Drunk driving conviction overturned after state troopers couldn't get ahold of judge

Описание: What can police do when they need a warrant overnight but can't get ahold of an on-call judge? The Wisconsin State Patrol says it will use a ruling this week in which a drunken driving conviction was overturned as a training tool.

The case started with a traffic stop nearly six years ago.

Brandon Taff was pulled over at 1:13 a.m. May 10, 2019, in Grand Chute by the Wisconsin State Patrol. He told them he had had five beers at a Green Bay-area casino, but stopped drinking about 90 minutes before he was pulled over. After a field sobriety test, he was arrested.

Taff was taken to the hospital for a blood draw. He refused. The troopers made nine calls to the on-call judge, trying to get a warrant, but were not successful. Concerned that the passage of time would dissipate the evidence in his blood, the troopers told hospital staff to do the blood draw without the warrant.

Taff challenged the act, but an Outagamie County judge ruled against him. He was convicted, but then appealed.

The state appeals court overturned the conviction, saying the troopers should have waited for a warrant and didn’t make sufficient attempts to get one.

"In this case, based on the totality of the circumstances, we conclude that the troopers’ actions were unreasonable and that exigent circumstances did not justify Taff’s warrantless blood draw,” the ruling states. “Once at the hospital, the troopers attempted to contact the judge over a period of about 30 minutes. When they concluded that the on-call judge was unavailable, approximately one and one-half hours remained of the three-hour evidentiary window pursuant to WIS. STAT. 885.235(1g). Nevertheless, the troopers made no further attempts to secure a warrant by, for example, continuing to attempt to contact the on-call judge; traveling to that judge’s home to attempt to obtain a search warrant; consulting with a supervisor; calling dispatch again to find out if there was a procedure to be used when the on-call judge was unavailable; calling another judge in the jurisdiction; or pursuing any alternative means to obtain judicial authorization."

After the ruling, FOX 11 reached out to the county and State Patrol about procedures for obtaining search warrants after business hours.

FOX 11 asked the Department of Transportation for details on what, if any, follow up was done with the officers, and if any changes were made because of this case. The department provided this statement:

“Keeping impaired drivers off Wisconsin roadways is central to our department’s public safety mission. Wisconsin State Patrol officers receive extensive training, and the division continually reviews judicial case outcomes to identify lessons learned and integrate those insights into ongoing training efforts. Law enforcement officers must regularly make split-second decisions in the interest of community safety. These decisions must be carefully balanced within the framework of evolving legal standard,” the DOT said.

The agency did not respond to the questions about the specific officers involved in the Taff case.

Meanwhile, Outagamie County says it provides law enforcement with contact information for all of its judges, so that if one judge isn’t available, another can be reached.

Full story: https://fox11online.com/news/local/ap...

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