Motor Vehicles – OWI

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Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Criminal

Motor Vehicles – OWI — probable cause

Lewis Allen Stokes appeals from the judgment of conviction entered after he pled guilty to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant as a third offense. Stokes complains that the police lacked probable cause to arrest him even though the arresting officer observed Stokes speeding and weaving through traffic, smelled a “strong odor of alcohol on Stokes’s breath,” described Stokes’s speech as “slurred,” and described Stokes’s behavior as “argumentative and somewhat combative.” We disagree with Stokes and conclude that the police had enough evidence to arrest Stokes for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence based upon the totality of the circumstances. As such, we affirm. This opinion will not be published.

2012AP2621-CR State v. Stokes

Dist I, Milwaukee County, Fiorenza, J., Brennan, J.

Attorneys: For Appellant: Flanagan, Thomas J., Milwaukee; For Respondent: Loebel, Karen A., Milwaukee; Weber, Gregory M., Madison; O’Byrne, Karine E., Milwaukee