Opinion
No. 135851.
July 2, 2008.
Court of Appeals No. 271870.
Summary Dispositions July 2, 2008:
Pursuant to MCR 7.302(G)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals. In People v Boyd, VIA Mich 321, 324 (1913), this Court discussed common-law obstruction of justice, and stated as follows: "At the common law, to dissuade or prevent, or to attempt to dissuade or prevent, a witness from attending or testifying upon the trial of a cause is an indictable offense." Actual intimidation of the witness is not required; a defendant is guilty of common-law obstruction of justice who uses an unlawful means to attempt to intentionally dissuade a witness from testifying. See People v Coleman, 350 Mich 268, 274 (1957); see also People v Davis, 408 Mich 255, 294 (1980) (LEVIN, J.). In this case, the defendant knowingly violated a no-contact order when she wrote to the victim, asking her to drop the embezzlement charges. In an attempt to conceal her violation of the no-contact order, the defendant put a false return address on the envelope. Given this evidence, a factfinder could properly convict the defendant of common-law obstruction of justice. Accordingly, we remand this case to the Genesee Circuit Court for reinstatement of the trial court's order denying the defendant's motion to withdraw her guilty plea to common-law obstruction of justice.
CAVANAGH and KELLY, JJ. We would deny leave to appeal.