Lead Opinion
¶ 1.
This case comes before us by certification from the court of appeals. David Howes was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OWI) (fourth offense while having a prior OWI within five years) in violation of Wis. Stat. § 346.63(l)(a) (2013-14)
¶ 2. Howes moved to suppress the results of a warrantless blood draw, arguing that the deputy that arrested Howes lacked probable cause to do so and, additionally, that the deputy violated Howes' rights by obtaining a warrantless blood draw. The circuit court
¶ 3. We conclude that the circuit court correctly determined that the deputy had probable cause to arrest Howes for operating a vehicle with a PAC, and that Howes was arrested prior to obtaining a blood sample. Moreover, based on the totality of circumstances herein, the deputy's warrantless search was permissible under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution under the exigent circumstances doctrine that relates to the risk of destruction of evidence.
I. BACKGROUND
¶ 4. At approximately 9:18 p.m. on July 7, 2013, Deputy Robert Schiro of the Dane County Sheriffs Office received a call from dispatch indicating that an individual had been in a motorcycle crash with a deer. Dispatch detailed that the driver was unconscious. Deputy Schiro arrived at the scene of the accident and found the deceased deer and the motorcycle in the middle of the road. The driver of the motorcycle was the defendant in the present case, David Howes. He was positioned approximately 40 feet away from the deer and was seriously injured and unconscious. When the deputy arrived, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was already attending to Howes.
¶ 5. At the scene, there were several bystanders situated near EMS and the ambulance. The deputy unsuccessfully searched for a witness that had observed the accident. Though unsuccessful, the deputy testified that an individual approached him and, referring to Howes, stated he smelled an odor of intoxicants. As the lone police officer at the scene, the deputy had multiple responsibilities relating to containing the accident scene and was unable to obtain the individual's name.
¶ 6. While EMS continued to attend to Howes, the deputy had to ensure the safety of those traveling through the accident scene because a dead deer and a
¶ 7. The deputy then left to go to the hospital to follow up with Howes. During the drive to the hospital, the deputy checked Howes' Department of Transportation records. He testified that his purpose was to confirm that the motorcycle driver was in fact Howes and to check Howes' driving record. As a result of this record check, the deputy discovered that Howes had three prior OWI/PAC convictions. These prior convictions signaled to the deputy that Howes had a PAC threshold more restrictive than the usual 0.08 percent. Specifically, Howes violated the law if he had operated the motorcycle with a blood alcohol concentration of as little as 0.02 percent.
¶ 8. After the deputy arrived at the hospital, he immediately spoke with the two Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), who were in the ambulance with Howes as he was transported to the hospital. The deputy inquired about whether either of the EMTs had smelled alcohol on Howes' breath. The deputy testified that the EMT positioned in the ambulance near Howes' head smelled a "high odor of intox coming from" Howes. The EMT positioned in the ambulance at Howes' feet did not smell intoxicants.
¶ 9. The deputy proceeded to the emergency room in which medical staff was treating Howes. The
¶ 10. The deputy observed that Howes had not regained consciousness and that he was intubated to assist his breathing. The deputy spoke with a physician with regard to Howes' medical condition. The physician said that Howes was in critical condition and possibly had a brain injury. He said that Howes needed a CT scan to further evaluate his injuries.
¶ 11. At approximately 10:15 p.m., the deputy arrested Howes for operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration. The deputy testified that he arrested Howes for the following reasons: (1) three different individuals smelled an odor of intoxicants emanating from Howes; (2) Howes had a prohibited alcohol concentration threshold of 0.02 percent due to his previous drunk-driving convictions; and (3) the crash.
¶ 12. After arresting Howes, and while Howes was still unconscious, the deputy read Howes the informing the accused form. The deputy asked Howes if he would submit to an evidentiary chemical test of his blood, and Howes did not respond.
¶ 13. At 11:17 p.m., roughly two hours after the accident and an hour after the deputy asked hospital staff to draw Howes' blood, a phlebotomist completed
¶ 14. Howes was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OWI) (fourth offense while having a prior OWI within five years) in violation of Wis. Stat. § 346.63(l)(a) and operating a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration (PAC) (fourth offense while having a prior PAC within five years) in violation of § 346.63(1)(b). Howes moved to suppress the report that resulted from the blood draw. The circuit court granted Howes' motion. First, the circuit court concluded that the deputy had probable cause to arrest Howes. The court based its conclusion, in part, on the statements to the deputy by various individuals indicating that there was a smell of intoxicants coming from Howes. The court also concluded that "central to the probable cause determination [was] that this was a gentleman who had three prior convictions," and was subject to a PAC threshold of 0.02 percent, rather than 0.08 percent. As part of this determination, the court found that the deputy had searched Howes' driving record prior to arresting Howes; and therefore, he knew that Howes was subject to a PAC threshold of 0.02 percent.
¶ 16. The State appealed and the court of appeals certified the case for our review. We now reverse.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
¶ 17. "Our review of an order granting or denying a motion to suppress evidence presents a question of constitutional fact." State v. Tullberg, 2014 WI 134, ¶ 27, 359 Wis. 2d 421, 857 N.W.2d 120 (quoting State v. Robinson, 2010 WI 80, ¶ 22, 327 Wis. 2d 302, 786 N.W.2d 463). "When presented with a question of constitutional fact, this court engages in a two-step inquiry." Robinson, 327 Wis. 2d 302, ¶ 22.
¶ 18. First, the circuit "court's findings of eviden-tiary or historical fact will not be overturned unless they are clearly erroneous." State v. Richter, 2000 WI 58, ¶ 26, 235 Wis. 2d 524, 612 N.W.2d 29. Next, we "independently determine whether the historical or evidentiary facts establish exigent circumstances sufficient to justify the warrantless" search. Id.
¶ 19. In the present case, we apply this two-step inquiry to determine whether the warrantless blood
B. General Principles
¶ 20. A blood draw is a search of the person. Tullberg, 359 Wis. 2d 421, ¶ 31 ("A blood draw to uncover evidence of a crime is a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment."). At issue in the present case is whether the deputy acted reasonably in instructing hospital personnel to draw Howes' blood when he did not have a warrant. Accordingly, we must determine whether the deputy's warrantless search of Howes was permissible under the Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 11.
¶ 21. "The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution protect the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." Id., ¶ 29 (quoting Robinson, 359 Wis. 2d 421, ¶ 24). "The touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). As such, "[t]he Fourth Amendment does not proscribe all state-initiated searches and seizures; it merely proscribes those which are unreasonable." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). "An action is 'reasonable' under the Fourth Amendment, regardless of the individual officer's state of mind, 'as long as the circumstances, viewed objectively, justify [the] action.'" Brigham City, Utah v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398, 404 (2006) (quoting Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128, 138 (1978)).
¶ 23. To overcome this presumption, a warrant-less search must fall under an exception to the warrant requirement. See State v. Foster, 2014 WI 131, ¶ 32, 360 Wis. 2d 12, 856 N.W.2d 847 ("Consistent with the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of the Fourth Amendment, we have adhered to the basic principle that warrantless searches are per se unreasonable unless they fall within a well-recognized exception to the warrant requirement."). "One exception to the warrant requirement is the exigent circumstances doctrine, which holds that a warrantless search complies with the Fourth Amendment if the need for a search is urgent and insufficient time to obtain a warrant exists." Tullberg, 359 Wis. 2d 421, ¶ 30.
¶ 24. "There are four well-recognized categories of exigent circumstances ... 1) hot pursuit of a suspect, 2) a threat to the safety of a suspect or others, 3) a risk that evidence will be destroyed, and 4) a likelihood that the suspect will flee." Richter, 235 Wis. 2d 524, ¶ 29. The burden is on the government to establish that its actions fit into one of the well-recognized exceptions. State v. Phillips, 2009 WI App 179, ¶ 7,
¶ 25. If exigent circumstances are present, we have distilled four additional requirements that a warrantless blood draw in a drunk driving case must satisfy to be reasonable under the Fourth Amendment:
(1) the blood draw is taken to obtain evidence of intoxication from a person lawfully arrested for a drunk-driving related violation or crime, (2) there is a clear indication that the blood draw will produce evidence of intoxication, (3) the method used to take the blood sample is a reasonable one and performed in a reasonable manner, and (4) the arrestee presents no reasonable objection to the blood draw.
State v. Kennedy, 2014 WI 132, ¶ 17, 359 Wis. 2d 454, 856 N.W.2d 834 (quoting State v. Bohling, 173 Wis. 2d 529, 534, 494 N.W.2d 399 (1993) abrogated in part by Missouri v. McNeely, 133 S. Ct. 1552 (2013)). We have "explained that probable cause to arrest for a drunk-driving related violation or crime 'substitutes for the predicate act of lawful arrest' under the first factor." Id. (quoting Bohling, 173 Wis. 2d at 534 n.1). "The second factor, whether there is a clear indication that the blood draw will produce evidence of intoxication, in this case is also satisfied by the same facts that support a finding of probable cause to arrest." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
¶ 26. In the present case, there is no dispute as to the presence of the third and fourth factors. The blood was drawn in a reasonable manner; it was taken in a hospital by a person authorized to draw blood. See State v. Krajewski, 2002 WI 97, ¶ 47, 255 Wis. 2d 98, 648 N.W.2d 385 ("Krajewski and the State stipulated
C. Probable Cause to Arrest
¶ 27. With respect to the probable cause analysis, the deputy in this case arrested Howes; therefore, the dispositive inquiry is whether the deputy had probable cause to conduct this arrest. We conclude that the deputy had probable cause to arrest Howes for operation of a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration under the facts as found by the circuit court.
¶ 28. 'Warrantless arrests are unlawful unless they are supported by probable cause." State v. Blatterman, 2015 WI 46, ¶ 34, 362 Wis. 2d 138, 864 N.W.2d 26. "Probable cause to arrest. . . refers to that quantum of evidence within the arresting officer's knowledge at the time of the arrest that would lead a reasonable law enforcement officer to believe that the defendant was operating a motor vehicle [at a prohibited alcohol concentration]." Id. (quoting State v. Lange, 2009 WI 49, ¶ 19, 317 Wis. 2d 383, 766 N.W.2d 551). "The burden is on the state to show [it] had probable cause to arrest." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). And, "[w]e evaluate the existence of probable cause objectively, concerned with whether law enforcement acted reasonably." Robinson, 327 Wis. 2d 302, ¶ 26.
¶ 29. We look at the "totality of the circumstances to determine whether probable cause . . . existed." Tullberg, 359 Wis. 2d 421, ¶ 33. "In dealing
¶ 30. A number of factors may be relevant to a determination of probable cause in the context of an arrest for a drunk-driving related offense. As we have previously detailed, "factors sufficient to support a finding of probable cause have included bloodshot eyes, an odor of intoxicants, and slurred speech, together with a motor vehicle accident or erratic driving." Kennedy, 359 Wis. 2d 454, ¶ 22.
¶ 31. Additionally," [p] olice may properly consider prior convictions in a probable cause determination." Blatterman, 362 Wis. 2d 138, ¶ 36; see also State v. Goss, 2011 WI 104, ¶ 24, 338 Wis. 2d 72, 806 N.W.2d 918. "Prior convictions are especially relevant in this case because the statute reduced the PAC threshold applicable to [the defendant] from 0.08% to 0.02% alcohol concentration." Blatterman, 362 Wis. 2d 138, ¶ 36.
¶ 32. In this case, the deputy checked Howes' driving record, which indicated that Howes had three prior OWI/PAC convictions. This lowered Howes' PAC threshold to 0.02 percent. The circuit court properly
¶ 33. Moreover, three people told the deputy that Howes smelled of intoxicants: (1) an individual at the scene of the accident; (2) one of the EMTs who rode in the ambulance with Howes; and (3) a nurse at the hospital. Taken together with the vehicle accident, these facts were sufficient to provide the deputy with probable cause to arrest Howes for operating a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration.
¶ 34. We note that probable cause in this case developed over a period of time. At the accident scene, one bystander mentioned that Howes may have smelled of intoxicants. While on his way to the hospital, the deputy learned that Howes' PAC threshold had been lowered to 0.02 percent because of his prior convictions for OWI/PAC. Then, at the hospital, the deputy spoke with EMT personnel, one of whom said that Howes smelled of intoxicants and later he spoke with a nurse who also said that Howes smelled of intoxicants. At that point, the deputy reasonably believed that he had probable cause to conclude that Howes had operated his motorcycle with a prohibited alcohol concentration of 0.02 percent. He then placed Howes under arrest. We agree that the deputy had probable cause to believe that Howes had violated Wis. Stat. § 346.63(l)(b) under the provisions of Wis. Stat. § 340.01(46m)(c).
D. Exigent Circumstances
¶ 35. We next examine whether the warrantless blood draw was justified by exigent circumstances. To determine if a warrantless blood draw was permissible
¶ 36. "Like our analysis of probable cause, the test for determining the existence of exigent circumstances is an objective one." Tullberg, 359 Wis. 2d 421, ¶ 41 (quoting Robinson, 327 Wis. 2d 302, ¶ 30). It follows that we give no weight to the subjective belief of an officer.
¶ 37. An officer is justified in conducting a war-rantless search to prevent the destruction of evidence. And, "[e]vidence of a crime is destroyed as alcohol is eliminated from the bloodstream of a drunken driver." Tullberg, 359 Wis. 2d 421, ¶ 42. While the natural dissipation of alcohol is not, under all circumstances, an exigent circumstance sufficient to allow an officer to conduct a warrantless blood draw, there are situations in which the totality of the circumstances would justify such a search. "[A] warrantless blood draw [need not] always require a 'now or never' situation in order to be justified by exigent circumstances. Rather, exigent circumstances justify a warrantless blood draw if de
¶ 38. The United States Supreme Court's decision in Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757 (1966), illustrates a circumstance in which a warrantless blood draw in the context of a drunk-driving offense is reasonable. In Schmerber, an individual was "arrested at a hospital while receiving treatment for injuries suffered in an accident involving the automobile that he had apparently been driving." Id. at 758. Without obtaining a warrant, the officer instructed a physician at the hospital to draw the defendant's blood. Id. "The chemical analysis of this sample revealed a percent by weight of alcohol in his blood at the time of the offense which indicated intoxication, and the report of this analysis was admitted in evidence at the trial." Id. at 759. The defendant objected to the admission of the report and contended, in part, that these results "should be excluded from evidence as the product of an unlawful search and seizure in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments." Id. at 766.
¶ 39. The United States Supreme Court rejected the defendant's contention that the warrantless blood draw was unreasonable and concluded that the officer's search was justified by exigent circumstances. Id. at 770. The Court, in part, premised its decision on the defendant's injuries that had delayed the officer's ability to secure a blood draw from the defendant. Specifically, the Court reasoned:
*494 We are told that the percentage of alcohol in the blood begins to diminish shortly after drinking stops, as the body functions to eliminate it from the system. Particularly in a case such as this, where time had to be taken to bring the accused to a hospital and to investigate the scene of the accident, there was no time to seek out a magistrate and secure a warrant. Given these special facts, we conclude that the attempt to secure evidence of blood-alcohol content in this case was an appropriate incident to petitioner's arrest.
Id. at 770-71. Consequently, the Court surmised that "[t]he officer . . . might reasonably have believed that he was confronted with an emergency, in which the delay necessary to obtain a warrant, under the circumstances, threatened the destruction of evidence." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
¶ 40. Following Schmerber, the Supreme Court in McNeely reaffirmed the principle that dissipation of alcohol from the blood stream may lead to the destruction of evidence, and therefore constitute an exigent circumstance sufficient to justify a warrantless blood draw. McNeely, 133 S. Ct. at 1560 (reasoning, "our analysis in Schmerber fits comfortably within our case law applying the exigent circumstances exception."). The Court clarified that its decision in Schmerber was not predicated solely on the natural dissipation of alcohol from the bloodstream; rather, there were "special facts" that made the blood draw reasonable under the totality of circumstances present in Schmerber. Id. These "special facts" were that the defendant was injured and in the hospital, and that the officer had to investigate the scene of the accident. The Court reasoned,
Regardless of the exact elimination rate, it is sufficient for our purposes to note that because an individual's*495 alcohol level gradually declines soon after he stops drinking, a significant delay in testing will negatively affect the probative value of the results. This fact was essential to our holding in Schmerber, as we recognized that, under the circumstances, further delay in order to secure a warrant after the time spent investigating the scene of the accident and transporting the injured suspect to the hospital to receive treatment would have threatened the destruction of evidence.
Id. at 1560-61. These facts made the officer's need to draw blood more urgent and, given this urgency, the officer's actions were justified under the exigent circumstances doctrine. Id. at 1560 ("We added that '[particularly in a case such as this, where time had to be taken to bring the accused to a hospital and to investigate the scene of the accident, there was no time to seek out a magistrate and secure a warrant.'" (quoting Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 770-71).
¶ 41. Moreover, we note that our decision is consistent with the Supreme Court's narrow holding in McNeely that dissipation of alcohol from the bloodstream, standing alone, does not always constitute an exigent circumstance. The Supreme Court in McNeely did not simultaneously create that which it sought to eradicate. Stated otherwise, McNeely did not create a per se rule that a warrantless blood draw based on the natural dissipation of alcohol from the blood stream is never reasonable. Id. at 1568 ("The relevant factors in determining whether a warrantless search is reasonable, including the practical problems of obtaining a warrant within a timeframe that still preserves the opportunity to obtain reliable evidence, will no doubt vary depending upon the circumstances in the case.").
¶ 43. As is evident from the Court's analysis in Schmerber and McNeely, certain facts are particularly relevant to an exigent circumstances analysis in drunk-driving cases. Whether an officer was delayed in obtaining a blood draw due to the defendant's medical condition is one such fact. Additionally, whether the officer was delayed because time had to be taken to investigate the scene of the accident is also highly relevant. See Birchfield v. North Dakota, 136 S. Ct. 2160, 2174 (2016) ("On the specific facts of [Schmer-ber}, where time had already been lost taking the driver to the hospital and investigating the accident, the Court found no Fourth Amendment violation even though the warrantless blood draw took place over the driver's objection.").
¶ 44. The Minnesota Supreme Court, relying on these factors, concluded that exigent circumstances
¶ 45. The circumstances of a critically injured driver who needed immediate medical care that justified the warrantless blood draw in Schmerber and Stavish are present in the case at hand. And in addition, Howes' prohibited alcohol concentration threshold of 0.02 percent increased the need for a prompt blood draw. Dissipation or dilution of alcohol in his bloodstream due to the passage of time and medical treatments threatened the State's ability to prove the crime for which he was arrested. This is so because "[a]lcohol dissipates from the bloodstream at a rate of 0.01 percent to 0.025 percent per hour." McNeely, 133 S. Ct. at 1570—71 (Roberts, C. J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (citing Richard Stripp, Forensic and Clinical Issues in Alcohol Analysis, in Forensic Chemistry Handbook 440 (Lawrence Kobilinsky ed., 2012)). If Howes violated his restricted PAC with a blood
¶ 46. In addition, similar to the officer in Schmerber, the deputy's responsibilities at the accident scene led to a significant delay in the ability of the deputy to obtain a blood draw. For example, he was required to secure evidence relating to the accident and ensure the safety of those traveling on roads through the scene of the accident. The investigation of the accident took time. During this time, reliable evidence of Howes' blood alcohol concentration was being destroyed by the passage of time and treatment at the hospital.
¶ 47. Furthermore, akin to the defendant in Schmerber, Howes was in critical condition. The severity of Howes' condition made the deputy's ability to obtain a blood draw in the future uncertain. This uncertainty was exacerbated because at least one hour already had passed since the accident and the deputy had no knowledge about the time at which Howes stopped drinking.
¶ 49. Additionally, as we have explained, the deputy did not have probable cause to arrest Howes until he arrived at the hospital, talked with EMTs and talked with the nurse who told him that she also smelled alcohol. Accordingly, the present case is not one in which the officer could have obtained a warrant on the way to the hospital because he did not have probable cause to obtain a warrant then. Applying for a warrant after his conversations with Howes' caregivers would have led to additional delay and the further dissipation of alcohol from Howes' bloodstream. See id., 359 Wis. 2d 421, ¶ 48 n.25 ("We note that Deputy Hoffman could not have had other officers assist him in obtaining a warrant while he investigated the accident because he did not have probable cause to have Tullberg's blood drawn until immediately before it was drawn.").
¶ 50. Accordingly, we conclude that the warrant-less blood draw from Howes was permissible under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution
III. CONCLUSION
¶ 51. We conclude that the circuit court correctly determined that the deputy had probable cause to arrest Howes for operating a vehicle with a PAC, and that Howes was arrested prior to obtaining a blood sample. Moreover, based on the totality of circumstances herein, the deputy's warrantless search was permissible under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution under the exigent circumstances doctrine that relates to the risk of destruction of evidence. Stated more fully, under the totality of circumstances presented herein, which included a seriously injured, unconscious person, who was being subjected to medical treatments for his injuries and who had 0.02 percent as his PAC threshold, a reasonable officer could have concluded that further delay in drawing Howes' blood would have led to the destruction of evidence through the dissipation and dilution of alcohol in Howes' bloodstream. Therefore, we reverse the order of the circuit court and remand for further proceedings.
By the Court. —The The order of the circuit court is reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
All subsequent references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2013—14 version unless otherwise indicated.
The Honorable John W. Markson of Dane County presided.
See Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3).
Because we conclude that the search was reasonable under the totality of circumstances presented herein, we need not reach whether Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(b) is facially unconstitutional. See generally, State v. Stoehr, 134 Wis. 2d 66, 70, 396 N.W.2d 177 (1986) ("When this court grants direct review upon certification, it acquires jurisdiction of the appeal, which includes all issues, not merely the issues certified or the issue for which the court accepts the certification.").
See Wis. Stat. § 340.01(46m)(c).
The deputy said he took these steps even though Howes was unconscious because he thought he was legally required to do so.
If a CT scan occurred during this period, it would be consistent with a physician's statement to the deputy shortly after the deputy arrived at the hospital that Howes needed to have a CT scan.
An analysis under the fourth factor does not require us to determine whether an individual consented to a search; instead, it refers to an objection to the type of search the officer chose to conduct (e.g., a blood draw as opposed to a breathalyzer). See State v. Krajewski, 2002 WI 97, ¶ 48, 255 Wis. 2d 98, 648 N.W.2d 385. As this Court in State v. Kennedy, 2014 WI 132, 359 Wis. 2d 454, 856 N.W.2d 834 recognized, the fourth factor is derived from the Supreme Court's decision in Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757 (1966). In Schmerber, the Supreme Court explained that an analysis under the fourth factor is reserved for those instances in which an individual has raised a legitimate and significant objection to having his or her blood drawn. The Court concluded that the defendant in that case did not raise a reasonable objection to the blood draw because the defendant was "not one of the few who on grounds of fear, concern for health, or religious scruple might prefer some other means of testing, such as the 'Breathalyzer' test petitioner refused." Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 771. See also State v. Krause, 168 Wis. 2d 578, 588, 484 N.W.2d 347 (Ct. App. 1992) ("Krause asserts, however, that his refusal still is constitutionally protected because he told Officer Dornfeld that he 'didn't believe in needles' and 'd[id]n't want AIDS.' This argument fails. These isolated comments do not establish that Krause is 'one of the few who on grounds of fear, concern for health, or religious scruple might prefer some other means of testing' whose wishes the Schmerber Court declined to address."). Consequently, the fourth factor speaks to the reasonableness of the type of search employed, not whether a warrant was required to conduct the search. As such, to say that Howes made no objection to the type of search is not to say that Howes impliedly consented to being searched. Each inquiry is analytically distinct.
Accordingly, the deputy's testimony that he had time to obtain a warrant in this case is irrelevant to our analysis.
Howes was in critical condition that required additional testing, intubation to support his respiration. He had been given medication resulting in "heavy sedation," and because he was unconscious, he must have received this medication intravenously.
The deputy asked hospital staff to conduct a blood draw, but they were unable to draw Howes' blood until roughly an hour after the deputy's request. This passage of time is further evidence that the deputy needed to request a blood draw immediately.
Concurrence Opinion
f 52.
{concurring). I agree that the blood draw here was a permissible warrantless search under the Fourth Amendment, and I concur in the mandate of the court. However, rather
¶ 53. Wisconsin's implied consent law, Wis. Stat. § 343.305, provides notice to all drivers that when they operate a motor vehicle in this state, they are deemed to have consented to blood, breath, or urine testing for the presence of alcohol or controlled substances, § 343.305(2),
¶ 55. The circuit court suppressed the test results, ruling that subsections (3)(ar) and (3)(b) of the implied consent law are facially unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment to the extent they authorize warrantless testing of unconscious drivers in the absence of exigent circumstances.
¶ 56. On appeal, Howes takes the position that the circuit court was correct to find the unconscious-driver provisions facially unconstitutional.
¶ 57. I conclude that Howes has not met his burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the unconscious-driver provisions of the implied consent law are unconstitutional. Voluntary consent to testing may be implied from the conduct of driving with notice of the conditions of Wisconsin's implied consent law, and such consent continues unless it is revoked. Therefore, I conclude that the circuit court erred in striking
¶ 58. I begin with the applicable standard of review and with a general overview of Wisconsin's implied consent law, focusing on the challenged unconscious-driver provisions. I then apply the principles of the Fourth Amendment to the unconscious-driver provisions in light of Howes' argument that they are facially unconstitutional.
I. STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 59. Whether a statute is constitutional is a question of law that this court reviews de novo. Dane Cty. DHS v. P.P., 2005 WI 32, ¶ 14, 279 Wis. 2d 169, 694 N.W.2d 344. Statutes are presumed to be constitutional. Aicher ex rel. LaBarge v. Wis. Patients Comp. Fund, 2000 WI 98, ¶ 18, 237 Wis. 2d 99, 613 N.W.2d 849. "The court indulges every presumption to sustain the law if at all possible, and if any doubt exists about a statute's constitutionality, we must resolve that doubt in favor of constitutionality." Id. The burden is on the challenger to "prove that the statute is unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt." State v. Cole, 2003 WI 112, ¶ 11, 264 Wis. 2d 520, 665 N.W.2d 328. Here, because Howes presents his argument as a facial challenge to the unconscious-driver provisions, the burden is on him to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the statute "cannot be constitutionally enforced under any circumstances." See Society Ins. v. LIRC, 2010 WI 68, ¶ 26, 326 Wis. 2d 444, 786 N.W.2d 385 (citing State v. Wood, 2010 WI 17, ¶ 13, 323 Wis. 2d 321, 780 N.W.2d 63).
¶ 60. Wisconsin's implied consent law was first enacted in 1969 and is codified at Wis. Stat. § 343.305. "The purpose behind the implied consent law is to combat drunk driving by 'facilit[ating] the gathering of evidence against drunk drivers.' " State v. Piddington, 2001 WI 24, ¶ 17, 241 Wis. 2d 754, 623 N.W.2d 528 (quoting State v. Neitzel, 95 Wis. 2d 191, 203, 289 N.W.2d 828 (1980)). Like every one of our forty-nine sister states, Wisconsin has chosen to combat the problem of drunken and impaired driving by enacting an implied consent law, such that consenting to testing has long been "a condition of the privilege of operating a motor vehicle upon state highways." State v. Zielke, 137 Wis. 2d 39, 48, 403 N.W.2d 427 (1987).
¶ 61. The implied consent law provides that a driver is deemed to have consented, in certain circumstances, to testing of his or her blood, breath, or urine for the presence of alcohol or other controlled substances. Wis. Stat. § 343.305(2). Specifically, it provides that anyone who "drives or operates a motor vehicle upon the public highways of this state" is "deemed" to have consented to testing when required by a law enforcement officer under the specific circumstances enumerated in the statute. Id.
¶ 62. Although the statute acknowledges that a person may withdraw consent and refuse to submit to testing, a driver has no statutory or constitutional right to refuse without consequences. See State v. Crandall, 133 Wis. 2d 251, 255-56, 394 N.W.2d 905 (1986). Nor does the statute provide that officers must ask drivers whether they want to refuse testing. "This statutory scheme does not contemplate a choice, but
¶ 63. The occasions on which drivers are deemed to have consented to testing are limited to particular circumstances where the legislature has decided that such testing is necessary to combat intoxicated driving and to protect public safety. See Piddington, 241 Wis. 2d 754, ¶ 42 ("The implied consent law is based upon the legitimate government interest of protecting the public welfare, to wit, removing drunk drivers from the road." (citing Proegler, 95 Wis. 2d at 631)). For example, a driver is deemed to have consented to testing upon arrest, but only if the offense for which the driver is arrested is one of certain enumerated intoxicated-driving offenses under Wis. Stat. § 346.63 or certain other offenses involving injury or homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle. See Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(a). If none of the statutory circumstances exist, testing pursuant to the implied consent law is not permitted, though officers may still procure evidence through "any other lawful means." § 343.305(3)(c).
III. THE UNCONSCIOUS-DRIVER PROVISIONS
¶ 64. The unconscious-driver provisions of the implied consent law provide that, under certain circumstances, a driver "who is unconscious or otherwise not capable of withdrawing consent is presumed not to have withdrawn consent." See Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(ar)-(b). Provided the other relevant statutory conditions are met, law enforcement may presume that an unconscious driver consents to the tests that are set forth in the statute, unless consent is revoked. The statute
¶ 65. Indeed, the informational statement that officers must read to a driver before administering the test is a notice of the consequences of refusal, not a "request" for consent. See Wis. Stat. § 343.305(4). The purpose of this notice is to advise drivers about the nature of their implied consent, not necessarily to provide a meaningful opportunity to decide whether to withdraw their consent. See Piddington, 241 Wis. 2d 754, ¶¶ 17, 20, 55 (holding that an analysis of the proper administration of the notice focuses on the objectively reasonable conduct of the officer, not "[w]hether the accused driver has actually comprehended the warnings"). "The entire tenor of the implied consent law is . . . that consent has already been given . . . ." Neitzel, 95 Wis. 2d at 203.
¶ 66. To summarize, the unconscious-driver provisions of the implied consent law put every driver on notice that, in the event he or she becomes unconscious and, for example, an officer has probable cause to believe the driver is guilty of a drunk-driving offense, the driver's previously given consent would remain unrevoked. I turn now to the question of whether Howes has met his burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these provisions are unconstitutional.
IV. APPLICABLE FOURTH AMENDMENT PRINCIPLES
¶ 67. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
A. Consent May Be Implied By Conduct
f 68. The principle of consent by conduct is neither new nor infrequently applied. In his treatise on the Fourth Amendment, Professor Wayne LaFave provides a number of examples in which "it is said that consent is 'implied' because it is found to exist merely because of the person's conduct in engaging in a certain activity." 4 Wayne R. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 8.2(1), at 162-63 (5th ed. 2012). For example, "a warrantless search of a person seeking to enter a military base may be deemed reasonable based on the implied consent of the person searched," Morgan v. United States, 323 F.3d 776, 778 (9th Cir. 2003), and consent "may be implied from [the] act of driving past the guard shack and onto [the base] and imputed from the posted notice indicating that entry onto [the base] constituted consent to a search," State v. Torres, 262 P.3d 1006, 1022 (Haw. 2011). Another analogous situation concerns a "business owner in a highly regulated or licensed industry" who "in effect consents to the restrictions put in place by the government." United
B. The Limits of Implying Consent By Conduct
¶ 69. Of course, there must be a limit to the scope of the consent that may be implied by a person's conduct. See Birchfield, 136 S. Ct. at 2185. Consent "cannot be said to exist merely because a person (a) knows that an official intrusion into his privacy is contemplated if he does a certain thing, and then (b) proceeds to do that thing." LaFave, supra, at 164-65 (emphasis added). A reviewing court must also consider the scope and the voluntariness of the individuals' consent under the particular implied consent
¶ 70. A federal case out of the Seventh Circuit is helpful in illustrating how both the scope and the voluntary nature of the consent implied by conduct are evaluated by what is reasonable under the particular circumstances. Where a parking lot for government employees had signs posted stating that all vehicles were "subject to search," the mere conduct of parking in the lot did not imply consent to a sudden, unprecedented search of all vehicles because the vague signs gave no reason to expect such a singular suspicionless search. McGann v. Ne. Ill. Reg'l Commuter R.R. Corp., 8 F.3d 1174, 1176, 1182-83 (7th Cir. 1993); see also State v. Iaccarino, 767 So.2d 470, 477 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2000) (holding that implied consent to searches at festival entrance did not extend to intrusive drug searches, because a "reasonable person would conclude from the signs posted at the gate that the search was limited to cans, bottles, and the contents of coolers or backpacks,.. . [not] wallets, pockets, and underwear").
V. APPLICATION
¶ 71. I now apply these principles to the unconscious-driver provisions of Wisconsin's implied consent law, in light of Howes' arguments. Howes argues that, under the Supreme Court's recent decisions in Missouri v. McNeely, 133 S. Ct. 1552 (2013), and Birchfield v. North Dakota, 136 S. Ct. 2160 (2016), authorizing warrantless blood tests of unconscious drivers based solely on their implied consent creates an unreasonable per se exception to the warrant re
A. McNeely and Birchfield
¶ 72. In McNeely, the Supreme Court held that the natural dissipation of alcohol in the bloodstream does not constitute a per se exigency that always justifies a warrantless blood draw. McNeely, 133 S. Ct. at 1563. Although Howes points to broad language in McNeely that emphasizes the intrusive nature of a blood draw and the need for an examination of the totality of the circumstances, the holding in McNeely is limited only to the question of exigent circumstances. The McNeely Court "pointedly did not address" any other exceptions to the warrant requirement. Birchfield, 136 S. Ct. at 2174. Here, the State does not ground its argument in exigent circumstances, but rather bases its case entirely upon the consent exception to the warrant requirement. So, put simply, Mc-Neely is inapplicable to the question before us, that is, whether the unconscious-driver provisions of Wisconsin's implied consent law are unconstitutional.
¶ 73. With Birchfield, we get closer to the mark. In Birchfield, the Supreme Court held, inter alia, that it was unreasonable to deem a driver "to have consented to submit to a blood test on pain of committing a criminal offense." Birchfield, 136 S. Ct. at 2186. But Wisconsin's implied consent law does not threaten the criminal penalties that Birchfield disapproved; instead, the result of refusal is that the officer shall "prepare a notice of intent to revoke, by court order
¶ 74. On the contrary, the Supreme Court stated in Birchfield that" [i]t is well established that a search is reasonable when the subject consents, and that sometimes consent to a search need not be express but may be fairly inferred from context." Birchfield, 136 S. Ct. at 2185 (citations omitted). The Court continued, "Our prior opinions have referred approvingly to the general concept of implied-consent laws that impose civil penalties and evidentiary consequences on motorists who refuse to comply. Petitioners do not question the constitutionality of those laws, and nothing we say here should be read to cast doubt on them." Id. (emphasis added) (citations omitted). Far from disapproving the concept of consent by conduct within the context of a driver's implied consent, the Court expressly endorsed the general validity of state implied consent laws that infer motorists' consent to testing from the conduct of driving.
¶ 75. Howes argues that it is unreasonable to presume that a driver has consented to testing merely by the conduct of driving on state highways. However, the understanding that a driver's voluntary consent to testing of blood, breath, or urine is validly implied by the conduct of driving has been consistently recognized in this court's cases. See, e.g., Zielke, 137 Wis. 2d at 48 ("The consent is implied as a condition of the privilege of operating a motor vehicle upon state highways."); Neitzel, 95 Wis. 2d at 203 ("The entire tenor of the implied consent law is . . . that consent has already been given . . . ."). In Neitzel, we concluded that an arrestee does not have a statutory right to consult with counsel about whether to refuse testing, because "a lawyer cannot induce his client to recant a consent previously given knowingly and voluntarily." Neitzel, 95 Wis. 2d at 201 (emphasis added). At the time the defendant chose to drive, "he was fully cognizant of his rights and was deemed to know that, in the event he was later arrested for drunken driving, he had consented ... to chemical testing under the circumstances envisaged by the statute." Id. Put simply, consent to testing had already been given, and it remained valid until withdrawn.
f 77. Wisconsin is not the only jurisdiction to recognize that consent to testing is implied when a person operates a motor vehicle and continues until it is revoked. The Idaho Supreme Court recognizes that drivers "give their initial consent to evidentiary testing by driving on Idaho roads voluntarily," and such consent will "qualify as voluntary" so long as the driver "continuéis] to give voluntary consent." State v. Wulff, 337 P.3d 575, 582 (Idaho 2014). Applying this rule to an apparently unconscious driver, Idaho's court of appeals recognized the validity of the driver's implied consent under the Fourth Amendment, because "[t]he fact that [the driver] was allegedly unconscious when the officer read her the advisory does not effectively operate as a withdrawal of her consent." Bobeck v. Idaho Transp. Dep't., 363 P.3d 861, 866-67 (Idaho Ct. App. 2015). Further, the court held that the officers had no duty "to
¶ 78. I acknowledge that other courts have found that the implied consent of an unconscious driver cannot justify a warrantless blood draw. See, e.g., People v. Arredondo, 199 Cal. Rptr. 3d 563 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016), modified on denial of reh'g (Mar. 24, 2016), review granted, 371 P.3d 240 (Cal. 2016); Bailey v. State, 790 S.E.2d 98 (Ga. App. 2016); State v. Romano, 785 S.E.2d 168 (N.C. Ct. App. 2016), review granted, 794 S.E.2d 315 (N.C. 2016) review granted, writ granted, 794 S.E.2d 317 (N.C. 2016); State v. Ruiz, _ S.W.3d _, 2015 WL 5626252 (Tex. App. Aug. 27, 2015), vacated, No. PD-1362-15, 2017 WL 430291 (Tex. Crim. App. Feb. 1, 2017) (per curiam).
¶ 79. At first blush, this appears to be a significant list of courts with holdings inapposite to that which I advocate today. However, the holdings in those cases all assume that McNeely (the exigent circumstances case) controls the outcome in implied consent cases. See, e.g., Bailey, 790 S.E.2d at 104 ("In light of McNeely . . . implied consent was insufficient to satisfy the Fourth Amendment. . . ."). Both as a matter of logic and in light of the relevant language in Birchfield (decided after McNeely), I fail to see how that can be the case. Because McNeely does not control as to the application of the consent exception to the warrant requirement, I reach a different conclusion than other jurisdictions do.
C. The Scope of Consent Is Reasonable
¶ 80. I conclude that the unconscious-driver provisions are reasonable in light of the clarity and
¶ 81. First, the notice given in the statute is clear: a test may be performed on a driver while he or she is unconscious, Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(ar)-(b), and continuing consent to testing is deemed to exist by virtue of the operation of a motor vehicle, § 343.305(2). A driver is "deemed to know" the conditions imposed by the implied consent law, Neitzel, 95 Wis. 2d at 201, and the conditions in the unconscious-driver provisions are unequivocal.
f 82. Second, the notice given is much more specific than the vague, generalized notices rejected by the Seventh Circuit in McGann and by the Florida District Court of Appeal in Iaccarino. In those cases, generic "subject to search" notices did not provide fair notice of the extensive searches actually performed, and it was therefore unreasonable to deem individuals to have consented to those searches. See McGann, 8 F.3d at 1176, 1183; Iaccarino, 767 So.2d at 477-80. But as the Florida court suggested in Iaccarino, providing a clearer and more specific notice would have been enough to establish consent. Iaccarino, 767 So.2d at 480. Here, the statute explicitly notifies all drivers that they will be deemed to have consented to the tests (not to the choice of testing or revocation), in particular circumstances specifically tailored to combating the dangers of intoxicated driving. Unlike the parking lot in McGann, where unwarned and unprecedented searches were held unreasonable based on a vague notice, the State provides notice through its statutes of its regularly performed tests, and drivers have no reason to expect otherwise.
¶ 83. Further, tests may be performed on an unconscious person only in specific situations. Testing
¶ 84. In the final analysis," [i]t is the motorist who has voluntarily asserted his or her autonomy" in deciding to drive, State v. Wintlend, 2002 WI App 314, ¶ 19, 258 Wis. 2d 875, 655 N.W.2d 745, and "voluntary consent to a blood draw is not negated by the fact that consent was procured by informing a suspect that the alternative is a penalty," Padley, 354 Wis. 2d 545, ¶ 72 (citing Vill. of Little Chute v. Walitalo, 2002 WI App 211, 256 Wis. 2d 1032, 650 N.W.2d 891). Howes exercised his autonomy by electing to drive under the conditions all drivers in Wisconsin accept, and he has not developed —much less perfected—any argument as to why, if a driver's voluntary consent to testing may be implied from the conduct of driving, the blood test performed on him was not authorized by his implied consent.
¶ 85. No warrant is required in order to administer the tests to which a driver has impliedly consented, even if the driver is found unconscious. Voluntary consent to testing can be presumed from the decision to drive made with notice of the statutory requirements and in the absence of any expressed intent to revoke such consent. Further, this presumption that an unconscious driver does not withdraw consent is not per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, I cannot conclude that Howes has met his burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the unconscious-driver provisions of the statute are facially unconstitutional and "cannot be constitutionally enforced under any circumstances." Society Ins., 326 Wis. 2d 444, ¶ 26. I conclude that the circuit court erred in striking down the statute as facially unconstitutional and in suppressing the results of the blood test on that basis.
¶ 86. For the foregoing reasons I concur.
Wis. Stat. § 343.305(2) provides, in full:
IMPLIED CONSENT. Any person who is on duty time with respect to a commercial motor vehicle or drives or operates a motor vehicle upon the public highways of this state, or in those areas enumerated in s. 346.61, is deemed to have given consent to one or more tests of his or her breath, blood or urine, for the purpose of determining the presence or quantity in his or her blood or breath, of alcohol, controlled substances, controlled substance analogs or other drugs, or any combination of alcohol, controlled substances, controlled substance analogs and other drugs, when requested to do so by a law enforcement officer under sub. (3)(a) or (am) or when required to do so under sub. (3)(ar) or (b). Any such tests shall be administered upon the request of a law enforcement officer. The law enforcement agency by which the officer is employed shall be prepared to administer, either at its agency or any other agency or facility, 2 of the 3 tests under sub. (3)(a), (am), or (ar), and may designate which of the tests shall be administered first.
Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(a) provides, in relevant part:
*502 Upon arrest of a person for violation of s. 346.63(1), (2m) or (5) or a local ordinance in conformity therewith, or for a violation of s. 346.63(2) or (6) or 940.25, or s. 940.09 where the offense involved the use of a vehicle, or upon arrest subsequent to a refusal under par. (ar), a law enforcement officer may request the person to provide one or more samples of his or her breath, blood or urine for the purpose specified under sub. (2).
Subsection (3)(am) includes similar provisions that apply when the "officer detects any presence of alcohol... on a person driving or operating or on duty time with respect to a commercial motor vehicle or has reason to believe the person is violating or has violated s. 346.63(7)."
Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(ar)l. applies if "a person is the operator of a vehicle that is involved in an accident that causes substantial bodily harm, as defined in s. 939.22(38), to any person, and a law enforcement officer detects any presence of alcohol, a controlled substance, a controlled substance analog or other drug, or a combination thereof." Subsection (3)(ar)2. applies if "a person is the operator of a vehicle that is involved in an accident that causes the death of or great bodily harm to any person and the law enforcement officer has reason to believe that the person violated any state or local traffic law." Both provisions provide that a "person who is unconscious or otherwise not capable of withdrawing consent is presumed not to have withdrawn consent under this subdivision and one or more samples specified in par. (a) or (am) may be administered to the person." Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(ar)l.-2.
Additionally, Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(b) provides, in full:
A person who is unconscious or otherwise not capable of withdrawing consent is presumed not to have withdrawn consent under this subsection, and if a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that the person has violated s. 346.63(1), (2m) or (5) or a local ordinance in conformity therewith, or s. 346.63(2) or (6) or 940.25, or s. 940.09 where the offense involved the use of a vehicle, or detects any presence of alcohol, controlled substance, controlled substance analog or other drug,*503 or a combination thereof, on a person driving or operating or on duty time with respect to a commercial motor vehicle or has reason to believe the person has violated s. 346.63(7), one or more samples specified in par. (a) or (am) may be administered to the person.
This situation was governed by Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(b), because the deputy had probable cause to believe Howes was guilty of operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration, in violation of Wis. Stat. § 346.63(l)(b).
I will refer to these provisions collectively as the "unconscious-driver provisions" of the implied consent law.
This case also presents an as-applied challenge to the statute, but Howes does not develop any distinct argument to support his as-applied challenge. Rather, he states that his challenge is "as-applied only insofar as his Fourth Amendment rights were personally violated by the State's conduct under the general auspices of the provisions in question when the blood draw was performed." Howes "does not believe that any variation in the circumstances (except for the crucial one—• incapacitation, which brings him within the purview of the provision in the first place) would materially affect the analysis." Therefore, if the unconscious-driver provisions can be constitutionally applied, Howes does not dispute that they were constitutionally applied to him.
Although the cases involving warrantless inspections of highly regulated businesses do not rely on consent as the basis for the reasonableness of such searches, the rationale in those cases is analogous in that the inspections are reasonable in part because a business owner chooses to enter the regulated field and the government regulations supply notice of the scope and frequency of inspections. See United States v. Biswell, 406 U.S. 311, 316 (1972).
Some more recent decisions hold that consent is not required at all in the airport screening context, because such searches are reasonable under the administrative search doctrine. See, e.g., United States v. Aukai, 497 F.3d 955, 960 (9th Cir. 2007); United States v. Hartwell, 436 F.3d 174, 178-81 (3d Cir. 2006).
A revocation under Wis. Stat. § 343.305(10) has other consequences, but they are not criminal penalties for the withdrawal of consent. For example, Wis. Stat. § 343.307(1)(f) provides that a revocation under § 343.305(10) is counted in determining the penalty for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated in violation of Wis. Stat. § 346.63(1). But that penalty is imposed only on the subsequent criminal offense of drunk driving, not on the earlier withdrawal of consent to testing under the implied consent law. Unlike the North Dakota law at issue in Birchfield, which made the refusal itself a misdemeanor in the first instance, see Birchfield, 136 S. Ct. at 2170-71, a person's withdrawal of consent to a blood test under Wisconsin's implied consent law is not a criminal offense.
Howes argues that a recent court of appeals decision, State v. Padley, 2014 WI App 65, 354 Wis. 2d 545, 849 N.W.2d 867, stands for the contrary proposition. In Padley, the court of appeals rejected "the State's incorrect view that. . . 'implied consent1 alone can 'serve as a valid exception to the warrant requirement.'" Id., ¶ 37. However, Padley did not cite authority for its rejection of the validity of a driver's implied consent as an exception to the warrant requirement, nor was such a conclusion necessary to decide the case, because the driver in
Dissenting Opinion
¶ 89.
{dissenting). Only one question of law has been at issue in the instant case since its inception: Whether provisions
¶ 90. The constitutional inquiry into the statute's unconscious driver provisions focuses on whether statutory implied consent to a blood draw, a significant search of the person, satisfies the "consent" exception to the Fourth Amendment. This is the only Fourth Amendment issue the parties addressed in the circuit court and in their briefs and arguments in this court. This is the only Fourth Amendment issue addressed by the circuit court. This is the only issue addressed by the court of appeals in its certification memo.
¶ 91. At the suppression hearing, the circuit court considered the only two issues presented by the parties: probable cause to arrest the defendant and the constitutionality of the Wisconsin implied consent law.
f 92. The circuit court held that there was probable cause to arrest the defendant. I agree.
¶ 93. After indulging every presumption to sustain the constitutionality of the statute, the circuit court concluded that the statute was unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment: No consent in the
f 94. Rather than address the Fourth Amendment issue presented by the parties, the lead opinion sua sponte upholds the warrantless blood draw under the Fourth Amendment by fabricating "exigent circumstances." The lead opinion misleads the reader into believing that the circuit court addressed and decided the existence of exigent circumstances. See lead op., ¶ 2. The circuit court did not do so. In paragraph 15, the lead opinion fesses up that the circuit court merely stated without analysis that no exigent circumstances were presented by the instant case.
¶ 95. The lead opinion establishes the existence of "exigent circumstances" by stepping off the bench, seating itself at the counsel table as advocate for the State, and putting itself on the stand as witness for the State, thus abandoning its role as neutral decision maker. By raising and deciding the exigent circumstances exception sua sponte without giving the defendant an opportunity to present evidence or to be represented by counsel, the lead opinion violates basic concepts of due process and destabilizes the adversary system at both the trial and appellate levels.
¶ 97. In essence, the lead opinion engages in an assault on Missouri v. McNeely, 133 S. Ct. 1552 (2013). McNeely caused a paradigm shift in Fourth Amendment and drunk-driving law.
• "[WJhile the natural dissipation of alcohol in the blood may support a finding of exigency in a specific case, ... it does not do so categorically." McNeely, 133 S. Ct. at 1563.
• A "careful case—by-case assessment of exigency" must be undertaken. McNeely, 133 S. Ct. at 1561.
• Most importantly, if law enforcement "can reasonably obtain a warrant before a blood sample can be drawn without significantly undermining the efficacy of the search, the Fourth Amendment mandates that they do so." McNeely, 133 S. Ct. at 1561 (emphasis added).
f 99. Because the lead opinion whittles away constitutional protections for the defendant and all of us under the rubric of exigent circumstances, I dissent.
f 100. I will first address the lead opinion's explication of exigent circumstances as an exception to the Fourth Amendment in the instant case. I will then address the constitutionality of the statutory implied consent under the Fourth Amendment.
I
¶ 101. At the hearing on the motion to suppress the test results from the blood draw, the State's witness, Deputy Schiro of the Dane County Sheriffs Office, was the only witness. He testified to establish probable cause and his compliance with the implied consent law.
¶ 102. The State did not introduce any evidence to establish exigent circumstances. Indeed, the State did not even hint that exigent circumstances may have authorized the warrantless blood draw.
¶ 103. The defendant has never been given notice or an opportunity to present evidence or make arguments regarding what has become the dispositive issue in the instant case—exigent circumstances. I thus conclude that the lead opinion has deprived the
¶ 104. A defendant has due process rights to notice of issues to be resolved and to be heard in a meaningful way, including "a right to examine the witnesses against him, to offer testimony, and to be represented by counsel." Washington v. Texas, 388 U.S. 14, 18 (1967) (citing In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 273 (1948)).
¶ 106. Moreover, the lead opinion violates a basic rule of appellate review by bypassing the adversary process and raising and deciding a dispositive issue on its own without the benefit of briefs or argument.
¶ 108. For example, a key factual sticking point in the lead opinions ⅛ exigent circumstances analysis is that the record does not demonstrate that law enforce
¶ 109. At the suppression hearing, which addressed whether the officer had probable cause to arrest and the officer's compliance with the implied consent statute, the officer testified as follows on cross-examination by defense counsel and on redirect examination by the State that he had the time to get a warrant:
On cross-examination of Deputy Schiro by defense counsel:
Q. And you had plenty of time in this case to get a warrant, didn't you?
A. Yes
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On redirect examination of Deputy Schiro by the State:
Q. You testified on cross-examination, Deputy Schiro, that you had plenty of time to get a warrant before the blood draw. Why didn't you?
A. I believe I did not have to.
¶ 110. The lead opinion rejects the Dane County deputy's testimony as the deputy's subjective belief. The lead opinion reminds us that the totality of the circumstances test for exigent circumstances is an objective one. See lead op., ¶ 36 & n.9.
¶ 111. Relying on United States v. Richardson, 208 F.3d 626, 629 (7th Cir. 2000), the lead opinion reasons that "a police officer's subjective belief that
¶ 112. Furthermore, defense counsel might have offered as expert testimony the deputy's testimony about whether he had time to get a warrant. The testifying deputy has worked for 15 years as a Dane County law enforcement officer, and he ought to be qualified to testify from personal, professional expertise about the time needed to get a warrant in Dane County.
¶ 113. Advancements have been made for the expeditious processing of warrant applications. McNeely, 133 S. Ct. at 1561-63. See Wis. Stat. §§ 968.12(3)(a)-(d) (authorizing search warrants on oral testimony communicated to the judge by telephonic, radio, or other means of electronic communication). The Dane County Circuit Court has a system of 24/7 duty judges to provide telephonic warrants. See Dane County Court Rules, Rule 102, entitled "Duty Judge Responsibility."
¶ 114. Indeed the Dane County deputy's view on how long it would take to get a telephonic warrant in Dane County ought to be more reliable than the unsupported view of the three justices joining the lead opinion. Furthermore, the Dane County Circuit Court's view on how long it would take to get a
¶ 115. In rendering its decision declaring the blood draw unconstitutional, the circuit court declared as an aside that there were no exigent circumstances causing an exception to the warrant requirement and that the deputy had time to get a warrant:
[T]here are no exigent circumstances that are identified here that would cause an exception to the warrant requirement. . . . [t]he officer testified that there was no reason he could not have gotten a warrant. . . . There is nothing to suggest that there were exigent circumstances that would obviate the warrant requirement, so that's where we need to leave it then today.
¶ 116. In addition, defense counsel might have challenged the lead opinion's reliance on the defendant's prohibited alcohol concentration of 0.02 percent as supporting exigent circumstances. Blood alcohol concentration, BAC, refers to the amount of alcohol in the driver's blood. Prohibited alcohol content, PAC, refers to the legal limit of alcohol in a driver's blood.
¶ 117. According to the lead opinion, a 0.02 percent BAC will disappear in one to two hours. Lead op.,
¶ 118. Under closer scrutiny, it appears that this critical one-to-two-hour time period might have elapsed before the blood draw was requested or taken and that the lowered PAC is irrelevant to the exigent circumstances analysis in the instant case.
¶ 119. The record does not reveal the time at which the defendant stopped drinking or the time at which the accident occurred. See lead op., ¶ 47. The record demonstrates only that the blood draw was roughly two hours after the sheriffs office was advised of the accident. See lead op., ¶ 13.
¶ 120. Thus, the defendant's last drink and the accident were obviously more than two hours before the blood was drawn. If a 0.02 percent BAC will dissipate in one to two hours (as the lead opinion suggests), there were no exigent circumstances when the blood draw was made because the BAC in all probability would had already dissipated.
¶ 121. The record nevertheless indicates that the defendant's BAC was in all probability more than 0.02 percent. Several witnesses reported smelling intoxicants on the defendant. According to the Assistant District Attorney's argument at the suppression hearing, a person with a 0.11-.13 percent BAC will not
¶ 122. If the defendant's BAC was substantially higher than 0.02 percent, then law enforcement would have had more than one to two hours after the last drink within which to obtain a warrant for a blood draw and still gather evidence that defendant violated the law.
¶ 123. In either eventuality, that is, whether the defendant had a .02 percent BAC or had a higher BAC, the lead opinion's reliance on the defendant's lower PAC threshold to support exigent circumstances falls apart.
¶ 124. Defense counsel might have shown that the hour before law enforcement requested the hospital for a blood draw and the hour between the officer's request for a blood draw and the blood draw were sufficient times for the officer to get a warrant.
¶ 125. The evidence of the defendant's medical condition was sketchy. It is thus unclear whether it would have led a reasonable officer to conclude that there was no time to obtain a warrant before blood was drawn.
¶ 126. Defense counsel might have also shown that several law enforcement officers were on the accident scene and were available to aid Deputy Schiro. Deputy Schiro also talked with his sergeant.
¶ 127. The involvement of other law enforcement agents cuts against the existence of exigent circumstances. There is nothing in the record indicating that
¶ 128. In addition, defense counsel might have persuaded the court to follow precedent, namely State v. Kennedy, 2014 WI 132, ¶ 34 n.13, 359 Wis. 2d 454, 856 N.W.2d 834, in which the court explained its reluctance to address exigent circumstances when the State does not argue that exigent circumstances existed:
The State, which would bear the burden, does not argue that exigent circumstances existed in this case. Neither the State nor Kennedy focus on this issue. Whether an exigency exists in a given case will vary depending on any number of facts or circumstances, as law enforcement investigations are often extraordinarily fluid situations. Our holding in this case must not be read to affirmatively conclude that exigent circumstances did not support the warrantless investigatory blood draw performed on Kennedy. Nonetheless, our analysis remains focused on the arguments addressed by counsel. . . .11
¶ 130. Furthermore, the legal effect of the exigent circumstances analysis in the lead opinion creates an impermissible per se rule that no warrant is needed to draw blood for certain drivers. It is unclear, however, to whom the per se rule is applicable: To drivers who are unconscious from a motor vehicle accident? To unconscious drivers of motor vehicles who are restricted to a 0.02 BAC? To seriously injured hospitalized drivers?
¶ 131. In other words, law enforcement doesn't know which elements of the totality of the circumstances present in the instant case, see lead op., ¶ 3, are essential to justify a warrantless blood draw. The lead opinion provides no clear direction for law enforcement to follow in the future.
¶ 132. In sum, as a matter of law, when both the State and the defendant have not had the opportunity to offer evidence or argument on the issue of exigent circumstances and this court decides the case on the dispositive issue of exigent circumstances, the defendant has not received a full and fair due process evidentiary or appellate hearing on his Fourth Amendment motion to suppress. The instant case does not present an extraordinary situation justifying departure from the rule requiring the parties to present the issues.
¶ 133. In sum, as a matter of fact, the lead opinion cannot condone the warrantless blood draw on exigent circumstances with the sparse record of facts
All the police officer had to do to comply with the Fourth Amendment was to get a warrant. The defendant was not about to go anywhere but to the operating room. The duty judge was a phone call away. Following McNeely, we routinely handle blood draw search warrants by telephone. I respectfully suggest that procedure is more consonant with the Fourth Amendment than reading a form to an unconscious man and then ordering his blood to be taken.
¶ 134.Because I conclude that exigent circumstances did not render the warrantless blood draw constitutionally permissible, I turn to considering the provisions of the implied consent law regarding unconscious drivers. According to the statute, unconscious drivers incapable of withdrawing consent are presumed not to have withdrawn consent to the blood draw. See Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(b).
¶ 135. The State did not solicit any testimony at the suppression hearing that the defendant's consent to the blood draw was given in fact and was voluntary. The State relied on the statute alone to prove the defendant's consent.
¶ 136. Adhering to the reasoning set forth in State v. Padley, 2014 WI App 65, 354 Wis. 2d 545, 849 N.W.2d 867, I conclude that the statute's unconscious driver provisions are unconstitutional because unconscious drivers have not freely and voluntarily consented to the warrantless blood draw under the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, the warrantless blood test in the instant case should be suppressed.
¶ 137. Throughout the course of the instant litigation, the State has relied on consent as the applicable exception to the warrant requirement to validate the warrantless blood draw. The State's position is that the defendant's statutory "implied consent," deemed to have occurred before the defendant was arrested for suspected drunk driving, is voluntary consent for purposes of the consent exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement.
¶ 138. The parties disagree whether this statutory implied consent satisfies the Fourth Amendment requirement of consent. No federal or state cases are
¶ 139. Because a majority of the court has not written on the constitutional issue, I do not address it at length.
¶ 140. Upon considering the parties' arguments, the reasoning of the circuit court, and case law from the United States Supreme Court and the states, I conclude that the Wisconsin implied consent statute, applied to unconscious drivers, does not provide an independent and valid consent exception to the warrant requirement.
¶ 141. Warrantless searches are unreasonable, subject to a few narrow exceptions. State v. Artic, 2010 WI 83, ¶ 29, 327 Wis. 2d 392, 786 N.W.2d 430. One such exception is a search conducted pursuant to consent. The general rule is that the State must prove that consent was "given in fact by words gestures, or conduct" and that the consent was "voluntary." Artic, 327 Wis. 2d 392, ¶ 30.
¶ 142. Whether the consent was given in fact is a "question of historical fact" that an appellate court will uphold "if it is not contrary to the great weight and clear preponderance of the evidence." Artic, 327 Wis. 2d 392, ¶ 30.
e 143. If the State establishes consent in fact, the State must prove that the consent was given freely and voluntarily. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 222, 225 (1973) (consent must result from "an essentially free and unconstrained choice").
¶ 144. The consent required in Fourth Amendment cases must be " 'an essentially free and unconstrained choice,' not 'the product of duress or coercion, express or implied.'" Artic, 327 Wis. 2d 392, ¶ 32 (quoted source omitted).
¶ 145. The State argues that drivers on a Wisconsin highway have given "implied consent" to a warrantless blood draw; that statutory "implied consent" is the equivalent of actual voluntary consent for Fourth Amendment purposes; and that the Wisconsin implied consent statute is constitutional. According to the State, McNeely does not govern this case because McNeely concerns exigent circumstances, not consent.
¶ 146. The State asks this court to hold that the statutory implied consent supplies constitutional consent for conscious and unconscious drivers. The State
¶ 147. The defendant argues that Padley was correctly decided. He asserts that he did not consent in fact to a blood draw because he was unconscious; that
¶ 148. Relying on State v. Padley, 2014 WI App 65, ¶ 26, 354 Wis. 2d 545, 849 N.W.2d 876, in which the court of appeals distinguished between implied consent (which is consent to choose between a blood draw and license revocation) and actual voluntary consent for Fourth Amendment purposes, the circuit court correctly reasoned, in my opinion, that an unconscious defendant did not give actual voluntary consent to a blood draw and that statutory implied consent is analogous to the categorical exigent circumstances declared invalid in McNeely.
¶ 149. Padley has statewide precedential effect. Wis. Stat. § 752.41(2). We should not overrule precedent without a compelling justification. Birchfield v. North Dakota, 136 S. Ct. 2160 (2016), a recent United States Supreme Court case, supports Padley and the circuit court's decision in the instant case. In Birchfield, the United States Supreme Court recognized that the longstanding rule permitting a search inci
¶ 150. If the United States Supreme Court refuses to categorically permit a warrantless blood draw premised on the well-established search incident to arrest exception to the warrant requirement, a blood draw based on a statutorily imputed implied consent surely cannot pass muster. Birchfield, therefore, supports the notion that warrantless blood draws justified by only statutory implied consent (rather than voluntary consent in fact) are unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Birchfield also supports the notion that such blood draws, especially regarding an unconscious driver, lead to impermissible per se exceptions to the Fourth Amendment.
¶ 151. In sum, in addition to my conclusions regarding the errors in the lead opinion in relying on exigent circumstances, I conclude that the warrantless blood test in the instant case is not the product of actual consent in fact made freely and voluntarily.
¶ 152. Accordingly, I conclude that the blood test results should be suppressed as a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
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For clarity, Chief Justice Roggensack's lead opinion is joined by Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley and Justice Daniel Kelly. Justice Gableman's concurring opinion is joined by Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler. Justice Daniel Kelly filed a concurring opinion. This dissent is joined in its entirety by Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, and in Part II by Justice Daniel Kelly insofar as it discusses the constitutionality of Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(b).
See State v. Howes, No. 2014AP1870-CR, certification by Wisconsin Court of Appeals (Wis. Ct. App. Jan. 28, 2016).
As the United State Supreme Court has explained: "In our adversary system, in both civil and criminal cases, in the first instance and on appeal, we follow the principle of party presentation. That is, we rely on the parties to frame the issues for decision and assign to courts the role of neutral arbiter of matters the parties present." Greenlaw v. United States, 554 U.S. 237, 243-44 (2008) (citing Castro v. United States, 540 U.S. 375, 381-83 (2003))- The Court further explained: "To the extent courts have approved departures from the party presentation principle in criminal cases, the justification has
Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740, 749-50 (1984) ("[P]olice bear a heavy burden when attempting to demonstrate an urgent need that might justify warrantless searches or arrests").
See, e.g., State v. Tullberg, 2014 WI 134, ¶ 42, 359 Wis. 2d 421, 857 N.W.2d 120 (McNeely "changed the landscape of warrantless blood draws in Wisconsin").
Lankford v. Idaho, 500 U.S. 110, 126 (1991) ("notice of issues to be resolved by the adversary process is a fundamental characteristic of fair procedure."); California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 485 (1984) ("criminal prosecutions must comport with prevailing notions of fundamental fairness"); Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 313-14 (1950) (due process requires that "adjudication be preceded by notice and opportunity for hearing appropriate to the nature of the case").
See In re Termination of Parental Rights to Daniel R.S., 2005 WI 160, ¶ 65, 286 Wis. 2d 278, 706 N.W.2d 269 ("the opportunity to be heard includes the right to 'present a complete defense'") (quoted source omitted).
"The opportunity to present arguments on the legal issue upon which a case is to be decided is fundamental to sound legal process ... ." Bloomer v. Gibson, 912 A.2d 424, 433-34 (Vt. 2006) (citing Adam A. Milani & Michael R. Smith, Playing God: A Critical Look at Sua Sponte Decisions by Appellate Courts, 69 Tenn. L. Rev. 245 (2002)). The Bloomer court cited large swaths of Milani and Smith's article, including the following discussion:
[B]eing denied an opportunity to address the issue that ultimately proves dispositive of a case is no different than a complete denial of an opportunity to be heard. If a court perceives the issues on appeal as different from those addressed by the parties, the parties should have a right to receive notice of the court's*525 concern about those issues and to present arguments on them. Without this right, the opportunity to he heard is hut a "teasing illusion." Allowing a party to submit briefs and arguments on what the party believes to be the issues, but denying that party the opportunity to be heard on the issue the court deems disposi-tive, is akin to granting citizens free speech but barring them from speaking on issues of public concern. In both situations, the exception renders the right meaningless.
Milani & Smith, 69 Tenn. L. Rev. at 268-69 (footnotes omitted).
See also Justice Ann Walsh Bradley's concurrence in City of Janesville v. CC Midwest, Inc., 2007 WI 93, ¶ 68, 302 Wis. 2d 599, 641, 734 N.W.2d 428, 450 (Bradley, J., concurring), explaining the fundamental premise of the adversary system:
The rule of law is generally best developed when issues are raised by the parties and then tested by the fire of adversarial briefs and oral arguments. Indeed, "[t]he fundamental premise of the adversary process is that these advocates will uncover and present more useful information and arguments to the decision maker than would be developed by a judicial officer acting on his own in an inquisitorial system." Adam A. Milani & Michael R. Smith, Playing God: A Critical Look at Sua Sponte Decisions By Appellate Courts, 69 Tenn. L. Rev. 245, 247 (2002), citing United States v. Burke, 504 U.S. 229, 246, 112 S. Ct. 1867, 119 L. Ed. 2d 34 (1992) (Scalia, J., concurring).
"As various members of this court have said, we should not 'reach out and decide issues' that were not presented to the
The United States Supreme Court has often explained the fundamental importance of the adversarial presentation of issues. See, e.g., Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988) ("This system is premised on the well-tested principle that truth—as well as fairness—-is 'best discovered by powerful statements on both sides of the question.'" (citations omitted)); Polk Cty. v. Dodson, 454 U.S. 312, 318 (1981) ("The system assumes that adversarial testing will ultimately advance the public interest in truth and fairness."); Mackey v. Montrym, 443 U.S. 1, 13 (1979) ("[O]ur legal tradition regards the adversary process as the best means of ascertaining truth and minimizing the risk of error .. . .").
See also State v. Negrete, 2012 WI 92, ¶ 80 n.20, 343 Wis. 2d 1, 819 N.W.2d 749 (Abrahamson, C.J., dissenting) ("Scholars have made similar observations. See, e.g., Stephan Landsman, Readings on Adversarial Justice: The American Approach to Adjudication (1988); Jerold H. Israel, Cornerstones of the Judicial Process, Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y, Spring 1993, at 5; Ellen E. Sward, Values, Ideology, and the Evolution of the Adversary System, 64 Ind. L.J. 301, 316-19 (1989).").
See Wis. Stat. § 346.63, Operating under influence of intoxicant or other drug:
(1) No person may drive or operate a motor vehicle while:
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(b) The person has a prohibited alcohol concentration.
See Wis. Stat. § 340.01(46m):
"Prohibited alcohol concentration" means one of the following:
(a) If the person has 2 or fewer prior convictions, suspensions, or revocations, as counted tinder s. 343.307(1), an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.
*530 (c) If the person is subject to an order under s. 343.301 or if the person has 3 or more prior convictions, suspensions or revocations, as counted under s. 343.307(1), an alcohol concentration of more than 0.02.
The assistant district attorney set forth this proposition in order to explain why Deputy Schiro did not testify that he recalled smelling alcohol on the defendant. See Pet. App. at 77.
See also Bailey v. State, 790 S.E.2d 98, 104 (Ga. Ct. App. 2016):
The State, however, produced no evidence of exigent circumstances. For example, there was no evidence regarding how long the warrant process was expected to take and whether officers could have been seeking a warrant while Bailey was being transported to the hospital. Thus, this could have been the situation imagined by the McNeely Court "in which the warrant process will not significantly increase the delay before the blood test is conducted because an officer can take steps to secure a warrant while the suspect is being transported to a medical facility by another officer."
The lead opinion also considers the four-part reasonableness test that applies once exigent circumstances are established that was set forth in State v. Kennedy, 2014 WI 132, ¶ 17, 359 Wis. 2d 454, 856 N.W.2d 834. See lead op., ¶ 25.
Because I conclude that there were no exigent circumstances in the instant case, I do not respond to the lead opinion's application of these factors. However, I am skeptical that the instant case satisfies the fourth factor, that "the arrestee presents no reasonable objection to the blood draw." Kennedy, 359 Wis. 2d 454, ¶ 17. Because the defendant was unconscious, he had no chance to object.
The lead opinion's response seems to be that "the fourth factor speaks to the reasonableness of the type of search employed, not whether a warrant was required to conduct the search." Lead op., ¶ 26 n.8.
Characterizing this factor as a reference to the type of test conducted and asserting that the defendant raised no objection to the type of search misses the point: The defendant was unconscious. The lead opinion has no way of knowing whether the defendant was "one of the few who on grounds of fear, concern for health, or religious scruple might prefer some other means of testing. . .." Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 771 (1966). The lead opinion seems to concede that the defendant did not impliedly consent to the search.
I do not understand the reasoning of the lead opinion in its footnote, but it seems internally inconsistent.
In State v. Phillips, 218 Wis. 2d 180, 577 N.W.2d 794 (1998), this court provided a non-exclusive list of factors for courts considering the voluntariness of consent to consider:
*537 (1) whether the police used deception, trickery, or misrepresentation in their dialogue with the defendant to persuade him to consent; (2) whether the police threatened or physically intimidated the defendant or "punished" him by the deprivation of something like food or sleep; (3) whether the conditions attending the request to search were congenial, non-threatening, and cooperative, or the opposite; (4) how the defendant responded to the request to search; (5) what characteristics the defendant had as to age, intelligence, education, physical and emotional condition, and prior experience with the police; and (6) whether the police informed the defendant that he could refuse consent (emphasis added).
State v. Artic, 2010 WI 83, ¶ 32, 327 Wis. 2d 392, 786 N.W.2d 430 (citing Phillips, 218 Wis. 2d at 198-203).
The court of appeals explained that several cases, including the following, may be inconsistent: State v. Neitzel, 95 Wis. 2d 191, 289 N.W.2d 828 (1980); State v. Wintlend, 2002 WI App 314, 258 Wis. 2d 875, 655 N.W.2d 745; Village of Little Chute v. Walitalo, 2002 WI App 211, 256 Wis. 2d 1032, 650 N.W.2d 891; State v. Piddington, 2001 WI. 24, 241 Wis. 2d 754, 623 N.W.2d 528; State v. Disch, 129 Wis. 2d 225, 385 N.W.2d 140 (1986). See State v. Howes, No. 2014AP1870-CR, certification by Wisconsin Court of Appeals (Wis. Ct. App. Jan. 28, 2016).
Thus, the court of appeals requested that this court issue an authoritative decision clarifying the law.
The Padley court noted that, "at least in the context of incapacitated drivers, 'implied consent' is a sufficient basis on which to proceed with a warrantless search." The Padley court acknowledged there may be a tension between its decision and the statutory language relating to incapacitated drivers. See State v. Padley, 2014 WI App 65, ¶ 39 n.10, 354 Wis. 2d 545, 849 N.W.2d 867.
See Byars v. State, 336 P.3d 939, 945 (Nev. 2014) (a "necessary element of consent is the ability to limit or revoke it") (citing Florida v. Jimeno, 500 U.S. 248, 252 (1991) ("A suspect may of course delimit as he chooses the scope of the search to which he consents.")); State v. Halseth, 339 P.3d 368, 371 (Idaho 2014) ("Inherent in the requirement that consent be voluntary is the right of the person to withdraw that consent.").
See State v. Wulff, 337 P.3d 575, 582 (Idaho 2014) (declaring that Idaho's implied consent law, which did not allow drivers to revoke consent to a blood draw, was an unconstitutional per se exception to the Fourth Amendment).
Concurrence Opinion
¶ 88.
(concurring). I join Chief Justice ROGGENSACK's opinion in toto as well as the mandate of the court. I, at the same time, join Part II of Justice ABRAHAMSON's dissent insofar as it discusses the constitutionality of Wis. Stat. § 343.305(3)(b).
