Fourth Amendment – Reasonable Suspicion Requirement

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Damien Markeith Divone Scott

Case No.: 2016AP1742-CR

Officials: Kessler, Brash and Dugan, JJ.

Focus: Fourth Amendment – Reasonable Suspicion Requirement

Scott argues that the police did not have reasonable suspicion to stop his vehicle, violating his Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, which renders the stop illegal. As a result, Scott asserts that the evidence obtained from the subsequent search of the vehicle should have been suppressed. The trial court ruled that the circumstances of the stop qualified as a valid Terry investigative stop, as opposed to a “checkpoint” stop, which is not permitted in the absence of reasonable cause that a statutory or ordinance violation has been committed, pursuant to WIS. STAT. § 349.02(2)(a) (2015-16). The trial court therefore denied Scott’s motion to suppress.

However, on appeal the State concedes that these circumstances did not constitute a Terry stop. Nevertheless, the State argues that these circumstances were sufficient to invoke an exception to the reasonable suspicion requirement of the Fourth Amendment for special needs of law enforcement. We agree and affirm.

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.