Opinion ID: 2772305
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Wisconsin Decision

Text: Because the Florida trial court relied on the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in denying the motion to suppress, we provide a brief background on Wisconsin search and seizure law and on the ruling issued by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Marquardt’s Wisconsin case. The Wisconsin Constitution mirrors the language of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. See Wis. Const. art. I, § 11. Wisconsin generally [has] interpreted Article I, Section 11 to provide the same constitutional guarantees as the Supreme Court has accorded through its interpretation of the Fourth Amendment. . . . On only one occasion in [Wisconsin’s] development of Article I, Section 11 jurisprudence [has Wisconsin] required a showing different from that required by the Supreme Court’s Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. [Wisconsin] did so in regard to [its] development of a good faith exception under Article I, Section 11. State v. Eason, 2001 WI 98, 245 Wis. 2d 206, - 18 - 629 N.W.2d 625 (creating two additional requirements under Article I, Section 11 for law enforcement before according a good faith exception to their reliance on a defective no-knock search warrant). Wisconsin v. Ferguson, 767 N.W.2d 187, 194 n.6 (Wis. 2009). The Florida constitutional provision on searches and seizures is construed in conformity with the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court. See art. I, § 12, Fla. Const. Therefore, Wisconsin generally provides the same constitutional guarantees for searches and seizures as Florida. However, Wisconsin provides two additional protections in the application of the good faith exception articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Leon. The two additional protections are that the State must show that the process used to obtain the search warrant included: (1) a significant investigation, and (2) a review by a police officer either trained in, or very knowledgeable of, the legal vagaries of probable cause and reasonable suspicion, or a knowledgeable government attorney. State v. Eason, 629 N.W.2d 625 (Wis. 2001). The Wisconsin Supreme Court concluded that the March 15, 2000, search warrant for Marquardt’s cabin lacked sufficient facts to supply probable cause for the search. Marquardt, 705 N.W.2d at 884. Thus, the Wisconsin Supreme Court then considered whether the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule articulated in Leon and Eason applied. Id. In Leon, the United States Supreme - 19 - Court held that should officers reasonably rely upon a warrant issued by a detached and neutral magistrate, and that warrant is later determined to be invalid, evidence seized will not necessarily be suppressed. Id. at 885 (citing Leon, 468 U.S. at 913). The Wisconsin Supreme Court recognized that Leon delineates certain circumstances under which the good faith exception does not apply. Id. One circumstance that prevents the application of the good faith exception is where the warrant is so lacking in indicia of probable cause as to render official belief in its existence entirely unreasonable. Id. (citing Leon, 468 U.S. at 923). Specifically, under Leon, the exception to the exclusionary rule will not apply where an officer who has been reasonably well trained would have known, despite authorization by a neutral and detached magistrate, that a search warrant was invalid. Id. at 886-87 (citing Leon, 468 U.S. at 922 n.23). The affidavit for the warrant application to search Marquardt’s cabin on March 15, 2000, contained the following information: Investigator Price [of the Chippewa County Sheriff’s office] reports that after finding the body of Mary J. Marquardt, he spoke with her husband, Alfred E. Marquardt. Mr. Marquardt informed him that he and Mary have a son, Bill Marquardt, who, since the location of Ms. Marquardt’s body had not been seen or heard from. Alfred Marquardt further informed Investigator Price that Bill Marquardt owned with Alfred Marquardt a cabin in which Bill resided at E27505 County Highway M, Town of Fairchild, County of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Investigator Price further reports that in examining the body of Mary J. Marquardt and the scene where she was found, it appeared as though among the wounds incurred by her was a knife wound. Also - 20 - at the scene, officers were able to locate a number of footprints that may be suitable for comparison with the shoes that made them. Investigator Barnier reports that in checking Eau Claire County tax rolls, he learned that a cabin . . . located at E27505 [County] Highway M, Town of Fairchild, Eau Claire County, [is] owned by Alfred and Bill Marquardt. Id. at 887 (alterations in original). The March 15 warrant application also incorporated an affidavit that supported the March 13, 2000, search warrant of the home of Alfred and Mary Marquardt, which stated: Inv. Price reports that on March 13, 2000, Chippewa County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a 911 call from 11766 State Hwy 178, Chippewa Falls, Township of Eagle Point. The caller identified himself as Alfred E. Marquardt, DOB 07/30/1946. Marquardt reported that his wife was apparently dead at the residence. Price continued that he responded to the Marquardt home and met with [Alfred] Marquardt. [Alfred] Marquardt relayed that he had left home at about 7 AM that morning and tried to call home about 11:50. The phone was busy and remained so the remainder of the day. [Alfred] Marquardt stated that he left work early and returned home because of the busy phone and upon arrival, found his wife, Mary J. Marquardt covered with a blanket in the garage. She was cold and unresponsive and appeared to have a head wound. Price reports that a shell casing, tentatively identified as 9 mm, was observed on the premises. Id. (alterations in original). The Wisconsin Supreme Court determined that although there was insufficient probable cause for the warrant, the warrant was nonetheless supported by sufficient indicia of probable cause to lead the officers to believe that the warrant was valid, and therefore the Leon exception applied. Id. at 888. The Wisconsin court stated that - 21 - [a] number of facts in the warrant application, along with reasonable inferences that law enforcement officers could draw from those facts, satisfy us that there is sufficient indicia of probable cause that the objects sought are linked with the commission of a crime, and that the objects sought will be found in the place to be searched. Id. The Wisconsin court determined that four inferences could be drawn from the warrant application: (1) because the application indicated Alfred Marquardt had not seen or heard from Bill Marquardt since the location of the body two days earlier, an officer could reasonably infer that Marquardt’s absence was suspicious; (2) because the body was covered in a blanket, an officer could reasonably infer that the killer was familiar with the victim; (3) because there was no indication in the application of forced entry, sexual trauma, or missing valuables, an officer could reasonably infer that the motive was not burglary or sexual assault; and (4) because the phone had been off the hook all day, an officer could reasonably infer that the killer had been inside the residence and was therefore someone the victim knew. Id. Thus, the Wisconsin Supreme Court concluded that the good faith exception applied and the evidence obtained during the March 15 and March 18 searches was admissible. Id.6