On Point: A. Expectation of privacy

State v. Matthew J. Trecroci, Ryan J. Frayer, Ronnie J. Frayer, Scott E. Oberst, Amy L. Wicks, 2001 WI App 126
For defendants: Robert R. Henak

Issue: Whether warrantless police entry of a stairway in a multiple unit building was lawful.

Holding: Existence of reasonable expectation of privacy in a stairway leading to the upper levels of a dwelling is decided case-by-case, rather than under bright-line rule.

State v. Derrick Benton, 2001 WI App 81
For Benton: James Kachelski.

Issue: Whether the defendant can challenge seizure of property from an auto where he claimed no ownership or possessory interest in either the auto or the seized property.

Holding:

¶11            Although the trial court upheld the search of the car in which Benton was riding as one incident to either an arrest or as an inventory search,

State v. Matthew J. Trecroci, Ryan J. Frayer, Ronnie J. Frayer, Scott E. Oberst, Amy L. Wicks, 2001 WI App 126
For defendants: Robert R. Henak

Issue: Whether a guest temporarily on premises used primarily for commercial purposes had standing to assert suppression of evidence seized after unlawful police entry.

Holding:: Notwithstanding certain language in Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S.

State v. Thomas G. Martwick, 2000 WI 5, 231 Wis.2d 801, 604 N.W.2d 552, reversing unpublished decision
For Martwick: Robert P. Rusch

Issue: Whether plants found on Martwick’s property were within his curtilage, and therefore subject to the warrant requirement, or in “open fields.”

Holding: The plants were in open fields, outside the curtilage, and therefore could be seized without a warrant.

The sheriff thought Martwick was growing marijuana on his property,

State v. Robert C. Knight, 2000 WI App 16, 232 Wis.2d 305, 606 N.W.2d 291
For Knight: Scott B. Taylor.

Issue: Whether the seizure of files earmarked for destruction by a disbarred attorney violated the fourth amendment.

Holding: The files, which the disbarred attorney had turned over to a third party for destruction, had been abandoned and therefore no search and seizure occurred within the meaning of the fourth amendment.

State v. Domingo G. Ramirez, 228 Wis.2d 561, 598 N.W.2d 247 (Ct. App. 1999)
For Ramirez: Donald T. Lang, SPD, Madison Appellate.

Holding: When the state searches mail prior to delivery to a residence, and the addressee is not a resident, that person has a (“minimal”) burden of establishing some reasonable expectation of privacy in the package. This requirement occupies a middle ground, between a presumptive expectation of privacy and a requirement that the “challenger”

Tayr Kilaab Al Ghashiyah (Kahn) v. McCaughtry, 230 Wis.2d 587, 602 N.W.2d 307 (Ct. App. 1999)
For Kahn: Walter W. Stern.

Issue: Whether a prison inmate may be strip-searched, under the fourth amendment, upon being taken to or from segregation.

Holding: “(W)e conclude that a prison inmate in segregation status does not possess a reasonable expectation of privacy in his body that permits a Fourth Amendment challenge to the visual inspections to which Casteel was subjected.”

State v. Michael Wilson, 229 Wis.2d 256, 600 N.W.2d 14 (Ct. App. 1999)
For Wilson: Martha A. Askins, SPD, Madison Appellate.

Issue/Holding: Officer’s invasion of home’s curtilage, where he smelled marijuana burning inside, held unlawful. Court enumerates various factors relevant to extent of curtilage protection, and stresses that fourth amendment protects both home and area around it. In this case, the officer went into a backyard area where children played,

State v. Richard D. Yakes, 226 Wis.2d 425, 595 N.W.2d 108 (Ct. App. 1999)

Issue/Holding: Yakes owned a commercial enterprise, on whose property was a dumpster owned by the disposal company. The police, acting without a warrant, seized evidence from the dumpster. Yakes, the court of appeals holds, did not demonstrate a reasonable expectation of privacy as to his trash. The court adopts United States v. Hall,

State v. Melvin Thompson, 222 Wis. 2d 179, 585 N.W.2d 905 (Ct. App. 1998)
For Thompson: Phillip J. Brehm

Issue/Holding:

No published Wisconsin case has specifically addressed whether one has a reasonable expectation of privacy in a hospital emergency room or operating room. Accordingly, we analyze the question under the general approach for determining whether a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in an area where evidence is gathered.