On Point: 35. Search & Seizure

State v. Jason L. Sedahl, 2010AP1097-CR, District 3, 10/5/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Sedahl: William A. Schembera; BiC; Resp.

The trial court erred in dismissing a pending charge on the theory that the charge (OWI) resulted from police failure to perform their community caretaker function (preventing him from driving):

¶12      …  No Wisconsin case holds that the doctrine places an affirmative duty on police to intercede and take a person into preventative detention prior to the commission of a crime. 

Docket

Decision below (KY supreme court)

Question Presented (from USSC docket post):

Police officers entered an apartment building in hot pursuit of a person who sold crack cocaine to an undercover informant. They heard a door slam, but were not certain which of two apartments the trafficker fled into. A strong odor of marijuana emanated from one of the doors, which prompted the officers to believe the trafficker had fled into that apartment.

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Grenie: John C. Orth; Steven J. House; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Traffic Stop – Blue Lights

Traffic stop for having blue lights lit on front of vehicle, upheld. (§ 347.07(2)(a) bars display of “(a)ny color of light other than white or amber visible from directly in front.”)

¶6        Grenie essentially asks this court to credit testimony by his two witnesses suggesting that the blue lights were “never” operational over the officer’s testimony that he saw the lights lit when Grenie’s Jeep passed him.

State v. Seneca Joseph Boykin, 2009AP2499-CR, District 2, 9/22/10

court of appeals decision (3-judge, not recommended for publication); for Boykin: Mark A. Schoenfeldt; BiC; Resp.

A probation agent may not evade the warrant requirement by acting as a “stalking horse” for the police in conducting a warrantless search of a probationer’s residence, ¶10. In this instance, probation officer Navis, acting on reliable information that Boykin was using and selling cocaine,

State v. Joseph Donald Peacock, 2010AP954-CR, District 3, 9/21/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Peacock: James R. Phelan; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Because the officer knew from previous contacts, including one a mere 6 days prior, that Peacock’s driver’s license was suspended, he had reasonable suspicion to stop Peacock’s vehicle even though there were multiple occupants and the officer couldn’t see the driver.

State v. Jerome Hoehne, 2009AP2561-CR, District 4, 9/15/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Hoehen: Bill Ginsberg; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Probable Cause – Traffic Violation: Driving in Center Lane

Driving in the center lane of a 3-lane highway did not support probable cause to arrest for a traffic violation:

¶8        On appeal,

City of Tomah v. Matthew Pudlow, 2010AP1044, District 4, 9/15/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Pudlow: Rick Niemeier, Maggie Premo; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Traveling in reverse at 30 mph, near an intersection with a highway, provided reasonable suspicion to stop:

¶13      The totality of the circumstances provided Officer Furlano with reasonable suspicion to justify an investigative stop of the vehicle in order to investigate Pudlow’s driving behavior,

City of Oshkosh v. Richard A. Selquist, 2010AP862, District 2, 9/1/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Selquist: Walter Arthur Piel, Jr.; BiC; Resp.; Reply

The police had reasonable suspicion to continue temporary detention of Selquist and to request filed sobriety testing while investigating a traffic accident:

¶7        …  In reviewing whether the officer’s further investigation and request for field sobriety tests were warranted,

County of Milwaukee v. Katherine R. Harmon, 2010AP297, District 1, 8/24/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Harmon: Basil M. Loeb; BiC; Resp.

Traffic stop supported by reasonable suspicion of impaired driving based on: driving on lane-divider lines, crossing lane-divider by half-foot, and “jerkiness in … front steer tires.”

The court notes that while “merely weaving within the confines of a driver’s traffic lane is not sufficient to support reasonable suspicion sufficient to make a traffic stop …,

State v. Jacquese Franklin Harrell, 2010 WI App 132; for Harrell: Michael S. Holzman; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Terry Frisk – House

The police had both reasonable suspicion that Harrell had committed a violent crime, and consent to be in his house to question him. Therefore, police inspection of a chair for possible weapons before allowing Harrell to sit in it,