ALICE JO MORALES V AUTO OWNERS INSUR CO
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Michigan Supreme Court
Lansing, Michigan 48909
Opinion
Chief Justice
Maura D. Corrigan
Justices
Michael F. Cavanagh
Elizabeth A. Weaver
Marilyn Kelly
Clifford W. Taylor
Robert P. Young, Jr.
Stephen J. Markman
FILED DECEMBER 30, 2003
ALICE JO MORALES, as Guardian and
Conservator for ANTONIO MORALES, a
legally incapacitated person,
also known as ANTHONY MORALES,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
and
JAMES W. BOYD, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Trustee,
Intervening Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
No. 122601
AUTO-OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellee.
____________________________________
PER CURIAM
AFTER REMAND
At issue in this case is whether prejudgment interest
awarded
under
MCL
600.6013
accrues
during
appellate
proceedings. On the authority of Dedes v Asch,1 the Court of
Appeals held that it does not.2
language
of
MCL
600.6013
We disagree because the
unambiguously
states
that
prejudgment interest is to be calculated from the date the
complaint is filed.
of
appellate
It contains no exception for periods
delay.
Accordingly,
we
Court of Appeals decision in Dedes.
overrule
the
1998
We also reverse in
part the judgment of the Court of Appeals in this case and
remand
it
to
the
trial
court
for
recalculation
of
the
prejudgment interest.
I.
Background
Antonio Morales was left substantially disabled after
an automobile accident in 1991.
insurance
coverage
from
He had purchased no-fault
defendant
Auto-Owners
Insurance
Company, but the company denied his claim on the ground
that the policy had expired six days before the accident.
Mr.
Morales’s
filed
suit
conservator,
against
plaintiff
defendant.
The
Alice
trial
Jo
Morales,
court
granted
defendant’s motion for summary disposition, and the Court
of Appeals affirmed.
This Court granted leave to appeal,
reversed, and remanded the case for trial.
458 Mich 288;
582 NW2d 776 (1998).
1
2
233 Mich App 329, 340; 590 NW2d 605 (1998).
Unpublished opinion per curiam, issued October 4, 2002
(Docket No. 233826).
2
Thus, after about four years of appellate proceedings,
this case was remanded to the Missaukee Circuit Court for
trial.
The jury returned a verdict for Ms. Morales, and
the trial court awarded prejudgment interest to her under
MCL 600.6013.
Defendant argued that prejudgment interest
should not accrue during the four-year period while the
case was on appeal, because that delay was not its fault.
The trial court rejected this argument and awarded full
interest on the judgment.
The Court of Appeals reversed.
held
that
“[p]rejudgment
interest
Relying on Dedes, it
does
accrue during the appellate process.”
to
the
trial
interest.
court
for
a
not
continue
to
It remanded the case
recalculation
of
prejudgment
Ms. Morales now seeks leave to appeal to this
Court.3
II.
Statutory
Standard of Review
interpretation
this Court reviews de novo.
is
a
question
of
law
that
Adams Outdoor Advertising, Inc
v City of Holland, 463 Mich 675, 681; 625 NW2d 377 (2001).
The cardinal principle of statutory construction is that
courts must give effect to legislative intent.
3
Dressel v
On August 1, 2003, we granted two motions for leave to
file briefs amicus curiae and granted the motion to
intervene filed by James W. Boyd, a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Trustee.
We now grant Taco Bell Corporation’s and the
Michigan Defense Trial Counsel’s motions for leave to file
briefs amicus curiae.
3
Ameribank, 468 Mich 557, 562; 664 NW2d 151 (2003).
Legislature’s
intent
is
clearly
construction is permitted.
expressed,
no
If the
further
Helder v Sruba, 462 Mich 92,
99; 611 NW2d 309 (2000). Under such circumstances, a court
is prohibited from imposing a “contrary judicial gloss” on
the
statute.
Special
In
Projects
re
Certified
Procurement
Question
v
(Kenneth
Continental
Henes
Biomass
Industries, Inc), 468 Mich 109, 119; 659 NW2d 597 (2003).
Analysis
III.
MCL 600.60134 states:
(1) Interest is allowed on a money judgment
recovered in a civil action . . . .
* * *
(6) For a complaint filed on or after
January 1, 1987, but before July 1, 2002, if the
civil action has not resulted in a final,
nonappealable judgment as of July 1, 2002, and if
a judgment is or has been rendered on a written
instrument that does not evidence indebtedness
with a specified interest rate, interest is
calculated as provided in subsection (8).
Subsection 8 confirms that interest accrues “from the date
of filing the complaint” and that it “is calculated on the
entire
amount
of
the
fees and other costs.”
4
money
judgment,
including
attorney
MCL 600.6013(8).
This statute was amended after the trial court
calculated the award of prejudgment interest.
The most
recent amendments apply to this case.
4
In Dedes, the Court of Appeals held that prejudgment
interest awarded under MCL 600.6013 may be disallowed for
periods of delay that are neither the fault of, nor caused
by, the judgment debtor.
233 Mich App 340.
The Dedes
Court concluded that prejudgment appellate proceedings fell
within this category, and it reversed the trial court’s
grant of prejudgment interest for the period that the case
was on appeal.
It explained:
To allow interest to continue to accrue
during an appellate process would hinder parties
from asserting new and innovative arguments in
the trial court for fear that interest will
continue to accrue on a claim that may be
reversed during the appeal process. Id.
Relying
on
defendant
Dedes,
was
not
the
Court
of
responsible
Appeals
for
held
here
prejudgment
that
interest
during the four years that this case was on appeal.
The
600.6013,
Dedes
decision
which
states
is
wholly
that
inconsistent
prejudgment
with
MCL
interest
is
calculated “from the date of filing the complaint . . . .”
MCL
600.6013(8).
The
statute
makes
periods of prejudgment appellate delay.
no
exception
for
In the face of the
Legislature’s clearly expressed intent, this Court will not
read such an exception into the statute.
Dressel, 468 Mich
562; In re Certified Question (Henes v Continental Biomass,
468 Mich 119.
Under MCL 600.6013, Ms. Morales is entitled
5
to an award of prejudgment interest that includes the fouryear period during which this case was on appeal.5
IV.
Accordingly,
we
decision
in
Dedes
judgment
of
the
Conclusion
overrule
v
Asch.
Court
of
the
We
1998
reverse
Appeals
Court
of
Appeals
part
II
of
concerning
the
prejudgment
interest in this case and remand the case to the circuit
court for recalculation of the prejudgment interest.
MCR
7.302(G)(1). We otherwise deny plaintiff’s application for
leave to appeal and defendant’s application to cross-appeal
because we are not persuaded that this Court should review
the other questions presented.
Maura D. Corrigan
Michael F. Cavanagh
Elizabeth A. Weaver
Marilyn Kelly
Clifford W. Taylor
Robert P. Young, Jr.
Stephen J. Markman
5
As a general rule, prejudgment interest runs from the
date the complaint is filed.
Here, the judgment includes
an award of no-fault benefits that were not incurred until
after the complaint was filed.
In the trial court, Ms.
Morales agreed that prejudgment interest on those benefits
would run from the first date that the benefits were
unpaid, not from when the complaint was filed.
We do not
intend our holding in this case to disturb the parties’
stipulation.
6
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