People v. Armisted

811 N.W.2d 47, 295 Mich. App. 32
Michigan Court of Appeals·Decided December 6, 2011·No. Docket No. 302902·Published·Cited by 187 cases

Opinion

Per Curiam.

Defendant appeals by delayed leave granted following his conditional no-contest plea to the offense of furnishing a cellular phone to a prisoner, MCL 800.283a, for which he was sentenced as a fourth habitual offender, MCL 769.12, to a prison term of 1 to 10 years. Defendant’s no-contest plea was conditioned on the outcome of this appeal. We affirm.

I

On October 26, 2009, a corrections officer working at the Tuscola Residential Reentry Program (TRRP) searched an inmate room and found a cellular phone in the trash can. Matthew Huggard, who was defendant’s roommate at TRRP] told an officer at the facility that defendant had given him the cellular phone and that he had used it. Defendant later told the Michigan State Police that it was his phone.

Defendant argued before the district court that he had not furnished a cellular phone to a “prisoner in a correctional facility” within the meaning of MCL 800.283a because the inmates at TRRP are “parolees” rather than prisoners. Defendant thus asserted that he should not be bound over to the circuit court. The [36] district court determined that there was sufficient probable cause to believe that defendant had committed the crime of furnishing a cellular phone to a prisoner and bound defendant over to the circuit court for further proceedings.

A motion hearing was held before the circuit court judge. The parties stipulated that the inmates at TRRP are classified by the Department of Corrections (the Department) as parolees. Defendant again argued that he had not given a cellular phone to a “prisoner” because the inmates at TRRP are merely parolees. Defendant also argued that TRRP was a community relations program rather than a correctional facility. The circuit court ruled that TRRP inmates are prisoners within the meaning of MCL 800.281a(g) and MCL 800.283a. Defendant then entered his conditional no-contest plea. The parties acknowledged on the record that they had reached a sentencing agreement of 1 to 10 years.

Defendant later submitted an affidavit in which he averred that he was granted parole and released from the Parnell Correctional Facility on September 24, 2009, and that he was subsequently transferred to TRRP Defendant claimed that he was the only person who had used the cellular phone in question. Defendant also averred that he was effectively coerced into accepting the no-contest plea by his attorney, who had allegedly informed him that he would likely be sentenced to a term of 11 years to life in prison if he did not agree to the plea deal.

II

Defendant first argues that he did not furnish a cellular phone to a “prisoner in a correctional facility” within the meaning of MCL 800.283a because the inmates at TRRP are parolees rather than prisoners [37] and because TRRP is not a correctional facility. Therefore, he argues, the district court erred by binding him over to the circuit court and the circuit court erred by denying his motion to quash the information.

We review for an abuse of discretion the circuit court’s ruling on a motion to quash the information and the district court’s decision to bind over a defendant to the circuit court. People v Hill, 269 Mich App 505, 513-514; 715 NW2d 301 (2006), overruled in part on other grounds by People v Hill, 486 Mich 658; 786 NW2d 601 (2010). However, if the decision concerns whether the alleged conduct falls within the scope of a penal statute, the issue presents a question of law that we review de novo. Hill, 269 Mich App at 514.

Our primary goal when interpreting a statute is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the Legislature. People v Williams, 475 Mich 245, 250; 716 NW2d 208 (2006). The first step in determining legislative intent is to examine the specific language of the statute. People v Lively, 470 Mich 248, 253; 680 NW2d 878 (2004). The Legislature is presumed to have intended the meaning that it plainly expressed. Rowland v Washtenaw Co Rd Comm, 477 Mich 197, 219; 731 NW2d 41 (2007). Judicial construction is only appropriate if reasonable minds could differ concerning the statute’s meaning. People v Warren, 462 Mich 415, 427; 615 NW2d 691 (2000).

The Legislature has made it a felony to furnish certain types of contraband to prisoners in correctional facilities. See MCL 800.281 et seq. This includes a prohibition against furnishing cellular phones to prisoners. MCL 800.283a. In the present case, defendant entered a conditional no-contest plea to the offense of furnishing a cellular phone to a prisoner in violation of MCL 800.283a, which provides:

[38] A person shall not sell, give, or furnish, or aid in the selling, giving, or furnishing of, a cellular telephone or other wireless communication device to a prisoner in a correctional facility, or dispose of a cellular telephone or other wireless communication device in or on the grounds of a correctional facility.

There is no question that defendant possessed a cellular phone while he was an inmate at TRRE Instead, the pertinent questions are whether the inmate to whom defendant allegedly furnished the phone was a prisoner and whether TRRP is a correctional facility.

A

For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the inmates at TRRP are “prisoner[s] ” within the meaning of MCL 800.283a.

For purposes of MCL 800.281 et seq., the Legislature has defined the term “prisoner” as “a person committed to the jurisdiction of the department [of corrections] who has not been released on parole or discharged.” MCL 800.281a(g). It is undisputed that the persons housed at TRRP have all been committed to the Department’s jurisdiction and, as parolees, are subject to the Department’s rules. See MCL 791.238(1) (stating that prisoners on parole remain in the Department’s legal custody); MCL 791.206(l)(c) (granting the Department authority to promulgate rules concerning the supervision and control of parolees). Similarly, it is uncontested that the persons housed at TRRP have not been “discharged” from the Department’s jurisdiction. Thus the only dispute concerns whether the persons housed at TRRP have been “released on parole” as that phrase is used in MCL 800.281a(g).

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People v. Armisted, 811 N.W.2d 47, 295 Mich. App. 32 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

811 N.W.2d 47 (People v. Armisted) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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