Police stop for missing license plate upheld, drug charge
sticks
Court clarifies that out-of-state drivers from states
that require drivers to display two license plates are subject to
Wisconsin’s two-plate requirement law when they drive in
Wisconsin.
By Joe Forward, Legal Writer,
State Bar of Wisconsin
Feb. 3, 2012 – Drivers from other states that issue two license
plates must display two license plates when they drive in Wisconsin, a
Wisconsin appeals court recently clarified.
In State
v. Boyd, 2011AP1056-CR (Feb. 1, 2012), the District II
Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld Terrence Boyd’s no contest plea
for possessing marijuana with intent to deliver after police stopped him
in Kenosha County for driving without a front license plate.
Boyd is from Illinois, which requires Illinois drivers to display
license plates in both the front and rear of the vehicle. Some states,
such as Indiana (Ind. Code s. 9-18-2-26) and Michigan (Mich. Vehicle
Code section 257.225) don’t require state-registered vehicles to
display two plates.
Boyd filed a motion to suppress the evidence (marijuana) obtained from
the police stop, which was denied. The police officer stopped Boyd for
no other reason besides driving without a front license plate.
Apparently, police had probable cause to search the car or saw marijuana
in plain view.
On appeal, he argued the officer lacked probable cause to stop his
vehicle because out-of-state drivers don’t need to display front
plates while driving in Wisconsin.
Not true, the appeals court concluded, referencing Wis. Stat. section
341.15(1).
That provision demands that “whenever 2 registration plates are
issued for a vehicle, one plate shall be attached to the front and one
to the rear of the vehicle.”
“That means that if any state issues two plates, the
corresponding automobile must display two plates to drive legally in
Wisconsin,” wrote chief appeals court Judge Richard Brown.
Boyd tried to argue that section 341.15(1) is limited to vehicles
registered in Wisconsin, relying on a statute (§ 341.40) that
exempts vehicles registered in other states from Wisconsin’s
registration requirements, so long as the vehicle carries a license
plate indicating registration in another state.
“[H]aving been issued at least one plate is a condition precedent
for exemption, not a display requirement,” wrote Chief Judge
Richard Brown. “And since § 341.40(1)(a) does not address how
nonresidents are to display license plates, there is no conflict with
§ 341.15(1).”
The court held that Wisconsin’s two-plate display requirement
applies “to all vehicles driven in the state of Wisconsin, not
just those registered here."
