People v. Jackson

686 N.W.2d 810, 262 Mich. App. 669
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 6, 2004
DocketDocket No. 245972
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 686 N.W.2d 810 (People v. Jackson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Jackson, 686 N.W.2d 810, 262 Mich. App. 669 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The prosecutor appeals by leave granted the trial court’s order dismissing a charge of obstruction by disguise. MCL 750.217. Defendant was charged with violating this statute when he gave a false name to a police officer who stopped him for speeding. The trial court dismissed the charge on the basis of our decision in People v Jones, 142 Mich App 819, 823-824; 371 NW2d 459 (1985). Because we agree with this Court’s previous interpretation of the statute in Jones that the word “disguise” refers to a defendant’s physical disguise of his person, we affirm.

On November 14, 1999, the state police stopped a vehicle for speeding. The driver had no identification, but he told the police he was “Frederick Darrell Jackson.” A record check indicated that Frederick Darrell Jackson’s driver’s license was suspended, so the driver was taken into custody. The driver was apparently cited for driving while his license was suspended, given an appearance date, and released; he subsequently failed to appear. On April 28, 2000, the real Frederick Darrell Jackson was arrested for failure to appear on the charge of driving while his license was suspended. Jackson informed the police that his brother, defendant, had used his name during the November 14 traffic stop. The police verified this information and determined that defendant had given them a false name when he was stopped.

Defendant was then arrested and initially charged with resisting and obstructing a police officer, MCL 750.479, but the prosecutor subsequently acknowledged that this charge was inappropriate and therefore amended the charged offense to obstruction by dis[671]*671guise.1 MCL 750.217. Defendant moved to dismiss this charge on the authority of Jones. The district court agreed and dismissed the charge. The prosecutor appealed to the circuit court and that court, although questioning this Court’s reasoning in Jones, likewise found it controlling and affirmed the decision of the district court.

The prosecutor appealed to this Court, but we denied his application for leave to appeal because the grounds presented lacked merit. The prosecutor then appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court. In lieu of granting leave, the Supreme Court remanded the case to this Court as on leave granted and directed us “to consider the issues whether the obstruction by disguise statute, MCL 750.217[,] applies only to physical disguise and whether providing a false or fictitious name to a police officer is conduct that comes within the purview of the statute.” 467 Mich 939 (2003)2

This case presents an issue of statutory interpretation that we review de novo in order “to discern and give effect to the Legislature’s intent.” People v Morey, 461 Mich 325, 329-330; 603 NW2d 250 (1999), citing Murphy v Michigan Bell Tel Co, 447 Mich 93, 98; 523 NW2d 310 (1994). Morey, supra at 330, further states:

We begin by examining the plain language of the statute; where that language is unambiguous, we presume that the Legislature intended the meaning clearly expressed — no further judicial construction is required or permitted, and [672]*672the statute must be enforced as written. Tryc v Michigan Veterans’ Facility, 451 Mich 129, 135; 545 NW2d 642 (1996). We must give the words of a statute their plain and ordinary meaning, and only where the statutory language is ambiguous may we look outside the statute to ascertain the Legislature’s intent. Turner v Auto Club Ins Ass’n, 448 Mich 22, 27; 528 NW2d 681 (1995); Luttrell v Dep’t of Corrections, 421 Mich 93; 365 NW2d 74 (1984).

We must therefore examine the statutory language of MCL 750.217 and attempt to discern the Legislature’s intent from the ordinary meaning of the words used. MCL 750.217 provided, at the time of the events in this case:3

Any person who shall in any manner disguise himself, with intent to obstruct the due execution of the law, or with intent to intimidate, hinder or interrupt any officer or any other person, in the legal performance of his duty, or the exercise of his rights under the constitution and laws of this state, whether such intent be effected or not, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not more than 1 year or by fine of not more than 500 dollars.

We agree with the district and circuit courts that the facts of this case are virtually identical to those in Jones. In that case, the defendant “allegedly gave a false or fictitious name to a police officer and was subsequently charged with obstruction by disguise under MCL 750.217.” Jones, supra at 821. This Court first explained that statutes must be interpreted under “the rule of ordinary usage and common sense.” Id. at 822. This Court then observed that penal statutes must be strictly construed so that “any ordinary person can tell [673]*673what he may or may not do thereunder.” Id. at 823. Applying these rules of construction, this Court concluded:

The plain meaning and ordinary usage of “disguise” includes the element of physical concealment. To the ordinary person, “disguise” is defined as a false appearance or the physical misrepresentation of one’s identity. The common-sense interpretation of the word “disguise” precludes inclusion of verbal deception. [Jones, supra at 823 (emphasis in original).][4]

We agree with the conclusion of the Jones Court. In so agreeing, we recognize that Jones found the meaning of “disguise” ambiguous because it admits of more than [674]*674one meaning, and then it applied the principle that penal statutes should be strictly construed, the doubt about whether a defendant’s actions are criminal being resolved in his favor.

As noted (see n 4), this rule of strict construction is no longer applicable. Rather, “[a]ll provisions of [the penal code] shall be construed according to the fair import of their terms, to promote justice and to effect the objects of the law.” MCL 750.2; Morris, supra; Brown, supra. We thus examine the word “disguise” for its fair import, i.e., its fair meaning.

We agree with the Jones Court that the plain meaning and ordinary usage of “disguise” includes the element of physical concealment. The Jones Court found the word ambiguous, but as observed by Chief Justice CORRIGAN in her concurrence with the instant remand, a word is not rendered ambiguous merely because a dictionary defines it in a variety of ways. Koontz v Ameritech Services, Inc, 466 Mich 304, 317; 645 NW2d 34 (2002). By the same token, where a word is consistently defined as having a particular import, the inclusion in a dictionary of an extended meaning of that word does not automatically mean that that meaning is included in the fair import.

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Unabridged defines “disguise” as: “1. to change the appearance or guise of so as to conceal identity or mislead, as by means of deceptive garb: The king was disguised as a peasant. 2. to conceal or cover up the truth or actual character of by counterfeit form or appearance; misrepresent: to disguise one’s intentions.

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Related

People of Michigan v. Paris Pierre Banks
Michigan Court of Appeals, 2016
Marrs v. Tuckey
362 F. Supp. 2d 927 (E.D. Michigan, 2005)
People v. Jackson
686 N.W.2d 810 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
686 N.W.2d 810, 262 Mich. App. 669, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-jackson-michctapp-2004.