Court Opinion

ID: 9516734
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 23:50:43.021875+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:39:04.050883
License: Public Domain

*733D. E. Holbrook, Jr.,
J. (dissenting). I would reverse and remand for trial.
The question presented is whether the Lauraines’ conduct amounted to the furnishing of alcoholic liquor within the contemplation of MCL 436.33; MSA 18.1004, thereby triggering potential civil liability in accordance with Longstreth v Gensel, 423 Mich 675; 377 NW2d 804 (1985). Prior cases interpreting the furnishing requirement of MCL 436.33; MSA 18.1004 or similar predecessor statutes prohibiting the furnishing of alcoholic beverages to underage persons have required the actor to assume some control over whether alcohol would be made available or to take some part in the supplying of alcohol to those protected by the statute. People v Neumann, 85 Mich 98; 48 NW 290 (1891); Christensen v Parrish, 82 Mich App 409, 412; 266 NW2d 826 (1978), lv den 403 Mich 845 (1978). In order to satisfy the furnishing requirement, it is not necessary that the actor physically deliver the beverage to the underage person, furnishing having been broadly defined as "letting a minor have liquor.” Neumann, supra, p 102. The fact that the defendant does not have legal title to the furnished beverage is not always decisive. People v Lumley, 189 Mich 613, 618; 155 NW 486 (1915).
I conclude that the Lauraines’ conduct amounted to an assumption of sufficient control over the party and the supplying of beer that they may be said to have furnished within the contemplation of the statute. The party was conducted at the Lauraine residence pursuant to their permission, and the beer was made available with their knowledge. To the casual observer attending as a guest, it must have appeared that the Lauraines jointly hosted the party with Karen White and assumed responsibility for those activities con*734ducted at their own residence. To argue otherwise ignores the underlying realities of social gatherings. What if a guest had engaged in destructive behavior? What if a guest had engaged in misconduct offensive to other guests? What if a guest did something repugnant to the moral and social sensibilities of the homeowner? Is it reasonable to expect that the homeowners would have idly stood by because it was not their party? My point is simply that the statutory furnishing requirement is satisfied when a defendant’s conduct permits an underage person to consume an alcoholic beverage under circumstances indicative of the defendant’s control of the situation. The majority seems to equate the furnishing requirement with the physical handing over of the beverage for the underage person’s intended consumption. I cannot accept this overly rigid interpretation. The circumstances of this case establish a degree of control vested with the Lauraines to the extent that cases like Reinert v Dolezel, 147 Mich App 149; 383 NW2d 148 (1985), lv den 424 Mich 900 (1986), and Christensen, supra, are to be distinguished. I fail to see how control was undisputedly and exclusively vested in Karen White or how it can be said that Karen White undisputedly hosted the party. Even if the parties did designate Karen White as the party host, they cannot, in so doing, allocate liability contrary to the overriding realities of this case, which, if established at trial, would invoke a duty under MCL 436.33; MSA 18.1004. In effect, the majority permits a defendant to disclaim responsibility and wash his hands by a self-serving allegation that the party was to be hosted under the auspices of another.
I would reverse and remand for trial.