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Motion to Suppress Evidence Denied – Warrantless Search

By: Derek Hawkins//January 2, 2019//

Motion to Suppress Evidence Denied – Warrantless Search

By: Derek Hawkins//January 2, 2019//

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WI Supreme Court

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Faith N. Reed

Case No.: 2018 WI 109

Focus: Motion to Suppress Evidence Denied – Warrantless Search

This is a review of an unpublished decision of the court of appeals affirming a judgment of conviction of the Circuit Court for Monroe County, David Rice, Judge. The case was decided by one judge, Judge Brian Blanchard, pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 752.31(2)(f) (2015-16). Faith Reed, the defendant, was convicted of possession of a controlled substance in violation of Wis. Stat. § 961.41(3g)(b) and bail jumping in violation of Wis. Stat. § 946.49(1)(a), both misdemeanors.

In the circuit court, Reed claimed that the officer’s warrantless entry into her apartment, sometimes referred to here as Unit 206, violated her rights under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution. Reed argued that the warrantless entry into her apartment was not justified under any of the well-recognized exceptions to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement. Specifically, Reed contended that the officer did not have consent to enter her apartment and that exigent circumstances did not exist justifying entrance to her apartment. Consequently, she argued that the evidence obtained during the searches of her apartment and her person should be suppressed.

We conclude as follows: (1) the law enforcement officer did not have consent to enter Reed’s apartment; (2) even if the officer had initially been given consent to enter the apartment, which he was not, consent would have been unequivocally revoked before the officer’s entry into the apartment; and (3) exigent circumstances did not justify the officer’s opening Reed’s apartment door.

The following principles of law apply in the instant case. A warrantless search does not violate the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution or Article I, Section 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution if the search is conducted with consent or is justified by exigent circumstances.

We conclude that no exigent circumstances justified the officer’s pushing open Reed’s apartment door. Under the circumstances known to the officer at the time he pushed the door open, there were no facts upon which to base a reasonable belief that the delay in procuring a search warrant would gravely endanger life or greatly enhance the likelihood of the suspect’s escape.

Accordingly, we conclude that the searches at issue violated the United States and Wisconsin constitutions. We therefore reverse the decision of the court of appeals and remand the cause to the circuit court with instructions to suppress the challenged evidence and vacate Reed’s convictions.

Reversed and Remanded

Concur: ZIEGLER, J., concurs.

Dissent: ROGGENSACK, C.J., dissents.

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