State v. Yunus E. Turkmen, 2018AP1673-CR, District 3, 8/13/19 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)
An officer stopped Turkmen after he made a U-turn in the middle of an intersection and squealed his tires loudly. (¶3). Based on that conduct and information obtained and observations made after the stop, there was a reasonable basis to extend the stop to conduct field sobriety tests.
¶13 …. The stop occurred at 2:38 a.m. on a Saturday morning, which is relevant because it was at bar-closing time, and it “is a matter of common knowledge that people tend to drink during the weekend when they do not have to go to work the following morning.” See State v. Lange, 2009 WI 49, ¶32, 317 Wis. 2d 383, 766 N.W.2d 551. Further, [Officer] Schlichting saw Turkmen “running back and forth” in close proximity to bars just prior to the stop. Turkmen also admitted to having consumed alcohol and displayed some confusion when trying to locate his driver’s license.
¶14 Additionally, Turkmen’s driving prior to the stop evinced the type of poor decision-making and increased impulsivity one would expect from a person driving while under the influence of an intoxicant. Turkmen made a U-turn and squealed his vehicle’s tires in a business district. Regardless of whether the U-turn was legal, the circuit court characterized it as “fairly dangerous” because it occurred at bar close in an area populated with bars and, importantly, patrons leaving those bars…. Moreover, Turkmen’s ill-considered decision to conduct a U-turn at an unsafe speed was in response to his “friend telling him to do something cool”—i.e., a dare. Considering the totality of the facts and circumstances before and during the stop, Schlichting reasonably suspected Turkmen of driving under the influence of an intoxicant and, therefore, lawfully extended the stop to administer field sobriety tests to Turkmen.
