APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A peeling and illegible license plate was sufficient probable cause for a state trooper to pull over a motorist who subsequently received a drunk driving ticket, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
Glen Braun, of Hilbert, was driving on I-41 in Outagamie County on Aug. 22, 2021. After apparently spotting the squad car, Braun’s speed dropped dramatically to about 45 mph, after which the trooper pulled out to follow Braun.
Once behind the vehicle, Trooper Thomas LaCourt-Baker testified he couldn’t read the license plate due to peeling paint. The registration sticker was valid, but improperly placed. Once the trooper initiated the traffic stop and got to within 45 feet, then he could read the plate.
The trial court ruled the sticker wasn’t enough reason for the traffic stop, but the illegible plate was sufficient cause.
Braun appealed. He argued state law doesn’t require any specific distance that the plate has to be legible at, and that the 45 feet was sufficient.
The appeals disagreed, ruling the traffic stop legal.
“Trooper LaCourt-Baker had reasonable suspicion, at the moment he initiated the traffic stop, that Braun was violating the statute. The fact that LaCourt-Baker was later able to make out the license plate’s characters does not render the stop, or the subsequent interactions between LaCourt-Baker and Braun, unconstitutional, even if that fact rendered Braun in compliance with (state law),” the decisions states.
Braun did not dispute the OWI ticket itself. His driver’s license was revoked for eight months, court records show.
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