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MI: Anonymous tip for search of car on school grounds was unsupported and not show reliable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Anonymous tip that defendant was dealing drugs at school was insufficient to justify a search by an assistant principal and the police on the school parking lot. The tip came through the PD and was passed on to the school. Another tip about another person proved fruitless. There was nothing to show why it was a reliable tip. People v. Perreault, 2010 Mich. App. LEXIS 94 (January 19, 2010)*: Therefore, the anonymous tip was vague concerning defendant and could not be viewed with a "totality of the circumstances" because there were no other circumstances. Indeed, the only other possible circumstance weighed against the tip being reliable. "Some tips, completely lacking in indicia of reliability, would either warrant no police response or require further investigation" before governmental authorities may act against a suspect...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 23, 2010 (boomark / email).