Court Opinion

ID: 9528988
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:46:00.437886+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:34.501578
License: Public Domain

DYKMAN, J.
¶ 29. (concurring). Though I agree with the majority's result, the trial court's reasoning is more practical and less dangerous than the majority's.
¶ 30. I do not agree that after twenty-five minutes, and my failure to acknowledge someone's knock, my interest in privacy in a gas station men's room disappears, and a key can be used to see what I might be doing in there. I might be hearing impaired or disinclined to be hurried by someone who felt that their needs exceeded mine. I might respond negatively to loud pounding which *224interrupted my thoughts. I might have- my head in my hands because that was more comfortable and consistent with my use of the room. I might be reading a magazine left there for anybody's use while waiting. None of this is unheard of. I expect privacy in a locked men's room even if complications require twenty-five minutes of my time, no matter whether someone beats on the door.
¶ 31. The majority's result is dangerous because appellate courts usually do not like bright lines, and the next case will involve a twenty-minute stay in a men's or women's room. And then one of fifteen minutes, until the result is that nobody has an expectation of privacy in a locked rest room if someone knocks. It is far better to conclude, as did the trial court, that Neitzel had an expectation of privacy in the men's room, but that police were justified in entering the men's room based on exigent circumstances. Because the police were told that Neitzel was either highly intoxicated or disoriented, and Neitzel did not respond to the officers' knocking, a police officer could reasonably have a concern about Neitzel's health, and believe that a delay in procuring a warrant might exacerbate the situation. That was the rule we applied in State v. Leutenegger, 2004 WI App 127, 275 Wis. 2d 512, 685 N.W.2d 536. That rule requires an examination of the facts of the case to determine whether exigent circumstances existed. It does not depend on an artificial decision dependent on the timing of a person's stay in a rest room and how long or loudly police pounded on the door. It is also consistent with the public's understanding about privacy in rest rooms. Were I writing for the majority, I would adopt the analysis used by the trial court. But I am not and I can only respectfully concur.