 1986. Prior to being removed from the state in August of 1985, the child had lived in Michigan for approximately one year. Thus, Michigan had been the child’s home state within six months prior to the commencement of the proceedings, albeit barely, and the child is absent from the state because of her removal by a parent, namely defendant. Accordingly, we believe that the circuit court had jurisdiction to consider a change in child custody pursuant to MCL 600.653(l)(a); MSA 17A.653(l)(a).
Although we have concluded that Michigan has jurisdiction over the child custody dispute pursuant to Michigan law, our inquiry cannot end there. Rather, we must now look at another provision of the uccja which limits the authority of one state to modify the custody decrees of a sister state. MCL 600.664(1); MSA 27A.664(1) provides as follows:
If a court of another state has made a custody decree or judgment, a court of this state shall not modify that decree or judgment unless it appears to the court of this state that the court which rendered the decree or judgment does not now have jurisdiction under jurisdictional prerequisites substantially in accordance with sections 651 to 673 or has declined to assume jurisdiction to modify the decree or judgment and the court of this state has jurisdiction.
Thus, the circuit court of this state cannot modify the Arkansas order unless it appears that Arkan sas does not have jurisdiction or that it has declined jurisdiction. Since the Arkansas court did issue an order, it is obvious that it has not declined jurisdiction, and, thus, our inquiry is limited to the question of whether the Arkansas court possessed jurisdiction.
Turning to § 653(1), which was quoted above, it would not appear that the Arkansas court of chancery would have jurisdiction under § 653(l)(a), as Arkansas was not the home state of the child either at the time of the commencement of proceedings or within the six months prior to the commencement of proceedings. Similarly, the Arkansas court would have no jurisdiction under (l)(c), as the child was not physically present in Arkansas. With respect to (l)(d), since, as concluded above, Michigan would have jurisdiction, subparagraph (d) would be inapplicable for that reason. Thus, it would appear that if Arkansas continued to have jurisdiction, it would be under (l)(b) or not at all.
Section 653(l)(b) establishes jurisdiction if it is in the best interest of the child that a court of that state assume jurisdiction because there is a significant connection with the forum state and the child and at least one contestant and there is available evidence in the state concerning the child’s present or future care, protection, training, and personal relationships.
Concerning the significant connection test, we believe that there is a sufficient connection between the child and her parents and Arkansas inasmuch as Arkansas was the forum of the divorce and the subsequent modifications to that judgment. Accordingly, Arkansas had, and continues to have, an ongoing connection with this case. With respect to the somewhat more subjective factors of the child’s best interests in Arkansas possessing jurisdiction and the availability of evidence in Arkansas, we would follow the reasoning of the trial court that it would not be appropriate for a Michigan court to second-guess the Arkansas court in its decision to continue to exercise jurisdiction. We believe that the best policy to follow is to refrain from modifying the custody decree of our sister state where it would appear that our sister state continues to possess jurisdiction in the matter.
Indeed, we believe that giving such deference to our sister states is necessary to effectuate the policy considerations behind the uccja. The uccja was adopted for the purposes of, inter alia, avoiding jurisdictional competition between the various states, avoiding removal of children to other states where a favorable custody decree may be obtained, avoiding relitigation of custody decisions of other states, and detering continuing controversies over child custody. MCL 600.651(1); MSA 27A.65K1). While it would appear that plaintiff moved to Michigan for reasons unrelated to the child custody dispute and was not merely engaging in forum shopping, we do note that plaintiff attempted to invoke the jurisdiction of the circuit court only in reaction to an unfavorable custody order of the Arkansas court. That is, we are not faced with a case wherein a foreign divorce decree was rendered some time ago and has not been recently modified and one of the parties now seeks modification due to a change in circumstance. Rather, we are faced with a very recent modification order which directly prompted plaintiff to file the instant action.
Furthermore, we note that, if plaintiff believed Arkansas to no longer have jurisdiction or, even if continuing to have jurisdiction, that Arkansas no longer was the most appropriate forum for the custody dispute, plaintiff had the opportunity prior to the issuance of the last order from the court of chancery to request that the Arkansas court relinquish jurisdiction. Plaintiff, however, did not answer defendant’s motion in Arkansas nor did she appear in the Arkansas chancery court. To our knowledge, plaintiff did not even send a written request to the chancery court to decline jurisdiction in favor of Michigan, which plaintiff could have done even if she were unable to travel to Arkansas to respond to the motion. Rather, plaintiff chose to ignore the Arkansas proceedings and, after the Arkansas court entered an order unfavorable to plaintiff, she rushed into a Michigan court seeking to have the Arkansas order set aside. While our reasoning differs in some manner from the circuit court’s reasoning, we believe that the circuit judge properly deferred to the Arkansas chancery court in this matter.
Because of our resolution of the above issue, we find it unnecessary to separately consider the questions of whether the trial court properly declined jurisdiction on the grounds that Michigan was a forum non conveniens. However, we do note that our decision does not necessarily conflict with the conclusion that Michigan is an inconvenient forum for this matter.
Affirmed. Costs to defendant.
Mackenzie, J., concurred.
We do note that, at the present time, the exact nature of the events leading up to the child’s removal from Michigan is uncertain. Apparently, the description of the individual who took the child did not match that of defendant. However, because a copy of the Arkansas custody order was left with the child’s playmate, we believe there is strong indication that the child was removed by an agent of defendant. An action by defendant’s agent should be considered the same as action by defendant since to distinguish between the two would be to allow defendant to achieve through the back door that which he could not achieve through the front door.
We also note that there appears to be a strong argument that the circuit court could exercise jurisdiction under §653(l)(b) and also under (d), in the latter case assuming that Arkansas did not have jurisdiction. However, we choose not to address those issues at this time since we found jurisdiction under (a). In any event, jurisdiction would not be assumable under (c) as the child was not physically present in Michigan.
We acknowledge that there is nothing in the record before us to suggest that the question of Arkansas jurisdiction was raised during the Arkansas proceeding. However, the fact that the Arkansas court of chancery entertained defendant’s motion and did issue an order suggests that the chancellor of the court believed he had jurisdiction to issue the custody modification.
We acknowledge that some of the policies behind the uccja, as expressed in § 651, would support Michigan exercising jurisdiction over the child in the case at bar since there was a connection between the child, plaintiff, and the State of Michigan, as they had lived here for approximately one year. However, we believe that comity behooves us to give deference to Arkansas since it was the original forum of the divorce and had recently issued a custody order.
We also note that it was plaintiff who originally chose Arkansas as the forum of the divorce. It is not as if plaintiff never desired Arkansas to consider the matter. | [
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Shepherd, P.J.
Plaintiff appeals from grants of summary disposition in favor of defendant J. Scott Allen, M.D., and defendants Concord Wrigley Drugs, Inc. (pharmacy) and an unnamed pharmacist. We affirm.
I
Plaintiff was seriously injured when her automobile was struck by Joseph Zagone’s automobile at approximately 8:50 a.m. on October 26, 1984. It appears that Zagone ran a red light. According to his deposition, Zagone had breakfast at a restaurant and was on his way home. He apparently remembers very little about the accident. Plaintiff sued Zagone and eventually settled with him.
Dr. Allen treated Zagone regularly for some psychiatric problems and prescribed Tofranil, an antidepressant. Zagone filled this prescription at defendant pharmacy. Plaintiffs amended complaint alleged that Dr. Allen failed to warn Zagone "of the side effects of the drug” and failed to warn him not to drive after using Tofranil. Similar allegations were made with regard to defendant pharmacy. Plaintiff alleged that the drug caused "psychological as well as physical impairments” in Zagone’s driving ability which proximately caused the collision.
Defendant pharmacy moved for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8), arguing that it had no duty to warn customers of the side effects or hazards of prescription drugs, and MCR 2.116(0(10), arguing that Zagone’s deposition testimony revealed no side effects from his use of Tofranil. The trial court granted summary disposition for defendant pharmacy on October 17, 1985. At the hearing, the court found that a pharmacist has no duty to warn customers of a drug’s side effects, that duty remaining with the physician. The court also determined that any effect the Tofranil might have had on Zagone was pure speculation.
Dr. Allen moved on November 7, 1985, to compel plaintiff to reveal the identity of her expert witnesses with regard to Tofranil. The court ordered plaintiff on October 9, 1985, to disclose the names within ninety days and permitted Dr. Allen to depose the experts prior to trial. It appears that plaintiff failed to comply with this order. Dr. Allen moved for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(0(10) on February 5, 1986. Dr. Allen argued that he warned Zagone of possible Tofranil side effects, including the increased hazard in operating a motor vehicle. Dr. Allen also argued that the dosage he prescribed, taken at night, would not have caused Zagone’s alleged drowsiness. The motion was supported by Dr. Allen’s affidavit, as well as an affidavit by Dr. Joseph Miceli, a pharmacologist.
At a hearing on March 14, 1986, plaintiff’s counsel indicated that a Dr. Spitz would testify as plaintiff’s expert, but apparently no deposition had yet been taken. The court reviewed Dr. Allen’s evidence' and concluded that plaintiff had not produced sufficient evidence to show that Dr. Allen failed to warn Zagone of Tofranil’s potential side effects and that plaintiff had failed to show a causal connection between Zagone’s taking of Tofranil and the accident. The court granted summary disposition for Dr. Allen, finding no genuine disputed issue of material fact.
II
We first consider the grant of summary disposition in favor of Dr. Allen. A summary disposition motion under MCR 2.116(0(10) should not be granted if a genuine issue exists as to any material fact. The test is whether the record which might be developed, giving the benefit of reasonable doubt to the opposing party, would leave open an issue upon which reasonable minds might differ. To grant summary disposition, the court must be satisfied that it would be impossible for the claim to be supported at trial because of some deficiency which cannot be overcome. Tidwell v Dasher, 152 Mich App 379, 383; 393 NW2d 644 (1986). The court must consider the pleadings, affidavits, depositions, and other available evidence. Hagerl v Auto Club Group Ins Co, 157 Mich App 684, 687; 403 NW2d 197 (1987). The party opposing the motion must come forward to establish the existence of a material factual dispute. If the nonmoving party fails to establish that a material fact is at issue, the motion is properly granted. Stenke v Masland Development Co, 152 Mich App 562, 574; 394 NW2d 418 (1986).
It is undisputed that Zagone’s prescription required him to take one seventy-five milligram capsule of Tofranil at bedtime. Zagone’s interrogatory answers indicated that he took Tofranil at bedtime the night before the accident. He also indicated that he felt sleepy at the time of the accident.
During Zagone’s deposition, he indicated that he had been taking Tofranil "for a period of time” before the accident. He stated initially that he did not remember "one way or the other” whether he took Tofranil the day of the accident. When plaintiff’s counsel mentioned the prescription, Zagone indicated that he thought it was "two in the morning and two at night.” After reading the label, however, Zagone apparently realized he was referring to the medication he was currently taking. Zagone also indicated that he might also have taken some Prolixin the night before the accident so he "could get some sleep.” Dr. Allen had prescribed Prolixin earlier, but Zagone "just took them” the evening before the accident, having "some left over.”
At Zagone’s deposition, he also indicated that he had not had much sleep and might have "felt a little tired” the morning of the accident. He stated that he did not remember "any effects at all” from the Tofranil. Later, Zagone said he didn’t "think it caused any problems” but also said he didn’t remember if it had any effect on him on the accident date. When asked if Dr. Allen had told him that he should not do anything or should limit his activities in any way after taking Tofranil, Zagone stated that Dr. Allen "didn’t say anything,” nor did anyone from defendant pharmacy. He did not remember Dr. Allen’s telling him not to drive after taking Tofranil.
Dr. Allen stated in his affidavit that he advised Zagone "of the possible side effects of drowsiness while taking Tofranil and of the risk of operating machinery including an automobile after having taken the medication in accordance with the man ufacturer’s statement in the Physicians’ Desk Reference.” Dr. Allen stated that Zagone never exhibited or complained of drowsiness or other side effects, even when Dr. Allen had prescribed twice the dosage that Zagone was taking at the time of the accident. Dr. Allen specifically questioned Zagone about side effects and Zagone assured him there were none. Dr. Allen’s affidavit further indicated that Zagone was taking the weakest available dose of Tofranil which, taken as prescribed, would not have impaired his ability to drive the next morning. Dr. Miceli’s affidavit offered his expert opinion that Tofranil, taken as prescribed or even at twice the prescribed dosage, would not have affected Zagone’s ability to drive at the time of the accident. Both Dr. Allen’s motion and plaintiff’s reply included a page from the Physicians’ Desk Reference (pdr) stating that Tofranil "may impair the mental and/or physical abilities required for the performance of potentially hazardous tasks, such as operating an automobile or machinery,” and thus the patient "should be cautioned accordingly.”
We assume that, because of Dr. Allen’s physician-patient relationship with Zagone, he could be liable to plaintiff as a third party if he negligently treated Zagone. See Duvall v Goldin, 139 Mich App 342, 351-352; 362 NW2d 275 (1984). We do not believe, however, contrary to plaintiffs arguments, that Dr. Allen could be liable in a situation where Zagone failed to follow the prescription, either in the amount of Tofranil taken or when it was taken. Some of Zagone’s deposition testimony was confusing on this point. To analyze this summary disposition motion, we will assume that Zagone followed the prescription. This proposition is supported by a view of the evidence in a light most favorable to plaintiff.
Assuming, then, that Zagone followed the prescription, plaintiffs theory is that Dr. Allen failed to warn Zagone of potential side effects which would impair his ability to drive. Both plaintiff and Dr. Allen submitted information from the pdr which reveals the existence of potential Tofranil side effects and advises the physician to warn the patient appropriately. We regard this as essentially a stipulation to use this information, which establishes a duty on the part of Dr. Allen to have given Zagone an appropriate warning. The existence of this duty is further supported by Dr. Allen’s statement that he gave an appropriate warning in accordance with the pdr. We believe Dr. Allen’s affidavit and Zagone’s deposition lead to a genuinely disputed issue of material fact on the question of whether Dr. Allen warned Zagone appropriately. Thus, we disagree with the trial court’s conclusion that plaintiff failed to produce adequate evidence of Dr. Allen’s failure to warn.
Dr. Allen’s alleged failure to warn, however, could not result in liability in the absence of evidence establishing that Zagone’s ingestion of Tofranil proximately caused the accident. The affidavits of Drs. Allen and Miceli indicate that, while Tofranil has potential side effects, Zagone would not and did not, in fact, experience them at the prescribed dosage. We do not believe plaintiff established the existence of a material factual dispute on this point. Plaintiff’s answer to Dr. Allen’s motion was supported by the information from the pdr. The pdr indicates the existence of potential side effects. The pdr does not refer to side effects occurring the following morning after a patient takes the medication at bedtime according to the terms of a prescription. We cannot conclude from the record before us that these potential side effects will occur in all patients at all dosage regimens. Nor can we conclude that a particular warning is appropriate for all patients. Plaintiff failed to carry her burden of showing that Zagone’s use of Tofranil in accordance with the prescription proximately caused the accident, regardless of whether or not Dr. Allen gave any warning. The trial court did not err in granting summary disposition after finding no causal connection based on the evidence before it.
Plaintiff argues that summary disposition in Dr. Allen’s favor was premature because it was granted before plaintiff completed discovery. Numerous problems are presented by this issue. It appears that plaintiff has never raised this issue before, however, and thus is precluded from raising it on appeal.
If we were to consider this issue, it appears that plaintiff filed her initial complaint against Zagone on November 30, 1984. He answered on December 18, 1984. Under GCR 1963, 301.7, discovery would have ended with the pretrial conference. The new court rules became effective March 1, 1985. In general, the new court rules apply to all further proceedings and actions pending on that day unless application of the new rules would work injustice. MCR 1.102. Under MCR 2.301(A), discovery must be completed one year "after an answer has been filed” unless the court sets another date. Plaintiff filed the amended complaint against Dr. Allen and the pharmacy on May 1, 1985. Dr. Allen answered on May 23, 1985. Assuming that MCR 2.301(A) applies, it is unclear whether the one-year period ran from Zagone’s or Dr. Allen’s answer. One commentator has concluded that the one-year period commences on the filing of the first answer by any defendant in the action. 2 Martin, Dean & Webster, Michigan Court Rules Practice (3d ed), p 147. Under this view, the period for discovery would have ended December 18, 1985, one year after Zagone’s answer, while summary disposition for Dr. Allen was entered on April 3, 1986.
Moreover, it is unclear from plaintiffs brief what discovery she sought. Dr. Spitz was plaintiffs expert and under plaintiff’s control. We fail to see the need for plaintiff to obtain discovery of her own expert. What plaintiff needed to do was obtain an affidavit or other evidence from Dr. Spitz establishing that a material factual dispute existed with regard to Tofranil’s effect on Zagone. Plaintiff failed to do so. At the hearing on March 14, 1986, plaintiff’s counsel indicated that Dr. Spitz "was going to testify as an expert on the case,” without indicating in any fashion the substance of Dr. Spitz’s testimony or opinion.
Plaintiff also notes that Dr. Allen’s deposition was not taken. This Court held in Szidik v Podsiadlo, 109 Mich App 446, 450-451; 311 NW2d 386 (1981), however, that the mere conjecture that the defendant might recant an earlier sworn statement establishing no genuine issue of material fact could not meet an opposing party’s burden to establish a genuine issue of material fact. Plaintiff also refers to the possibility of obtaining discovery from "witnesses to the collision, ambulance attendants, etc.,” but does not describe the expected substance of this discovery. Plaintiff has submitted an ex parte affidavit with her brief on appeal asserting that she saw an ambulance attendant remove a container of Tofranil from Zagone’s pocket. This information was not presented to the trial court, however. As this Court noted in Pauley v Hall, 124 Mich App 255, 263; 335 NW2d 197 (1983), if the party opposing a summary judgment motion cannot present competent evidence of a disputed fact because discovery is incomplete, the party must at least assert that such a dispute exists and support the allegation by some independent evidence, even if hearsay. Even if we were to consider this evidence, the result would be the same. The evidence does not establish when Zagone took the medication and how it affected his ability to drive. If he took it at night, there is no evidence of its effect on him in the morning. If he took it in the morning, he violated the terms of the prescription. In either event, the physician is not responsible.
Accordingly, we find no error in the trial court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of Dr. Allen.
III
The above analysis regarding causation also supports summary disposition for defendant pharmacy. We believe an even more fundamental difficulty exists in plaintiff’s action against defendant pharmacy, however, in that defendant pharmacy had no duty to warn Zagone of potential Tofranil side effects. In the absence of such of a duty, defendant pharmacy cannot be liable to plaintiff and plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
A motion for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(8) tests the legal basis of the complaint, not whether it can be factually supported. The factual allegations of the complaint are taken as true, along with any inferences or conclusions which may be fairly drawn from them. Unless the claim is so clearly unenforceable as a matter of law that no factual development can possibly justify a right to recover, the motion should be denied. Sponkowski v Ingham Co Road Comm, 152 Mich App 123, 126-127; 393 NW2d 579 (1986).
The general rule in Michigan is that a pharmacist is held to a very high standard of care in filling prescriptions and may be held liable for negligently dispensing a drug other than that prescribed. Troppi v Scarf, 31 Mich App 240, 245; 187 NW2d 511 (1971). A pharmacist is generally not held liable for damages resulting from a correctly filled prescription. Lemire v Garrard Drugs, 95 Mich App 520, 526; 291 NW2d 103 (1980).
The Supreme Court stated in In re Certified Questions, 419 Mich 686, 691-692; 358 NW2d 873 (1984), that Michigan courts had announced no rule concerning the duty of a pharmaceutical manufacturer to disclose the risks and potential side effects of drugs directly to the patient. The Court noted that the manufacturer’s duty to warn patients directly "can be determined only in the broader context of deciding whether and to what extent patients should be warned and whether other persons, such as physicians or pharmacists, should provide warnings.”
We have located no Michigan cases squarely addressing a pharmacist’s duty to warn patients directly. Other jurisdictions, however, have found no duty to warn. The court noted in Pysz v Henry’s Drug Store, 457 So 2d 561, 562 (Fla App, 1984), that, while a pharmacist may have a greater knowledge of drug propensities than a physician, "it is the physician who has the duty to know the drug that he is prescribing and to properly monitor the patient.” In Jones v Irvin, 602 F Supp 399, 402 (SD Ill, 1985), the federal court elaborated on the physician’s duty and also noted that the patient has a duty to notify the physician of other drugs the patient is taking and that the manufacturer has a duty to notify physicians of adverse effects and precautions. The court concluded that requiring a pharmacist to warn patients "would only serve to compel the pharmacist to second guess every prescription a doctor orders in an attempt to escape liability.” The Illinois Appellate Court subsequently adopted Irvin in Eldridge v Eli Lilly & Co, 138 Ill App 3d 124; 485 NE2d 551 (1985). See also Kinney v Hutchinson, 449 So 2d 696, 698 (La App, 1984).
We find the cases cited by plaintiff distinguishable. In Hand v Krakowski, 89 AD2d 650; 453 NYS2d 121 (1982), the pharmacy was found liable where its records indicated that plaintiff was an alcoholic, but the pharmacist still dispensed a medication strictly contraindicated for such a condition and failed to warn the plaintiff of the dangers. No similar situation exists in the instant case. Other New York courts have found no duty on the part of a pharmacist to warn patients of the potential side effects of prescribed medications. See Ullman v Grant, 114 Misc 2d 220; 450 NYS2d 955 (1982).
The case of Krueger v Knutson, 261 Minn 144; 111 NW2d 526 (1961), involved a sale of chemicals used by young boys to manufacture model rocket fuel, rather than the filling of prescriptions as in the instant case. In Fuhs v Barber, 140 Kan 373; 36 P2d 962 (1934), the pharmacist sold the plaintiff his own homemade remedy in addition to the prescribed compound, and the combination of the two compounds blackened the plaintiff’s skin. The need for a warning in such a case is clear, but the instant plaintiff has alleged no such facts.
Plaintiff also cites Riff v Morgan Pharmacy, 353 Pa Super 21; 508 A2d 1247 (1986), in which the court held that the pharmacy had a duty to warn the patient and the prescribing physician "of the obvious inadequacies appearing on the face of the prescription which created a substantial risk of serious harm to the plaintiff.” It appears that the prescription in Riff substantially exceeded the accepted maximum dose and that the pharmacy may have refilled the prescription without authorization. Again, no similar facts are alleged in this case.
We conclude that Michigan should adopt the rule followed in Pysz and Irvin. We hold that a pharmacist has no duty to warn the patient of possible side effects of a prescribed medication where the prescription is proper on its face and neither the physician nor the manufacturer has required that any warning be given to the patient by the pharmacist. Under the alleged facts of this case, plaintiff has failed to state a claim against defendant pharmacy upon which relief can be granted. We need not consider a pharmacist’s liability in situations such as where the pharmacist knows of a particular patient’s unique problems or where a pharmacist fills two incompatible prescriptions.
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Beasley, P.J.
Plaintiff, Thomas Hawker, personal representative of the estate of Patricia Hawker, deceased, appeals as of right from an order granting summary disposition in favor of defendants, Northern Michigan Hospital, Inc., Burns Clinic Medical Center, Dr. Dixon Gerber and James M. Shirilla, M.D.
On April 12, 1983, Patricia Hawker went into defendant hospital for elective surgery, which was performed the next day. On April 14, 1983, she suffered a seizure, her condition deteriorated and she died on April 28, 1983. On February 28, 1984, the Emmet County Probate Court issued letters of authority to plaintiff and, on June 20, 1984, he started a medical malpractice action in Emmet Circuit Court against defendants Northern Michigan Hospital, Inc. (nmh), Burns Clinic Medical Center, and Dr. Dixon Gerber. On April 19, 1985, plaintiff started a separate medical malpractice suit against defendant James M. Shirilla, M.D., which was subsequently consolidated with the within case.
Motions for summary disposition were filed on behalf of defendants. After a full evidentiary hearing, the trial court decided that because there was a valid arbitration agreement the court lacked jurisdiction to hear plaintiffs malpractice case and, therefore, the motions for summary disposition were granted.
On appeal, plaintiff raises four issues, none of which require reversal. First, plaintiff claims that the trial court erred in dismissing the case against defendants Dr. Shirilla and Burns Clinic Medical Center for want of subject-matter jurisdiction because defendants did not present any evidence at the evidentiary hearing that these two defendants agreed to arbitration. Plaintiff failed to raise this question in the trial court. Consequently, under Szidik v Podsiadlo, this issue falls because it was not preserved for appellate review and manifest injustice does not result from substituting arbitration for a jury trial. Furthermore, we note that defendant Shirilla has attached to his appellate brief an agreement to arbitrate between himself and defendant Northern Michigan Hospital, which appears to establish participating health care status. Among other things, the agreement provides:
Northern Michigan Hospitals, Inc., the Hospital and James Shirilla, M.D., the Provider, a member of the Independent Hospital Staff, agree to arbitrate health care disputes which may arise out of or in connection with health care rendered during the course of inpatient, outpatient and/or emergency room care with patients who elect arbitration. . . .
The Provider and the Hospital enter this agreement to arbitrate claims or disputes with patients who agree to arbitrate in order to provide their patients and themselves with an alternate method to the court-jury system of resolving patients’ claims or disputes. . . .
The Hospital and the Provider understand that this agreement to arbitrate with patients who elect to arbitrate is binding on them and all their agents, representatives, heirs and assigns, and that the patient’s agreement to arbitrate is binding on him/her and all his/her agents, representatives, heirs and assigns. The Hospital and the Provider , agree that a judgment of any circuit court may be rendered upon any award or determination for or against either or both of the parties máde pursuant to this agreement.
The Provider understands that if he/she acts as an employee of a Professional Corporation or as an employee or member of a partnership when providing health care that the Professional Corporation or partnership is bound by the agreement, and certifies that he/she has the authority to so bind the Corporation or partnership.
While we do not normally permit a record to be enlarged upon appeal, we are inclined, under the circumstances of this case, to believe that the agreement to arbitrate between Dr. Shirilla, Burns Clinic Medical Center, P.C., and Northern Michigan Hospital is an additional reason to conclude plaintiff has not preserved this issue for appeal. As a matter of fact, referring to a similar agreement between Dr. Gerber and the hospital, plaintiff said: "The exhibits attached to the motion show that Dr. Gerber agreed to arbitrate and that Burns Clinic agreed to arbitrate for Dr. Gerber’s malpractice.” We do not require performance of useless acts. To remand for an evidentiáry hearing on this issue would, in view of the written agreement to which we have referred, seem to be a useless waste of judicial time.
Second, plaintiff claims that the trial court erred in finding that the arbitration agreement signed by his decedent was not revoked in a timely manner. In this connection, the trial court ruled as follows:
The Court: All right. As to the issue of whether or not the arbitration agreement was terminated timely, it is clear that the letter to Mr. Raney, the hospital administrator, from Mr. Sumpter, the attorney for the Estate, was dated May 23rd, 1984, which revoked the arbitration agreement.
In my opinion I don’t think there is too much issue as to whether or not the sixty-day period to terminate commences to run on the date of death. I don’t believe that it does or should.
The other two commencement dates would be the appointment of the administrator for the estate, or the personal representative, in which event the period to terminate would have expired on April 28th, 1984, approximately a month before the actual revocation letter. Or the third alternative date to commence the termination sixty-day period, which is when the arbitration agreement should have been discovered. Frankly, this Court would favor the appointment of the personal representative of the estate as the date that the sixty-day termination period commences to run.
Even if, however, the period commenced to run at the time that the arbitration agreement should have been discovered, I note that the file includes correspondence from Mr. Sumpter to Northern Michigan Hospitals dated September 27th, 1983, requesting medical records. Again on October 5th, 1983, and again on January 23rd, 1984, correspondence from Mr. Sumpter directed to Dr. Dixon Gerber indicating that Mr. Sumpter’s office had been retained to represent the estate, claiming that there is a cause of action and asking that the matter be referred to the curia, that being some four months ahead of the revocation letter from Mr. Sumpter dated May 23rd, 1984.
So if the period would commence to run upon the time the discovery of the arbitration agreement should have been discovered, this Court would conclude that the period had expired as well at the time that the revocation letter was sent.
So in conclusion as to that issue, it is my finding and conclusion that the arbitration agreement was not timely terminated.
Under MCR 2.613(C), we do not set aside the findings of fact of a trial judge sitting without a jury unless such findings are clearly erroneous. A finding is clearly erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire record is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.
MCL 600.5042(3); MSA 27A.5042(3) provides:
The agreement to arbitrate shall provide that the person receiving health care or treatment or his legal representative, but not the hospital, may revoke the agreement within 60 days after discharge from the hospital by notifying the hospital in writing.
In general, we have set the two standards by which to measure the running of the sixty-day "statute of limitations” referred to by the trial judge, namely, the "disability” provision standard and the "discovery” provision standard. We do not believe the ruling of the trial judge was clearly erroneous.
Third, plaintiff claims that the trial court erred in finding that defendants met their burden of proof to show that the arbitration agreement was entered into knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently. In McKinstry v Valley Obstetrics-Gynecology Clinic, the Supreme Court resolved the conflict regarding who must bear the burden of proof in establishing the validity of an arbitration agreement signed pursuant to the medical malpractice arbitration act. Taking note that, in enacting the malpractice arbitration statute, the Legislature had taken pains to declare that an arbitration agreement which conformed to the statute’s requirements "shall be presumed valid,” the Court held that the burden of establishing the existence of an arbitration agreement that conformed to the strict requirements of the statute rested upon the party seeking to enforce the agreement. The Supreme Court proceeded to say that once prima facie evidence of such an agreement was presented, a statutory presumption of validity applied and the burden of going forward with evidence to rebut the presumption then shifted to the party seeking to avoid the agreement.
In the within case, the trial judge, correctly anticipating the Supreme Court result, placed the burden of proof on defendants to show strict compliance with the statute. Once defendants established a prima facie case of compliance, the trial judge shifted the burden to plaintiff to introduce evidence that would counteract the prima facie case. The trial judge here specifically refused to follow Moore v Fragatos, thus correctly anticipating the holding of McKinstry, supra. There was no misapplication of the burden of proof here. Furthermore, we believe defendants carried their burden of proof. Review of the arbitration agreement reveals that it was signed by plaintiff’s decedent, that it contains a provision informing the signatory of a sixty-day revocation period and that it contains the statutorily required language concerning the sixty-day revocation period, and that signing the agreement is not a prerequisite to receiving medical treatment.
At an evidentiary hearing held on January 22, 1986, Sally Matchinski, an admissions clerk for nmh from October 1981 through October 1984, testified that it was her employer’s standard proce dure to offer every patient admitted to its facilities an arbitration agreement. She also testified that she never signed an arbitration agreement when the patient had not signed the agreement in front of her. She further testified that the agreement is given to the patient and signed by the patient at the same time that the consent form is given to the patient and signed, and that it was never done otherwise for patients receiving elective surgery. At the time the patient signed the arbitration agreement, she was supplied with an information booklet detailing the provisions of the agreement.
When specifically questioned concerning the admission of plaintiff’s decedent, Ms. Matchinski testified that she had an independent memory of her. This memory was triggered by the fact that both she and plaintiff’s decedent were from St. Ignace and, therefore, "UP-ers.” They had discussed the Upper Peninsula, St. Ignace and mutual acquaintances at the time of plaintiff’s decedent’s admission. She described decedent as a small woman with light brown hair and said she was nice looking, in a wheel-chair and had very arthritic hands and feet. Ms. Matchinski identified her own signature on the undated arbitration agreement and testified that she remembered observing plaintiff’s decedent sign the document on the date of her admission, which was April 12, 1983, but did not remember, the specific date. However, during her testimony, a time card was introduced in evidence showing that she had worked on April 12, 1983, from 8:57 a.m. to 5:35 p.m. In light of this testimony and of the Supreme Court decision in McKinstry, we are satisfied that defendants carried their burden of proof.
Plaintiff also claims that the arbitration agreement is invalid because it is not dated. Like his attack on the credibility of the admissions clerk, this claim is without merit. Under general contract principles, an otherwise enforceable agreement is not rendered unenforceable due to the absence of a date set forth on the face of the document. Instead, the date may be established through parol evidence. The question of when parties become contractually bound depends upon their intention as manifested by their verbal statements and conduct in light of all of the circumstances.
In the within case, the trial judge found that the absence of the date on the agreement did not prevent him from finding that the document had been executed. He also found that the agreement was signed by plaintiffs decedent on April 12, 1983, at the time of her admission. On a review of the record, we do not believe that these findings were clearly erroneous.
Affirmed._
109 Mich App 446, 451; 311 NW2d 386 (1981).
Tuttle v Dep’t of State Highways, 397 Mich 44, 46; 243 NW2d 244 (1976).
MCL 600.5851; MSA 27A.5851.
MCL 600.5838(2); MSA 27A.5838(2).
428 Mich 167; 405 NW2d 88 (1987).
MCL 600.5041 et seq.; MSA 27A.5041 et seq.
116 Mich App 179; 321 NW2d 781 (1982).
Lake States Engineering Corp v Lawrence Seaway Corp, 15 Mich App 637, 642; 167 NW2d 320 (1969), lv den 383 Mich 763 (1970). | [
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Shepherd, P.J.
Defendant Attorney General appeals a declaratory judgment in favor of plaintiff which ruled that the two public offices held by plaintiff were not incompatible. We reverse.
The facts are not in dispute. Plaintiff, Raymond Contesti, was appointed to the office of Clinton Township Trustee in 1965 and served continuously in that office through subsequent elections until his last term expired on November 20, 1984. In November, 1983, plaintiff was appointed as superintendent of the Clintondale Community Schools (school district), which is located entirely in Clinton Township, Macomb County. The approximately one-year period from November 1983 to November 1984, in which plaintiff held dual public offices, is the focal point of this case.
The case arose after a realtor in the community raised a question as to whether or not plaintiff could hold the two public offices simultaneously. The Clinton Township Board of Trustees asked State Senator Gilbert DiNello to present the question to the Attorney General. In response, the Attorney General issued an opinion concluding that the two public offices were incompatible and could not properly be held simultaneously. See OAG, 1983-1984, No 6214, p 274 (April 3, 1984). The opinion, however, did not disclose the identity of the particular public office underlying the opinion. On May 1, 1984, plaintiff filed a complaint in Macomb Circuit Court, seeking a declaration that his two public offices were not incompatible and an injunction restraining anyone from interfering with his holding the two offices. The school district and Clinton Township were named as respondents in the complaint.
On May 24, 1984, plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment under GCR 1963, 117.2(3), now MCR 2.116(0(10), contending that there was no genuine issue of material fact and that he was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Plaintiff’s motion was denied because the circuit court was not convinced that there was an actual controversy between plaintiff and the two "respondents.” Plaintiff was permitted to file an amended complaint. On July 17, 1984, plaintiff filed the amended complaint, naming the Attorney General, Clinton Township and the school district as defendants.
On June 12, 1985, the Attorney General filed a motion for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(4) and (10), contending that a declaratory judgment was not available to plaintiff because plaintiff was no longer holding dual public offices and, thus, there was no "actual controversy.” That motion was denied.
Following a hearing the circuit court ruled that an actual controversy existed and that the two public offices were not incompatible. Factually, the decision was premised on whether plaintiff’s two offices were incompatible because (1) the township and school district entered into an agreement for the township to collect summer property taxes on behalf of the school district in exchange for a fee and (2) the township and school district annually competed for a millage allocation from the county tax allocation board. With respect to the tax allocation matter the circuit court found that plaintiff’s role in the school district process was not significant and that no actual competition for tax monies existed between the township and school district. With respect to the contract matter the circuit court found that plaintiff avoided a conflict of interest by abstaining from voting on the contract. The court again rejected the Attorney General’s mootness argument. We now turn to the facts in these two matters upon which the Attorney General based his opinion of incompatibility.
THE TAX COLLECTION CONTRACT
Plaintiff held the dual offices of township trustee and superintendent of the school district from November, 1983, to November 20, 1984. During that time, at a township board meeting held on December 19, 1983, the township board voted 5-0, with two board members (including plaintiff) abstaining, to give preliminary approval to a request by the subject school district and three other school districts to collect summer property taxes on their behalf.
In 1984 the township and the school district entered into a contract for the summer collection of one-half of the school district taxes by the township at a fee of $2.85 per parcel to be paid by the school district on or before March 15, 1985, pursuant to statute. MCL 380.1612, 380.1613; MSA 15.41612; 15.41613.
The terms of such tax collection contracts are arrived at through negotiation between township and school district officials. The township board approves the contracts. The school district’s superintendent is charged with the duty of supervising the person negotiating the contract for the school district and making recommendations concerning the proposed contract to the board of education. The school board has the ultimate power of approval or disapproval.
On two occasions the township board voted on matters pertaining to the contract in question. On both those occasions plaintiff abstained from voting because he perceived a conflict between his two public positions.
MILLAGE ALLOCATION BEFORE THE COUNTY TAX ALLOCATION BOARD (CTAB).
Pursuant to MCL 211.210; MSA 7.70, each local unit of government is required to file its proposed budget with the ctab. If the ctab determines that the millage requested by the local units, collectively, exceeds the fifteen mill limit, Const 1963, art 9, § 6, then the ctab is required to allocate the fifteen mills among the local units utilizing the criteria set forth in MCL 211.211(e); MSA 7.71(e). East Grand Rapids School Dist v Kent Co Tax Allocation Bd, 415 Mich 381, 385; 330 NW2d 7 (1982). That statute directs the ctab to "divide the balance of the net limitation tax rate between all local units after due consideration of the needs of the several local units. . . .” MCL 211.211(e); MSA 7.71(e). (Emphasis added.) In Almira Twp v Benzie Co Tax Allocation Bd, 80 Mich App 755, 761-762; 265 NW2d 39 (1978), this Court characterized the process of allocation of property tax millage as one of "peculiarly local concern. Deference must be accorded to local decisions concerning the distribution of financial resources among competing governmental units rendering services to the community.”
The record in this case discloses that for five years (1981-1985) the ctab approved an identical tax rate of one mill for the townships and 8.58 mills for the school districts. The total for all local units was fifteen mills. During the 1984 tax allocation process, the township sought a tax rate of 2.29 mills and the school district submitted a budget representing 14.58 mills.
As a township trustee, plaintiff served on the budget committee and assisted in the preparation of the budget underlying the township’s millage request. He also approved the budget after it was submitted to the township board for approval.
The school district process for arriving at a budget to submit to the ctab was as follows. First, department heads submitted budget requests to plaintiff for review. Next, the requests were submitted to the finance committee, which consisted only of school board members. Plaintiff described his role in this process as having "input” in the final budget submitted by the finance director or business manager for review and approval by the school board. This is consistent with plaintiffs admitted duty to assist the school board in matters pertaining to the school’s welfare. We now turn to the legal issues in the case.
I
The Attorney General first argues that since plaintiff is no longer a township trustee the issue is moot. As a general rule our courts will not entertain moot issues or decide moot cases. East Grand Rapids School Dist, supra. An issue is moot where circumstances render it impossible for the reviewing court to grant any relief. Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union No 190 v Wolff 141 Mich App 815, 818; 369 NW2d 237 (1985). However, this Court will entertain cases that are technically moot if the issues involved are of public significance and are likely to recur in the future and yet evade judicial review. Socialist Workers Party v Secretary of State, 412 Mich 571, 582 n 11; 317 NW2d 1 (1982); In re Wayne Co Election Comm, 150 Mich App 427, 432; 388 NW2d 707 (1986), lv den 425 Mich 882 (1986).
Although plaintiff indicated in deposition that the Attorney General opinion was not a factor in his decision not to seek reelection, he did not know whether he would seek reelection in the future. Thus the Attorney General opinion continues to cloud this aspect of his future. The issue of incompatible public offices is of significant public interest. We also believe that the issue may recur and, as here, evade review while plaintiff held both offices. Thus we choose to review this case.
II
The Attorney General next argues that the posi tions are incompatible in fact because (1) the two public bodies actually contract with each other and (2) the two public bodies compete for tax allocations before the ctab. We note that our review of a lower court’s decision in a declaratory judgment action is de novo, Smith v Lumbermen’s Mutual Ins Co, 101 Mich App 78; 300 NW2d 457 (1980), lv den 411 Mich 873 (1981), but we will reverse only where the trial court’s factual findings are clearly erroneous. Saunders v Dearborn, 107 Mich App 499, 507; 309 NW2d 641 (1981).
Section 2 of the incompatible offices act, MCL 15.182; MSA 15.1120(122), provides in pertinent part:
Except as provided in section 3, a public officer or public employee shall not hold 2 or more incompatible offices at the same time.
"Incompatible Offices” are defined in the act:
"Incompatible offices” means public offices held by a public official which, when the official is performing the duties of any of the public offices held by the official, results in any of the following with respect to those offices held:
(i) The subordination of 1 public office to another.
(ii) The supervision of 1 public office by another.
(iii) A breach of duty of public office. [MCL 15.181(b); MSA 16.1120(121)(b)].
Relevant here, of course, is subsection (iii). Both parties rely on OAG, 1979-1980, No 5626, p 537 (January 16, 1980), for the proposition that the act changed the common law:
Although the statute adopts the first and second criteria of common law incompatibility, there is a significant difference between the third statutory criterion and the common law doctrine of incompatibility. As stated earlier, under the common law, the test of incompatibility involved an analysis of the character and relationship of the two offices, not merely the performance, or the prospective right of performance, of inconsistent duties gave rise to incompatibility. 67 CJS, Officers, §23, pp 135-136. The statute, however, focuses upon the manner in which the public official performs the duties of the public offices. This is true because, pursuant to the statutory definition of the term "incompatible offices” at section 1(b), incompatibility exists only when the performance of the duties of one of the public offices by the official results in any of the three prohibited situations occurring. [Id. at 542. Emphasis in original.]
Applying the statute to the facts in this case leads us to the conclusion that the offices held by plaintiff were, and are, incompatible.
In this case plaintiff stood on both sides of what was presumably an arms-length bargain. As a township trustee it was plaintiff’s duty to vote to either approve or disapprove the contract. As school district superintendent plaintiff was in a direct supervisory role over the district’s negotiator.
Plaintiff argues that since (1) he abstained from the trustee’s vote on the contract and (2) he did not have approval or disapproval power over the contract on the school district’s side, his actions in office were not incompatible. The trial court agreed, concluding that plaintiff "avoided a conflict of interest” by abstaining from voting and that this was an "adequate remedy.”
The instant case does not involve a conflict of interest but rather a breach of duty. The distinction has been explained:
Incompatibility of office or a position is not the same as conflict of interest. Incompatibility of office or position involves a conflict of duties between two offices or positions. While this conflict of duties is also a conflict of interest, a conflict of interest can exist when only one office or position is involved, the conflict being between that office or position and a nongovernmental interest. Incompatibility of office or position requires the involvement of two governmental offices or positions. Moreover, incompatibility of office or position may be sufficient for a vacation of an office when conflict of interest is not. [63 Am Jur 2d, Public Officers and Employees, § 79, p 728.]
The previously cited oag opinion was in accord when it stated:
Thus, a public official’s abstention from the responsibilities of his or her office in order to avoid participating in the approval of both sides of an agreement between the two public entities which he or she serves is itself a breach of duty. Only vacation of one office will resolve the public official’s dilemma. [OAG, 1979-1980, No 5626 at 545.]
We agree. We therefore hold that the positions of township trustee and school district superintendent are incompatible where the board of trustees and the school district are in a contractual relationship.
We are also of the opinion that the offices are incompatible relative to the tax millage allocation. Although the ctab in this case ultimately rejected the township and Clintondale District budgetary requests it seems plain that while the two proposals were before the ctab they were competing proposals. The requests exceeded the statutory minimum tax rates for both units.
Plaintiff was a member of the township budget committee in 1984. In that capacity, he was involved in the process of reviewing budget requests by the departments of township government and preparing a budget that was submitted to the township board for approval. As a member of the township board, he voted to approve the budget that was then submitted to the Macomb ctab to support the township’s request for an allocated tax rate of 2.29 mills.
In his capacity as superintendent, plaintiff was involved in the preparation of the school district budget that was submitted to the ctab to support the district’s request for an allocated millage rate. Plaintiff met with department heads on budget requests, participated in meetings of the school board’s finance committee on budgetary matters, and made recommendations to the board of education concerning approval of the proposed budget.
A person in plaintiff’s situation would therefore find himself in the position of aiding in two competing budgetary requests from the ctab, which allocates finite funds. We conclude that such a position is in violation of the act and reverse the trial court. We emphasize that our ruling is based upon the incompatibility of the two offices and not on any lack of integrity or good faith of the person holding the offices.
Reversed. | [
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Per Curiam.
This case is before us a second time on appeal from an order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board. When plaintiff initially ap plied to this Court for leave to appeal, we vacated the wcab’s denial of benefits to him and remanded this case for further proceedings on the ground that there was evidence to indicate that a possible causal connection may have existed between his employment and his condition. The wcab on remand, however, reaffirmed its denial of benefits on slightly different grounds.
Plaintiff then applied again to this Court for leave to appeal, which we denied. Thereafter, he applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. The Court, in lieu of granting leave, remanded this case to this Court for consideration as on leave granted. 426 Mich 857 (1986). We affirm.
Plaintiff began working at defendant’s Huber Foundry in July, 1973. During his working hours, plaintiff was exposed to oil, grease and very hot temperatures. Approximately one to three weeks after beginning employment, he developed pimples. The pimples spread increasingly and covered his face, shoulders, arms and ultimately his entire body. A recurring pattern developed such that when plaintiff would take time off from work, his skin cleared up; when he would return to work, the skin condition would return. Plaintiff missed work from November 7, 1975, to March 2, 1976; June 12, 1976, to February 18, 1979; and March 8, 1979, to March 26, 1979. His last day of work was April 23, 1979.
During his years of employment, plaintiff received both inpatient and outpatient treatment. From November 7, 1975, to March 2, 1976, and June 12, 1976, to February 18, 1979, defendant voluntarily paid plaintiff disability benefits of $130 per week. Plaintiff began to receive extended disability benefits in November, 1979, and also received general assistance.
At the hearing before the workers’ compensation referee, the deposition of dermatologist Earl J. Rudner, M.D., was admitted into evidence. Rudner had treated plaintiff four times from April, 1979, through June, 1979. Rudner had never seen plaintiff while his skin condition was in the active stage, and therefore based his conclusions on a visual examination of plaintiff as well as his physical history. He testified that plaintiff had primary folliculitis and secondary contact dermatitis, that could be exacerbated by further skin contact with oil and grease.
Rudner had offered to test plaintiff with materials from the work place, but plaintiff did not submit to the testing. According to Rudner, the environment of the foundry lends itself to skin eruptions. He further testified that contact dermatitis is acquired, not inherited. Plaintiff elected not to return for follow-up care in contravention of Rudner’s recommendation.
Safety Environmental Supervisor John D. Brazil testified for defendant, stating that a person working on the conveyor line at defendant’s Huber Foundry would have little exposure to oil, although he was aware that oil was used to lubricate the deck. He also testified that work restrictions had been placed on plaintiff’s employment in an attempt to help his skin problem.
In rebuttal, one of plaintiff’s fellow employees testified that at the foundry there was steel dust in the air and oil and grease on the floor. The mist in the air stuck to a person’s body upon contact.
The referee granted plaintiff an open award of benefits beginning April 24, 1979, in the amount of $156 per week, plus reasonable and necessary medical expenses.
Upon review of that award, the wcab reversed it in part. The wcab, finding that plaintiff’s employment with defendant "caused at most an exacerba tion of symptomatology and did not cause or aggravate the plaintiffs underlying condition,” limited the award of benefits to plaintiff to the time period of April 23, 1979, to June 11, 1979.
On remand, the wcab found that plaintiff’s skin condition was an "ordinary disease of life”; that the condition had not been aggravated or accelerated by plaintiff’s employment; and that plaintiff had totally recovered from the skin condition as of June 11, 1979. Since the medical inadvisability of working at a specific job was not sufficient to render an individual disabled in the field of common labor, plaintiff was not entitled to compensation after June 11, 1979.
Plaintiff now argues that the wcab failed to aPPly proper legal standards. He further argues that its decision was unsupported by the evidence and based on erroneous factual findings.
On review of a wcab decision, findings of fact are conclusive absent fraud. Const 1963, art 6, § 28; MCL 418.861; MSA 17.237(861); Burns v General Motors Corp, 151 Mich App 520, 527-528; 391 NW2d 396 (1986). Such findings will not be overturned if this Court finds any competent evidence to support them. Schaefer v Williamston Community Schools (After Remand), 150 Mich App 186, 190; 387 NW2d 856 (1986). However, the appellate court may examine the board’s application of legal standards. Devault v General Motors Corp, 149 Mich App 765, 769; 386 NW2d 671 (1986). If the wcab applied an erroneous legal standard, the correct procedure is to reverse and remand to the wcab for further fact-finding and conclusions of law. Williams v Lang (After Remand), 415 Mich 179, 183; 327 NW2d 240 (1982); Murdock v Michigan HMO, 151 Mich App 578, 581; 391 NW2d 757 (1986).
Plaintiff argues that because he was unable to work at his previous position due to the possibility of recurrence of the pimples, he was disabled within the meaning of MCL 418.401; MSA 17.237(401), relying also on Adair v Metropolitan Building Co, 38 Mich App 393, 401-403; 196 NW2d 335 (1972). Although the wcab determined that plaintiff was not entitled to compensation notwithstanding the medical inadvisability of returning to work, it did not apply improper legal standards, for the question whether it was medically advisable for plaintiff to return to work is not relevant until it is established that the disability was caused or advanced by the work. That it is inadvisable for plaintiff to return to work at Chrysler does not entitle him to benefits unless he has suffered a compensable injury. Kostamo v Marquette Iron Mining Co, 405 Mich 105, 116; 274 NW2d 411 (1979).
In all successful workers’ compensation cases, the claimant must establish by a preponderance of the evidence both a personal injury and a relationship between the injury and the workplace. Miklik v Michigan Special Machine Co, 415 Mich 364, 367; 329 NW2d 713 (1982); Devault, supra at 769. Where it is only plaintiff’s symptoms, not his underlying condition, which have been aggravated by his employment, plaintiff is entitled to a closed award of benefits only. See Carter v General Motors Corp, 361 Mich 577, 594; 106 NW2d 105 (1960).
The Supreme Court set forth the criteria for a compensable injury in Kostamo, supra at 116:
The workers’ compensation law does not provide compensation for a person afflicted by an illness or disease not caused or aggravated by his work or working conditions. Nor is a different result required because debility has progressed to the point where the worker cannot work without pain or injury. . . . Unless the work has accelerated or aggravated the illness, disease or deterioration and, thus, contributed to it, or the work, coupled with the illness, disease or deterioration, in fact causes an injury, compensation is not payable.
The wcab found that plaintiff had not met his burden of proving that his employment caused or aggravated his underlying condition; that at most it caused an exacerbation of symptomatology. The wcab relied for its determination on the extremely close time relationship between his employment and the manifestation of his symptoms. It also relied on the fact that plaintiffs expert, Dr. Rudner, although testifying that the employment exposure caused the symptomatology, never saw plaintiff when his condition was in an active state, but, rather, saw him more than three years after his symptoms became manifest. The expert therefore gave his medical opinion on the basis of his own presumptions and plaintiffs history.
Although Dr. Rudner indicated that plaintiffs condition had been "acquired” rather than "inherited,” the wcab noted that the opinion was based solely on plaintiffs history without benefit of any proofs adduced at the hearing relative to the types of chemical exposure or oil composition that may have been present. Just where the plaintiff acquired the condition is a question of fact as to which plaintiff had the burden of persuasion. The wcab concluded that plaintiffs condition was "an ordinary disease of life.” We find that the wcab applied the appropriate legal standard to this case.
Plaintiff also argues that the decision of the wcab was unsupported by the evidence and based on erroneous factual findings. Findings of the wcab regarding whether a disability exists and whether a particular employment has aggravated a condition to the point of disability are findings of fact. Dressler v Grand Rapids Die Casting Corp, 402 Mich 243, 250; 262 NW2d 629 (1978). The evidence may be circumstantial; the wcab not only passes on the credibility of witnesses, but draws its inferences from the facts which it finds established. Castillo v General Motors Corp, 105 Mich App 776, 780; 307 NW2d 417 (1981), lv den 412 Mich 895 (1982). Where it is only plaintiff’s symptoms, not his underlying condition, which have been aggravated by his employment, plaintiff is entitled to a closed award of benefits only. See Carter, supra at 594.
The wcab concluded as a matter of fact that evidence submitted by plaintiff failed to satisfy his burden of proving causation. Our review of the record persuades this Court that the evidence (or lack of it) allows a conclusion that plaintiff failed to sustain his burden of proof regarding causation. See McClain v Chrysler Corp, 138 Mich App 723, 728; 360 NW2d 284 (1984), lv den 422 Mich 914 (1985).
This is not, as plaintiff asserts, a case in which the wcab made findings of fact contrary to the undisputed evidence; rather, it is a situation in which plaintiff’s proofs are insufficiently probative in the eyes of the trier of fact. See Aquilina v General Motors Corp, 403 Mich 206, 211-212; 267 NW2d 923 (1978).
Accordingly, the order of the wcab is affirmed. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiffs rented an apartment from defendants. The lease ran from July 1, 1984, to June 30, 1985. Plaintiff Karen Lesatz did not sign the lease, but contributed to rent payments. Apparently due to a mistake on plaintiffs’ part, they left one month early. Defendants ultimately sent plaintiffs an itemized list of damages totaling $793 to which plaintiffs objected. The damages included $20 for a broken cabinet door. The list also included a $200 "rerental” fee provided for by lease ¶ 25 as "liquidated damages” for defendants’ administrative costs in rerenting the apartment. The list also included a $400 reimbursement for the "free month” of rent provided by lease ¶ 41 which defendants would have excused had plaintiffs stayed the entire lease term. Finally, the list included prorated rent of $173 for June 1 to June 13, 1985, when defendants rerented the apartment. Defendants used plaintiffs’ $100 security deposit to partially offset these amounts.
This lawsuit in circuit court followed. Count i of plaintiffs’ amended complaint alleged that lease ¶¶ 25 and 41 were unenforceable penalty clauses not related to defendants’ actual damages. Plaintiffs alleged that the landlord-tenant relationship act (ltra), MCL 554.601 et seq.; MSA 26.1138(1) et seq., did not permit defendants to use their security deposit against claims for "rerental” fees and reimbursements for free rent. Plaintiffs also alleged that these lease paragraphs violated three provisions of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (mcpa), MCL 445.901 et seq.; MSA 19.418(1) et seq. Count ii alleged the violation of another mcpa provision by defendants’ claim for itemized damages not permitted under the ltra. Count m alleged the violation of the ltra in defendants’ failure to return plaintiffs’ security deposit. For each count, plaintiffs sought monetary damages. For Counts i and n, plaintiffs also sought an injunction prohibiting defendants from enforcing the provisions or making claims against security deposits as provided in current leases or from including similar provisions in future leases or instituting similar claims against future security deposits. For Count in, plaintiffs also sought to enjoin defendants from retaining their security deposit.
The circuit court determined that plaintiffs’ damages would not exceed $10,000 and that plaintiffs’ lawsuit was not a class action. The court therefore remanded all matters pertaining to damages to the district court, MCL 600.641; MSA 27A.641. The circuit court essentially considered the merits of plaintiffs’ claims, however, and recommended to the district court that it grant summary disposition on all counts except that part of Count i concerning rerental fees. The circuit court denied all injunctive relief. The order entered on July 3, 1986, by stipulation granted defendants’ summary disposition motion and dismissed with prejudice all claims in Count i concerning lease ¶ 41. The order denied summary disposition for plaintiffs on that part of Count i concerning lease ¶ 25. The order also granted summary disposition for defendants and dismissed Counts n and in in their entirety. We are unable to locate any order in the file remanding the case to the district court.
The circuit court has the power to grant equitable relief in this case, MCL 600.605; MSA 27A.605, unlike the district court, MCL 600.8315; MSA 27A.8315. Had plaintiffs pled meritorious claims for injunctive relief, we believe it would have been in the interests of judicial economy for the circuit court to also address plaintiffs’ damage issues. We agree, however, that the circuit court properly denied all injunctive relief. Accordingly, any remaining issues concerning damages are properly addressed by the district court, as the amount in controversy will not exceed $10,000. MCL 600.641 and 600.8301(1); MSA 27A.641 and 27A.8301(1).
Lease ¶ 25 provides:
Rerental pees and damages. If you move from the apartment before the end of the term, you will pay us one half of one month’s rent as liquidated damages for the costs and administrative efforts we incur in attempting to rerent the apartment. You and we agree that this liquidated damages provision is a good faith and reasonable estimate of the costs and expenses we will incur if you vacate the apartment, and we attempt to rerent it. This liquidated damages provision is in addition to all other damages and remedies arising from your violation of the lease.
Lease ¶ 41 is a typed provision added at the lease’s end:
Additional provisions. We agree that the rent payment for the month of [crossed-out material] July, 1984, will be excused provided you fully perform all of the terms and conditions of this lease. If you breach amy [sic] terms of the lease, resulting in eviction or if you fail to stay the entire term of this lease, then this rent will be immediately due and payable.
We agree with the circuit court that ¶ 41 is not a penalty provision. The lease clearly provides that one year’s rent equals $4,800. Plaintiffs enjoyed the first month without having to pay rent at that time. Had plaintiffs stayed the entire term, defendants would have excused payment of that rent. It only became due when plaintiffs breached the lease. We do not address the issue of whether ¶ 25 is an unenforceable penalty provision, agreeing with the circuit court that the issue is inappropriate for summary disposition. That is a contract matter and any damages must be determined by the district court.
In Count i, however, plaintiffs also sought a declaration that the two lease provisions violated the mcpa and an injunction prohibiting defendants from continuing to use these provisions. The mcpa provides in part, MCL 445.911; MSA 19.418(11):
(1) Whether or not he seeks damages or has an adequate remedy at law, a person may bring an action to do either or both of the following:
(a) Obtain a declaratory judgment that a method, act, or practice is unlawful under section 3.
(b) Enjoin in accordance with the principles of equity a person who is engaging or is about to engage in a method, act, or practice which is unlawful under section 3.
(2) Except in a class action, a person who suffers loss as a result of a violation of this act may bring an action to recover actual damages or $250.00, whichever is greater, together with reasonable attorneys’ fees.
Plaintiffs also sought damages for defendants’ alleged violations of the mcpa. While we only address plaintiffs’ equitable claims, our conclusion that plaintiffs are not entitled to equitable relief because the lease provisions do not violate the mcpa would also appear to preclude damages under that act. Whether plaintiffs may be entitled to damages in district court under some other theory, however, such as the penalty provision theory noted above, is a matter to be decided in the district court.
In Count i, plaintiffs alleged violation of three subsections of the mcpa, MCL 445.903(l)(n), (t), and (w); MSA 19.418(3)(l)(n), (t), and (w):
(1) Unfair, unconscionable, or deceptive methods, acts or practices in the conduct of trade or commerce are unlawful and are defined as follows:
(n) Causing a probability of confusion or of misunderstanding as to the legal rights, obligations, or remedies of a party to a transaction.
(t) Entering into a consumer transaction in which the consumer waives or purports to waive a right, benefit, or immunity provided by law, unless the waiver is clearly stated and the consumer has specifically consented to it.
(w) Representing that a consumer will receive a rebate, discount, or other benefit as an inducement for entering into a transaction, if the benefit is contingent on an event to occur subsequent to the consummation of the transaction.
"Trade or commerce” as used in the mcpa includes real property leases. MCL 445.902(d); MSA 19.418(2)(d). Plaintiffs allege that both lease provisions violate subsections (n) and (t) and that ¶ 41 also violates subsection (w).
These lease provisions do not violate subsections (n) and (t) of the mcpa, even if ¶ 25 is ultimately found to be a penalty provision. Neither lease provision is ambiguous, confusing or misleading as to plaintiffs’ rights, obligations, or remedies. Nor do the lease provisions involve any sort of waiver, Paragraph 41 also does not violate subsection (w), which prohibits rebates or discounts contingent on events occurring subsequent to the consummation of the transaction. The lease involved an ongoing transaction for the duration of the lease term. During the first month, plaintiffs enjoyed use of the apartment without paying rent. The rent for the first month did not become owing until plaintiffs breached the lease. That breach, however, did not occur subsequent to the consummation of the ongoing transaction represented by the lease. The circuit court did not err in denying injunctive relief on these grounds under the mcpa.
In Count ii, plaintiffs allege that defendants included claims on the itemized damages list not permitted by the ltra, MCL 554.607; MSA 26.1138(7), which provides:
A security deposit may be used only for the following purposes:
(a) Reimburse the landlord for actual damages to the rental unit or any ancillary facility that are the direct result of conduct not reasonably expected in the normal course of habitation of a dwelling.
(b) Pay the landlord for all rent in arrearage under the rental agreement, rent due for premature termination of the rental agreement by the tenant and for utility bills not paid by the tenant.
Plaintiffs further allege that, by doing so, defendants violated subsection (n) of the mcpa by causing a probability of confusion or misunderstanding as to plaintiffs’ legal rights, obligations, or remedies.
This Court has held that, under certain circumstances, a violation of the ltra may also be a violation of the mcpa. See Smolen v Dahlmann Apartments, Ltd, 127 Mich App 108, 117-118; 338 NW2d 892 (1983), in which this Court concluded that a landlord who retained a portion of the security deposit for cleaning expenses in violation of the ltra also violated subsection (u) of the mcpa requiring prompt restoration of deposits pursuant to an agreement.
Plaintiffs’ security deposit, however, was only $100. Defendants’ itemized damage list included $173 prorated rent owing for June, 1985, due to plaintiffs’ premature termination. It was proper to apply the security deposit to these damages. See MCL 554.613(1); MSA 26.1138(13)(1). In the future, defendants should make it clearer what amounts are being offset against the security deposit. We do not believe, however, that defendants’ inclusion of other claimed damages on the itemized list misrepresented plaintiffs’ rights or created the probability of confusion when the security deposit was properly offset against damages permitted under the ltra. The trial court did not err in denying injunctive relief on this ground.
Count hi of plaintiffs’ complaint is essentially a damage claim under MCL 554.613(1); MSA 26.1138(13)(1), although plaintiffs have attempted to couch it in terms of equitable relief. The above discussion also indicates that the trial court did not err in granting summary disposition on that count, as defendants had a right to retain the $100 security deposit against the greater amount of rent owed to them.
Affirmed and remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. | [
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Shepherd, P.J.
Following a three-day trial, the jury returned a verdict of no cause of action in favor of defendant Delaware International Speedway (defendant). We affirm.
This is a slip-and-fall personal injury action. On July 1, 1978, plaintiff Ann Ferguson (plaintiff), and her grandson traveled to defendant’s race track in Delaware, Ontario, to watch her oldest son race. They arrived at approximately 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. and followed the flow of traffic to obtain a parking space.
After pulling into the race track area, plaintiff paid for parking at a ticket booth. She asked the attendant where to park and he replied, "Just pull right in here to the left, follow the rest of the cars.” Plaintiff parked her car in a gravel area located at the bottom of a hill. Afterwards, she asked the same attendant how to reach the grandstand and he stated, "Go up this hill; when you get up to the top of the hill you turn right and there will be a ticket booth there and then you will pay your admission and get in, the stands are up to the right of the hill.” Plaintiff, holding her grandson by the hand, proceeded up the hill with other spectators on both sides of her. It was broad daylight.
Plaintiff testified that the hill was rather steep, grassy, and patchy in spots. There was no designated path on the hill and plaintiff did not look around for another means of reaching the stands while walking up. It took her ten minutes to walk up the hill. Plaintiff testified that on the way up she did not notice the hill’s steepness.
At the top, plaintiff paid for admission and went into the stands. She watched the races and bought hot dogs and coffee, but no alcohol. The races ended at approximately 11:00 p.m. Plaintiff decided to return to her car and wait for her husband and two sons because the weather was getting colder.
Plaintiff left the grandstand and proceeded down the same way she had come up. When plaintiff reached the hill, however, there were no lights and the grass was wet and slippery. Plaintiff testified that the hill had approximately a forty-five-degree incline. Before going down the hill, she did not look for an alternate route to reach her car since it was dark. Plaintiff stated that there were no instructions to spectators leaving the stands.
While walking down the hill, plaintiff slipped and landed on her buttocks in a sitting position. She tried to stand up, but her right leg was hurting. Plaintiff scooted down the hill on her buttocks. At the bottom of the hill, plaintiff scooted herself to the car and waited inside for her family. While waiting for her family, plaintiff noticed that only one light post was near the entrance at the ticket booth and no other lights were on the hill.
When her family arrived at the car, plaintiff was transported by ambulance to London University Hospital where she received pain medication and was told she needed surgery. Plaintiff decided to undergo surgery at Mt. Carmel Hospital in Detroit.
Plaintiff underwent surgery and remained hospitalized for two weeks. A long cast was placed on her right leg. Plaintiff wore the cast for 2 to 2 Vi months and then wore a short leg cast for six weeks. Plaintiff returned to work sometime in 1979 and continues to work. Plaintiff testified that she suffers from pain in her ankle and back.
Carl Lave, president of defendant Speedway, testified that in 1978 he was in charge of running the concessions at the track and maintaining the grounds. He personally cut the grass at the track at least two or three times that summer. He noticed no irregularities on the hill such as holes or the like. Lave hired outside help to maintain the premises during the other times.
On cross-examination, Lave testified that no signs indicated parking areas and the hill had no lights other than the one near the booth. Lave was aware that people parked at the bottom of the hill. He stated that the hill had a twenty-degree incline. The hill had no sidewalk, but there were paths made in the grass where people had previously walked.
The jury returned a verdict of no cause of action in defendant’s favor. At the hearing on plaintiffs’ motion for a new trial, plaintiffs argued five grounds: (1) the verdict was against the great weight of the evidence; (2) defendant’s photographic evidence was improperly admitted; (3) the court erred in instructing the jury on comparative negligence; (4) the court erred in setting aside a previously entered default judgment against defendant, and (5) the costs assessed by the trial court were improper.
After hearing arguments, the trial court determined that the verdict was neither contrary to law nor against the great weight of the evidence, since the jury decided that defendant was not negligent. There was testimony that plaintiff had her grandson with her and the issue of whether plaintiffs or defendant’s conduct was the cause of the accident constituted a jury question. The trial court’s ruling was incorporated into an order.
GCR 1963, 527.1(5), now MCR 2.611(A)(1)(e), provided:
A new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues whenever their substantial rights are materially affected, for any of the following causes:
(5) That the verdict or decision is against the great weight of the evidence, or is contrary to law.
In Carden v General Motors Corp, 156 Mich App 202, 206; 401 NW2d 273 (1986), quoting May v Parke, Davis & Co, 142 Mich App 404, 410-411; 370 NW2d 371 (1985), this Court stated:
It is within the trial court’s sound discretion to grant or deny a motion for new trial. The standard of review is whether the jury’s verdict was against the overwhelming weight of evidence. A reviewing court affords deference to the trial judge’s decision since the trial judge, having heard the witnesses, is uniquely qualified to judge the jury’s assessment of their credibility. This Court will not substitute its judgment for that of the jury unless a review of the record reveals a miscarriage of justice.
In the instant case, the verdict was not against the great weight of the evidence. Plaintiffs’ evidence indicated that the hill was steep, dark, and unlit. While walking down the hill, plaintiff was holding her grandson’s hand and simply "slipped.” Defendant’s evidence revealed that the hill was not as steep as plaintiff claimed and the hill was not totally dark since there was a light near the booth and some lighting at the top of the hill. Furthermore, defendant’s president stated that the track grounds were kept up and the grass was mowed regularly. There were no defects or obstructions on the hill. There was even a path of sorts from patrons who had previously traversed the hill. We are unable to find that the verdict of no cause of action was against the great weight of the evidence. The jury apparently did not find that the nature of the hill or defendant’s acts or omissions constituted a breach of any duty. The jury may not have believed that the hill was as steep as plaintiff claimed. Thus, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by not granting plaintiffs a new trial on this ground.
Plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred by admitting certain photographs. This Court has held that the decision of a trial court concerning the admissibility of evidence will not be disturbed on appeal unless that decision is clearly erroneous. People v McKinney, 88 Mich App 715, 720-721; 278 NW2d 728 (1979). Other panels have stated that the standard of review is for an abuse of discretion. See, e.g., Gagnon v Dresser Industries Corp, 130 Mich App 452, 463; 344 NW2d 582 (1983), aff'd 424 Mich 166 (1985). Errors in the admission or exclusion of evidence shall not be disturbed on appeal unless "refusal to take this action appears to the court inconsistent with substantial justice.” MCR 2.613(A).
As a general premise, evidence must be relevant before it may be admitted. Relevancy is defined in MRE 401:
"Relevant evidence” means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.
Questions of relevance are left to the discretion of the trial court. McClaine v Alger, 150 Mich App 306, 314; 388 NW2d 349 (1986). MRE 403 provides, however:
Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.
Specifically, the introduction of photographs into evidence is a matter of discretion with the trial judge. Kolcon v Smewing, 28 Mich App 237, 242; 184 NW2d 244 (1970), lv den 384 Mich 830 (1971). Before a photograph may be admitted into evidence, it must satisfy MRE 901, which provides in pertinent part:
(a) General provision. The requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.
(b) Illustrations. By way of illustration only, and not by way of limitation, the following are examples of authentication of identification conforming with the requirements of this rule:
(1) Testimony of witness with knowledge. Testimony that a matter is what it is claimed to be.
The introduction of photographs simulating a previously existing situation is a matter within the trial court’s discretion. Birkhill v Todd, 20 Mich App 356, 363; 174 NW2d 56 (1969). Where an abuse of discretion is claimed, the central test is whether the photographs present a reasonable or faithful reproduction of the scene as it existed at the time of the accident. Kaminski v Wayne Co Road Comm’rs, 370 Mich 389, 395-399; 121 NW2d 830 (1963). The photographer is not needed for authentication. As long as a witness admits that a photograph is a fair representation of what is shown, it is properly admitted to be given whatever weight the jury deems is due. Williams v Fiedlar, 22 Mich App 179, 185; 177 NW2d 461 (1970), aff'd 386 Mich 221; 191 NW2d 52 (1971).
Plaintiffs objected to the introduction of the photographs on the basis of relevancy, arguing that they did not accurately depict the area where plaintiff fell. The trial court admitted the photographs, not to depict the place where plaintiff fell, but to show that there were less steep areas on the hill than where plaintiff had traversed.
We believe that, although the photographs were not relevant to show where plaintiff fell, they were relevant to show that there were less steep areas of the hill in an effort to attribute fault for the accident to plaintiff. The photographs were not prejudicial since they merely presented the area and were not inflammatory. Furthermore, the photographs were properly authenticated since Lave testified that they accurately represented the area as it existed in 1978. Although the photographs depicted less steep areas, the jury could as easily have believed plaintiff’s testimony that the hill was much steeper where she was walking, but apparently chose not to accept her version. We find no error.
Plaintiffs next argue that the trial court erred in instructing the jury. One of the instructions concerned plaintiff’s duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances. In Jaworski v Great Scott Supermarkets, Inc, 403 Mich 689, 697; 272 NW2d 518 (1978), the Supreme Court stated:
It is axiomatic that it is error to submit to the jury an instruction on an issue not sustained by the evidence. Susich v Michigan Consolidated Gas Co, 292 Mich 612; 291 NW 26 (1940). See also Sakorraphos v Eastman Kodak Stores, Inc, 367 Mich 96; 116 NW2d 227 (1962), Winchester v Meads, 372 Mich 593; 127 NW2d 337 (1964), GCR 1963, 516.7, and SJI 20.01.
Further, in People v Dye, 356 Mich 271, 279; 96 NW2d 788 (1959), cert den 361 US 935 (1960), our Supreme Court enunciated the standard of review for jury instructions, stating that it was improper for the appellant to extract several short excerpts from the entire context of the instructions and discuss their claimed inadequacies at length. The Court stated that jury instructions in criminal and civil cases must be read in their entirety.
We believe that the evidence warranted the comparative negligence instruction. Plaintiff’s testimony indicated no reason why she fell on the hill, such as a hole or the like. Although she stated that the hill was dark and steep and that the grass was dewy, she could have just as easily fallen from her own doing, i.e., while distracted by her grandson or looking for her car.
Defendant argues that, even if the instruction was erroneous, the error was harmless, citing Pelley v Peterbilt Motors Co, 133 Mich App 664, 667; 350 NW2d 787 (1984), in which this Court stated that reversal is not to be granted where the absence of the alleged error would not have changed the result. In Pelley, plaintiff appealed from the trial court’s ruling denying him the opportunity to apply Michigan’s comparative negligence law rather than Ohio’s contributory negligence standard to the case. This Court affirmed, stating that, even if the trial court’s ruling was erroneous, the error was harmless since the jury never reached the comparative or contributory negligence issue, as the special verdict form indicated that the jury found defendant not negligent. 133 Mich App at 666-667. See also Cornforth v Borman’s, Inc, 148 Mich App 469; 385 NW2d 645 (1986).
Similarly, the jury in this case found defendant not negligent on a special verdict form. The jury was told that it need not reach any of the other questions on the verdict form if the answer to the first question, whether defendant was negligent, was "No.” Thus, even if the instruction was erroneous, we believe that the error was harmless after reviewing the instructions in their entirety.
On October 3, 1983, defendant moved to set aside a previously entered default judgment. At the hearing on January 14, 1984, it was discovered that in May, 1981, the trial court had entered a default judgment against defendant for failure to answer plaintiffs’ first amended complaint. The May, 1981, default was apparently never set aside. At this hearing, the trial court set aside the default judgment.
GCR 1963, 520.4, now MCR 2.603(D), provided:
For good cause shown the court may set aside an entry of default and, if a judgment by default has been entered, may likewise set it aside in accordance with Rule 528. If personal service was made upon the party against whom the default was taken, it shall not be set aside unless application to have it set aside is made either before the entry of judgment or within 4 months after the default was regularly filed or entered except as provided in Rule 528. Any order setting aside such default shall be conditioned upon the party against whom the default was taken paying the taxable costs incurred by the other party in reliance upon the default, except as prescribed in subrule 526.8. Other conditions may be imposed as the court deems proper. A proceeding to set aside default or a default judgment, except when grounded on want of jurisdiction over the defendant, shall be granted only if good cause is shown and an affidavit of facts showing a meritorious defense is filed.
The decision to set aside a default judgment is a decision within the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed on appeal absent a clear abuse of discretion. Yenglin v Mazur, 121 Mich App 218, 221; 328 NW2d 624 (1982).
In Novi Construction, Inc v Triangle Excavating Co, 102 Mich App 586, 589; 302 NW2d 244 (1980), this Court discussed the requirements of GCR 1963, 520.4:
"[A] default 'may’ be set aside only when three conditions are all fulfilled. First, good cause for failure to make timely response must be shown. Second, a meritorious defense must be established. Third, the showing of a meritorious defense must be based on an 'affidavit of facts.’ GCR 1963, 520.4. Whether these three conditions are fulfilled is a matter within the discretion of the trial judge. Walters v Arenac Circuit Judge (1966), 377 Mich 37, 47 [138 NW2d 751]; Freeman v Remley (1970), 23 Mich App 441 [178 NW2d 816].”
Good cause sufficient to warrant setting aside a default judgment includes: (1) a substantial defect or irregularity in the proceedings upon which the default was based; (2) a reasonable excuse for failure to comply with requirements that created the default; or (3) some other reason showing that manifest injustice would result if the default judgment were allowed to stand. Glasner v Griffin, 102 Mich App 445, 448; 301 NW2d 889 (1980). An affidavit of fact showing a meritorious defense must be filed before a default may be set aside for good cause. Thomas v Jones, 120 Mich App 191, 194; 327 NW2d 433 (1982). Good cause and the affidavit are required since the policy of this state is generally against setting aside defaults and default judgments that have been properly entered. Glasner, supra at 448.
The trial judge set aside the default judgment since he felt it would be manifestly unjust to allow a default to stand under the circumstances. Defendant had failed to answer because plaintiffs did not serve the first amended complaint upon defendant’s attorneys once they had filed a notice of appearance. We hold that defendant has shown good cause for setting aside the default. Defendant filed an affidavit showing the meritorious defense. The trial court’s ruling was not an abuse of discretion.
Finally, plaintiffs object to the assessment of $629.50 in costs against plaintiffs. These included $311 for an examination of plaintiff Ann Ferguson by Dr. William Kohen, an expert retained by defendant, a $225 witness fee for Dr. Kohen, and $93.50 for the cost of taking Dr. Kohen’s deposition. It appears that, after Dr. Kohen examined plaintiff and was deposed, defendant determined not to introduce Dr. Kohen’s testimony at trial, apparently concluding that it was favorable to plaintiffs. Consequently, plaintiffs introduced Dr. Kohen’s deposition testimony in their case in chief. The court awarded the above sums to defendant on the theory that plaintiffs had utilized defendant’s expert after defendant had paid for his services.
Defendant, as the prevailing party, was entitled to costs as a matter of course under then-applicable GCR 1963, 526.1, now MCR 2.625. The power to tax costs is wholly statutory. Costs are not recoverable where no statutory authority exists for awarding them. Brown v Dep’t of State Highways, 126 Mich App 392, 396; 337 NW2d 76 (1983). MCL 600.2405; MSA 27A.2405 permits an award of witness fees and "[mjatters specially made taxable elsewhere in the statutes or rules.”
Plaintiffs were permitted to use Dr. Kohen’s deposition under GCR 1963, 302.4(3), now MCR 2.308(A)(1)(c). We are unable to locate any specific statute or court rule covering the treatment of expenses in this situation. This is not a typical cost assessment situation, however. We believe an analogous situation was presented in Roe v Cherry-Burrell Corp, 28 Mich App 42; 184 NW2d 350 (1970), in which the defendant sought to depose the plaintiffs expert witness. In holding that the defendant should be allowed to do so, this Court required that the defendant pay the expert for his time to avoid the unfairness of allowing the defendant to obtain information without expense from an expert hired by the plaintiff. The Court’s conclusion was based in part on GCR 1963, 306.2, now MCR 2.302(C), which provided comprehensive powers to enter protective orders regulating depositions.
The holding in Roe was subsequently embodied in MCR 2.302(B)(4), which provides in part:
(4) Trial Preparation; Experts. Discovery of facts known and opinions held by experts, otherwise discoverable under the provisions of subrule (B)(1) and acquired or developed in anticipation of litigation or for trial, may be obtained only as follows:
(a) (ii) A party may take the deposition of a person whom the other party expects to call as an expert witness at trial.
(iii) On motion, the court may order further discovery by other means, subject to such restrictions as to scope and such provisions (pursuant to subrule [B][4][c]) concerning fees and expenses as the court deems appropriate.
(b) A party may discover facts known or opinions held by an expert who has been retained or specially employed by another party in anticipation of litigation or preparation for trial and who is not expected to be called as a witness at trial, only as provided in MCR 2.311(B) or on a showing of exceptional circumstances under which it is impracticable for the party seeking discovery to obtain facts or opinions on the same subject by other means.
(c) Unless manifest injustice would result
(i) the court shall require that the party seeking discovery under subrules (B)(4)(a)(ii) or (iii) or (B)(4)(b) pay the expert a reasonable fee for time spent in a deposition, but not including preparation time; and
(ii) with respect to discovery obtained under subrule (B)(4)(a)(ii) or (iii), the court may require, and with respect to discovery obtained under sub-rule (B)(4)(b) the court shall require, the party seeking discovery to pay the other party a fair portion of the fees and expenses reasonably incurred by the latter party in obtaining facts and opinions from the expert.
In commenting upon the provisions of subrule (B)(4)(c), 2 Martin, Dean & Webster, Michigan Court Rules Practice (3d ed), p 182, notes that "Michigan has long recognized that to permit one party to acquire what another party has paid for without compensation, or to require one party to pay for a deposition requested by the other is patently unfair.”
The situation in this case is perhaps somewhat unusual. The court rules cited above generally contemplate payment of these expenses prior to the taking of the deposition. We see no reason to so limit the application of the rationale in Roe, however. GCR 1963, 306.2, upon which Roe relied, authorized any "order which justice requires to protect the party or witness from annoyance, undue expense, embarrassment, or oppression.” This provision has been carried forward into MCR 2.302(C).
In the instant case, the expenses requested by defendant all related to obtaining an expert opinion from Dr. Kohen which defendant chose not to use but which plaintiffs used at trial. We believe the order entered was not so much a typical taxation of statutory costs as an order requiring plaintiffs to pay those expenses of using Dr. Kohen’s testimony which justice and fairness required that plaintiffs pay. We find no abuse of discretion.
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Bushnell, J.
The decree of the trial court in this foreclosure of a trust mortgage permits the trustee, if it becomes the purchaser at the foreclosure sale, to bid in the mortgaged premises without paying cash or depositing mortgage bonds. The decree states:
“If said trustee, or any successor in trust, shall be the purchaser at said sale, it shall not be required to have in its possession or to present to the circuit court commissioner conducting said sale any bonds and coupons, nor shall it be required to pay any sum in cash except the costs and expenses of said sale, and the remaining purchase price may be paid by crediting the balance of such purchase price on the indebtedness herein decreed to be due in the same amounts and with the same priorities as though the balance of such purchase price had been paid in cash by a third party and such cash paid to said trustee pursuant to the provisions hereof.”
Appellants claim that the court was in error in this particular.
It is also claimed that the court erred in failing to limit the time within which the mortgaged premises may be sold. The decree states:
“It is hereby further ordered, adjudged and decreed that the defendants, or either of them, pay, or cause to be paid, to the plaintiff, or to its attorneys, on or before the 15th day of December, 1935, the sums so mentioned aforesaid and decreed to be due to the plaintiff, with interest thereon at the rate of 7 per centum per annum from the date of this decree, and the costs of the plaintiff in this suit to be taxed according to law; and that in default thereof all and singular the mortgaged premises and property mentioned in the bill of complaint in this cause and hereinafter described be sold at public auction by or under the direction of a circuit court commissioner of this county, at any time after the 15th day of December, 1935.”
The contractual rights and liabilities of the parties cannot be implied; they must be found in the trust indenture. See 3 Comp. Laws 1929, §§ 13281, 13282 and 13309.
Article 9 of the trust instrument has to do with foreclosure, sale and distribution. Section 5 thereof reads in part:
“At any such sale any bondholders or coupon holders or any committee or trustee appointed by them or a part of them, or the trustee or any successor in trust herein named may bid for and purchase said mortgaged premises or any part thereof. The purchaser at any such sale shall be entitled in making settlement or payment for the property purchased, to use and apply any bonds and any matured and unpaid coupons hereby secured, by presenting such bonds and/or coupons in order that there may be credited thereon the sum apportionable and applicable to the payment thereof, out of the net proceeds of such sale; and thereupon such purchaser shall be credited on account of such purchase price payable by him, with the sum apportionable and applicable out of such net proceeds to the payment of the bonds and coupons so presented; provided, however, that in all cases’the purchaser or purchasers shall pay in money a sufficient sum to cover the items referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of . section 4 of this article. ’ ’
The last mentioned subparagraphs have to do with costs and expenses, etc.
Appellee says:
“The power of the trustee to purchase the property for the benefit of all bondholders and to make payment of its bid by'applying the amount due on the mortgage indebtedness is contained in section 5 of article 9 and in the second sentence of section 2 of article 10, when this section and this sentence are read together and construed in the light of the entire mortgage.”
In order to read the second sentence of section 2 of article 10 in its own setting, we quote all of sections 1 and 2 and a portion of section 3, italicizing the language relied upon hy the trustee:
“Liabilities, duties, powers and rights of the trustee.
‘ ‘ Section 1. The recitals contained herein and in the bonds issued hereunder shall be understood as made solely by the grantor and not as made or vouched for by the trustee. The trustee shall have no responsibility for the validity of the lien of this indenture or the execution or acknowledgment thereof, nor as to the title, value or extent of the security afforded hereby, and shall be under no obligation to see to the recording, registration, filing or refiling of this instrument, or any instrument of further assurance, or to the giving of any notice thereof, or to see that any of the property intended now or thereafter to be conveyed in trust hereunder is subjected to the lien hereof or to see to the use or application of the bonds or their proceeds.
‘£ Sec. 2. The trustee shall not be under any obligation to recognize any person, firm or corporation as the holder or owner of any of the bonds secured hereby, or to do or refrain from doing any act pursuant to the request of any person, firm or corporation, professing to be or claiming to be such holder or owner, until such supposed holder or owner shall produce the said bonds and deposit the same with the trustee in the respective cases and instances herein required and specified. But all powers and rights of action hereunder may be exercised and enforced at all times by the trustee, at its election, without the possession or production of any of said bonds or coupons, or proof of ownership thereof at any time tvhatsoever. The trustee shall not he answerable for the default or misconduct of any agent or attorney employed by it in and about the execution of this trust if such agent or attorney shall have been selected with reasonable care. The trustee shall not be personally liable for any debts contracted by it nor for damages to persons or property incurred by it nor for damages to persons or property of any kind whatsoever, or for salaries or nonfulfillment of contracts during any period wherein it shall manage the trust estate or premises upon entry, but all of the same shall be a charge upon the trust estate.
‘ ‘ Sec. 3. The trustee shall not be in any way liable for the consequence of any breach of the covenants herein contained, or for any act done or anything omitted hereunder by the grantor, and in no event shall the trustee be liable to any bondholder, except for gross negligence or wilful misconduct or neglect. It shall be no part of the duty of the trustee to effect or collect insurance against fire or other damage on any portion of said premises,” etc.
It is not contended by appellee that the mortgage foreclosure statutes (3 Comp. Laws 1929, §§ 1436L-14380), as amended, contain any language authorizing the trustee to purchase the mortgaged premises at the foreclosure sale, without having in its possession or presenting “to the circuit court commissioner conducting said sale any bonds and coupons.”
Appellee suggests that the answer to the following question is decisive:
“Is the plaintiff trustee authorized by the trust deed and the bonds to bid for and purchase the mortgaged property for and on behalf of all of the bondholders, and to make payment of its bid (except for costs and expenses of sale) by applying all or any part of the mortgage debt in payment of its bid with out having in its possession any of the bonds, and to thereby satisfy the debt evidenced by the bonds to the extent of the trustee’s bid without credit therefor being actually indorsed upon the bonds'?”
In answer thereto appellants say:
“Defendants contend that even if the trust mortgage contains the express power authorizing the plaintiff trustee to bid for and purchase the mortgaged properties without the use of bonds (which defendants do not admit), the lower court had no right or jurisdiction to enforce such power in the present equity foreclosure proceedings.
“To clarify defendants’ contentions, defendants suggest the further question:
“In this statutory foreclosure proceeding, did the lower court,have either the right, power or jurisdiction to enter the decree in this case authorizing the plaintiff trustee to bid for and purchase the mortgaged premises without cash or bonds, even though express power so to do was conferred upon the trustee in the trust mortgage ? ’ ’
None of the meticulous details of article 9, § 5 suggests that the parties presumed that the trustee, if the purchaser, would use any token of payment other than cash or bonds, etc. On the contrary, the intent of the parties is indicated by the following language of this section:
“The purchaser at any such sale shall be entitled in making settlement or payment for the property purchased, to use and apply any bonds and any matured and unpaid coupons hereby secured, by presenting 'such bonds and/or coupons in order that there may be credited thereon the sum apportionable and applicable to the payment thereof, out of the net proceeds of such sale, ’ ’ etc.
Had the parties intended that the purchase would be made “without the possession or production of any of said bonds or coupons, or proof of ownership thereof,” the natural place to state such intention would be in article 9, § 5.
The language of section 2 of article 10, which the trustee now claims gives it power to purchase the mortgaged premises, at the foreclosure sale, merely by the execution and delivery of a receipt for the mortgage indebtedness, is italicized in our quotation of this section. It is to be noted that the statement is preceded by the word “but,” thereby connecting the thought contained therein with that which immediately precedes. This section 2 of article 10 requires all parties other than the trustee to produce and deposit their bonds before it shall be incumbent upon the trustee to do or refrain from doing any act in their behalf. However, the trustee may act under the trust deed without being required to prove its authority to act for the bondholders. The word “but,” as used in this manner, “is an appropriate term to indicate the intention of those who use it to limit or restrain the sense or effect of something which had before been said, or to indicate a proviso, condition, qualification, or exception. ” 9 C. J. p. 1106.
The word “but,” so used, is a conjunction “expressing opposition, contradiction, antithesis, exception, discrepancy, limitation, condition.” Webster’s New International Dictionary (2d Ed.).
We are mindful that the language of a mortgage is to be construed most favorably for the mortgagee (Stuart v. Worden, 42 Mich. 154), but we are also mindful of the superabundance of words in trust mortgages which, in part at least, arise out of the desire of scriveners to relieve trustees from all acts excepting their own wilful defaults.
The language of this instrument is illustrative:
“The trustee shall not he liable for any error of judgment nor for any act done or step taken or omitted nor for any mistakes of fact or law, nor for anything which it may do or refrain from doing in good faith, nor generally, shall it have any accountability hereunder except for its own wilful default.”
We apprehend that neither party contemplated that the sentence which begins with the conjunction “but” would be lifted from'the context of its paragraph and read into another article which provides for the terms of purchase, and by such transfusion or grafting process, give added vigor to the carefully chosen language of section 5. Standing alone, the language of section 5 does not provide for purchase by the trustee in the manner permitted by the decree. The rules of construction of mortgages do not require adherence “to literal terms in derogation of the interior sense of the transaction. Equity regards substance rather than form, and asserts and enforces the end actually aimed at, if lawful and just.” Stuart v. Worden, supra.
This appeal in equity is a trial de novo and in order to determine the matter, it is necessary to examine the applicable authorities and statutes, and the record. The record in the appeal before us consists only of the pleadings, orders, decree and the trust deed.
This “trust deed,” in form, is a stranger to Michigan. It was suggested on oral argument that it was in g-eneral use in Illinois and we are urged by appellee to apply the interpretation given to similar instruments as found in Kitchen Bros. Hotel Co. v. Omaha Safe Deposit Co., 126 Neb. 744 (254 N. W. 507), and Straus v. Chicago Title & Trust Co., 273 Ill. App. 63. Appellants say the case last cited is sharply attacked in 29 Illinois Law Review for 1934-1935 at page 218, and further points out that the Nebraska court said:
“While there is a diversity of opinion, the great weight of authority undoubtedly establishes the legality of such procedure,” citing Straus v. Chicago Title & Trust Co., supra.
The available authorities were considered by the appellate court of the first district of Illinois, in Straus v. Chicago Title & Trust Co., supra, in which case the trust deed provided that in case of foreclosure sale, the trustee might purchase the property “without the possession or production of any of such bonds and coupons or proof of ownership thereof.” In discussing the legal effect of its decision that court said:
“We are in accord with the reasoning of the courts in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Kansas and Iowa rather than with the Federal court and the Supreme Court of Michigan.”
The Colorado supreme court in Cosmopolitan Hotel, Inc., v. Colorado National Bank, 96 Col. 62 (40 Pac. [2d] 245, 96 A. L. R. 1446), analyzed the foregoing authorities and pointed out that the Kitchen Bros, and Straus Cases are in conflict with Werner, Harris & Buck v. Equitable Trust Co. (C. C. A.) 35 Fed. (2d) 513, and Detroit Trust Co. v. Stormfeltz-Loveley Co., 257 Mich. 655 (88 A. L. R. 1263).
The “trust deed” in question must be interpreted by and enforced under the laws of Michigan, Stack v. Detour Lumber & Cedar Co., 151 Mich. 21, 29 (16 L. R. A. [N. S.] 616, 14 Ann. Cas. 112).
We have recognized the power of contracting parties to agree upon covenants in mortgages contrary to traditional practice, but we have said in such instances that, while “a court of equity may enforce specifically such an engagement * * * yet such power should be exercised with a full recognition of the settled policy of this State, and should not be exercised except in a case where the right is clearly given by the engagement of the party.” Michigan Trust Co. v. Lansing Lumber Co., 103 Mich. 392, 402, and Mutual Benefit Life Ins. Co. v. Wetsman, 277 Mich. 322, 327, 328.
The settled policy of this State is fully discussed in Detroit Trust Co. v. Stormfeltz-Loveley Co., supra, cf., in which we passed upon some of the provisions of Act No. 111, Pub. Acts 1931; since that decision the legislature' has enacted Act No. 210, Pub. Acts 1933.
We said in Detroit Trust Co. v. Stormfeltz-Loveley Co., supra:
“We are not in accord with the decision in Nay Aug Lumber Co. v. Scranton Trust Co., 240 Pa. 500 (87 Atl. 843, Ann. Cas. 1915A, 235), which fully supports plaintiff’s contentions. In Werner, Harris & Buck v. Equitable Trust Co. (C. C. A.), 35 Fed. (2d) 513, the reasoning of Nay Aug Lumber Co. v. Scranton Trust Co., supra, is held untenable. We have examined with great care Colorado & Southern R. Co. v. Blair, 214 N. Y. 497 (108 N. E. 840, Ann. Cas. 1916D, 1177); Sage v. Railroad Co., 99 U. S. 334; Gilfillan v. Union Canal Co., 109 U. S. 401 (3 Sup. Ct. 304); and Canada Southern R. Co. v. Gebhard, 109 U. S. 527 (3 Sup. Ct. 363), as well as other cases cited by counsel, and they are not at all controlling in the controversy at bar. The bondholders are entitled to receive what their contract provided for, and cannot be compelled to take in lieu thereof a beneficial interest in a trust uncertain as to time and outcome, and not contemplated by the indenture.”
The intent of the parties at the time the agreement was made, as gathered from the entire instrument, controls despite literal terms in derogation of the interior sense of the transaction. It is difficult to assume from the terms of the instrument before us, that at the time the contract was made, the clear intent of the parties was that the trustee would, upon foreclosure, step into the shoes of the mortgagor, and operate the mortgaged premises in the mortgagor’s stead. The decree merely substitutes the management of the trustee for that of the mortgagor, and, so far as the bondholders are concerned, it amounts to specific performance of a claimed right of possession without actual sale.
As was said in Chicago Title & Trust Co. v. Robin, 361 Ill. 261, 266 (198 N. E. 4):
‘ ‘ The powers granted to a trustee in a deed of trust are not liberally construed and their exercise must be consonant with the terms of that instrument. (Iowa Light; Heat & Power Co. v. First National Bank of Boston, 250 Mass. 353, 145 N. E. 433.) Those powers, furthermore, exist only in the terms creating the trust and no others. (2 Perry on Trusts and Trustees [7th Ed.], § 602g, p. 1027.) Since the contract was carefully drawn and made provision for many contingencies, it may safely be presumed that none of the parties intended that something in addition to its provisions should govern the trustee. This court does not have the power to import into a contract other or additional provisions. To do so would be making a new contract for the parties. (Burt v. Garden City Sand Co., 237 Ill. 473 [86 N.E. 1055].) We cannot construe a contract along the line of what we might believe would be a better contract for the parties to make, as equity vests no wide discretion in the chancellor such as would permit him to disturb contract rights of property. (Merchants Loan & Trust Co. v. Chicago Railways Co. (C. C. A.), 158 Fed. 923.”
Our view, as herein set forth, compels us to hold that the sentence of section 2 of article 10, relied upon by appellee, applies only to the rights of the trustee to foreclose, to collect insurance, to complete the building’ on the default of the mortgagor, etc., and was not intended to permit the trustee to claim representation for nondepositing bondholders, and, by a purchase under such assumption, compel all bondholders to become tenants in common under the direction and guidance of the trustee for a time not limited by the instrument or to be made compulsory beneficiaries under a trust thus established.
We conclude that the power to purchase on the part of the trustee "without the possession or production of any of said bonds or coupons or proof of ownership thereof” is not given by the engagement of the parties.
There remains to be considered appellants’ claim that it was the duty of the court to fix the time of sale so as to protect the rights of all parties interested, and to make the sale most profitable to all, and that in directing a sale ‘ ‘ at any time after the 15th day of December, 1935,” the trial judge failed to perform that duty. Appellants argue that under the instant decree, the trustee is permitted to exercise "unbridled discretion” as to the time when the sale shall be held so long as it is after the date mentioned.
Section 14365, 3 Comp. Laws 1929, does not require a circuit judge to fix the time of sale, but a limitation is imposed therein that the decree shall not "order any lands to be sold within six months after the filing of the bill of foreclosure.” This question raised by appellants seems to be new as far as the decisions of this State are concerned, except for dictum in Redfield v. Reid, 148 Mich. 545. In that ease, the plaintiff held a mortgage on parcels A and B and cross-plaintiff held a junior mortgage on parcel B on which it had already obtained a decree of foreclosure. Defendants insisted for the first time on appeal that the cross-plaintiff should be “relegated to its decree of foreclosure and sale in the original case and be decreed to take steps to sell at once. ’ ’ The court pointed out that since the claim was not set up in the answer nor asserted in the court below, it could not be made in the appellate court, and said:
“If, however, the point were properly made, it could not be sustained. It is not in the power of the mortgagor to say when the mortgagee under his decree shall sell. Neither is it in the power of the courts. ’ ’
This case is included in the annotations in 103 A. L. R. 1441, where the above section is described as admittedly dictum. The annotation of the case therein reported, Cleveland Trust Co. v. Capitol Theatre Co., 117 W. Va. 1 (183 S. E. 457), indicates that although “a mortgagee has obtained a decree of sale, he may ordinarily delay indefinitely the actual execution of the decree, even though the mortgage contains no provision therefor.”
We hold that the question of when the sale is to be made under a foreclosure in equity is within the sound discretion of the trial judge.
If there were any facts bearing upon this question that the parties believed would have appealed to the sound discretion of the trial judge in fixing the time of sale, such testimony should have been brought to the court’s attention. Thus included in the record, the determination could have been reviewed. The record is silent on this question and for decision, we have only the arguments of counsel, with nothing further upon which to base a review of the trial judge’s conclusion as expressed in the decree. We are, therefore, constrained to approve this portion of the decree.
In view of these conclusions, the remaining questions raised by the appeal are not important at this time.
The decree is vacated and the cause remanded for such further proceedings as may be necessary in order that the trial court may enter an amended decree not inconsistent with this opinion. Costs to appellants.
Fead, C. J., and North, Butxel, Sharpe, and Chandler, JJ., concurred with Bushnell, J. | [
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Morse, C. J.
On the 9th day of November, 1882, the defendant executed and delivered to the plaintiff an agreement, of which the following is a copy:
“ 1 have this day received of F. A. Blackmar a note signed by himself and John B. Price, constituting the firm of F. A. Plackmar & Co., for the sum of $20,000, which note is secured by a mortgage, and is payable to the order of Cornelius Cornwell. I agree to take said note and mortgage, and obtain from Cornelius Cornwell the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, and his receipt for five thousand dollars, as payment on such note, and when obtained I am to pay Cornwell, Price & Co. the amount due them of F. A. Blackmar, and of the firm of F. A. Blackmar & Co., on adjustment of accounts as shown on the books of Cornwell, Price & Co. and said F. A. Blackmar and F. A. Blackmar & Co.; the balance of said fifteen thousand dollars, after such payments, is by me to be paid to said F. A. Blackmar ; also said receipt is to be handed to said Blackmar. Should said sum of money not be by me obtained on said note and mortgage within ten days, the same are to be returned to said F. A. Blackmar.
Clark Cornwell.
Dated Detroit, November 9, 1882.”
The defendant received the $15,000, and with the plaintiff set about the adjustment of the accounts mentioned in the agreement. After working at the books a short time, a disagreement arose between them, and they proceeded no further with the matter. On the 17th day of November, in the same year, the defendant paid the whole sum of $15,000 over to Cornwell, Price & Co., who credited $3000 of the same to F. A. Blackmar & Co., and the balance ($12,000) to F. A. Blackmar. Not long after, the plaintiff asked defendant why he did not pay the money over to Cornwell, Price & Co., and pay the balance to plaintiff after these accounts were paid. Defendant replied that he had already paid the whole sum to them, and that there was nothing coming to plaintiff. November 27th, 1882, Cornwell, Price efe Co. made a common-law assignment of all their property for the benefit of their creditors; Cornwell, Price & Co. being the corporate name of a corporation duly organized under the laws of this State. December 14th, 1882, the plaintiff commenced this action in assumpsit against the defendant by summons, and afterwards declaring on the common counts for $15,000, and filing a bill of particulars which defined the plaintiff’s cause of action to be for moneys received by defendant of Cornelius Corn-well for the use and benefit of plaintiff, and interest thereon. Defendant pleaded the general issue. The case involved a long accounting, and was, by consent, referred to a referee. The referee made and reported his finding of facts in the case, and also his conclusions of law upon the same. Exceptions were taken to his findings of law, and sustained in part by the circuit judge, who entered a judgment for plaintiff of $3988. The defendant brings error.
The only matter in controversy between the parties affected by the action of the circuit judge, or really in dispute between them, regards the disposition of ten promissory notes, amounting to $6718.86, in the accounting between them. These notes were given under the following circumstances as found by the referee. They were given by Cornwell, Price, & Co. to F. A. Blackmar & Co. under the supposition, at the date of each, that the corporation was indebted to F. A. Blaekmar & Co., and received under the same idea.' "When so given and received it was intended b3r all parties that the notes should be charged against F. A. Blaekmar & Co. on the books of the corporation, and that, as each became due, it should be paid by Cornwell, Price & Co. The notes were so charged upon the books before the payment of the $15,000 by the defendant to Cornwell, Price & Co. The notes were indorsed by F. A. Blacpmar & Co. after receiving them, and negotiated to third persons, who held them at the time of the assignment. The corporation failing to pay them as agreed at maturity, the plaintiff took them up, paying the face of them, except in the case of six of them, upon which he paid the face of the notes, less the dividend paid by the assignee of the corporation to the holders, said dividends amounting in all to $1533.84. The plaintiff claimed before the referee that as these notes were charged against F. A. Blaekmar & Co. upon the books of Cornwell, Price & Co., and Cornwell, Price & Co. had not paid them at maturity, and his firm had to take them up, and received no benefit from them "in the accounting, they should be also credited to F. A. Blaekmar & Co., leaving the accounts standing as if the notes had never been made. The referee refused to do this, and found, as a conclusion of law, that there was nothing due the plaintiff. The circuit judge, upon hearing the exceptions, took a different view, and allowed the credit of these notes to plaintiff.
There was another note of $620.51 given and received under the same circumstances as the ten which plaintiff also claimed should have been credited, which was not allowed by the referee. It is not clear from the record, except the amount of judgment, what action the circuit judge took in relation to this note, but we see no reason why it should not have been credited to plaintiff with the others.
It is claimed by counsel for defendant that plaintiff could not be credited with these notes in this action because he did not take any of them up until after commencement of suit; but it must bo remembered that these notes were not proper charges against F. A. Blaekmar & Co. until paid by Corn-well, Price & Co.; that plaintiff, when attempting to adjust the accounts on the books with defendant, insisted that his firm should not be charged with them; that whether the notes were still, at the time this agreement was made, in the hands of F. A. Blackmar & Oo., or had been negotiated by them as indorsers, to allow them to stand charged in favor of Corn-well, Price & Co., without a corresponding credit to F. A. Blackmar & Co., would be simply putting the amount of them into the pocket of the corporation without any benefit to Blackmar & Co., which was not evidently the intention of any of the parties when they were issued by the corporation and received by plaintiff’s firm.
The referee found the whole credits of Corn-well, Price & Co. against F. A.. Blackmar and F. A. Blackmar & Go. to be the sum of $95,576 26
The charges of Blackmar and Blackmar & Co. allowed by him against Cornwell, P. & Co., 76,587 96
Leaving balance due C., P. & Co., - $18,991 30
Applying the - - - 15,000 00
Left still a debt of $3,991 30
The circuit judge found a balance in favor of the plaintiff .of $3,348.07, and adding interest from November 19, 1882, io date of judgment, August 11th, 18S5, made the sum of $3988.
It is evident from this finding that he allowed the plaintiff, in addition to the ten notes, the note of $620.51 heretofore spoken of, as follows:
Cornwell, Price & Co. credits, - - $95,576 26
Blackmar, and F. A. B. & Co., - - 76,587 96
Balance, - $ IS,991 30
Deduct ten notes, - '6,718 86
Balance, - $12,272 44
Deduct note, - 620 51
$11,651 93
Credit F. A. B., - - - - 15,000 00
Balance in favor plaintiff, - - $3,348 07
"We think this correct under the finding of facts by the referee, excepting that inasmuch as the plaintiff has had the benefit of the dividends paid upon six of these notes by the assignee of Cornwell, Price & Co., the defendant should be allowed a credit of the amount of the same, to wit, $1533.84, leaving to plaintiff the sum of $1814.23, with interest from November 19, 1’882, to date.
Judgment will therefore be entered in this Court in favor of the plaintiff, and against the defendant, for the sum of two thousand one hundred and eighty-nine dollars and ninety-one cents ($2189.91), with costs of the court below to plaintiff, and costs of this Court to defendant.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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Cynar, P. J.
Defendant appeals as of right a judgment entered September 29, 1978, in favor of plaintiff in the amount of $29,612.30, with interest.
On February 25, 1972, plaintiff and defendant signed a form supplied by plaintiff, which was captioned "Navy Bean Sale and Purchase Agreement”. According to the terms thereof, defendant was to deliver 90,000 pounds net weight of CHP grade navy beans at the price of $9 per cwt. each year for a three-year period commencing in 1972, said deliveries to be made on or before October 31 of each year. Title to the commodity was to pass to plaintiff at the time delivery was made. Plaintiff was entitled to cancel the agreement if defendant was unable to complete delivery by the specified date or if defendant failed to notify plaintiff in advance of any encumbrances on the goods. Alternatively, plaintiff could elect to extend the delivery date, provided defendant assented thereto. The agreement also contained a liquidated damages clause, operative upon a breach of the agreement by defendant.
For the year 1972, defendant tendered full performance in a timely fashion, and was paid according to the agreed-upon rate. In February of 1973, the parties signed a second agreement, on a form identical to the one used previously, again supplied by plaintiff. This agreement called for defendant to deliver an additional 60,000 pounds on or before October 31, 1973, but was otherwise indistinguishable from the first. The effect was to increase the 1973 requirement to 150,000 pounds.
Early in September 1973, defendant realized that he would be unable to deliver his quota. He conveyed this information to an agent of plaintiff. Subsequent negotiations relating to an extension of defendant’s time for performance proved fruitless, and plaintiff indicated its intention to seek damages for the shortfall in quantity delivered. Defendant was able to supply plaintiff with somewhat less than 40,000 pounds out of the 150,000 pound quota.
On March 1, 1974, plaintiff filed a complaint alleging breach of contract by defendant with respect to the 1973 delivery deficit. Defendant answered, admitting the existence of both contracts, but denying any breach thereof on his part. Defendant raised as an affirmative defense impossibility of performance, contending that the contracts called for him to produce the commodity as a grower and did not oblige him to act as a broker and that, due to abnormally extreme weather conditions, it was literally impossible for him to carry out the terms of the contracts.
On January 8, 1975, plaintiff amended its complaint, praying for additional damages as a result of defendant’s failure to deliver any quantity of beans in 1974. Defendant, by leave of the trial court, was allowed to amend his answer so as to deny the existence of any contracts. Following this, defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing that the purchase agreements constituted only unaccepted and wholly revocable unilateral offers as opposed to bilateral contracts. Said motion was denied, the trial court ruling that the agreements represented enforceable, indivisible broker contracts. A bench trial was then held solely on the issue of damages. The above-noted award to plaintiff was based upon the liquidated damages provisions in the two contracts.
Initially, defendant argues that the forms he signed are void for want of mutuality of consideration. Since plaintiff made no promises of legal consequence in either document, they are illusory and unenforceable as contracts. Plaintiff never obligated itself to purchase the beans from defendant.
Conversely, plaintiff claims that the documents constitute validly executed bilateral contracts. Plaintiff was impliedly obligated by law to pay for the goods upon delivery, even though no express promise was incorporated into the forms. We agree with plaintiff.
As the contracts in question were for the sale of goods, Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code applies. MCL 440.2102; MSA 19.2102. Under MCL 440.2204(1); MSA 19.2204(1), a contract for the sale of goods may be made in any manner sufficient to show agreement, including conduct by the parties which recognizes the existence of a contract. Under subsection (3) of this provision, a contract for sale will not fail for indefiniteness if the parties have intended to make a contract and there is a reasonably certain basis for granting a proper remedy, notwithstanding the fact that one or more terms are left open.
Reviewing the circumstances surrounding this transaction, we find that the agreements in question spoke to quantity, price, date and place of delivery, passing of title, warranty of title, cancellation and extension rights, assignment of rights and obligations, and contained a liquidated damages clause to be effective upon a breach of contract by defendant. Applying the above code provisions, we conclude that the parties intended to make a contract, and that there was a reasonably certain basis under the agreement for granting an appropriate remedy to either party thereto. In addition, no essential terms were left open. Moreover, the conduct of the parties most assuredly recognizes the existence of the contracts, i.e., full performance by both parties in the first year of the original agreement, and partial performance by both defendant and plaintiff the second year, as well as protracted, although unsuccessful, negotiations with regard to modifying the terms of both agreements insofar as they dealt with defendant’s performance for the year 1973.
More importantly, under MCL 440.2301; MSA 19.2301, an implied obligation is imposed upon the plaintiff-purchaser in this case to accept and pay for the commodity in accordance with the terms of the agreements, even though such obligation is not expressed in the forms signed by the parties. Thus, plaintiff would be in breach of contract if it refused to accept and pay for the beans delivered by defendant as per the contract. Since plaintiff was so obligated, defendant’s claim that that mutuality of consideration was lacking is rendered nugatory. Maryland Supreme Corp v The Blake Co, 279 Md 531; 369 A2d 1017 (1977), cf., White and Summers, Uniform Commercial Code (1st ed), § 3-5, pp 89, 91, Domas v Rossi, 52 Mich App 311, 315-316; 217 NW2d 75 (1974).
Next, we are confronted with defendant’s allegation that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to assert the defense of impossibility of performance (in reality, a defense of commercial impracticability). Such refusal was predicated upon the court’s ruling that the agreements constituted broker’s rather than grower’s contracts. Defendant assails this conclusion as error also and further argues that parol evidence should have been admitted to show that the quota under each contract was to be filled, if at all, solely from crops grown by defendant. Defendant finally contends that extrinsic evidence relating to course of performance, as well as of course of dealing and usage of trade, should also have been admitted and that the refusal of the trial court to allow this mandates reversal.
Plaintiff argues that the forms signed by the parties represented the complete and exclusive expression of their agreement. To have allowed defendant to assert the defense of impossibility of performance would contradict the terms of the documents, in violation of the parol evidence rule. The agreement did not limit the source from which defendant was to fill the quota, but, on the contrary, allowed defendant to do so in any manner so long as he had merchantable title to the commodity at the time of delivery.
At the outset, we note that the forms, supplied by plaintiff, contain no language which would indicate that they were intended as a complete and exclusive statement of the terms of the agreement. Thus, they cannot, on their face, operate as a barrier to allowing parol evidence in under MCL 440.2202; MSA 19.2202.
Additionally, since plaintiff supplied the stan dardized forms which became the written memoranda evidencing the agreements, they are subject to the general rule of construction, that, where ambiguities exist in a contract, they are to be construed against the draftsman. Soloman v Western Hills Development Co, 88 Mich App 254, 256-257; 276 NW2d 577 (1979). Therefore, we decline to infer any intent by the parties to integrate their entire argument into the writings. As such, subsection (b) of MCL 440.2202 is inapplicable to the agreements before us insofar as it would bar the admission of parol or extrinsic evidence.
Nor is the language of the memorandums so unequivocal as to admit of only one conclusion, i.e., that the agreements were broker’s contracts as opposed to grower’s contracts. This fact would alone be sufficient to create an ambiguity with respect to this question. However, under § 2202, a finding that the wording of a contract is ambiguous is not a prerequisite to the admission of parol evidence or other extrinsic evidence related to course of performance, course of dealing or usage of trade. Campbell v Hostetter Farms, Inc, 251 Pa Super 232; 380 A2d 463 (1977), cf., Flamm v Scherer, 40 Mich App 1, 7; 198 NW2d 702 (1972). Whether or not an ambiguity existed with respect to the nature of the contracts, both parol and extrinsic evidence were admissible to supplement and explain the agreement.
Having so concluded, we find as error the trial judge’s ruling that, as a matter of law, the contracts were broker’s contracts, which ruling had the further effect of erroneously excluding evidence of the parties’ course of dealing, the course of performance under the agreements, as well as usage of trade. The judge finally ordered stricken defendant’s defense of impossibility of performance, such ruling being consistent with a finding that the agreements were broker’s contracts. Since the ruling with regard to the species of contracts involved was error, the striking of defendant’s affirmative defense was also a ground for reversal.
The questions of whether the agreements were grower’s rather than broker’s contracts and ensuing damages, if any, are properly questions of fact to be resolved after presentation of all relevant evidence. On remand, if the trier of fact finds the agreements to be grower’s contracts, then whether defendant’s performance can be excused under MCL 440.2615; MSA 19.2615 is also a factual question.
Our resolution of these questions makes it unnecessary for us to address the remaining contentions of the parties. Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Costs to defendant.
The above-cited provision is the parol evidence rule applicable to contracts for the sale of goods under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, and provides:
"Sec. 2202. Terms with respect to which the confirmatory memoranda of the parties agree or which are otherwise set forth in a writing intended by the parties as a final expression of their agreement with respect to such terms as are included therein may not be contradicted by evidence of any prior agreement or of a contemporaneous oral agreement but may be explained or supplemented
"(a) by course of dealing or usage of trade (section 1205) or by course of performance (section 2208); and
"(b) by evidence of consistent additional terms unless the court finds the writing to have been intended also as a complete and exclusive statement of the terms of the agreement. 1962 PA 174, § 2202, eff. Jan. 1, 1964.”
The official comment on the section by the commissioners on Uniform State Laws, the draftspersons of the legislation, adopts this position, stating:
"1. This section definitely rejects:
"(c) The requirement that a condition precedent to the admissibility of the type of evidence specified in paragraph (a) is an original determination by the court that the language used is ambiguous.
"2. Paragraph (a) makes admissible evidence of course of dealing, usage of trade and course of performance to explain or supplement the terms of any writing stating the agreement of the parties in order that the true understanding of the parties as to the agreement may be reached. Such writings are to be read on the assumption that the course of prior dealings between the parties and the usages of trade were taken for granted when the document was phrased. Unless carefully negated they have become an element of the meaning of the words used. Similarly, the course of actual performance by the parties is considered the best indication of what they intended the writing to mean.” | [
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Cooley, C. J.
This is scire facias upon a judgment rendered upon the bond of James S. P. Hatheway, given as executor and residuary legatee under the will of Gilbert Iiatheway, his father. The purpose of the suit is to recover the balance remaining unpaid of a legacy of ten thousand dollars given by the will to the plaintiff, who was the testator’s daughter. The plaintiff obtained judgment, and the defendants bring the case to this Court by writ of error.
After the executor had given bond as residuary legatee for the payment of debts and legacies under the statute, he discovered, as he claims, that he was mistaken and had been misinformed by the testator in respect to the amount of his estate; that whereas he had been led to suppose that there would be a large surplus above the amount of debts and specific legacies, it was soon made apparent that there would be no surplus at all, and if the condition of the bond was performed by him, he might be loser instead of gainer by accepting the gift made to him subject to the payment of debts and legacies. He therefore filed his bill in equity to have himself and his sureties relieved from the obligations of the bond, and for a decree that the estate should be administered upon in the ordinary way. This Court held it could give him no such relief as he sought. Hatheway v. Weeks 34 Mich. 237. Criticism is now made of the decision in that case, that it was made without taking notice of the fact that the testator had made assurances in respect to the amount of his property which the residuary legatee relied upon, and which proved erroneous; but as no fraud was charged the circumstance was very likely passed over by the justice who prepared the opinion as one of no legal significance. And we can hardly think the counsel who argued that case relied very much upon it; for a rehearing was never applied for.
It seems, however, that this plaintiff was a defendant in that equity suit, and allowed the bill to be taken as confessed, while another defendant, the village of New Baltimore, to which a large gift was made by the will, interposed the successful defense. The order pro confesso as to this plaintiff has been suffered to stand to this time, but no decree was ever taken, and nothing further done after the case on its merits had been passed upon. It is now urged on behalf of the ■defense, that the plaintiff, by allowing the order pro confesso to be entered, admitted the equity of the case then made by the bill, and is now entitled to share in the estate only in accordance with that equity. If, therefore, the estate is insufficient to pay debts and legacies in full, she should have only her just proportion.
This argument is made without any plea setting up, either in abatement or in bar, the suit in equity. Whether it would have been available if any plea had been interposed is on general principles more than doubtful; a suit in equity not being, as a rule, any bar. or impediment to a suit at law. Joslin v. Millspaugh 27 Mich. 517; McGunn v. Hanlin 29 Mich. 476; Kinney v. Robison 52 Mich. 389. But if it were otherwise as a rule, the defense is not available in this case; for the bill in equity, as this Court determined, made out no case for relief, and the Court would have granted none, even on a default. It was not a case for equity at all.
The principal question on the trial of this cause in the circuit court was whether the residuary legatee W'as entitled to set off against the legacy to the plaintiff a sum which he had paid as the amount of a mortgage upon the plaintiff’s homestead. The homestead had been purchased for the plaintiff by her father in the manner to be shortly stated, and the mortgage was upon it at the time of the purchase. Whether the father had undertaken for the payment of the mortgage was, after his death, a question between these parties ; the son admitting that, if such were the case, he, as residuary legatee, must pay it. It was finally paid by the husband of the plaintiff, and the amount refunded to him by the residuary legatee, but with reservation, as he claims, of a right to inquire afterwards into his obligation to make payment.
It is now contended on behalf of the defense that the mortgage did not constitute a valid claim against the estate of Gilbert Hatheway, because it had never been proved and allowed by commissioners or in the probate court, as provided by statute, and the time for proving and allowing it had gone by. This contention would seem to be sufficiently answered by-the cases in which it has been decided that where the executor gives bond as residuary legatee, the claims against the estate are not to be proved in the customary way. Probate Judge v. Abbott 50 Mich. 278, 479. But if it were otherwise it would be of no moment in this case: No such question was raised between the parties before the plaintiff’s husband paid the mortgage, or before the amount was refunded to him ; but it was conceded that if the testator had assumed the payment of the mortgage the residuary legatee should pay it. Upon that concession he must stand now.
The assumption of payment by Gilbert Hatheway, if there was one, was very circuitous and indirect. It appears by the evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler were married in August, 1871. In the May preceding, Mr. Wheeler received from Gilbert Hatheway the following letter :
“New Baltimore, Macomb County, Mich., May 5th, 1871. Mr. Adolph Wheeler — Hear Sir : I returned home late last evening. Belle very soon read me the business portion of your letter, and I will here first say I intended to have written previous to this, in reference to you and her engagement, but various matters prevented, and only time now to say on that point, that Belle always talks freely with me, and if all did not meet my approval you would have been informed previous to this.
As to the house and premises, if it suits you and her, there is no need of my seeing it. My money, however, is nearly all employed, as business men usually think best to keep it. I, however, have this day wwitten Moore, Foote & Co., Detroit, to send you their cheque for $500, payable at the bank in Detroit to your order. This you doubtless can get cash for in Adrian. Then make the best bargain you can for the house and premises; pay $500 cash down; $2500, if you can’t get the property no less, to be paid about the middle of June, and $2500 to be paid on the mortgage at any time within one year, with interest on this $2500 from the time the seller moves out of the house. He should not ask interest while he occupies the premises. This last $2500, I presume, would suit me to pay in the fall; but in making bargains of this kind usually prefer all the time possible, as it, generally results, if I pay before the time expires, the whole- or pai;t of accrued interest will be discounted. If you can bargain, not varying much from the above, do so; make the-agreement in the name of Appleton Hnbbard as your friend,, who agrees to buy and pay as aforesaid, — the $500 paid down should satisfy Mr. Flardy that the balance will be surely paid as agreed — and deed to be given to Appleton Hubbard on payment of all but the last $2500, and subject to the same. It may be so that I can pay the whole by August as well as of later times. This Hubbard resides in Massachusetts. I buy tax titles, etc., in his name; have full power of attorney from him and from his wife to convey real estate. In this way the curious at present will not be gratified, and I needn’t visit Adrian. Will try and see you in Detroit when on your way. Gilbert Hatheway.
P. S. If there is insurance on the house the seller should transfer the same. This, if talked about before the bargain is fully completed, the seller usnally transfers without any money being paid him by the buyer therefor. The agreement can be made to the effect that Mr. Hardy agrees to sell Appleton Hubbard for the price you and he agrees on, describing the property, and that he and his wife will deed, etc., etc., being paid all but the last payment of $2500 and interest, and that $500 have this day been paid Mr. Hardy towards the consideration to be paid.”
After the receipt of the foregoing letter Wheeler saw Mr. Hardy and made purchase of the place, and an agreement of purchase was drawn as between Mr. Ilardy of the one part, and Appleton Hubbard of the'other, which Hardy signed. Mr. Wheeler also received, in a letter purporting to come from Moore, Foote & Co., on account of Gilbert Hatheway, the sum of $500, which was paid to Hardy on the agreement. The agreement was then sent to Gilbert Hatheway, and the following letter received in response :
“New Baltimore, Macomb Co., Mich., May 11, 1871.
Mr. Adolph Wheeler, Adrian, Mieh.- — Dear Sir : Tours of 10th received, with the agreement, and as you intend to be in Detroit next Monday, I return the agreement, as I think there should be inserted in both agreements the foling: ‘ On or before May 1st, 1872,’ between the word £ paid ’ and the word ‘with’, on first page 10th line, of ours, and on 11th line on the other agreement, very close to the written part of each agreement where I have marked with the pencil thus ‘ X.’ By such interlineation I have the right to pay at any time previous to May 1st, 1872, and they cannot call for it until that time. If the mortgage by its terms is not payable until about that time, then no need to have the interlineation put in; or if from any talk }mu have had with Mr. Hardy, it is not best to say anything more to him about the agreement, all well as it is.
Please bring the agreement with you to Detroit, and can there decide about sending that to Mr. Hubbard to sign per sonally, and mail to you at New York city, and yon then mail one to Mr. Hardy, etc.
And please ascertain the date of the mortgage to Mary Cutler, the amount, and where payable, with rate of interest.
Thus much oblige, in haste, yours truly,
Gilbert Hatheway.”
The agreement was subsequently returned to Mr. 'Wheeler, duly signed by Appleton Hubbard as purchaser, and Mr. Wheeler also subsequently received the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars by mail, purporting to come from Moore, Foote & Co., on account of Gilbert Hatheway. This also was paid to Hardy on the agreement, and completed payment for the place with the exception of the sum of two thousand five, hundred dollars payable on the Mary Cutler mortgage. Hardy deeded to Hubbard, subject to the mortgage, June 15,1871, and Hubbard and wife by Gilbert Hatheway, as attorney in fact, deeded to the plaintiff, July 17, 1871. This last deed contains a covenant of warranty and of freedom from incumbrances “ except a $2500 mortgage which said Appleton Hubbard is to pay.”
These are the material facts in the case which concern the liability of Gilbert Hatheway to pay off the mortgage. They leave, as we think, no question that Gilbert Hatheway intended to pay the Cutler mortgage himself and vest in his daughter a homestead free of incumbrance. But he intended to do this as a matter of gift; and if he failed to go far enough to make himself legally chargeable with the payment of the mortgage, James S. P. Hatheway and his sureties, who have only undertaken for the payment of debts and legacies, would not be compellable to complete the intended but still inchoate gift by causing the mortgage to be paid off.
The contention of the defense, in substance, is that Gilbert Hatheway never undertook for the payment of the Cutler mortgage. What he intended to do must be gathered from what he did ; and what he did was to procure Appleton Hubbard to assume its payment. Why lie did this is perhaps not important, but it may have been because Hubbard was under pecuniary or other obligations to him which would by such payment be discharged. The defense offered to go into evidence of the relations between Gilbert Hatheway and Hubbard, by way of explaining this transaction, but were not permitted to do so, and one of the errors relied on in the case is the exclusion of evidence on this subject. But without such evidence the defendants contend that all that appears is that Gilbert Hatheway procured Hubbard to promise the payment of the mortgage : he made no promise himself.
On this branch of the case I shall speak for my brethren and express their views : it not being so clear to me as it is to them that Gilbert Hatheway ever became liable for the mortgage debt, though I agree that he clearly intended to pay it.
When Gilbert Hatheway, intending to purchase a homestead for his daughter, told Mr. Wheeler to “ make the best bargain you can for the house and premises,” and particularized the terms of payment he should agree to, he in effect made Mr. Wheeler- his agent for the purpose. When he directed him to have the contract of purchase made in the name of “Appleton Hubbard, as your friend, who agrees to buy and payas aforesaid,” adding “ it may bethat I can pay by August as well as of later times,” and explaining that “ this Hubbard lives in Massachusetts , I buy tax titles, etc., in his name; have full power of attorney from him and from his wife to convey real estate. In this way the curious at present will not be gratified, and I needn’t visit Adrian — Mr. Wheeler and the plaintiff had a right to understand from all this that Mr. Hatheway was using the name of Hubbard, not as that of a party who was in fact to make payment, but only for his own convenience, and for reasons personal to himself. Hubbard was in fact, as he was presented to them, a species of lay figure in the case, whose introduction would baffle the curious, while at the same time it would cause no inconvenience, since Hatheway, by means of the power of attorney, could make conveyance at any time without the necessity for a resort to the nominal principal. But the payment, in which the interest of Wheeler and the plaintiff cen ered, was not left to be made by this to them unknown man, but by Ilatheway himself, whose ability they knew to be ample, and who, while naming early times for payment, intimated a probability that he could pay still earlier. In all this there was a plain assumption that Hatheway and not Hubbard was principal in the transaction; that the name of the latter was merely borrowed for the occasion, and that his nominal undertaking was the real undertaking of Ilatheway. This being so, it was immaterial what the real relations between Hatheway and Hubbard were. The plaintiff and Wheeler were not concerned with them, and it would have been an impertinence on their part to have insisted on inquiring into them.
If this view is correct it must end the case, for James S. P. Ilatheway has then only paid what, under his bond as residuary legatee, he was bound to pay. But there is another view which is perhaps equally conclusive. The following special question was put to the jury : “Did James S. P. Ilatheway, at and during the negotiation ending in-the payment by him of the $2Y50 mortgage, reserve and claim the right to after-wards examine and see if it was a legal claim against the estate of his father?” The answer returned was in the negative. If no proper evidence was excluded, and no error committed in the submission of this branch of the case to the jury, the answer must be conclusive. The case would then be one of the voluntary payment of a claim which was made on strong grounds of apparent right; and a payment made voluntarily under such circumstances cannot be recovered back. No assumpsit which will support an action or a set-off can arise upon a transaction which from its very nature is a finality, unless it has been brought about by fraud, or has been entered into under some such misapprehension of the party’s rights as will deprive it of the conclusiveness it would otherwise possess.
But in this case the defense insist that the payment is not binding because it was made under a misapprehension of facts on the part of James S. P. ITathewav, brought about by the failure of Mr. Wheeler to make full disclosure when he was called upon to do so. It appears that after the death of her father the plaintiff by letter called the attention of Janies S. P. Hatheway to the mortgage, and he replied as follows:
“ New Baltimore, February 14th, 1872.
Dear Sister: Yours in relation to mortgage is at hand; in reply, will say that unless there is writing signed by father, that he agreed to pay the mortgage, the estate is not holden for it; or, in other words, if the place belongs to the estate, of course then I will have to pay the mortgage for the benefit of the estate, or lose what has been paid therefor. Therefore you can readily see the situation of it. No doubt but what father would have paid the mortgage if he had lived, but now it changes all things, except when his name is signed by him, agreeing to carry out certain things.
When I see you, I can explain more fully. Father’s estate is in very bad shape. Have not been able to attend to my business much of any since his death. I find a great many unsettled matters, the most of them against the estate, where he had drawn money upon them, the last three years of his life. Can’t as yet find any more than property enough to pay the legacies, and am not yet sure of that. I have been away most of the time since my last writing looking up his business.
Hoping this will be satisfactory until I see you, I will bid you good morning. Haste. James.”
Mr. Wheeler testified that in response to this letter he visited the writer, taking with him the deed from Gilbert Hatheway to his daughter, and those letters instructing him to purchase the place. “In this interview I told him that I called to see him in relation to the mortgage, and handed him the deed to look at. He looked the deed over all through; then I read him all that portion of the letters instructing me to buy the place. During the reading of the letters he said : ‘ That sounds like father,’ and when I finished reading the letters he made no denial of liabilities. He said there was a number of claims presented against the estate that he knew nothing about, that had taken all the available money on hand ; and that if he didn’t get around to pay the mortgage when wanted, for me to take it up, a nd he would see I had my pay from the estate. That was the language. I then went home. After I got home 1 wrote him about the matter.”
The following is the subsequent correspondence:
“ Dear Brother : Mr. Hardy informed me recently that Mary Cutler requires the payment of the mortgage she holds against our place by the 15th or 20th of this month, by the 20th say. I take the -first opportunity of writing you in regard to it.
Will it be convenient for you to pay it on the 20th ? If not, what disposition shall I make of it? My money is so invested it will bo impossible for me to take it up.
If you can’t make the money by the 20th, please write me at once what to do, and oblige
Yours, very truly. Adolph Wheeler.
May 1, 1872.”
“ Marion, May 9th, 1872.
Brother Wheeler : On my arrival here 1 find a letter from Eve, stating what you had written in reference to the mortgage. All I can say now is, I am expecting to get some money while I am east, and also have some demands to pay against the estate, and if I have enough left on my return will immediately pay the mortgage; but cannot tell how matters will shape. For fear anything may happen that I cannot take care of it at the time yon state, you had better take it up and I will pay you as soon as I get the money to pay it with.
Yours, in haste. James.”
“ New Baltimore, July 25th, 1872.
BrotherWheeler: Please send me the amount due upon the mortgage, which you think belongs to me to pay, and I will send a check for the same; or, if you are coming this way, would prefer to arrange it here.
If not coming, please send the deed which you showed me here, as I would like to look it over again, and will return it to yon. By so doing you will oblige James.”
After receiving the letter of May 9th, Mr. Wheeler paid and took an assignment of the Cutler mortgage, and on August 2, 1872, he received from James S. P. Hatheway the amount he had so paid. The important fact which Wheeler failed to disclose in the interview ho had with his brother-in-law was that Hubbard had in person signed the contract of purchase. Without that fact being known, it is said James S. P. Hatheway might naturally suppose that Mr. Hubbard was in no way personally connected with the transaction; whereas in truth he had done what Gilbert Hatheway had not, — promised in writing to assume the mortgage. Had James S. P. Hatheway known this, it is thought not likely he would thus have made payment.
How that may be we cannot know. It does not appear that he inquired for the contract, though he knew one had been made. It does not appear that on the other side there was any intention to deceive or mislead. Hubbard’s connection with the transaction appeared on the deed itself; and the parties might well have thought, after the deed had been given, that it was immaterial how the contract was signed which was superseded by it. But why Mr. Wheeler was more bound to know that the contract was important to be seen by James S. P. Hatheway than the latter was to inquire into it, is not apparent. The Court does not think he was. James S. P. Hatheway made sufficient investigation to satisfy himself, apparently, that his father directed the purchase of the homestead as a gift to the plaintiff, and that the deed which the father gave as attorney contained a provision evidently intended to secure to the plaintiff protection against this mortgage. Having looked so far into the facts, he directed the mortgage to be paid, and as his action in so doing was entirely voluntary, he cannot now reconsider and have it annulled. The proposed set-off cannot therefore be allowed.
In the elaborate brief presented for the defense in this case, and followed by oral argument, other points are made and argued with much ingenuity, but we have now examined all we think it important to discuss in this opinion. In those not discussed we all agree that no error appears.
The judgment must be affirmed.
Campbell and Sherwood, JJ. concurred. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiffs-appellants appeal of right a December 29, 1977, jury verdict of no cause of action in this medical malpractice suit. We reverse.
Plaintiffs first complain that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence certain exhibits of the defendant. The four objected-to exhibits consisted of medical charts that were drawn from information obtained from a medical treatise. This information was offered to support the defendant doctor’s claim that he acted in accordance with the requisite standard of care when he chose one method of treatment for plaintiff Elizabeth Stachowiak over another.
Both the applicable Michigan rulé of evidence, MRE 707, and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of that rule, see Bivens v Detroit Osteopathic Hospital, 403 Mich 820 (1978), preclude the admission at trial of statements contained in learned treatises for purposes other than impeachment. Because the objected-to exhibits were excerpts from a learned treatise, the lower court erred in permitting their introduction at trial as part of defendant’s case in chief. Because we cannot say that this error was harmless, we must reverse.
Plaintiffs also argue that the lower court erred in denying their motion for a mistrial which they made because of certain allegedly improper arguments of defense counsel in his closing to the jury. In his closing argument defendant’s counsel intimated that testimony of plaintiffs’ expert had been "bought” and indicated that, although defendant had additional evidence that would have supported his position, "[r]egrettably, some of our rules of evidence prohibit introduction of the kinds of things that would, in my judgment, at least, lead to some complete understanding of the truth in a case”. After making this latter comment, defense counsel listed several pieces of evidence that had been excluded at trial.
Because of our disposition of the first issue in this appeal, we need not decide whether the merits of this issue require reversal. However, we note that these comments by defense counsel were improper and we trust that they will not be made again on retrial.
Reversed and remanded. Plaintiffs may assess costs. | [
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V. J. Brennan, P.J.
Defendant, Cleveland Edmonds, appeals as of right from his jury conviction of delivery of heroin, contrary to MCL 335.341(l)(a); MSA 18.1070(41)(l)(a). Defendant was tried with Robert Elmore, who was also found guilty of delivery of heroin. Defendant was also found to be a third-felony offender, MCL 769.11; MSA 28.1083, and the trial court determined that defendant’s conviction for delivery of a controlled substance was his second conviction under the controlled substances act. MCL 335.348; MSA 18.1070(48). Using both sentence-augmentation statutes, the trial court sentenced defendant to prison for from 53 years and 4 months to 80 years.
On the morning of April 22, 1977, Philip "Pete” Cagle, a heroin addict and police informant, met Officer Ralph Fogarty, a deputy with the Jackson County Sheriffs Department, assigned to the narcotics unit. Cagle was fitted with a body transmitter and given $100 to purchase narcotics. Followed by Fogarty, Cagle drove to the apartments in the rear of the E & E Pool Parlor building in Adrian, Michigan. Cagle knocked on the door to codefendant Elmore’s apartment where he found Elmore and the defendant. Cagle told Elmore that he wanted to buy $100 worth of heroin. Elmore had only five $10 packets of heroin. Defendant said, "I have got the rest”. Defendant then gave Cagle 5 more packets and Cagle gave defendant the $100. Cagle then said, "Maybe I will be back to cop again * * * see you later”. Defendant said, "okay”. The packets were turned over to the authorities and this prosecution resulted.
Defendant raises several claims of error on appeal, the first being that the prosecutor deliberately suppressed and later destroyed tape recordings favorable to defendant. Before trial defendant brought a motion to produce which in pertinent part reads as follows:
"1. That in the Preliminary Examination Transcript and prior trial testimony, the informant testified that he was wired with a microphone and transmitter.
"2.. If any recordings of any type or any notes taken from any person receiving transmission of the same were taken, the defendant feels they would exculpate this defendant.
"3. That if the Prosecution or any officer or persons have possession of the aforesaid they should be ordered to produce the same for defendant’s inspection prior to the trial * * *.”
At the hearing on defendant’s motion the prosecutor attested to the fact that no tape recordings of any buys from this defendant existed. The court denied defendant’s motion to produce.
There is nothing in the record to indicate that there was a tape recording of the transaction that occurred on the morning of April 22, 1977. Tapes of conversations that took place on other days could have little bearing on the charged transaction. Their production was unnecessary to the preparation of the defense and irrelevant to the interests of a fair trial. People v Jessee Smith, 81 Mich App 190, 198; 265 NW2d 77 (1978).
Defendant next argues that the examining magistrate abused his discretion and denied defendant due process of law when he refused to grant defendant a continuance to allow defendant to procure retained counsel. However, defendant did not object before or during trial to the action of the examining magistrate, nor has he shown that he was prejudiced by the magistrate’s refusal to grant a continuance. Under these circumstances the magistrate’s action does not require reversal of defendant’s conviction. See People v Wilson, 397 Mich 76; 243 NW2d 257 (1976), People v Frederick Lester, 78 Mich App 21; 259 NW2d 370 (1977), People v Debreczeny, 74 Mich App 391; 253 NW2d 776 (1977).
Defendant next challenges the validity of this conviction as violative of the double jeopardy clause. The informant made two purchases of heroin from defendant, one in the morning and one in the afternoon of April 22, 1977. Defendant was previously convicted of the afternoon buy and argued below that application of the "same transaction” test prohibits bringing of charges based on the earlier buy. We disagree.
The "same transaction” test for double jeopardy as set forth in People v White, 390 Mich 245; 212 NW2d 222 (1973), applies to offenses which are part of one criminal transaction, committed in a continuous time sequence and displaying a single intent and goal. In the present case although the deliveries occurred on the same day between defendant and the same informant, the record does not show any connection between them such as an agreement after the first delivery to return for another sale. We find no double jeopardy violation. People v Cuellar, 76 Mich App 20; 255 NW2d 755 (1977), People v Martinez, 58 Mich App 693; 228 NW2d 523 (1975).
Defendant next argues that the trial court’s failure to sua sponte hold an entrapment hearing warrants reversal. Defendant made no effort to have the trial court pass on the issue of entrapment thus appellate review is precluded. See People v Ginther, 390 Mich 436, 443; 212 NW2d 922 (1973).
We next address defendant’s claim that it was improper for the prosecutor to confront the co-defendant with instances when he had delivered heroin in the presence of defendant. The codefendant, Robert Elmore, testified that he had never sold heroin to the informant but had stored it for him on many occasions. On direct examination Elmore testified that he thought that defendant Edmonds was an informant and that he, Elmore, had made no deliveries of heroin in the presence of defendant.
On cross-examination the prosecutor asked Elmore if he had delivered heroin on specified dates to the informant in the presence of defendant. Over defendant’s objection, the trial court ruled that the questions were proper to impeach the witness. We agree with this ruling. Matters which may not be admissible on direct examination may be used to impeach a defendant. People v Brown, 399 Mich 350, 356; 249 NW2d 693 (1976). The prosecutor was not bound to refrain from attacking Elmore’s statements, even though disproving the statement required evidence of other crimes that Elmore had committed.
We next consider the propriety of the lower court’s use of both the habitual offenders statute, MCL 769.11; MSA 28.1083, and § 48 of the controlled substances act, MCL 335.348; MSA 18.1070(48), to increase the maximum term for delivery of heroin from 20 to 80 years. We hold such sentence enhancement to be improper.
The controlled substances act was enacted to regulate the control, manufacture, production, sale, possession, use, etc., of controlled substances, with penalties for violation of the act specifically delineated. As such the act represents this state’s comprehensive policy toward the use of controlled substances. As a specific and comprehensive measure the act’s sentence-augmentation provision controls over the general habitual offender statute. Accordingly the sentence on a second or subsequent drug offense is under the purview of § 48 of the controlled substance act exclusively. In accordance with the above the defendant’s sentence is reduced to 26 years 8 months to 40 years.
The remaining claims of error relating to the alleged bolstering of the prosecution’s witness before attack and the alleged improper considerations at sentencing have not been preserved by proper objection below. See People v Moore, 395 Mich 643; 237 NW2d 464 (1976), People v Powell, 87 Mich App 192; 274 NW2d 16 (1978).
Defendant’s conviction is affirmed with sentence reduced in conformity with this opinion.
It must be noted that application of the controlled substances act penalty augmentation is proper when the defendant is being sentenced on a drug conviction. If the defendant commits a nondrug felony after one or more drug convictions then the habitual offender act applies upon conviction of that nondrug felony. For other reasons which prohibit the use of the third-felony provision of the habitual offender act on the facts of this case see People v Covington, 70 Mich App 188; 245 NW2d 558 (1976). | [
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Per Curiam.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, contrary to MCL 750.84; MSA 28.279, and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, contrary to MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). He was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison on the first count and two years on the second, the sentences to run consecutively. Defendant appeals as of right.
Our review of the questions posed on appeal indicates that one warrants our consideration.
Defendant was charged with assault with intent to commit murder. The trial judge instructed the jury on the lesser included offenses of assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder and reckless discharge of a firearm. At the conclusion of the judge’s instructions, after the jury had retired to the jury room but before they had begun to deliberate, defense counsel requested for the first time that the court give an instruction on felonious assault. In denying the request, the court gave as its reason, "Not where you have this serious of a wound”. Although the court did not state the tardiness of the request as its reason for the denial of the felonious assault instruction, in denying another request, the trial court noted it had set "the day before yesterday at 9 a.m.” as the deadline for the submission of special requests for charges to the jury.
Initially, we must determine if the court was required to give the instruction on felonious assault, had the court been requested to do so before it charged the jury. Then, we shall discuss what effect the timing of the request had on the judge’s discretion to deny such request.
We recognize that felonious assault is not a necessarily included lesser offense of assault with intent to commit murder. A necessarily included lesser offense is one such that it is impossible to commit the greater offense without first committing the lesser. Defendant herein was charged with assault with intent to commit murder. The elements of that crime are (1) an assault, (2) with specific intent to murder, (3) and which, if successful, would make the killing murder.
Felonious assault is defined in MCL 750.82; MSA 28.277 as follows:
"Any person who shall assault another with a gun, revolver, pistol, knife, iron bar, club, brass knuckles or other dangerous weapon, but without intending to commit the crime of murder, and without intending to inflict great bodily harm less than the crime of murder, shall be guilty of a felony.”
In order to convict on a charge of felonious assault, it is necessary that an assault was made with a dangerous weapon. Since a person could be found guilty of assault with intent to commit murder where no weapon was involved, and, since a weapon must be involved to support a felonious assault conviction, it is possible to commit the greater offense without committing the lesser and the offense of felonious assault is not necessarily included.
Cognate offenses are those which share several elements and are within the same class or category, but the lesser may contain some elements not found in the higher offense. We find the common element of assault present in both felonious assault and assault with intent to commit murder and determine that felonious assault is a cognate offense of assault with intent to commit murder. Although requests for instructions on lesser included offenses must be granted when the requested charge is for a necessarily lesser included offense, an instruction on a cognate lesser included offense need only be given if the record evidence supports it.
Our review of the transcript indicates that the complainant testified that he was shot and attacked with a knife by defendant. Defendant took the stand and claimed that complainant pulled the gun on him. In his attempt to grab for it, a shot went off. Defendant testified he struggled for the gun and another shot went off injuring complainant. In further testimony, defendant indicated that complainant then got out of the car and approached him with a knife. As the two men struggled, defendant was injured by the knife.
We find that the evidence supports a felonious assault charge.
However, this does not conclude our review of defendant’s claim that the trial court erred in failing to give the instruction. The effect of a request made at the conclusion of the charging of the jury must now be determined.
GCR 1963, 516.1 states:
".1 Request for Instructions. At or before the close of the evidence, any party may, or at any time the Court reasonably directs, the parties shall file written requests that the court instruct the jury on the law as set forth in the request. A copy of such requested instructions shall be served on the adverse parties in accordance with Rule 107. The court shall inform counsel of its proposed action on the requests prior to their arguments to the jury, and, subject to the provision of subrule 516.3, shall instruct the jury after the arguments are completed. The court may make such comments on the evidence, the testimony, and the character of the witnesses as in its discretion the interests of justice require.” (Emphasis added.)
The rule indicates that requests for instructions should come before the judge formally charges the jury or at a time the court directs. However, GCR 1963, 516.4 is instructive in showing that the rule is flexible and that late requests may be given if, in the trial court’s discretion, they will aid the jury in arriving at a just verdict.
GCR 1963, 516.4 provides:
".4 Additional Instruction. While the jury is deliberating the court may in its discretion further instruct the jury, in the presence of or after notice to counsel. Objections thereto shall be made in a motion for new trial.” (Emphasis added.)
We do not, however, view the trial judge’s response to the request for an instruction on felonious assault to be discretionary. First, we believe that the instruction was supported by the evidence. Also, apparently the jury had not begun its deliberations and could have been recalled and further instructed. Although we recognize by recalling the jury and giving but a single additional instruction, undue emphasis may be placed on the charge, we believe this possibility may be outweighed by possible prejudice to defendant if the charge is not given.
In 2 Honigman and Hawkins, Michigan Court Rules Annotated (2d ed), p 567, the authors’ comments are instructive on the issue presented:
"8. If no requested instruction on a given point[ ] has been submitted, but before the jury retires an objection is made to the failure to include an instruction on the point in the charge to the jury, a more difficult question arises. Sub-rule 516.2 states that no party may assign as error 'the failure to give an instruction unless he objects thereto before the jury retires to consider the verdict’. Although an objection to the failure to give an instruction has been timely made within the literal wording of the rule, the question remains as to whether the validity of the objection depends upon the omitted instruction having been covered by a previous request. * * * if before the jury retires an objection is made to the failure to give instruction on a basic issue, even though not previously requested, the trial judge is obliged to remedy the omission, and his failure to do so may be assigned as error on appeal. If the omission to instruct is on a non-basic requirement, such as a failure to instruct the jury on a party’s theory of the case or the failure to give some preliminary or cautionary instruction, the absence of an earlier request covering the omitted matter should preclude the party from claiming reversible error on appeal. See Rogers v City of Detroit, 1954, 340 Mich. 291, 65 N.W.2d 848.”
Since the instruction regarding the lesser included offense of felonious assault was not covered by the trial court’s other instructions, and since the requested instruction was on a basic issue, that being of what crime the defendant might be convicted, we are constrained to find that error occurred. The fact that the jury found defendant guilty of a lesser included offense, rather than the principal charge, indicates that the jury was willing to compromise on the verdict. Thus, we find that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that there was an additional possible verdict, namely, the cognate offense of felonious assault.
In so ruling, we do not want to be understood as condoning the failure of defense trial counsel to make timely requests for jury instructions. In many circumstances, we would expect to hold that failure to make a timely request constituted a waiver of the right to receive a requested instruction. The record indicates no excuse for counsel’s failure to make a timely request here. As indicated, only under the special circumstances of this case do we necessarily find that the possibility of prejudice to defendant in the jury’s deliberations outweighed the failure of counsel to make a timely request in conformance with the court rules.
The case, therefore, is remanded for entry of a conviction of felonious assault rather than assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, and for resentencing. If the prosecutor chooses to do so, he may move for a new trial prior to resentencing. Defendant’s conviction of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony is affirmed.
Because of our remand, we need not address defendant’s contention that the trial court erred in sentencing him to a 15-year maximum on his assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder conviction, although MCL 750.84; MSA 28.279 only calls for a ten-year maximum, as the resentencing should cure such error.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part and remanded.
MCL 750.82; MSA 28.277.
People v Bryant, 80 Mich App 428, 433; 264 NW2d 13 (1978), People v Ora Jones, 395 Mich 379; 236 NW2d 461 (1975).
People v Branner, 53 Mich App 541, 544; 220 NW2d 183 (1974).
People v Hooper, 36 Mich App 123; 193 NW2d 203 (1971).
People v Harris, 82 Mich App 135; 266 NW2d 477 (1978), People v Ora Jones, supra.
People v Kamin, 405 Mich 482; 275 NW2d 777 (1979).
We note that in the instant case, although the jury had been sent to the jury room, deliberations had not commenced.
See, People v Harris, supra, at 139. | [
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Per Curiam.
Plaintiff brought an action seeking a ruling on the constitutional validity of § 29(2) of the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act (MIOSHA), MCL 408.1001 et seq.; MSA 17.50 et seq. Plaintiff contended that § 29(2) purported to authorize unconstitutional safety and health inspections and sought an injunction preventing execution of an inspection. It also sought an injunction preventing execution of an inspection warrant purportedly invalidly issued pursuant to the statutory provision. The parties below stipulated to the facts and narrowed the issue to consider only the facial validity of § 29(2) and not the issuance of a particular warrant. The trial court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss following oral arguments. We affirm, noting that the trial court may have made the right decision for the wrong reason.
This Court must determine whether the inspection provisions of § 29(1) and 29(2) of MIOSHA violate the warrant clause of the Michigan Constitution of 1963, art 1, § 11, and the Fourth Amend ment to the U.S. Constitution. The sections in question are as follows:
"Sec. 29. (1) To implement this act, a department representative, upon presenting appropriate credentials, may enter without delay and at reasonable times a place of employment to physically inspect or investigate conditions of employment and all pertinent conditions, equipment, and materials therein and to question privately the employer, owner, operator, agent, or an employee with respect to safety or health. The inspection or investigation shall be conducted without unreasonably disrupting the employer’s operations.
"(2) If permission to enter a place of employment is denied, the department may apply to the proper judicial officer for a warrant commanding the sheriff or a peace officer to aid the department in the conduct of an inspection or investigation to determine if there is a violation of this act or any rule promulgated under this act.” MCL 408.1029(1), 408.1029(2); MSA 17.50(29X1), 17.50(29X2).
Plaintiff contends that § 29(2) purports to authorize warrantless searches, or at least the issuance of inspection warrants without the requirement of an independent finding of probable cause. Plaintiff further argues that this section purports to authorize the issuance of inspection warrants solely upon the representation that an inspector has been denied entry to a place of employment.
This Court, however, is not reviewing any set of facts which allege the issuance of a warrant solely on the denial of entry. The parties at trial eliminated the consideration of the issuance of any particular warrant, and argued only the facial constitutional validity of §§ 29(1) and 29(2). Thus, we pass only on a plain reading of the statute and not upon any particular set of administrative or judicial actions which may have been taken thereunder.
The rules of statutory construction require that we construe the plain language of the statute so as to save it, if possible, from constitutional defect.
"It is clear that a statute passed by the Legislature will be presumed to be valid unless the contrary clearly appears. Every reasonable presumption or intendment must be indulged in favor of the validity of an act, and it is only when invalidity appears so clearly as to leave no room for reasonable doubt that it violates some provision of the constitution that a court will refuse to sustain its validity. Cady v Detroit, 289 Mich 499 (1939).” Holland Motor Express, Inc v Michigan Employment Security Comm, 42 Mich App 19, 25; 201 NW2d 308 (1972).
Under a plain reading of § 29(2), upon refusal of permission to a department representative to inspect the nonpublic portions of a place of employment, "the department may apply to the proper judicial officer for a warrant” authorizing the inspection. The section does not command the issuance of a warrant, but rather directs the Department of Labor to apply to a magistrate for an administrative inspection warrant.
Both the Michigan and United States Constitutions provide that no warrants shall issue except upon probable cause. There is no clear indication in the Legislature’s use of the term "warrant” in § 29(2) that they intended to obviate the probable-cause requirement. Even if the Legislature had intended to circumvent the probable-cause limitation on the issuance of warrants in this situation, this Court would be bound to interpret the term "warrant” to include the constitutional limitations on their issuance.
The United States Supreme Court in Marshall v Barlow’s, Inc, 436 US 307; 98 S Ct 1816; 56 L Ed 2d 305 (1978), held unconstitutional § 8(a) of the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 USC 657(a), insofar as the provision purported to authorize warrantless inspections of an employer’s premises. In ruling that a warrant was required in the event that an employer refused entry to an OSHA inspector, the Court made clear that "[p]robable cause in the criminal sense is not required” for the issuance of an administrative inspection warrant. 436 US 307, 320. Rather:
"[f]or purposes of an administrative search such as this, probable cause justifying the issuance of a warrant may be based not only on specific evidence of an existing violation but also on a showing that 'reasonable legislative or administrative standards for conducting an . . . inspection are satisfied with respect to a particular [establishment], Camara v Municipal Court, 387 US at 538.” (Footnotes omitted.) Id., 320-321.
Thus, we read § 29(2) as providing only that denial of entry authorizes the department to "apply” for a warrant. It does not, contrary to plaintiffs assertion, purport to command the issuance of a warrant on the basis that entry has been denied. The issuance of a warrant is dependent solely upon a neutral judicial determination that the type of "probable cause” enunciated in Camara v Municipal Court of the City and County of San Francisco, 387 US 523; 87 S Ct 1727; 18 L Ed 2d 930 (1967), has been met.
As noted at the outset of this opinion, the trial judge may have correctly upheld the statute for the wrong reason. The trial judge, in his oral decision, implied that the public interest in securing a safe working environment itself constituted sufficient probable cause for issuance of a suitably restricted search warrant. However, that is not the law. An independent determination of probable cause must be based upon:
(1) specific evidence of an existing violation, or
(2) a "showing that a specific business has been chosen for * * * [a] search on the basis of a general administrative plan for the enforcement of the Act derived from neutral sources”. Marshall v Barlow’s, Inc, supra, 321.
This Court does not pass on the application of the statute to inspections of plaintiffs premises because the issue was not preserved for appeal. Neither do we decide whether administrative guidelines for the conduct of MIOSHA inspections exist upon which a judicial officer could find the probable cause mandated by Camara v Municipal Court, supra.
For the reasons stated above, the constitutionality of § 29(2) of MIOSHA is upheld. The dismissal of plaintiffs cause of action is affirmed.
No costs, a public question being involved. | [
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Beasley, J.
A default judgment of divorce was awarded plaintiff, Margaret L. Vaillencourt, from defendant, Clifford C. Vaillencourt, on December 30, 1977. Defendant husband appeals from the denial of his motion to set aside the default judgment.
Plaintiff and defendant were married in Pontiac, Michigan, on December 21, 1956. They had no children. On February 3, 1977, plaintiff wife began a divorce action in Michigan. Personal service was made upon defendant husband in Prescott, Arizona, on March 4, 1977.
On March 23, 1977, defendant filed a special appearance and motion for accelerated judgment in the Michigan divorce action. In his motion, defendant alleged that the Michigan court lacked jurisdiction to grant plaintiff a divorce because the parties had moved to Arizona in September, 1976, acquired property and registered voter status in that state, and put their Michigan home up for sale; hence, he claimed plaintiff failed to meet the 180-day residency requirement of MCL 552.9; MSA 25.89. Defendant further claimed that plaintiff had lived with him in Arizona until approximately February 1, 1977, when she returned to Michigan and filed for divorce. Plaintiff denied defendant’s assertions, claiming she remained a resident of Michigan, voted in Michigan and held office in the state. On April 20, 1977, the trial court heard defendant’s motion and scheduled an evidentiary hearing to determine the issues of fact that had been raised.
Meanwhile, on March 25, 1977, defendant had filed an action for divorce in the Superior Court of Arizona, Yavapai County. In the Arizona action, no personal service was made upon plaintiff, but a copy of the Arizona notice of hearing was sent to her Michigan attorney in Michigan. Through a special appearance by her attorney, she challenged the jurisdiction of the Arizona court. On May 24, 1977, the Arizona court entered a default judgment of divorce which included provisions for division of the marital property. Without hearing plaintiff, the Arizona court determined that it had both subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction over plaintiff.
On June 8, 1977, defendant amended his motion for accelerated judgment to assert that the Arizona divorce decree was entitled to full faith and credit in the courts of this state and that plaintiff’s complaint should be dismissed under GCR 1963, 116.1(5), as the subject of a prior judgment. Plaintiff’s answer to the amended motion responded that the Arizona divorce action was invalid because it was filed subsequent to the Michigan action, and that, in any event, the jurisdiction of the Arizona court could only extend to the marriage res, not to property or monies under the jurisdiction of the Michigan court.
Following a conference in chambers in August, 1977, the trial judge directed both parties to attempt to negotiate a property settlement in an effort to avoid extensive litigation of the complex jurisdictional problem. In the event that the parties could not reach agreement, an evidentiary hearing was set for October 18, 1977.
No property settlement was reached. On September 21, 1977, the trial court permitted defendant’s attorney to withdraw. On October 18, 1977, the date set for the evidentiary hearing, Ray L. Bohnenstiehl, defendant’s new attorney, physically appeared in court without his client, but Bohnenstiehl had not yet filed, nor did he then file, a written appearance. He requested the court to adjourn the evidentiary hearing, claiming that defendant’s original attorney refused to release to him alleged documentary evidence necessary to support defendant’s claims that plaintiff had not been domiciled in Michigan prior to filing this action. Based on defendant’s inability to present any relevant evidence at the scheduled hearing, the court denied the motion for accelerated judgment without prejudice.
According to plaintiffs counsel, immediately after this hearing, outside the courtroom, plaintiffs counsel told defendant’s new attorney that he expected an appearance and answer to be filed immediately, or defendant would be defaulted. Bohnenstiehl, defendant’s new attorney, admitted this conversation with plaintiff’s attorney, Paul Valentino, did take place, but claimed that he later spoke to another attorney in Valentino’s office in regard to the proposed order recapitulating the October 18, 1977, ruling; and this attorney assured him that no default would be taken. Still, no appearance was filed by Bohnenstiehl.
On December 30, 1977, defendant’s default was entered and plaintiff took a judgment of divorce pro confesso. The property division in this judgment was considerably more favorable to plaintiff than the provisions of the Arizona judgment, awarding virtually all of the parties’ real and personal property within the State of Michigan to plaintiff.
On January 11, 1978, defendant filed a motion to set aside the judgment of divorce. The trial court found no basis for setting aside the judgment and denied the motion. However, again the trial judge wisely recommended that the parties attempt to negotiate a property settlement, and he delayed the order denying defendant’s motion for two weeks. When the parties were unable to arrive at an agreement, the order denying the motion to set aside the default judgment was entered.
Defendant moved for rehearing of his prior motion to set aside the default and for a stay of proceedings pending an appeal. In addition to the grounds previously asserted for setting aside the default judgment, defendant raised, for the first time, the issue of plaintiff’s failure to give the notice required by GCR 1963, 520.2(2). Both motions were denied.
Defendant’s appeal is timely only as to the order denying his motion to set aside the default judgment of divorce.
GCR 1963, 520.2(2) states in pertinent part:
"* * * the party entitled to a judgment by default shall apply to the court therefor; * * * If the party against whom judgment by default is sought has appeared in the action, he (or if appearing by representative, his representative) shall be served with written notice of the application for judgment at least 7 days prior to the hearing on such application.”
Defendant’s counsel claims that under GCR 1963, 520.4, the trial court was required to set aside the default. Defendant argues that, as an appearance had been made, he was entitled to seven days notice prior to taking the default. Plaintiff says there was no appearance and that even if this court determines that there had been, plaintiffs attorney notified attorney Bohnenstiehl orally outside of the courtroom that a default would be taken. In support of this proposition, plaintiff cites Asmus v Barrett. The defendants in Asmus apparently had four days notice of a rescheduled hearing date on plaintiffs application for default judgment; that hearing had been postponed from five weeks earlier, and defendants had ample written notice of the original hearing date. We find Asmus inapposite to the instant facts. Further, GCR 1963, 520.2(2) speaks unequivocally of serving written notice upon "the party against whom judgment by default is sought” provided he "has appeared in the action”. We reject plaintiff’s contention that there can be oral substantial compliance with GCR 1963, 520.2(2).
GCR 1963, 520.2(2) expresses a fundamental concept of due process and its observation is mandatory; failure to give the required notice invalidates the judgment and requires that it be vacated. We find the dispositive question to be, did defendant appear in this action?
Defendant cites the only Michigan case which appears squarely to have addressed the meaning of "appear” in GCR 1963, 520.2(2). In Rhodes v Rho des the Court, citing 2 Honigman and Hawkins, Michigan Court Rules Annotated (2d ed), p 658, states:
" 'The word "appear” as it is used in sub-rule 520.2 must be taken in its generic sense as any act of a party acknowledging jurisdiction of the court or invoking court action on his behalf.’ ”
Rhodes also adopted the language of 6 CJS, Appearances, § 12, p 19:
" 'Knowledge of the pending proceedings and an intention to appear are ordinarily requisite to render an act or course of conduct an appearance. An appearance is not to be inferred except as a result of acts from which an intent to do so may properly be inferred. (Citing cases.)’ ”
Defendant relies principally upon his personal letter to the trial judge, primarily the following language: "I hope and pray your court will not cause me to loose [sic] everything that I have worked and saved for 35 years.”
Defendant seeks to characterize this as a "prayer for relief’. However, defendant’s letter does not fit comfortably within the definition of "appear” offered by Rhodes. Rather, the letter, when read as a whole, appears to renew defendant’s claim that the Michigan court lacks jurisdiction and requests the court to forbear for that reason.
Defendant strains to find other actions such as the future property settlement negotiations he was to enter into and the approval of an order orally by attorney Bohnenstiehl to constitute an appearance. There is no indication of defendant returning to negotiate prior to the default judgment. Although in some cases communications or negotiations with an opposing party’s attorney may constitute an "appearance”, upon these facts, counsel’s activities do not come with the purview of such a definition.
The resolution of the question of whether defendant ever entered an appearance depends upon the significance of the special appearance initially filed on defendant’s behalf by his original attorney. This special appearance was never withdrawn.
Although it was formerly held that a special appearance did not entitle a defendant to "notice of all further proceedings in the cause”, Honigman and Hawkins indicate that a party who unsuccessfully contests the jurisdiction of the court and remains silent thereafter is still entitled to the notice required by GCR 1963, 520.2(2):
"A party who has 'appeared’ may still be defaulted for failure to plead or otherwise defend. Thus, a party might move to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction under Rule 116. If his motion is overruled and he fails thereafter to plead within the prescribed time, he may be defaulted, but the default judgment must be entered by the court. * * *
"If the defendant has 'appeared’ as explained above, he is entitled to seven days notice on the application for default judgment.”
It is no longer necessary to raise the defense of lack of jurisdiction only by a special appearance; it may now also be raised by motion. This may indeed be the basis for the apparent conclusion drawn by Honigman and Hawkins above that a party has appeared even if for a so-called special appearance.
We find that under GCR 1963, 520.2(2), one who "appears”, be it entitled a "special appearance” or a "general” one, is required to have notice under GCR 1963, 520.2(2) before the taking of a default judgment. It is immaterial that a defendant entitled his original pleading a "special appearance”; only the generic term "appearance” retains significance. Therefore, the defendant herein, who unsuccessfully contested the jurisdiction of the court and remained silent thereafter, was entitled to the notice of GCR 1963, 520.2(2), and the default judgment must be set aside.
Consequently, we set aside the judgment of divorce and remand to the trial court for further proceedings.
In so ruling, we do not decide the complex jurisdictional issues which have not yet been heard in the trial court but, in an effort to indicate clearly what we are not yet able to decide on this record, comment further.
In his first motion for accelerated judgment, defendant claimed that the court lacked jurisdiction to grant plaintiff a divorce because she had moved her domicile to Arizona and, therefore, could not meet the Michigan statutory residency requirement. Although defendant raised the Arizona judgment in his amended motion, the trial court indicated at the August 11, 1977, hearing that it would prefer to examine the factual allegations of the original motion first, since those would likely result in outright dismissal if proved. It was only the original motion which was dismissed without prejudice for lack of proofs at the October 18, 1977, hearing. Defendant’s direct challenge to plaintiffs status as a Michigan domiciliary raised a disputed question of fact for the trial court to determine. Neither was this issue heard or decided in Arizona.
The trial judge did not reach the difficult full faith and credit question. He did not have occasion to consider whether he was bound by the judgment of the Arizona court. Consequently, we have an inadequate record and insufficient findings for a meaningful appellate review of that issue.
The United States Constitution requires that sister states give divorce decrees full faith and credit. Divorce proceedings brought by one of the parties in another state are not necessarily invalid by reason of the pendency of divorce proceedings in Michigan, especially where it does not appear that the fact of the pendency of the Michigan proceedings was brought to the attention of the court in the other state. Thus, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s holding that a Nevada divorce was void because no other court could have acquired jurisdiction over the same subject matter while a Michigan divorce was pending.
In the instant case, defendant claims that the issue of plaintiffs domicile in Arizona was already litigated in the Arizona courts and, therefore, the determination of that issue is res judicata between the parties and binding on the Michigan court through the full faith and credit clause. Plaintiff responds that no personal service was made upon her, that she only made a "special appearance” in Arizona, and that the judgment of divorce which defendant allegedly obtained was not the result of active litigation and was merely a routine, very brief default hearing.
In deciding whether to give any effect to the recitals of fact regarding domicile in the Arizona decree, further review of both the Federal and the Michigan cases may be helpful.
Whether the doctrine of divisible divorce, as established by the United States Supreme Court in Estin v Estin, and applied by Michigan courts in Malcolm v Malcolm and Owen v Owen is applicable here, will depend upon the trial court’s findings of fact and applications of law. In Owen, the Court found the facts to be similar to those upon which the United States Supreme Court based its holding in Estin and established divisible divorce. The Owen Court, at 121-122, found:
"The basic holding of Estin was that while the Nevada decree must be given full faith and credit as to the continuance of the marriage relationship, it does not necessarily affect other incidentals of marriage such as property settlement or support payments. * * *
"Estin leaves to the law and policy of the home state the decision as to whether the foreign divorce judgment will affect those aspects of the marriage over which the home state retains control.
"The divorce in Nevada did not purport to adjudicate anything other than the marriage relationship. It does not mention property settlement or support payments. Furthermore, the law in Michigan appears to be that ex parte divorce decisions will not be given full faith and credit with respect to these matters. The policy in Michigan is that the property rights of its citizens will be protected. We find therefore that the Nevada divorce did not terminate plaintiff’s obligation to pay support under the prior Michigan judgment._
In any event, it will be the responsibility of the trial court to decide these issues after trial (or after hearing, depending upon the procedural setting) with findings of fact and conclusions of law.
In conclusion, the default judgment of divorce is set aside and this case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. No costs are awarded, since neither party has prevailed in full.
Under Arizona law, one of the parties must have been domiciled in the state for 90 days prior to commencing the action. Ariz Rev Stat 25-312.
Plaintiff claims the Arizona court lacked personal jurisdiction over her.
Plaintiffs attorney, Paul Valentino, was killed in an airplane accident in August, 1979, which was after oral argument in this Court.
In neither Arizona nor Michigan has there been trial on the merits regarding property and other matters.
30 Mich App 570; 186 NW2d 819 (1971).
Petroff v Petroff, 88 Mich App 18, 21; 276 NW2d 503 (1979).
3 Mich App 396, 400-401; 142 NW2d 508 (1966).
Hews v Hews, 145 Mich 247, 253; 108 NW 694 (1906).
2 Honigman and Hawkins, Michigan Court Rules Annotated (2d ed), p 659.
See, Committee Comment (3) to GCR 1963, 116 at 1 Honigman and Hawkins, id. at 324.
In this case, to date both sides have proceeded in a default setting so that neither trial judge, Michigan or Arizona, has heard both sides in a contested trial setting.
US Const, art IV, § 1. See, Williams v North Carolina, 317 US 287; 63 S Ct 207; 87 L Ed 279 (1942).
In re Elliott’s Estate, 285 Mich 579; 281 NW 330 (1938).
Owen v Owen, 389 Mich 117; 205 NW2d 181 (1973). In re Elliott’s Estate, supra.
See, Williams v North Carolina, 325 US 226, 65 S Ct 1092; 89 L Ed 1577 (1945), Davis v Davis, 305 US 32; 59 S Ct 3; 83 L Ed 26 (1938), Sherrer v Sherrer, 334 US 343; 68 S Ct 1087; 92 L Ed 1429 (1948), Pratt v Miedema, 311 Mich 64; 18 NW2d 279 (1945), Cook v Cook, 342 US 126, 128; 72 S Ct 157; 96 L Ed 146 (1951), see, Johnson v Muelberger, 340 US 581, 587; 71 S Ct 474; 95 L Ed 552 (1951).
334 US 541; 68 S Ct 1213; 92 L Ed 1561 (1948).
345 Mich 720; 76 NW2d 831 (1956).
389 Mich 117; 205 NW2d 181 (1973).
Also, standard rules of civil procedure would apply to the present situation. 24 Am Jur 2d, Divorce and Separation, § 995, p 1131 indicates:
"The power of the divorce court to determine property rights requires jurisdiction in personam over the defendant except to the extent that it proceeds in rem against property located within the state.”
"6 Malcolm v Malcolm, 345 Mich 720 (1956).” | [
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Campbell, J.
Plaintiff was in 1866 made guardian of three young children of Jonathan Bonner, deceased, Emma, the youngest, having been born April 25, I860. Their only estate was a pension of a small amount and certain land afterwards sold for $2000. Their mother remarried after her husband’s death and died in 1867, when Emma was two years old, and her brother Charles was six. Upon the mother’s death these two children had to be looked after, and were placed in defendant’s charge, Emma in 1868, and her brother in 1870. The guardian and their uncle desired to have defendant and Iris wife, who were childless, adopt. them. Defendant hesitated about it on account of his small means at that time, as not able to support them. It was then agreed, as the testimony shows, that defendant should have their property to help him support them. Accordingly the pension money was paid and the land was also subsequently sold, and the proceeds, with the pension money, left in his hands. lie brought up the children, and the testimony indicates that Emma was treated very generously, and furnished with such an education, and such clothing and ornaments, musical instruments, the use of horse and carriage and other things as put her on an equality with other young ladies, and were, in part at least, such as defendant could not well have afforded out of his own means. In 1882 Emma, being about 17 years old, was married to Fred, N. Edie, to whom defendant had some objection from his having been employed in a business he did not approve. Thereupon she attempted to have her husband appointed her guardian, and letters seem to have been issued to him, but apparently Chubb was not discharged. She cited Chubb to render his accounts, which he did, and showed the money paid over to defendant. An order seems to have been made charging him with the amount so paid over, but, as in our opinion it could have no bearing on this controversy, we need not regard it. Chubb then, as guardian, brought this suit (or it was brought in his name) to recover back the money as still belonging to the estate, and paid over and kept without consideration, although there had been a formal discharge given for it. The court below held the pension money properly retained by defendant, but gave judgment for the proceeds of the lands.
Some questions arose early in the trial as to how far testimony could be introduced to show that the guardianship had been changed, — it being objected that no such defense was pleaded. The court below shut it out. If we rightly understand the record, no lawful change of guardians was actually made. But if it had been, we have no doubt it was proper to show it. The action was on behalf of the guardian as representing the estate, for money had and received, and anything which showed an absence of indebtedness to plaintiff should be a good defense. We see no occasion for a plea, but had it become necessary it would have been unjust not to permit any necessary amendment.
As we view the record, the only real question is whether Bradley should repay any or all of the money received by him as the proceeds of the land. The court below held that having adopted the children, defendant was compelled to support them himself unless there was an agreement made prior to the adoption and as a consideration for it, and that any money not paid under such a prior arrangement could be recovered bach. The charge also seems to confine the amount that could be so agreed upon to the pension money and the rent of the farm, excluding the proceeds of its sale.-
There is no rule of law, in our judgment, which can sustain these holdings. If it is thought reasonable and proper, in order to give a child more advantages than the income of the estate will furnish, there is no inflexible rule which wdll prevent resorting to the use of the principal, and it may be true economy and duty to do so. Our statutes provide that the body of a trust fund may in proper cases, be so. applied, and in Gott v. Culp 45 Mich. 265, this same doctrine was applied to the ward’s estate in the hand's of the guardian. If children have property separate from that of parents, natural or adopted, although it may fairly he expected that the parents shall bring them up if they can, at their own expense, in conformity with their means, yet it would be entirely unreasonable to refuse to give them better facilities than the parents themselves could afford, if parents and guardians should think it advisable for them, within reasonable limits. As between guardians and those to whom they pay money for that purpose, we do not think an action at law will lie to recover moneys so appropriated, and no authority appears to support it. None of the authorities cited support the claim that a guardian can repudiate his contracts with third persons, and get back money actually paid over for lawful purposes. As these children were situated there can be no _ doubt it was desirable to have them, in such tender years, placed in family relations with kind and suitable persons, and the appropriation of funds for that purpose cannot, if honestly made, be recalled by the guardian. We are not called on to consider cases of fraud, or cases where there is no reasonable relation between the funds and the support, or how far, even there, an action at law would lie. In the present case there was no testimony tending to indicate that the arrangements between the guardian and the defendant were improper or excessive, and so far as the facts appear both were justified in their conduct. And at any rate there was nothing shown which would justify this action, and the questions as to the guardian’s own liability, if they arose here, which they did not, can seldom be left to a jury.
' We have not considered the minor points on the reception of testimony, as they could not be material in any proper view of the case.
The judgment must be reversed and a new trial granted, although we can hardly conceive that this formal order, which is customary on exceptions, can be of any use to plaintiff.
The other Justices concurred. | [
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