 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Hughes3/17/2000
Complete Title of Case:
ON REVIEW OF A DECISION OF THE COURT OF APPEALS
Opinion Filed: March 17, 2000 Submitted on Briefs: Oral Argument: October 5, 1999
Source of APPEAL COURT: Circuit COUNTY: Milwaukee JUDGE: Laurence Gram
JUSTICES: Concurred: Dissented: BRADLEY, J., dissents (opinion filed). ABRAHAMSON, C.J., and BABLITCH, J., join dissent. Not Participating:
REVIEW of a decision of the Court of Appeals. Reversed.
This case involves a warrantless police entry into a home. The officers in question were at the threshold of the defendant's apartment about to investigate a complaint of trespassing when the door was unexpectedly opened, and they immediately detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside. The officers also deduced a distinct possibility that any evidence of the drug would be destroyed if they did not immediately enter, since the people in the apartment were now alerted to their presence. The question in the case is, under these circumstances, does the combination of the strong odor of marijuana coming from the apartment, and the knowledge on the part of the occupants that the police are standing outside, amount to exigent circumstances justifying the warrantless entry and subsequent search? We hold that it does, and therefore reverse the court of appeals decision that reversed the circuit court's order upholding this search.
. The relevant facts are as follows. Sometime between 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on June 4, 1996, City of Milwaukee Police Officers Brad Schlei and Scott Marlock responded to a report of trespassing made by Richard Lucas, a security guard at the Windsor Court Apartments, 1127 North 18th Street. The officers knew the complex to be an area of heavy drug activity where the police had made many arrests and had conducted sweeps in the past.
. Upon arriving at Windsor Court, the officers spoke directly with Lucas, who informed them that the apartment manager had a standing trespass complaint against Michael Webb, Danny Smith and Marvin Webb, who were not welcome there because of their involvement with illegal drugs and because they had caused trouble at the complex in the past. Lucas reported that he had seen Smith and Michael Webb on the premises and that they had entered Apartment 306, which was later identified as the defendant Vanessa Hughes' apartment. Officer Schlei was familiar with both men, and, in fact, had arrested Smith in the past.
. The officers went to Apartment 306 to investigate. They knocked on the door. Although they could hear loud music and many voices inside the apartment, they received no response. Concerned by the apparent number of people inside the apartment, Officer Schlei decided to call for back up and await its arrival before knocking again.
. As Schlei and Marlock waited in the hallway outside Apartment 306, the door suddenly opened and the officers were immediately confronted with (a) a very strong odor of marijuana coming from the apartment, and (b) a very surprised Veronica Hughes, the defendant's sister, who apparently was on her way to the store and did not expect to see two Milwaukee police officers in full uniform standing in the hallway. She tried to slam the door. The officers, now in possession of evidence of illegal activity beyond a mere trespass, and their presence having been revealed to those inside the apartment through no action of their own, were faced with a changed situation. Concerned that the people inside would destroy any drug evidence if an immediate entry were not undertaken, the officers prevented Veronica from closing the door and went in.
. There was initial chaos in
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Wisconsin DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|