Opinion ID: 2214297
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The three-step test

Text: ¶ 29 We apply a three-step test to determine whether an officer's conduct properly falls within the scope of the community caretaker exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement. Kramer, 315 Wis.2d 414, ¶ 21, 759 N.W.2d 598. When a community caretaker function is asserted as the basis for a home entry, the circuit court must determine: (1) whether a search or seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment has occurred; (2) if so, whether the police were exercising a bona fide community caretaker function; and (3) if so, whether the public interest outweighs the intrusion upon the privacy of the individual such that the community caretaker function was reasonably exercised within the context of a home. [10] See id. The State bears the burden of proof. Id., ¶ 17.