By: Derek Hawkins//July 12, 2017//
WI Supreme Court
Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Kenneth M. Asboth, Jr.
Case No.: 2017 WI 76
Focus: Warrantless Seizure
Wisconsin courts have long applied a community caretaker exception to the warrant requirement under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In this case, Kenneth M. Asboth, Jr., asks us to decide whether law enforcement officers’ warrantless seizure of his car was a reasonable exercise of a bona fide community caretaker function. He also asks us to determine whether Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367 (1987), requires officers to follow “standard criteria” when conducting a community caretaker impoundment. We hold that Bertine does not mandate adherence to standard criteria, and because we further conclude that officers reasonably effected a community caretaker impoundment of Asboth’s car, we affirm the decision of the court of appeals.
Affirmed
Concur:
Dissent: A.W. Bradley. J., Abrahamson, J.