Pubdate: Thu, 07 Oct 1999 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Copyright: 1999, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact: 414-224-8280 Website: http://www.jsonline.com/ Forum: http://www.jsonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimate.cgi Author: Mike Johnson and Linda Spice, of the Journal Sentinel staff BUCHER TAKES HARD LINE ON TEEN PARTIES Latest Bash Has Waukesha DA Wanting Police To Enter By Force To Halt Drinking Angered by another incident in which teenagers suspected of drinking would not allow police to enter a home, Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher on Wednesday said he would give officers the green light to knock down doors if necessary to break up such parties. "If their whole intent was to catch our attention, they've got it. This sophomoric conduct - we're taking steps to end it," Bucher said. "We're not going to have officers sitting on lawns putting themselves at risk . . . or having parents busting down doors." Bucher said he would distribute a memo to police departments that would give them "adequate legal basis on which to enter" a house "by force if necessary." Believing they did not have the authority to use force, Hartland police early Sunday stood outside and attempted to coax 10 to 12 teens from a home where they had holed up. Police say the group was trying to avoid arrest for underage drinking. The incident hit close to home for Waukesha County Sheriff William Kruziki, whose son was among those at the home. Kruziki, along with Bucher, the past year has stepped up the fight against underage drinking. Bucher said he believed the "check list" of reasons police could enter a home where underage drinking was suspected would hold up if challenged in court. He declined to release the list, saying it would "thwart" law enforcement efforts. But he said, for example, police could enter a home if they believed someone who had been drinking needed medical assistance. But Bucher's plan drew immediate criticism from attorney Ray Dall'Osto, chairman of the Wisconsin Bar Association's Criminal Law Section. He said that police could not enter a home on a "hunch." The Fourth Amendment guarantees a "constitutional right to privacy in your home," he said. "The Supreme Court has said your home is your castle." If police enter a home on a "hunch" or "feeling," "you're going to have some legal difficulty upholding that," Dall'Osto said. "I don't think a judge would issue a search warrant based on that," he said. Peter Koneazny, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said it was premature to take issue with Bucher's plans to make it easier for police to enter homes. He added, however, that the ACLU would review Bucher's memo carefully. "Encouraging breaking down doors obviously raises concerns for some Fourth Amendment violations," Koneazny said. On Wednesday, 18-year-old Chris Borchardt, who hosted the party, was suspended from the Arrowhead High School football team for five games. Arrowhead officials said they are reviewing the matter and that other students also could be disciplined. As for Kruziki, he acknowledged his son, Matthew, was at Borchardt's home but said he didn't believe he had been drinking. His son has not been ticketed. "They got together after the football game. That's all I know," the sheriff said Wednesday. "He's an adult. He's 18. He can answer to it. He's got to answer to anything and everything he does. "In this particular case, all I will say is he didn't do anything wrong. He happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Hartland police on Wednesday continued their investigation into the gathering in the 700 block of Renson Road. Officers responded to a neighbor's complaints early Sunday, but the teens holed up in the house and would not allow police entry. The teens also ignored parents who were called to the scene and demanded that their children exit. So far, police have ticketed Chris Borchardt, 18, for allowing an underage person to consume intoxicants at premises under his control. And 17-year-old Krista Fancher of Hartland, who exited the home as police were arriving, was ticketed for underage drinking. Borchardt, the star running back at Arrowhead High School, denied he had hosted a drinking party and said he would appeal the suspension from football. "The cops came and my friends came and got me from a room when they thought the cops were kicking in the door," Borchardt said. "As soon as I saw this, we closed the door again because if they were going to act like that, why should we be cooperative with them?" It was not the officers who broke the door, but an angry father who thought his 17-year-old daughter was being held inside against her will. As it turned out, the man's daughter had been at the home earlier and left with friends before he arrived. The Journal Sentinel is not naming the man because he remains under investigation in connection with the damage to the home. Chris Borchardt's parents were out of state at a wedding when the incident occurred and later filed a formal complaint with police over the damage done by the man. According to police: About a dozen teenagers - 16 to 18 - holed up inside the house when Hartland police arrived about 1:45 a.m. With some coaxing from officers, one 17-year-old boy finally exited and told police who was inside. When police told the others they had been identified, several teens began swearing loudly and making threats against the teen who had left, police said. "I'm going to kill (the boy) . . .," police heard as someone struck the inside door. When contacted at home Wednesday, the father of that boy declined to discuss the incident. "I'm handling this with my son at this time and that's about all I want to comment about." No one else left the home, and the officers and parents cleared out by 5 a.m. Meanwhile Wednesday, Arrowhead Superintendent David Lodes said school officials were continuing to investigate the incident. Lodes said part of the problem is that police were not able to identify the students in the home but had to rely on secondhand accounts. "Whether there was a party or not, we don't know," Lodes said. "But when you have parents and police outside trying to get in and you're obstructing them . . . I don't think organizing something like that is what we expect our athletes to be doing." Lodes said the students must have had "something to hide," otherwise they would have let parents and police into the house. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea