Tuesday, March 26, 2013

"This Court Will Not Tolerate Allusion!"

Michigan has a crime commonly known as "fleeing and eluding," MCL 257.602a. One might argue that if you are brought before a court on that charge, your very presence undermines the prosecutor's contention that you are guilty of eluding, but... I split too fine a hair - the actual statute does not require that you be proved to have been successful in eluding your pursuer.

A couple of years ago the Court of Appeals apparently took an entirely different view of what it means to... elude:
Defendant appeals by leave granted his guilty-plea convictions of third-degree fleeing and alluding, MCL 257.602a(3)(a), and driving while license suspended, second offense, MCL 257.904(3)(b). Defendant was sentenced as a third habitual offender, MCL 769.11, to 30 to 120 months' imprisonment for the fleeing and alluding conviction and 144 days in jail for the driving while license suspended conviction. We affirm.
People v Kade, No. 285402, 2009 WL 1941372 (Mich Ct App July 7, 2009). A sentence of 2-1/2 to 10 years for alluding? I wonder if that includes a sentence enhancement for mixing metaphors.

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