DRUG CONVICTION OVERTURNED BY APPEALS COURT

Man Was Arrested By State Police After February Traffic Stop

CHEBOYGAN - A man who was found guilty of possession with intent to deliver
both cocaine and marijuana is now a free man, thanks to a unanimous
decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals.

John Lavell Williams, 28, was sentenced to serve seven to 20 years in
prison after a routine traffic stop uncovered nearly $3,200 worth of
marijuana and $5,400 worth of cocaine in his car in February 2003.

Williams was pulled over by a trooper from the Cheboygan Post of the
Michigan State Police. When Williams and the other two occupants of the
vehicle gave the trooper conflicting stories, he asked to search the car
and Williams consented, according to court records.

Williams was unable to produce a key to the trunk, and a locksmith and a
drug dog were called to the scene. Nearly three hours had passed since the
traffic stop when the drugs were found, and earlier this month the Court of
Appeals overturned his conviction.

In an opinion issued by three Appeals Court justices, they acknowledge that
Williams was traveling in excess of 80 mph when he was stopped. But
attorneys for Williams argued that he should not have been detained for
such an extensive period of time, and that the conflicting statements gave
the trooper no more than a "hunch."

The Court of Appeals, referring to testimony, said that the trooper could
not rightfully detain Williams because he had no visible luggage in the car
and the said that he was going to stay at a Holiday Inn in Cheboygan. The
nearest Holiday Inn to Cheboygan is located just north in Mackinaw City.

The Court of Appeals concluded that Williams could have either been lying
about the Holiday Inn or he could have simply misspoke. The court also said
"regardless, whether the statement was a lie or not, was unsubstantiated at
the time the trooper commenced the stop, and that alone does not rise to
the level of constituting a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity."

The justices also concluded that the trooper's observation that the
passenger compartment of the car contained no luggage was of "no particular
significance" and is "certainly not suggestive of criminal activity."

Attorney Aaron Gauthier successfully argued the appeal. He said: "The law
provides that a police officer cannot continue to hold a person once they
have stopped them without independent proof of suspicious behavior. This is
what we have been referring to in the Williams case, as well as others, as
extending the stop and the court has unanimously decided that we are correct.

"Our argument was that the police in the case had insufficient suspicions
to continue to hold Mr. Williams but were merely acting on a hunch. As we
all know, the police cannot take away liberty mainly because of a hunch,"
said Gauthier.