APPEALS COURT THROWS OUT SEARCH BY SCHOOL OFFICIAL

A divided Court of Appeals panel threw out the search of a high school student's truck conducted by a school official and based solely on an anonymous tip, saying the search was unconstitutional.

The dissenting judge, in People v. Perreault (COA docket No. 288540) argued that the standards for a search by a school official of a student's property while it is on school property are less than those of a police officer. While a police officer might need to have probable cause to conduct the search, a school official need only have a reasonable suspicion, dissenting Judge Peter O'Connell wrote.

But Judge Alton Davis, joined by Judge Michael Talbot, said who conducts the search does not relieve the official of acting on more than a mere anonymous tip.

In the case, Michael Perreault was arrested when a school official searched his truck, without a warrant but in the presence of a police officer, and found a bag of marijuana.

More than a week before, an anonymous tip was recorded at Traverse City High School that a Caucasian male with a truck was selling marijuana. The defendant and others were named. Police confirmed which individuals had vehicles, and a search was done of another individual and no contraband was found. There was nothing other than the tip to indicate the defendant may have been involved in drugs.

More than a week later, without the defendant's permission but while he was present, an assistant principal searched his truck and found marijuana. Mr. Perreault was arrested, and moved to suppress the evidence of the search. The trial court refused.

But the court said even though a school official has a lesser standard for a search than a police officer, that standard cannot be met just on the basis of an anonymous tip. The tip can provide such reasonableness when looked in totality with other circumstances. In this case, there were no other indications that would lead an individual to conduct the search, the court said.