Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 46365; Published
Judges Bashara, Riley, and Quinnell; Unanimous; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 101 Mich App 208; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Serious Impairment of Body Function Definition (Pre-Cassidy Era – 1973-1982) [§3135(1)]
Trial Procedure Issues [§3135]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In a significant Opinion which may be unpublished, the Court of Appeals made the following holdings with regard to no-fault tort actions:
1. It was error for the trial court to instruct the jury regarding the threshold elements of "death" and "permanent serious disfigurement" where the plaintiff’s only claim was that his threshold injury constituted a "serious impairment of body function". The Court held that "submission of irrelevant and immaterial propositions to the jury is confusing and misleading and, therefore, erroneous."
2. Relying on Smith v Sutherland (item number 237), the Court held that it was error for the court to instruct that "serious impairment means impairment of more than ordinary severity." This was so even though Smith v Sutherland had not been decided when the Court gave this instruction.
3. Also relying on Smith v Sutherland, the Court held that refusal to instruct that serious impairment of body function need not be permanent is error.
