Windschitl v. Commissioner of Public Safety

• Citation: 355 N.W.2d 146
• Decision Date: 14 September 1984
• Docket Number: No. C6-83-423,C6-83-423
• Parties: Patrick Gerald WINDSCHITL, Respondent, v. COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 146

355 N.W.2d 146

Patrick Gerald WINDSCHITL, Respondent, v. COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY, Appellant.

No. C6-83-423.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Sept. 14, 1984.

Syllabus by the Court

A police officer who makes a lawful arrest outside his jurisdiction pursuant to Minn.Stat. Sec. 629.40, subd. 1 (1982), may administer a preliminary screening test if during the course of the arrest the officer acquires probable cause to believe the individual arrested has been operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., Linda F. Close, Joel A. Watne, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., St. Paul, for appellant.

J. Brian O'Leary, Springfield, for respondent.

Considered and decided by the court en banc without oral argument.

COYNE, Justice.

The Commissioner of Public Safety appeals from the split decision of a Fifth Judicial District three-judge appellate panel reversing the Commissioner's proposed revocation of Patrick Windschitl's driving privileges. For the reasons set out below we reverse the district court panel and sustain the revocation of Windschitl's driving privileges.

Shortly after midnight on April 18, 1981, two Springfield police officers were on routine patrol in the city cemetery located outside the corporate limits of Springfield, Minnesota. As the patrol car left the cemetery, Officer Gary Fiegel spotted an automobile near another entrance to the cemetery. Fiegel thought the automobile was leaving the cemetery. Windschitl testified, however, that he had merely turned his automobile around on a paved parking area adjacent to the cemetery. The police signaled the driver to stop. Windschitl fled through a stop sign. The ensuing chase continued for several miles at speeds up to 85 miles per hour. The pursuing officers radioed a neighboring police department for assistance, and Comfrey Police Chief James Meyer stopped Windschitl in a rural area.

When Officer Fiegel arrived on the scene, he asked Windschitl to get out of his car. Windschitl complied. Observing signs of intoxication, Officer Fiegel administered a preliminary breath test. The machine registered an alcohol concentration in excess of .10. Officer Fiegel arrested Windschitl on the charge of driving while intoxicated. A blood test performed at the Springfield hospital disclosed that Windschitl's alcohol concentration was .14.

The Commissioner of Public Safety proposed revocation of Windschitl's driving privileges. Windschitl requested a judicial hearing; the Brown County Court sustained the proposed revocation. On appeal the District Court for the Fifth Judicial District rescinded the proposed revocation. The majority of the panel determinated that Officer Fiegel had not made a valid officer's arrest because he was outside the corporate limits of Springfield when the events leading to the arrest occurred and that he had not made a valid citizen's arrest because private citizens are not empowered to administer preliminary screening tests. We conclude that, whether it be considered an arrest by a peace officer or by a private citizen, it was a valid arrest.

Unauthorized entry or presence in a cemetery when the cemetery is closed to the public is a misdemeanor. Minn.Stat. Sec. 609.605, subd. 11 (1982). A police officer has authority to arrest without a warrant for misdemeanors committed or attempted in his presence and within his jurisdiction. Smith v. Hubbard, 253 Minn. 215, 220, 91 N.W.2d 756, 761 (1958); Minn.Stat. Sec. 629.34, subd. 1(1) (1982). When Officer Fiegel first saw Windschitl's car, he inferred that Windschitl was leaving the cemetery and that a misdemeanor had been committed in his presence. That a misdemeanor may not actually have been committed does not affect the legality of the arrest; it is sufficient that the officer reasonably believed that the person arrested was committing an unlawful act. E. Fischer, Laws of Arrest Sec. 90 p. 193 (1967); Smith v. Hubbard, 253 Minn. 215, 223, 91 N.W.2d 756, 763 (1958).

Although the district court presumed that the city had authorized its police officers to protect the cemetery pursuant to Minn.Stat. Sec. 412.221, subd. 3 (1982), and recognized that Officer Fiegel was rightfully in the cemetery, it ruled that Officer Fiegel had no legal right to exercise his authority as a police officer because he was at all times material to this inquiry outside the corporate limits of Springfield.

Although as a general rule a city cannot exercise its police powers beyond its boundaries, the legislature often permits municipal corporations to acquire land within or without their limits for public purposes and it may authorize the extraterritorial municipal police regulation of public grounds outside municipal boundaries. 6 McQuillan, Municipal Corporations (3d ed. 1980) Sec. 24.57. Town of Burnsville v. City of Bloomington, 268 Minn. 84, 91, 128 N.W.2d 97, 103 (1964).

By statute Minnesota accords cities the power to acquire, manage, and, by ordinance, to regulate cemeteries. Minn.Stat. Sec. 412.221, subd. 9 (1982). ¹ Cities also have the express power to control and protect their property. Minn.Stat. Sec. 412.221, subd. 3 (1982). Inasmuch as any employee of any cemetery association has, after taking a constable's oath, all the rights and powers of a police officer within and adjacent to the cemetery grounds, Minn.Stat. Sec. 306.13 (1982), there can be little doubt that the police power of the City of Springfield extended to the cemetery and that Officer Fiegel possessed the rights and powers of a police officer while patrolling the cemetery.

Since Officer Fiegel had the right and power as a peace officer to arrest Windschitl for a violation of section 609.605, subd. 11, which Fiegel reasonably believed had been committed in his presence, Fiegel also...