People v. Meissner

812 N.W.2d 37, 294 Mich. App. 438
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 25, 2011
DocketDocket No. 298780
StatusPublished
Cited by453 cases

This text of 812 N.W.2d 37 (People v. Meissner) 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. Meissner, 812 N.W.2d 37, 294 Mich. App. 438 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

O’CONNELL, J.

Following a jury trial, defendant appeals by right his convictions of second-offense domestic violence, MCL 750.81(3); first-degree home invasion, MCL 750.110a(2); and obstruction of justice, MCL 750.505. We affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On November 28, 2009, Candace Worthington appeared at the Waterford police station, visibly shaken [443]*443and upset. She reported that defendant, with whom she had a relationship, had broken her door and had sent her threatening text messages. She showed a police officer the text messages, which included “You trying to die?” and “now you will reap the repercussions,” as well as defendant’s pointed message in response to Worthington’s telling him that she had gone to the police: “ ... I am going to beat the shit out of you.” Worthington described to the police several experiences she had with defendant over the prior months, including one in which defendant had destroyed her phone, another in which he pushed her down the stairs, and another in which he put her in a chokehold. Worthington wrote a statement recounting the threatening text messages, the prior physical injuries, and the other information she had given to the police.

Worthington’s statement also described an incident that had occurred just that morning, when Worthington had been awakened by a crashing noise and saw defendant in her bedroom. Defendant pushed her shoulder, asked for a cigarette, tossed coins at her, and then left. The prosecutor subsequently charged defendant with home invasion, obstruction of justice, and domestic violence.

Before trial, the prosecutor filed a notice of intent to use verbal and written statements Worthington had given to police on two separate occasions in August and November 2009. Defendant filed motions in limine to suppress Worthington’s statements and to suppress information about a prior incident of abuse defendant had inflicted on a different woman. The trial court granted the motion concerning the incident with the other woman, but denied the motion concerning Worthington’s August and November statements to the police.

[444]*444By the time of trial in May 2010, Worthington was pregnant with defendant’s child. When the prosecutor called her to testify, Worthington recast and recharacterized many of the facts from her November statements. She testified that when she went to the police in November, she was enraged because defendant was having a relationship with another woman. She further testified that because of her anger she had embellished and exaggerated the facts in her statement. For example, she testified that although defendant was living with her, she had told the police he was not living with her. She also testified that the text messages she had shown the police were out of context. She attempted to justify the text message that said, “You trying to die?” by explaining that the message was his response to her text message informing him that she would be walking home from a bar late at night. Similarly, she minimized the conduct that had occurred on the morning she wrote the statement and testified that defendant was just checking on her to make sure she was all right. At the close of the prosecutor’s direct examination, Worthington testified that defendant had never beaten her and had never threatened her.

II. ADMISSIBILITY OF PRIOR STATEMENTS AND PRIOR ACTS EVIDENCE

A. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Defendant’s appeal requires interpretation and application of MCL 768.27c and MCL 768.27b. We review de novo issues of statutory interpretation. People v Swafford, 483 Mich 1, 7; 762 NW2d 902 (2009). We also review de novo defendant’s assertion that as a matter of law, MCL 768.27c precluded the admission of Worthington’s statements. People v Roper, 286 Mich App 77, 91; 777 NW2d 483 (2009). We review the trial court’s ultimate decision to [445]*445admit the evidence for abuse of discretion. People v Feezel, 486 Mich 184, 192; 783 NW2d 67 (2010).

B. ADMISSIBILITY OF STATEMENTS MADE TO THE POLICE

1. APPLICABLE LAW

Our Legislature enacted MCL 768.27c as a substantive rule of evidence reflecting specific policy concerns about hearsay in domestic violence cases.1 See generally People v Pattison, 276 Mich App 613, 619-620; 741 NW2d 558 (2007) (addressing MCL 768.27a). In MCL 768.27c, the Legislature determined that under certain circumstances, statements made to law enforcement officers are admissible in domestic violence cases. The statute allows trial courts to admit hearsay statements into evidence if all the following conditions apply:

(a) The statement purports to narrate, describe, or explain the infliction or threat of physical injury upon the declarant.
(b) The action in which the evidence is offered under this section is an offense involving domestic violence.
(c) The statement was made at or near the time of the infliction or threat of physical injury. Evidence of a statement made more than 5 years before the filing of the current action or proceeding is inadmissible under this section.
(d) The statement was made under circumstances that would indicate the statement’s trustworthiness.
(e) The statement was made to a law enforcement officer. [MCL 768.27c(l).]

[446]*446The statute goes on to give examples of “circumstances relevant to the issue of trustworthiness” as well as to define the terms “declarant” and “domestic violence.” MCL 768.27c(2) and (5)(a) and (b).2

2. INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION OF MCL 768.27c(1)(a) AND (c)

Defendant argues that the trial court erred by admitting Worthington’s November statements into evidence. According to defendant, the trial court should have excluded the statements because of the amount of time that elapsed between the charged offense and Worthington’s report to the police later the same day.

Defendant’s argument misconstrues subsections (1)(a) and (c) of the statute. Neither subsection requires that the statements at issue describe the charged domestic violence offense. Subsection (1)(a) places a factual limitation on the admissibility of statements; subsection (1)(c) places a temporal limitation on admissibility. Subsection (1)(a) requires only that the statement “narrate, describe, or explain the infliction or threat of physical injury upon the declarant.” MCL 768.27c(l)(a). Similarly, subsection (1)(c) requires that the statement be made at or near the time of the infliction or threat of injury described in subsection (1)(a). We must interpret the statute according to the Legislature’s plainly expressed meaning, and we must apply the statute as written. People v Gardner, 482 Mich 41, 50; 753 NW2d 78 (2008). Taken together, [447]*447subsections (l)(a) and (c) indicate that a hearsay statement can be admissible if the declarant made the statement at or near the time the declarant suffered an injury or was threatened with injury.

In this case, Worthington made her November statements at or near the time defendant threatened her with injury.

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Bluebook (online)
812 N.W.2d 37, 294 Mich. App. 438, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-meissner-michctapp-2011.