MARKMAN , J. Defendants, an unlicensed residential builder; his businesses; and Denaglen Corp., a check-cashing service, seek leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeals denying them relief from summary disposition. The trial court entered judgment in favor of plaintiffs, a married couple and parties to a home restoration contract with the unlicensed builder defendant and his businesses, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. We directed that oral arguments be held to address whether...
McCORMACK , J. In this case, we consider whether the prosecution breached a duty to correct the substantially misleading, if not false, testimony of a key witness about his formal and compensated cooperation in the government's investigation. Given the overall weakness of the evidence against the defendant and the significance of the witness's testimony, we conclude that there is a reasonable probability that the prosecution's exploitation of the substantially misleading testimony affected...
McCORMACK , J. This case presents the question whether the Michigan sentencing guidelines violate a defendant's Sixth Amendment fundamental right to a jury trial. We conclude that the rule from Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 , 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), as extended by Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. 2151 , 186 L.Ed.2d 314 (2013), applies to Michigan's sentencing guidelines and renders them constitutionally deficient. That deficiency is the extent...
YOUNG , C.J. Plaintiffs are several unions that represent employees in the state classified civil service. Their members are the beneficiaries of and participants in Michigan's retirement system established under the State Employees Retirement Act (SERA). 1 SERA was enacted in 1943 and has been amended many times since. Plaintiffs challenge the most recent SERA amendment, 2011 PA 264. They contend that, because 2011 PA 264 increases the cost and reduces the accumulation of future pension...
YOUNG , C.J. The Civil Service Commission's rules allow public collective bargaining agreements that require collection of a mandatory service fee, also known as an "agency shop fee," from union-eligible employees who opt out of union membership. Civ. Serv. R. 6-7.2. Although we conclude that public collective bargaining is a method by which the Civil Service Commission (the commission) may choose to exercise its constitutional duties, we hold that the commission may not effectively...
McCORMACK , J. The defendant, Timothy Ward Jackson, was convicted by a jury of six counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC-I), for sexually abusing a 12- to 13-year-old member of the church where he served as a pastor. 1 Before us is whether certain testimony regarding prior sexual relationships the defendant had with other parishioners constituted evidence of "other acts" under MRE 404(b) and, if so, whether that testimony could be admitted without reference to or compliance...
MARKMAN , J. This case presents a fundamental question that appellate courts often confront: whether to afford relief on the basis of a claim of error not raised in the trial court. As a general rule, appellate courts will not grant relief on belated claims of error unless the proponent establishes, among other things, that the unpreserved error seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceedings. Defendant here, who raised for the first time on...
MARKMAN , J. The Use Tax Act (UTA), MCL 205.91 et seq., imposes a 6% tax "for the privilege of using, storing, or consuming tangible personal property in this state...." MCL 205.93(1). However, the UTA exempts from the use tax property sold to "[a]n industrial processor for use or consumption in industrial processing." MCL 205.94o(1)(a). At issue here is whether and to what extent, if any, an electric utility is entitled to the industrial-processing exemption for tangible personal...
MARKMAN , J. At issue here is whether Zwiers v. Growney, 286 Mich.App. 38 , 778 N.W.2d 81 (2009), was overruled by this Court in Driver v. Naini, 490 Mich. 239 , 802 N.W.2d 311 (2011). The Court of Appeals held that Zwiers was not overruled in Driver. Because we conclude to the contrary, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals in part in both Tyra v. Organ Procurement Agency of Mich., 302 Mich.App. 208 , 850 N.W.2d 667 (2013), and Furr v. McLeod, 304 Mich.App....
VIVIANO , J. At issue before us is whether defendant's convictions of operating while intoxicated (OWI) 1 and operating while intoxicated causing serious impairment of the body function of another person (OWI-injury) 2 arising from a single intoxicated driving incident violated the double jeopardy clauses of the United States and Michigan Constitutions. 3 Although we agree with the Court of Appeals' conclusion that convicting defendant of both offenses violated his double jeopardy...
PER CURIAM . In these consolidated appeals, we consider whether petitioners, who sold their principal residences in arm's-length transactions, are entitled to refunds of the real estate transfer tax under the real estate transfer tax exemption set forth in MCL 207.526(u) when the state equalized value of the properties at the time of sale was less than it was at the time of their original purchases. We hold that petitioners are entitled to refunds under the real estate transfer tax...
ZAHRA , J. This case requires the Court to consider whether defendant lifeguard's failure to intervene in the deceased's drowning constituted "the proximate cause" of his death. While governmental agencies and their employees are generally immune from tort liability under the governmental tort liability act (GTLA), MCL 691.1401 et seq., MCL 691.1407(2)(c) provides an exception to this general rule when a governmental employee's conduct is both (1) grossly negligent and (2) "the proximate...
MARY BETH KELLY , J. By 2005 PA 44, the Legislature amended MCL 600.2919a(1)(a) to create a cause of action against someone "converting property to [that] person's own use." In this case, we consider whether this statutory language is coextensive with the common-law tort of conversion or, if not, what additional conduct is required to show that a defendant converted property to his, her, or its "own use." We hold that "converting property to [that] person's own use," as used in MCL 600....
MEMORANDUM OPINION. We consider in these consolidated cases whether a claimant's failure to comply with the notice verification requirements of MCL 600.6431 provides a complete defense in an action against the state or one of its departments. We conclude that a notice lacking any indication that it was signed and verified before an officer authorized to administer oaths is defective and, contrary to the Court of Appeals' conclusion, is a complete defense that may be raised at any time by a...
MEMORANDUM OPINION. Plaintiffs, a group of associations representing builders, contractors, and plumbers, filed suit against defendant, the city of Troy, claiming that defendant's building department fees violated 22 of the Single State Construction Code Act (CCA), MCL 125.1522, as well as a provision of the Headlee Amendment, Const. 1963, art. 9, 31. The circuit court granted summary disposition to defendant, holding that the court lacked jurisdiction over the matter because plaintiffs...
PER CURIAM . In this interlocutory appeal, we are once again asked to consider the scope of the peer review privilege found in MCL 333.20175(8) and MCL 333.21515 of the Public Health Code, MCL 333.1101 et seq. Specifically, we must decide whether the trial court erred by ordering production of the objective facts contained in an incident report authored by an employee of defendant Covenant Healthcare. The trial court's decision was based on Harrison v. Munson Healthcare, Inc., 304 Mich....
MARKMAN , J. We granted leave to appeal to address the constitutionality of 2012 PA 300, which modified the retirement benefits of current public school employees. Plaintiffs, which are various labor organizations representing such employees, raise three constitutional challenges: (1) whether the act violates the prohibitions of uncompensated takings in the Michigan and United States Constitutions, Const. 1963, art. 10, 2 and U.S. Const. Ams. V and XIV; (2) whether the act impairs the...
PER CURIAM . In this case involving a claim for unemployment benefits, we must determine whether the lower courts applied the proper standard for reviewing determinations made by an administrative agency. Specifically, claimant was terminated from her employment for willfully violating her employer's computer use policy. The state's unemployment agency denied her claim for unemployment benefits and this decision was affirmed by an administrative law judge (ALJ). In turn, the Michigan...
