People of Michigan v. Selesa Arrosieur Likine
492 Mich. 367
| Mich. | 2012Background
- Three Michigan cases raise whether felony nonsupport (MCL 750.165) allows an impossibility defense despite Adams, which held inability to pay is not a defense.
- Court clarifies that MCL 750.165 is a strict-liability offense but common-law impossibility remains a valid defense when proven.
- Court provides factors and procedures for proving impossibility, incorporating efforts to pay and good-faith financial conduct.
- Majority distinguishes inability to pay as a standalone defense that will not excuse nonpayment, instead guiding when impossibility may excuse noncompliance.
- Applications: Likine preserved impossibility defense (reversed/retrial); Parks and Harris unpreserved/plain-error/waiver-based outcomes sustain the lower courts’ rulings.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is MCL 750.165 a strict-liability offense without mens rea? | Likine: statute imposes strict liability. | Adams: no mens rea; defense unavailable | Yes, strict liability; but impossibility defense may excuse. |
| Is there a common-law impossibility defense to felony nonsupport? | Likelihood of impossibility supported by history. | Bearden/Zablocki require consideration of inability to pay. | Impossibility is a defense to felony nonsupport. |
| What evidence and procedures are needed to invoke impossibility? | Defense should be allowed with some evidence. | State should preclude or limit when inability to pay is shown. | Defendant must show genuine impossibility with threshold prima facie showing; jury instruction appropriate; record from family court admissible. |
| How should the impossibility defense apply to Likine, Parks, Harris? | Likine preserved impossibility defense; Parks unpreserved; Harris pleaded guilty. | Parks/Harris lack preserved/implied basis. | Likine remanded for new trial; Parks affirmed; Harris denied relief. |
Key Cases Cited
- People v Adams, 262 Mich App 89 (2004) (held inability to pay is not a defense to felony nonsupport)
- People v Ditton, 78 Mich App 610 (1977) (inability to pay defense recognized in earlier statute versions)
- Port Huron v Jenkinson, 77 Mich 414 (1889) (impossibility defense to omissions; common law roots)
- Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660 (1983) (due process; cannot revoke for nonpayment when impossible to pay without fault)
- Zablocki v Redhail, 434 U.S. 374 (1978) (indigency; cannot penalize inability to pay without considering alternatives)
- People v Jackson, 483 Mich 271 (2009) (ability-to-pay considerations in criminal contexts)
- People v Music, 428 Mich 356 (1987) (ability-to-pay considerations in restitution/costs)