People v. Glenn-Powers

823 N.W.2d 127, 296 Mich. App. 494
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 8, 2012
DocketDocket No. 301914
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 823 N.W.2d 127 (People v. Glenn-Powers) 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. Glenn-Powers, 823 N.W.2d 127, 296 Mich. App. 494 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Sawyer, P.J.

This case presents the question whether a probationer was lawfully arrested pursuant to a probation-violation warrant when the probation-violation warrant was not sworn under oath. We conclude that, because a warrant is not required under the Fourth Amendment to make an arrest for a probation violation, it is irrelevant whether the warrant was properly issued in determining whether there was a Fourth Amendment violation. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.

Defendant was on probation in an unrelated case in the Washtenaw Circuit Court. His probation officer, Thomas Mihalic, requested an arrest warrant for probation violations. Mihalic utilized a standard State Court Administrator’s Office (SCAO) form entitled “Motion, Affidavit, and Bench Warrant.” That form alleged three reasons to arrest defendant and revoke his probation: failure to notify the probation officer of a change of address, commission of a crime (assault), and failure to comply with the requirement that he partid[497]*497pate in an adult education or general equivalency diploma (GED) program. The motion and affidavit section was signed by Mihalic, but it was not subscribed and sworn under oath. The bench warrant portion was signed by the circuit judge in this case.

A few days later, defendant reported to Mihalic at the Washtenaw County Courthouse. Washtenaw County Deputy Sheriff David Anderson was summoned to place defendant under arrest. Deputy Anderson testified that the arrest was based on the warrant that had been presented to him by Mihalic. A search subsequent to the arrest conducted by Deputy Anderson yielded 35 packets of heroin. Defendant was charged with possession of heroin.1

Defendant moved to suppress the evidence on the basis that the search followed an unlawful arrest. The trial court thereafter granted defendant’s motion on the basis that the arrest warrant was defective because it was not supported by an affidavit made under oath or affirmation as required by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The trial court also rejected the argument that the good-faith exception applied. The trial court dismissed the case without prejudice. The prosecution now appeals, and we reverse.

There are, in fact, a number of reasons why the arrest and subsequent search in this case was, in fact, lawful. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that the trial court erred by granting defendant’s motion to suppress.

We begin by noting that the trial court did not conclude, nor does defendant argue, that there is any defect in the search aside from the arrest issue. That [498]*498is, the only claim that the search was improper is based on the argument that the arrest itself was improper because of the fact that the warrant was not supported by an oath or affirmation. If we determine that the arrest was proper, then it will automatically follow that the search was proper. Similarly, there was no determination by the trial court, nor does defendant argue, that there was, in fact, a lack of probable cause to support the issuance of an arrest warrant. Rather, the trial court’s holding was based on a conclusion that the requirement of the Fourth Amendment that “no Warrants shall issue, but upon probáble cause, supported by Oath or affirmation” was not complied with regarding the oath or affirmation and, therefore, the arrest warrant was defective and the arrest under the warrant was unlawful. Indeed, the trial court even noted in its opinion on the motion to suppress that in the separate probation-revocation proceedings, defendant had pleaded responsible to the probation violations. Accordingly, we will proceed with our analysis under the assumption that there was, in fact, probable cause to believe that defendant committed the alleged probation violations listed in the warrant.

The first reason why this was a valid arrest is that an arrest warrant was not, in fact, required in this case. MCL 764.15(1)(g) authorizes an arrest without a warrant whenever a “peace officer has reasonable cause to believe the person . . . has violated 1 or more conditions of a. . . probation order imposed by a court of this state ....” As noted above, there is no argument in this case that there was, in fact, probable cause to believe that defendant had committed a probation violation or that the arresting officer had probable cause to so believe.

[499]*499Although defendant acknowledges in his brief that probation-violation proceedings can be commenced without the issuance of an arrest warrant, he attempts to argue that that is irrelevant because a warrant was nevertheless obtained and was invalid. Defendant supports this argument with the observation that the arresting officer stated that the warrant was the only basis for the arrest. But, as discussed already, the warrant was not the only basis for the arrest. And the fact that the arresting officer may have erroneously believed that it was is irrelevant.

In Devenpeck v Alford,2 the United States Supreme Court addressed the issue whether an arresting officer must correctly identify the basis for an arrest in order for the arrest to be valid. In Devenpeck, the officer arrested the plaintiff for a violation of the Washington Privacy Act.3 The charge was subsequently dismissed, and the plaintiff filed suit, arguing that he had been arrested without probable cause.4 The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had ruled that the probable cause for the arrest must be related to the charge that the officer arrested the person for, or for a closely related offense.5 The Supreme Court disagreed, concluding that what matters is whether objectively there exists probable cause to believe that a crime has occurred, not whether the officer subjectively identified the correct crime:

Our cases make clear that an arresting officer’s state of mind (except for the facts that he knows) is irrelevant to the existence of probable cause. See Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 812-813, 135 L. Ed. 2d 89, 116 S. Ct. 1769 [500]*500(1996) (reviewing cases); Arkansas v. Sullivan, 532 U.S. 769, 149 L. Ed. 2d 994, 121 S. Ct. 1876 (2001) (per curiam). That is to say, his subjective reason for making the arrest need not be the criminal offense as to which the known facts provide probable cause. As we have repeatedly explained, “ ‘the fact that the officer does not have the state of mind which is hypothecated by the reasons which provide the legal justification for the officer’s action does not invalidate the action taken as long as the circumstances, viewed objectively, justify that action.’ ” Whren, supra, at 813, 135 L. Ed. 2d 89, 116 S. Ct. 1769 (quoting Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128, 138, 56 L. Ed. 2d 168, 98 S. Ct. 1717 (1978)). “[T]he Fourth Amendment’s concern with ‘reasonableness’ allows certain actions to be taken in certain circumstances, whatever the subjective intent.” Whren, supra, at 814, 135 L. Ed. 2d 89, 116 S. Ct. 1769.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
823 N.W.2d 127, 296 Mich. App. 494, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-glenn-powers-michctapp-2012.