Was I Pulled Over Illegally And Will It Cause My Case To Be Dismissed? (Michigan)
My question involves traffic court in the State of: Michigan
I was stopped at two o'clock AM by a sheriff who had pulled a u-turn after passing me by going in the opposing direction. While I was driving, I was 10 MPH under the speed limit, had my lights on, used my turn signals, and my car is completely up to code. When he came to my window, he immediately asked for my license and registration, and I have a restricted license due to getting 7 points, and my restriction is that I am only allowed to drive between work and home. Now, I gave him my information and he asked me about why the corner was cut off of my license, and it was because of the restriction. Now, I was outside of my restriction, because I was visiting my girlfriend for her graduation instead of driving to work and back. He did not have this information up front because the car is registered to my father, so he couldn't have known that I was violating my restriction. So as he was walking to his car I asked him what he had stopped me for and his response was "your license plate is expired".
So, because I was outside of my restriction he gave me a misdemeanor ticket for violation of a restricted license. He then proceded to search my car, without permission and did not allow me to drive it home, instead I had to walk. This event occured on May 30th, 2:17AM. I later checked my license plate and my tag clearly expires in JUNE of 2008. So his reasoning behind pulling me over was false, and I guess my question is..
Because he pulled me over for a bogus reason, can my case be dismissed?
Re: Was I Pulled Over Illegally And Will It Cause My Case To Be Dismissed? (Michigan)
The average driver commits a host of infractions just driving down the street.
Driving too far below the speed limit is a warning sign as much as speeding.
Talk to your lawyer.
Re: Was I Pulled Over Illegally And Will It Cause My Case To Be Dismissed? (Michigan)
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He then proceded to search my car, without permission
did he impound the car? If so, he didn't need your permission by the time it got to this.
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and did not allow me to drive it home, instead I had to walk
. Well, let's see; he believed (or claimed) you had an expired registration AND you could not legally drive due to the license restriction; what is wrong with not allowing you to drive the car?
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I later checked my license plate and my tag clearly expires in JUNE of 2008.
you don;t have a registration. Remeber, yousaid it was your fathers car.
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Because he pulled me over for a bogus reason, can my case be dismissed
You can try.
Re: Was I Pulled Over Illegally And Will It Cause My Case To Be Dismissed? (Michigan)
Well, as far as my registration goes, it's in my father's name just for insurance purposes, and is valid. It was my license plate that he said was outdated, when it was may 30th, and it expires in June.
As far as I see it, he didn't have any cause to actually stop me. But thank you for your input.
Re: Was I Pulled Over Illegally And Will It Cause My Case To Be Dismissed? (Michigan)
And no he didn't impound the car, he just said that he was going to search it.
Re: Was I Pulled Over Illegally And Will It Cause My Case To Be Dismissed? (Michigan)
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Well, as far as my registration goes, it's in my father's name just for insurance purposes, and is valid.
So it is okay to commit insurance fraud though?
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It was my license plate that he said was outdated, when it was may 30th, and it expires in June.
in michigan, the license plate and registration are one in the same other than one is to show proof mountable on the car and the other is to put in your glove box and confirms the plate.
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As far as I see it, he didn't have any cause to actually stop me. But thank you for your input.
I don't either but you may find his story to be a bit different than what you state of even what he told you.
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And no he didn't impound the car, he just said that he was going to search it.
I presume he did not find any incriminating discoveries. If he had, I believe the search could be invalidated. If he had towed the car, he would have been able to search as an inventory search. Since no charges stemmed from the search, you can go to a lot of trouble, file a complaint and maybe even a suit for violations of your rights but....