People v. Custer

• Decision Date: 30 July 2001
• Docket Number: Docket No. 117390, Calendar No. 10.
• Citation: 630 N.W.2d 870,465 Mich. 319
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Michael Robert CUSTER, Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court

630 N.W.2d 870

465 Mich. 319

The PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Michael Robert CUSTER, Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

Docket No. 117390, Calendar No. 10.

Supreme Court of Michigan.

Argued March 7, 2001.

Decided July 30, 2001.

Jennifer M. Granholm, Attorney General, Thomas L. Casey, Solicitor General,

Larry J. Burdick, Prosecuting Attorney, and Roy R. Kranz, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Mt. Pleasant, MI, for the people.

Hall & Lewis, P.C. (by John W. Lewis), Mt. Pleasant, MI, for the defendant-appellee/cross-appellant.

MARKMAN, J.

After arresting defendant's companion for possessing marijuana, a police officer conducted a patdown search of defendant. The officer removed what he believed to be blotter acid from defendant's pocket and placed it on the roof of the vehicle. When the officer finished searching defendant, he retrieved the object from the roof of the vehicle and observed what appeared to be three photographs facing down. He turned them over to examine the fronts of them. The photographs depicted defendant's companion posed in a house containing large quantities of marijuana. The police went to defendant's house and observed furnishings similar to those in the photographs. They obtained a search warrant for defendant's house and seized marijuana therein.

Defendant was charged with several drug-related offenses. The district court dismissed the charges on the ground that the patdown search of defendant had been illegal. The circuit court affirmed the district court's decision. The Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court's decision on the ground that, even though the patdown search of defendant had been legal, the police officer should not have turned the photographs over to examine the fronts of them. We granted leave to consider whether it was proper for the police officer to: (1) briefly detain defendant, (2) patdown defendant, (3) seize the photographs from defendant, and (4) turn the photographs over to examine the fronts of them. We conclude that it was. Accordingly, we would affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals that the brief detention of defendant, the patdown search of defendant, and the initial seizure of the photographs from defendant were proper, and we would reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals that the police officer's turning over and examining the photographs was improper.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Two police officers were dispatched to a residence in Bay City to investigate a possible trespass. When they arrived at the location, the officers observed a parked vehicle occupied by Billy Holder and defendant. One of the officers approached Holder, the driver of the vehicle, and asked him to get out of the vehicle. Because the officer believed that Holder was intoxicated, the officer advised Holder that he could not drive, and thus his vehicle would have to be towed at his own expense. When the officer asked Holder to demonstrate that he had enough money to pay for the towing, Holder removed approximately $500, mostly in ten and twenty dollar bills, from his pants pocket, along with a plastic baggie that contained marijuana. The officer arrested Holder and placed him in the patrol car. Once Holder was placed in the patrol car, Holder yelled to defendant, "don't tell them a f thing." The officer then asked defendant to step out of the vehicle, and conducted a patdown search of defendant. At this point, the officer anticipated finding weapons and drugs on defendant. During the patdown, the officer felt what he believed to be a two-by-three-inch card of blotter acid in defendant's front pants pocket. The officer's belief was based on his knowledge that blotter acid is often contained on sheets of cardboard. The object was actually three Polaroid photographs that showed Holder posed with large quantities of marijuana in the living room of defendant's house. The officer removed the photographs from defendant's pocket and placed them on the roof of Holder's vehicle face down. It was only after finishing the patdown of defendant moments later, that the officer picked the photographs up and turned them over to examine their fronts.

After the photographs were seized from defendant by the police, a Bay City detective contacted a Mount Pleasant detective and provided him with three addresses, including defendant's address, to determine if any of the houses contained furnishings similar to those found in the photographs. The Mount Pleasant detective peered into defendant's house through the front window using a flashlight. His observation of furnishings similar to those in the photographs was used to obtain a search warrant for defendant's house, from which marijuana was seized.

Defendant was charged with delivery and manufacture of 5 to 45 kilograms of marijuana, M.C.L. § 333.7401(2)(d)(ii), maintaining a drug house, M.C.L.§ 333.7405(d), and conspiring to deliver 5 to 45 kilograms of marijuana, M.C.L. § 750.157a. The district court suppressed the photographs taken from defendant and the evidence obtained from the search warrant executed at defendant's home on the basis that the patdown search of defendant had been illegal. As a result of such suppression, the district court dismissed the charges against defendant. The circuit court then affirmed the decision of the district court, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the circuit court. 242 Mich.App. 59, 618 N.W.2d 75 (2000). However, the Court of Appeals concluded that the patdown search of defendant had been legal, but that the officer should not have turned the photographs over to look at their fronts. Additionally, the circuit court found the search of defendant's home to be improper, but the Court of Appeals never reached that issue.¹ This Court granted the prosecutor's application for leave to appeal and defendant's application for leave to cross-appeal. 463 Mich.____ 618 N.W.2d 772 (2000).

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court reviews a trial court's factual findings in a suppression hearing for clear error. People v. Stevens After Remand), 460 Mich. 626, 631, 597 N.W.2d 53 (1999); People v. Burrell, 417 Mich. 439, 448, 339 N.W.2d 403 (1983). However, "[a]pplication of constitutional standards by the trial court is not entitled to the same deference as factual findings." People v. Nelson, 443 Mich. 626, 631, n. 7, 505 N.W.2d 266 (1993). The application of the exclusionary rule to a violation of the Fourth Amendment is a question of law. Stevens, supra at 631, 597 N.W.2d 53. Questions of law relevant to the suppression issue are reviewed de novo. Id.; People v. Sierb, 456 Mich. 519, 522, 581 N.W.2d 219 (1998).

III. ANALYSIS

A. DETENTION

The first issue is whether the initial detention of defendant was invalid under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Const. 1963, art. 1, § 11, which guarantee the right of persons to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const., Am. IV; Const. 1963, art. 1, §11.² "[A] police officer may in appropriate circumstances and in an appropriate manner approach a person for purposes of investigating possibly criminal behavior even though there is no probable cause to make an arrest." Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 22, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). A brief, on-the-scene detention of an individual is not a violation of the Fourth Amendment as long as the officer can articulate a reasonable suspicion for the detention. Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692, 699-700, 101 S.Ct. 2587, 69 L.Ed.2d 340 (1981); People v. Shabaz, 424 Mich. 42, 56-57, 378 N.W.2d 451 (1985). "Police officers may make a valid investigatory stop if they possess `reasonable suspicion' that crime is afoot." People v. Champion, 452 Mich. 92, 98, 549 N.W.2d 849 (1996).

In this case, the police were dispatched to a residence to investigate a complaint regarding a possible trespass. When they arrived at the scene, they found Holder and defendant in a parked vehicle, and very briefly questioned them about their presence in the area. They determined that Holder, the driver of the vehicle, was too intoxicated to be driving. Therefore, they began to make arrangements for Holder's car to be towed so that defendant and others on the road would not be jeopardized. While making these arrangements, Holder (presumably inadvertently) pulled a baggie of marijuana out of his pocket, and was arrested. Immediately after this arrest, the police conducted a patdown search of defendant.

In summary, before the marijuana was found, the police, upon a complaint of criminal conduct, properly detained defendant in a public place, for the purpose of determining whether a crime had been committed. See Shabaz, supraat 56, 378 N.W.2d 451. Further, after the marijuana was found, the police properly detained defendant for the purpose of conducting a limited search for weapons on the basis of reasonable suspicion. See Champion, supra at 99, 549 N.W.2d 849. Therefore, we conclude that the brief detention of defendant in this case was valid under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Const. 1963, art. 1, § 11.

B. PATDOWN SEARCH

The next issue is whether the patdown search of defendant was invalid under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and its counterpart in the Michigan Constitution. U.S. Const., Am. IV; Const. 1963, art. 1, § 11. A police officer may perform a limited patdown search for weapons if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that the individual is armed, and thus poses a danger to the officer or to other persons. Terry, supra at 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868; Champion, supra at 99, 549 N.W.2d 849. "The officer need not be absolutely certain that the individual is armed; the issue is whether a reasonably prudent man in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that his safety or that of others was in danger." Terry, supraat 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868. "Reasonable suspicion entails something more...