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MADISON — A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Friday that a police officer knocking on the window of a car does not by itself violate a person’s constitutional right against unreasonable seizures.

The 5-2 decision reversed a lower court’s ruling that overturned the drunken driving conviction of a man who was arrested after he rolled down his car window at the request of police. A state appeals court had tossed the man’s conviction, saying the police action constituted an illegal seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment, but the Supreme Court disagreed.

“A law enforcement officer’s knock on a car window does not by itself constitute a show of authority sufficient to give rise to the belief in a reasonable person that the person is not free to leave,” Justice David Prosser wrote for the majority.

Daniel Vogt had pulled his vehicle into a Cassville public boat landing at 1 a.m. on Christmas Day in 2011, two hours after the park closed. The Grant County sheriff’s deputy who saw the car testified that because of the time of year and time of night, he considered it suspicious and approached.