Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: Unwarranted Search and arrest for MIPI

It sounds like you have a great argument. Unless the police had a reason for a warantless search, you could prevail. Please call my office to discuss the matter further. Eric I. Kutinsky (866) M I C H D U I

Re: Unwarranted Search and arrest for MIPI

Once again, the cops are the bad guys because they discovered you and your buddies violating the law! Well, the answer to your question isn't as cut-and-dried as the first response suggests.

One issue you're going to have to deal with is whether you have "standing" to contest the police entry into and search of the house. It sounds like you were a visitor there. It wasn't your house, right? It may be that only the property owner or people who lived there can challenge the lawfullness of the police entry and any incriminating evidence seized and to be used against themselves ... not visitors.

Police do not need a "warrant" when they are witnessing a crime with their own eyes. So, assuming that their entry into the home isn't a reason for your charge to be dismissed, once they werein the house, if they had probable cause to believe that there were underage drinkers there (eg, they saw bottles/cans of beer, people there looked under 21, people acted drunk, etc.), they can then lawfully investigate MIPs for everyone ... including requesting that people take PBTs. As for them forcibly opening the bathroom door you were hiding behind, they could claim that, due to the number of intoxicated kids in the home, they were checking on your welfare. It is all too common for kids to drink way too much and have potentially lethal blood-alcohol contents. If the cops had knowingly left you behind the locked door and you died of alcohol poisoning, they'd be sued big time. So, the cost of a door is a small price for someone to pay to make sure you were ok.