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No. 122498
| Julie Neal, |
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Traci M. Kornak (616) 458-8000 |
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Plaintiff-Appellee, |
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(Appeal from Ct of Appeals) |
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| Terry Wilkes, |
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David M. Pierangeli
(616) 977-9200 |
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| _____________________________________ |
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Plaintiff-Appellee's Brief on Appeal>>
Defendant-Appellant's Brief on Appeal>>
Background
Julie Neal injured her back while riding as a passenger on Terry Wilkes' all-terrain vehicle (ATV) on his property in the Village of Dimondale . Although the twelve-acre lot contained wooded areas, Neal's injury occurred on Wilkes' lawn. According to the township supervisor's affidavit, defendant's property was zoned as single family residential. The property was both subdivided and improved and was properly classified as either urban or suburban land. The trial granted Wilkes' motion for summary judgment and dismissed Neal's claim, finding the Recreational Use Act (RUA) prevented her from pursuing a cause of action against Wilkes. The Recreational Use Act provides in part that "Except as otherwise provided in this section, a cause of action shall not arise for injuries to a person who is on the land of another without paying to the owner, tenant, or lessee of the land a valuable consideration for the purpose of fishing, hunting, trapping, camping, hiking, sightseeing, motorcycling, snowmobiling, or any other outdoor recreational use or trail use, with or without permission, against the owner, tenant, or lessee of the land unless the injuries were caused by the gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct of the owner, tenant, or lessee." MCL 324.73301(1). The Court of Appeals reversed in an unpublished per curiam opinion. The Court of Appeals, citing the Michigan Supreme Court's decision in Wymer v. Holmes , 429 Mich. 66 (1987), said that the RUA did not apply to residential property. Wilkes appeals.
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