State v. Mahlik D. Ellington, 2005 WI App 243
For Ellington: Andrea Taylor Cornwall
Issue/Holding: The following instruction is sufficient: “Great bodily harm means serious bodily injury. You, the jury, are to alone to determine whether the bodily injury in your judgment is serious.” (La Barge v. State, 74 Wis. 2d 327, 333, 246 N.W.2d 794, 797 (1976) and Cheatham v. State, 85 Wis. 2d 112, 119–124, 270 N.W.2d 194, 198–200 (1978) followed, to effect that “serious bodily injury” is phrase of “ordinary significance” such that embellishment is unnecessary.) In addition, although various examples of serious injury are listed in the statute, the legislature did not intend that they restrict the meaning of that phrase. ¶¶6-8.
