EAST GRAND RAPIDS (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals has affirmed the drunken-driving conviction of a man who was stopped near Grand Rapids solely because one taillight was weaker than the other.
The case against Trevor Vanderhart was a misdemeanor, but it has gone through three courts so far. The appeals court decision last week produced 18 pages of analysis by three judges.
A police officer in East Grand Rapids said he stopped Vanderhart in 2014, based on a weak taillight. Tests revealed a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit.
Vanderhart argued the evidence should be thrown out because a dim taillight is not a reason to stop a car. But appeals Judge Brock Swartzle says the light created a dangerous condition that was enough to justify the stop under state law.
- Posted April 17, 2017
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Appeals court: Weak taillight is enough to stop drunken driver
headlines Macomb
- Lawyer publishes first of three children’s books
- US government agrees to $138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
- Owner of twice-sunken Lake Michigan barge pleads guilty to felony
- Woman charged with murder in crash that killed young brother and sister at birthday party
- MDHHS to issue maternal health quality payments to hospitals
headlines National
- New Legalese: You may have heard a deepfake, but what about ‘Twiqbal’?
- From Intake to Outcome: An in-house lawyer’s guide to matter management solutions
- 2 BigLaw firms in merger talks that could produce 1,600-lawyer firm with top 50 revenue
- Send in the paralegals
- Lawyer reprimanded after mistakenly emailing opposing counsel with plan to avoid judge’s call
- ‘I don’t play well’ judge who threatened to track down, jail misbehaving litigant gets tossed from case