Village of Little Chute v. John D. Bunnell, 2012AP1266, District 3, 11/14/12 court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity Officer’s failure to perform FSTs pursuant to established protocols (HGN test requires 4-second pass-of-the-eye, and officer used 2-second pass), “compromises the validity of the test results,” and therefore “cannot be used to support a determination of probable cause to arrest,” ¶19… Read more
B. Search warrants
Winnebago County v. Anastasia G. Christenson, 2012AP1189, District 2, 10/31/12 court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity Probable Cause – PBT, § 343.303 ¶11 At the time Putzer administered the PBT to Christenson, he was aware that she had driven her car into a ditch, smelled of “intoxicating beverages” around midnight on Saturday… Read more
court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity State v. Andrew Wheaton, 2012AP173-CR Reasonable Suspicion – OWI Presence of the following factors establish reasonable suspicion to stop Wheaton for impaired driving: ¶23 The State points to the following as factors that produced an objectively reasonable suspicion of impaired driving at the time of the stop: (1) Wheaton… Read more
State v. Marilee F. Devries, 2012 WI App 119 (recommended for publication); case activity Devries’ probation agent, after detecting alcohol on her breath during a visit at the probation office, had a law enforcement officer administer a preliminary breath test. One thing led to another and she was convicted of OWI. She challenges the PBT… Read more
State v. Timothy W. Bastian, 2012AP793-CR, District 3, 9/25/12 court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity The court holds, without resolving the issue of whether reasonable suspicion sufficed, that probable cause supported Bastian’s traffic stop for inattentive driving, given “the circuit court’s factual determination that Bastian was ‘looking towards the passenger seat’”: ¶10 Wisconsin Stat. § 346.89… Read more
State v. Portia M. Meyer, 2012AP206-CR, District 4, 9/20/12 court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity Assuming that the police placed Meyer under arrest when handcuffing her and placing her in the back of a squad car following a traffic accident, they had probable cause to do so for failure to yield… Read more
State v. Christopher J. Felton, 2012 WI App 114 (recommended for publication); case activity Search & Seizure – PBT – Probable Cause Notwithstanding that Felton passed field sobriety tests, probable cause existed to administer a preliminary breath test. ¶8 This section does not require that the officer have probable cause to arrest a driver for drunk… Read more
State v. Nick E. Sammon, District 2, 2011AP682-CR, 7/25/12 court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity Search Warrant – Erroneous Information in Application A detective’s application for a search warrant of Sammons’ residence asserted that Sammons had been convicted in Texas for drug and burglary offenses (in fact, both had been dismissed… Read more
