People v. Valot
Michigan Court of Appeals
189 N.W.2d 873 (1971)
- Written by Sarah Holley, JD
Facts
Policemen responded to a call from a motel manager who was concerned about “hippie-type people” using one of the motel rooms. The police found that the room had been registered in the name of Harold Valot (defendant) just three days prior and that he had been seen entering the room. One of the policemen recognized Valot’s name as the name of an escapee from the Detroit House of Correction. The police entered the motel room with the help of the motel manager and observed five people sleeping, including Valot. The police also observed a strong marijuana odor, hand-rolled marijuana cigarettes, a brass water pipe on the table next to the bed occupied by Valot, and two marijuana cigarette butts on the floor, one being next to Valot’s bed. Valot testified that he knew that one of the other occupants, Paul Silver, carried and used marijuana and that he chased Silver out of the motel room, but Silver was in the motel room at the time the policemen arrived. Valot further testified that he was unaware of the presence of marijuana in the motel room until that time. Valot was arrested and convicted for possession of marijuana in violation of the narcotics statute. Valot appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Churchill, J.)
Dissent (Levin, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,400 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
