PEOPLE OF MI V FRANK J MATTOON III
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
FOR PUBLICATION
June 6, 2006
9:20 a.m.
Plaintiff/Cross-Appellant,
v
No. 259822
Kalkaska Circuit Court
LC No. 04-002461-FC
FRANK J. MATTOON, III,
Defendant/Cross-Appellee.
Official Reported Version
Before: Sawyer, P.J., and Kelly and Davis, JJ.
SAWYER, P.J.
We are asked to determine in this case whether offense variable (OV) 7 of the Sentencing
Guidelines may be scored at 50 points where there is no actual physical abuse of the victim. We
conclude that the language of the statute includes situations in which there is emotional or
psychological, but not physical, abuse of the victim and that actual physical abuse is not required
to justify assessing 50 points for this variable. We reverse and remand.
Defendant was convicted, following a jury trial, of kidnapping,1 felonious assault,2 and
possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.3 His convictions arise out of an
incident in which he held his girlfriend at gunpoint for approximately nine hours in their home
before she was able to escape and summon the authorities.
The probation department had recommended scoring OV 7 at 50 points. Defendant
objected at sentencing to the scoring, arguing that it should be scored at zero. The trial court
initially agreed with the prosecutor that the variable was correctly scored. Following a recess,
however, the trial court reversed itself and concluded that the plain language of the statute
1
MCL 750.349.
2
MCL 750.82.
3
MCL 750.227b.
-1-
required actual physical abuse of the victim to justify a score of 50 points and, therefore,
sustained defendant's objection to the scoring of OV 7 and rescored it at zero points. This
rescoring affects the sentencing guidelines' recommendation with respect to the kidnapping
conviction, though not with respect to the felonious assault conviction.
MCL 777.37 provides as follows:
(1) Offense variable 7 is aggravated physical abuse. Score offense
variable 7 by determining which of the following apply and by assigning the
number of points attributable to the one that has the highest number of points:
(a) A victim was treated with sadism, torture, or excessive brutality or
conduct designed to substantially increase the fear and anxiety a victim suffered
during the offense…..50 points
(b) No victim was treated with sadism, torture, or excessive brutality or
conduct designed to substantially increase the fear and anxiety a victim suffered
during the offense ……. 0 points
* * *
(3) As used in this section, "sadism" means conduct that subjects a victim
to extreme or prolonged pain or humiliation and is inflicted to produce suffering
or for the offender's gratification.
The trial court ultimately concluded that this statute requires actual physical abuse in
order to score 50 points for the variable. While the label of OV 7 is "aggravated physical abuse,"
when the section is read as a whole, it is clear that the Legislature does not require actual
physical abuse in order for points to be assessed under this variable. Specifically, subsection 3
defines "sadism" to mean "conduct" that, among other things, subjects the victim to extreme or
prolonged humiliation. While humiliation may have a physical component, there does not have
to be physical abuse in order to produce humiliation. Emotional or psychological abuse can
certainly have that effect as well. If the Legislature intended to limit the applicability of OV 7 to
cases where there is physical abuse, then instead of defining "sadism" to be "conduct" that
produces pain or humiliation, it would have said "physical abuse" that subjects the victim to pain
or humiliation.
In interpreting statutes, we start by examining the plain language of the statute; if the
statutory language is plain and unambiguous, then no judicial interpretation is necessary or
permitted, and we presume that the Legislature intended the meaning it plainly expressed.4
4
People v Morey, 461 Mich 325, 330; 603 NW2d 250 (1999).
-2-
Further, "effect must be given to every word, phrase, and clause" to the extent possible.5 If we
were to require actual physical abuse in interpreting this statute, we would be ignoring the
Legislature's choice of the word "conduct" in writing the statute. We would not only be ignoring
the plain meaning of the statute, we would not fully give meaning to the words used by the
Legislature in writing it. In fact, the only basis for an interpretation that would require actual
physical abuse is that the Legislature applied the label "aggravated physical abuse" to OV 7.
But, in our view, this is more akin to the Legislature's use of a catch line heading, which is not to
be considered in interpreting a statute.6 The fact that the Legislature applied a narrow label to
OV 7 does not justify ignoring the larger definition drafted by the Legislature in describing OV
7. And in our view, the plain meaning of that larger definition encompasses conduct that does
not necessarily involve physical abuse. Therefore, we decline to read into the statute a
requirement that there be actual physical abuse in order to score 50 points under this variable.
This case appears to be the first time that this Court has directly considered the question
whether OV 7 requires actual physical abuse. But we do note that in People v Hornsby,7 we
upheld a scoring of 50 points for OV 7 based on the pointing and cocking of a gun, as well as the
making of verbal threats, but apparently no actual physical abuse. While we cannot necessarily
say that Hornsby is controlling on this issue because it did not directly consider whether physical
abuse was required, it is certainly consistent with our decision today and supports our
interpretation of the statute.
On remand, the trial court shall reconsider the scoring of OV 7 in light of our holding that
the statute does not require actual physical abuse in order to justify the scoring of 50 points for
this variable. If the trial court upholds the original scoring of 50 points for OV 7 in this case, it
shall resentence defendant accordingly.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not
retain jurisdiction.
/s/ David H. Sawyer
/s/ Kirsten Frank Kelly
/s/ Alton T. Davis
5
Id.
6
MCL 8.4b; People v Al-Saiegh, 244 Mich App 391, 396-397; 625 NW2d 419 (2001).
7
251 Mich App 462, 468-469; 650 NW2d 700 (2002).
-3-
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.