 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
County of Green Lake v. Polakowski6/30/2004
A warrantless entry into a private residence is presumptively unreasonable. Contrary to the trial court's ruling, the protections of the Fourth Amendment are not contingent upon a sheriff deputy's subjective belief that the suspect being pursued is not the owner of the residence that the deputy entered without a warrant; therefore, we reverse the denial of Donna Polakowski's motion to suppress.
. Green Lake County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Manning was conducting a routine traffic stop at 1:51 a.m. on January 26, 2003, when he heard a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed, in excess of the fixed thirty-five mile per hour limit for the road he was stopped on. He watched the vehicle stop twenty feet behind his parked squad for thirty seconds, back up and turn down another road. He then saw this vehicle stop on the road fifteen feet beyond a driveway, backup and turn into the driveway. Needless to say, Manning considered this driving out of the ordinary and decided to investigate. He drove into the driveway, turned off his emergency lights and parked some distance behind the vehicle with his squad on an angle so his headlights would light up the area. Manning watched a female, eventually identified as Polakowski, get out on the driver's side, and as she walked toward the house, he beeped his squad's horn and said, twice, "Hey, I need to speak with you."
. Polakowski continued into the residence with Manning close behind. Manning prevented her from closing the door into the residence and entered the residence right on her heels. Inside, Polakowski was uncooperative and did not want to go outside with Manning. Manning went over to Polakowski, grabbed her by the arm and escorted her outside. Once outside, Manning noticed the odor of intoxicants, slurred speech and that Polakowski was unsteady on her feet, and he reached the conclusion that she might be under the influence of intoxicants.
. Polakowski was issued citations for first offense operating while intoxicated (OWI), Wis. Stat. § 346.63(1)(b), and operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration (PAC), § 346.63(1)(b). She brought a motion to suppress all evidence on the grounds that the deputy did not have reasonable suspicion to stop her or probable cause to arrest her. After a brief evidentiary hearing, at which Manning was the only witness, the trial court denied the motion. First, the court found reasonable suspicion to effect the stop. Second, the court found that Manning's entry into the residence did not violate the Fourth Amendment and there was probable cause to arrest:
[T]he Court does so on the basis that the sequence of events here, the observing of the erratic or reckless driving, the pursuit of the officer into the driveway ... nothing in the record indicates that the officer knew who the defendant was or knew that the defendant was entering a residence that was in fact hers but rather had simply demonstrated erratic driving that in the view of the Court could have been viewed as some type of driving that-and retreat into a driveway being to evade the police officer .... The officer did not indicate that he knew the defendant, knew that this was the defendant's home or knew at any time that the defendant was entering her own home.... The Court doesn't believe that entering a home without first knowing that it might be a protected home would certainly not require that the officer stop because I believe that protection would apply to the home of the individual being pursued, not just a home or an enclosure or somebody's home. Having entered the home, having commenced his investigation, ostensibly based on the testimony of the driving, the officer then made the observation about the gait, about the speech, about the e
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Wisconsin DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|