People v. Fox

In People v. Fox (After Remand), 232 Mich. App. 541; 591 N.W.2d 384 (1998), the Court interpreted the language found in MCL 750.197(2); MSA 28.394(2), the jail escape statute. The Fox Court concluded that conviction under "the jail escape statute requires a showing that the defendant was lawfully imprisoned in a jail or other place of confinement while awaiting legal proceedings or transfer to prison . . . ." Fox, 232 Mich. App. at 556-557. The Fox Court did not subdivide the situations listed in the jail escape statute, applying the lawful imprisonment requirement to some and not others. The Legislature's failure to include the specific phrase "lawfully imprisoned" in each and every clause of the jail escape statute was apparently not seen as significant by the Fox Court.