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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v PHIL AL-MAKI, Defendant-Appellee.

UNPUBLISHED January 17, 2006

No. 263467 Oakland Circuit Court LC No. 2004-196017-FH

Before: Cavanagh, P.J., and Cooper and Donofrio, JJ. PER CURIAM. The prosecution appeals by leave granted the trial court's order granting defendant's motion for a new trial and request for an evidentiary hearing with regard to his motion to suppress. We reverse on other grounds, and remand for entry of orders granting defendant's motion to suppress and dismissing the charges. On September 18, 2003, police officer Michael Manderachia noticed defendant's vehicle improperly parked in a handicapped spot and he ran a LEIN check on the license plate. The information he obtained included that defendant had a suspended driver's license and that he had a concealed weapons permit. When defendant returned to his vehicle, Officer Manderachia approached defendant regarding the infraction and asked him if he had his gun with him. Defendant indicated that he had the gun in the center console of his vehicle and he gave the officer permission to retrieve the gun. Defendant was also patted down and placed in the patrol car although he was not under arrest. The officer returned to the patrol car with the gun and asked defendant where his driver's license and CCW permit were and defendant told him they were in his wallet located in his vehicle. The wallet was retrieved by another officer and then Officer Manderachia went into the wallet and pulled out defendant's driver's license. While looking for the license and permit, the officer noticed a lump in one of the credit card pockets inside the wallet. He did not know what the lump was so he looked inside the pocket and saw a little paper folder which looked like a "doper fold." Officer Manderachia proceeded to remove and open the paper folder at which point he found a white powdery substance that field tested positive for cocaine. Defendant was charged with possession of less than 25 grams of cocaine, MCL 333.7403(2)(a)(v), and felony firearm, MCL 750.227b. At the preliminary examination, the prosecution moved to bind over defendant. Defendant objected, and moved to suppress the evidence of cocaine on the ground that it was found during an unreasonable, warrantless search. Following briefing and oral arguments on the -1-


issue, the trial court rendered its opinion holding that defendant only consented to Officer Manderachia retrieving his driver's license and CCW permit from his wallet. Therefore, the district court concluded, the police officer exceeded the scope of the consent by further inspecting the unidentifiable lump found in defendant's wallet which turned out to be cocaine. Accordingly, the motion to suppress was granted and the case was dismissed. The prosecution appealed the decision to the circuit court and the dismissal was reversed. Thereafter the matter was bound over for trial. Subsequently, defendant moved in the circuit court to suppress the evidence and quash the information on the ground that the cocaine was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, US Const, Am IV; Const 1963, art 1,

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