Michigan Supreme Court Decisions 2017
Date: December 26, 2017
Docket Number: 149490
Justia Opinion Summary: Anthony White pled guilty to armed robbery, and breaking and entering, all in connection with a gas station robbery during which he held a gun to the cashier’s head. He was sentenced to 108 to 480 months in prison for…
Date: August 1, 2017
Docket Number: 153185
Justia Opinion Summary: In his trial for first-degree murder, the trial court improperly denied defendant William Lyles, Jr.’s request for an instruction informing the jury that his evidence of good character could create a reasonable doubt.…
Date: July 31, 2017
Docket Number: 152723
Justia Opinion Summary: Michael and Jacqueline Ray, acting as coconservators for their minor child, Kersch Ray, filed an action against Eric Swager, Scott Platt, and others, in part alleging that Swager was liable for the injuries suffered by…
Date: July 31, 2017
Docket Numbers: 153370, 153371, 153372, 153373
Justia Opinion Summary: In several cases consolidated for review, the issue common to all was whether the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services could recover from beneficiaries’ estates an amount equivalent to certain Medicaid…
Date: July 31, 2017
Docket Number: 154396
Justia Opinion Summary: Gary Lewis was convicted after a jury trial on four counts of third-degree arson, and one count of second-degree arson. The trial court sentenced defendant as a fourth-offense habitual offender to 17 to 30 years of…
Date: July 28, 2017
Docket Number: 152831
Justia Opinion Summary: The Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) filed a formal complaint against Sixth Circuit Judge Lisa Gorcyca, alleging two counts of judicial misconduct arising from a hearing at which she found three children in contempt of…
Date: July 25, 2017
Docket Number: 150404
Justia Opinion Summary: The Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) filed a formal complaint against 14-A District Court Judge J. Cedric Simpson, alleging three counts of judicial misconduct arising from a 2013 incident where Crystal Vargas, one of…
Date: July 25, 2017
Docket Number: 154039
Justia Opinion Summary: Dwayne Wilson was convicted by jury on one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (felony-firearm), and two counts of unlawful imprisonment. Because defendant had two prior felony-firearm…
Date: July 24, 2017
Docket Numbers: 152671, 152849, 152871, 152872, 152873, 152946, 152947, 152948
Justia Opinion Summary: Alexander Steanhouse was convicted by jury for assault with intent to commit murder (AWIM), and receiving and concealing stolen property. The court departed from the sentencing guidelines’ recommended minimum range and…
Date: July 24, 2017
Docket Number: 152849
Date: July 24, 2017
Docket Numbers: 152871, 152872, 152873
Date: July 24, 2017
Docket Numbers: 152946, 152947, 152948
Date: July 24, 2017
Docket Number: 153908
Justia Opinion Summary: Gino Rea was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OWI). A police officer parked his patrol vehicle in the street in front of defendant’s driveway while responding to noise complaints from defendant’s…
Date: July 17, 2017
Docket Number: 152916
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Tmando Denson was convicted by jury of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. The charges stemmed from an altercation defendant had with a 17-year-old who was dating defendant’s…
Date: July 3, 2017
Docket Number: 153008
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Numbers: 151800, 153008
Justia Opinion Summary: In Docket No. 151800, Clam Lake Township and Haring Charter Township (the Townships) appealed the determination of the State Boundary Commission (the Commission) that an agreement entered into under the Intergovernmental…
Date: June 28, 2017
Docket Number: 152047
Justia Opinion Summary: Baruch SLS, Inc., a Michigan nonprofit corporation, sought exemptions from real and personal property taxes as a charitable institution under MCL 211.7o and MCL 211.9 for tax years 2010–2012. Petitioner based its request…
Date: June 27, 2017
Docket Number: 152889
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant operated a parochial school to which plaintiff was denied admission. When plaintiff sued on the basis of disability discrimination, defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing among other things that, under…
Date: June 27, 2017
Docket Number: 153723
Justia Opinion Summary: Jeffrey and Carol Haksluoto filed a medical malpractice claim against Mt. Clemens Regional Medical Center, General Radiology Associates, PC, and Eli Shapiro, DO, for injuries Jeffrey sustained after he was misdiagnosed…
Date: June 23, 2017
Docket Number: 152713
Justia Opinion Summary: Justin Comer pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct in the first-degree (CSC-I) and second-degree home invasion. He was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 51 months to 18 years for the CSC-I conviction and 51…
Date: June 15, 2017
Docket Number: 151719
Justia Opinion Summary: Daniel Kemp sued his no-fault insurer, Farm Bureau General Insurance Company of Michigan, seeking personal protection insurance (PIP) benefits under the parked motor vehicle exception in MCL 500.3106(1)(b) for an injury…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Numbers: 153115, 153117.
Justia Opinion Summary: The scope of the implied license to approach a house and knock is time-sensitive; it generally does not extend to predawn approaches. While approaching a home with the purpose of gathering information is not, standing…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Number: 153117
Date: May 25, 2017
Docket Number: 152758
Justia Opinion Summary: Only two sections of the Michigan no-fault act mention healthcare providers, MCL 500.3157 and MCL 500.3158, and neither of those sections confers on a healthcare provider a right to sue for reimbursement of the costs of…
Date: May 19, 2017
Docket Numbers: 153636, 153751
Justia Opinion Summary: Points may be assessed for OV 5 even absent proof that a victim’s family member has sought or received, or intends to seek or receive, professional treatment. Tiwaun Calloway was convicted by jury of second-degree murder…
Date: May 19, 2017
Docket Number: 153751
Date: May 18, 2017
Docket Number: 151051
Date: May 18, 2017
Docket Numbers: 151051, 151053
Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated cases, two municipalities sought to provide electric service through municipal electric utilities. Central to both cases was the applicability Michigan Administrative Code Rule 411 (sometimes referred to…
Date: May 15, 2017
Docket Number: 151888
Justia Opinion Summary: MCL 450.4515(1)(e) provided alternative statutes of limitations: one based on the time of discovery of the cause of action and the other based on the time of accrual of the cause of action. Plaintiffs were former…
Date: May 12, 2017
Docket Number: 152535
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, George and Thelma Nickola, were injured in a car accident. The driver of the other car was insured with a no-fault insurance policy provided the minimum liability coverage allowed by law: $20,000 per person, up…
Date: May 12, 2017
Docket Number: 152840
Justia Opinion Summary: This case centered on whether a trial court, in its discretion, could hold an evidentiary hearing to collaterally review a magistrate’s finding of probable cause on the basis of a defendant’s challenge to the veracity of…
Date: May 8, 2017
Docket Number: 153786
Justia Opinion Summary: Under Michigan’s Probate Code, the Department of Health and Human Services has an affirmative duty to make reasonable efforts to reunify a family before seeking termination of parental rights. The Department also has an…
Date: May 1, 2017
Docket Number: 151524
Justia Opinion Summary: The Tax Tribunal erred by concluding that MCL 211.7n, a statute specifically exempting from taxation the real or personal property owned and occupied by nonprofit educational institutions, controlled over the more…
Date: April 14, 2017
Docket Number: 152484
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, plaintiff Dragen Perkovic was operating a semitruck in Nebraska when he swerved to avoid hitting a car that had spun out in front of him. Plaintiff’s truck then crashed into a wall. Plaintiff’s resulting…
Date: April 14, 2017
Docket Numbers: 153655, 153656
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue presented in this case was whether, by signing a contract providing that plaintiff agreed “to reimburse [defendants’] attorney fees and costs as may be fixed by the court,” the parties agreed that the amount of…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 152058
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, defendant Sharea Foster, gave birth to a son, BF. Plaintiff Shae Graham alleged that he was the biological father of BF and therefore should be recognized as BF’s legal father. However, defendant has been…
Date: April 4, 2017
Docket Number: 151282
Justia Opinion Summary: John Barrera was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC-II) for sexually assaulting his wife’s granddaughter. Defendant pleaded no…
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