State v. Williams
| Decision Date | 09 July 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-0463-CR, No. 01-0464-CR. |
| Citation | 2002 WI 94,255 Wis.2d 1,646 N.W.2d 834 |
| Parties | STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Appellant-Petitioner, v. Lawrence A. WILLIAMS, Defendant-Respondent. STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Appellant-Petitioner, v. Antwon C. MATHEWS, Defendant-Respondent. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
For the plaintiff-appellant-petitioner the cause was argued by Stephen W. Kleinmaier, assistant attorney general, with whom on the briefs was James E. Doyle, attorney general.
For the defendant-respondent, Lawrence A. Williams, there was a brief by Thomas E. Knothe and Collins, Quillin & Knothe, Ltd., La Crosse, and oral argument by Thomas E. Knothe.
For the defendant-respondent, Antwon C. Mathews, there was a brief by Peter J. Thompson, Eau Claire, and oral argument by Peter J. Thompson.
¶ 1.
This case involves a consent search of a vehicle, and the issue is whether the driver was "seized" for purposes of the Fourth Amendment when he consented to the search.
¶ 2. Defendant Lawrence Williams was stopped for speeding on I-94. The state trooper conducting the stop issued a warning citation and returned Williams' driver's license and other paperwork, said "[we]'ll let you get on your way then," shook hands, and headed back to his squad car. After two steps, the trooper abruptly turned around and began questioning Williams about whether he had any guns, knives, drugs, or large amounts of money in the car, and asked for permission to search. Williams denied having any of the items in question, and gave consent to search. The trooper found heroin and a gun.
¶ 3. Williams and his passenger, Antwon Mathews, were charged with possession of heroin with intent to deliver and carrying a concealed weapon. The circuit court suppressed the physical evidence recovered in the search, concluding that Williams' consent was invalid because his continued detention after the traffic stop had concluded was illegal. The state appealed, and the court of appeals affirmed. We accepted review, and now reverse.
¶ 4. The question of whether a police contact is a "seizure" under the Fourth Amendment is determined by reference to an objective test. "[A] person has been `seized' within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment only if, in view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave." United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 554 (1980). Here, the traffic stop that immediately preceded Williams' consent was over, and he had been told unequivocally that he was free to leave. The trooper's subsequent questioning did not constitute a new seizure. Accordingly, Williams' consent to the vehicle search was not invalid as a result of an illegal seizure. The drugs and the gun should not have been suppressed.
¶ 5. The facts are from the complaint, the suppression hearing, the state trooper's incident report, and a videotape of the traffic stop, the latter two items having been admitted into evidence at the suppression hearing.1 At approximately 2:30 a.m. on June 7, 2000, State Trooper James Fetherston was patrolling I-94 in Eau Claire County when he observed a vehicle approaching him rapidly. Fetherston allowed the vehicle to pass, clocked it at 78.7 m.p.h., activated his emergency flashing lights, and pulled the car over for speeding. ¶ 6. Lawrence Williams was the driver and Antwon Mathews was his front-seat passenger. Fetherston approached the driver's side window, explained that he had stopped the car for speeding, and asked Williams for his driver's license. He then asked Williams whose car he was driving. Williams replied that it was a rental car and that he did not know who the renter was. Mathews told the officer that the car had been rented by his uncle. Williams produced the rental papers and gave them to Fetherston. During this exchange, Williams appeared very nervous, was breathing very fast, and would not make eye contact with the trooper.
¶ 7. Fetherston told Williams and Mathews to "sit tight for a minute," and returned to his patrol car to call in Williams' license. He also requested back-up, saying he had "a Badger going." This particular state patrol terminology, no longer in use, refers to a law enforcement interdiction technique by which the officer attempts to obtain the driver's consent to search the vehicle.
¶ 8. The dispatcher reported that Williams' license was valid and the vehicle was not stolen, but alerted Fetherston that Williams had come up a "ten-zero" on prior offenses, which Fetherston testified meant "caution." At some point during this process, Fetherston turned off his squad's emergency lights. Eau Claire County Sheriff's Deputy Jonathan Staber arrived as backup, parking his squad behind Fetherston's and leaving his emergency lights activated. Both officers then walked towards Williams' car, Staber on the passenger side, and Fetherston on the driver's side.
¶ 9. Fetherston asked Williams to step out of the car. While standing with Williams at the rear of the car, Fetherston pointed out that the rental agreement did not allow Williams to be driving. Williams said he was unaware of that fact. Fetherston then returned Williams' driver's license and the rental papers, and indicated he was going to issue a warning for speeding. He showed Williams the warning citation and said, "This is a warning for speeding, need a signature and we'll get you on your way then." The tone throughout, on both sides, was polite and conversational.
¶ 10. During this exchange, Staber, the back-up officer, was standing next to the passenger side of Williams' car. He held a flashlight in his right hand illuminating the inside of the vehicle, and generally kept his left hand resting on the front of his belt.
¶ 11. Williams signed the warning citation. Fetherston handed it to him and asked if he had any questions. Williams stated that he did not, that he was familiar with the state patrol, and knew how everything worked. The officer replied, "Good, we'll let you get on your way then okay."
¶ 12. Williams extended his hand to the officer and said, They shook hands, and Fetherston said, Williams turned around and took a couple of steps towards his car. Fetherston turned toward his squad, took a step or two, then abruptly swiveled back around and in a louder but still conversational tone said, "Hey Lawrence." Williams turned back to face Fetherston, replying, "Yes, sir?" Then, in a rapid succession of questions, Fetherston asked Williams about any contraband he and/or Mathews might be carrying:
¶ 13. Mathews, an amputee, was then asked to step out of the car. The officer assisted Mathews with his crutches, and Mathews engaged him in a friendly, detailed conversation about a prosthesis he was hoping to get and a lawsuit he was pursuing over how he lost his leg. Fetherston then searched the car and found a loaded handgun and heroin. Williams and Mathews were arrested and charged with possession of heroin with intent to deliver and carrying a concealed weapon, as party to the crime, contrary to Wis. Stat. §§ 961.41(1m)(d)3, 941.23, and 939.05 (1999-2000).2 ¶ 14. Williams moved to suppress the evidence obtained in the search of his vehicle.3 The Eau Claire County Circuit Court, the Honorable Benjamin D. Proctor, granted the motion.
¶ 15. The circuit court concluded that Fetherston needed new, separate, and sufficient "reasonable suspicion" to support any further investigation beyond the original traffic stop, and here, all the officer had was "mere curiosity," such that his request for permission to search was just "a shot in the dark." The court held that
¶ 16. The State appealed,4 and the court of appeals affirmed. State v. Williams, 2001 WI App 249, 248 Wis. 2d 361, 635 N.W.2d 869. Applying the Mendenhall test, the court concluded that Williams was "seized" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment at the time he consented to the search. The court emphasized that its conclusion was based on the totality of the circumstances—including, in particular, the rapid succession of questions, the more abrupt and slightly louder tone, the presence and stance of the back-up officer, the flashing emergency lights of the second squad, the location (a rural interstate highway), and the time of night (2:30 a.m.). Williams, 2001 WI App 249, ¶ 19. In this situation, the court held, a reasonable person "would not have felt free to disregard the questions and walk away." Id.
[1, 2]
¶ 17. This case presents a question of constitutional fact subject to a two-part standard of review. State v. Matejka, 2001 WI 5, ¶ 16, 241 Wis. 2d 52, 621 N.W.2d 891; see also State v. Griffith, 2000 WI 72, ¶ 23, 236 Wis. 2d 48, 58, 613 N.W.2d 72
. The circuit court's findings of evidentiary or historical fact are upheld unless clearly erroneous. Matejka, 2001 WI 5, ¶ 16. The determination of whether Williams was "seized" for Fourth Amendment purposes is reviewed de novo. Id.
[3]
¶ 18. Warrentless searches are per se unreasonable under the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Cox
...P.2d 1234, 1239 (1993), overruled on other grounds; State v. Buzzard, 194 W.Va. 544, 461 S.E.2d 50, 57 (1995); State v. Williams, 255 Wis.2d 1, 646 N.W.2d 834, 840 n. 7 (2002). We acknowledge, however, that Schneckloth and its progeny have been rejected as ruling precedent in a handful of j......
-
State v. Mitchell
...well-delineated’ exceptions to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement." Brar, 376 Wis. 2d 685, ¶ 16, 898 N.W.2d 499 (quoting State v. Williams, 2002 WI 94, ¶ 18, 255 Wis. 2d 1, 646 N.W.2d 834 ). One such exception is a search conducted pursuant to consent. Brar, 376 Wis. 2d 685, ¶ 16, 8......
-
State v. Houghton
...189, 577 N.W.2d 794 (1998). First, we uphold the circuit court's findings of historical fact unless they are clearly erroneous. State v. Williams, 2002 WI 94, ¶ 17, 255 Wis.2d 1, 646 N.W.2d 834. Then, we review the circuit court's determination of the constitutional question de novo. Id.III......
-
State v. Padley
...(1966). Warrantless searches are per se unreasonable and therefore unlawful, subject to a few “ ‘well-delineated’ ” exceptions. State v. Williams, 2002 WI 94, ¶ 18, 255 Wis.2d 1, 646 N.W.2d 834 (quoted source omitted). As relevant to the State's extraction of blood, the following are except......