State v. Leutenegger

2004 WI App 127, 685 N.W.2d 536, 275 Wis. 2d 512, 2004 Wisc. App. LEXIS 517
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedJune 24, 2004
Docket03-0133-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 2004 WI App 127 (State v. Leutenegger) 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. Leutenegger, 2004 WI App 127, 685 N.W.2d 536, 275 Wis. 2d 512, 2004 Wisc. App. LEXIS 517 (Wis. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

LUNDSTEN, J.

¶ 1. This case involves the exigent circumstances exception to the general requirement that an officer have a warrant before making a nonconsensual entry into a home. A police officer entered Walter Leutenegger's garage without a warrant after receiving information indicating that Leutenegger was highly intoxicated and locating him in his car in his garage. Leutenegger was subsequently arrested, prosecuted, and convicted of driving while intoxicated. Leutenegger appeals, arguing that the circuit court should have suppressed evidence obtained after the officer entered his garage because that entry was illegal. We disagree and affirm the circuit court.

Background

¶ 2. On July 2, 2001, a citizen telephoned police to report what he believed to be an intoxicated driver. The citizen, using a cell phone, called from a tavern parking lot and gave specific information indicating that a man, later identified as Leutenegger, was very intoxicated *516 and was driving a car away from the tavern. Using information supplied by the citizen, a police officer located Leutenegger sitting in his car in an attached garage to Leutenegger's home. After viewing the situation for a short time, the officer approached Leutenegger's open garage door and proceeded into the garage, making contact with Leutenegger, who was still in his car. After entering the garage, the officer made observations supporting the inference that Leuteneg-ger was intoxicated. Leutenegger was arrested, and police subsequently obtained a breath test result showing that Leutenegger's blood alcohol content was .28%.

¶ 3. Leutenegger moved to suppress all evidence obtained after the police officer entered his garage. The circuit court concluded that the attached garage was part of the curtilage of the Leutenegger residence and, therefore, the officer's warrantless entry into the garage was presumptively unconstitutional. However, the court also concluded that the entry was justified by exigent circumstances, and denied the motion. Leu-tenegger then pled no contest to the charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, fourth offense. He now challenges the circuit court's suppression ruling. More detailed facts are set forth later in this opinion.

Discussion

Consideration of an Officer's Subjective Beliefs When the Asserted Justification for a Warrantless Entry of a Home is the Possible Need to Render Assistance or Prevent Harm

¶ 4. The question in this case is whether the officer's warrantless entry into Leutenegger's attached garage was lawful because of a possible need to render *517 assistance or prevent harm. Leutenegger, relying on State v. Boggess, 115 Wis. 2d 443, 340 N.W.2d 516 (1983), argues that the officer's action must have been subjectively motivated by a perceived safety concern, that is, that the particular officer must have subjectively believed that Leutenegger likely needed assistance or still posed a danger to others. Further, Leutenegger contends that the record in this case does not support a finding that the officer was actually motivated by her concern for the safety of Leutenegger or others.

¶ 5. We disagree with Leutenegger that the objective/subjective test used in Boggess is the correct test to apply here. More recently, the supreme court employed an objective test in State v. Richter, 2000 WI 58, ¶ 30, 235 Wis. 2d 524, 612 N.W.2d 29, and we conclude we must follow this more recent decision. See Jones v. Dane County, 195 Wis. 2d 892, 918 n.8, 537 N.W.2d 74 (Ct. App. 1995) ("[The court of appeals is] bound by the most recent pronouncements of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.").

¶ 6. In Boggess, the supreme court used the term "emergency rule" when faced with the State's argument that a warrantless home entry was legal because of a report that children had been battered, were in need of medical attention, and lived with a man named Boggess who had a "bad temper." Boggess, 115 Wis. 2d at 445, 446, 457-58. The Boggess court relied on State v. Pires, 55 Wis. 2d 597, 604, 201 N.W.2d 153 (1972), which equates the "emergency doctrine" with the "exigent-circumstance rule." Boggess, 115 Wis. 2d at 450. The two-pronged objective/subjective test used in Boggess does not come from Pires, however, but instead from State v. Prober, 98 Wis. 2d 345, 297 N.W.2d 1 (1980), *518 overruled on other grounds, State v. Weide, 155 Wis. 2d 537, 455 N.W.2d 899 (1990). Under the two-pronged objective/subjective test used in Boggess, a warrantless entry based on a safety concern is illegal unless the entering officer subjectively believes that entry is necessary to render assistance or prevent harm. See Boggess, 115 Wis. 2d at 449-51; see also State v. Rome, 2000 WI App 243, 239 Wis. 2d 491, 620 N.W.2d 225 (two-pronged objective/subjective test used where police entered a home without a warrant based on information that a man was a threat to a young girl in the home with him).

¶ 7. If we applied the objective/subjective test used in Boggess, we would need to address Leutenegger's argument that the record does not support the circuit court's factual finding that the officer here was motivated in part by a belief that Leutenegger might need assistance and that Leutenegger still posed a danger to others. However, when our supreme court most recently dealt with a proffered safety justification for a warrant-less entry under circumstances similar to those before us — that is, in Richter — it applied a purely objective test. 2

*519 ,¶ 8. One issue in Richter was whether an officer's warrantless entry into a mobile home was justified by a possible need to render assistance to the occupants. In that case, an officer was dispatched to a mobile home park because of a report of a burglary in progress. Richter, 235 Wis. 2d 524, ¶¶ 3-7. When the officer arrived, he was flagged down by a person who told the officer that someone had broken into her mobile home and that she had seen the intruder flee her home and enter another mobile home across the street. Id., ¶ 3. The officer went to that mobile home and observed signs of a forced entry. The officer entered the mobile home and that entry led to incriminating evidence against the defendant who, as it turned out, was the owner of that mobile home. Id., ¶¶ 4-9.

¶ 9. The Richter

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

Related

State v. Jesse Rogalla
Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2021
State v. Rubenzer
2018 WI App 71 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2018)
State v. Brett W. Dumstrey
2016 WI 3 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2016)
State v. Dumstrey
2015 WI App 5 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2014)
State v. Maddix
2013 WI App 64 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2013)
State v. Davis
2011 WI App 74 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2011)
Doe 1 v. Archdiocese of Milwaukee
2010 WI App 164 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2010)
State v. Phillips
2009 WI App 179 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2009)
State v. Neitzel
2008 WI App 143 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2008)
State v. Larsen
2007 WI App 147 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2007)
State v. Goyette
2006 WI App 178 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2006)
State v. Brandl
722 N.W.2d 401 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2004 WI App 127, 685 N.W.2d 536, 275 Wis. 2d 512, 2004 Wisc. App. LEXIS 517, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-leutenegger-wisctapp-2004.