PEOPLE OF MI V CORY JO SCHUT
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
FOR PUBLICATION
March 17, 2005
9:00 a.m.
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 256377
Barry Circuit Court
LC No. 04-000104-FH
CORY JO SCHUT,
Defendant-Appellant.
Official Reported Version
Before: Schuette, P.J., and Fitzgerald and Bandstra, JJ.
SCHUETTE, P.J.
In this interlocutory appeal, defendant, Cory Jo Schut, appeals by leave granted from the
circuit court's orders denying his motion to dismiss the information with respect to a charge of
driving with a revoked license and causing death, MCL 257.904(4), and granting the prosecutor's
motion to preclude evidence that the victim was in fact the cause of her own death. We reverse
and remand. We do not retain jurisdiction.
I. FACTS
In January 2004, defendant was driving a pickup truck with snowplowing equipment
attached to its front, even though his driver's license had been revoked. Apparently, he was
traveling at normal speeds when the victim crossed the road in front of him while riding a
snowmobile. The snowmobile and the truck collided. Defendant did not stop at the scene or
report the accident. All indications are that the victim died immediately upon impact with the
truck.
The prosecutor charged defendant with second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; operating a
motor vehicle with a revoked license and causing death, MCL 257.904(4); and failing to stop at
the scene of an accident involving death or serious bodily injury, MCL 257.617. District Judge
Gary R. Holman expressly concluded that "even though the Defendant did not cause the
accident, the vehicle he was operating did cause the death of [the victim]." The district court
dismissed the murder charge, but bound defendant over for trial on the remaining charges.
The defense argued to the district court that because the victim herself had caused the
accident resulting in her death, causation could not be attributed to defendant under MCL
257.904(4). The district court rejected this theory. Defendant reiterated his position in trying to
persuade the circuit court to dismiss the information on that charge. The circuit court declined to
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dismiss the information.
interlocutory appeal.
Trial proceedings have been stayed pending resolution of this
II. Standard of Review
This Court reviews de novo a lower court's denial of a motion to dismiss the information,
and determines upon examination of the entire preliminary examination record whether the
magistrate abused its discretion when it found probable cause to bind the defendant over for trial.
People v Orzame, 224 Mich App 551, 557; 570 NW2d 118 (1997). The decision whether to
admit evidence is likewise reviewed for an abuse of discretion. People v Bahoda, 448 Mich 261,
289; 531 NW2d 659 (1995). Statutory interpretation is a question of law calling for review de
novo. People v Denio, 454 Mich 691, 698; 564 NW2d 13 (1997).
III. Analysis
Defendant argues that MCL 257.904(4) requires actual causation, not mere involvement.
We agree.
MCL 257.904 provides, in pertinent part:
(1) A person whose operator's or chauffeur's license or registration
certificate has been suspended or revoked and who has been notified . . . of that
suspension or revocation, whose application for license has been denied, or who
has never applied for a license, shall not operate a motor vehicle upon a highway
or other place open to the general public or generally accessible to motor vehicles,
including an area designated for the parking of motor vehicles, within this state.
* * *
(4) A person who operates a motor vehicle in violation of subsection (1)
and who, by operation of that motor vehicle, causes the death of another person is
guilty of a felony . . . .
Although there is no case law interpreting the causation language in MCL 257.904(4), there is
binding precedent interpreting MCL 257.625, a statute that reflects similar organization:
(1) A person, whether licensed or not, shall not operate a vehicle upon a
highway or other place open to the general public or generally accessible to motor
vehicles, including an area designated for the parking of vehicles, within this state
if the person is operating while intoxicated. . . .
* * *
(4) A person, whether licensed or not, who operates a motor vehicle in
violation of subsection (1) . . . and by the operation of that motor vehicle causes
the death of another person is guilty of a crime . . . .
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Our Supreme Court has held that MCL 257.625(4) applies only if the unlawful
intoxication factored substantially into the death in question. People v Lardie, 452 Mich 231,
259-260 and n 51; 551 NW2d 656 (1996). In Lardie, our Supreme Court ruled that identical
language in MCL 257.625(4), operation of a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death,
required proof of causation, i.e., the prosecutor must establish that the particular defendant's
decision to drive while intoxicated produced a change in that driver's operation of the vehicle
that caused the death. An unavoidable killing is insufficient to justify invoking the statute. Id. at
258 and n 48. "Otherwise, the statute would impose a penalty on a driver even when his
wrongful decision to drive while intoxicated had no bearing on the death that resulted." Id. at
257.
"'Identical language should certainly receive identical construction when found in the
same act.'" People ex rel Simmons v Munising Twp, 213 Mich 629, 633; 182 NW 118 (1921)
(quoting and adopting the trial court opinion). See also Empire Iron Mining Partnership v
Orhanen, 455 Mich 410, 426 n 16; 565 NW2d 844 (1997). Our Supreme Court declared in
Lardie that "[s]tatutes that create strict liability for all of their elements are not favored." Lardie,
supra at 240. Also, even where a crime is created by statute, criminal intent is ordinarily an
element of the crime. Id. at 239. However, the Court also stated:
In order to determine whether a statute imposes strict liability or requires
proof of a mens rea, that is, a guilty mind, this Court first examines the statute
itself and seeks to determine the Legislature's intent. In interpreting a statute in
which the Legislature has not expressly included language indicating that fault is
a necessary element of a crime, this Court must focus on whether the Legislature
nevertheless intended to require some fault as a predicate to finding guilt. [Id. at
239 (citation omitted).]
If the offense in question does not codify the common law and omits reference to the element of
intent, this Court will examine the Legislature's intent in enacting the legislation to determine
whether there is a mens rea requirement. Id. at 246. Courts may look to the legislative history of
an act, as well as to the history of the time during which the act was passed, to ascertain the
reason for the act and the meaning of its provisions. People v Hall, 391 Mich 175, 191; 215
NW2d 166 (1974). However, legislative staff analyses and committee reports have limited
value. Frank W Lynch & Co v Flex Technologies, Inc, 463 Mich 578, 587; 624 NW2d 180
(2001); In re Complaint of Michigan Cable Telecom Ass'n Against Ameritech Michigan, 241
Mich App 344, 372-373; 615 NW2d 255 (2000). Although of limited value, the legislative staff
analysis of 1998 PA 3421 indicates that MCL 257.904 was amended to add the language
presently found in subsection 4 making a person who operates a motor vehicle with a revoked or
suspended license and, by operation of that motor vehicle, causes the death of another person
guilty of a felony. This analysis indicates that the purpose of the act was to increase penalties for
1
Senate Legislative Analysis, SB 268, 269, 625, 627, 869, 870, and 953 and HB 4210, 4576,
4959-4961, 5122, 5123, 5951-5956, January 12, 1999, p 5.
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habitually drunken drivers.2 This intent is further evinced by the fact that this public act was
among a group of public acts that revised the Michigan Vehicle Code to increase criminal
penalties, license sanctions, and other sanctions for drunken driving offenses, including operating
a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances, as well as for driving
without a license.
The Lardie Court noted that MCL 257.625(4) sought to reduce fatalities by deterring
drunken driving and concluded, therefore, that the statute must have been designed to punish
drivers when their drunken driving caused another's death. Lardie, supra at 256-257.
"Otherwise, the statute would impose a penalty on a driver even when his wrongful decision to
drive while intoxicated had no bearing on the death that resulted. Such an interpretation of the
statute would produce an absurd result by divorcing the defendant's fault from the resulting
injury." Id. at 257. The fact that the intent of the legislation in Lardie was very similar to the
intent of the legislation in the present case indicates that an identical conclusion is warranted.
Binding authority interprets MCL 257.625(4) as requiring a causal link between the
intoxication and the death; thus, we interpret MCL 257.904(4) as requiring a causal link between
the revoked or suspended license and the death. To find otherwise would mean the statute would
impose a penalty on a driver even when his wrongful decision to drive with a revoked or
suspended license had no bearing on the death that resulted. We decline to reach such a result.
Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain
jurisdiction.
Bandstra, J., concurred.
/s/ Bill Schuette
/s/ Richard A. Bandstra
2
Id. at 1-2.
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