State v. Michael Chough, 2016AP406-CR, District 2, 1/25/17 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Chough’s challenge to the reliability of expert testimony regarding his blood alcohol content at the time he was driving fails under State v. Giese, 2014 WI App 92, 356 Wis. 2d 796, 854 N.W.2d 687. ¶20 We see… Read more
4. Probable cause to arrest
State v. Jimmie C. Johnson, 2015AP1233-CR, 2015AP2260-CR, 1/11/17, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) When J.T. stepped out of her car in the parking lot of the West Allis Chuck E. Cheese she spotted a purple “Crown Royal” bag outside the driver’s door of the Chevy Tahoe next to her. It contained 69… Read more
Washington County v. Daniel L. Schmidt, 2016AP908, District 2, 11/30/16 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Schmidt makes a three-pronged attack on the revocation of his driving privileges for refusing a chemical test, arguing he was seized without reasonable suspicion, arrested without probable cause, and did not improperly refuse a test. The court… Read more
Village of Bayside v. Amber E. Schoeller, 2016AP256 & 2016AP257, District 1, 8/9/16 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) The circuit court’s factual findings—which Schoeller doesn’t argue are clearly erroneous—doom her claims that the officer didn’t have probable cause to arrest her and that the evidence isn’t sufficient to prove she’s guilty of… Read more
State v. Alejandro Herrera Ayala, 2015AP865-CR, District 3, 7/26/16 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) The court of appeals affirms the circuit court’s findings that the manner in which standardized field sobriety tests were administered to Herrera Ayala was “fatally flawed” because of “significant communication issues” between the officer and Herrera Ayala… Read more
State v. Mark G. McCaskill, 2015AP1487-CR, District 4, 7/21/16 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) McCaskill’s challenges to his arrest and conviction for operating with a prohibited alcohol content don’t persuade the court of appeals. At 12:30 a.m. an officer found McCaskill in the driver’s seat of a car parked with its lights on… Read more
United States v. Gregorio Paniagua-Garcia, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 15-2540, 2/18/16 The stop of Paniagua-Garcia for texting while driving was unlawful because the officer had no basis for concluding Paniagua-Garcia was using his cellphone to send a text or email as opposed to using it in some way that isn’t prohibited. An Indiana… Read more
In Heien v. North Carolina, SCOTUS held that an officer’s “reasonable” mistake of law can give rise to the reasonable suspicion needed to justify a traffic. And SCOW followed suit in State v. Houghton. If you are researching this issue, you might want to take a look at this new case note in Harvard Law… Read more
