Court Opinion

ID: 9698538
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:52:52.569052+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:41.762797
License: Public Domain

N. PATRICK CROOKS, J.
¶ 87. (dissenting). I disagree with the majority that the facts of this case do not satisfy the totality of the circumstances test as outlined by the United States Supreme Court in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), and by this court in State v. McGill, 2000 WI 38, ¶ 22, 234 Wis. 2d 560, 609 N.W.2d 795. In order to satisfy this test, a police officer is required to show that he or she had reasonable suspicion about a threat of physical harm by the defendant, based on "specific and articulable facts ... ." Terry, 392 U.S. at 21; McGill, 234 Wis. 2d 560, ¶ 22. Those facts should be considered, along with rational inferences *40drawn from such facts, in determining the reasonableness of a protective frisk by an officer.
¶ 88. The State has pointed to multiple specific facts about the search of the defendant, which made it reasonable for the officer in this case to be suspicious and protective of his own and the public's safety. These facts, and the rational inferences drawn from them, clearly show the reasonableness of the protective frisk conducted here. The testifying officers noted the late time of day, the high degree of darkness, the "fair" amount of crime in the area, the apprehensive behavior of the defendant, the fact that the defendant's coat was oversized and puffy, and the defendant's repeated disregard of officers' instructions not to put his hands into his coat pockets.
¶ 89. Several of those facts have been found by this court in the recent past to be significant to a determination that the totality of circumstances weighed in favor of the officer conducting a protective frisk or a search. The majority reiterates those factors here, yet fails to give them sufficient weight. Although the State has relied heavily on the fact that the defendant concealed his hands in his pockets, after being told not to do so, perhaps to the detrimental exclusion of the other factors, this court should not ignore the significance of the cumulative effect of all of the specific facts presented by this case. In dismissing the numerous specific facts in this case, the majority ignores the reasonableness of the protective frisk conducted in this case.
¶ 90. I also disagree with the majority's treatment of the court of appeals' language regarding an officer's "subjective fear" in State v. Mohr, 2000 WI App. 111, 235 Wis. 2d 220, 613 N.W.2d 186. The majority opinion disavows an interpretation of Mohr that requires an *41officer's subjective fear in order for a protective frisk or a search to be reasonable. Nevertheless, the majority agrees with defendant's counsel that the officer's subjective fear is one factor that a circuit court may consider in evaluating the totality of the circumstances. Majority op., ¶ 24, footnote 16. Thus, the majority clearly approves of giving this factor sufficient weight in evaluating the reasonableness of a protective frisk.
¶ 91. I cannot agree with the majority that the subjective fear of the searching officer should be a factor, among others, in the totality of the circumstances test. To the extent that Mohr contains language that mixes objective factors with the subjective factors of an officer's fear, impressions, or motives, I would withdraw that language. The standard used to examine an officer's reasonable basis for conducting a protective frisk or a search should be the objective, "specific and articulable facts" required by the United States Supreme Court in Terry.
¶ 92. The United States Supreme Court has disfavored the use of subjective officer intentions or feelings when determining the constitutionality of law enforcement actions. Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996). In Whren, the Court held that in the context of traffic stops the subjective.motives of an officer do not make illegal conduct that otherwise satisfies the Fourth Amendment: "We think these cases foreclose any argument that the constitutional reasonableness of traffic stops depends on the actual motivations of the individual officers involved. ... Subjective intentions play no role in ordinary, probable-cause Fourth Amendment analysis." Id. at 813. The majority feels that Whren and its progeny, United States v. Knights, 534 U.S. 112 (2001), are not in conflict with Mohr, because they do not use subjective officer feelings as a factor within the *42totality of the circumstances. Although the United States Supreme Court does not discuss that particular use and its implications, I fail to see how use of the subjective factors may be disfavored at a macro level of constitutional analysis, yet may be accepted at a micro level. When the Court specifies that "subjective intentions play no role" in "Fourth Amendment analysis," it certainly is logical to interpret "analysis" as encompassing the totality of the circumstances test itself.
¶ 93. I believe the majority misses the opportunity to place the recent Wisconsin cases of McGill, Mohr, and this case along some understandable continuum of facts involving a totality of the circumstances analysis. The majority opinion fosters the continued potential for confusion in this area with regard to just how much weight, if any, the subjective impressions of an officer should be given. I would reverse the judgment of the court of appeals in this case. Here, the circuit court clearly felt obligated to place reliance on Mohr's subjective impression language. Language that was, in my opinion, incorrect. The specific and articulable facts, along with the rational inferences properly drawn from those facts, clearly demonstrate the reasonableness of the protective frisk conducted here, and the subsequent seizure of contraband.
¶ 94. For the reasons stated, I respectfully dissent.
¶ 95. I am authorized to state that Justice JON E WILCOX joins this dissenting opinion.