People of Michigan v. Lorenzo Dejuan Harris, 332769

On June 24, 2015, Detroit police signaled defendant Lorenzo Harris to stop after an officer testified he saw Harris brandish a semi-automatic handgun; Harris fled in a marked police car pursuit.
During the high-speed flight through a residential area Harris lost control, struck and killed two children on a sidewalk, then overturned a parked work van, causing life-threatening injuries to three more children.
Harris was tried by jury and convicted of: two counts involuntary manslaughter; two counts first-degree fleeing and eluding causing death; three counts reckless driving causing serious impairment; and unlawfully driving away an automobile (UDAA).
Trial evidence included officer testimony about the initial observation, short viewing time (about three seconds, 25 feet away), no weapon recovered, and the officers’ concern for public safety and partial termination of pursuit.
Defense sought admission of the Detroit Police Department vehicular pursuit policy to show officers breached departmental policy (and thus were not acting in lawful performance of duties); the trial court excluded the policy as irrelevant to lawful performance for fleeing-and-eluding purposes.
Harris was sentenced as a fourth habitual offender to 30–60 years on the manslaughter and fleeing-and-eluding counts and 6–20 years on the remaining counts; he appealed exclusion of the policy, jury instruction responses, and proportionality of sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admissibility of DPD pursuit policy	Policy irrelevant; lawful performance is legal question for court	Policy shows officers breached duty to weigh public safety and thus were not acting lawfully	Trial court did not abuse discretion excluding policy; defendant could effectively challenge stop on cross-exam; exclusion not outcome-determinative
Jury instruction in response to questions about stops	Reasonable-suspicion (Terry) instruction appropriate for investigative stops	Jury should have been told probable-cause standard for traffic stops	Court affirmed use of Terry/reasonable-suspicion instruction; it fairly presented the issues and protected defendant's rights
Sufficiency of evidence that officers were acting in lawful performance	Officers acted lawfully based on observations and pursuit conduct	Officers violated departmental policy and thus were not acting lawfully when pursuing Harris	Court held officers’ conduct fell within lawful-performance inquiry; jury had sufficient bases (including acquittal on weapons charges) to resolve factual disputes
Proportionality of upward-departure sentence	Sentences proportionate given fatalities, severe injuries, defendant’s criminal history and parole status	Sentences exceeded guideline ranges and were excessive	Upward departures were reasonable; trial court did not abuse discretion and sentences were proportionate

People v Ambramski, 257 Mich. App. 71 (general-intent nature of fleeing-and-eluding)
People v Grayer, 235 Mich. App. 737 (officer must be acting in lawful performance of duties for fleeing-and-eluding)
Terry v Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (permits brief investigative stops on reasonable suspicion)
Heien v North Carolina, 574 U.S. 54 (reasonable-seizure analysis under the Fourth Amendment)
Navarette v California, 134 S. Ct. 1683 (brief investigative stops require reasonable suspicion)
People v Barbarich, 291 Mich. App. 468 (Terry doctrine applies to vehicle stops)
People v Gonzalez, 256 Mich. App. 212 (jury instructions reviewed for whether they fairly present issues)
People v Milbourn, 435 Mich. 630 (proportionality principle for sentencing)