State v. Reed

• Decision Date: 27 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 2003AP1781-CR.,2003AP1781-CR.
• Citation: 2005 WI 53,695 N.W.2d 315,280 Wis.2d 68
• Parties: STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Brent R. REED, Defendant-Appellant-Petitioner.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

280 Wis.2d 68

2005 WI 53

695 N.W.2d 315

STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Brent R. REED, Defendant-Appellant-Petitioner.

No. 2003AP1781-CR.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

Oral argument January 14, 2005.

Decided April 27, 2005.

For the defendant-appellant-petitioner there were briefs by David H. Weber and Liebmann, Conway, Olejniczak & Jerry, S.C., Green Bay, and oral argument by David H. Weber.

For the plaintiff-respondent the cause was argued by David J. Becker, assistant attorney general, with whom on the brief was Peggy A. Lautenschlager, attorney general.

¶ 1. LOUIS B. BUTLER, JR., J.

Brent Reed seeks review of a published court of appeals' decision that affirmed a circuit court's non-final order denying his motion to dismiss an obstructing an officer charge.¹ State v. Reed, 2004 WI App 98, 273 Wis. 2d 661, 681 N.W.2d 568. The obstructing charge accompanies an operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated charge and stems from Reed's falsely telling a police officer that another individual was operating the vehicle. The court of appeals concluded that the "exculpatory denial" exception to the obstructing statute set forth in State v. Espinoza, 2002 WI App 51, 250 Wis. 2d 804, 641 N.W.2d 484, which absolves a defendant for falsely denying guilt of a crime when questioned by police, did not extend to these circumstances. Reed, 273 Wis. 2d 661, ¶ 10. ¶ 2. Reed asks this court to reverse the court of appeals' decision by upholding, and concluding that his statements fall within, Espinoza's exculpatory denial exception. We affirm the court of appeals' decision, but conclude that there is no reason to depart from the clear text of the obstructing statute to write in an exculpatory denial exception. Although we reaffirm that the State should have sound reasons for believing that a defendant's statements were falsely made with intent to mislead the police and were not made out of a good-faith attempt to defend against accusations of a crime, we conclude that knowingly giving false information with intent to mislead the police is the antithesis of a good-faith attempt to defend against accusations of criminal wrongdoing. Accordingly, we overrule Espinoza and remand this case for further proceedings.

I

¶ 3. The following facts are undisputed. On March 1, 2003, around 11:00 p.m. on a Saturday, a highway patrol officer passed a car that was parked alongside the highway and saw a person sitting in the driver's seat. The officer turned back to investigate and found the person, Reed, now sitting in the passenger's seat.

¶ 4. After the officer approached the vehicle, he noticed a strong odor of intoxicants emanating from the vehicle. Reed identified himself with his driver license and then immediately stated he was not driving because he knew he had too much to drink. The officer observed that Reed's eyes were glassy and bloodshot and that Reed had slurred speech. Reed stated that a "Mr. Triller" was driving but pulled the vehicle over after they had an argument and then walked away. ¶ 5. Reed told the officer that Triller left about ten minutes ago, though he could not tell the officer which direction Triller walked. Reed was unable to give the officer Triller's phone number, stating he only knew Triller lived in Milwaukee. The officer ran the vehicle's license plate number and found that the vehicle was registered to Reed.

¶ 6. A backup officer arrived, and Reed was asked to perform sobriety tests. After he refused, insisting that he had not been driving, the officers arrested him. The backup officer then drove up the highway approximately five miles to see if anyone was walking along it. He did not find anyone.

¶ 7. Later that night, the officer obtained Triller's father's telephone number after calling Reed's brother, which eventually led him to Triller's telephone number. The officer called Triller and asked if he had been with Reed or in the area where Reed's car was parked alongside the highway on March 1. Triller said he had not.

¶ 8. The State charged Reed with obstructing an officer, and with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant and with a prohibited alcohol concentration, each of the latter as third offenses. Reed moved to dismiss the obstruction charge, and the circuit court, the Honorable Richard L. Rehm, denied the motion. The circuit court concluded Reed went beyond an exculpatory denial by misdirecting the police investigation as to who was driving the vehicle.

¶ 9. Reed petitioned the court of appeals to review the nonfinal order, and the court of appeals granted the interlocutory appeal to clarify the exculpatory denial exception to the obstructing statute set forth in Espinoza. Reed, 273 Wis. 2d 661,

¶ 1. The court of appeals concluded that Reed's statements fell outside Espinoza's exculpatory denial exception because Reed did more than simply provide an exculpatory denial; he gave false information related to the crime. Id., ¶ 10. Thus, the court of appeals concluded he frustrated the police function, and, therefore, it affirmed the circuit court's order. Id.

¶ 10. Reed seeks review of the court of appeals' decision.

II

[1]

¶ 11. Reed challenges whether the complaint adequately sets forth a basis for an obstructing charge. Whether a criminal complaint sets forth probable cause to justify a criminal charge is a legal determination this court reviews de novo. State v. Gaudesi, 112 Wis. 2d 213, 219-21, 332 N.W.2d 302 (1983).

¶ 12. We look within the four corners of the complaint to see whether there are facts or reasonable inferences set forth that are sufficient to allow a reasonable person to conclude that a crime was probably committed and that the defendant probably committed it. State v. Haugen, 52 Wis. 2d 791, 793, 191 N.W.2d 12 (1971). A complaint is sufficient if it answers the following questions: "(1) Who is charged?; (2) What is the person charged with?; (3) When and where did the alleged offense take place?; (4) Why is this particular person being charged?; and (5) Who says so? or how reliable is the informant?" State v. White, 97 Wis. 2d 193, 203, 295 N.W.2d 346 (1980); see State ex rel. Evanow v. Seraphim, 40 Wis. 2d 223, 229-30, 161 N.W.2d 369 (1968)

. Only the fourth question is at issue in this case.

[4-8]

¶ 13. Finally, this case requires us to interpret the obstructing statute, a task that presents a question of law we review de novo. The purpose of statutory interpretation is to determine what a statute means so that it may be given its full, proper, and intended effect. State ex rel. Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane County, 2004 WI 58, ¶ 44, 271 Wis. 2d 633, 681 N.W.2d 110. We begin with the statute's language because we assume that the legislature's intent is expressed in the words it used. Id., ¶ 45. Generally, language is given its common, ordinary, and accepted meaning. Id. If the meaning is plain, we ordinarily stop the inquiry. Id.

III

¶ 14. We begin with a discussion of Espinoza. In that case, although not expressly articulated, the court of appeals adopted an "exculpatory denial," also known as the "exculpatory no," exception to the obstructing statute. After being confronted by the police with allegations of stealing a tire from a car, Espinoza denied the accusation, threatened to sue the officers, and told the officers they had "the wrong guy." Espinoza, 250 Wis. 2d 804, ¶ 6. The State charged Espinoza with obstructing, and he moved to dismiss the charge, arguing that his mere denial of guilt, in and of itself, was an insufficient basis to support an obstructing charge. Id., ¶ 8. Both the trial court and the court of appeals agreed.

¶ 15. The court of appeals affirmed the dismissal for the following three reasons. First, it noted that in Peters v. State, 70 Wis. 2d 22, 29, 233 N.W.2d 420 (1975), this court stated that the district attorney should have sound reasons to believe that statements made by a suspected defendant to the police were knowingly and intentionally made for the purpose of deceiving and misleading the police, and not simply out of a good faith desire to defend against an accusation of crime. Espinoza, 250 Wis. 2d 804, ¶ 12. The court found Peters instructive, but not dispositive, as it dealt with a defendant who provided a false alibi to the police. Id., ¶ 13.

¶ 16. Second, because Peters was not directly on point, the court took into consideration similar obstructing statutes in other jurisdictions and concluded that these obstructing statutes "have been generally construed to exclude prosecution for statements made by a defendant in defense of an accusation of a crime." Id., ¶ 13. In support of this conclusion, the court of appeals turned to a single case from the Illinois Appellate Court, People v. Brooks, 367 N.E.2d 236 (Ill. App. Ct. 1977). The Espinoza court indicated that the Brooks court "held that the Illinois obstruction of justice statute excepts the exculpatory denials falsely made by a defendant in answer to police questioning in regard to his or her own involvement in a crime." Espinoza, 250 Wis. 2d 804, ¶ 14. The Espinoza court wrote that the Illinois Appellate Court concluded that the Illinois legislature did not intend for Illinois' obstructing statute to criminalize all false answers or statements that a defendant makes intending to exculpate him or herself against a criminal charge. Id., ¶ 19. Using Brooks, and without turning to the obstructing statute's language or legislative history, the Espinoza court concluded, "[w]e also believe that the Wisconsin legislature did not intend such a broad result and adopt this reasoning." See id., ¶ 20.

¶ 17. Third, the court was mindful that "`[t]he function of law enforcement is the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals. Manifestly, that function does not include the manufacturing of crime.'" Id., ¶ 21 (quoting Sherman v. United States, 356 U.S. 369, 372 (1958)

).

¶ 18. Therefore, the court of appeals held that ...