PEOPLE OF MI V JEFFREY MICHAEL WARACK
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
July 10, 2001
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
No. 232498
Tuscola Circuit Court
LC No. 00-007941-AV
JEFFREY MICHAEL WARACK,
Defendant-Appellee.
Before: Saad, P.J., and Holbrook, Jr. and Murphy, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Plaintiff appeals by delayed leave granted the circuit court order affirming the district
court’s decision to grant defendant’s motion to suppress. We reverse. This appeal is being
decided without oral argument pursuant to MCR 7.214(E).
Defendant was stopped by state police on suspicion of drunk driving after the tires on
defendant’s car touched or crossed the fog line four times within a half-mile distance. The
automobile never left the pavement, and was otherwise in conformance with applicable traffic
laws. The trooper opined that the suspect’s driving was erratic, and initiated the traffic stop.
Defendant moved to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the stop. The district
court granted the motion, finding that there was no showing that defendant violated any portion
of the motor vehicle code, and the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to initiate a traffic stop.
The circuit court granted leave to appeal, and affirmed the district court.
This Court will review a lower court’s findings of fact on a motion to suppress for clear
error, and review the ultimate decision de novo. People v Darwich, 226 Mich App 635; 575
NW2d 44 (1997).
The brief detention of a person following an investigatory stop is considered reasonable if
the officer has a reasonably articulable suspicion that the person is engaged in criminal activity.
People v LoCicero (After Remand), 453 Mich 496, 501; 556 NW2d 498 (1996). The
reasonableness of the officer’s suspicion is determined case-by-case on the basis of the totality of
the circumstances. Id. In determining whether the officer acted reasonably, due weight must be
given to the specific reasonable inferences the officer is entitled to draw from the facts in light of
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his experience. Id., 502. Fewer facts are needed to establish reasonable suspicion when a person
is in a moving vehicle than in a house. Id.
In People v Christie (On Remand), 206 Mich App 304; 520 NW2d 647 (1994), the
defendant was stopped after officers observed his car swerving within its lane, and activating his
turn signal for two-tenths of a mile before turning. The district court ruled that the stop was
unreasonable, and the circuit court affirmed. This Court reversed, finding that the deputy had
reasonable cause to suspect ongoing criminal activity where the defendant displayed classic
indicia of an intoxicated driver. Id., 309.
Here, defendant swerved within his lane, crossing the fog line four times within the
officer’s observation period. Unlike Christie, there were no other indications of impaired
driving. The officer testified that he believed defendant’s driving was erratic, and he suspected
drunk driving. He believed that defendant committed an infraction for improper lane usage in
leaving the regular traveled portion of the roadway.
The district court erred in finding that the officer lacked the requisite reasonable suspicion
to initiate a traffic stop. Due weight must be given to the specific reasonable inferences the
officer was entitled to draw from the facts in light of his experience. LoCicero, supra, 502. The
officer had a reasonably articulable suspicion gathered from his observations that defendant was
driving while impaired.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. The stay of
proceedings previously granted by this Court is lifted. We do not retain jurisdiction.
/s/ Henry William Saad
/s/ Donald E. Holbrook, Jr.
/s/ William B. Murphy
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