Court Nixes Big Drug Bust On SW Michigan Highway
ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan appeals court is throwing a flag at the seizure of 15 pounds of marijuana in southwestern Michigan.
The court says the marijuana can't be used to prosecute a Florida man. The court says detaining Kevin Kavanaugh while state police waited for a drug-sniffing dog violated his rights.
The appeals court says it's applying a legal precedent by the U.S. Supreme Court and throwing out Kavanaugh's conviction.
His car was stopped on Interstate 196 in Berrien County in 2014. The appeals court says the traffic stop should have ended when Trooper Michael Daniels said he only would give a warning for Kavanaugh's driving violations.
The trooper called for a police dog when Kavanaugh declined to allow a search of the trunk.
The 3-0 decision was released Friday.
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