a. Field Sobriety Testing

County of Winnebago v. Ryan C. Kaltenbach, 2022AP794, District 2, 1/18/23 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Though this is a “close case” (¶¶4, 11), the facts are sufficient to establish reasonable suspicion to detain Kaltenbach to have him perform field sobriety tests. Kaltenbach was stopped shortly after midnight because one of… Read more

State v. Jay G. Jacomet, 2021AP2186-CR, District 2, 10/12/22 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Under the totality of the circumstances, the police had a reasonable basis to suspect Jacomet was operating while intoxicated, so detaining him for field sobriety testing was lawful. ¶9     At the time he directed Jacomet to… Read more

County of Jefferson v. Julianne Trista Wedl, 2022AP328, 9/9/22, District 4 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Wedl was driving her car when she came upon another vehicle engulfed in flames. An off-duty police officer also happened by and stopped. When the first on-duty officer arrived, he approached Wedl, who seemed to… Read more

City of West Bend v. Peter F. Parsons, 2022AP98, 8/17/22, District 2 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) This is an appeal of convictions for violating local ordinances in conformity with the state laws outlawing OWI. The court of appeals affirms. An officer stopped Parsons’s vehicle after midnight during a snowstorm, thinking… Read more

State v. Michael Justin Schwersinske, Jr., 2022AP162-CR, District 2, 8/10/22 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Schwersinske concedes the lawfulness of the initial stop of the car he was driving for crossing the centerline of Highway 151. But he argues, unsuccessfully, that the officer didn’t have reasonable suspicion to extend the stop… Read more

County v. Buffalo v. Kevin J. Rich, 2020AP1526, 6/7/22, District 3 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) The court of appeals rejected all three of Rich’s challenges to his OWI 1st conviction. It held that the deputy did have reasonable suspicion to stop Rich’s jeep and to expand the stop to require… Read more

State v. Nicholas Reed Adell, 2021 WI App 72; case activity (including briefs) Reversing a circuit court order suppressing evidence, the court of appeals holds the totality of the circumstances gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that Adell was driving with a prohibited alcohol concentration (PAC) and that police could extend the traffic stop to… Read more