 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
County of Jefferson v. Renz12/22/1999
977-78)(repealed 1981).
. Refusal to take this test subjected the driver to license revocation, unless the driver consented to a post-arrest chemical test. Wis. Stat. § 343.305(2)(a), (9)(c)(1977-78)(repealed 1981). The Legislative Reference Bureau's (LRB) analysis of the bill indicated that it authorized officers "to request persons suspected of driving under the influence of an intoxicant to submit to a preliminary breath test." 1977 A.B. 1.
. In 1981, as part of the budget bill, the legislature enacted amendments to the OWI laws that, among other changes, removed the PBT from Wis. Stat. § 343.305 and created Wis. Stat. § 343.303. §§ 1568b and d, ch. 20, Laws of 1981. Senator Adelman first introduced substantially similar changes in Senate Bill 310, which was never enacted. 1981 S.B. 310. The LRB analysis of Senate Bill 310 stated, in relevant part:
PRELIMINARY BREATH TEST
This proposal retains the present option for law enforcement officers to use a preliminary breath test to screen out potential violators. The results will still be inadmissible in any O.W.I. or related case, but the officer need not give a written notice to the person regarding the test. There will be no penalty for refusing to take a preliminary breath test.
1981 S.B. 310 (emphasis in original).
. Thus, both the 1977 and the 1981 LRB analyses indicate that the legislature intended the PBT to function as a preliminary screening tool, to be used by an officer during investigation of a person suspected of an OWI violation.
. Likewise, the language that the legislature chose to describe the test confirms that it intended the PBT to function as a screening tool to be used prior to arrest. The legislature entitled Wis. Stat. § 343.303 "Preliminary breath screening test," and the text of the statute also describes the test as a "preliminary breath screening test." The word "preliminary" means " rior to or preparing for the main matter, action, or business; introductory or prefatory." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 1429 (3d ed. 1992). Thus, when it described the test as "preliminary," the legislature clearly indicated that it intended the test to be a preparation for something else. It seems obvious that that something else-the main matter-is the arrest itself.
. The PBT will not function as a preliminary screening tool if an officer cannot request a PBT until after probable cause for the arrest has already been established. The LRB analyses and the language the legislature chose to describe the test therefore strongly suggest that the legislature intended to authorize an officer to request a PBT before establishing probable cause for arrest.
. It is true that during the drafting process in 1981, "reason to believe," LRB Drafting Record to 1981 S.B. 310, Draft of Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to 1981 S.B. 310 (LRBs0150/1), and "reasonably suspects," LRB Drafting Record to S.A. 125 to 1981 A.B. 66, (LRBb1636/1), were proposed as substitutes for "probable cause to believe." However, this fact does not persuade us that the legislature must have intended "probable cause to believe" to mean "probable cause for arrest." As we have explained, "probable cause to believe" refers to different degrees of proof at different stages of proceedings. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the legislature intended "probable cause to believe" to mean a level of proof greater than the reasonable suspicion necessary to justify an investigative stop but less than that required to establish probable cause for arrest.
. We also note that the 1981 amendments to the laws against driving while intoxicated se
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Wisconsin DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|