A Shelby Township family accused of attacking police officers gained a significant state Court of Appeals ruling that could bolster their defense.
A three-judge panel unanimously decided Wednesday that township police officers violated the Fourth Amendment against illegal search and seizure because they should have obtained a warrant before towing a Cadillac Escalade in September 2023 from the driveway of the home of Sam and Manal Kassab.
The couple’s teenage sons are accused of driving recklessly in the vehicle while an occupant fired airsoft pellets at another vehicle in the area.
The confiscation sparked alleged assaults of officers by Sam and Manal and their two sons, Anthony and Alvin, all of whom face criminal charges.
The appeals judges overturned Macomb County Circuit Judge Matthew Switalski of the Juvenile Division, who presides over the sons’ cases, to deny the sons’ legal motion to suppress the Escalade and anything inside it as evidence. The decision also likely impacts their parents’ case.
“We reverse the trial court’s holding that respondents did not have standing to challenge the seizure of the Escalade, (and) hold that the warrantless seizure of the Escalade violated respondents’ rights to be free from unreasonable seizures,” the judges wrote in an eight-page opinion.
The judges say the Escalade, which was parked in the driveway within a couple of feet of the garage, was part of the home’s “curtilage,” so officers needed to obtain a search warrant. Curtilage is defined as “a piece of ground (such as a yard or courtyard) within the fence surrounding a house,” according to Miriam-Webster.
Defense attorneys Paul Bukowski, who represents Alvin Kassab, and Peter Torrice, who represents Sam Kassab, said Thursday they agree with the ruling.
They declined to elaborate on the potential impact of the ruling on the case.
Attorney Avis Choulagh represents Manal Kassab and attorney Michael Kemnitz represents Anthony Kassab.
Macomb prosecutors, who could appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, did not immediately respond Friday morning.
The judges rejected Macomb prosecutors’ argument and say the seizure was not allowed under the “plain view” exception. Prosecutors contended the exception applied because the officers were in a legal position when they noticed incriminating evidence – airsoft gun pellets – inside the vehicle. But the officers were trespassing at that moment, the judges say.
“The mere ‘ability to observe inside curtilage from a lawful vantage point’’ is not enough to justify a plainview seizure,’” the judges wrote. “Rather, an officer must have ‘a lawful right of access to’ the item seized for the plain-view exception to apply. If an officer must trespass to seize an item, then the item’s seizure cannot be justified by the plain-view exception to the warrant requirement.”
Prosecutors also argued the seizure was proper under “exigent circumstances,” meaning it was an emergency and action was taken to “(1) prevent the imminent destruction of evidence, (2) protect the police officers or others, or (3) prevent the escape of a suspect,” as quoted from a prior court case.”
“Here, there was no emergency,” the judges wrote. “Officers were watching the Escalade outside the house where the suspect was located, and nothing suggested that the suspect would use the Escalade to escape.”
The judges also note in their opinion officers properly conducted a “knock and talk” when they first approached the house at 10:43 p.m. Sept. 9, 2023 and encountered Sam and Manel Kassab. They then left the property and waited on nearby public property until the Escalade and the two teenagers arrived. But the officers trespassed when the officers returned to the home and asked for the Escalade’s keys to avoid towing it without the keys and likely causing damage to the Escalade, in order for a two truck driver to began the process of taking the vehicle.
The judges remanded the case back to Switalski for further proceedings.
The incident at the home stemmed from one of two occupants of a Chevy Cruz calling 911 at 9:08 p.m. to report that shots were being fired at their car from an Escalade that was tailgating them on 22 Mile Road near Shelby Road.
Upon officers arrival at the home Clear Spring Lane off 23 Mile Road near Shelby Road, Sam and Manal Kassab were cooperative until police indicated the Escalade was being seized. That’s when the Kassabs allegedly assaulted the officers.
Sam Kassab is charged with assaulting a police officer causing serious impairment, resisting, obstructing or assaulting a police officer causing injury and resisting, obstructing or assaulting an officer. His wife, Manal, is charged with assaulting, obstructing or resisting a police officer.
Anthony Kassab is charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and reckless driving for his alleged actions before the incident at the home and three counts of resisting or obstructing a police officer.
Alvin Kassab is charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer causing injury; assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer; and misdemeanor assault and battery.
The next hearing in the parents’ cases is scheduled for April 16.
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