Jeffrey Woods, Warden, Petitioner v. Timothy Etherton (578 U.S. 113)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 4, 2016 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 578 U.S. 113 · 136 S. Ct. 1149
- Decided
- April 4, 2016
- Term
- October Term 2015
- Vote
- 8–0
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
PER CURIAM. In the fall of 2006, Michigan law enforcement received an anonymous tip that two white males were traveling on I-96 between Detroit and Grand Rapids in a white Audi, possibly carrying cocaine. Officers spotted a vehicle matching that description and pulled it over for speeding. Respondent Timothy Etherton was driving; Ryan Pollie was in the passenger seat. A search of the car uncovered 125.2 grams of cocaine in a compartment at the bottom of the driver side door. Both Etherton and Pollie were arrested. Etherton was tried in state court on a single count of possession with intent to deliver cocaine. At trial the facts reflected in the tip were not contested. The central point of contention was instead whether the cocaine belonged to Etherton or Pollie. Pollie testified for the prosecution pursuant to a plea agreement. He claimed that he had accompanied Etherton from Grand Rapids to Detroit, not knowing that Etherton intended to obtain cocaine there. According to Pollie, once the pair arrived in Detroit, Etherton left him alone at a restaurant and drove off, returning some 45 minutes later. It was only after they were headed back to Grand Rapids that Etherton revealed he had obtained the drugs. The prosecution also called several police officers to testify. Three of the officers described the content of the anonymous tip leading to Etherton's arrest. On the third…
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