On Point blog, page 14 of 18

Consent — Acquiescence — Strip Search

State v. Charles A. Wallace, 2002 WI App 61
For Wallace: Martha K. Askins, SPD, Madison Appellate

Issue: Whether Wallace voluntarily consented, or merely acquiesced, to a strip search following arrest for a minor traffic violation.

Holding:

¶19. The police made their request during the booking process and before Wallace’s bond had been posted. We concur with the circuit court’s conclusion that thirty minutes,

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Consent – Coercion — Submission to Chemical test — Threat to Revoke Driver’s License, OWI Arrest

Village of Little Chute v. Todd A. Walitalo, 2002 WI App 211, PFR filed 8/1/02
For Walitalo: Ralph A. Kalal

Issue/Holding:

¶11. However, the arresting officer, by reading the informing the accused form, simply stated the truth: If Walitalo refused to submit to a chemical test, his driving privileges would be revoked. This statement did not involve any deceit or trickery, but instead accurately informed Walitalo of his precise legal situation. 

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Consent — Scope — Body Cavity Search

State v. Charles A. Wallace, 2002 WI App 61
For Wallace: Martha K. Askins, SPD, Madison Appellate

Issue: Whether Wallace’s consent for a strip search encompassed the more intrusive body cavity search that ensued (Wallace bent over and spread his buttocks).

Holding:

¶29. We have concluded that Wallace voluntarily consented to a strip search, and the parties agree that a visual body cavity search was ultimately conducted.

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Consent — Entry of Residence — Reasonable Suspicion as Precondition

State v. Jeffrey Stout, 2002 WI App 41, PFR filed 2/21/02
For Stout: James L. Fullin, Jr., SPD, Madison Appellate

Issue: Whether the police must have reasonable suspicion before seeking consent to enter a residence.

Holding:

¶17. We hold that there is no Fourth Amendment requirement of reasonable suspicion as a prerequisite to seeking consent to enter a dwelling. We find support for this holding in federal automobile search cases.

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Exigency – Automobile Exception to Warrant Requirement – Probable Cause, Dog Sniff

State v. Tina M. Miller, 2002 WI App 150, PFR filed 6/3/03
For Miller: Timothy A. Provis

Issue/Holding: Based on evidence that the dog had been trained in drug detection, the police had probable cause to search the automobile once the dog alerted them, including probable cause to search a purse within the car. ¶¶12-15

But, keep in mind this potentially important limitation,

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Exigency — Blood Alcohol — Reasonableness of Procedure

State v. Dennis L. Daggett, 2002 WI App 32, PFR filed 1/10/02
For Daggett: Julie A. Smith

Issue: Whether a warrantless draw of blood, following OWI arrest, is necessarily unreasonable if performed at the jail rather than hospital.

Holding: There is no bright-line rule that a blood draw must be made in a hospital setting to be constitutionally reasonable. Instead, there is “a spectrum of reasonableness”: blood withdrawn by a medical professional in a medical setting is generally reasonable;

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Search & Seizure – Applicability of Exclusionary Rule – Violation of Nonconstitutional Right – § 968.255 (Strip Searches)

State v. Charles A. Wallace, 2002 WI App 61
For Wallace: Martha K. Askins, SPD, Madison Appellate

Issue/Holding:

¶25. We conclude, however, that we need not address whether police may conduct a consensual strip search free of the statutory restrictions. Absent a constitutional violation, a court may not suppress evidence obtained in violation of a statute except where the statute ‘specifically requires suppression of wrongfully or illegally obtained evidence as a sanction.’ 

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Search & Seizure – Applicability of Exclusionary Rule – Dog Sniff

State v. Tina M. Miller, 2002 WI App 150, PFR filed 6/3/03
For Miller: Timothy A. Provis

Issue/Holding:

¶6. The Supreme Court first addressed whether the Fourth Amendment applies to canine sniffs in United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696 (1983). … The Court then concluded “that the particular course of investigation that the agents intended to pursue here-exposure of respondent’s luggage,

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Search & Seizure – Applicability of Exclusionary Rule – Probation/Parole Search

State v. Brandon L. Wheat, 2002 WI App 153, PFR 6/14/02
For Wheat: Steven A. Koch, Bradley J. Lochowicz

Issue/Holding: Because the exclusionary rule doesn’t apply at revocation hearings, “(a) reasonable probation search, as conducted here, is lawful even if the probation officer relies, in part, on information from law enforcement officials in violation of the Fourth Amendment.” ¶29.

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Judicial Substitution/Recusal – TPR – Multiple Requests

State ex rel. Julie A.B. v. Circuit Court, 2002 WI App 220
For Julie A.B.: Roberta A. Heckes

Issue/Holding: § 48.29(1) permits more than one party to file a request for a substitution of judge in a TPR proceeding, ¶2. (The mother filed a substitution request. After a new judge was assigned, the GAL filed a request, one that the mother unsuccessfully challenges as unauthorized.)

 

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