Opinion ID: 2111711
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: I. Application of Traditional Principles of Statutory Construction

Text: Because our judicial role precludes imposing different policy choices than those selected by the Legislature, our obligation is, by examining the statutory language, to discern the legislative intent that may reasonably be inferred from the words expressed in the statute. White v. Ann Arbor, 406 Mich. 554, 562, 281 N.W.2d 283 (1979). A fundamental principle of statutory construction is that a clear and unambiguous statute leaves no room for judicial construction or interpretation. Coleman v. Gurwin, 443 Mich. 59, 65, 503 N.W.2d 435 (1993). When a legislature has unambiguously conveyed its intent in a statute, the statute speaks for itself and there is no need for judicial construction; the proper role of a court is simply to apply the terms of the statute to the circumstances in a particular case. Turner v. Auto Club Ins. Ass'n, 448 Mich. 22, 27, 528 N.W.2d 681 (1995); Lake Angelus v. Oakland Co. Rd. Comm., 194 Mich.App. 220, 224, 486 N.W.2d 64 (1992). Finally, in construing a statute, we must give the words used by the Legislature their common, ordinary meaning. MCL 8.3a; MSA 2.212(1). These traditional principles of statutory construction thus force courts to respect the constitutional role of the Legislature as a policy-making branch of government and constrain the judiciary from encroaching on this dedicated sphere of constitutional responsibility. Any other nontextual approach to statutory construction will necessarily invite judicial speculation regarding the probable, but unstated, intent of the Legislature with the likely consequence that a court will impermissibly substitute its own policy preferences. See Cady v. Detroit, 289 Mich. 499, 509, 286 N.W. 805 (1939) (Courts cannot substitute their opinions for that of the legislative body on questions of policy). Unfortunately, the [Court of Appeals] majority has abandoned these traditional rules of construction, ignored the plain text of the statute before us, and substituted its own policy preferences for those of our Legislature by finding an unexpressed legislative intent that a witness who lies in a one-man grand jury proceeding forfeits statutory immunity granted under M.C.L. § 767.6; MSA 28.946. While [we] do not question the sincerity of [the Court of Appeals majority's] effort, [we] view the [Court of Appeals] opinion as a herculean, yet ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to create an ambiguity where none exists in order to reach a desired result, albeit one with which [we] might wholeheartedly agree [if we were legislators] authorized to enact policy. The immunity statute, M.C.L. § 767.6; MSA 28.946, provides, in relevant part: No witness shall upon such inquiry be required to answer any questions, or shall be convicted for contempt upon refusal to do so, when the answers might tend to incriminate him. A written order granting to such witness immunity from such incrimination may be entered by said judge pursuant to a written motion by the prosecuting attorney..., which order shall set forth verbatim the questions which such witness refused to answer.... No person required to answer such questions shall thereafter be prosecuted for any offense concerning which such answers may have tended to incriminate him. [Emphasis added.] The text of the statute is clear and unambiguous. It simply does not condition transactional immunity on truthful testimony. [7] As [we] read the immunity statute, there is but one condition that the Legislature has imposed on a grant of transactional immunity: that the witness give answers that may have tended to incriminate him. Id. The above-emphasized language of the statute would seem to admit of no contrary intent. It is hard for [us] to conceive of language the Legislature could have otherwise employed that would more emphatically have proclaimed that, once an immunized witness has provided answers tending to incriminate, no prosecution for offenses touching upon crimes associated with such answers may be had. Indeed, the tended to incriminate standard appears to present a rather low threshold that need be met in order to invoke the immunity protections of the statute. See, e.g., People v. Joseph, 384 Mich. 24, 29, 179 N.W.2d 383 (1970) (holding that the privilege against self-incrimination extends not only to answers that would in themselves support a conviction, but also to answers that would furnish a link in the chain of evidence needed to prosecute the defendant). The [Court of Appeals] majority, having concluded or conceded that at least some portion of defendant's testimony `may have tended to incriminate' him, [232 Mich.App. at 82, 591 N.W.2d 231] n. 6, should have, under the plain language of the statute and application of traditional rules of statutory construction, affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the murder and felony-firearm charges. Instead, the [Court of Appeals] majority ... enacts by judicial ukase a new statute requiring truthful testimony as a condition precedent to a grant of transactional immunity. The [Court of Appeals] acknowledges that there is no express requirement that the immunized individual `answer' questions truthfully. [232 Mich.App. at 86, 591 N.W.2d 231.]