Rambin v. Allstate Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 20 May 2014
• Docket Number: Docket No. 146256.
• Citation: Rambin v. Allstate Ins. Co., 495 Mich. 316, 852 N.W.2d 34 (Mich. 2014)
• Parties: RAMBIN v. ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY.
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court

495 Mich. 316

852 N.W.2d 34

RAMBIN

v.ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY.

Docket No. 146256.

Supreme Court of Michigan.

Argued Oct. 23, 2013.

Decided May 20, 2014.

Donald M. Fulkerson and Bruce K. Pazner, Westland, for Lejuan Rambin.

Garan Lucow Miller, PC, Detroit (by Daniel S. Saylor), for Allstate Insurance Company.

ZAHRA, J.

In this case we are called on to examine the meaning of MCL 750.414, the misdemeanor joyriding statute, in the context of MCL 500.3113(a), which excludes certain individuals from entitlement to personal protection insurance benefits (commonly known as “PIP benefits”) under the no-fault act. Specifically, under MCL 500.3113(a), a person who was injured while “using a motor vehicle or motorcycle which he or she had taken unlawfully,” is not entitled to PIP benefits. We recently examined these statutory provisions in Spectrum Health Hosps. v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co of Mich.¹ We held that a person injured while driving a motor vehicle that was taken contrary to the express prohibition of the vehicle owner cannot receive PIP benefits. We further held “that any person who takes a vehicle contrary to a provision of the Michigan Penal Code—including MCL 750.413 and MCL 750.414, informally known as the ‘joyriding’ statutes—has taken the vehicle unlawfully for purposes of MCL 500.3113(a).” ²

Unlike Spectrum Health, the present case does not involve the taking of a vehicle against the express prohibition of the vehicle owner. Rather, plaintiff presented evidence that, in his view, showed that the person who granted him permission to take the motorcycle on which he was injured was the rightful owner. Against this background, we examine whether MCL 750.414, which makes it a misdemeanor to take or use a vehicle without authority of its owner, is a strict liability crime for purposes of applying MCL 500.3113(a). We hold that MCL 750.414 is not a strict liability crime and that it contains a mens rea element that the taker must intend to take a vehicle “without authority.” Accordingly, we affirm the Court of Appeals' decision insofar as it holds that plaintiff is entitled to PIP benefits if the evidence establishes he did not know the motorcycle he had taken was stolen.

We nonetheless disagree with the Court of Appeals' conclusion that plaintiff was entitled to a finding as a matter of law that he did not take the motorcycle unlawfully, given the circumstantial evidence presented in this case. The Court of Appeals improperly made findings in regard to the facts of this case that were still very much in dispute. We affirm in part and reverse in part the opinion of the Court of Appeals, and remand to the circuit court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BASIC FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Plaintiff Lejuan Rambin filed a complaint in circuit court against Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate) and Titan Insurance Company (Titan), claiming PIP benefits pursuant to the Michigan No Fault Act, MCL 500.3105 et seq. Plaintiff alleged that on August 23, 2009, he sustained bodily injury when the motorcycle he was operating was involved in an accident. In the complaint, plaintiff admitted that he did not own a motor vehicle at the time of the accident, and that the motorcycle he was riding was owned by and registered to Scott Hertzog. Plaintiff noted that the car involved in the accident was also uninsured. Plaintiff nonetheless averred that Scott Hertzog owned a car that was insured by Allstate.³ Plaintiff asserted a right to PIP benefits from Allstate, but Allstate denied his claim. Plaintiff alternatively alleged that if Allstate was not the responsible insurer, he was entitled to PIP benefits from Titan, the insurer to which the claim was assigned by the Michigan Assigned Claims Facility (ACF).⁴

After the parties had engaged in discovery,⁵ including taking plaintiff's deposition,Titan filed a motion for summary disposition, arguing that plaintiff is barred from recovery of PIP benefits if he was involved in the theft of the motorcycle. Allstate likewise filed a motion for summary disposition claiming plaintiff had taken the motorcycle unlawfully, and was thus barred from recovery of PIP benefits by MCL 500.3113(a).

Not to be left out, plaintiff also filed a motion for summary disposition. Plaintiff maintained that discovery had revealed several facts, many of which he claimed were “undisputed.” Plaintiff asserted that, in June 2009, he joined the Phantom Motorcycle Club though he did not own a motorcycle. On August 4, 2009, Scott Hertzog's motorcycle was stolen. On August 22, 2009, members of the club informed plaintiff that he needed a motorcycle to participate in the club ride that night. Plaintiff claimed that a person named Andre Smith offered to loan him a motorcycle for the club ride. Plaintiff claims that on August 22, 2009, at 7:00 p.m., he went to a house on Kentfield in Detroit, where Andre Smith handed plaintiff the keys to the motorcycle and told him that he could use the motorcycle for the club ride. On August 23, 2009, at approximately 1:20 a.m., plaintiff collided with an uninsured automobile while operating the motorcycle he had taken from Andre Smith. Following the accident, plaintiff informed police that he had borrowed the motorcycle from a friend, Andre Smith, who lived on Kentfield. Plaintiff, however, was unable to inform the police which house Andre resided in and plaintiff was unable to provide the police any information to reach Andre.⁶

The circuit court issued an order that granted summary disposition in favor of Allstate and Titan.⁷ Plaintiff appealed as of right the court's decision in the Court of Appeals. Before the Court of Appeals, plaintiff maintained that he did not unlawfully take the motorcycle and that he had a reasonable belief that he was entitled to take and use it. Plaintiff claimed that he did not take the motorcycle with the willful intent to do so unlawfully or with knowledge that he lacked authority. The Court of Appeals reversed the circuit court's grant of summary disposition to Allstate and Titan, holding “that plaintiff did not take [the motorcycle] unlawfully [within the meaning of] MCL 500.3113(a).” ⁸ The Court of Appeals concluded that, “[i]n this case, there is no dispute that plaintiff did not take the [motorcycle] in violation of the Michigan Penal Code, and that, viewed from plaintiff's (the driver's) perspective, there was no ‘unlawful taking.’ ” ⁹ The Court of Appeals further concluded that based on the record evidence, there was no genuine issue of material fact that plaintiff did not take the motorcycle unlawfully, and it remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings.

Allstate applied for leave to appeal in this Court. We directed the Clerk to schedule oral argument on whether to grant the application or take other action.¹⁰ We specifically requested that the parties address

whether the plaintiff took the motorcycle on which he was injured “unlawfully” within the meaning of MCL 500.3113(a), and specifically, whether “taken unlawfully” under MCL 500.3113(a) requires the “person ... using [the] motor vehicle or motorcycle” to know that such use has not been authorized by the vehicle or motorcycle owner, see MCL 750.414; People v. Laur, 128 Mich.App. 453 [340 N.W.2d 655] (1983), and, if so, whether the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that plaintiff lacked such knowledge as a matter of law given the circumstantial evidence presented in this case.[[¹¹

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review de novo the denial of a motion for summary disposition.¹² A motion for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(10) requires the reviewing court to consider “the pleadings, admissions, and other evidence submitted by the parties in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Summary disposition is appropriate if there is no genuine issue regarding any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” ¹³ Also, this case involves interpretation of a statute, a question of law that we review de novo on appeal.¹⁴

III. ANALYSIS

A. TAKING UNLAWFULLY UNDER MCL 500.3113

MCL 500.3113 provides:

A person is not entitled to be paid personal protection insurance benefits for accidental bodily injury if at the time of the accident any of the following circumstances existed:

(a) The person was using a motor vehicle or motorcycle which he or she had taken unlawfully, unless the person reasonably believed that he or she was entitled to take and use the vehicle.

In each of the Spectrum Health companion cases, our application of MCL 500.3113(a) was straightforward. The dispositive issue in each case was “whether a person injured while driving a motor vehicle that the person had taken contrary to the express prohibition of the owner may avail himself or herself of [PIP benefits] ... under the no-fault act, notwithstanding the fact that MCL 500.3113(a) bars a person from receiving PIP benefits for injuries suffered while using a vehicle that he or she ‘had taken unlawfully....’ ” ¹⁵ In both cases, the owner had expressly told each person injured while driving the motor vehicle that they could not use the motor vehicle. In essence, we rejected these claims premised on the notion that a person cannot take a vehicle contrary to an owner's express prohibition and maintain that he or she did not “unlawfully take” the vehicle under MCL 500.3113(a). We concluded that “any person who takes a vehicle contrary to a provision of the Michigan Penal Code—including MCL 750.413 and MCL 750.414, informally known as the ‘joyriding’ statutes—has taken the vehicle unlawfully within the meaning of MCL 500.3113(a).” ¹⁶ Because in Spectrum the owners had expressly told each person injured while driving the motor vehicle that they could not use the motor vehicle, we did not have occasion to reach the question whether MCL 500.3113(a) requires the “person ... using [the] motor vehicle or motorcycle” to know that such use has not been authorized...