State v. Felix

2012 WI 36, 811 N.W.2d 775, 339 Wis. 2d 670, 2012 WL 1086036, 2012 Wisc. LEXIS 29
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedApril 3, 2012
DocketNo. 2010AP346-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by63 cases

This text of 2012 WI 36 (State v. Felix) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Felix, 2012 WI 36, 811 N.W.2d 775, 339 Wis. 2d 670, 2012 WL 1086036, 2012 Wisc. LEXIS 29 (Wis. 2012).

Opinions

N. PATRICK CROOKS, J.

¶ 1. This is a review of an unpublished decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court's judgment of conviction for second-degree intentional homicide after a plea of guilty.1 This case involves statements and physical evidence obtained from a defendant outside of the home after Miranda warnings2 were given and waived following a warrantless in-home arrest made in alleged violation of Payton v. New York.3 The central issue presented in this case is which analysis governs the admissibility of such evidence: does Article I, Section 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution demand the suppression of such evidence unless it is sufficiently attenuated under Brown v. Illinois,4 or does this court adopt the rule developed by the United States Supreme Court in New York v. Harris5 under its interpretation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution? The United States Supreme Court set forth a three-factor attenuation analysis in Brown to determine whether evidence [675]*675obtained following an unlawful search or seizure must be suppressed under the exclusionary rule as the fruit of a Fourth Amendment violation.6 In Harris, the United States Supreme Court clarified that where the Fourth Amendment violation is an unlawful arrest without a warrant, in violation of Payton, but with probable cause, evidence obtained from the defendant outside of the home is admissible because it is not "the product of illegal governmental activity."7

¶ 2. In the early morning of September 8, 2007, a violent fight erupted outside of a house where a party was being held. After the fight, Nathaniel Davids (Davids) was left bleeding from multiple stab wounds and later died from those wounds. Police had probable cause to arrest Devin Felix (Felix) for Davids' murder based on statements from several witnesses, but police did not obtain a warrant for his arrest. Police arrested Felix at his home, and he was charged with first-degree intentional homicide. Before trial, Felix sought to suppress statements and evidence that police obtained at the police station and the jail.

¶ 3. Relevant to this appeal, the circuit court denied in part8 Felix's motions to suppress statements and physical evidence obtained after police arrested him at his home without an arrest warrant. The circuit [676]*676court concluded that Felix did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy because he had submitted himself to public view by sleeping in front of an unsecured door that flew open easily. The court of appeals applied a Brown attenuation analysis and reversed in part the circuit court. Following the State's assumption that the arrest was unlawful in violation of Payton and the Fourth Amendment, the court of appeals remanded for a trial with directions to suppress Felix's signed statement at the police station, a buccal swab Felix agreed to provide for DNA comparison and his clothing because the court of appeals concluded that they were not sufficiently attenuated from the unlawful arrest.9 The court of appeals did not apply the Harris rule because it concluded that this court had not adopted the Harris rule and that the rule conflicted with this court's precedent.10 The court of appeals suggested that this court's decisions indicate that Article I, Section 11 provides more protection than the Harris Court's interpretation of the Fourth Amendment.11

¶ 4. We continue our usual practice of interpreting Article I, Section 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution in accord with the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of the Fourth Amendment. Thus, we adopt the Harris exception to the exclusionary rule for certain evidence obtained after a Payton violation. We hold that, where police had probable cause to arrest before the unlawful entry, a warrantless arrest from Felix's home in violation of Payton requires neither the suppression of statements made outside of the home after Felix was given and waived his Miranda rights, [677]*677nor the suppression of physical evidence obtained from Felix outside of the home. Assuming without deciding that Felix's warrantless arrest from his home was in violation of Payton, we conclude that, pursuant to the Harris rule, the following evidence that police obtained outside of his home is admissible: Felix's signed statement, made after Felix was given and waived his Miranda rights, the buccal swab obtained at the police station, and Felix's clothing seized at the jail, as well as any derivative evidence.12

¶ 5. Therefore, we reverse the decision of the court of appeals and affirm the circuit court's judgment of conviction.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶ 6. In the early morning on September 8, 2007, a violent fight erupted outside of a party in the City of Schofield, Marathon County, Wisconsin. Officers responded after the fight had broken up and people had fled the scene. They discovered Davids lying bleeding in the middle of the street from multiple stab wounds. Davids was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead. After police interviewed witnesses, they located, [678]*678arrested, and obtained evidence and a statement from Felix all during the morning hours of that same day.

¶ 7. Shortly after arriving at the scene, police interviewed several people who were still present and also located several other witnesses who had attended the party. The witnesses who live near the scene stated that during the fight they had heard someone shouting about a stabbing. At the police station, detectives interviewed several people who had attended the party. T.W., a minor at the time of the homicide, described the fight that broke out among approximately six people outside of the party. T.W stated that she heard Felix say, "I'm going to prison. I stabbed someone. I think I killed him." T.W. had responded, "[N]o you didn't, no you didn't, I think you're lying." According to T.W., Felix then stated, "I'm not lying, I've got blood all over me." T.W told police that she was "pretty positive" or about "98" percent sure that Felix stabbed someone. T.W also said that Felix left in a green Chrysler. A detective also interviewed Kyle Leder who reported hearing Felix say the word "stab" and also "I'm not going to prison" shortly before he saw Felix leave in a green Chrysler.

¶ 8. Based on this information, police obtained a warrant to search the residence where the party had taken place for Felix, witnesses and any evidence of the crime. Police did not find Felix at that residence, but eventually learned from Felix's father that he was living at Felix's mother's apartment. Felix's father gave the police a description of the residence and told them that the rear entrance led to the Felixes' apartment. When the police went to that residence they saw a green Chrysler parked in the driveway, which matched the description witnesses had given of the car that Felix had driven from the scene. The police had also discovered that the car was registered to Felix's mother.

[679]*679¶ 9.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 WI 36, 811 N.W.2d 775, 339 Wis. 2d 670, 2012 WL 1086036, 2012 Wisc. LEXIS 29, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-felix-wis-2012.