On Point blog, page 24 of 28

Reasonable Suspicion — Stop, Duration, Routine Traffic Violation

State v. Gary A. Johnson, 2007 WI 32, affirming 2006 WI App 15
For Johnson: Eileen A. Hirsch, SPD, Madison Appellate

Issue/Holding:

¶45      Another factor weighs strongly against the reasonableness of the protective search in this case. Before Johnson was asked to exit the vehicle and submit to a pat down, he gave Stillman paperwork showing that his vehicle had passed an emissions test recently,

Read full article >

Stop – Basis – Already-Parked Car (Dicta)

State v. Charles E. Young, 2006 WI 98, affirming 2004 WI App 227
For Young: Martha K. Askins, SPD, Madison Appellate

(Apparent Dicta): Though a “close question,” in that “(w)hen a marked squad car pulls up behind a car, activates emergency flashers, and points a spotlight at the car, it certainly presents indicia of police authority,” ¶65, the court is “reluctant to conclude that the positioning of the officer’s car,

Read full article >

Stop – Basis – Test: Failure to Yield to Authority / Hodari D.

State v. Charles E. Young, 2006 WI 98, affirming 2004 WI App 227
For Young: Martha K. Askins, SPD, Madison Appellate

Issue/Holding:

¶26      Under Hodari D. and Kelsey, an uncomplied-with show of authority cannot constitute a seizure. …

¶37      Mendenhall is the appropriate test for situations where the question is whether a person submitted to a police show of authority because,

Read full article >

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.

Read full article >

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. 

Read full article >

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,

Read full article >

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,

Read full article >

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,

Read full article >

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.

Read full article >

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.

Read full article >