Reasonable Suspicion

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Shannon Marie Simplot

Case No.: 2021AP001098-CR

Officials: Gill J.

Focus: Reasonable Suspicion

Simplot appeals a judgment convicting her of misdemeanor operating a motor vehicle with a controlled substance in her blood, as a third offense. Simplot argues that: (1) police lacked reasonable suspicion to seize her in order to investigate whether she was under the influence of an intoxicant; and (2) she was de facto arrested without probable cause when the police took her to the police station. The court ruled that the investigating police officers made numerous tangible observations that gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that Simplot was impaired. Based on the totality of the circumstances within the officers’ knowledge—including their earlier observations of Simplot at the police station, their observations and interactions with Simplot during the traffic stop, and the alert of the K-9—the appeals court concludes that they had probable cause to arrest Simplot at the time they moved her to the station for a drug evaluation.

Affirmed.

Decided 10/03/23

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