A traffic stop can be an intimidating and confusing experience. In some cases, you may need the services of an Oakland County criminal defense lawyer. But by knowing your responsibilities and rights under Michigan law, you can protect yourself from many potential legal problems.
When you see an officer’s emergency lights and/or hear a siren behind you, your most important priority is to pull over safely. Signal your intention to pull over, find a suitable location on the side of the road, and come to a complete stop.
A suitable location may be the shoulder of a highway, a side street, or a well-lit parking lot. On a busy freeway or poorly lit road, it is acceptable and safer to use your hazard lights to signal your awareness of the officer and proceed slowly to the nearest safe, well-lit area before stopping.
After the Police Stop You in Traffic
After you stop safely, turn off your engine and place your hands on the steering wheel where the officer can easily see them. This simple act de-escalates the situation and ensures the officer’s safety as well as your own.
If passengers are in the vehicle, ask them to keep their hands visible. Make no sudden moves, and do not exit your vehicle unless told to. Michigan law requires you to provide a valid driver’s license, vehicle registration, and insurance proof if the officer asks.
Producing these items is a mandatory legal requirement. If these items are in your wallet, glove compartment, or a bag that requires you to reach for them, clearly tell the officer your intentions. Tell the officer where the items are, and explain that you are moving to reach them.
What Are Your Rights at a Traffic Stop?
Show the officer your license, registration, and proof of insurance. Then, exercise your right to remain silent. You should decline to answer questions about your destination, where you are coming from, whether you have consumed alcohol, or any other questions.
Don’t let the police trick or bully you into giving up your rights. Politely but firmly stating that you are exercising your right to remain silent is the best way to assert that right. Then say nothing more.
A police officer may try to make you admit you were fleeing from a crime scene or driving while intoxicated. You are not obligated to make a statement to the police. If you say anything to a police officer, the police or a prosecutor can use it against you.
What is Michigan’s Implied Consent Law?
Michigan drivers should know about this state’s implied consent law. By driving in Michigan, you have given your implicit and automatic legal consent to a blood, breath, or urine test if you are facing an operating while intoxicated (OWI) charge.
Refusing a preliminary roadside breath test is a civil infraction. Refusing an official, post-arrest chemical test has harsher consequences: a one-year administrative suspension of your driver’s license and six points on your driving record, whether or not you receive an OWI conviction.
You have a right to a hearing with the Michigan Secretary of State to contest the administrative license suspension. It’s a separate process from any criminal proceeding. You and your Oakland County OWI lawyer must request that hearing within fourteen days of an OWI arrest.
When Can the Police Search Your Vehicle?
The U.S. Constitution protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures. In Michigan, law enforcement officers may not search your vehicle without either a valid warrant or one of these legal exceptions to the warrant requirement:
- Consent: If the police want to search your vehicle, politely say you do not consent. The police cannot use your refusal as a reason to search your vehicle. Consent waives your rights, and the police may find something that could lead to a criminal charge.
- Probable cause: If they have probable cause to believe it holds evidence of a crime, police officers may search your vehicle without obtaining a warrant. Examples of probable cause include illegal items in plain view or a drug-sniffing dog alerting to the vehicle.
- Search at the time of arrest: If the police arrest you for a felony or misdemeanor, they may search the passenger compartment of your vehicle for weapons or evidence related to the crime.
- Inventory search: The police conduct an inventory search when they impound a vehicle. The purpose is not to find criminal evidence but to document the vehicle’s contents to protect the driver’s property and the police agency from liability.
Broken taillights, headlights, and expired licenses and license plates do not constitute probable cause. Michigan drivers should know what constitutes probable cause, how law enforcement officers gather evidence, and how they sometimes take advantage of legal loopholes.
If the Police Arrest You for OWI
If the police arrest you in Oakland or Macomb County for OWI and/or refusal to test, do not physically resist or try to flee. If you do, you’ll face more serious charges. Instead, comply with the police and call an Oakland County OWI lawyer immediately.
Remember and write down everything about the traffic stop as soon as you can: the officer’s name, badge number, car number, the time and location of the stop, and a precise, chronological summary of what was said and done.
Your Oakland County criminal defense lawyer will need these details to defend you effectively if you face an OWI or any other criminal charge after a traffic stop.
Let Dallo Law Advise and Defend You
If Michigan police officers arrest you during a traffic stop in Oakland or Macomb County, immediately contact Dallo Law. Michigan defense attorney Jalal J. Dallo will protect your rights and fight for the justice you need.
Attorney Jalal J. Dallo may file a motion to suppress the evidence against you or dismiss the case. If the court does not dismiss your case, he will negotiate an acceptable plea deal or take the case to trial and explain to the jurors what happened and why they should acquit you.
Now or in the future, contact Dallo Law immediately if you are facing a criminal prosecution because of something that happened at a traffic stop. Call Dallo Law at 248-290-9962 to schedule a review and evaluation of your case with our legal professionals.
