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County of Jefferson v. Renz12/22/1999
but perhaps unsatisfactory result" that the legislature may wish to consider. Id. at 447 n.22. The court concluded that its construction was nonetheless the only reasonable one, id. at 447, because it believed that "probable cause" in this context was clearly defined in case law to mean "probable cause to arrest" and that the legislative history supported this interpretation, id. at 443.
. We do not agree that case law and legislative history compel this construction of Wis. Stat. § 343.303. Instead, we conclude that our case law establishes that "probable cause to believe" has different meanings at different stages of criminal proceedings. Furthermore, the legislative history shows that the legislature intended to allow an officer to request a PBT as a screening test before establishing probable cause for an OWI arrest.
. Probable cause is not an unvarying standard because "each decision at the various stages of the proceedings is an independent determination with the varying burdens of proof." Knoblock, 44 Wis. 2d at 134. Thus, the level of proof needed to establish probable cause for an arrest is less than that needed to bind a defendant over for trial after a preliminary examination. Knoblock, 44 Wis. 2d at 134; Taylor, 55 Wis. 2d at 173. See also In the Interest of T.R.B., 109 Wis. 2d 179, 188-89, 325 N.W.2d 329 (1982)(explaining that the requisite degree of probable cause varies with the different function of the probable cause determination at different stages of proceedings) and State v. Dunn, 121 Wis. 2d at 396-98 (discussing the function of the probable cause determination at a preliminary hearing as compared to the other stages of proceedings). Similarly, the level of proof needed to establish probable cause at a hearing on the revocation of a driver's license is less than that needed to establish probable cause at a suppression hearing. State v. Wille, 185 Wis. 2d at 682.
. This is true despite the fact that nearly identical language, "probable cause to believe" that a person has violated the law, describes the probable cause inquiry at different stages of proceedings. Cf. Wis. Stat. § 343.305(9)(a) (providing that at a refusal hearing, the issue is "whether the officer had probable cause to believe the person" was violating the OWI laws) with Wis. Stat. § 968.04 (providing that an arrest warrant may issue when there is "probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed and that the accused has committed it") and Wis. Stat. § 970.03(1) (providing that the purpose of a preliminary examination is to determine whether there is "probable cause to believe a felony has been committed by the defendant"). Thus, the same language, "probable cause to believe," indicates different levels of proof at different stages of proceedings. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the legislature intended the language "probable cause to believe" in the first sentence of Wis. Stat. § 343.303 to mean a level of proof appropriate to that stage in the proceedings and less than that required to establish probable cause for arrest.
. For these reasons, we are not persuaded by the defendant's argument that because the legislature created a lower proof requirement for PBT tests of commercial drivers under Wis. Stat. § 343.303, "probable cause to believe" must mean "probable cause for arrest." With regard to commercial drivers, an officer may request a PBT upon the detection of "any presence" of an intoxicant or if the officer has "reason to believe" that the driver is operating a vehicle while intoxicated. § 343.303. Thus, the legislature authorizes police officers to request a commercial driver to submit to a PBT with a minimum of suspicion.
. It does
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