Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Minnesota DWI Attorney F. T. Sessoms Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Peterson (Decided May 6, 2019, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which, once again, stands for the proposition that if you have been drinking and driving and make it home do not open your door!

In Peterson, Minnesota State Trooper Jon Wenzel followed the Defendant to his home after observing an equipment violation and some speeding.  

Peterson parked his truck in his home driveway, immediately exited, and walked quickly toward his front door. Wenzel pulled into the driveway and parked. Wenzel saw Peterson look directly at him and keep walking. Wenzel stepped out of his car, identified himself as a state trooper, and loudly told Peterson to stop because “I need to talk to you.” Wenzel testified that Peterson’s wife, M.P., also saw him as Peterson climbed the steps to his porch. The couple went inside and locked the door.

Wenzel had not activated his emergency lights, in part because he intended to “advise [Peterson] of the equipment violation.” Based on Peterson’s behavior in the driveway, Wenzel testified that he believed that “there might be something other than speeding] or an equipment violation that would cause [Peterson] to try to evade” police.

Wenzel opened the storm door, knocked on the front door, “announced himself,” and said he needed to speak to Peterson.  Peterson's wife eventually answered the door and said that she would see if her husband would come to the door.

Wenzel saw Peterson open a beer can as he walked toward and opened the front door. While they stood in the doorway, Wenzel observed that Peterson had an “unsteady gait,” “sort of swayfed],” had “very slurred” speech, and his eyes were bloodshot and watery. Wenzel testified he smelled an “overwhelming odor of alcohol” coming from Peterson.

Wenzel asked Peterson to come outside and speak with him, and told Peterson that he would be arrested for obstruction of legal process if he did not cooperate. Peterson refused and Wenzel grabbed Peterson’s arm. Peterson resisted and began backing away from the doorway and toward the living room. Wenzel testified that his foot may have been on the threshold as he grabbed Peterson. Peterson, with M.P. ’s assistance, forcefully pulled away from Wenzel, who called for an on-scene deputy to back him up. Together, Wenzel and the other deputy moved Peterson outside the home

After doing some field tests and obtaining a .198 reading on a preliminary breath test, Mr. Peterson was arrested for DWI.  The Defendant was taken to the police station where he subsequently refused to submit to testing.  

Mr. Peterson was charged with felony DWI and he challenged the validity of his arrest asserting the trooper was not in "hot pursuit"when Peterson entered his home.  The State in its response claimed that the trooper was in hot pursuit but on appeal, the Court of Appeals declined to address the issue finding instead that the arrest lawfully began in the doorway of the Peterson home.

The Court of Appeals began its analysis by noting that "Absent exigent circumstances, police officers may not enter an individual’s home to make a warrantless arrest. Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 590, 100 S. Ct. 1371, 1382 (1980). The doorway of one’s home, however, has been held to be a public place for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment."..."Once a police officer has begun to arrest a person in a public place, that person may not retreat into their home to thwart an arrest."
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"Wenzel had probable cause to arrest Peterson for DWI. As Peterson stood in his doorway, Wenzel observed multiple indicia of intoxication within a very short time after Peterson stopped driving. When these observations are considered together with Peterson’s evasive behavior and his refusal to cooperate with Wenzel, we conclude that Wenzel had probable cause to arrest Peterson for DWI."
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"Because the record supports the district court’s factual findings that Wenzel began to arrest Peterson while he was in the doorway of Peterson’s home, we conclude that these findings are not clearly erroneous. Because Wenzel began to arrest Peterson in the doorway, Peterson could no longer flee back into his house to thwart the arrest."

Moral Of The Story:  A man's home is his castle so don't open the door for the police!



If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI, or are facing a DWI forfeiture of your motor vehicle, feel free to contact Minnesota DWI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI questions.


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