B. Search warrants

Search and Seizure — Probable cause to administer PBT; admitting numeric PBT result at suppression hearing

May 17, 2013

Village of Muscoda v. Samuel R. Anderson, 2012AP2216, District 4, 5/16/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity Police had probable cause to administer a PBT where: the officer noticed an odor of intoxicants emanating from Anderson or his vehicle; Anderson had bloodshot eyes and slightly slurred [...]

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OWI – probable cause to administer PBT

May 16, 2013

State v. Travis M. Ranta, 2012AP1663, District 4 (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity Police were called to a campsite where the defendant admitted to drinking with underage individuals.  An hour later, another officer was called to the same site, where he observed the defendant behaving in a “belligerent, uncooperative [...]

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Execution of search warrant — detention of person not in “immediate vicinity”

March 11, 2013

Bailey v. United States, USSC No. 11-770, 2/19/13 United States Supreme Court decision, reversing and remanding United States v. Bailey, 652 F.3d 197 (2d Cir. 2011). The Court holds it was not reasonable for police to seize an individual incident to the search of the individual’s residence when the individual [...]

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Search and seizure of vehicle — attaching GPS tracking device; warrant — scope, coverage of particular GPS device

March 11, 2013

State v. James G. Brereton, 2013 WI 17, affirming 2011 WI App 127; case activity Search and seizure of vehicle — attaching GPS tracking device After lawfully stopping Brereton, the police removed him from his car, towed it to a lot, and, after obtaining a warrant, attached a GPS tracking [...]

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OWI – probable cause to administer PBT

January 10, 2013

Dane County v. Steven D. Koehn, 2012AP1718, District 4, 1/10/13 Court of appeals decision (1 judge; ineligible for publication); case activity Motion to suppress evidence of intoxication properly denied because arresting officer had probable cause to administer a preliminary breath test. The court of appeals rejects Koehn’s claims that the [...]

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Search and seizure – order for real-time cell phone location tracking

December 28, 2012

State v. Bobby L. Tate, 2012AP336-CR, District 1, 12/27/12  Court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity Order allowing police to track the current location of cell phone upheld, rejecting Tate’s argument that it constituted an illegal search warrant: ¶8        The heart of Tate’s argument on appeal is that [...]

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OWI – Refusal – Probable Cause to Arrest

November 14, 2012

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 [...]

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Probable Cause – PBT, § 343.303; Blood Test Admissibility; Probable Cause – PBT, § 343.303

October 31, 2012

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 [...]

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Reasonable Suspicion, Probable Cause – OWI

October 25, 2012

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 [...]

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Probation Search: PBT Administered by Police Officer

October 24, 2012

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 [...]

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