Wisconsin’s high court has ruled, in a 4-3 decision, that a sheriff’s deputy was within his rights to chase a driver into his garage without a warrant.
Wood County Deputy Calvin Dorshorst was in hot pursuit of a driver back in 2012, after the driver took off following a stop for a broken taillight.
Deputy Dorshorst continued to follow the suspect, Richard Weber, into his garage even though he didn’t have a warrant. But the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the deputy’s actions were reasonable, that he had probable cause to believe a crime had been committed.
He performed “limited entry into the garage to prevent escape,” FOX 6 reported.
While the majority opinion stated that prosecutors may not be able to show probable cause in every instance, the justice who wrote the dissenting opinion said, “The decision erodes constitutional rights to be free of searches and seizures.”
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That is a no-brainer as far as I can see. It certainly falls under the “Hot Pursuit” rule that allows you to continue to case a suspect wherever he goes including private property. I have done it a number of times and NOTHING has ever been said that I could not, and much said that it was perfectly legal to do so.