In May of 2012, an Oakland county Trial Court heard a case where a police officer pulled over and eventually arrested an individual for possession of Heroin less than 25 grams. The court suppressed ALL the evidence in the case when the police officer testified that he pulled over the vehicle because his air freshener, yes you heard right, his air freshener, hanging from the rear view mirror, was obstructing the driver’s view, a violation of Michigan traffic law.
However, the Michigan Court of Appeals, in People v. Dillon, ruled that an officer must have reasonable suspicion to warrant a traffic stop. The court found that the dangling air freshener gave the officer suspicion that the obscure Michigan statute was being violated. Of course, the officer threw in for good measure that the defendant threw something out the window as well which would have justified the stop.
Bottom line, do not hang fuzzy dice or air fresheners from your rear view mirror and do not litter in front of the police!
If you have been charged with any driving related criminal offense in Michigan, your attorney needs to thoroughly analyze the initial traffic stop and whether or not it was valid under the reasonable suspicion standard. It does not take much, but courts have certainly dismissed cases due to bad traffic stops.
Call Ray Purdy today for a FREE Traffic Offense Consultation.