Horrigan v. Klock
| Decision Date | 02 October 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 2,Docket No. 6671,2 |
| Citation | 27 Mich.App. 107,183 N.W.2d 386 |
| Parties | Albert P. HORRIGAN, as Administrator of the Estate of William F. Argetsinger, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Henry KLOCK, Defendant-Appellee |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US |
John D. Nickola, Benton, Hicks, Beltz & Behm, Flint, for plaintiff-appellant.
Edward P. Joseph, Flint, for defendant-appellee.
Before McGREGOR, P.J., and BRONSON and MAHINSKE, * JJ.
This case is an appeal from a jury verdict of no cause of action rendered against plaintiff as administrator of the estate of the decedent, William F. Argetsinger. The cause was a tort action and arose out of the shooting of the decedent by defendant, an Officer of the Flint Police Department.
Appellant raises four issues in this appeal, only one of which is dispositive, as it requires that we reverse and remand for a new trial. The complaint in this cause was filed. December 19, 1967. On the first day of trial, November 20, 1968, the plaintiff filed a motion to join the city of Flint as a party defendant. The trial court denied the motion for the reason of governmental immunity, M.C.L.A. § 691.1407 (Stat.Ann.1969 Cum.Supp. § 3.996(107)). On June 25, 1969, this Court handed down its decision in Maki v. City of East Tawas (1969), 18 Mich.App. 109, 170 N.W.2d 530, declaring that statute unconstitutional, insofar as it granted immunity to governmental bodies from all tort actions.
The statute was passed by the Legislature in 1964 and became effective in 1965. In the case of Briggs v. Campbell, Wyant & Cannon Foundry Company (1966), 2 Mich.App. 204, 139 N.W.2d 336, aff'd, 379 Mich. 169, 150 N.W.2d 752 the court stated that an unconstitutional statute is void from the date of its passage. Quoting from 16 Am.Jur.2d, Constitutional Law, § 177, pp. 402, 403, the court stated:
"The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law, but is wholly void, and ineffective for any purpose; since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment, and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it, an unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative as if it had never been passed." 2 Mich.App. 204, 218, 139 N.W.2d 336, 342.
Resultingly, the decision of this Court in Maki, supra, is fully retroactive and the statute declared unconstitutional there was void on the date it was passed. As a...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Johnson v. White, Docket No. 241414
...id. at 145, 253 N.W.2d 114; Briggs v. Campbell, Wyant & Cannon Foundry Co., 379 Mich. 160, 150 N.W.2d 752 (1967); Horrigan v. Klock, 27 Mich.App. 107, 183 N.W.2d 386 (1970). Another general rule is that judicial decisions are to be given complete retroactive effect. Michigan Ed. Employees M......
-
Bolt v. City of Lansing, Docket No. 192944.
...as of the moment of its passage—and equality requires that all similarly situated taxpayers be treated equally. See Horrigan v. Klock, 27 Mich.App. 107, 183 N.W.2d 386 (1970). Thus, defendant should not be allowed to keep the "rain taxes" paid by some Lansing residents while those who did n......
-
Stanton v. Lloyd Hammond Produce Farms, 58154
...150 N.W.2d 752 (1967); People v. Carey, 382 Mich. 285, 170 N.W.2d 145 (1969) (opinion of T. M. Kavanagh, J.); and Horrigan v. Klock, 27 Mich.App. 107, 183 N.W.2d 386 (1970). Briggs v. Campbell, Wyant & Cannon Foundry Co., supra, involved the question of whether an amendatory state statute c......
-
People v. Smith
...trial court erred in concluding that prosecution of defendant was not barred by § 8 of the statute. We disagree. In Horrigan v. Klock, 27 Mich.App. 107, 183 N.W.2d 386 (1970), a tort action, a similar immunity question was before this Court. In that case the plaintiff had filed a motion to ......