People of Michigan v. Tyisha Monika Toliver

• Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
• Decided: October 15, 2019
• Docket: 343279
• Status: Published

Opinion

If this opinion indicates that it is “FOR PUBLICATION,” it is subject to revision until final publication in the Michigan Appeals Reports.

STATE OF MICHIGAN

COURT OF APPEALS

PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, FOR PUBLICATION October 15, 2019 Plaintiff-Appellant,

v No. 343272 Kent Circuit Court ERIC ANDERSON, LC No. 17-010295-AR

Defendant-Appellee.

PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v No. 343273 Kent Circuit Court JASMINE FERRER, LC No. 17-010296-AR

v No. 343274 Kent Circuit Court CARY GERENCER, LC No. 17-010297-AR

-1- v No. 343275 Kent Circuit Court LOLITTA SHANTILLIA JACKSON, LC No. 17-010298-AR

v No. 343276 Kent Circuit Court EMINA KAHRIMAN, LC No. 17-010299-AR

v No. 343277 Kent Circuit Court DORIS PENNY, LC No. 17-010300-AR

v No. 343278 Kent Circuit Court SEQUOYAH LASHAWN MARIE THOMAS, LC No. 17-010301-AR

v No. 343279 Kent Circuit Court

-2- TYISHA MONIKA TOLIVER, LC No. 17-010302-AR

v No. 343280 Kent Circuit Court ROCONDA J. SINGLETON, LC No. 17-011547-AR

v No. 343281 Kent Circuit Court SHERYL ANNE HILLYER, LC No. 18-000250-AR

Before: SAWYER, P.J., and BORRELLO and SHAPIRO, JJ.

SAWYER, P.J. (dissenting).

I respectfully dissent.

The majority engages in an extensive analysis regarding whether the “member location sheets” constitute a “medical record” under MCL 750.492a(1). While I am not persuaded by the majority’s conclusion that the location sheets are medical records, more fundamentally I do not find it necessary to even answer that question. Rather, I conclude that, even if the location sheets are considered medical records, the falsification of those sheets do not fall within the scope of the statute.

MCL 750.492a(1) provides in pertinent part as follows:

Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3), a health care provider or other person, knowing that the information is misleading or inaccurate, shall not intentionally, willfully, or recklessly place or direct another to place in a patient's medical record or chart misleading or inaccurate information regarding the diagnosis, treatment, or cause of a patient's condition. [Emphasis added.]

-3- I am not persuaded that the false statements placed on the location sheets that “member location checks” had been completed when they had not regarded “the diagnosis, treatment, or cause of a patient’s condition” as required by the statute. Indeed, the circuit court in the first-tier appeal, in its analyzing whether these are medical records, observed that the information was not so used:

No information about the patient’s condition, location, or incontinence is located on the sheet. Additionally, there is no blank space for this treatment information to be provided.

As stipulated, these sheets are stored in a central location and not in the individual member’s file.

Accordingly, the available evidence would not support the conclusion that the information was available and used for a physician to diagnosis a patient’s condition, to determine a course of treatment, or to ascertain the cause of the patient’s condition. Rather, the evidence would only support a conclusion that the member location checks were conducted as a safety measure. While this is certainly an important aspect of the operation of the facility, it is not included in the scope of MCL 750.492a.

In sum, in the absence of evidence that the data collected was to be used by a medical professional to diagnose or treat a patient’s condition, or to ascertain the cause of the condition, I cannot conclude that there is probable cause to believe that defendants violated MCL 750.492a. And, in the absence of evidence supporting a finding of probable cause, I cannot say that the examining magistrate abused her discretion in refusing to bind defendants over for trial on this charge. People v Hudson, 241 Mich App 268, 276; 615 NW2d 784 (2000).

For these reasons, I would affirm the decisions of the lower courts.

/s/ David H. Sawyer

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