City of Sheboygan Falls v. Melton

• Docket Number: 2023AP1183
• Decision Date: 24 January 2024
• Parties: City of Sheboygan Falls, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Wesley Scot Melton, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals

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City of Sheboygan Falls, Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
Wesley Scot Melton, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 2023AP1183

Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, District II

January 24, 2024

This opinion will not be published. See WIS. STAT. RULE 809.23(1)(b)4.

APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for Sheboygan County Cir. Ct. No. 2022CV556 DANIEL J. BOROWSKI, Judge. Affirmed.

GROGAN, J. ^[1]

¶1 Wesley Scot Melton, pro se, appeals from a circuit court order affirming the municipal court's decision finding him guilty of failing

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to stop for a school bus contrary to WIS. STAT. § 346.48. Melton contends there was insufficient evidence to find him guilty and requests dismissal of his citation. This court affirms.

I. BACKGROUND

¶2 In March 2022, Melton received a traffic citation for passing a school bus that had its stop sign extended and red lights flashing. The citation was based on the school bus driver's report to the police of the incident. Melton disputed the citation and proceeded to trial before the municipal court.

¶3 At the trial, the school bus driver and police officer who issued the citation testified on behalf of the City of Sheboygan Falls, while Melton testified on his own behalf. The bus driver testified that he has been a school bus driver for twenty-one years and was dropping children off after school on a road with multiple stops. He also explained how the school bus lights and the stop sign arm work and testified that he flips a switch inside the bus that illuminates the yellow flashing lights.^[2] When he stops the bus and opens the door, the yellow lights automatically switch to red, and the stop sign extends out at the same time.

¶4 According to the bus driver's testimony, he had stopped the bus and let children off at a particular stop before Melton passed the bus. When the bus driver resumed motion and proceeded to the next stop, he flipped the switch to immediately reactivate the yellow lights because the distance between the two stops was minimal. Because the two stops were located in such close proximity,

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the bus was purportedly traveling at approximately ten to fifteen miles per hour, even though it is undisputed that the posted speed limit was thirty-five miles per hour.

¶5 The bus driver was not sure precisely how many feet the bus traveled with the yellow lights activated before stopping at the second stop; however, he testified that while stopped at the second stop with the stop sign out- which also meant the red lights were flashing-he saw a car, later identified as Melton's, passing the bus on the left. The car did not stop but instead sped away. The bus driver took a photograph of the passing car, honked the bus's horn, and reported the incident to the police. The bus driver testified that other cars had stopped behind the bus and that he believed the passing car should have had time to stop as well. The photograph, which was marked and referred to as Exhibit 3 during testimony, shows the stop sign fully extended and the red light on the stop sign illuminated. The photograph also shows Melton's car in the process of passing the stop sign.

¶6 The police officer who issued Melton's citation testified that based on the bus driver's statement and the photograph, she was able to identify Melton as the driver of the passing car and that when contacted, Melton admitted he was the driver of the car but claimed he did not see the stop sign go out and therefore did not have time to stop.

¶7 Melton represented himself at trial and testified that he did not see any yellow or red lights until he was already in the process of passing the bus. On cross-examination, he testified that the yellow lights may have begun flashing right at the moment he began passing the bus but that he nevertheless believed he could lawfully pass the bus at that time because it was purportedly traveling at less

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than half of the posted speed limit. He cited to WIS. STAT. § 346.09(3)^[3] in support of his argument and asserted that because he did not see the stop sign and red lights until he was passing the bus, it would have been unsafe for him to stop considering that he was in the lane for oncoming traffic. Melton also testified that the bus driver's failure to illuminate the yellow lights 300 feet before stopping meant he should not receive a citation for passing the bus.^[4]

¶8 At the conclusion of the trial, the municipal court found the City had established by clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence that Melton unlawfully passed the school bus. Melton appealed that decision to the circuit court and received a record review (rather than a de novo trial). The circuit court

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determined that the evidence supported the municipal court's decision and affirmed the municipal court. Melton appeals.

II. DISCUSSION

¶9 This court applies the same standard of review as the circuit court in reviewing the municipal court's decision. Village of Williams Bay v. Metzl, 124 Wis.2d 356, 361-62, 369 N.W.2d 186 (Ct. App. 1985). Review on appeal is limited "to an examination of the transcript to determine whether the evidence supports the municipal court decision." Id. at 361; WIS. STAT. § 800.14(5) (appellate review limited to an examination of the transcript and the Record). This court reviews the municipal court's decision; it does not review the circuit court's decision. See Village of Williams Bay, 124 Wis.2d at 361.^[5]

¶10 Melton was convicted of violating WIS. STAT. § 346.48(1). This statute provides, as material:

The operator of a vehicle which

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