Opinion ID: 2798569
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Timing of arrest

Text: ¶30 In Wisconsin, the test for whether a person has been arrested is whether a reasonable person in the defendant's position would have considered himself or herself to be 'in custody,' given the degree of restraint under the circumstances. State v. Swanson, 164 Wis. 2d 437, 447, 475 N.W.2d 148 (1991), abrogated on other grounds by State v. Sykes, 2005 WI 48, 279 Wis. 2d 742, 695 N.W.2d 277. The circumstances of the situation including what has been communicated by the police officers, either by their words or actions, shall be controlling under the objective test. Id. ¶31 Blatterman argues that his transportation to the hospital while handcuffed amounted to an arrest. Although the use of handcuffs is certainly restrictive, it does not necessarily render a temporary detention unreasonable [or transform a] detention into an arrest. State v. Pickens, 2010 WI App 5, ¶32, 323 Wis. 2d 226, 779 N.W.2d 1. However, for such measures to be reasonable, they must be justified by particular 12 State v. Lange, 2009 WI 49, 317 Wis. 2d 383, 766 N.W.2d 551, is grounded in operating while under the influence of an intoxicant. Id., ¶19. Blatterman was arrested for both OWI and PAC. Our probable cause analysis focuses on the PAC violation. 15 No. 2013AP2107-CR circumstances, such as the risk of harm to the officers. See State v. Vorburger, 2002 WI 105, ¶65, 255 Wis. 2d 537, 648 N.W.2d 829. ¶32 Here, Blatterman repeatedly failed to follow the officers' instructions, and dispatch informed the officers that Blatterman had mentioned suicide by cop, causing concern that their interactions with him could escalate into a violent confrontation. Therefore, the use of handcuffs and detention in the squad car are not sufficient to transform Blatterman's investigatory detention into an arrest. Furthermore, even though the officers approached Blatterman at gunpoint, this did not transform the investigatory stop into an arrest. Jones v. State, 70 Wis. 2d 62, 70, 233 N.W.2d 441 (1975) (explaining that an officer drawing a weapon during a Terry stop does not transform the stop into an arrest). ¶33 Though Blatterman's handcuffing and detention alone did not transform his temporary investigatory detention into an arrest, we conclude Blatterman was arrested at the time of his transportation to the hospital. Upon transportation, a reasonable person in Blatterman's position would have believed that he was in custody due to an arrest because his transportation was involuntary, and he had experienced a significant level of force and restraint since the initial stop. See Vorburger, 255 Wis. 2d 537, ¶68 (concluding that we use an objective test, assessing the totality of the circumstances, to determine whether a seizure has escalated into an arrest); State v. Burton, No. 2009AP180, unpublished slip op., ¶19 (Wis. 16 No. 2013AP2107-CR Ct. App. Sept. 23, 2009) (concluding [a] reasonable person would [understand] that the level of restraint, duration of custody, and diminishing potential for release amounted to a formal arrest).