People Of The State Of Mich. v. Tennyson

• Decision Date: 07 September 2010
• Docket Number: Docket No. 137755.
• Citation: 487 Mich. 730,790 N.W.2d 354
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George Walter TENNYSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court

487 Mich. 730

790 N.W.2d 354

PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.George Walter TENNYSON, Defendant-Appellant.

Docket No. 137755.

Supreme Court of Michigan.

Argued Nov. 4, 2009.

Decided Sept. 7, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

Michael A. Cox, Attorney General, B. Eric Restuccia, Solicitor General, Kym L. Worthy, Prosecuting Attorney, Timothy A. Baughman, Chief of Research, Training, and Appeals, and Lori Baughman Palmer, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.

Julie E. Gilfix, Southfield, for defendant.

Opinion

MARKMAN, J.

We granted leave to appeal to consider whether evidence that a child was present in a home in which defendant was in possession of drugs and firearms is, by itself, legally sufficient to support defendant's conviction under MCL 750.145 for doing an act that “tended to cause a minor child to become neglected or delinquent so as to tend to come under the jurisdiction of” the family division of the circuit court. We hold on the facts of this case-where there is no evidence that the child was aware of such drugs or firearms-that there is insufficient evidence to support defendant's conviction under this statute. To decide otherwise would render a conviction under MCL 750.145 an increasingly routine appendage to a broad array of other criminal charges in instances in which a child is merely present in a home where evidence of a crime has been uncovered. Moreover, to decide otherwise would have considerable implications for the process by which parental rights are terminated in this state, for, as the facts of this case demonstrate, a conviction under MCL 750.145 would almost certainly constitute a trigger at least for the initiation of the termination process by the Department of Human Services. Because this result has never before been reached by courts of this state, and because we believe that such result was never intended by the Legislature, we reverse in part the judgment of the Court of Appeals, vacate defendant's conviction under MCL 750.145, and remand to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this opinion. Defendant's drug and firearms convictions, which the Court of Appeals has affirmed, are not affected by this decision.

I. FACTS AND HISTORY

On August 16, 2006, Detroit police executed a search warrant at defendant's home. They found defendant sitting on a bed in one of the home's two bedrooms. When one of the officers looked under the bed, he found a baggie of what he believed, based on his experience and training with narcotics, to be heroin on a plate with a razor blade and a coffee spoon. A second officer testified similarly, estimating that the amount recovered was approximately three grams, with a street value of about $700. The police also found two loaded firearms in a dresser drawer in the same bedroom. The bedroom contained both men's and women's clothing, while the other bedroom contained only children's clothing.

At the time of the raid, there was a woman seated on the front porch and a 10-year-old boy on a couch in the living room. A third officer, Kathy Singleton, testified that she observed that the child, who was defendant's stepson, was scared and crying when the officers entered. The woman, who was defendant's wife and the child's mother, was handcuffed and given a citation.

Defendant was charged with possession of less than 25 grams of heroin, MCL 333.7403(2)(a)( v ), being a felon in possession of a firearm, MCL 750.224f, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b, and contributing to the neglect or delinquency of a minor, MCL 750.145. The information for the latter violation stated that defendant had contributed to the neglect or delinquency of the child by “exposing him to the use and sale of narcotics.”

With respect to the latter charge, the prosecutor argued at trial that the child “being in that house is being subject to neglect and/or delinquency.” In its instructions, the trial court stated:

To prove this charge, the prosecutor must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt: that the defendant acted or by any word, encouraged, contributed toward, caused or tended to cause any minor child under the age of 17 years to become neglected or delinquent.

The jury convicted defendant of all charges. At sentencing, the trial court imposed a suspended sentence of 45 days in jail for the misdemeanor of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The court also told defendant that it would contact the Department of Human Services (DHS) to request that a petition be filed to terminate his parental rights, and that same day wrote to DHS requesting that it investigate possible child neglect and abuse by defendant.

The Court of Appeals affirmed defendant's convictions and sentences. People v. Tennyson, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, issued October 16, 2008 (Docket No. 278826), 2008 WL 4604058. Regarding defendant's conviction under MCL 750.145, the Court noted that the statute “was aimed at preventing conduct ‘which would tend to cause delinquency and neglect as well as that conduct which obviously has caused delinquency and neglect.’ ” Id. at 4, quoting People v. Owens, 13 Mich.App. 469, 479, 164 N.W.2d 712 (1968) (emphasis in original).

Here, defendant's actions, at the very least, placed [the child] directly in a home where illegal activity was occurring. It would be reasonable for the jury to infer that defendant knew [the child] was living in a house where heroin and loaded firearms were unlawfully kept. When considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecutor, there was sufficient evidence for the jury to infer that defendant's illegal activities could have subjected his son to the jurisdiction of the courts. Therefore, there was sufficient evidence to convict defendant of contributing to the neglect or delinquency of a minor. [ Tennyson, unpub. op. at 4.]

This Court directed that oral argument be heard on the application for leave to appeal and specified that the parties must address whether the evidence was legally sufficient to sustain defendant's conviction under MCL 750.145, People v. Tennyson, 483 Mich. 963, 764 N.W.2d 217 (2009), and argument was heard on November 4, 2009.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This case presents an issue of statutory interpretation, which we review de novo. People v. Babcock, 469 Mich. 247, 253, 666 N.W.2d 231 (2003). In determining whether the prosecutor has presented sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction, an appellate court is required to take the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecutor. “[T]he question on appeal is whether a rational trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” People v. Hardiman, 466 Mich. 417, 421, 646 N.W.2d 158 (2002).

III. ANALYSIS

A. MCL 750.145

We are called upon to construe MCL 750.145, which provides:

Any person who shall by any act, or by any word, encourage, contribute toward, cause or tend to cause any minor child under the age of 17 years to become neglected or delinquent so as to come or tend to come under the jurisdiction of the juvenile division of the probate court, as defined in [MCL 712A.2], whether or not such child shall in fact be adjudicated a ward of the probate court, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

This statute requires that the prosecutor prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant (1) by any act or word (2) “tend[ed] to cause” any minor ¹ (3) to “become neglected or delinquent” (4) so as to “tend to come” under what was then probate court jurisdiction, which has since been transferred to the family division of circuit court, or “family court.” ²

The statute also makes clear that “neglect” and “delinquency” are specifically defined by MCL 712A.2, and that an adjudication that the child is, in fact, a ward of the court is not a prerequisite to a conviction. These conclusions are compelled by the statute and were articulated by the Court of Appeals over 40 years ago in People v. Owens, 13 Mich.App. at 475-476, 479, 164 N.W.2d 712. ³

Although it is clear that a prior adjudication of neglect or delinquency is not required for a conviction under MCL 750.145, the open question, which goes to the heart of this appeal, is what level of certainty is required in order for the fact-finder to determine that a defendant “tend[ed] to cause” a minor to become delinquent or neglected so as to “tend to come” under family court jurisdiction. The focal point in this inquiry is, of course, the statute's twice-repeated use of the word “tend.” When reviewing a statute, “ ‘a word or phrase is given meaning by its context or setting.’ ” Koontz v. Ameritech Servs., Inc., 466 Mich. 304, 318, 645 N.W.2d 34 (2002) (citation omitted). This “tend” language provides an alternative ground for satisfying two of the statute's critical elements-a person must “cause or tend to cause” a minor to “come or tend to come” under family court jurisdiction. The verbs “cause” and “come,” which immediately precede “tend” in each instance, require it to be shown that a person did in fact do something that caused a minor to fall within family court jurisdiction. However, “tend to cause” and “tend to come” require a lesser showing; each formulation lowers the threshold of proof required by “cause” and “come,” respectively, and each does not require the actual exercise of family court jurisdiction.

When reviewing a statute, all undefined “words and phrases shall be construed and understood according to the common and approved usage of the language[.]”

MCL 8.3a. To determine the ordinary meaning of undefined words in the statute, a court may consult a dictionary. People v. Stone, 463 Mich. 558, 563, 621 N.W.2d 702 (2001). “Tend” is a non-technical word that is not defined by the statute, which according to the dictionary's first entry for the word means “to be disposed or inclined ... to do something.” ⁴ Random House Webster's...