State v. Steven L. Sternitzky, 2019AP2185-CR, District 4, 11/5/20 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Sternitzky argues he was arrested for OWI without probable cause and that his trial on the charge was marred by the judge’s instruction to the jury regarding the presumption of intoxication and automatic admissibility of chemical test… Read more
4. Probable cause to arrest
State v. Andrew W. Bunn, 2019AP2127-CR, 9/9/20, District 1 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity One evening, an unknown woman approached a cop car in a church parking lot near a playground and said that two adults were having oral sex in a pickup truck on the other side of a fence. The cops… Read more
State v. Brandon Daniel Mulvenna, 201AP2341-CR, 7/9/20, District 4 , (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Mulvenna wasn’t operating his motorcycle when an officer, responding to a call, arrived to find him trying to lift it while it was facing south on a northbound only roadway. Mulvenna had bloodshot eyes and slurred… Read more
State v. Katelyn Marie Leach, 2019AP1830-CR, 4/16/20, District 4, (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication; case activity (including briefs) Leach pled “no contest” to 2nd offense operating a motor vehicle with a restricted substance. She moved to suppress evidence that she gave an officer after he told her that (a) if she only had paraphernalia or… Read more
State v. Michael R. McGinnis, 2018AP1388-CR, District 3, 10/8/19 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) An officer investigating a hit-and-run at the Happy Hollow Tavern unlawfully pushed his way into McGinnis’s home and then arrested him. The state concedes the officer’s entry was unlawful, so the evidence and statements police obtained while in… Read more
State v. Scott J. Faruzzi, 2019AP167-CR, 9/25/19, District 2, (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Don’t pinch yourself! You’re not dreaming. An officer stopped Faruzzi’s truck for a “welfare check” due to some “possible family troubles.” But then he performed a series of FST’s and asked Faruzzi to submit to a preliminary… Read more
City of West Allis v. James M. Gregg, 2018AP1326, District 1, 5/14/19 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Sure, the car wasn’t running by the time the officer pulled up behind it with his squad lights flashing. But that doesn’t mean the officer lacked probable cause to believe the guy behind the… Read more
State v. Timothy Edward Curtis, 2018AP920-CR, 4/2/19, District 3, (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) The State charged Curtis with a 2nd offense OWI. He moved to suppress evidence obtained after his arrest on the grounds that the officer didn’t have probable cause for the arrest in the first place. He lost… Read more
