On Point blog, page 24 of 28
Reasonable Suspicion — Stop – Duration – Routine Traffic Offense – Prolonged to Seek Consent to Search Automobile
State v. Joseph R. Luebeck, 2006 WI App 87, (State’s) PFR filed 5/17/06
For Luebeck: Alex Flynn; Adam B. Stephens; Rebecca Robin Lawnicki
Issue: Whether the traffic stop, valid at inception, was impermissibly extended so as to invalidate consent to search the car.
Holding:
¶14 … (I)n its decision reaffirming the order granting Luebeck’s motion to suppress the evidence, the circuit court stated:
I don’t think any reasonable person would have felt this encounter had concluded and that he was free to leave.
Terry Stop — Basis – Informant: “Citizen” vs. “Confidential,” Generally
State v. Calvin R. Kolk, 2006 WI App 261
For Kolk: Michael Zell
Issue/Holding:
¶12 … Though there is some confusion in the case law, we believe that the distinction is that a confidential informant is a person, often with a criminal past him- or herself, who assists the police in identifying and catching criminals, while a citizen informant is someone who happens upon a crime or suspicious activity and reports it to police.
Terry Stop — Basis – Informant: Corroboration Lacking
State v. Calvin R. Kolk, 2006 WI App 261
For Kolk: Michael Zell
Issue/Holding: Information provided by a named, citizen informant (that Kolk had picked up drugs in Milwaukee and would be driving to Madison) was insufficiently reliable to support reasonable suspicion of criminal activity:
¶17 To recapitulate, the police were able to corroborate: (1) Kolk’s identity; (2) what kind of vehicle he drove; and (3) the fact that he would drive it,
Terry Stop – Basis – Anonymous Tip, And Suspicious Behavior
State v. Eugene Patton, 2006 WI App 235
For Patton: Daniel R. Clausz
Issue/Holding
¶10 Under appropriate circumstances, an informant’s tip can provide a law enforcement officer with reasonable suspicion to effectuate a Terry stop. Rutzinski, 241 Wis. 2d 729, ¶17; J.L., 529 U.S. at 270. However, before acting on an informant’s tip,
Stop – Basis – Reasonable Suspicion, “Problem Area,” “Lingering” in Car
State v. Charles E. Young, 2006 WI 98, affirming 2004 WI App 227
For Young: Martha K. Askins, SPD, Madison Appellate
Issue/Holding: The police had reasonable suspicion to stop Young because: he was in a parked car with Illinois plates, which had “lingered” for 5 or 10 minutes around midnight around the corner from a bar, in a “problem area”:
¶64 Although there are innocent explanations for why five people would be sitting in a car for five to 10 minutes,
Reasonable Suspicion – Stop – Basis – Test: Failure to Yield to Authority
State v. Damian Darnell Washington, 2005 WI App 123
For Washington: Diana M. Felsmann, SPD, Milwaukee Appellate
Issue/Holding:
¶13 In United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544 (1980), the Supreme Court stated that “[w]e adhere to the view that a person is ‘seized’ only when, by means of physical force or a show of authority, his freedom of movement is restrained[,]” id.
Terry Stop – Basis – Anonymous Tip, Generally
State v. Eugene Patton, 2006 WI App 235
For Patton: Daniel R. Clausz
Issue: Whether the police had reasonable suspicion to detain on the basis of an anonymous tip, where the suspects not only matched the description of the anonymously-reported armed robbery, but also engaged in potentially suspicious behavior in response to police presence.
Holding:
¶21 Thus, the instant case has more than J.L.
Stop – Basis – Reasonable Suspicion, “Evasion and Flight”
State v. Charles E. Young, 2006 WI 98, affirming 2004 WI App 227
For Young: Martha K. Askins, SPD, Madison Appellate
Issue/Holding: Refusal to obey an officer’s command to halt reinforces extant reasonable suspicion to stop the individual:
¶73 Officer Alfredson testified that after he ordered Young to return to the car the first time, Young “turned and started walking away.”
Stop – Duration – Traffic Offense – Prolonged by Seeking Consent to Search
State v. Calvin R. Kolk, 2006 WI App 261
For Kolk: Michael Zell
Issue/Holding: The (lawful) traffic stop’s purpose concluded when the officer returned Kolk’s license and registration and issued his warning; however, the officer had not released Kolk from the temporary detention caused by the traffic stop when he next asked for consent to search the car and as a result Kolk’s ensuing consent was tainted,
Reasonable Suspicion – Stop – Duration – Routine Traffic Offense
State v. Reginald Jones / Maurice E. O’Neal, 2005 WI App 26, (AG’s) PFR filed 2/23/05
For Jones: John P. Tedesco, SPD, Madison Appellate
For O’Neal: Jess Martinez
Issue/Holding: Though the facts are almost indistinguishable from those in State v. Lawrence A. Williams, 2002 WI 94, 255 Wis. 2d 1, 646 N.W.2d 834, consent to search a car immediately after conclusion of a routine traffic stop was (unlike Williams) the product of an illegal detention.