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[T] City of Oshkosh v. Palecek-Baerwald3/26/2003
. Christine K. Palecek-Baerwald appeals from a forfeiture judgment of conviction for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OWI), as a first offense, contrary to Wis. Stat. § 346.63(1)(a). She contends that the trial court afforded too much weight to the preliminary breath test (PBT) results in determining the existence of probable cause.
. We conclude, based on Wis. Stat. § 343.303 and our supreme court's holding in County of Jefferson v. Renz, 231 Wis. 2d 293, 603 N.W.2d 541 (1999), that the trial court properly considered the PBT results in determining probable cause to arrest. We further conclude that the trial court's determination of probable cause rested on the totality of the circumstances and not, as Palecek-Baerwald asserts, exclusively on the PBT results. We affirm.
FACTS
. Palecek-Baerwald was cited for OWI on March 16, 2002. She filed a motion to suppress evidence on June 5, 2002. At the hearing on the motion, Officer Jody Brieder of the City of Oshkosh Police Department testified that on March 16, 2002, at 1:54 a.m., he observed the vehicle driven by Palecek-Baerwald take a wide turn, coming "very close to the center line." Palecek-Baerwald was traveling in the opposite direction of Brieder, who watched Palecek-Baerwald's vehicle in his rearview mirror "weaving back and forth ... and getting close to the center line." Brieder turned around to follow Palecek-Baerwald's vehicle which continued to weave. When the vehicle approached an intersection where the road divides into a number of different lanes, it "came to almost a dead stop in the middle of the road." The lights at the intersection were flashing yellow at the time. The vehicle then went into the right-turn lane and turned right, making a wide turn and touching the white dotted line twice and the center line once. The vehicle stayed within its traffic lane.
. After observing the vehicle weave through two more turns and travel in the wrong lane of traffic for a short period of time, Brieder initiated a traffic stop. Brieder made contact with the driver, later identified as Palecek-Baerwald, and noted the odor of intoxicants coming from the vehicle. He additionally detected that Palecek-Baerwald had slurred speech and glassy eyes. Palecek-Baerwald testified that she informed Brieder that she had been drinking a beer approximately every thirty to forty-five minutes from 7:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m.
. Brieder asked Palecek-Baerwald to do field sobriety tests. Brieder administered the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test and observed all six clues of intoxication. Palecek-Baerwald additionally failed the other tests-the "walk-and-turn" test, the "one-leg stand" and the counting test. Brieder then administered a PBT which indicated a blood alcohol level of .178 grams. Brieder placed Palecek-Baerwald under arrest for OWI.
. The trial court denied Palecek-Baerwald's motion to suppress. In making its determination, the trial court noted that Brieder observed "what he felt was inappropriate, erratic type driving," which in the court's opinion provided an appropriate reason to stop the vehicle. The court also noted the odor of intoxicants and Palecek-Baerwald's admission that she had been consuming alcohol.
. With respect to the field sobriety tests, the court stated: "Now, these tests I recognize are very difficult tests for even sober people to do.... I don't give a great deal of deference to these tests individually.... I look at an overall observation of the officer." The court then noted that Palecek-Baerwald "was able to reasonably do these tests." Finally the court stated:
he final blow is now they all ask individuals to take a PBT
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