By Tom Gilchrist
Staff Writer
CARO — Thirteen months after a state conservation officer reported chasing a Cass City man about five miles on snowmobiles, a Tuscola County jury convicted the man of a felony, but acquitted him of another felony charge in a case that saw a state Court of Appeals rule a snowmobile is a “motor vehicle” when driven on a highway.
The Circuit Court jury convicted Michael W. Langenburg, 45, of resisting and obstructing Officer Joshua Wright of the state Department of Natural Resources. The crime carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Langenburg was set for sentencing Tuesday afternoon by Circuit Judge Amy Grace Gierhart, but information on his sentence wasn’t available as of press time.
Jurors also convicted Langenburg of a misdemeanor charge of reckless operation of a snowmobile, and of operating an unregistered snowmobile. The jury acquitted Langenburg of a felony charge of fourth-degree fleeing and eluding of Wright.
Several months ago, the state Court of Appeals ruled Gierhart and District Judge Kim David Glaspie abused their discretion in the case. In early 2014, Glaspie declined to bind over Langenburg to Circuit Court on a charge of fourth-degree fleeing and eluding, ruling a snowmobile wasn’t a motor vehicle under the Michigan Vehicle Code.
Prosecutors asked Gierhart to reinstate the charge but she declined to do so.
Langenburg’s attorney, Caro lawyer George A. Holmes, argued Langenburg can’t be convicted of fourth-degree fleeing and eluding because a snowmobile isn’t a “motor vehicle” under state law.
Holmes wrote in a legal brief that a snowmobile operates upon “tracks,” adding it “uses a track device for impelling, and is not on wheels.” Holmes stated a snowmobile is “not unlike a bulldozer” and maintains “it is clear the (state) Legislature did not intend to regard a snowmobile as a motor vehicle.”
“Under the prosecution’s theory … a person could be charged with fleeing and eluding while operating a motorized wheelchair,” Holmes wrote.
The Court of Appeals, however, ordered the fourth-degree fleeing and eluding charge reinstated, concluding that “when a snowmobile is operated on a highway, it is a motor vehicle subject to the Motor Vehicle Code and the penal code.”
The Court of Appeals agreed with Tuscola County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Eric F. Wanink’s argument that the snowmobile driven by Langenburg “is a motor vehicle, because it was used by (Langenburg) to flee and elude the conservation officer while operating on a highway as the testimony at exam reflected that the pursuit travelled down the middle of highways such as Koepfgen Road and across M-81.”
Because Langenburg “chose to operate his snowmobile on a highway, like any other motor vehicle, it can be treated like any other motor vehicle,” Wanink wrote.
Wright testified at a Feb. 10, 2014 preliminary exam that he began chasing Langenburg’s snowmobile after noticing the machine had an expired registration and no trail sticker. A trail sticker is required for use of a snowmobile off private property or in public areas, according to Wright.