Attorneys Karen Daley and Susan Lumetta of the Firm’s Livonia office recently won a case in the Michigan Court of Appeal. This case arose out of a traffic stop in which the plaintiff was a passenger of the vehicle. The driver hesitated to stop the vehicle, and then was not cooperative with the police. When the officer shined his flashlight around the vehicle, he observed a green leafy substance in the vehicle, which he suspected was marijuana. After it was discovered that the plaintiff had a misdemeanor warrant for her arrest, the plaintiff and the driver were transported to the police station and a field test was conducted on the suspected marijuana. When the marijuana test came back negative, the plaintiff was released.
As a result of this incident, the plaintiff filed a complaint against the police officers alleging claims of false arrest, false imprisonment and ethnic intimidation. The Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Disposition in the trial court based on governmental immunity, which was denied. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the officers had probable cause to arrest and detain the plaintiff and therefore was entitled to governmental immunity. Furthermore, the Court found there was absolutely no evidence that the Officers engaged in any type of ethnic intimidation.
