Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: unreasonable traffic stops

Yes and no.

Police have recently been given a LOT of latitude by the Supreme Court on precisely this issue.

Google "Whren v. U.S., 1996 WL 305735 (1996)" and look at some of the commentary on the issue of pretext stops.

Re: unreasonable traffic stops

"Pretext stops" really do not exist. If a cop has objective probable cause to stop a car to a traffic violation (e.g., speeding; a cracked windshield), then the stop is ok even if the cop also has another reason for wanting to stop the car (e.g., driver just left a known drug house so the officer wonders if the person is involved with drug activity).

At the point of the (lawful) traffic stop, the 'search' issues expand into whether the duration of the stop is justified (e.g., holding a car for 3 hours when the reason for the stop was an illegal turn is a problem for the cop and prosecutor), whether the cop sees "in plain view" any contraband (drugs, weapons, etc.) that then justifies the cop in arresting the driver/occupant and conducting a "search incident to arrest", whether the car's owner or custodian gave consent to search, etc.

In your case, if there was a broken tail light, then the stop was ok. If in the few minutes it would normally take the cop to write a ticket for the tail light violation and run your record, the cop develops other probable cause (e.g., smells the odor of marijuana coming from the car, sees open bottles of beer/booze, detects slurred speech from the driver, sees the butt handle of a pistol, etc.), then further detention and searching may be ok. Aside from that, the additional search you allude to might not be lawful.

Re: unreasonable traffic stops

Pretext stops are often unlawful.

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