Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 99513; Unpublished
Judges Wahls, McDonald, and Simon; Unanimous; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Appcliable; Link to Opinion
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Determining Serious Impairment of Body Function As a Matter of Law (DiFranco Era – 1987-1995) [§3135(1)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous per curiam Opinion, the Court of Appeals reversed entry of summary disposition in favor of the defendant on the serious impairment issue.
The trial court had granted summary disposition on the issue of serious impairment of body function in an opinion dated December 9, 1986. However, the order granting defendants' motion for summary disposition was not "entered" until December 30, 1986. The Supreme Court decision in DiFranco v Pickard had been issued in the intervening period on December 23, 1986. The trial court denied plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration in light of DiFranco and entered an order to that effect on March 4, 1987.
In light of the DiFranco decision's reexamination of the standards for summary disposition under §3135(1), the court reversed and remanded to the trial court. In accordance with the limited retroactivity rule set forth in DiFranco, since summary disposition in the instant case was "entered" on December 30, 1986, after DiFranco was decided, the rules of DiFranco on summary disposition should have been .applied to this case.
[Editor's Note: See, Moment v Wojcik (Item No. 1238) and Cleveland v Horne (Item No. 1218) for similar cases.]