People v. White

308 N.W.2d 128, 411 Mich. 366
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 13, 1981
Docket62677, (Calendar No. 7)
StatusPublished
Cited by89 cases

This text of 308 N.W.2d 128 (People v. White) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. White, 308 N.W.2d 128, 411 Mich. 366 (Mich. 1981).

Opinions

Kavanagh, J.

John L. White, Jr., was convicted on his plea of guilty of the offenses of attempted delivery of heroin and of perjury. MCL 335.341(1)(a); MSA 18.1070(41)(1)(a); MCL 750.92; MSA 28.287; MCL 750.422; MSA 28.664.

On appeal, the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion affirmed the defendant’s conviction [377]*377of attempted delivery of heroin and reversed his perjury conviction, relying on People v Longuemire, 87 Mich App 395; 275 NW2d 12 (1978). The people assert that the Court of Appeals erred in setting aside the defendant’s conviction of perjury. On cross-appeal, the defendant asserts that the Court of Appeals erred in affirming his conviction of attempted delivery of heroin.

We reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals and reinstate the conviction of perjury. We reverse the conviction of attempted delivery of heroin.

A

White was an airman stationed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base near Oscoda, nearly 200 miles north of Detroit. Curtis Chambers, an undercover narcotics officer, testified at preliminary examination that he approached White on January 5, 1977, and asked to purchase narcotics from him. White stated that it wasn’t very profitable for him to make the trip downstate to make a single purchase but "possibly in a couple of days” he would have received other requests for narcotics and would be able to make the trip. Chambers gave White $70 to purchase narcotics for him and arranged to meet White three days later.

When White missed the rendezvous, Chambers sought him out. White said he had not yet made the trip but might go down the following week.

On January 16, 1977, Chambers again contacted White, who said that he had not yet purchased the narcotics because he did not have a ride. Chambers offered to drive White down, and the two agreed to make the trip on January 19.

On January 19, Chambers and another undercover officer drove White from Oscoda to Detroit, [378]*378gave him an additional $130 to purchase narcotics, waited outside an apartment building while he made the purchase, and drove him back to Oscoda, where he transferred the narcotics to them. The officers dropped White off at his residence, contacted their backup crew, and returned to arrest White a few minutes later.

White was charged with delivery of heroin. After Chambers and another officer testified at his preliminary examination, he took the stand. On direct examination he admitted knowing Chambers by an alias but denied having "any business dealings” with him on the relevant dates or riding with him from Oscoda to Detroit and back. On cross-examination he expressly denied taking money from Chambers or delivering heroin to him.

White was subsequently charged with committing perjury at his preliminary examination and ultimately entered guilty pleas to the perjury charge and a reduced charge of attempted delivery of heroin. At the plea proceeding, after White recounted the events leading to the delivery of heroin charge, the following colloquy ensued:

"The Court: [N]ow, with reference to false swearing, as I understand it, you made two different versions of the — of this incident?
"The Defendant: No, sir, only one. My statement was made falsely.
"The Court: I see, and what was that?
"The Defendant: Denial of any participation in the drug transactions.”

We granted leave in this case to speak to the following issues:

(A) Whether a defendant who allegedly lies about the ultimate fact at issue during proceedings [379]*379on the criminal charge against him may subsequently be prosecuted for and convicted of perjury.

(B) Whether the trial court failed to elicit a sufficient factual basis for the defendant’s perjury plea.

Whenever a charge of perjury arises out of a defendant’s testimony during his prosecution for another crime, we should be alert to all the dangers which may be involved in the charge.

On the one hand we should be mindful of the menace to our trial system which a perjurious witness imports. It is difficult to imagine a more potent threat to the adjudicative process than perjury. Nothing should impede legitimate efforts to punish it.

On the other hand, the trial process itself is the primary safeguard against inaccurate testimony. Cross-examination, rebuttal and impeachment are elements of the trial process intended to expose untruthful testimony. It is the function of the trier of fact to assess credibility as well as to determine the facts.

An overzealous prosecutor might bring a subsequent charge of perjury simply to ask a second jury or judge to determine fact and credibility issues already decided in the defendant’s favor by the first fact finder or in an attempt to ask a second judge to augment a sentence the prosecutor found disappointing. The very chance of a spiteful perjury prosecution might dissuade a truthful but timid defendant from testifying at all.

In this case, however, no such evils are present. White elected, atypically, to testify at his preliminary examination on a drug charge. There was no prior determination that White’s story was the truthful version and, there having been no trial, the prosecutor cannot be said to be seeking a more [380]*380satisfactory result by presenting the same issues to a second jury or judge.

With this in mind we consider the errors asserted.

B

The Court of Appeals, in People v Longuemire, supra, p 398, held that adjudicative facts can form the basis for a perjury charge, but ultimate facts cannot, and provided a definition for distinguishing the two.1 In the instant case, the Court of Appeals applied the rule of Longuemire and reversed the defendant’s conviction of perjury, concluding that the defendant lied about ultimate facts.

When we granted leave to appeal, we directed the parties to brief the issues as stated above. This was unfortunate, for as the people properly point out, the error assertedly made by the Court of Appeals did not implicate the correctness of the Longuemire rationale, but rather its application.

We need not here decide whether Longuemire is correct in its holding that ultimate facts cannot form the basis of a perjury charge or in its standard for distinguishing ultimate from adjudicative facts. A review of the record shows White lied about what were clearly adjudicative facts as well as about the assertedly ultimate fact of participation in the drug transaction. He denied knowing [381]*381Officer Chambers, denied having any business dealings with him, and denied riding in an automobile with him from Oscoda to Detroit and back. These are material adjudicative facts, lies as to which will support a perjury charge and conviction.

White argues that no perjury charge should be based on an accused’s perjurious statements even as to adjudicative facts.

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Bluebook (online)
308 N.W.2d 128, 411 Mich. 366, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-white-mich-1981.