State v. Samuel G. Sharpe

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedSeptember 24, 2024
Docket2021AP001543, 2022AP000307
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Samuel G. Sharpe (State v. Samuel G. Sharpe) 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. Samuel G. Sharpe, (Wis. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

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. September 24, 2024 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Samuel A. Christensen 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 Nos. 2021AP1543 Cir. Ct. No. 2019TR632

2022AP307

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT III

IN THE MATTER OF THE REFUSAL OF SAMUEL G. SHARPE:

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

SAMUEL G. SHARPE,

DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.

APPEALS from a judgment and orders of the circuit court for St. Croix County: SCOTT R. NEEDHAM, Judge. Affirmed. Nos. 2021AP1543 2022AP307

¶1 STARK, P.J.1 The circuit court entered a judgment revoking Samuel G. Sharpe’s operating privilege for a period of one year after the court found that Sharpe improperly refused to submit to a chemical test of his breath following his arrest for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OWI). The judgment also required Sharpe to install an ignition interlock device (IID) in his vehicle for a period of one year.

¶2 Sharpe appeals the circuit court’s judgment, arguing the court erred by determining that his refusal of the breath test was improper. Sharpe also appeals an order denying his motion for reconsideration regarding that issue. In addition, Sharpe appeals an order that denied his motion to remove the IID requirement from the judgment, on the grounds that WIS. STAT. § 343.301—the statute governing the installation of IIDs—is unconstitutional under the dormant Commerce Clause. We reject Sharpe’s arguments and affirm the judgment and orders.

BACKGROUND

¶3 On February 16, 2019, Sharpe was arrested for OWI. He was also issued a “Notice of Intent to Revoke Operating Privilege” based on his refusal to submit to an evidentiary chemical breath test following his arrest. He timely requested a refusal hearing, which took place in February 2021.

¶4 During the refusal hearing, the circuit court heard testimony from both Sharpe and the arresting officer, Sergeant Chase DuRand of the St. Croix

1 This appeal is decided by one judge pursuant to WIS. STAT. § 752.31(2) (2021-22). All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2021-22 version unless otherwise noted.

2 Nos. 2021AP1543 2022AP307

County Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, portions of DuRand’s body camera video were played for the court. A copy of the “Informing the Accused” form (ITAF) was also admitted into evidence. The following facts are taken from the evidence introduced at the refusal hearing and do not appear to be disputed, at least for purposes of these appeals.2

¶5 Following Sharpe’s arrest, DuRand contacted dispatch, which advised him that Sharpe’s most recent OWI offense had occurred in 2004. DuRand also learned that Sharpe had a prior implied consent violation from 2004. DuRand consulted with Deputy Mitchell Schaeppi, who was also at the scene. Schaeppi advised DuRand that an implied consent violation is not a countable conviction under WIS. STAT. § 343.307. DuRand contacted dispatch a second time

2 The appellate records include two DVDs—Record Items 126 and 127—each purportedly containing portions of DuRand’s body camera video. It is not entirely clear which of these DVDs was entered into evidence and played during the refusal hearing.

In his brief-in-chief, Sharpe cites exclusively to Record Item 127, which contains three video files. Only two of those files, however, can be played on this court’s computers. In addition, the refusal hearing transcript shows that during that hearing, the defense played portions of files ending in 08-52-15, 08-54-42, 09-03-53, and 09-08-10. Record Item 127 contains only one of those files—the file ending in 09-08-10. Furthermore, while Sharpe’s citations to the body camera video in his brief-in-chief cite Record Item 127 and refer to specific time stamps, he does not identify the particular video file or files that he intended to cite.

Record Item 126, in turn, arrived to this court damaged. During the preparation of the appellate records, a staple was apparently inserted through the edge of the disc. As a result, we are unable to access or play any files that may be present on Record Item 126. Consequently, we cannot discern whether the time stamps provided in Sharpe’s brief-in-chief correspond to events shown on any video files that Record Item 126 may contain.

Despite these deficiencies in the appellate records, the State does not appear to dispute any of Sharpe’s assertions regarding the events depicted in DuRand’s body camera video. We therefore accept Sharpe’s representations regarding the video’s contents as true for purposes of these appeals. We also rely, in part, on a partial “transcript” of the body camera video that was apparently prepared by the defense and introduced during the refusal hearing as a “demonstrative” exhibit.

3 Nos. 2021AP1543 2022AP307

for further clarification regarding Sharpe’s driving record, but dispatch was unable to provide any additional information.

¶6 Schaeppi then asked Sharpe directly whether he had ever been arrested for an OWI-related offense. Sharpe responded, “Maybe a long time ago.” When Schaeppi asked Sharpe whether he had been arrested and convicted for an OWI-related offense in 2003 or 2004, Sharpe replied, “Yes, I was.… I think so if I remember correct. It was a long time ago.” DuRand and Schaeppi ultimately concluded that because it had been more than ten years since Sharpe’s last OWI-related conviction, Sharpe’s OWI in this case would be counted as a first offense. Schaeppi then relayed that information to Sharpe.

¶7 Thereafter, DuRand read Sharpe the ITAF and asked him to submit to an evidentiary chemical breath test. Sharpe refused. DuRand testified that he requested a breath test, rather than a blood test, because the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office has a policy of requesting blood tests for second and subsequent OWI offenses only.

¶8 Sharpe testified that before his arrest in this case, he had been through the court process for an “impaired driving incident” on two occasions. He was aware at the time of his arrest that “the more impaired driving offenses you get, the more severe the penalties get.”

¶9 Sharpe further testified that before DuRand read him the ITAF, one of the officers told him that he “was being charged with OWI first.” Sharpe testified that the “misinformation that this would be treated as a first offense” affected his decision to refuse the requested breath test because “[he] knew the penalties for a first [offense] were less.” He explained, “I didn’t want the officer

4 Nos. 2021AP1543 2022AP307

to have more evidence against me, so I decided to take my chances and not submit to further testing.” Stated differently, Sharpe asserted that he could “stomach” the lesser penalties for a first-offense OWI, regardless of whether he submitted to or refused the breath test, but he “definitely would have considered” taking the test if the officers had told him that he would be charged with third-offense OWI, or if they had simply not affirmatively told him that he would be charged with a first offense.

¶10 On cross-examination, Sharpe conceded that the officers’ misinformation was only “one of the reasons” that he refused the breath test. He testified that he also refused the test because he was scared and confused. On redirect examination, however, Sharpe asserted that the misinformation was the “[b]iggest factor” in his decision to refuse the test.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State v. Samuel G. Sharpe, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-samuel-g-sharpe-wisctapp-2024.