State v. Gary Monroe Scull

Procedural entryThis page is a short order in State v. Gary Monroe Scull. Read the opinion of the Court — 361 Wis. 2d 288
Wisconsin Supreme Court·Decided March 5, 2015·No. 2011AP002956-CR·Published

Opinion

2015 WI 22

SUPREME COURT OF WISCONSIN CASE NO.: 2011AP2956-CR COMPLETE TITLE: State of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Gary Monroe Scull, Defendant-Appellant-Petitioner.

REVIEW OF A DECISION OF THE COURT OF APPEALS (Reported at 352 Wis. 2d 733, 843 N.W.2d 859) (Ct. App. 2014 – Published) PDC No.: 2014 WI App 17

OPINION FILED: March 5, 2015 SUBMITTED ON BRIEFS: ORAL ARGUMENT: October 2, 2014

SOURCE OF APPEAL: COURT: Circuit COUNTY: Milwaukee JUDGE: David Borowski

JUSTICES: CONCURRED: ROGGENSACK, CROOKS, ZIEGLER, GABLEMAN, JJJJ., concur (Opinion filed).

ZIEGLER, CROOKS, GABLEMAN, JJJ., concur (Opinion filed). DISSENTED: NOT PARTICIPATING:

ATTORNEYS: For the defendant-appellant-petitioner, there were briefs by Basil M. Loeb, Wauwatosa, and oral argument by Basil M. Loeb.

For the plaintiff-respondent, the cause was argued by Nancy A. Noet, assistant attorney general, with whom on the brief was J.B. Van Hollen, attorney general.

An amicus curiae brief was filed by legal intern Nolan A. Jensen, Ellen Henak and Henak Law Office, S.C., Milwaukee; and Melinda A. Swartz and Law Office of Melinda Swartz LLC, Milwaukee, and intern Nolan A. Jenson behalf of the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

An amicus curiae brief was filed by Kelli S. Thompson, state public defender, and Jefren E. Olsen, assistant state public defender, on behalf of the Wisconsin State Public Defender.

2 2015 WI 22 NOTICE This opinion is subject to further editing and modification. The final version will appear in the bound volume of the official reports. No. 2011AP2956-CR (L.C. No. 2010CF337)

STATE OF WISCONSIN : IN SUPREME COURT

State of Wisconsin,

Plaintiff-Respondent, FILED v. MAR 5, 2015 Gary Monroe Scull, Diane M. Fremgen Defendant-Appellant-Petitioner. Clerk of Supreme Court

REVIEW of a decision of the Court of Appeals. Affirmed.

¶1 ANN WALSH BRADLEY, J. Petitioner, Gary Monroe Scull, seeks review of a published decision of the court of appeals

that affirmed the denial of his motion to suppress evidence.1

The court of appeals determined that the evidence obtained from

a search of his home was admissible because the officers

conducted the search in good faith reliance on a search warrant.

1 State v. Scull, 2014 WI App 17, 352 Wis. 2d 733, 843 N.W.2d 859 (affirming judgment of the circuit court of Milwaukee County, David L. Borowski, J.). No. 2011AP2956-CR

¶2 Scull contends that the warrant was invalid because it

was based on information gained from a prior illegal search.

More specifically, he asserts that an alert by a drug sniffing

dog outside his home constituted a prior illegal search in

violation of his Fourth Amendment rights because the officers

needed, but did not have, a warrant to conduct the dog sniff.

Accordingly, he argues, because the warrant relied on an

affidavit detailing the dog's alert to the presence of drugs,

the warrant was invalid and the evidence seized pursuant to that

warrant must be suppressed.

¶3 Like the court of appeals, we resolve this case with a

straight-forward application of our good faith jurisprudence

governing police reliance on a warrant. It provides that the

good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies to

evidence obtained in objectively reasonable reliance on a search

warrant issued by a detached and neutral magistrate that is

ultimately found to be defective. State v. Eason, 2001 WI 98,

¶3, 245 Wis. 2d 206, 629 N.W.2d 625. Reliance on a warrant is objectively reasonable when: the warrant was preceded by a

substantial investigation, the affidavit supporting the warrant

was reviewed by either a police officer trained and

knowledgeable in the requirements of probable cause and

reasonable suspicion, or a knowledgeable government attorney,

and a reasonably well-trained officer would not have known that

the search was illegal despite the magistrate's authorization.

Id.

2 No. 2011AP2956-CR

¶4 In this case we determine that the good faith

exception to the exclusionary rule applies because the evidence

Scull seeks to suppress was obtained in objectively reasonable

reliance on a warrant issued by a detached and neutral

magistrate. Accordingly, we conclude that the evidence should

not be suppressed and affirm the court of appeals.

I

¶5 For purposes of our review, the facts of this case are

undisputed. A confidential informant told Officer Wiesmueller

that an individual named Gary M. Scull was involved in the

distribution of cocaine base within the City of Milwaukee. The

informant further identified the defendant by providing an

address where he thought Scull possibly resided. Indicating

that he had personally witnessed Scull distributing the cocaine

base throughout the City, the informant stated that Scull

conducts narcotics trafficking from his vehicle, a 1990s Ford

Bronco, license plate 792-NYG.

¶6 After receiving the information from the informant Officer Wiesmueller conducted a follow-up investigation. He

discovered that an individual named Gary M. Scull, born March

28, 1981, was on probation at the time. The address on file for

Scull matched the address provided by the informant. Officer

Wiesmueller further confirmed with the Wisconsin Department of

Transportation that a vehicle with the license plate number and

description matching the information provided by the informant

was registered to Scull.

3 No. 2011AP2956-CR

¶7 Officer Wiesmueller asked Detective Ederesinghe to

take his dog to Scull's address. Detective Edersinghe and his

dog, Voden, are a drug detection team certified in the detection

of the odor of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.

When Voden detects the presence of controlled substances he will

"alert" by aggressively scratching at the object.

¶8 In response to Officer Weismueller's request,

Detective Edersinghe took Voden to Scull's house. As he

approached, a woman exited the house with two small children.

He decided to come back at another time when he would not be

observed. When Detective Edersinghe returned with Voden, they

were on the premises for less than 20 seconds. He took the dog

on the sidewalk to the side entrance of the home and then they

followed the walkway to the front door. They left the premises

after Voden alerted at the front door.

¶9 Based on Voden's alert and the information provided by

the informant, Officer Wiesmueller sought a warrant to search

Scull's home. The affidavit for the search warrant detailed Detective Edersinghe's and Voden's training and explained how

Voden "alerts" to the presence of a narcotic. It then stated

that "within the past seventy two (72) hours, his canine, VODEN,

made an 'Alert' on the front entry door to [Scull’s residence].

Detective Christopher Ederesinghe states that the 'Alert' of

VODEN is a positive indication that controlled substances are

contained in said apartment unit."

¶10 The affidavit further detailed how the information from the confidential informant resulted in the dog sniff. It 4 No. 2011AP2956-CR

explained that the confidential informant was in a position to

identify cocaine because the confidential informant had

previously been involved in cocaine trafficking and that the

informant was reliable because the informant had provided

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Gary Monroe Scull, (Wis. 2015).

State v. Gary Monroe Scull (State v. Gary Monroe Scull) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Boyd v. United States
116 U.S. 616 (Supreme Court, 1886)
Wilson v. United States
162 U.S. 613 (Supreme Court, 1896)
Bram v. United States
168 U.S. 532 (Supreme Court, 1897)
Weeks v. United States
232 U.S. 383 (Supreme Court, 1914)
Gouled v. United States
255 U.S. 298 (Supreme Court, 1921)
Blackburn v. Alabama
361 U.S. 199 (Supreme Court, 1960)
Elkins v. United States
364 U.S. 206 (Supreme Court, 1960)
Mapp v. Ohio
367 U.S. 643 (Supreme Court, 1961)
Wong Sun v. United States
371 U.S. 471 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Massiah v. United States
377 U.S. 201 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Chapman v. California
386 U.S. 18 (Supreme Court, 1967)
United States v. Wade
388 U.S. 218 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Michigan v. Tucker
417 U.S. 433 (Supreme Court, 1974)
Oregon v. Hass
420 U.S. 714 (Supreme Court, 1975)
Brown v. Illinois
422 U.S. 590 (Supreme Court, 1975)
Payton v. New York
445 U.S. 573 (Supreme Court, 1980)
United States v. Havens
446 U.S. 620 (Supreme Court, 1980)
United States v. Place
462 U.S. 696 (Supreme Court, 1983)
United States v. Jacobsen
466 U.S. 109 (Supreme Court, 1984)