Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740 (1984), was a 1983 case before the US Supreme Court determining that a warrantless home arrest without exigent circumstances violates the Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful search and seizure.
Facts On the evening of April 24, 1978, Randy Jablonic witnessed a vehicle moving erratically, and then saw it swerve off the road and come to a stop in an open field. No damage to any people or property was reported or witnessed. Jablonic parked his truck behind the car to prevent the driver from returning to the highway. A woman stopped near the scene and Jablonic asked her to call the police. Before the police arrived, the driver exited his car and asked Jablonic for a ride. Jablonic suggested to him that they wait for police and roadside assistance, but the driver ignored his request and walked away. When the police arrived, Jablonic told the officer that the driver either looked "very inebriated or very sick". The officer then identified the driver as Edward G. Welsh from the registration of the abandoned car. The same officer noticed that Welsh's house was within walking distance of the scene. Without securing an arrest or search warrant, the police went to Welsh's house at about 9:00 pm and knocked on the door. Welsh's stepdaughter answered the door, but it is unclear whether she consented to the officers' entry (the court assumed that consent was not given). The officers found Welsh upstairs in his bed, naked. The police then arrested him for driving while under the influence of an intoxicant. As he was taken to the police station, he refused to take a breathalyzer test. Under the relevant Wisconsin DUI statute, a first offense was a noncriminal violation subject to a civil forfeiture proceeding for a maximum fine of $300.
Trial and Appeals Welsh had two separate trials. One proceeding was for him refusing the breathalyzer test, since under Wisconsin law, a hearing had to be provided in order to determine whether the test was justified or not. The second proceeding was for the alleged offense itself. Before the refusal hearing was held, Welsh was charged with violating the Wisconsin DUI statute. Welsh filed a pre-trial motion, demanding that the charge against him be dismissed, arguing that his arrest was in itself, invalid, due to him not being in a vehicle at the time of arrest. The trial court denied the motion in July 1980. The refusal hearing was not held until September 1980, which also ruled against Welsh. His license was suspended for 60 days. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals vacated the order, on the grounds that although probable cause was established, the trial court did not effectively establish exigent circumstances. Therefore, Welsh's refusal was considered reasonable, and his suspension was overturned. The Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeals, reasoning that," The foregoing evidence, when myopically parsed, may not individually support a finding of probable cause. When examined collectively, however, it unquestionably indicates "that quantum of evidence which would lead a reasonable police officer to believe that the defendant [driver] probably [violated the statute prohibiting driving while under the influence of an intoxicant]."State v. Cheers, 102 Wis. 2d at 386; see Henry v. United States, supra; secs. 345.22 and 346.63(1), Stats. 1977. The evidence in this case clearly demonstrates that the trial court was correct in ruling that the state had met its burden.
In considering the governmental interest, it is appropriate to note that driving under the influence is a pervasive problem of substantial proportion. In Wisconsin in 1981, there was a 5 percent increase in drunken driving convictions from 1980. Further, approximately 50 percent *335 of all drivers killed in Wisconsin were driving while legally intoxicated. The increasing number of fatalities caused by drunken drivers has aroused state legislatures to adopt stricter penalties in the forms of substantial fines, imprisonment, and license suspensions to punish those who violate the laws prohibiting driving while under the influence of an intoxicant.." "Frequently, proof that the officer is in hot pursuit of the suspect constitutes exigency. The hot pursuit doctrine evolved to encompass situations where time was of the essence. In other words, when requiring the police to obtain a warrant would constitute undue delay, the hot pursuit doctrine is applicable. In this case, time was of the essence. The inherent nature of the offense demanded the suspect's immediate apprehension to accommodate the dictates of the blood alcohol test statute. Section 343.305(2) (a), Stats. 1977. In order for the officer to enforce the statutory requisites, the situation demanded his immediate search for and pursuit of the suspect.
The defendant, fearful of the officer's impending arrival and perhaps recognizing the possibility of being requested to submit to a blood alcohol test, left the scene of the accident upon discovering that the officer had been summoned. Fleeing to his home, in an attempt to avoid a confrontation with the officer, the defendant's hasty departure resulted in the abandonment of his car. If the officer had retreated and sought to obtain a warrant, rather than immediately pursuing and arresting the suspect, the requirements of the blood alcohol statutes would have been frustrated.
The imminent threat to safety doctrine also constitutes exigent circumstances. The sole purpose of the blood alcohol *337 test is to facilitate prosecution of those driving while under the influence of an intoxicant. See sec. 343.305(2) (a) and 346.63(1), Stats. 1977. Further, sec. 345.24, Stats. 1977, provides that a person arrested for driving while under the influence of an intoxicant "may not be released until four hours have elapsed." This severe treatment is dramatic evidence of the legislature's intent and recognition of the need to protect the public from drunken drivers. Undoubtedly, this provision was enacted to prevent drunken drivers from returning to the road while intoxicated. Presumably, this four-hour statutory limitation sought to provide an adequate time allowance for the arrested intoxicant's blood alcohol content to metabolize to a safer level, equal to or less than .05 percent. Restraining those drivers who pose a danger to themselves and the public for the four-hour statutory period constitutes a preventive measure, designed to promote public safety.
The officer concluded that he had probable cause to believe that the defendant had been operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant. Accordingly, the situation demanded the officer's prompt attempt to locate the defendant. An arrest would prevent the driver from returning to his, or another automobile, where he could have continued to drive in his current state, posing a danger to himself and the public. Consequently, the nature of this offense, coupled with the potential *338 threat to the public safety, satisfied the exigent circumstances test pursuant to the imminent threat to safety doctrine.
An equally persuasive argument is the probable destruction of evidence. This is a model case demonstrating the urgency involved in arresting the suspect in order to preserve evidence of the statutory violation. "Sometimes the nature of the evidence will be such that it will soon disappear of its own accord." 2 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure, sec. 6.5 at 448 (1978). "Blood rapidly metabolizes alcohol after a person ceases drinking; thus creating an exigent situation." State v. Bentley, 92 Wis. 2d 860, 864, 286 N.W.2d 153 (Ct. App. 1979). Without an immediate blood alcohol test, highly reliable and persuasive evidence facilitating the state's proof of the defendant's alleged violation of sec. 346.63(1), Stats. 1977, would be destroyed. See sec. 343.305(2) (a), Stats. 1977. Accordingly, the facts of this case adhere to the presumption favoring warrantless arrests which are a result "of an ongoing investigation in the field," rather than an arrest that had been planned. W. LaFave, supra, sec. 6.1 at 391.."State v. Welsh Wisconsin Supreme Court text
Holding The Court decided 6-2 (Burger filed a separate statement against the writ) that Welsh's arrest and suspension of his license was a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Justice William Brennan authored the majority opinion, stating that," It is axiomatic that the "physical entry of the home is the chief evil against which the wording of the Fourth Amendment is directed." United States v. United States District Court, 407 U. S. 297, 407 U. S. 313 (1972). And a principal protection against unnecessary intrusions into private dwellings is the warrant requirement imposed by the Fourth Amendment on agents of the government who seek to enter the home for purposes of search or arrest. See Johnson v. United States, 333 U. S. 10, 333 U. S. 13-14 (1948). [Footnote 10] It is not surprising, therefore,
Page 466 U. S. 749
that the Court has recognized, as
"a 'basic principle of Fourth Amendment law[,]' that searches and seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable."
Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. at 445 U. S. 586. See Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U. S. 443, 403 U. S. 474-475 (1971) ("a search or seizure carried out on a suspect's premises without a warrant is per se unreasonable, unless the police can show . . . the presence of exigent circumstances'"). See also Michigan v. Clifford, 464 U. S. 287, 464 U. S. 296-297 (1984) (plurality opinion); Steagald v. United States, 451 U. S. 204, 451 U. S. 211-212 (1981); McDonald v. United States, 335 U. S. 451, 335 U. S. 456 (1948); Johnson v. United States, supra, at 333 U. S. 13–15; Boyd v. United States, 116 U. S. 616, 116 U. S. 630 (1886).
Consistently with these long-recognized principles, the Court decided in Payton v. New York, supra, that warrantless felony arrests in the home are prohibited by the Fourth Amendment, absent probable cause and exigent circumstances. Id. at 445 U. S. 583–590. At the same time, the Court declined to consider the scope of any exception for exigent circumstances that might justify warrantless home arrests, id. at 445 U. S. 583, thereby leaving to the lower courts the initial application of the exigent circumstances exception. [Footnote 11] Prior decisions of this Court, however, have emphasized that exceptions to the warrant requirement are "few in number and carefully delineated," United States v. United States District Court, supra, at 407 U. S. 318, and that the police bear a heavy burden
Page 466 U. S. 750
when attempting to demonstrate an urgent need that might justify warrantless searches or arrests. Indeed, the Court has recognized only a few such emergency conditions, see, e.g., United States v. Santana, 427 U. S. 38, 427 U. S. 42-43 (1976) (hot pursuit of a fleeing felon); Warden v. Hayden, 387 U. S. 294, 387 U. S. 298-299 (1967) (same); Schmerber v. California, 384 U. S. 757, 384 U. S. 770-771 (1966) (destruction of evidence); Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U. S. 499, 436 U. S. 509 (1978) (ongoing fire), and has actually applied only the "hot pursuit" doctrine to arrests in the home, see Santana, supra.