A vehicle door latch (10) has a housing (2) having a mouth (4) for receiving a striker. A ratchet (56) is pivotally mounted to the housing for rotation between latched and unlatched conditions . The ratchet (56) cooperates with the mouth (4) to selectively retain a striker. A pawl (62) is mounted to the housing (2) f or releasably engaging the ratchet (56). The pawl (62) is moveable relative to the ratchet (56) between a rest position engaging th e ratchet to block movement of the ratchet toward the unlatched condition and a released position disengaging the ratchet to allow movement of the ratchet toward the unlatched condition. A release lever (22) is mounted to the housing and operably connected to the pawl (62) by a clutch lever (94) extending therebetween. The clutch lever (94) is moveable between an engaged position operably connecting the release lever (22) to the pawl (62) effecting movement of the pawl toward the released position and a disengaged position operably disconnecting the release lever from the pawl. A locking lever (100) is mounted to the housing for moving the clutch lever (94) between the engaged and disengaged positions. The clutch lever (94) moves in a first plane (19) to effect movement of the pawl and the locking lever moves the clutch lever out the first plane(19) to effect movement between the engaged and said disengaged positions.
