PEOPLE OF MI V DOUGLAS LAKE
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
FOR PUBLICATION
January 4, 2002
9:00 a.m.
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
No. 227278
Oakland Circuit Court
LC No. 99-169631-FH
MICHAEL SAMUEL BONO,
Defendant-Appellee.
ON REMAND
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
DOUGLAS LAKE,
No. 227280
Oakland Circuit Court
LC No. 99-169629-FH
Defendant-Appellee.
_______________________________________
Updated Copy
March 15, 2002
Before: Neff, P.J., and Fitzgerald and Markey, JJ.
FITZGERALD, J.
This case is on remand from the Supreme Court.1 In our earlier opinion,2 we held that
defendants' conduct did not occur in a public place as a matter of law within the meaning of the
statute prohibiting gross indecency between males, MCL 750.338, and affirmed the trial court's
dismissal of the charges against defendants. In lieu of granting the prosecution leave to appeal,
the Supreme Court vacated this holding3 and remanded the case to this Court "to address whether
1
People v Bono, 465 Mich 888 (2001).
2
People v Bono, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, issued June 12, 2001
(Docket Nos. 227278, 227280).
3
The Court stated:
(continued…)
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the act which occurred here is grossly indecent within the meaning of MCL 750.338 and direct it
to consider if CJI2d 20.31 is consistent with the case law on the question whether masturbation
can be grossly indecent." 465 Mich 888. We reverse and remand.
The facts are succinctly set forth in our earlier opinion:
On November 19, 1999, Mark Bowering, a Meijer store detective, entered
the restroom at Meijer and noticed that both of the two adjoining stalls were
occupied. Bowering washed his hands, walked out of the restroom, and waited in
the front center lobby of the store for approximately eight to ten minutes. When
nobody exited the restroom during that time, Bowering contacted his supervisor,
Brian Reaver. Reaver and Bowering entered the restroom, and Bowering kneeled
down and lowered his head to within one or two inches of the floor so that he
could see under the stall doors. Bowering observed that the occupant of the
handicapped stall, defendant Bono, was down on his knees, facing the adjacent
stall, with his pants and underwear around his ankles. The occupant of the
adjacent stall, defendant Lake, was sitting on the toilet. Defendant Lake was
"moving his arm up and down near the bottom of the handicapped stall" where
defendant Bono was kneeling. Bowering did not actually see defendants touching
each other and did not see either defendant's penis.
Both defendants were charged with gross indecency between males and
bound over for trial. Defendant Lake moved to quash the charge against him, and
defendant Bono moved to dismiss the charge against him. Following a hearing on
the motions, the trial court granted the motions, concluding that (1) there was
neither evidence that there was an entry of one defendant's penis, finger, or tongue
into the other defendant's anus or mouth, nor evidence of the touching of one
defendant's tongue or mouth to the other defendant's anus or genital organs, and
(2) defendants had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the stall. [People v
Bono, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, issued June 12,
2001) (Docket Nos. 227278, 227280).
I
On remand, we are directed to first determine whether the act that occurred here is
grossly indecent within the meaning of MCL 750.338, which states in pertinent part:
Any male person who, in public or in private, commits or is a party to the
commission of or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male
(…continued)
Assuming arguendo that the prosecution has to establish that the act
occurred in public as an element of the crime, there was sufficient evidence to
establish probable cause that the area was a public place and it remains a question
for the factfinder whether this element was established. See People v Williams,
462 Mich 861-862 (2000). [465 Mich 888.]
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person of any act of gross indecency with another male person shall be guilty of a
felony . . . .
In the absence of a clear definition by the Legislature of the term "gross indecency," we
must examine the longstanding body of Michigan case law addressing the subject. Beginning
with People v Hicks, 98 Mich 86, 90; 56 NW2d 1102 (1893), a case involving the taking of
indecent liberties with a child, the Supreme Court applied a "common sense of the community"
standard. The common sense of society rationale was later applied in gross indecency cases.
See, e.g., People v Carey, 217 Mich 601; 187 NW 261 (1922); People v Dexter, 6 Mich App
247, 253; 148 NW2d 915 (1967).
In People v Howell, 396 Mich 16, 24; 238 NW2d 148 (1976), Justice Levin rejected the
common sense of society test and authored a plurality opinion that construed the term "act of
gross indecency" to "prohibit oral and manual sexual acts committed without consent or with a
person under the age of consent or any ultimate sexual act committed in public." However, only
two other justices joined Justice Levin's opinion, and therefore this section of his opinion is not
binding legal precedent. People v Jones, 222 Mich App 595, 599-600; 563 NW2d 719 (1997).
Several panels of this Court held that Justice Levin's definition of gross indecency has no
precedential value and therefore adhered to the Hicks lines of authority. See, e.g., People v
Austin, 185 Mich App 334, 338; 460 NW2d 607 (1990) (this Court applied the "common sense
of society" standard in holding that MCL 750.338 was not unconstitutionally vague as applied to
the defendants, who had allegedly engaged in consensual acts of fellatio and masturbation in a
public restroom). Other panels of this Court chose to follow Howell. See, e.g., People v Lynch,
179 Mich App 63, 66-68; 445 NW2d 803 (1989) (this Court applied Justice Levin's standard
from Howell, supra, and held masturbation in public constitutes "gross indecency").
In an effort to resolve the conflict between the standards used for gross indecency, a
special panel of this Court held that the "common sense of society" standard was the appropriate
standard to determine what constituted an act of gross indecency. People v Brashier, 197 Mich
App 672, 679; 496 NW2d 385 (1992), aff 'd in part and reversed in part sub nom People v Lino,
447 Mich 567; 527 NW2d 434 (1994). However, the portion of this Court's decision in Brashier
that adopted the common sense of society rationale was reversed in Lino, supra at 571. In Lino,
a majority of the justices rejected the "common sense of society" standard for gross indecency.
However, the Court could not agree on what standard should be used to determine if an act is
grossly indecent. Justice Levin wrote separately, id. at 578-603, and opined that the Court
should state what is not gross indecency: adults engaging in "oral sex (fellatio, cunnilingus) or
anal sex, or manual sex, including masturbation or other manual penetration or arousal, as long
as the activity is consensual and in private." Id. at 582. Justice Boyle and Justice Brickley
opined that the gross indecency statute should punish only oral sexual conduct. Id. at 603-617.
Justice Riley and Justice Griffin opined that Michigan should continue to use the "common sense
of society" standard used in the past. Id. at 617-623. Therefore, Lino leaves us with a "definitive
statement regarding how not to determine whether an act is grossly indecent, but without a
definitive statement regarding which acts are grossly indecent." Jones, supra at 602.
Attending to the Court's admonition that "[o]ne of the lessons of the Lino inquiry is that it
is prudent to decide only the case before us, and not attempt to catalog what is permitted and
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prohibited," People v Warren, 449 Mich 341, 345; 535 NW2d 173 (1995), we must determine
whether masturbation in public between consenting adult males is grossly indecent.
The purpose of the gross indecency statute is to protect the public from the possibility of
being exposed to certain acts of sexual conduct. People v Vronko, 228 Mich App 649, 656; 579
NW2d 138 (1998). Thus, the circumstances are relevant to a determination whether an act is
grossly indecent. Jones, supra at 603.
In Lino, supra at 571, the Supreme Court held that oral sexual conduct in a public place is
grossly indecent. The Court also held that "orchestrating the conduct of [a minor], to facilitate . .
. sexual arousal and masturbation in the presence of the [minor] would constitute the offense of
procuring, or attempting to procure, an act of gross indecency even though it was not committed
in a public place." Id. at 578. Lino did not hold that the acts themselves were grossly indecent,
but that because of the attending circumstances, the defendants' conduct violated the gross
indecency statute.4 Thus, Lino is in harmony with Justice Levin's conclusion in Howell that (1)
oral and manual sexual acts committed without consent or with a person under the age of consent
and (2) an "ultimate sex act committed in public" are included within the definition of "gross
indecency." In Lynch, supra at 68, this Court held that masturbation of an exposed penis is an
"ultimate sex act" under Justice Levin's definition of gross indecency in Howell. It cannot be
seriously argued that masturbation is not an "ultimate sex act." Lynch, supra at 67. See also
People v Trammell, 171 Mich App 128; 429 NW2d 810 (1988). Thus, if the facts as alleged by
the prosecution are true, then defendants' conduct would constitute an act of gross indecency
under MCL 750.338.
II
We have also been directed to address whether CJI2d 20.31,5 the jury instruction
concerning what constitutes gross indecency, is consistent with the case law regarding the
4
Thus, we question the continued validity of People v Holland, 49 Mich App 76; 211 NW2d 224
(1973). In Holland, the Court opined that the similar language of MCL 750.338b involving
activities between males and females prohibits grossly indecent activity without regard to
whether it occurred in public or in private. Id. at 78-79. However, the Court ultimately held that
the defendant's act of allowing a young girl to willingly have her hand on the defendant's
exposed penis in a car parked in a dark area of a private parking lot did not constitute an act of
gross indecency within the meaning of the criminal statute prohibiting acts of gross indecency
between males and females.
5
CJI2d 20.31 states:
(1) The defendant is charged with the crime of committing an act of gross
indecency with another person. To prove this charge, the prosecutor must prove
each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
(2) First, that the defendant engaged in a sexual act that involved
[Choose (a), (b), (c), or (d):]
(continued…)
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question whether masturbation can be grossly indecent.6 CJI2d 20.31 provides that "gross
indecency" must include some sort of penetration, fellatio, or cunnilingus. However, there are
no Michigan cases holding that there must be some penetration, fellatio, or cunnilingus to
constitute gross indecency. There is Michigan case law, however, holding that public
masturbation is a grossly indecent act, Lynch, supra at 68, and that masturbation in the presence
of a minor, regardless of whether the conduct is performed in public, is a grossly indecent act.
Lino, supra at 578. Because the instruction does not permit a conviction of gross indecency
where a manual sexual act occurs under any set of circumstances, the instruction is not consistent
with Michigan case law concerning masturbation as a grossly indecent act. Lino, supra; Lynch,
(…continued)
(a) entry into another person's [vagina / anus] by the defendant's [penis /
finger / tongue / (name object)]. Any entry, no matter how slight, is enough. It
does not matter whether the sexual act was completed or whether semen was
ejaculated.
or
(b) entry into another person's mouth by the defendant's penis. Any entry,
no matter how slight, is enough. It does not matter whether the sexual act was
completed or whether semen was ejaculated.
or
(c) touching of another person's [genital openings / genital organs] with
the defendant's mouth or tongue.
or
(d) entry by [any part of one person's body / some object] into the genital
or anal opening of another person's body. Any entry, no matter how slight, is
enough. It is alleged in this case that a sexual act was committed by [state alleged
act]. It does not matter whether the sexual act was completed or whether semen
was ejaculated.
(3) Second, that the sexual act was committed in a public place. A place is
public when a member of the public, who is in a place the public is generally
invited or allowed to be, could have been exposed to or viewed the act.
6
The trial court stated that "I am duty bound by the standard jury instructions that are
promulgated by the Michigan Supreme Court that require the entry into a cavity or a touching
and we don't have that." The standard jury instructions do not have the official sanction of the
Michigan Supreme Court and, consequently, adherence to their choice of language is not
required. People v Petrella, 424 Mich 221, 277; 380 NW2d 11 (1985); People v Sullivan, 231
Mich App 510, 520, n 1; 586 NW2d 578 (1998).
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supra. Thus, on remand the trial court will have to modify the criminal jury instruction to
comport with the alleged act of masturbation.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Jurisdiction
is not retained.
/s/ E. Thomas Fitzgerald
/s/ Janet T. Neff
/s/ Jane E. Markey
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