Deur v. Newaygo Sheriff

362 N.W.2d 698, 420 Mich. 440
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 17, 1985
Docket71785, (Calendar No. 2)
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 362 N.W.2d 698 (Deur v. Newaygo Sheriff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Deur v. Newaygo Sheriff, 362 N.W.2d 698, 420 Mich. 440 (Mich. 1985).

Opinions

Kavanagh, J.

This case concerns the construction of the non-fugitive extradition statute, being MCL 780.3a; MSA 28.1285(3-1/2) of the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act. MCL 780.1 et seq.; MSA 28.1285(1) et seq.

Plaintiff was arrested on a warrant issued by the Governor of Michigan on a request for extradition by the Governor of Maryland. The Maryland Governor’s request was based upon plaintiff’s indictment by a Maryland grand jury for the crime of manslaughter by motor vehicle, Art 27, § 388 Maryland Compiled Laws, a misdemeanor carrying a three-year maximum penalty.

The charge arose out of an accident in Frost-burg, Maryland, involving a tractor-trailer rig owned by plaintiff. The accident was described in the report of the National Transportation Safety Board:

"On February 18, 1981, a tractor-semitrailer loaded [443]*443with building supplies was traveling eastbound on US Route 40, a two lane mountain highway approaching Frostburg, Maryland. The combination vehicle apparently lost braking control and passed and sideswiped a pickup truck as it descended the steep three-mile grade. It continued eastbound and entered the city limits of Frostburg at a high rate of speed striking eight vehicles and pushing these vehicles into six additional vehicles. The combination vehicle continued eastbound through the crowded downtown business district and finally veered to the right into a three story commercial building after several consecutive vehicular impacts.
"The force of impact drove the tractor and a previously struck vehicle inside the building causing the floor and right front corner to collapse. An explosion and fire erupted immediately. Three persons were fatally injured and twelve other vehicle occupants sustained injuries of varying degrees. No pedestrians were reported injured.”

The rig was leased to Direct Transit Lines, Inc., and was being operated by one of Direct’s employees at the time of the accident.

Under the terms of the lease, plaintiff was responsible for maintaining the vehicle and the Maryland indictment was based on the assertion the plaintiff had "intentionally and knowingly” adopted and enforced a policy of poor maintenance which contributed to the accident.

The prosecuting authorities claim this brought him in violation of the statute which reads as follows:

"Every person causing the death of another as the result of the driving, operation or control of an automobile, motor vehicle, motor boat, locomotive, engine, car, street car, train or other vehicle in a grossly negligent manner, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor to be known as 'manslaughter by automobile, motor vehicle, motor boat, locomotive, engine, car, street car, train or other vehicle,’ and the person so convictéd shall be sentenced [444]*444to jail or in the house of correction for not more than three years, or be fined not more than $1,000.00 or be both fined and imprisoned.” MD Code, art 27, § 388.

Inasmuch as it is not claimed that plaintiffs acts were performed in Maryland, in effect Maryland charges that plaintiffs "grossly negligent” acts in Michigan caused the deaths in Maryland in violation of the statute.

The statute under which the warrant was issued provides:

"Sec. 3a. The governor of this state may also surrender, on demand of the executive authority of any other state, any person in this state charged in such other state in the manner provided in section 3 with committing an act in this state, or in a third state, intentionally resulting in a crime in the state whose executive authority is making the demand, and the provisions of this act not otherwise inconsistent shall apply to such cases, even though the accused was not in that state at the time of the commission of the crime, and has not fled therefrom, and the requirements contained in subdivision (d) and (e) of section 3 of this act shall not apply to such cases.” MCL 780.3a; MSA 28.1285(3-1/2).

The Newaygo Circuit Court granted plaintiffs petition for habeas corpus, finding that the charging papers did not have the effect of charging the plaintiff with having committed an act in Michigan intentionally resulting in the crime with which he is charged in Maryland as required by the statute.

The Court of Appeals reversed, Deur v Newaygo County Sheriff, 125 Mich App 642; 336 NW2d 852 (1983), holding that under the statute there need not be an intention that a crime result in the demanding state, but rather only that the act committed in the asylum state be intentional and subsequently result in a crime in the demanding [445]*445state. In arriving at this conclusion, the Court of Appeals stated:

"The crucial language, therefore, is that portion of § 3a which requires that the accused be charged with 'committing an act in this state * * * intentionally resulting in a crime in the state whose executive authority is making the demand.’ The adverb 'intentionally’ does not, grammatically or phraseologically, modify the noun 'crime’ but the participial phrase 'committing an act.’ To construe the statute otherwise would raise ignorance of the law to the level of a complete defense, and would also mean that deliberate acts not intended to have criminal consequences would carry with them no criminal responsibility.” Id., p 647.

We do not agree with the Court of Appeals interpretation of MCL 780.3a; MSA 28.1285(3-1/2). We cannot accept the grammatical construction used to find the word "intentionally” modifying the phrase "committing an act.” A general rule of statutory construction is that "[w]ords or phrases shall be read in context and construed according to the rule of grammar and common usage.” Uniform Statutory Construction Act, 1965, § 2; Mc-Caffrey, Statutory Construction, § 21; Crawford, Construction of Statutes, § 196; 2A Sands, Sutherland Statutory Construction (4th ed), § 47.01, text and commentary. The rules of grammar and common usage would require the adverb "intentionally” to modify the word or phrase it precedes and not the word or phrase that comes before it. Follett, Modern American Usage (New York: Hill and Wang, 1966), p 54;-Fowler, Modern English Usage (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965), position of adverbs, p 462. If "intentionally” was intended to modify the phrase "committing an act,” the statute should have read "any person in this state charged in such other state in the man[446]*446ner provided in section 3 with [intentionally] committing an act in this state, or in a third state, resulting in a crime in the state whose executive authority is making the demand * * *.”

We hold that the non-fugitive extradition provision of the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act requires the accused to have committed an act in the asylum state coupled with an intent that such act result in a crime in the demanding state.

This requirement is consonant with the general rule that no state or nation can, by its laws, directly affect, bind or operate upon property or persons beyond its territorial jurisdiction, Sexton v Ryder Truck Rental, Inc, 413 Mich 406; 320 NW2d 843 (1982), citing 73 Am Jur 2d, Statutes, § 359, p 492. While Sexton dealt with a civil tort action, we applied the same rule in People v Devine, 185 Mich 50; 151 NW 646 (1915), where the accused was charged with polygamy.

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Bluebook (online)
362 N.W.2d 698, 420 Mich. 440, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deur-v-newaygo-sheriff-mich-1985.