By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 19, 2013//
By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 19, 2013//
Wisconsin Court of Appeals
Criminal
Search and Seizure — warrantless searches – consent — scope
Where police investigating a domestic violence incident were given consent to search, it did not exceed the scope of consent to search an attic area. “Based on the testimony of the officers at the suppression hearing, the trial court found that Bates did not limit the scope of the officers’ search. Police told Bates that they were responding to a domestic violence call and were looking for people who may have been involved in the incident, specifically, anyone who may be injured and/or hiding. Bates consented, simply saying something to the effect of ‘I have no problem with that.’ At no point did Bates attempt to limit the scope of the consent by telling officers to avoid the attic space. At no point did Bates attempt to add a written limitation to her written consent. Given the facts that: (1) Bates did not object to the officers’ search of the attic area, (2) police were looking for injured parties in relation to a domestic violence call who may have been hiding, and (3) the attic area was large enough for a person to hide, we conclude that the police did not exceed the scope of Bates’s consent when they searched in the attic area and retrieved cocaine and a firearm.”
Affirmed.
Recommended for publication in the official reports.
2012AP1291-CR State v. Wheeler
Dist. I, Milwaukee County, Kahn, J., Kessler, J.
Attorneys: For Appellant: Powell, Craig S., Milwaukee; For Respondent: Loebel, Karen A., Milwaukee; Perlman, David H., Madison