People v. Thangavelu

292 N.W.2d 227, 96 Mich. App. 442, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 2572
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 1, 1980
DocketDocket 78-2309
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 292 N.W.2d 227 (People v. Thangavelu) 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. Thangavelu, 292 N.W.2d 227, 96 Mich. App. 442, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 2572 (Mich. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinions

Mackenzie, J.

Defendant was convicted by a Wayne County Circuit Court jury of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCL 750.520b; MSA [446]*44628.788(2), on October 24, 1977, and was sentenced to a term of three to ten years. His motion for a new trial was denied, and he appeals as of right.

The complainant alleged that defendant physician conducted a pelvic examination in the course of which he performed cunnilingus on her while she was being examined by him for lice.

At trial, defendant admitted examining the complainant’s pubic area for lice after an examination of complainant’s two children revealed that they Were infested with lice. The examination was performed, according to defendant, because the complaihant complained of itchiness. However, he denied that he performed oral sex upon her and contended that the charges Were brought as part of an attempt by the complainant to extort money from him. According to his testimony, the night of the alleged offense he received a threatening telephone call from the complainant’s húsband. Later that evening, the complainant’s husband called defendant at his home and offered to drop the Whole thing if defendant would pay $5,000 in cash by the next morning. Defendant sáid he Would consult his attorney and hung up the telephone. Complainant admitted on cfoSs-examihatión that at ohe time she would have dropped the charges for $10,000,

At the time the act allegedly took place, complainant’s father was in the defendant physician’s waiting room, and complainant’s mother was in another examining room; in addition, the complainant’s children, defendant’s brother-in-law, and defendant’s physician-wife were also on the premises in other areas of the defendant’s office suite.

Defendant contends that the trial judge erred in the giving of the instructions on the elements of [447]*447first-degree criminal sexual conduct and its lesser included offenses. First-degree criminal sexual conduct is defined in MCL 750.520b; MSA 28.788(2) as follows:

"Sec. 520b.(1) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree if he or she engages in sexual penetration with another person and if any of the following circumstances exist:

(f) The actor causes personal injury to the victim and force or coercion is used to accomplish sexual penetration. Force or coercion includes but is not limited to any of the following circumstances:

(iv) When the actor engages in the medical treatment or examination of the victim in a manner or for purposes which are medically recognized as unethical or unacceptable.”

To find criminal sexual conduct in the first degree here, the necessary element of force or coercion had to be established by proof that the medical treatment or examination was conducted in a manner or for purposes medically recognized as unethical or unacceptable.

Defendant asserts that there was no expert evidence explaining the type of conduct that is medically unethical or unacceptable and that the trial court’s instructions did not provide the jury with any guidance or standard in order to determine whether the defendant’s conduct was proscribed.

Despite the requirement that the treatment or examination be medically recognized as unethical or unacceptable, the prosecution produced no medical testimony. It was argued by the prosecutor that the act of cunnilingus is so obviously unethical and unacceptable that no medical testimony [448]*448need be presented to so inform the jury. While this approach disregards a strict reading of the statutory language, we could subscribe to it if the trial of this case had been limited to the act of cunnilingus. We find, however, that this defendant was deprived of a fair trial because the jury was not limited to consideration of the specific act of cunnilingus charged; rather, the jury was allowed to speculate both about the propriety of making any examination of the pubic area and about the propriety of the nature of a pelvic examination which defendant admitted performing on a date other than the date of the alleged offense. This pelvic examination included insertion of fingers into the complainant’s vagina and rectum while she was on her hands and knees on the examination table.

That the prosecutor and the court both regarded the propriety of the pubic examination was at issue is shown by the record. In his opening statement, the prosecutor told the jury that the element of force or coercion was met by "false examination”. When defense attorney moved to exclude any jury instruction on first-degree criminal sexual conduct under MCL 750.520b(l)(f)(iv) because there had been no medical testimony, the court denied that motion, stating:

"Now, if we take the testimony of the complainant in the case to the effect that she had no complaint, with respect to her genitals, as far as they were concerned, and there was no need on the part of the doctor to make any examination on that part, maybe the jury will believe it, maybe it won’t. It will be up to the jury. That part of the motion will be denied.” (Emphasis added.)

In his closing argument, the prosecutor deliberately invited the jury not to be limited to consider[449]*449ing whether or not the defendant committed the act of cunnilingus, indicating that the examination was unethical medical conduct and that aspects of the examination involved penetration:

"What crime has been committed? She testified that the doctor, under the guise of examining her to see if down there she had any nits or any louse, asked her to drop her pants and she did. And then she later got up on the examination table. It was obviously done, using medical examination as a pretext. That’s force, and that’s the first element that is required. The second element is penetration, okay? We know, of course, she testified that he put his finger in her rectum. She also testified that he put his hand in her vagina and what felt to her to be his whole hand. In other words, she testified after the incident in which he licked her clitoris, he told her to get down on all fours on the examination table. He pushed her head down and at that point she felt — in her testimony — what felt like his whole hand go up her vagina and then he asked her repeatedly how does that feel? How does that feel; how does that feel? And her testimony was, 'It feels like you’re hitting a bone’, that’s her testimony regarding penetration. In addition, she testified that at one point he licked her clitoris.” (Emphasis added.)

The court instructed the jury that the information charged that the sexual penetration with which defendant was charged was cunnilingus, but the court did not caution the jury that they must find that cunnilingus occurred in order to find the necessary element of penetration for first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Neither was the jury instructed to disregard touchings and "penetrations” other than cunnilingus in determining whether defendant was guilty. The lack of medical testimony and the prosecutor’s inference that all of the physician’s actions were prohibited allowed the jury to conclude that all of defendant’s acts [450]*450were bad acts and, therefore, he probably performed the act charged. We thus conclude that defendant was deprived of a fair trial.

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Bluebook (online)
292 N.W.2d 227, 96 Mich. App. 442, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 2572, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-thangavelu-michctapp-1980.