According to WZZM, An Ionia County Circuit Court judge has again ruled that some of the speed limits in the village of Saranac are in violating of State law and thus invalid.
Ionia County Judge Robert Sykes upheld a decision made by the Ionia County District Court that threw out charges against alleged gun-carrying drunk driver because the village of Saranac had no documentation to show how the speed limit on Parsonage Road in Saranac was legally set.
Judge Sykes ruled that the 25-mph zone is actually the state’s default 55 mph speed limit.
Also see:
- Village leaders reestablish speed limits even as judge exonerates drunk driver, citing illegal limit
Anthony Owen was charged last year with operating under the influence and possession of a firearm while intoxicated. Instead of pleading guilty right away, he hired a defense attorney to fight for his rights. Defense attorney Edward Sternisha is a friend of The Criminal Defense Attorney Shawn Haff and we love the great work he did in this case. Mr. Owen is certainly happy with his decision to hire an attorney to make sure his rights weren’t violated.
This case is a good example of why it is important to fight for your rights! A person with no training in the law would not have thought of the aggressive defense strategy Mr. Sternisha offered Mr. Owen.
Dash cam and body cam video from this incident showed two deputies in a car speeding after Owen who was clocked driving his truck 43 mph in a 25-mph zone.
The video indicates the deputies found alcohol in the vehicle as well. The video shows deputies asking him again if he had been drinking while driving and he told them he hadn’t.
Because of the great work of Defense Attorney Sternisha, Mr. Owen found out all of the charges against him were dropped because the traffic stop was deemed to be invalid because of an illegal speed limit.
Ionia County District Court Judge Raymond Voet declared the speed limit on Parsonage Road to be 55 mph, not 25 mph. The 55 mph speed limit is the default speed limit used in Michigan if no other speed limit has been established. Because Owen was going 43 mph in a 55-mph zone, there was no reason for the deputies to stop him.
In his ruling, Judge Voet said the village of Saranac didn’t have any records how they posted the speed limit in the past and the judge agreed that the village needed to do work to ensure it’s speed limits met the guidelines of state law.
Laughably, the village of Saranac reestablished the 25 Mile per hour speed limit. Obviously, the people of Saranac need better representatives working for them. Sounds like it is time for a recall.
Public Act 85 of 2006 was passed by the Michigan legislator. It requires cities, townships and villages to do speed studies or access point counts to justify their speed limits. Michigan State Police Lt. Gary Megge testified against prosecuting attorney in the Owens case. He testified that, “Like a dollar bill has to have something backing it, the speed limit sign (does as well),” Lt. Megge said. “The village can’t just put up signs and say that’s it.”