00:00Do you ever get consent to search the bags?
00:02I mean, that seems like a logical question, sir, but I know.
00:04When this state trooper turned a routine box truck stop into concealed weapon charges,
00:08the judge zeroed in on two key questions that ultimately exposed the search as unlawful.
00:12So we are here for a preliminary examination on a carrying concealed weapon.
00:18People call Trooper Edward Rippus.
00:19Where are you employed?
00:20I am with the Michigan State Police, currently as a commercial vehicle enforcement division.
00:25Were you working in that capacity on November 14th?
00:28Yes, sir.
00:28And what happened during that shift that brings you into court today?
00:32I stopped a commercial vehicle that I observed shortly after the interstate.
00:36What happened after you made this stop?
00:38I contacted the defendant here, Mr. Lasker.
00:40He was in the passenger seat and they contacted the driver, Mr. Anselmiel Rand.
00:44And what, if anything, did you notice about this truck during the stop?
00:47The passenger seat at Adelaide Wood was in fact helped.
00:49Explain your suspicions with the commercial nature.
00:53Can you explain that suspicion?
00:55Commercial trucks are about making money.
00:57I think they're very expensive to operate.
00:58They're also required, being that they're from out of state, to show me how many days they've been driving, how
01:02many hours they've been driving.
01:04And typically they have a place they came from and a place they're going to.
01:07What was your concern at this time?
01:09He's a North Carolina truck driver.
01:11He was a North Carolina truck doing interstate commerce.
01:13The driver said that he had just gotten to Grand Rapids to pick up the truck and he was taking
01:18it to traffic.
01:19Eventually he came out and he was taking it to traffic city for repairs, which is commerce.
01:22You're maintaining the business.
01:23You're taking the truck.
01:24You're maintaining operations.
01:26What, if anything, did you do as a result of these concerns?
01:29I talked to the driver.
01:30They had a couple of personal bags.
01:32Each had a couple of bags.
01:33I asked and sent to search.
01:34What, if anything, did you find in defendant's bag?
01:37I found a box of .45 APC handgun shells.
01:41What did you do after I searched the cab?
01:44I searched what I thought was a woman's handbag that was very in front passenger seat.
01:48It was heavy.
01:49I thought I could potentially have a handgun in it.
01:51And what did you find in that bag?
01:54Two semi-automatic pistols, black and colored, both .45, both had magazines.
01:59Did you ever get consent to search the bags?
02:01No, duffel bags.
02:02Not duffel bags in the back.
02:04So you got consent to search the bags in the cargo area?
02:06That's right.
02:07Yes.
02:07But the bag underneath the front seat, did you get permission to search the bag?
02:11I did not, sir.
02:12Did anybody ever claim that bag?
02:14After I searched it, Mr. Lassner claimed it, sir.
02:16And nobody said, hey, that's my bag underneath it?
02:18No, sir.
02:18Trooper, after you found the ammunition, did you ask anything about whether there were any weapons in the vehicle?
02:24I mean, that seems like a logical question, sir, but I know.
02:26Well, the court is well aware of people versus me.
02:28That case is very clear that a person cannot consent away the rights of another in the search of a
02:36motor vehicle based on the testimony that the passengers weren't given the opportunity to claim or disclaim any association with
02:44items in the truck before they were searched.
02:46As such, I do find that the search was an illegal search.
02:49The court will suppress the firearm that was located pursuant to the search.
02:54And because the firearm has been suppressed, I find there is not probable cause to bind the case over to
02:58the circuit court.
02:59So, thank you.
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