People v. Davis

248 Mich. App. 655
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 11, 2001
DocketDocket No. 220087
StatusPublished

This text of 248 Mich. App. 655 (People v. Davis) 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. Davis, 248 Mich. App. 655 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Wilder, P.J.

Defendant appeals as of right from his bench trial conviction of possession with intent to deliver 225 to 649 grams of cocaine, MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(ii).1 He was sentenced to a term of [657]*657imprisonment for 240 to 360 months. We affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 21, 1998, at some time between 11:30 and 11:45 P.M., a Chevrolet Cavalier, driven by defendant, passed Officer John Hopkins of the Baroda-Lake Township Police Department, who was patrolling eastbound traffic on I-94. 2 At that time, Officer Hopkins, who was parked in the median between the eastbound and westbound lanes of 1-94, noticed that defendant’s view was obstructed by objects hanging from the rearview mirror in violation of MCL 257.709(l)(c).3 Officer Hopkins began to follow defendant because of this violation and observed defendant’s car weaving in its lane and speeding, in viola[658]*658tion of MCL 257.642(l)(a)4 and MCL 257.628(4).5 Officer Hopkins executed a traffic stop, informed defendant that he was stopped because of the view obstruction, and because his vehicle was weaving and speeding, and requested defendant’s driver’s license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance. Defendant promptly provided these items to Officer Hopkins. Defendant also informed Officer Hopkins that he had borrowed the vehicle from his mother. After learning that the vehicle was not registered to defendant, Officer Hopkins asked defendant to get out of the vehicle, which he did. Officer Hopkins then patted defendant down for weapons and asked him to sit in the back of the patrol car.

While in the patrol car, Officer Hopkins ran defendant’s name through the Law Enforcement Information Network (lein). The LEIN check indicated that defendant had two outstanding warrants for domestic violence and unpaid child support; therefore, defendant was placed under arrest. Following defendant’s arrest, Officer Hopkins searched the vehicle and found a black leather jacket with a bulge in the sleeve. Officer Hopkins then reached into the sleeve and pulled out a newspaper flyer wrapped around a bag containing 261 grams of cocaine.

[659]*659Before trial, defendant moved to suppress the evidence found in the vehicle on the grounds that (1) Officer Hopkins’ stated reasons for stopping defendant were a pretext, (2) no probable cause existed to stop defendant, (3) defendant did not provide consent to search the vehicle, and (4) under the totality of the circumstances, the cocaine must be suppressed as “fruits of the poisonous tree.” Following a suppression hearing held on January 7, 1999, the trial court denied defendant’s motion to suppress.6

Defendant’s bench trial commenced on March 25, 1999. During trial, defendant testified that he and his codefendants,7 who were passengers in defendant’s vehicle at the time of the stop, had gone to Chicago to pay a parking ticket and then gotten haircuts from Kirk Hamill, a friend of defendant’s. Defendant also testified that that they arrived too late to pay the ticket, so he left $30 with Hamill and asked him to pay the ticket on defendant’s behalf. Defendant claimed that while they were at Hamill’s barbershop, Hamill used the telephone, received a telephone call shortly thereafter, and asked defendant to accompany him outside. Defendant further testified, that once outside, Hamill requested his vehicle key, another vehicle arrived, defendant went back inside the barbershop, and then approximately fifteen to twenty minutes later, Hamill returned to the barbershop and informed defendant that he had put a package in defendant’s coat and that he needed it taken to a car [660]*660wash in Muskegon Heights and given to a man named Kevin Washington. The trial court did not find defendant’s testimony to be believable, instead finding that defendant knew that the package contained contraband and that actual possession of the cocaine had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, the trial court found defendant guilty as charged and sentenced him to twenty to thirty years’ imprisonment.

n. THE STOP OF DEFENDANT

A. THE INITIAL STOP OF DEFENDANT

On appeal, defendant argues that the reasons given for the traffic stop were a pretext and that the trial court clearly erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence. We disagree. This Court’s review of a lower court’s factual findings in a suppression hearing is limited to clear error, and those findings will be affirmed unless we are left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake was made. People v Custer, 242 Mich App 59, 64; 618 NW2d 75 (2000), rev’d in part on other grounds 465 Mich 319; 630 NW2d 870 (2001). See also People v Burrell, 417 Mich 439, 448; 339 NW2d 403 (1983), and People v Lombardo, 216 Mich App 500, 504; 549 NW2d 596 (1996). In addition, we review de novo the lower court’s ultimate ruling with regard to the motion to suppress. Custer, supra; People v Garvin, 235 Mich App 90, 96; 597 NW2d 194 (1999).

Here, defendant has only provided this Court with excerpts of testimony taken at the suppression hearing. He has failed to provide a transcript of the trial court’s factual findings or legal conclusions as [661]*661required by MCR 7.210(B)(1)(a). Thus, because we are unable to review the trial court’s factual findings or the legal reasons given for suppressing the evidence, this issue has been waived. People v Anderson, 209 Mich App 527, 535; 531 NW2d 780 (1995); People v Wilson, 196 Mich App 604, 615; 493 NW2d 471 (1992). In any event, we note that Officer Hopkins testified during the preliminary examination, the suppression hearing, and the trial that he intended to stop defendant because defendant’s view was being obstructed by air fresheners dangling from the rearview mirror of the vehicle. Since both defendant and his mother testified that there was at least one air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror, the record supports the conclusion that defendant may have been in violation of MCL 257.709(1)(c). Although defendant denied it, we also note that Officer Hopkins testified that defendant’s vehicle was weaving in its lane and speeding just before being stopped. Hence, Officer Hopkins also had probable cause to believe that defendant was in violation of MCL 257.642(1)(a) and MCL 257.628(4). Because Officer Hopkins had probable cause to believe defendant was in violation of three traffic laws, the stop was permissible. People v Kazmierczak, 461 Mich 411, 421, n 8; 605 NW2d 667 (2000); People v Chambers, 195 Mich App 118, 121-122; 489 NW2d 168 (1992). See also United States v Taylor, 955 F Supp 763, 765 (ED Mich, 1997), quoting United States v Ferguson, 8 F3d 385, 391 (CA 6, 1993) (“ ‘[S]o long as the officer has probable cause to believe the traffic violation has occurred or was occurring, the resulting stop is not unlawful and does not violate the Fourth Amendment.’ ”), and Whren v United States, 517 US 806, 813; 116 S Ct 1769; 135 L [662]*662Ed 2d 89 (1996) (expressly adopting the Ferguson test for determining the reasonableness of an automobile stop). Consequently, on the basis of the record before us, we find that Officer Hopkins’ stop of defendant’s vehicle was legitimate.

B.

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

Related

New York v. Belton
453 U.S. 454 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Whren v. United States
517 U.S. 806 (Supreme Court, 1996)
United States v. Mendez
118 F.3d 1426 (Tenth Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Cecil Ferguson
8 F.3d 385 (Sixth Circuit, 1993)
United States v. Leonard Bruce Hudgins
52 F.3d 115 (Sixth Circuit, 1995)
United States v. Christopher G. White
81 F.3d 775 (Eighth Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Anthony E. Anderson
114 F.3d 1059 (Tenth Circuit, 1997)
People v. Custer
630 N.W.2d 870 (Michigan Supreme Court, 2001)
State v. DeMarco
952 P.2d 1276 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1998)
People v. Rodriguez
945 P.2d 1351 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1997)
State v. Lopez
873 P.2d 1127 (Utah Supreme Court, 1994)
People v. Daniel
523 N.W.2d 830 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1994)
People v. Walker
228 N.W.2d 443 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1975)
People v. Anderson
531 N.W.2d 780 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1995)
People v. Lumsden
423 N.W.2d 645 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1988)
People v. Chambers
489 N.W.2d 168 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1992)
People v. Oliver
481 N.W.2d 3 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1991)
State v. Ybarra
751 P.2d 591 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1987)
United States v. Taylor
955 F. Supp. 763 (E.D. Michigan, 1997)
People v. Hubbard
530 N.W.2d 130 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
248 Mich. App. 655, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-davis-michctapp-2001.