Washtenaw Prosecuting Attorney Brian Mackie - DUI Charges
Michigan law authorizes a police officer to stop a vehicle, detain the driver, and issue a citation for any witnessed violation of the Michigan Vehicle Code or civil infraction. The Michigan Supreme Court has stated that “[t]he constitution requires an ‘individualized, articulable suspicion’ for a stop in the absence of traffic or equipment violations.” “In order to effectuate a valid traffic stop, a police officer must have an articulable and reasonable suspicion that a vehicle or one of its occupants is subject to seizure for a violation of law.”
According to a Michigan case, People v Hyde, the court ruled that where police officers observed the swerving tracks of a dual-wheeled vehicle in the snow and followed those tracks until catching up with defendant’s dual-wheeled vehicle, the numerous swerves from one side of the roadway, the clear tracks left by the same vehicle, and defendant’s driving in the center of the road when the officers caught up to him together suggested that he was driving erratically, which justified the officers stopping him to investigate whether he was intoxicated.
As long as the police have a valid reason for stopping a vehicle, it does not matter if the stop is a pretext to stop the vehicle for a crime for which they have no probable cause. A police officer’s “[s]ubjective intentions play no role in ordinary, probable-cause Fourth Amendment analysis.”
Many clients ask me why they didn't receive a ticket for speeding along with their drunk driving charges, even though the speeding was the basis of the stop. In Michigan, it is not required that the police officer eventually arrest or ticket a person for the reason that they were originally stopped.
According to a Michigan case, People v Hyde, the court ruled that where police officers observed the swerving tracks of a dual-wheeled vehicle in the snow and followed those tracks until catching up with defendant’s dual-wheeled vehicle, the numerous swerves from one side of the roadway, the clear tracks left by the same vehicle, and defendant’s driving in the center of the road when the officers caught up to him together suggested that he was driving erratically, which justified the officers stopping him to investigate whether he was intoxicated.
As long as the police have a valid reason for stopping a vehicle, it does not matter if the stop is a pretext to stop the vehicle for a crime for which they have no probable cause. A police officer’s “[s]ubjective intentions play no role in ordinary, probable-cause Fourth Amendment analysis.”
Many clients ask me why they didn't receive a ticket for speeding along with their drunk driving charges, even though the speeding was the basis of the stop. In Michigan, it is not required that the police officer eventually arrest or ticket a person for the reason that they were originally stopped.
