Michigan Cop, DA to College Student: Screw Mom’s “Well-Lit” Lesson (Update)

July 9, 2015 (Mimesis Law) — Almost all of us have been there. Riding down the highway, possibly singing along with the radio, when suddenly, your stomach drops. Flashing lights in your rearview. Dammit. Your mind races, trying to glean what infraction could be the basis for what is about to be a rather unpleasant conversation (for you and your wallet). Most of us would cautiously pull over to the side of the road and await our fate. But most of us aren’t DaJuawn Wallace.

Wallace was driving his car at night in Kochville Township, Michigan, a northern suburb of Saginaw, Michigan, when he spotted those familiar police lights behind him. At this point, I am going to resist the urge to talk about Wallace’s perfectly normal background, because if we are going to be consistent, we can’t use it when it works, but scream about how offensively irrelevant it is when the victim of police misconduct has a record.

However, some basic facts are relevant. Wallace had no weapons or illegal contraband of any kind in his vehicle. He was not breaking any traffic laws. The officer, Leon Wilson of the esteemed Saginaw Valley State University police force, pulled Wallace over

“because his vehicle matched the description of a car he had earlier seen driving on a sidewalk on the campus of SVSU.”

Okay, so what was that description? Although Wilson knew neither the make nor the model of the vehicle in question, Wallace’s car was “similar in color” and leaving the same area. So he was looking for a car that was sort of a certain color. Saginaw Valley State University’s finest.

Regardless of the veracity of Officer Wilson’s reason for initiating a traffic stop of Mr. Wallace, what has happened since he turned on his sirens has been a bonkers display of law enforcement demanding total subservience in spite of reason or law.

Mr. Wallace has claimed that his cousin was pulled over a few weeks prior by fake cops, who then robbed him. As a result, his mother ordered him to only pull over for the cops in well-lit areas. Wallace’s mom is not alone in her motherly concerns.

In 2013, authorities used a warning to residents in the Detroit area after a string of incidents in which people were robbed and assaulted by men claiming to be police officers.

Whether from his mother or the government, Wallace seemed to be abiding by that warning. This is vital as it shows that his intent was his own safety, not to evade the police. We could debate whether Wallace was a scared 24-year-old black male or the world’s worst escapist. Or we could examine the ungodly crime that Wallace is accused of committing. After Officer Wilson turned on his sirens, Wallace drove, at the same speed of 35 miles per hour, for a mile and a half, and pulled over into a well-lit Sam’s Club Parking lot.

In a bit of sardonic irony, during the “chase,” Wallace put his hand out the window to signal that he was pulling over ahead. Officer Wilson admitted that he “observed the driver stick his hands out the window a couple of times.” Wilson, though, instead of accepting Wallace’s reason, wrote in his report that while he “did not see the driver throw anything from the vehicle […] it was dark and the road was poorly lit.” In attempting to suggest that Wallace might have been tossing reefer out his window, Wilson fully corroborated the basis for Wallace’s concerns.

Wallace was then ordered, at gunpoint, to get out of his car with his hands in the air. He complied. He was told to kneel on the ground. He complied. He was then cuffed and placed in the back of Wilson’s patrol car. What were his charges? Was he the infamous Saginaw Sidewalk Straddler that Wilson had seen earlier? No. Wallace is only charged with Fleeing and Eluding. He faces a felony and up to two years in prison.

Video of the incident shows Wallace driving at a reasonable rate of speed and pulling into a parking lot. Audio allows us to hear Wallace (in cuffs in the back of the cop car) explaining his mother’s warnings and his intent to, as best he could, ensure his own safety. What possible reason could the police have for carrying through with this arrest? While he was not charged with driving on the sidewalk, unfortunately, Mr. Wallace had violated an even larger rule than any actual law – he had mildly inconvenienced a police officer.

At a preliminary hearing, Wallace explained to the court that he was merely seeking a well-lit location to pull over. Saginaw County Chief Prosecutor Christopher Boyd heard his perfectly reasonable explanation and decided to cut him a break. He offered to let him plead to a misdemeanor with one year of probation.

When asked, he explained why he thought government resources should be applied to prosecuting this case.

“You don’t get a driver’s license and get to pick what rules you are going to follow and what rules you are not going to follow.”

Although the Chief Prosecutor seems confident that Mr. Wallace did not follow the rules of the road, the actual law does not support his stern position. Wallace is charged with violating Michigan Penal Code § 750.479a, which states that:

An operator of a motor vehicle or vessel who is given by hand, voice, emergency light, or siren a visual or audible signal by a police or conservation officer, acting in the lawful performance of his or her duty, directing the operator to bring his or her motor vehicle or vessel to a stop shall not willfully fail to obey that direction by increasing the speed of the vehicle or vessel, extinguishing the lights of the vehicle or vessel, or otherwise attempting to flee or elude the police or conservation officer.

According to the law, and not some over-generalized sense of retribution aimed at those who do not immediately submit to the orders of law enforcement, Mr. Wallace is not guilty. He did not speed up his vehicle, he didn’t cut his lights, and he certainly was not trying to elude or evade Officer Wilson by driving slowly and waving out the window.

Perhaps Mr. Boyd should read up on the law he is currently using to prosecute Mr. Wallace. Maybe he should listen to the words of a wise Michigan prosecutor, who once proclaimed that you don’t “get to pick what rules you are going to follow and what rules you are not going to follow.” Wise man.

All cops have the power to arrest. They also possess the discretion to not arrest. Under the circumstances of this incident, what exactly did Mr. Wallace do wrong? The only explanation that Wilson could provide was that Wallace “made no attempt to pull over and stop.” He forgot to add that after one and a half miles, Wallace not only attempted to pull over, he accomplished it. Unfortunately for Wallace, he did not ask “how high?” when Wilson told him to “jump.”

Prosecutors have the power to prosecute. They also have the authority to dismiss charges where pursuit would be counter to the interests of justice. This case screams for just such a resolution. But since Prosecutor Boyd intends to move forward, he must now figure out how he plans to explain to a jury what part of the law Mr. Wallace has violated. He should probably try to figure this out at some point, because Mr. Wallace, with growing public support, has made it abundantly clear that he will not plead guilty to anything.

All of this nonsense because a young black man wanted to drive a rather short distance to a well-lit parking lot before pulling over. The most crushing aspect of this whole case is that Mr. Wallace will have to wait for months, possibly years, to clear his name over making a cop wait two minutes to pull him over. And, lest we forget, this is the finest legal system in the world. He could lose.

Update: Prosecutors have announced that the felony charge against DaJuawn Wallace have been dropped:

“As of right now, the charge is dismissed. It was a unique set of facts and (a unique) situation,” Chief Prosecutor Christopher Boyd said. Wallace said he was happy to hear the news. “I’m very happy,” Wallace said Tuesday. “But hearing other people’s stories and knowing what’s going on at the campus, it’s not about me.”

Indeed.

Main image via Flickr/redjar

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