State v. Baudhuin

The issue in this case is whether the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, sec. 11 of the Wisconsin Constitution 1 prohibit the police from seizing, without a warrant, an automobile and its occupants when there is a factual basis upon which to stop the driver for a traffic violation, but when the police officer intends only to render assistance to the driver and not to issue a traffic citation.

The defendant, James Baudhuin, was charged in a criminal complaint dated November 14, 1985, with third offense drunken driving arising out of a traffic arrest on October 26,…