Motor Vehicles – OWI — probable cause

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Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Criminal

Motor Vehicles – OWI — probable cause

Ian A. Niquette appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence and his conviction for drunk driving. Niquette was arrested after he struck a parked car at 5:50 in the morning with such force that it overturned his pickup truck. The Fond du Lac County sheriff’s deputy who arrived on the scene of the accident found Niquette sitting on the curb near his vehicle. Niquette admitted to the deputy that he was the driver. The deputy observed Niquette to have “red, glossy eyes” and smell of intoxicants. Niquette told the deputy that he had been drinking. The deputy had Niquette perform field sobriety tests and then submit to a preliminary breath test, which revealed an alcohol content above the legal limit for operating a vehicle. Niquette was thereafter arrested and a blood draw was taken, which revealed a blood alcohol content of .149.

Niquette argues that the deputy did not have probable cause to ask him to submit to a PBT because he had just performed well on the walk-and-turn and one-leg-stand portions of his field sobriety tests. Without the PBT, Niquette suggests, the deputy would not have probable cause for an arrest and would not have obtained the results of a blood test that showed he was driving drunk. The trial court refused to suppress the PBT or blood-test results and found Niquette guilty of drunk driving after a trial. We agree with the trial court in all respects. This opinion will not be published.

2012AP2708 County of Fond du Lac v. Niquette

Dist II, Fond du Lac County, Wirtz, J., Reilly, J.

Attorneys: For Appellant: Piel, Walter Arthur, Jr., Milwaukee; For Respondent: Christenson, Andrew Joseph, Fond du Lac