The Court granted certiorari and consolidated three cases presenting identical questions in different factual permutations: Question presented (Birchfield v. North Dakota); (Beylund v. Levi); (Bernard v. Minnesota): Whether, in the absence of a warrant, a State may make it a crime for a person to refuse to take a chemical test to detect the presence of… Read more
b. Acquiescence
State v. David M. Wagner, 2014AP842-CR, District 2, 2/25/15 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Wagner voluntarily consented to a search of his person, and was not merely “[a]cquiesc[ing] to an unlawful assertion of police authority,” State v. Johnson, 2007 WI 32, 16, 299 Wis. 2d 675, 729 N.W.2d 182, when he agreed to the… Read more
State v. Gary A. Johnson, 2007 WI 32, affirming 2006 WI App 15 For Johnson: Eileen A. Hirsch, SPD, Madison Appellate Issue: Whether Johnson’s statement, “I don’t have a problem with that,” made in response to an officer’s assertion that they were “going to search the vehicle” was voluntary consent or mere acquiescence. Holding: ¶19 As the record… Read more
State v. Gary A. Johnson, 2007 WI 32, affirming 2006 WI App 15 For Johnson: Eileen A. Hirsch, SPD, Madison Appellate Issue/Holding: ¶16 When the purported legality of a warrantless search is based on the consent of the defendant, that consent must be freely and voluntarily given. State v. Phillips, 218 Wis. 2d 180, 197, 577 N.W.2d 794… Read more
State v. Jed A. Giebel, 2006 WI App 239 For Giebel: Robert E. Bellin, Jr. Issue/Holding: ¶12 The test for voluntariness asks whether consent was given in the “absence of actual coercive, improper police practices designed to overcome the resistance of a defendant.” State v. Clappes, 136 Wis. 2d 222, 245, 401 N.W.2d 759 (1987). In making… Read more
State v. Jed A. Giebel, 2006 WI App 239 For Giebel: Robert E. Bellin, Jr. Issue: Whether Giebel’s “consent” to a search of his computer, in response to a police claim of a subpoena and accompanied by an expression that Giebel assumed he had no choice, was voluntary or mere acquiescence to asserted police authority. Holding: ¶17… Read more
State v. Charles A. Wallace, 2002 WI App 61 For Wallace: Martha K. Askins, SPD, Madison Appellate Issue: Whether Wallace voluntarily consented, or merely acquiesced, to a strip search following arrest for a minor traffic violation. Holding: ¶19. The police made their request during the booking process and before Wallace’s bond had been posted. We concur… Read more
State v. John Tomlinson, Jr., 2002 WI 91, affirming 2002 WI App 212, 247 Wis. 2d 682, 635 N.W.2d 201 For Tomlinson: John J. Gray Issue: Whether the actions of the defendant’s minor daughter, in opening the door to the police and then walking back into the house when they asked for permission to enter, amounted consent for… Read more
