People v. Masten
People v. Masten
Opinion of the Court
The defendant was charged with attempting to procure an act of gross indecency, MCL 750.338; MSA 28.570.
The defendant’s first claim on appeal challenges the sufficiency of the people’s evidence, arguing that the exchange between the arresting officers and himself was not adequate to show that he proposed to them the public commission of an "act of gross indecency”. This contention draws its legal force from the opinion in People v Howell, 396 Mich 16; 238 NW2d 148 (1976), in which three justices wrote:
"[We] construe the term 'act of gross indecency’ to prohibit oral and manual sexual acts committed without consent or with a person under the age of consent or any ultimate sexual act committed in public.” 396 Mich 16, 24.
The defendant is correct in his assessment of the proofs. His statement to the officers that he did not have a place to go for the performance of the acts he proposed does not show an offer to perform
Five and perhaps all six of the justices who sat in Howell concurred in the greater part of that opinion, while that portion of the opinion on which the defendant relies (section II, pp 22-24) did not receive the same degree of support. Two justices withheld their concurrence from section II completely; Justice Lindemer abandoned section II with respect to one defendant and apparently dissented from the opinion altogether as it applied to the other defendant in the case.
The defendant’s principal attack on his conviction consists of a claim that the gross indecency statute is unconstitutionally vague, insufficiently apprising potential offenders of the conduct that it
The Howell Court utilized the "specific conduct” approach illustrated in United States v National Dairy Products Corp, 372 US 29; 83 S Ct 594; 9 L Ed 2d 561 (1963). That case indicates that an enactment that is too vague to disclose every case in which it might apply may properly form the basis of a prosecution for a particular act that is clearly and fairly within its meaning. The focus of this analysis is on the conduct charged rather than the precision of the legislative drafting. The possibility of indecision or unfair application at the periphery of the statute’s meaning does not preclude its use when uncertainty or surprise as to a particular act does not fairly arise.
All that remains in evaluating the defendant’s "fair warning” claim is the application of the Howell analysis to the present conviction for attempting to procure the commission of a private act of fellatio between consenting adult males.
A statute may be void for vagueness if it "confers on the trier of fact unstructured and unlimited discretion to determine whether an offense has been committed”. People v Howell, supra, 20, citing Grayned v City of Rockford, 408 US 104; 92 S Ct 2294; 33 L Ed 2d 222 (1972). It is the defendant’s claim that the gross indecency statute permits that improper exercise of discretion by failing to enumerate the acts to which it applies.
In People v Dexter, supra, the same argument was advanced and rejected by this Court:
"Statutes of the indecent liberties or gross indecency type penalize 'conduct that is of such character that the common sense of society regards it as indecent and improper’. People v Szymanski (1948), 321 Mich 248, 252. The gross indecency statute is not vague or bereft of guidelines.” 6 Mich App 247, 253.
The Supreme Court addressed Dexter and left it untouched in Howell’s section II, supra. Thus, we regard Dexter’s application of the Szymanski decision as controlling in the case at bar.
We cannot find it within the judicial purview to measure the "common sense of society” or to produce a "construction” of this extremely general statute so as to insulate particular classes of sexual conduct from criminal liability. Nevertheless,
Affirmed.
"Any male person who, in public or in private, commits or is a party to the commission of or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of any act of gross indecency with another male person shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by
"Cavanagh, C.J., and Williams, J., concurred with Levin, J.
"The undersigned concur in this opinion with the exception of section II:
"Coleman and Fitzgerald, JJ.; Lindemer, J., as to Helzer only.
"Ryan, J., took no part in the decision of this case.” 396 Mich 16, 29.
We observe that the compilers of the Michigan Criminal Jury Instructions have concluded that the enigmatic array of concurrences in Howell created section II as precedent "binding on the Court of Appeals * * * until overruled” under the rule of Negri v Slotkin, 397 Mich 105, 110; 244 NW2d 98 (1976). III CJI, Commentary, p 20-104.
National Dairy held that the sale of goods below cost for the purpose of destroying competition was a potential charge adequately announced by the Robinson-Patman act, which proscribes the selling of goods at "unreasonably low prices for the purpose of destroying competition or eliminating a competitor,” 15 USC 13a.
The Court cited no examples of the history to which it referred. The fact that it found that citation unnecessary confirms a point that is implicit in the reasoning of Wainwright, supra: It is not crucial to a "fair warning” analysis that the judicial pronouncements said to give that warning be of any particular age. Both statutes and judicial opinions give notice of their contents when they are published. The "long” application noted in Howell simply reduced the vitality of an already inadequate constitutional attack.
Because the statute does not attach any significance to the transfer of money in connection with the acts it proscribes, we conclude that the commercial aspect of the defendant’s proposition to the officers has no significance.
Dexter also implicitly held that "procuring” an act of gross indecency may occur when a defendant proposes that he and another person engage in prohibited conduct. Contrary to the defendant’s assertion, the meaning of the term "procure” is not limited to situations in which one person attempts to induce an illegal act involving two or more other persons.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). I must respectfully dissent from the opinion of my colleagues. The majority opinion fails to adequately
The statute under which defendant was charged and convicted reads in part:
"Any male person who, in public or in private, commits or is a party to the commission of or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of any act of gross indecency with another male person shall
The information specifically charged defendant under the emphasized portion of the statute. As he did in the trial court, defendant asserts on appeal that the Legislature’s use of the word "procure” means that the statute contemplates a three-party situation; that is, that the intent is to punish a "male person” who obtains the services of a second "male person” for the commission of . an act of gross indecency with a third "male person”. He asserts that since the facts established at trial revealed only a two-party situation (or a series of two-party situations), the prosecution did not sufficiently establish its case under the statute.
The dictionary definition of "procure” is helpful to the extent that it does not absolutely rule out either possibility:
"PROCURE. To initiate a proceeding; to cause a thing to be done; to instigate; to contrive, bring about, effect, or cause. * * * To persuade, induce, prevail upon, or cause. * * * To obtain, as intoxicating liquor, for another. * * * To find or introduce; — said of a broker who obtains a customer. * * * To bring the seller and the buyer together so that the seller has an opportunity to sell. * * *.” Black’s Law Dictionary (4th ed), p 1373.
The definition of "procurer”, however, goes further in supporting defendant’s claim:
"PROCURER. One who procures for another the gratification of his lusts; a pimp; a panderer; one who solicits trade for a prostitute or lewd woman. * * * One that procures the seduction or prostitution of girls * * * 55
The circumstances under which the word "procure” is used in other statutes concerning sex-related offenses in Michigan also supports a conclusion that use of the term implies a three-party setting. Outside of the three gross indecency statutes,
There is little case law in Michigan to aid in the determination of this issue. In People v Johnson, 260 Mich 117, 119; 244 NW 251 (1932), the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of a woman convicted under the pandering statute and held that "[t]he word procure, as used in the [pandering] statute, means to acquire or to get”. There was no need to go further, as the pandering statute already contemplates the ultimate involve
Reference to the text,of the statute itself supports the view that when making use of the term "procure” the Legislature envisioned a three-party situation. The statute proscribes essentially two types of conduct: (1) the actual commission of an act of gross indecency (including one who is a "party to the commission”), and (2) the actual procuring or attempt to procure an act of gross indecency. If "procure” means, at the least, "to acquire or to get”, People v Johnson, supra, then one who "procures” an act of gross indecency for himself has acquired the act for himself and, as such, has committed or been the party to the commission of the act. In short, construing the statute to be applicable to two-party transactions would make the statute redundant. Interpreting the procuring section of the statute to mean acquiring for another removes the redundancy and gives that section of the statute its own meaning.
This interpretation of the statute finds support in the Supreme Court’s decision in People v Loveday, 390 Mich 711; 212 NW2d 708 (1973). Loveday involved a charge under the provisions of a statute analogous to the one under which defendant in the instant case is charged. MCL 750.338b; MSA 28.570(2) (gross indecency between male and female). It proscribes with almost identical language the same two types of conduct prohibited by the
The trial court took the position that an "attempt to procure” was essentially the same thing as an "attempt to solicit”. This of course cannot precisely be so, as there can be no such crime as an attempt to solicit. People v Richard Banks, 51 Mich App 685; 216 NW2d 461 (1974), lv den 392 Mich 765 (1974). A solicitation is complete when
I would reverse.
See majority opinion, footnote 7.
MCL 750.338; MSA 28.570 (gross indecency between males), MCL 750.338a; MSA 28.570(1) (gross indecency between females), MCL 750.338b; MSA 28.570(2) (gross indecency between male and female).
MCL 750.92; MSA 28.287.
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