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State v. Griffith6/28/2000
e circumstances of this case, we are not persuaded that the simple questions "What is your name?" and "What is your date of birth?" were so intrusive that they transformed the otherwise reasonable seizure into an unreasonable one.
. This does not end our inquiry. Even if the questions themselves are not unreasonably intrusive, questioning can transform a reasonable seizure into an unreasonable one if it extends the stop beyond the time necessary to fulfill the purpose of the stop. See United States v. Sharpe, 470 U.S. 675, 684-85 (1985). " f an investigative stop continues indefinitely, at some point it can no longer be justified as an investigative stop." Id. at 685. To determine whether the stop was unreasonably prolonged, the court must consider the law enforcement purposes to be served by the stop and the time reasonably needed to accomplish those purposes. Id.
. We have already noted that the record does not establish that the investigation of the traffic violation was complete when the questions were posed to the back seat passenger. Moreover, even if the officers had already obtained all of the necessary information to establish the traffic violation, it is clear that the time needed to ask the identification questions was very brief.
. The court of appeals has held that the brief period of time it takes to ask a question does not unreasonably prolong a temporary detention. State v. Gaulrapp, 207 Wis. 2d 600, 609, 558 N.W.2d 696 (Ct. App. 1996)(holding that a detention was not unreasonably prolonged by the asking of one question). We agree with the court of appeals that this conclusion is implied by the United States Supreme Court's holding in Ohio v Robinette, 519 U.S. 33 (1996). See Gaulrapp, 207 Wis. 2d at 608.
. Robinette considered whether "a lawfully seized defendant must be advised that he is 'free to go' before his consent to search will be recognized as voluntary." Robinette, 519 U.S. at 35. After stopping a vehicle for speeding, an officer issued a verbal warning, returned the driver's license, and then asked whether the driver was carrying contraband. Id. at 35-36. The driver answered no and then consented to a search of his car. Id. at 36. The search turned up illegal drugs. Id. The driver was charged and convicted of possessing a controlled substance. Id. The Ohio Supreme Court overturned the defendant's conviction on the grounds that under federal and state constitutional guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures, an officer must always inform a person that he or she is free to go before attempting to obtain consent to a search. Id. at 36 (citing State v. Robinette, 653 N.E.2d 695, 696 (Ohio 1995), rev'd, Robinette, 519 U.S. 33).
. The United States Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Ohio Supreme Court. Robinette, 519 U.S. at 40. The Court rejected a per se rule requiring officers to inform motorists that they were free to go before asking for consent to search. Id. at 39-40. Instead, the Court held that the voluntariness of consent to search is always a fact-specific question to be determined from the totality of the circumstances. Id. at 40.
. Gaulrapp involved a situation similar to Robinette. The driver in Gaulrapp was stopped for having a loud muffler. Gaulrapp, 207 Wis. 2d at 603. After obtaining identification and discussing the problem with the muffler, the officer asked the motorist whether he had any drugs or weapons inside the vehicle. Id. The motorist said that he did not, and the officer asked for permission to search the vehicle. Id. The motorist consented, and the search turned up drugs. Id. at 603-04.
. The defendant in Gaulrapp conceded that the initial stop was l
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