5 Factors of Possession of a Weapon In a Motor Vehicle In Michigan

In People v. Butler, 413 Mich 377, 390 n 11; 319 NW2d 540 (1982), the Supreme Court of Michigan listed several factors that may be considered when determining what circumstantial evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction of carrying a weapon in a motor vehicle, including: (1) the accessibility or proximity of the weapon to the defendant; (2) the defendant's awareness that the weapon was in the motor vehicle; (3) the defendant's possession of items that connect him to the weapon such as ammunition; (4) the defendant's ownership or operation of the vehicle; (5) the length of time during which the defendant drove or occupied the vehicle. These factors are not exclusive, but are among factors to be considered and are not a test for determining when sufficient evidence of carrying is present. Id.