Court Opinion

ID: 9690780
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 19:42:19.517955+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:04.281939
License: Public Domain

DAVID T. PROSSER, J.
¶ 61. (concurring). The court is unanimous that evidence of a yellow and black canister containing cocaine must be suppressed because the canister was obtained in a search without a warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment. I agree with the *279majority opinion's analysis that police searches for that canister and its contents inside the defendant's house were not valid.
¶ 62. I write separately to address the real issue that brought this case before the court: namely, whether warrantless police entry into a home under the exigency of "hot pursuit" to arrest a person for a misdemeanor violates the Fourth Amendment, as stated in State v. Mikkelson, 2002 WI App 152, 256 Wis. 2d 132, 647 N.W.2d 421.
¶ 63. The facts are undisputed that the defendant in this case committed a jailable criminal offense in the presence of police and that police entered the defendant's house in hot pursuit to effect the defendant's immediate arrest. Entering a home without a warrant under these circumstances is not unreasonable. Entry into a home in hot pursuit to arrest a person on probable cause for a jailable criminal offense is a longstanding, common sense exception to the warrant requirement. Accordingly, I concur.
I. BACKGROUND
¶ 64. The facts relevant to the warrantless entry of defendant Dwight Sanders' (Sanders) residence are stated below. They are based on the testimony of Officers Jorge Garcia (Officer Garcia) and Hendriel Anderson (Officer Anderson) at an August 5, 2005, hearing on Sanders' motion to suppress.
¶ 65. On May 6, 2005, Officers Garcia and Anderson were sent to 1222 Villa Street in the City of Racine in response to a complaint of cruelty to animals. Officer Garcia testified that he was familiar with the neighborhood as a high-volume drug trafficking area, although the residence in question was not a known "drug *280house." The officers entered the property through an open fence. They heard a dog yelping and made contact with four males standing in the back yard. The officers saw several pit bull dogs, but none of them showed signs of injury or mistreatment.
¶ 66. Officer Garcia observed that one of the men, later identified as Sanders, was holding an unknown amount of folded United States currency and a yellow and black canister in his left hand. Officer Garcia testified that it would not be unusual for persons selling drugs to conceal them in a canister similar to the one Sanders was holding.
¶ 67. Officer Anderson advised Sanders of the animal abuse complaint and requested identification. Sanders responded that he "did not do anything wrong" and that "this [is] bullshit." Sanders repeatedly refused to give his name, address, and date of birth. Officer Anderson testified that he became "firm" with Sanders and attempted to handcuff him for officer safety. Sanders reacted by backing away, turning, and running toward the house. Officer Anderson ordered Sanders to stop, but he did not obey. Sanders ran into the house. Officer Garcia believed he had probable cause to arrest Sanders for obstructing an officer.
¶ 68. The officers immediately chased Sanders into the house where Sanders had barricaded himself in a bedroom. Sanders voluntarily emerged from the bedroom after about one minute and was arrested. Officer Anderson testified that his purpose in chasing Sanders into the house was that he saw Sanders as a threat to himself and Officer Garcia. The officers pursued Sanders into the house to take him into custody, not to search for evidence in his house. After arresting Sanders, however, Officer Garcia searched Sanders' bedroom twice and located the canister that Sanders was holding *281while he was in the back yard. Officer Garcia opened the canister and found crack cocaine.1
¶ 69. The circuit court denied Sanders' motion to suppress the evidence seized during the searches of Sanders' bedroom. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the officers' warrantless entry into Sanders' residence violated the Fourth Amendment. State v. Sanders, 2007 WI App 174, ¶ 33, 304 Wis. 2d 159, 737 N.W.2d 44. It is this latter conclusion — one that the chief judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals asked us to review, id., ¶ 35 (Brown, J., concurring) — that requires this separate writing.
II. ANALYSIS
¶ 70. The issue of hot pursuit is before us because the court of appeals applied its 2002 decision in Mikkel-son to the facts of this case. Sanders, 304 Wis. 2d 159, ¶ 33. Thus, the majority opinion neglects to confront the very issue why this court accepted the State's petition for review.
¶ 71. In Mikkelson the court of appeals held that a warrantless entry into a home under the exigency of "hot pursuit" to arrest a probable misdemeanant violates the Fourth Amendment. Mikkelson, 256 Wis. 2d 132, ¶ 17. In the case at hand, the court of appeals applied this bright-line rule from Mikkelson to suppress the evidence and statements obtained by police after the warrantless entry into Sanders' residence. Sanders, 304 Wis. 2d 159, ¶ 33. However, Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740 (1984), does not mandate the decision in Mikkelson, and the Mikkelson court erred when it concluded that its decision was required by Welsh. *282Nonetheless, the majority simply looks away. The Mikkelson decision represents a major departure from prior law: e.g., the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the decisions of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and the decisions of courts in other states. It creates serious problems for law enforcement officers attempting to preserve order and effect expedient, lawful arrests for crimes that are grounded in probable cause.
¶ 72. Historically, the distinct exigency of hot pursuit has been sufficient to justify the warrantless entry of a dwelling to arrest a person for a misdemeanor such as obstructing an officer. Abandoning this principle creates a perverse incentive for misdemeanor defendants to flee from police officers into their homes to prevent their lawful seizure.
¶ 73. To address these concerns, this concurrence will first discuss the Mikkelson decision — which involved some peculiar facts regarding consent — and show that it was an aberration that did not follow either federal or state precedents interpreting and applying Welsh. The concurrence will then discuss existing law regarding "hot pursuit" as a stand-alone justification for a warrantless home entry and arrest.
A. The Mikkelson Rule
¶ 74. Mikkelson involved an encounter between Harold Mikkelson (Mikkelson) and Officer Bonita Jo Johnson (Officer Johnson), a police officer in Superior. Mikkelson, 256 Wis. 2d 132, ¶¶ 1-2. While on vehicle patrol, Officer Johnson observed a male, later determined to be Mikkelson, making suspicious movements between a car and garage. Id., ¶ 2. Officer Johnson pulled her squad car into an alley and shined her light *283on the scene. Id. She saw Mikkelson duck down inside a minivan. Id. She approached the van and asked Mikkelson for his name and an explanation for his actions. Id., ¶ 3. Mikkelson responded that he lived there, in an adjacent house, and that he was doing nothing wrong. Id. When Officer Johnson asked what he was doing in the van, Mikkelson pushed her away and walked toward the house. Id. Officer Johnson ordered Mikkelson to stop, but he kept walking. Id. When Officer Johnson reached to grab Mikkelson's arm, he again pushed her away. Id. At that point Officer Johnson decided to arrest Mikkelson for obstructing an officer. Id., ¶ 3 n.l. Officer Johnson sprayed Mikkelson with chemical spray, but Mikkelson was able to enter the house while Officer Johnson radioed for backup. See id., ¶ 3.
¶ 75. When help arrived, Officer Johnson knocked on the door, spoke with Mikkelson's father, and was told that Mikkelson would be forthcoming. Id., ¶ 4. However, Mikkelson never appeared. Id. According to Officer Johnson, she then received permission from Mikkelson's mother to enter the house. Id., ¶ 5. After gaining entry, several officers went into the basement and arrested Mikkelson. Id., ¶ 6. During the arrest, Mikkelson allegedly punched an officer and was subsequently charged with a misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer and a felony count of battery to a police officer. Id.
¶ 76. Mikkelson moved to suppress all evidence obtained by the police inside the house. Id., ¶ 7. At the suppression hearing, three officers testified that they had been given consent to enter Mikkelson's house. Id., ¶ 8. This was disputed by Mikkelson's parents. Id., ¶ 5. The circuit court found that the officers had not received consent to enter the house, and therefore sup*284pressed evidence of everything that happened in the house. Id., ¶ 9. The State appealed. Id., ¶ 1. It did not challenge the circuit court's ruling on consent. Instead, it argued that the police had probable cause to pursue Mikkelson into his home without a search warrant to arrest him for obstructing an officer. Id., ¶¶ 1, 11.
¶ 77. The court of appeals ruled that the State had waived its argument that police were entitled to enter Mikkelson's house without a warrant because they were in hot pursuit. Id., ¶¶ 13, 16. Nonetheless, a plainly annoyed court addressed the hot pursuit argument and held that, under the facts presented, the argument was without merit. Id., ¶ 17. The court stated:
Even if we were to consider the State's argument, we would reject it. An arrest made in hot pursuit constitutes an exigent circumstance required for a warrantless entry. State v. Smith, 131 Wis. 2d 220, 229, 388 N.W.2d 601 (1986). Relying on United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38, 43 (1976), the State argues that the police were entitled to enter the house and arrest Mikkelson because they were in hot pursuit. Santana holds that a suspect may not defeat an arrest that has been set in motion in a public place by escaping to a private place. Id. However, in Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740, 749-51 (1984), the Supreme Court limited Santana to the hot pursuit of fleeing felons. Also, the court in Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573 (1980), stated that Santana was limited to in-home arrests of felons when police have probable cause and exigent circumstances. The police were pursuing Mikkelson for obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor. See Wis. Stat. § 946.41. Therefore, Santana does not permit the war-rantless entry into Mikkelson's house.
Id. (footnote omitted).
*285¶ 78. The Mikkelson court's reading of Welsh went too far. The Welsh Court hailed the sanctity of the home and the importance of the warrant requirement for agents of the government who seek to enter a home for purposes of search or arrest. Welsh, 466 U.S. at 748. But the Court also recognized the exception for exigent circumstances, including hot pursuit. Id. at 750. The Court did not draw a distinction between felonies and other jailable crimes. Instead, it singled out "a noncriminal, civil forfeiture offense for which no imprisonment is possible," id. at 754, as the sort of "minor offense" that would "rarely" justify the exigent circumstances exception. Id. at 753.
¶ 79. In Welsh, the Court considered whether the Fourth Amendment prohibits the police from making a warrantless night entry into a person's home to arrest him for a nonjailable traffic offense. See id. at 742. The defendant, Edward Welsh (Welsh), drove his car while intoxicated, swerved off the road into an open field, left the scene of the accident, and walked home. Id. at 742-43. An eyewitness told police of his observations of the accident and his conversations with the intoxicated driver. Id. at 742. The police proceeded to the driver's home,2 entered it without a warrant or consent, found Welsh in bed, and arrested him for driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant. Id. at 743. At that time, a first offense for driving while intoxicated in Wisconsin was a noncriminal violation subject to a civil forfeiture of $200. Id. at 746.
¶ 80. The Court determined that a warrantless entry under these circumstances violated the Fourth *286Amendment. Id. at 754. The Court considered both the exigency of destruction of evidence (due to Welsh's body metabolizing the alcohol) and the minor nature of the civil, nonjailable offense of first-time drunk driving, and concluded that the police entry and arrest were not reasonable. Id. The Court held that "an important factor to be considered when determining whether any exigency exists is the gravity of the underlying offense for which the arrest is being made." Welsh, 466 U.S. at 753. In dealing with warrantless entry of a home, the Court stated that an exigency is not created merely because there is probable cause to believe that a serious crime has been committed, and "application of the exigent-circumstances exception in the context of a home entry should rarely be sanctioned when there is probable cause to believe that only a minor offense . . . has been committed." Id.
¶ 81. The Court did not state that all misdemeanors are inherently "minor." Instead, the Court cautioned that the critical factor in judging the impact of a particular offense is not the nature of the crime but "the penalty that may attach to any particular offense." Id. at 754 n.14.3 The Court added that the penalty "seems to provide the clearest and most consistent indication of the State's interest in arresting individuals suspected of committing that offense." Id.
*287¶ 82. The Court concluded that there were no exigent circumstances at play in Welsh sufficient to justify a warrantless home entry and arrest; therefore, it had "no occasion to consider whether the Fourth Amendment may impose an absolute ban on warrantless home arrests for certain minor offenses." Id. at 749 n.11.
¶ 83. The Mikkelson court's mistaken reading of Welsh is confirmed by the fact that the Supreme Court subsequently explained that Welsh drew a distinction between jailable and nonjailable offenses, not between felony and misdemeanor offenses. Illinois v. McArthur, 531 U.S. 326, 335-36 (2001). The Court emphasized in McArthur that the important factor in determining whether an offense provides a justification supporting an exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement is whether the offense is jailable. Id. at 336.
¶ 84. McArthur involved the question of whether police officers effected an unlawful "seizure" when they prevented the defendant, Charles McArthur (McArthur), from entering his home for two hours while police obtained a search warrant. Id. at 329-30. After receiving the warrant, police searched McArthur's home and retrieved marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Id. at 329. The Court ruled that, although McArthur was seized, the police action of preventing him from entering his residence did not offend the Fourth Amendment. Id. at 333, 337.
¶ 85. The Court addressed the reasonableness of the seizure based on the gravity of the misdemeanor offenses of possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana. Id. at 330, 335-36. McArthur argued that, under *288Welsh, his misdemeanor offenses were "minor," and therefore would not justify the seizure. Id. at 335-36. The Court rejected this distinction and noted that it had held in Welsh that "police could not enter a home without a warrant in order to prevent the loss of evidence (namely, the defendant's blood alcohol level) of the 'non-jailable traffic offense' of driving while intoxicated." Id. at 335 (quoting and citing Welsh, 466 U.S. at 742, 754). The Court further distinguished Welsh:
We nonetheless find significant distinctions. The evidence at issue here was of crimes that were "jailable," not "nonjailable." See Ill. Comp. Stat., ch. 720, § 550/4(a) (1998); ch. 730, § 5/5 — 8-3(3) (possession of less than 2.5 grams of marijuana punishable by up to 30 days in jail); ch. 720, § 600/3.5; ch. 730, § 5/5-8-3(l) (possession of drug paraphernalia punishable by up to one year in jail). In Welsh, we noted that, "[gjiven that the classification of state crimes differs widely among the States, the penalty that may attach to any particular offense seems to provide the clearest and most consistent indication of the State's interest in arresting individuals suspected of committing that offense." 466 U.S., at 754, n.14. The same reasoning applies here, where class C misdemeanors include such widely diverse offenses as drag racing, drinking alcohol in a railroad car or on a railroad platform, bribery by a candidate for public office, and assault. See, e.g., Ill. Comp. Stat., ch. 65, § 5/4-8-2 (1998); ch. 610, § 90/1; ch. 625, § 5/11-504; ch. 720, § 5/12-1.
McArthur, 531 U.S. at 336.
¶ 86. The highest courts of several states have interpreted Welsh — and McArthur — and concluded that the important distinction recognized by Welsh is the distinction between jailable and nonjailable offenses. For example, the Wyoming Supreme Court has stated that "[t]he unmistakable implication of the discussion *289in McArthur is that the distinction drawn by the Court in Welsh between minor offenses that do not justify a warrantless entry into a residence and those offenses that do is predicated upon whether the subject offense carries a potential jail term." Rideout v. State, 122 P.3d 201, 210 (Wyo. 2005).4
¶ 87. The Iowa Supreme Court has interpreted McArthur similarly and concluded that Welsh can be distinguished on the ground that the civil offense at issue was not jailable. See State v. Legg, 633 N.W.2d 763, 769-70, 773 (Iowa 2001).
¶ 88. The Minnesota Supreme Court also interpreted Welsh and rejected a bright-line rule limiting the availability of the exigency of hot pursuit as a warrant exception to suspected felonies. State v. Paul, 548 N.W.2d 260, 267-68 (Minn. 1996). The court concluded that warrantless entry to make a "hot pursuit" arrest for suspected driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) was lawful because the Minnesota Legislature has determined that DUI is a "serious offense" and "a criminal offense for which imprisonment is possible." Id. at 267.
¶ 89. Many other state appellate courts have distinguished Welsh because the offense at issue there was civil and did not include possible incarceration.5 These *290courts have thereby rejected the Mikkelson rule that jailable misdemeanor offenses are not sufficient to support a warrantless home entry in hot pursuit of a fleeing suspect. See Mikkelson, 256 Wis. 2d 132, ¶ 17. These judicial interpretations of Welsh and McArthur are consistent with the Supreme Court's signal that the critical factor is not the nature of the offense but "the penalty that may attach to any particular offense." Welsh, 466 U.S. at 754 n.14. They also reflect the fact that Welsh itself cited two hot pursuit cases involving misdemeanors. Id. at 752-53 (citing State v. Penas, 263 N.W.2d 835 (Neb. 1978); State v. Niedermeyer, 617 P.2d 911 (Or. Ct. App. 1980)).
¶ 90. The jailable/nonjailable distinction noted by the authorities above correlates with this court's discussion of Welsh in State v. Hughes, 2000 WI 24, 233 Wis. 2d 280, 607 N.W.2d 621, a pre-McArthur case. Although Hughes involved a warrantless entry premised upon the exigency of potential destruction of evidence (burning marijuana), the court's analysis of Welsh is apt. Id., ¶¶ 30-31, 39.
¶ 91. This court correctly anticipated McArthur when it noted that the Welsh Court "did not definitively say. . . that certain categories of offenses are per se insufficiently grave to justify a warrantless entry, only that the minor, noncriminal, nonjailable traffic violation in that case (first offense drunk driving) was so." Id., ¶ 30 (second emphasis added). This court evaluated the overall penalty structure for marijuana-related *291offenses while expressly noting that first-time marijuana offenses were misdemeanors subject to punishment of up to six months of incarceration. Id., ¶¶ 36-37. The court determined that even a first-offense marijuana possession was treated "significantly more seriously than the noncriminal, nonjailable first offense drunk driving violation involved in Welsh." Id., ¶ 39 (emphasis added).
¶ 92. The Wisconsin Legislature has determined that all misdemeanors, regardless of class, are "serious" offenses because all misdemeanors arejailable offenses. Wis. Stat. § 939.51. The legislature could have created a class of "minor" or "petty" misdemeanors for which incarceration is not an available punishment.6 It has not done so. Thus, every misdemeanor is serious in the *292sense that it entails a potential deprivation of liberty. See, e.g., Paul, 548 N.W.2d at 267 ("The legislature... has clearly and consistently indicated that driving under the influence of alcohol is a serious offense. The statute under which [the defendant] was charged ... is classified as a criminal offense for which imprisonment is possible." (First emphasis added.)). Instead of requiring officers to distinguish felonies from misdemeanors in the midst of hot pursuit, this court should reduce confusion for law enforcement by maintaining the rule that all criminal offenses (felonies and misdemeanors) support the exigency of hot pursuit.7 Such a rule faithfully reflects the legislature's classification of both felonies and misdemeanors as "jailable" and therefore "serious."
¶ 93. A felony-only rule for hot pursuit allows the perpetrator of a serious misdemeanor offense, for which jail time is a penalty, to avoid immediate arrest merely because of the label ("felony" or "misdemeanor") chosen by the legislature. See id.6 This fortuity is very difficult to defend.
*293¶ 94. The continuing validity of Mikkelson fosters such injustice. Mikkelson is plainly inconsistent with McArthur. The United States Supreme Court has never held that a misdemeanor offense cannot provide justification for a warrantless home entry and arrest in hot pursuit. Mikkelson establishes such a per se rule and should be overruled.
B. Hot Pursuit
¶ 95. This court's decisions in State v. Smith, 131 Wis. 2d 220, 229, 388 N.W.2d 601 (1986), and State v. Richter, 2000 WI 58, ¶ 29, 235 Wis. 2d 524, 612 N.W.2d 29, identified hot pursuit of a suspect as one of four recognized exigent circumstances authorizing a war-rantless home entry and arrest.
¶ 96. Before setting forth the exigent circumstances standards laid out in Smith and Richter, it is helpful to put these cases in historical context with other Wisconsin and United States Supreme Court decisions recognizing the limited right of police to enter a home without a warrant to arrest a suspect when police have probable cause.
¶ 97. Agnello v. United States, 269 U.S. 20 (1925), illustrates an example of a crime committed in the *294home and viewed by police outside. Agnello involved the question whether the search and seizure of evidence in defendant Frank Agnello's house violated the Fourth Amendment. Id. at 30. Two informants were employed by government revenue agents to go to the home of defendant Stephen Alba at 138 Union Street, Brooklyn, New York, to arrange a narcotics purchase from Alba and defendant Antonio Centorino. Id. at 28. At a preliminary visit to Alba's house, the informants had received samples of cocaine and scheduled a purchase for the next week. Id. When the pair returned to Alba's house at the agreed time, they were accompanied by six revenue agents and a city policeman who remained discreetly outside. Id.
¶ 98. During the operation, Alba left his house and returned with Centorino. Id. Neither man produced any narcotics for the informants. Id. After the informants refused to go to Centorino's house at 172 Columbia Street, Centorino went there alone to fetch drugs. Id. He was followed by some of the agents. Id. Centorino then went to 167 Columbia Street, a building that was part grocery store — owned by defendant Thomas Pace and defendant Thomas Agnello — and part house — owned by defendant Frank Agnello and Pace. Id.
¶ 99. In a short time, Centorino, Pace, and the Agnellos came out of 167 Columbia Street and went back to Alba's house. Id. Looking through the windows, the agents on watch saw Frank Agnello produce a number of small packages for delivery to one of the informants and saw an informant hand money over to Alba. Id. at 28-29. Upon viewing this transaction, agents rushed into Alba's house, arrested all the defendants, and found and seized packages containing cocaine on the table where the transaction took place. Id. *295at 29. Agents then went to 167 Columbia Street, entered, and searched the premises without a warrant. Id. They found and seized a can of cocaine in Frank Agnello's bedroom, and this evidence was subsequently used at trial as evidence against the defendants. Id. at 29-30.
¶ 100. The Court concluded that the warrantless search and seizure of evidence from Frank Agnello's house violated the Fourth Amendment because these actions were not incident to the earlier arrests. Id. at 31 (citing Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385, 391 (1920); People v. Conway, 195 N.W. 679 (Mich. 1923); Gamble v. Keyes, 153 N.W. 888 (S.D. 1915)). The search of Agnello's house was attenuated in both time and place from the earlier arrests, as Frank Agnello's house was several blocks from Alba's house. Agnello, 269 U.S. at 30-31. Significantly, the Court noted no constitutional problem with the warrantless police entry of Alba's house and the arrest of the defendants in that house after agents witnessed the drug transaction through the windows. Id. at 30. The Court stated:
The right without a search warrant contemporaneously to search persons lawfully arrested while committing crime and to search the place where the arrest is made in order to find and seize things connected with the crime as its fruits or as the means by which it was committed, as well as weapons and other things to effect an escape from custody, is not to be doubted. See Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 158 (1925); Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383, 392 (1914). The legality of the arrests or of the searches and seizures made at the home of Alba is not questioned. Such searches and seizures naturally and usually appertain to and attend such arrests.
Agnello, 269 U.S. at 30 (emphasis added).
*296¶ 101. Although Agnello focused primarily on the legality of the search of the Agnello home and the subsequent seizure of evidence found inside, the Court's endorsement of the warrantless arrest of several suspects in the Alba home after viewing a drug transaction through the windows illustrates the principle that a warrantless arrest can be effectuated in a home when a crime is witnessed by officers outside and an arrest is subsequently, and immediately, pursued inside.
¶ 102. The Court first used the term "hot pursuit" to describe exigent circumstances that might justify a warrantless home entry and arrest in Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10 (1948). Johnson involved the war-rantless entry and search of a hotel room by an officer after the smell of burning opium emanating from within was discovered and reported by a police informant. Id. at 12. Police arrived outside the defendant's room, knocked on her door, and the defendant opened it. Id. The smell of burning opium was immediately apparent to the officers when they reached the door, and the defendant was arrested and her room searched. Id. The search revealed opium and a smoking apparatus, the latter being warm, apparently from recent use. Id. The defendant sought to have the evidence suppressed. Id.
¶ 103. The Court noted that "[t]here are exceptional circumstances in which, on balancing the need for effective law enforcement against the right of privacy, it may be contended that a magistrate's warrant for search may be dispensed with." Id. at 14-15. However, the Court held in favor of the defendant, concluding that no such exigency was present. Id. at 15. The Court distinguished Johnson's situation by listing circumstances not present that would have otherwise justified a warrantless entry: "No suspect was fleeing or *297likely to take flight. The search was of permanent premises, not of a movable vehicle. No evidence or contraband was threatened with removal or destruction, except perhaps the fumes which we suppose in time would disappear." Id.
¶ 104. The Government argued that the warrant-less entry and arrest did not violate the Fourth Amendment because the arrest was made in "hot pursuit." Id. at 16 n.7. The Court said that there was "no element of 'hot pursuit' in the arrest of one who was not in flight, was completely surrounded by agents before she knew of their presence, who claims without denial that she was in bed at the time, and who made no attempt to escape." Id.
¶ 105. Nineteen years after Johnson, the Court expanded upon this discussion in a seminal decision concerning the exigent circumstances doctrine.9 In Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294 (1967), police officers had probable cause to believe that an armed robber had entered a particular house. Id. at 297. Within minutes of receiving a dispatch, an unspecified number of officers arrived outside the house. Id. One of the officers knocked and announced their presence, a woman answered the door, and police told her they believed that a robber had entered the house. Id. *298Police asked to search the house, and the woman did not object. Id. Officers entered and spread out looking for the suspect. Id. at 298. Defendant Hayden was discovered in a bedroom, feigning sleep, and was arrested. Id. At the same time, officers in other parts of the house came upon and seized items that were related to the robbery. Id.
¶ 106. The Court held that neither the warrant-less entry of the house, nor the subsequent warrantless search for the suspected robber, offended any constitutional principle. Id. Under the circumstances presented, " 'the exigencies of the situation made that course imperative.'" Id. (quoting McDonald v. United States, 335 U.S. 451, 456 (1948)). Police "acted reasonably when they entered the house and began to search for a man of the description they had been given and for weapons which he had used in the robbery or might use against them." Warden, 387 U.S. at 298. The Court held that "[t]he Fourth Amendment does not require police officers to delay in the course of an investigation if to do so would gravely endanger their lives or the lives of others." Id. at 298-99. The Court concluded that "[sjpeed here was essential, and only a thorough search of the house for persons and weapons could have insured that Hayden was the only man present and that the police had control of all weapons which could be used against them or to effect an escape." Id. at 299.
¶ 107. Nine years after Warden, the Court addressed the "hot pursuit" exigency doctrine in United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38 (1976). In Santana, a controlled drug purchase was arranged in which an associate of defendant Santana was dropped off by an undercover police officer at Santana's residence to obtain heroin. Id. at 39-40. The associate, who did not realize she was involved in a police operation, went *299inside with marked currency to get drugs, returned to the officer's car, gave heroin to the officer, and was arrested. Id. at 40. The associate then told the officer that Santana had retained the marked currency. Id.
¶ 108. Police officers proceeded to Santana's house and saw her standing in the front door holding a brown paper bag. Id. The officers pulled their van within 15 feet of Santana, shouted "police," and displayed their identification. Id. Santana retreated into the vestibule of her home, police followed, and Santana was arrested. Id. Police seized both the bag Santana was holding, which contained heroin, and some of the marked currency Santana possessed. Id. at 40-41. Santana was charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, a felony, and she moved to suppress the heroin and money found after her arrest on the ground that police acted without a warrant. Id. at 41.
¶ 109. The Court held that the arrest did not violate the Fourth Amendment and concluded that Santana's act of retreating into her home could not thwart an otherwise proper arrest based on probable cause. Id. at 42. The Court noted that Santana was in a "public" place for Fourth Amendment purposes when she was spotted by police while standing at her doorstep and that she subsequently retreated into a "private" place. Id. (citation omitted). The Court cited Warden and concluded that Santana's case involved a true "hot pursuit" sufficient to justify a warrantless entry. Id. at 42-43. The Court noted that" 'hot pursuit' means some sort of a chase, but it need not be an extended hue and cry in and about [the] public streets." Id. at 43 (internal quotation marks omitted). The fact that the pursuit ended almost as soon as it began did not render it any the less a "hot pursuit" sufficient to justify the warrant-less entry into Santana's house. Id. at 43. The Court *300concluded that "a suspect may not defeat an arrest which has been set in motion in a public place ... by the expedient of escaping to a private place." Id. at 43.
¶ 110. Wisconsin has consistently recognized the exigent circumstances principles established by the United States Supreme Court, particularly those related to "hot pursuit." For example, in West v. State, 74 Wis. 2d 390, 246 N.W.2d 675 (1976), this court was presented with facts substantially similar to those in Warden and concluded that the warrantless police entry of a home to apprehend suspected robbers, who had entered the home only minutes before, was not unreasonable. Id. at 400. The court relied heavily upon Warden to conclude that "the exigencies of the situation made the course which was taken imperative." Id. at 399 (citing Warden, 387 U.S. at 298, 299).
¶ 111. In State v. Monahan, 76 Wis. 2d 387, 396, 396 n.7, 251 N.W.2d 421 (1977), this court again cited Warden as authority for the proposition that "hot pursuit" presents a circumstance "which may justify an exception to the warrant requirement."
¶ 112. In Laasch v. State, 84 Wis. 2d 587, 267 N.W.2d 278 (1978), this court considered the case of Karyn Laasch (Laasch), who was arrested and jailed for selling cocaine to a police informer, released two days later, and then arrested in her apartment, without a warrant, 13 days after the first arrest. Id. at 588-89. Laasch argued that the second arrest constituted an unreasonable seizure prohibited by the Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution. Id. at 591. This court agreed and concluded that, despite probable cause, "the arrest was tainted by the warrantless entry of the defendant's home." Id. at 592. The court noted that the state identified no exigent *301circumstances necessitating a warrantless entry, and said the record was bereft of such circumstances:
The arrest was not made in "hot pursuit"; there was no threat to the safety of other persons; there was no risk. that evidence would he destroyed, since the delivered substance had been seized at the time of the previous arrest; and any suggestion that the police feared the defendant would flee is dispelled by the fact that she had been released for approximately two weeks.
Id. The court recognized that warrantless in-house arrests had previously been upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and United States Supreme Court on the grounds of consent or exigent circumstances. Id. at 593-94 (citing Johnson v. State, 75 Wis. 2d 344, 351, 352, 249 N.W.2d 593 (1976); West, 74 Wis. 2d 390; Rinehart v. State, 63 Wis. 2d 760, 218 N.W.2d 323 (1974)). The court also approvingly cited Santana and Warden as examples of cases where a warrantless home entry and arrest was upheld because of the existence of exigent circumstances. Id. at 595-96.
¶ 113. In Smith, the court built upon Laasch and the federal rule of exigent circumstances and set forth a list of factors and an objective test to evaluate the justifications for a warrantless home entry by police. Smith, 131 Wis. 2d at 229 (citing Laasch, 84 Wis. 2d at 595-96; Steagald v. United States, 451 U.S. 204, 211-12 (1981)). The Smith court identified four categories of circumstances that, when measured against the time needed to obtain a warrant, would constitute the exigent circumstances required for a warrantless entry: "(1) An arrest made in 'hot pursuit,' (2) a threat to safety of a suspect or others, (3) a risk that evidence would be destroyed, and (4) a likelihood that the suspect would flee." Smith, 131 Wis. 2d at 229 (citing Laasch, 84 Wis. 2d at 592). The court concluded that *302whether the circumstances of a warrantless entry were justified should be measured by an objective test, namely: "[wjhether a police officer under the circumstances known to the officer at the time reasonably believes that delay in procuring a warrant would gravely endanger life or risk destruction of evidence or greatly enhance the likelihood of the suspect's escape." Smith, 131 Wis. 2d at 230.
¶ 114. The Smith court's reliance on the Supreme Court's Steagald decision is telling. In Steagald, the Court stated that "a warrantless entry of a home would be justified if the police were in 'hot pursuit' of a fugitive." Steagald, 451 U.S. at 221 (citing Santana, 427 U.S. at 42-43; Warden, 387 U.S. 294 (1967)).10 A "fugitive" has been defined as "[o]ne who flees; used in criminal law with the implication of a flight, evasion, or escape from arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment." Black's Law Dictionary 604 (5th ed. 1979). The word "fugitive" is broad enough to cover both felons and misdemeanants.
¶ 115. Fourteen years after Smith, in Richter this court reviewed a case involving a warrantless home entry by a police officer based on his knowledge of an alleged recent break-in across the street. Richter, 235 Wis. 2d 524, ¶ 1. The circumstances of the case were summarized by the court as follows:
[A] Marinette County sheriffs deputy responded to an early-morning dispatch of a burglary in progress at a *303trailer park. The victim flagged down the deputy as he arrived on the scene and told him that someone had broken into her mobile home, and that she had seen the intruder flee her trailer and enter the defendant's trailer across the street. The deputy observed signs of forced entry at the defendant's trailer — a window screen was knocked out and lying on the ground. The deputy shined his flashlight in the open window and attracted the attention of two people who were sleeping on the floor. They opened the door and identified the defendant, who was sleeping on the couch, as the owner of the trailer. The deputy entered the trailer, woke the defendant, told him what had happened and asked his permission to search the trailer for the burglary suspect. Permission was granted. During the search, the deputy observed marijuana in plain view, which the defendant admitted was his.
Id. The defendant was charged with marijuana possession and sought to suppress the physical evidence and statements obtained by police, alleging an illegal entry. Id., ¶ 2. This court concluded that the entry was "justified by exigent circumstances — specifically, the deputy's 'hot pursuit' of the burglary suspect and his need to protect the safety of those inside the trailer." Id. (emphasis added).
¶ 116. The court evaluated the circumstances and concluded that the officer's entry was "justified by the exigent circumstance of hot pursuit." Id., ¶ 36. The court noted that a warrantless search of a home is presumptively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Id., ¶ 28 (citing Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573 (1980)). However, the court held that "the Fourth Amendment is not an absolute bar to warrantless, nonconsensual entries into private residences." Richter, 235 Wis. 2d 524, ¶ 28. The court stated that there "are four well-recognized categories of exigent circum*304stances that have been held to authorize a law enforcement officer's warrantless entry into a home." Id., ¶ 29 (emphasis added). These include: "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." Id., ¶ 29 (citing Smith, 131 Wis. 2d at 229). The court then stated the objective test to determine whether there are exigent circumstances supporting a warrantless entry: "[wjhether a police officer under the circumstances known to the officer at the time [of entry] reasonably believes that delay in procuring a warrant would gravely endanger life or risk destruction of evidence or greatly enhance the likelihood of the suspect's escape." Id., ¶ 30 (quoting Smith, 131 Wis. 2d at 230).
¶ 117. An officer in "hot pursuit" does not need to make a split-second determination about the availability of "hot pursuit" as an exigency justifying a warrant-less entry. The officer has to make a determination whether there is probable cause to make an arrest for a jailable crime. Presuming probable cause, pursuit of the suspect is justified. As long as the officer has probable cause to arrest for a jailable criminal offense, the only remaining important question is whether a chase or pursuit satisfies the hot pursuit definition in Welsh— "immediate or continuous pursuit of the [defendant] from the scene of a crime." Welsh, 466 U.S. at 753. Whether the officer reasonably believes he was in "hot pursuit" is not necessary. Thus, it is hardly surprising that this exigency is not part of the objective test set forth in Smith and Richter.
¶ 118. There is no implication in our case law that "hot pursuit" cannot stand alone as an exigent circumstance justifying a warrantless home entry and arrest. On the contrary, our cases explicitly recognize that hot *305pursuit is a sufficient justification for a warrantless entry and arrest. Smith, 131 Wis. 2d at 229; Richter, 235 Wis. 2d 524, ¶ 29.
¶ 119. Wisconsin is not alone in this view. Several jurisdictions have recognized that hot pursuit is a sufficient exigency to support a warrantless entry and arrest. The Supreme Court of Ohio held in City of Middletown v. Flinchum, 765 N.E.2d 330 (Ohio 2002), that police may pursue a suspect into his home in hot pursuit regardless of whether the offense for which the suspect is being arrested is a felony or a misdemeanor, even though no other exigency is involved. Id. at 332.
¶ 120. In Flinchum, officers saw the defendant's car waiting at a red traffic light. Id. at 331. When the light turned green, the defendant spun his tires. Id. Officers followed the defendant and observed him stop his car, then accelerate rapidly, causing his car to fishtail. Id. The officers attempted to approach the defendant's car twice, but each time the defendant fled from the police. Id.
¶ 121. The officers eventually caught up with the defendant and saw him standing outside his parked car. Id. When the defendant saw the officers' cruiser, he ran toward the rear entrance of his home. Id. One of the officers pursued the defendant, yelling "stop" and "police" several times, to no avail.' Id. As the pursuit continued, an officer heard a rear screen door slam at the defendant's house. Id. The officer then observed the defendant standing in his kitchen approximately five feet inside his house. Id. Without the defendant's consent, the officer entered the house and arrested the defendant, who was subsequently charged with reckless operation, driving under the influence of alcohol, and resisting arrest, all misdemeanors. Id. at 331.
*306¶ 122. The Supreme Court of Ohio held that the warrantless entry and arrest of the defendant was justified by the exigency of hot pursuit alone. Id. at 332. The court declared that "a suspect may not defeat an arrest which has been set in motion in a public place .. . by the expedient of escaping to a private place." Id. (quoting Santana, 427 U.S. at 43). The court noted that Santana involved a felony offense, but saw "no reason to differentiate [defendant's] offense and give him a free pass merely because he was not charged with a more serious crime." Flinchum, 765 N.W.2d at 332. Consequently, the court held that "when officers, having identified themselves, are in hot pursuit of a suspect who flees to a house in order to avoid arrest, the police may enter without a warrant, regardless of whether the offense for which the suspect is being arrested is a misdemeanor." Id.
¶ 123. In State v. Paul the Minnesota Supreme Court declined to adopt a bright-line rule that would prohibit officers from entering a suspected misdemeanant's home when officers are in hot pursuit. Paul, 548 N.W.2d at 268. Paul involved a defendant charged with the misdemeanor offense of driving under the influence of alcohol. Id. at 262. Joseph Gunderson (Gunderson), a uniformed and on-duty police officer, bumped into defendant Peter Dean Paul (Paul) at an auto parts store, spoke with Paul, and noted a strong smell of alcohol on Paul's breath, his slurred speech, flushed face, watery eyes, and difficulty in standing. Id. Gunderson then observed Paul leave the store, climb into a pickup truck, drive away, and roll through a stop sign. Id. Gunderson followed Paul in his squad car, observed Paul "fishtail" as he entered the highway, and attempted to pull Paul over by activating his squad car's red lights. Id.
*307¶ 124. Paul did not stop but continued on in spite of Gunderson's flashing lights. Id. Paul pulled into his driveway, exited the truck, ignored Gunderson's commands to stop and get back in the truck, and "hastily" entered and locked his garage with Gunderson giving chase. Id. at 262-63. Gunderson made a warrantless entry into Paul's home and arrested him for DUI. Id. at 263. Paul moved to have all evidence obtained pursuant to the arrest suppressed because the entry allegedly violated Paul's Fourth Amendment rights. Id.
¶ 125. The Minnesota Supreme Court held that Gunderson's warrantless entry into Paul's home was not unlawful. Id. at 268. The court first concluded that Gunderson had probable cause to arrest Paul for DUI. Id. at 264. The court then addressed whether Gunder-son was in "hot pursuit" of Paul when he made the home entry and arrest. Id. The court discussed Santana and noted that "a suspect may not defeat an arrest which has been set in motion in a public place by the expedient of retreating to a private place." Id. (citing Santana, 427 U.S. at 43). The court held that the doctrine of hot pursuit "applies whether police officers engage in a high-speed chase of the suspect... or merely approach a suspect who immediately retreats into a house." Id. at 265 (footnote omitted). Paul fell somewhere in the middle of this continuum. Id.
¶ 126. The Paul court next analyzed Welsh and concluded that it was distinguishable. Id. at 266. Paul involved both "hot pursuit" of a suspect and the exigency of potential destruction of blood-alcohol evidence. Id. The court also found it important that the Minnesota Legislature had "clearly and consistently indicated that driving under the influence of alcohol is a serious offense" due to it being classified "as a criminal offense for which imprisonment is possible." Id. at 267.
*308¶ 127. The court rejected Paul's invitation to establish a bright-line rule prohibiting the warrantless entry of a home in hot pursuit when the underlying offense is less than a felony. Id. at 267-68. "A bright-line felony rule would allow the perpetrator of certain serious misdemeanor offenses to avoid punishment merely because of how the legislature had [labeled] an infraction." Id. at 267. The court also noted that a bright-line rule prohibiting hot pursuit in these circumstances would signal to the misdemeanant that a "hot pursuit or an arrest set in motion can be thwarted by beating the police to one's door." Id. at 268. The court's summation of the hot pursuit issue bears repeating:
The Fourth Amendment simply cannot be stretched nor can public safety be ensured by a bright-line felony rule which would encourage drunk drivers to elude the police by racing through the streets to the sanctuary of their homes in order to "freeze" a hot pursuit or to otherwise evade a lawful arrest.

Id.

¶ 128. Two decisions from the Iowa Supreme Court essentially echo the conclusions reached in Paul regarding hot pursuit as an exigency sufficient to support a warrantless home entry and arrest for a misdemeanor.
¶ 129. In State v. Legg the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a warrantless "hot pursuit" home entry by police who possessed probable cause to believe a suspect had committed the "serious misdemeanors" of interference with official acts and first offense operating while intoxicated. Legg, 633 N.W.2d at 766, 772. The court reviewed Santana, Welsh, and McArthur and concluded that, on balance, the competing privacy and law enforcement concerns weighed in favor of allowing the *309minimal intrusion at issue. Id. at 769-73. The court noted that "[s]ociety has an interest in not rewarding the evasion of lawful police authority by allowing suspects who make it to their homes steps ahead of law enforcement officers to claim sanctuary." Id. at 772 (citation omitted). Like Santana, the circumstances of Legg involved "(1) the 'realistic expectation... that any delay would result in destruction of evidence'; and (2) the undesirable consequences of allowing a person to thwart an otherwise proper arrest 'by the expedient of escaping to a private place.'" Id. at 773 (quoting and citing Santana, 427 U.S. at 43).
¶ 130. Following Legg, the Iowa Supreme Court reiterated its position that hot pursuit of a fleeing misdemeanant can provide a justification for a warrant-less entry and arrest in State v. Pink, 648 N.W.2d 107, 109 (Iowa 2002) (per curiam).
¶ 131. Recently, the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District refused to adopt a rule that hot pursuit, standing alone, was insufficient to justify an exception to the warrant requirement. People v. Wear, 867 N.E.2d 1027, 1045-46 (Ill. App. Ct. 2007). The officer in Wear had probable cause to believe that the defendant committed several traffic violations and was guilty of eluding or attempting to flee an officer, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail. Id. at 1041, 1044. The Illinois court discussed Welsh and distinguished the case on the grounds that the penalties for the offenses in question were jailable and that the officer in Wear was in "hot pursuit." Id. at 1044. The court held that the officer "was in hot pursuit of defendant and, for that reason alone, had the right to enter the house and arrest him." Id. (emphasis added). The court stated that "[i]t appears that the majority of jurisdictions that have considered this question would so hold." Id. (citing D. *310Gilsinger, Annotation, When Is Warrantless Entry of House or Other Building Justified Under "Hot Pursuit" Doctrine, 17 A.L.R.6th 327, §§ 12,14 (2006)). The Illinois court also noted that the hot pursuit exigency, as a stand-alone warrant exception, has deep roots in the seventeenth and eighteenth century common law. Id. at 1045 (citing Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 598 (1980)).11
¶ 132. Courts from several other jurisdictions are in accord with these cases from Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois.12
*311¶ 133. These jurisdictions represent a common sense approach to the "hot pursuit" doctrine that avoids creating an incentive for misdemeanant suspects to flee to the home to escape lawful arrest. The home should not be viewed as a "sanctuary" or "safe zone" for a suspected misdemeanant in these circumstances. Such a view equates law enforcement to sport. Judge Joel C. Neal of the Indiana Court of Appeals may have put it best when he stated:
Law enforcement is not a child's game of prisoner[']s base, or a contest, with apprehension and conviction depending upon whether the officer or defendant is the fleetest of foot. A police officer in continuous pursuit of a perpetrator of a crime committed in the officer's presence, be it a felony or a misdemeanor, must be allowed to follow the suspect into a private place, or the suspect's home if he chooses to flee there, and effect the arrest without a warrant.
State v. Blake, 468 N.E.2d 548, 553 (Ind. Ct. App. 1984). See also Gasset v. State, 490 So.2d 97, 98-99 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1986) ("The enforcement of our criminal laws ... is not a game where law enforcement officers are 'it' and one is 'safe' if one reaches 'home' before being tagged.") (citing Blake, 468 N.E.2d at 553).
¶ 134. In sum, hot pursuit of a fleeing misde-meanant, premised upon probable cause, is an exigency sufficient to justify a warrantless home entry and arrest. This view is amply supported by existing Wisconsin case law, the United States Supreme Court, and persuasive authority from other jurisdictions.
III. CONCLUSION
¶ 135. The majority opinion's conclusion that the circuit court erred when it denied Sanders' motion to *312suppress is correct. The searches of Sanders' bedroom and seizure of the evidence found there violated the Fourth Amendment.
¶ 136. I write separately to address the issue that brought this case before us, namely the continuing validity of Mikkelson. The facts are undisputed that the defendant in this case committed a jailable criminal offense in the presence of police and that police entered the defendant's house in hot pursuit to effect the defendant's immediate arrest. Entering a home without a warrant under these circumstances is not unreasonable. Entry into a home in hot pursuit to arrest a person on probable cause for a jailable criminal offense is a longstanding, common sense exception to the warrant requirement. Accordingly, I concur.
¶ 137. I am authorized to state that Justices PATIENCE DRAKE ROGGENSACK and ANNETTE KINGSLAND ZIEGLER join this concurrence.
Appendix
1. Excerpt from Warden, Md. Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 310-11 (1967) (Fortas, J., concurring):
Our Constitution envisions that searches will ordinarily follow procurement by police of a valid search warrant. Such warrants are to issue only on probable cause, and must describe with particularity the persons or things to be seized. There are exceptions to this rule. Searches may be made incident to a lawful arrest, and — as today's decision indicates — in the course of hot pursuit. ... The use in evidence of weapons seized in a hot pursuit search or search incident to arrest satisfies this criterion because of the need to protect the arresting officers from weapons to which the suspect might resort. The search for and seizure of fruits are, of course, justifiable on independent grounds.
*3132. Excerpt from Warden, Md. Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 321 (1967) (Douglas, J., dissenting):
The right of privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment relates in part of course to the precincts of the home or the office. But it does not make them sanctuaries where the law can never reach. There are such places in the world. A mosque in Fez, Morocco, that I have visited, is by custom a sanctuary where any refugee may hide, safe from police intrusion. We have no such sanctuaries here. A policeman in hot pursuit or an officer with a search warrant can enter any house, any room, any building, any office. The privacy of those places is, of course, protected against invasion except in limited situations.
3. Excerpt from United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38, 43-44 (1976) (White, J., concurring):
It is not disputed here that the officers had probable cause to arrest Santana and to believe that she was in the house. In these circumstances, a warrant was not required to enter the house to make the arrest, at least where entry by force was not required. This has been the longstanding statutory or judicial rule in the majority of jurisdictions in the United States, see ALI, A Model Code of Pre-arraignment Procedure 306-314, 696-697 (1975), and has been deemed consistent with state constitutions, as well as the Fourth Amendment. It is also the Institute's recommended rule. Id., § 120.6. I agree with the Court that the arrest here did not violate the Fourth Amendment.

 These searches were not valid for the reasons explained in the majority opinion. See majority op., ¶¶ 25-59.

 The Welsh majority pointedly disqualified the exigency of "hot pursuit" because there "was no immediate or continuous pursuit of the [defendant] from the scene of a crime." Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740, 753 (1984).

 One commentator has observed that the Court's holding in Welsh can be read to distinguish between the "civil" or "criminal" nature of an offense:
[T]he Welsh Court specifically disavowed any judicial judgment about the significance of the actual violation in question and deferred instead to Wisconsin's classification of the offense as "civil" in deciding the case. If Wisconsin were unhappy with the Court's decision, it could, therefore, nullify it prospectively by simply changing (legislatively) the status of driving while intoxicated from a civil violation to a criminal offense.
*287Sherry F. Colb, The Qualitative Dimension of Fourth Amendment "Reasonableness", 98 Colum. L. Rev. 1642, 1683 (1998) (footnotes omitted).

 Two recognized criminal law treatises note that the conclusion drawn by the Wyoming Supreme Court in Rideout v. State, 122 P.3d 201 (Wyo. 2005), is correct. See 2 Wayne R. LaFave, et al., Criminal Procedure § 3.6(a), at 243 n.24 (3d ed. 2007); 3 Wayne R. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 6.1(f), at 38-39, 39 n.211.2 (4th ed. Supp. 2007).

 See, e.g., People v. Lavoyne M., 270 Cal. Rptr. 394, 395-96 (Cal. Ct. App. 1990); Mendez v. People, 986 P.2d 275, 283 (Colo. 1999); Dyer v. State, 680 So.2d 612, 613 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1996); Threatt v. State, 524 S.E.2d 276, 280 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999); *290City of Kirksville v. Guffey, 740 S.W.2d 227, 228-29 (Mo. Ct. App. 1987); State v. Nikola, 821 A.2d 110, 117-18 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2003); People v. Odenweller, 527 N.Y.S.2d 127, 129-30 (N.Y. App. Div. 1988); Beaver v. State, 106 S.W.3d 243, 248-49 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003); Cherry v. Commonwealth, 605 S.E.2d 297, 306-07 (Va. Ct. App. 2004).

 Several states have classes of misdemeanor offenses not subject to potential imprisonment. Some examples:
• Minnesota has a class of offenses designated "petty" misdemeanors. " 'Petty misdemeanor' means a petty offense which is prohibited by statute, which does not constitute a crime and for which a sentence of a fine of not more than $300 may be imposed." Minn. Stat. § 609.02, Subd. 4a (2007).
• Nebraska's "Class IV" and "Class V" misdemeanors are non-jailable and subject only to maximum fines of $500 and $100, respectively. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-106(1) (2007).
• New Hampshire classifies offenses as "felony," "misdemeanor," or "violation." N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 625:9, II (2008). Only a "felony" and "misdemeanor" are considered crimes. Id. "A class B misdemeanor is any crime.. . for which the maximum penalty does not include any term of imprisonment." N.H. Rev Stat. Ann. § 625:9, IV(b) (2008).
• Ohio has a class of "minor misdemeanors" for which punishment cannot exceed a $150 fine, community service, or a financial sanction not constituting a fine. Ohio Rev Code Ann. § 2901.02(A), (G) (West 2006).
*292• Texas' "Class C" misdemeanors are subject to no imprisonment and a fine "not to exceed $500." Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 12.23 (Vernon 2003).
• Virginia's "Class 3" and "Class 4" misdemeanors are nonjailable and subject only to maximum fines of $500 and $250, respectively. Va. Code Ann. § 18.2 — ll(c)-(d) (2004).

 Asking law enforcement officers to draw a line between criminal offenses and civil offenses is one thing; asking them to remember whether an offense is categorized as a felony or a misdemeanor, or to assess whether an offense will be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor based on incomplete evidence, is quite another. The impracticality of the distinction is obvious.

 The Minnesota Supreme Court also questioned the idea that a bright line felony-only rule would aid law enforcement. State v. Paul, 548 N.W.2d 260, 268 (Minn. 1996). The court stated:
*293The determination of whether an offense is a felony or a serious misdemeanor is not one that we should force officers to make on the spot in the tense and often dangerous circumstances of hot pursuit. See Payton [v. New York], 445 U.S. [573, 619 (1980)] (White, J., dissenting). Adopting a bright-line rule based on the legislature's classification of conduct as a misdemeanor would also sweep away any possibility that warrantless home arrests would be justified for those misdemeanors in which the underlying conduct is serious, or when the underlying offense is minor, but subsequent activity by the perpetrator during his flight from the police elevates the situation to a serious one.
Paul, 548 N.W.2d at 268.

 In United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38 (1976), the Court observed that "Warden was based upon the 'exigencies of the situation,' and did not use the term 'hot pursuit.'" Id. at 43 n.3 (citation omitted). Although the Warden majority did not use the term "hot pursuit," the concurring opinion of Justice Abe Fortas and the dissenting opinion of Justice William Douglas both used the term. Warden, Md. Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 310, 321 (1967) (Fortas, J., concurring) (Douglas, J., dissenting). For excerpts from these opinions, see the Appendix attached hereto.

 Recently, in Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398 (2006), the Court reiterated that "hot pursuit" can constitute a sufficient exigency for law enforcement to make a warrantless entry. The Court stated: "We have held, for example, that law enforcement officers may make a warrantless entry onto private property ... to engage in 'hot pursuit' of a fleeing suspect." Id. at 403 (citing Santana, 427 U.S. at 42-43).

 Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 595 n.41 (1980), included a quotation from 2 M. Hale, Pleas of the Crown 92 (1736) that shines some light on the historical roots of "hot pursuit": "if the supposed offender fly and take house, and the door will not be opened upon demand of the constable and notification of his business, the constable may break the door, tho he have no warrant."

 See, e.g., People v. Lloyd, 265 Cal. Rptr. 422, 424-25 (Cal. Ct. App. 1989) (holding that "hot pursuit" was a "proper exception" to the warrant requirement when an officer made an arrest in the suspect's home for obstruction and traffic violations committed in the officer's presence); State v. Nichols, 484 S.E.2d 507, 508-09 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997)(holding that an officer who was in "hot pursuit" of a defendant whom the officer observed committing the misdemeanor of illegal backing was justified in following the defendant into his residence to make a warrantless arrest); State v. Blake, 468 N.E.2d 548, 553 (Ind. Ct. App. 1984) (holding that "where there is immediate or continuous pursuit from the scene of a misdemeanor crime to the door of the defendant's home a warrantless home arrest is permitted"); State v. Brown, 733 So.2d 1282, 1287-88 (La. Ct. App. 1999)(holding that officers were justified in effectuating a warrantless home entry and arrest for the offense of driving without a license); LaHaye v. State, 1 S.W.3d 149, 152-53 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999) (holding that the misdemeanor crime of evading arrest was a serious enough crime that officers in hot pursuit could enter a residence without a warrant to arrest an offender).