On Point blog, page 35 of 59
OWI — reasonable suspicion for traffic stop and OWI investigation
State v. Tony L. Wyatt, 2013AP728-CR, District 2, 8/28/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge; ineligible for publication); case activity
A sheriff’s deputy stopped the car Wyatt was driving after checking the license plate of a car driving in front of the deputy and determining the car’s owner—a female—didn’t have a valid driver’s license. If the deputy didn’t know before the stop that the driver was male, the stop was lawful under State v.
Dog sniff and search of car were unlawful because officer unreasonably extended the duration of the stop
State v. Kenneth C. House, 2013 WI App 111; case activity
House was stopped for operating with a suspended registration. After running House’s license and learning he was on probation for a drug offense, the officer returned House’s license and issued him a warning for the suspended registration. The officer then retrieved his police dog who, after sniffing around the vehicle, alerted on the driver and passenger doors.
Field sobriety tests may be a “search” under the Fourth Amendment, but that doesn’t change the legal standard governing when an officer may request they be performed
Town of Freedom v. Matthew W. Fellinger, 2013AP614, District 3, 8/6/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge; ineligible for publication); case activity
Fellinger argues that field sobriety tests are searches under the Fourth Amendment because “[a]n inherent right as a human being is to control and coordinate the actions of [his or her] own body[,]” and, therefore “a fundamental expectation of privacy is implicated when a person is subject to the performance of [field sobriety tests].” (¶12).
Terry stop was unlawful because there was no reasonable suspicion to believe defendant was loitering or dealing drugs
State v. Ryan Erik Diggins, 2012AP526-CR, District 1, 7/30/13; court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity
There was no objectively reasonable suspicion that Diggins was loitering in violation of Milwaukee’s loitering ordinance, § 106-31(1), where Diggins was seen standing for five minutes, doing nothing, at a gas station– “a place to which the public is invited”–and then moved across the street to a bus stop–“another equally public place”–even though both places were in a high crime area:
¶13 Here,
County ordinance prohibiting squealing of tires not unconstitutionally vague, so traffic stop based on suspicion of violation of ordinance was reasonable
State v. Michael E. Mauermann, 2012AP2568-CR, District 4, 7/25/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge; ineligible for publication); case activity
Iowa County Ordinance § 600.08 provides that “[n]o person shall operate a motor vehicle so as to make any loud, disturbing or unnecessary noise in or about any public street, alley, park or private residence which may tend to annoy or disturb another by causing the tires of said vehicle to squeal,
Traffic stop — reasonable suspicion to believe break-in was occurring
State v. John C. Baker, 2012AP2163-CR, District 2/4, 5/30/13; court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity
The totality of the circumstances shows a police officer could reasonably suspect that a break-in had occurred or was about to occur at the time the officer temporarily detained Baker for the purpose of investigating that reasonable suspicion. The court concludes that even though “pulling one’s vehicle into a closed business during the middle of the night,
OWI – probable cause to administer PBT
State v. Travis M. Ranta, 2012AP1663, District 4 (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity
Police were called to a campsite where the defendant admitted to drinking with underage individuals. An hour later, another officer was called to the same site, where he observed the defendant behaving in a “belligerent, uncooperative [and] loud” manner. A PBT showed the defendant had a .156 BAC, so he was informed that he couldn’t drive his truck out of the campsite.
Court finds reasonable suspicion for traffic stop and standing to challenge it
County of Fond Du Lac v. Nathan M. Kohlwey, 2013AP101-FT, District 2, May 1, 2013; (not recommended for publication); case activity.
This appeal may take the prize for the skimpiest briefs–the appellant’s is 6 pages and the respondent’s is 3. This post is even shorter.
After receiving a 911 call about a driver who had fallen asleep in a truck at a stop sign, sheriff’s deputies stopped a different car,
Traffic stop — OWI — probable cause to request PBT
Fond du Lac County v. Ian A. Niquette, 2012AP2708, District 2, 4/24/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity
Police had probable cause to have Niquette do a PBT despite his good performance on the field sobriety tests, applying State v. Felton, 2012 WI App 114, ¶10, 344 Wis. 2d 483, 824 N.W.2d 871:
¶5 …. Niquette crashed his truck into the back of a parked vehicle in a twenty-five-mile-per-hour speed zone with enough force to flip his vehicle onto its side.
Reasonable suspicion to extend traffic stop to investigate OWI
City of Oshkosh v. Ernest D. Lehl, 2012AP2717, District 2, 4/24/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity
Police had reasonable suspicion to extend a traffic stop and request Lehl to perform field sobriety tests because there were specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warranted the intrusion of the extended stop. State v. Post,