COLDWATER (AP) — A man busted in southern Michigan with 28 pounds of cocaine will stay in prison after an appeals court said a broken light was enough for a trooper to stop him in Branch County.
Steve Dent claimed police had no reason to pull him over in 2007 because the defective light was not a headlight.
It also was daytime.
But an appeals court recently said seizures can be legal even if an officer makes a “reasonable factual mistake.”
It affirmed an earlier decision by Detroit federal Judge Avern Cohn.
And Dent? He’ll have much time to think about the light on his SUV. Cohn sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
- Posted April 27, 2015
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Appeals court upholds drug bust tied to bad light on SUV
headlines Macomb
headlines National
- ABA connects death row inmate to pro bono attorneys who help free him
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- 2 judges suspended in separate cases after being indicted on criminal charges
- Convicted ex-judge gets $5K fine but no prison time in immigration case
- Ohio governor signs bill prohibiting foreign litigation funding
- Many small firms collect payments faster than BigLaw counterparts, new data shows
