People v. Mazzie

• Decision Date: 23 October 2018
• Docket Number: No. 343380,343380
• Citation: 326 Mich.App. 279,926 N.W.2d 359
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Patrick MAZZIE, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

326 Mich.App. 279

926 N.W.2d 359

PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.Patrick MAZZIE, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 343380

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted October 3, 2018, at Detroit.

Decided October 23, 2018, at 9:20 a.m.

Bill Schuette, Attorney General, Aaron D. Lindstrom, Solicitor General, William P. Nichols, Prosecuting Attorney, and Michael C. Brown, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.

Christina D. Hills, Monroe, for defendant.

Before: Murray, C.J., and Borrello and Ronayne Krause, JJ.

Murray, C.J.Defendant was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over, and then searched, by city of Monroe police officers. Subsequent to charges¹ being filed against him, defendant moved to suppress any evidence obtained from the search of the vehicle. According to testimony at the suppression hearing, at least twice a month, the Secretary of State sends information to the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) regarding whether vehicles are insured, as they are required to be by state law. MCL 500.3102. Testimony also established that city of Monroe police officers routinely pull vehicles over if the LEIN indicates that the vehicle is not insured. After the suppression hearing, the trial court granted defendant's motion to suppress on the basis that the insurance information did not provide the officers with reasonable suspicion that a criminal violation existed because the information was not reliable, and the Secretary of State violated state law in supplying the insurance information to the LEIN system. An order was then entered in both cases suppressing any evidence arising from the search and seizure of the vehicle. We granted leave to appeal to determine whether the trial court erred in granting defendant's motion to suppress, People v. Mazzie , unpublished order of the Court of Appeals, entered May 24, 2018 (Docket No. 343380), and now reverse.

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

On June 22, 2017, Monroe Police Lieutenant Derek Lindsay and Detectives Aaron Oetjens and Michael Merkle participated in a traffic stop of a vehicle in which defendant was the front seat passenger. The basis for the traffic stop was a LEIN search that indicated that the vehicle did not have insurance. Paul Sanders, the driver of the vehicle that Lieutenant Lindsay stopped, provided Lieutenant Lindsay with insurance information, but the insurance had been cancelled. Thus, the vehicle did not have insurance. Upon searching the vehicle, the officers found small pieces of "an off-white chunky substance" scattered throughout the vehicle, which tested positive for cocaine. The officers also recovered defendant's cellular telephone from defendant's person, and on that phone found "photos of large amounts of money spread out with a scale and then what looked to be cocaine—crack cocaine on a table and other drugs." Defendant was arrested thereafter, but was subsequently released pending these trials.

Forensic analysis of the photographs found on defendant's cell phone provided police with the address in Monroe. A search warrant for that location was issued on September 21, 2017, based in part on the drugs and photographs obtained as a result of the June 22, 2017 traffic stop. That same day, Lieutenant Lindsay and Detectives Merkle and Oetjens participated in the execution of the warrant. When police arrived, defendant was sitting on the back porch and several individuals, including Charles Laney, defendant's codefendant in Case No. 17-244016-FH,² were inside the home when the police entered. While searching the home, detectives found powder that tested positive for cocaine, several items associated with the manufacture and delivery of cocaine, an item typically used to carry heroin, and several items that appeared to be stolen.

Inside a bedroom police located items associated with the manufacture and delivery of cocaine, as well as paperwork with defendant's name on it. Defendant's wallet was found in the house's kitchen. As a result of this evidence, defendant was arrested a second time.

After he was charged in these two cases, defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the traffic stop and to dismiss both cases against him, setting forth several arguments: (1) the officers did not have reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle because the LEIN insurance check did not justify the stop, (2) the Secretary of State, who maintains the database on insurance policy information, does not update the database in a timely fashion, (3) an internal Michigan State Police memorandum instructed state troopers not to initiate a traffic stop or arrest an individual for operating a vehicle without insurance based solely on a no-insurance message on the LEIN, and (4) the Secretary of State's provision of insurance policy information to the LEIN was not authorized and violated the confidentiality requirements in MCL 257.227(4).

The trial court held an evidentiary hearing on defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the traffic stop. During the hearing, uncontested testimony established that when Monroe officers performed a LEIN search they would receive the following information: license plate number; the vehicle’s make, model, and year; the vehicle identification number (VIN); the expiration date on the tab; whom the vehicle is registered to; that individual’s address; and an electronic insurance verification (EIV) message that has either a "Y" for yes or an "N" for no next to it, i.e., the message would read "EIV=Y" or "EIV=N." Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Quinn, an officer who primarily conducts traffic stops, indicated that when he conducts a LEIN search of a license plate, the Secretary of State sends a message with the vehicle’s information, the expiration date for the vehicle’s plate, and whether the vehicle’s insurance is verified. Deputy Quinn indicated that "insurance companies have to verify with the Secretary of State twice a month on the first and the 15th that a vehicle is covered with vehicle insurance." Deputy Quinn also verified that no additional information from the insurer relative to each vehicle was part of the message.

Additionally, Lieutenant Lindsay, Detective Merkle, and Deputy Quinn all testified that they had personally conducted numerous³ traffic stops based on the EIV=N message and that when the vehicles were pulled over based on that message, the vehicles hardly ever had insurance. Specifically, Detective Merkle estimated that well under 10% of the vehicles he pulled over based on the EIV=N message ended up having insurance, while Deputy Quinn estimated only about 5% had insurance. In other words, based on the officers’ experience, the LEIN information was at least 90% accurate.

At the conclusion of the motion hearing, the prosecution argued that Lieutenant Lindsay had reasonable suspicion to pull over the vehicle on June 22, 2017, because the reasonable suspicion standard was "very low" and the "reporting [of insurance is] right the vast majority of the time." The prosecution also asserted that the Secretary of State’s provision of this information to the LEIN did not violate the confidentiality requirement in MCL 257.227(4) because the Secretary of State was not providing information submitted by the insurer, but was instead providing "a simple message" as to whether insurance exists. Additionally, the prosecution argued that where there is a statutory violation, the exclusionary rule is generally not implicated.

Defendant argued that because the insurance information is only reported to the Secretary of State twice a month, the information on the LEIN was not reasonably accurate or timely and, therefore, could not form the basis for reasonable suspicion. Defendant also reiterated his argument that the provision of this information by the Secretary of State violated the confidentiality requirement in MCL 257.227(4) and MCL 500.3101a(3) and that the information on the LEIN had to be linked to an individual in order to tie it to a vehicle.

The trial court granted the motion to suppress the evidence, concluding that the LEIN information did not provide police with reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle and, thus, they unlawfully obtained the cell phone pictures. In rendering its decision, the trial court expressed concern that the information provided by the Secretary of State to the LEIN was only updated twice a month. Moreover, the trial court did not believe that the purpose of MCL 257.227 was to provide the information to law enforcement and so the statute was violated by its use within the LEIN system. Ultimately, the trial court entered an order granting defendant’s motion to suppress because "the stop of [d]efendant[ ] [Sanders’s] vehicle was unlawful, and any evidence obtained as a result of the stop is suppressed as to both" files "for the reasons stated on the record."

The prosecution filed a motion for reconsideration and attached three new affidavits to its motion. The prosecution argued that the EIV=N message does not reveal any confidential information and that, "even if there was a statutory violation, the exclusionary rule would not be the correct remedy in this circumstance." Moreover, the prosecution argued that there was reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle in light of the testimony from Lieutenant Lindsay, Detective Merkle, and Deputy Quinn that the EIV=N message is virtually always accurate and that the trial court "was mistaken as to the nature of the violation being investigated by the traffic stop."

The trial court denied the prosecution's motion for reconsideration, concluding that the "plain language of [ MCL 257.227 ] does not provide for law enforcement's use of the EIV information."⁴ The trial court remained concerned about the reporting frequency and, because of its concern with the reliability of the EIV information and its conclusion that the statute was violated, the trial court concluded that the officers could not form...