People v. Dalton

400 N.W.2d 689, 155 Mich. App. 591
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 21, 1986
DocketDocket 85752
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 400 N.W.2d 689 (People v. Dalton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Dalton, 400 N.W.2d 689, 155 Mich. App. 591 (Mich. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinions

Sullivan, P.J.

Defendant was convicted by a jury of resisting a police officer, MCL 750.479; MSA 28.747. He was sentenced to serve 365 days in jail, with credit given for fifty-three days already served. Defendant appeals as of right, raising a number of allegations of error, none of which require reversal.

On July 12, 1984, Officer Judy Taylor of the Belding Police Department took a report from defendant’s wife that at ápproximately 9:00 p.m. that evening defendant had come to the house, threatened to get "the bitch,” produced a shotgun, blew off the doorknob, entered the house, blew off another doorknob, and entered further. Defendant’s wife escaped by leaving through a window, and defendant thereafter left the premises in a pickup truck owned by a Rob Tanner. Officer Taylor was also informed that defendant was under a court order to stay away from his wife.

The neighboring City of Greenville Police Department was given this information and was requested to keep a lookout for the Tanner vehicle. Officer Thad Taylor located the vehicle behind a residence on North Irving Street in Greenville and then learned from the department that defendant was in a house three doors away. This latter house was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Tate, defendant’s sister and brother-in-law.

By 12:15 a.m., Officer Thad Taylor had proceeded to the Tate residence and was joined by two state troopers, a sheriff’s deputy, a Belding officer, and three other Greenville officers. Surrounding the home, the police, by use of a loudspeaker, instructed the occupants to come out unarmed. [595]*595When nobody came out of the home, a phone call to the house was placed through dispatch.

In reply to the phone call, Mrs. Tate came out of the house and informed the police that defendant was inside. Thereupon, Mr. Tate came out and asked the police to leave. At that point, the police informed Mr. Tate of the incident in Belding and of their intention to arrest defendant.

During this conversation, Officer Jeffrey Brown looked through the open door, observed defendant lying on a sofa and began to enter the house. Mr. Tate tried to stop him, but was restrained by another officer. When inside, Officer Brown advised defendant that he was under arrest and defendant came off the sofa swinging. A physical struggle ensued, involving four officers, after which defendant was subdued and handcuffed. At the police station, defendant’s hands came out of the cuffs and another fight took place before defendant was once again physically restrained.

It is uncontested that, although Officer Judy Taylor of the Belding Police Department had oral authorization for a warrant from the Ionia County Prosecutor, defendant was arrested without either a search or arrest warrant.

i

Defendant first contests the legality of his arrest, arguing he was improperly arrested in a third party’s home without a search warrant. Due to such alleged impropriety, defendant suggests the charges against him should have been dismissed. In reviewing this claim, the threshold question to be resolved is whether defendant lacked standing to object to the propriety of his arrest.

At the hearing on defendant’s motion to quash [596]*596in the lower court, the prosecution argued that defendant had no standing to raise this issue. The trial court ignored the issue of standing and simply rejected defendant’s claim on the basis that the presence of exigent circumstances obviated the need for a warrant. We believe that this course of action was unnecessary because we find that defendant did indeed lack standing to raise the issue.

Before a defendant may attack the propriety of a search and seizure, such search and seizure must have infringed upon an interest protected by Const 1963, art 1, § 11, the provision which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. In making this determination, the court must decide, based upon the totality of the circumstances, whether the defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the object of the search and seizure. People v Smith, 420 Mich 1, 28; 360 NW2d 841 (1984).

In cases such as this, where defendant is arrested in the home of a third party, he will in most cases not have had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the premises and therefore will be unable to challenge the search. United States v Salvucci, 448 US 83; 100 S Ct 2547; 65 L Ed 2d 619 (1980); United States v Buckner, 717 F2d 297, 299 (CA 6, 1983). The fact that the entry may have violated the constitutional rights of the third-party homeowner has no effect on the defendant’s criminal conviction. United States v Payner, 447 US 727; 100 S Ct 2439; 65 L Ed 2d 468 (1980); United States v Buckner, supra, 717 F2d 300.

Here, nothing in the record indicates that the defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the Tates’ house. Although no testimony was presented at the pretrial motion, Mr. Tate testified at trial that defendant had not stayed there on a regular basis any time that week, nor any time [597]*597after the night of the offense on a regular basis. Rather, defendant went to the Tate residence after the offense merely to get a ride to his own home. As both the Tates and defendant were drunk, they decided it would be best if defendant slept there until the following morning, when defendant would turn himself in to the police. Indeed, there are no facts other than his relationship to the Tates to establish that he had standing to challenge the entry of their house without a warrant. Under these circumstances, the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to quash was not reversible error. See, e.g., United States v Buckner, supra, 717 F2d 300.

We also note that, even if defendant did have standing to and could successfully attack the validity of his arrest, the circuit court would not be divested of jurisdiction and defendant would not be entitled to dismissal of the charge. The sole remedy available to defendant is the suppression of evidence obtained from him following the illegal arrest. People v Burrill, 391 Mich 124, 133; 214 NW2d 823 (1974); People v Boykin, 119 Mich App 763, 765; 327 NW2d 351 (1982). Here, defendant does not argue that incriminating evidence was seized at the time of his arrest; thus, he is without a remedy. The trial court did not err in denying his motion to quash.

ii

Defendant’s next claim of error is that the trial court erred reversibly when it refused to instruct the jury on the element of exigent circumstances. He reasons that, since the lawfulness of the arrest is an element of the charged offense, the judge invaded the province of the jury by refusing to instruct the jury on the reasonableness of the [598]*598arrest without a warrant and deprived defendant of his fundamental right to have all elements of a crime determined by the jury.

Indeed, a lawful arrest is an element of the offense of resisting arrest, MCL 750.479; MSA 28.747; People v Landrie, 124 Mich App 480, 482; 335 NW2d 11 (1983). Thus, when a suspect is tried for resisting arrest, the lawfulness of an arrest, which is generally a question of law decided by the trial court, becomes a question of fact to be decided by the jury. People v Clarence Reed, 43 Mich App 51, 53; 203 NW2d 756 (1972). After a review of the record, we find that the trial judge adequately instructed the jury on the element of the lawfulness of defendant’s arrest.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People of Michigan v. Zaneta Sonja Murphy
Michigan Court of Appeals, 2026
People of Michigan v. Douglas Arnell Prude
Michigan Supreme Court, 2024
People of Michigan v. Douglas Arnell Prude
Michigan Court of Appeals, 2023
People of Michigan v. Corey Alexander Green
Michigan Court of Appeals, 2016
People v. Stephanie White
498 Mich. 935 (Michigan Supreme Court, 2015)
People of Michigan v. Chad James Donaghy
Michigan Court of Appeals, 2015
People v. Quinn
853 N.W.2d 383 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2014)
Kane v. Williamstown Township
836 N.W.2d 868 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2013)
People v. Freeman
612 N.W.2d 824 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2000)
People v. Piper
567 N.W.2d 483 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1997)
City of Lansing v. Hartsuff
539 N.W.2d 781 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1995)
People v. Pickens
521 N.W.2d 797 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1994)
People v. Spencley
495 N.W.2d 824 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1992)
People v. Chambers
489 N.W.2d 168 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1992)
People v. DANIEL RICE
481 N.W.2d 10 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1991)
People v. Heard
444 N.W.2d 542 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1989)
People v. Hampton
439 N.W.2d 365 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1989)
People v. Johnson
435 N.W.2d 465 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1989)
State v. McKenna
550 A.2d 171 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1988)
People v. Hunt
429 N.W.2d 824 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
400 N.W.2d 689, 155 Mich. App. 591, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-dalton-michctapp-1986.