Chapter_2:_Domestic_Violence_Crimes,_Penalties,_and_Select_Civil

Chapter 2: Domestic Violence Crimes, Penalties, and Select Civil Remedies

A.In General

Acts of domestic violence frequently include many different forms of criminal behavior. See People v Wilson (Willie), 265 Mich App 386, 393 (2005). Specifically, the Court of Appeals stated that:

“Domestic violence includes any of the assaults [(assault, assault and battery, and aggravated assault)]. [E]ven murder may be characterized as domestic violence. Domestic violence is not a specific crime, but a description of circumstances surrounding a violent crime in which the perpetrator and the victim have a preexisting relationship that may be categorized as a ‘domestic’ relationship.” Wilson (Willie), 265 Mich App at 393.

Any crime can be an act of domestic violence if perpetrated as a means of controlling another person who is a family or household member. See MCL 400.1501(d). To that end, this chapter only addresses crimes that specifically contemplate domestic violence. Crimes that may frequently occur in cases involving domestic violence, but are not discussed in this chapter, include:

•Arson. See MCL 750.72 (first-degree arson); MCL 750.73 (second-degree arson); MCL 750.73 (third-degree arson); MCL 750.75 (fourth-degree arson); MCL 750.77 (fifth-degree arson; MCL 750.78 (certain misdemeanor offenses involving fire); MCL 750.79 (offense involving inflammable, combustible, or explosive materials).

•Assaults on a person. See MCL 750.82 (felonious assault); MCL 750.83 (assault with intent to murder); MCL 750.84 (assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder or assault by strangulation or suffocation); MCL 750.86 (assault with intent to maim); MCL 750.87 (assault with intent to commit a felony).

•Cruelty to animals. See MCL 750.50 (crimes against animals); MCL 750.50b (willfully or maliciously, and without just cause, killing, torturing mutilating maiming, disfiguring, or poisoning an animal).

•Cyberbullying another person. See MCL 750.411x.

•Extortion. See MCL 750.213.

•Homicide or attempted murder. See MCL 750.91 (attempted murder); MCL 750.316 (first-degree murder); MCL 750.317 (second-degree murder); MCL 750.321 (manslaughter); MCL 750.322 (willful killing of unborn child by injuring mother in a way that if it had killed the mother would have constituted murder).

•Kidnapping or unlawful imprisonment. See MCL 750.349; MCL 750.349b.

•Obstruction of justice. See MCL 750.122; MCL 750.483a.

•Prohibited conduct against a pregnant woman causing death, miscarriage, stillbirth, or physical injury to the embryo or fetus. See MCL 750.90a et seq.

B.Prosecu torial Discretion

“A prosecutor, as the chief law enforcement officer of a county, is granted the broad discretion to decide whether to prosecute [a defendant] or what charges to file [against a defendant].” People v Williams (Anterio), 244 Mich App 249, 253-254 (2001) (trial court erroneously dismissed domestic assault charges after the victim-girlfriend refused to testify against the respondent-boyfriend by “characteriz[ing] the offense as a private crime and [] suggest[ing] that the victim[-girlfriend] has a legal right of any kind to decide whether [the] defendant[-boyfriend] is prosecuted[, which] is clearly inconsistent with the concept of public prosecutions of criminal offenses[,] . . . [where] [p]ut simply, in criminal cases, the prosecutor alone possesses the authority to determine whether to prosecute the accused”).

Note: “[D]espite the victim[-girlfriend’s] failure to appear on the trial date, the prosecutor arguably had a viable basis to proceed by showing that the victim[-girlfriend] was an unavailable witness [under MRE 804(a)(5)].” Williams (Anterio), 244 Mich App at 254.

C.Court-App ointed Foreign Language Interpreter ¹

A party or witness with limited English proficiency is entitled to a court-appointed foreign language interpreter if the interpreter’s “services are necessary for the person to meaningfully participate in the case or court proceeding[.]” MCR 1.111(B)(1).^² A person financially able to pay for the interpretation costs may be ordered to reimburse the court for those costs. MCR 1.111(F)(5). See also MCR 1.111(A)(4).

1. See the Michigan Judicial Institute’s Criminal Proceedings Benchbook, Vol. 1, Chapter 1, for more information on foreign language interpreters.

2. In addition, “[t]he court may appoint a foreign language interpreter for a person other than a party or witness who has a substantial interest in the case or court proceeding.” MCR 1.111(B)(2).