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Man Who Resisted Police Wins Supreme Court Case

PDinDetroit

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2009
Messages
2,328
Location
SE, Michigan, USA
Interesting Ruling...

The Michigan Supreme Court says people can resist police officers who unlawfully enter their homes.

In a 5-2 decision, the court ordered that charges be dropped against Angel Moreno Jr., a western Michigan man who was accused of obstructing officers at his home in Holland. The officers were looking for someone and tried to enter the home without a warrant.

Lower courts had upheld charges of resisting police, based on a 2004 Supreme Court decision, but justices on Friday said that case was wrongly decided.

The opinion was written by Justice Diane Hathaway. She and two other Democrats on the court were joined by two Republican justices, a rare alliance. The dissenters were Republican justices Stephen Markman and Robert Young Jr.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/04/21/man-who-resisted-police-wins-supreme-court-case/

An Ottawa County Circuit Court judge agreed that officers entered Moreno's home illegally, because they had no warrant, but said the state statute regarding resisting and obstructing makes no mention that officers must be performing a "lawful act" when the violation occurs.

In 2002, state lawmakers removed the "lawful act" language from the resisting and obstructing statute.

State Court of Appeals justices upheld the circuit court judge's ruling, but the Supreme Court on Friday reversed the ruling.

Justices said the common law right of a person to resist illegal police conduct still prevails, "including unlawful arrests and unlawful entries into constitutionally protected areas."

Justices said the Legislature can modify common law, but it must do so in "no uncertain terms."

They ruled it's not clear from the language of the resisting and obstructing statute, nor legislative history, that lawmakers intended to dissolve the common law rights.

In Friday's opinion, the Supreme Court ordered the Ottawa County Circuit Court to toss out the charges as earlier requested by Moreno.

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/ottawa_county/man-injures-officer-charges-thrown-out
 

davidmcbeth

Banned
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
16,167
Location
earth's crust
when police act unlawfully then they are no longer acting as police officers --- they are criminals. Treat them appropriately.
 

TheQ

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Messages
3,379
Location
Lansing, Michigan
Laws? This is a court case. Other States have the 4th amendment via the 14th amendment too. It's just a matter of honoring it.
 
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