Search & seizure; Motion to suppress evidence; Validity of a traffic stop; Failure to use a turn signal as a civil infraction (MCL 257.648); Defective license plate lamp as a civil infraction (MCL 257.686(2)); Whether the officers were justified in ordering defendant out of the vehicle; People v Chapo; Maryland v Wilson

The court held that the traffic stop at issue was objectively reasonable, that defendant was properly ordered to it exit the car, “and, after a concealed, loaded handgun was discovered on his person,” the officers were allowed to search the car before permitting the driver (S) to re-enter it. Thus, evidence “recovered from defendant’s person and in the Cadillac was admissible.” The decision to stop the car was made after an officer (H) saw S drive it out of a “gas station parking lot without using a turn signal.” This, and the defective license plate lamp the officers saw on the car, were civil infractions. Given these civil infractions the officers noted, the traffic stop “was objectively reasonable under the Fourth Amendment and was not a pretextual stop.” The court also disagreed with the trial court that the officers had no reason to pull defendant out of the car. It was 11:30 pm, he and S “had both exhibited signs that were somewhat suspicious to the officers, and when the officers attempted to stop their vehicle—activating lights, sirens, and making audible commands—[S] kept driving instead of” stopping immediately. While H permitted S to search inside the car for his driver’s license, the court did not agree with the trial court this showed “the officers had no legitimate concerns for their safety, and thus, defendant should not have been removed from the” car. When S was taken to the patrol car, the other officer was left alone with defendant. “This situation could reasonably be considered to present a safety issue in that the officers were separated, [S] was handcuffed, and [H] was likely focused on his efforts to verify” S’s license. And, pursuant to Chapo, “it is well established that ‘[a] police officer may order occupants to get out of a vehicle, pending the completion of a traffic stop, without violating the Fourth Amendment’s proscription against unreasonable searches and seizures.’” The court noted a concealed, loaded handgun was found on defendant when he exited the car. He did not have a concealed weapons permit. Once “it was determined that [S] had a valid driver’s license and would be” permitted to re-enter the car, the “officers clearly were entitled to search the vehicle, first, to look for more weapons in the interest of their safety.” The court reversed the grant of defendant’s motion to suppress and order dismissing the charges against him, and remanded for reinstatement of the charges.