State v. Joel R. Davis

2021 WI App 65, 965 N.W.2d 84, 399 Wis. 2d 354
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedAugust 19, 2021
Docket2020AP000731-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2021 WI App 65 (State v. Joel R. Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Joel R. Davis, 2021 WI App 65, 965 N.W.2d 84, 399 Wis. 2d 354 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

2021 WI App 65

COURT OF APPEALS OF WISCONSIN PUBLISHED OPINION

Case No.: 2020AP731-CR

Complete Title of Case:

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,

V.

JOEL R. DAVIS,

DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.

Opinion Filed: August 19, 2021 Submitted on Briefs: February 18, 2021

JUDGES: Blanchard, P.J., Fitzpatrick, and Graham, JJ. Concurred: Dissented:

Appellant ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the plaintiff-appellant, the cause was submitted on the briefs of John A. Blimling, assistant attorney general, and Joshua L. Kaul, attorney general.

Respondent ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the defendant-respondent, the cause was submitted on the brief of Roberta A. Heckes, Thorp. 2021 WI App 65

COURT OF APPEALS DECISION NOTICE DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. August 19, 2021 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Sheila T. Reiff petition to review an adverse decision by the Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10 and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2020AP731-CR Cir. Ct. No. 2019CF112

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS

APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for Vernon County: DARCY JO ROOD, Judge. Affirmed.

Before Blanchard, P.J., Fitzpatrick, and Graham, JJ.

¶1 GRAHAM, J. The State appeals an order suppressing evidence found during a traffic stop of Joel R. Davis. The circuit court suppressed the evidence because it determined that law enforcement impermissibly prolonged the stop by asking dispatch to inquire into the conditions of Davis’s release on bond in No. 2020AP731-CR

a pending criminal case. It is undisputed that the officer who stopped Davis sat in his squad car and conducted no recognized tasks incidental to the mission of the stop while he waited for a response to his inquiry about Davis’s bond conditions. The State primarily directs us to Rodriguez v. United States, 575 U.S. 348 (2015), to support its argument that, when police check the conditions of a motorist’s release on bond, this is an “ordinary inquiry” that is incidental to the mission of a lawful stop, rather than an “unrelated investigation” that constitutes an impermissible detour from the mission of the stop.

¶2 We conclude that checking for bond conditions is not an “ordinary inquiry” as that term is used in Rodriguez. Therefore, based on the circuit court’s undisputed findings of fact, we conclude that law enforcement unconstitutionally prolonged the traffic stop beyond the time necessary to address the stop’s mission. Accordingly, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶3 On July 29, 2019, Officer Tilmer Thompson of the Viroqua Police Department conducted the traffic stop that resulted in Davis’s arrest. Because the issue on appeal is whether Thompson unconstitutionally prolonged that stop, we relate the chronology of events in detail. The following summary is derived primarily from the circuit court’s findings of fact, as supplemented by our observations from the video footage that was admitted into evidence during the suppression hearing. The State does not dispute these facts except as noted below.

2 No. 2020AP731-CR

¶4 Thompson stopped Davis’s vehicle at approximately 7:40 p.m.1 He told Davis that he had initiated the stop because Davis’s vehicle did not have a passenger-side mirror. Likewise, in his initial report of this incident, Thompson wrote that he stopped Davis because Davis was operating a vehicle without a passenger-side mirror contrary to WIS. STAT. § 347.40(1) (2019-20).2 The following day, Thompson updated his report to indicate that he also stopped Davis because he observed that Davis was not wearing a seat belt.

¶5 At 7:43:44, Thompson learned from dispatch that Davis’s driver’s license was suspended. Thompson returned to Davis’s car and advised him that he should call someone for a ride on account of his suspended license.

¶6 Thompson returned to his squad car at 7:48:40. According to Thompson, he intended to write a citation for the missing mirror and to “run [Davis] to see if he’s on bond.”

¶7 At some point, Thompson learned from dispatch that Davis had a pending criminal case in La Crosse County in which he had been charged with possession of methamphetamine and carrying a concealed weapon. At 7:50:06, Thompson radioed dispatch and asked another officer to look into whether Davis was out on bond, and whether there were any conditions to that bond. Thompson

1 During the suppression hearing, the parties introduced video from Thompson’s body camera and from the camera on his squad car. The digital clocks on those two cameras were not synchronized. The circuit court used the time stamps from the body camera in its decision granting the motion to suppress, and, with one exception noted below, we use the time stamps set forth in the circuit court’s order. 2 The State has conceded that a passenger-side mirror is not required by WIS. STAT. § 347.40(1), and the circuit court later determined that Thompson was wrong about the requirements of that statute.

All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2019-20 version unless otherwise noted.

3 No. 2020AP731-CR

later testified that he wanted information concerning Davis’s bond conditions to determine whether they required him to submit to random urinalysis testing by law enforcement.

¶8 It is undisputed that, as of 7:50:06, Thompson did not have reasonable suspicion of anything other than driving with a suspended license, and perhaps a seat belt violation. It is also undisputed that, from that point forward, Thompson took no action in furtherance of writing a citation for any traffic offense. Instead, the circuit court found that, as reflected by the body camera footage, Thompson sat in his squad car doing nothing as he waited for dispatch to call someone in La Crosse County to inquire about Davis’s bond conditions.

¶9 Shortly after Thompson radioed dispatch about the bond conditions, Officer Robert Raasch arrived on the scene. At 7:50:45, Raasch told Thompson that Davis is a “big-time dealer” who “carr[ies] his meth in his sock area.” Raasch approached Davis’s vehicle and attempted to engage Davis in conversation. He remained at or near Davis’s vehicle for the duration of the stop.

¶10 At approximately 8:02 p.m., Thompson learned from dispatch that Davis’s bond conditions were not related to driving and did not permit random drug testing by law enforcement.

¶11 Raasch later testified that, at some point while he stood by Davis’s vehicle, he observed “bulges” in Davis’s socks and his right pants pocket. Nothing in the record reflects when, precisely, Raasch made this observation. According to the State, Raasch developed reasonable suspicion that Davis had drugs in his possession based on this observation. For purposes of this appeal, we assume without deciding that the State’s assertion about reasonable suspicion is correct.

4 No. 2020AP731-CR

¶12 A third officer arrived on the scene with a police dog at approximately 8:10 p.m.3 It is not clear from the record which of the officers requested the presence of the canine unit, nor is it clear when that request was made. After the dog alerted to the presence of drugs, the officers ordered Davis out of the vehicle and searched him, finding a large amount of cash and a bag containing methamphetamine.

¶13 Davis was charged with possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and felony bail jumping. He filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained from the traffic stop.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2021 WI App 65, 965 N.W.2d 84, 399 Wis. 2d 354, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-joel-r-davis-wisctapp-2021.