Motion to quash bindover on a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OWI) causing death; MCL 257.625(4)(a)

In this interlocutory appeal, the court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying defendant’s motion to quash his bindover on a charge of OWI causing death. He challenged “only that he was under the influence of intoxicating substances.” The evidence appeared “greater than ‘mere speculation’ such that ‘a person of ordinary prudence and caution’ could infer probable cause that defendant was intoxicated, which caused him to cross the center line.” His competing evidence established “a conflict that ‘raises a reasonable doubt’ such that the district court properly bound over defendant ‘for resolution of the issue by the trier of fact.’” The court held that given “that the threshold for a district court abusing its discretion is limited to errors of law or a decision that falls ‘outside the range of reasonable and principled outcomes,’ the district court’s decision to bind over defendant for trial on this substantial, though conflicting, evidence about whether [he] was under the influence during the collision was not an abuse of discretion.”