State v. Shannon Olance Hendricks, 2018 WI 15, 2/20/18, affirming an unpublished court of appeals opinion, case activity (including briefs) Can a defendant knowingly and intelligently plead guilty to a charge that requires proof of intent to do “X” if the defendant does not know what “X” is? The majority answers “yes.” Justice Abrahamson (joined… Read more
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State v. Daniel J.H. Bartelt, 2018 WI 16, 2/20/18, affirming a published court of appeals opinion, case activity (including briefs) Suppose you confessed to attempted homicide while sitting in a police station interrogation room with 2 officers who are positioned between you and the exit. Would you feel free to leave? The majority says a… Read more
Now you can! Check out the SCOTUS Notes crowdsourcing project sponsored by the University of Minnesota: In this project, members of the public transcribe handwritten notes from U.S. Supreme Court justices. Unlike members of Congress, justices cast their votes in complete privacy during weekly conference meetings. Only justices are allowed in the Chief Justice’s conference… Read more
State v. Angus Murray McArthur, 2016AP2315-17-CR, 2/20/18, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) This opinion recounts in detail MacArthur’s controlling, violent behavior toward K.W., the victim in this case, and toward 4 of his previous girlfriends. The lead issues are (1) whether McArthur’s conduct toward the previous girlfriends was admissible as… Read more
State v. Lee Vang, 2017AP75-77-CR, District 1, 2/20/18,(not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Vang argued that his trial was ineffective in failing to object to (1) a police officer’s hearsay testimony about the victim’s statements to him; (2) his own testimony on direct about participating in an illegal street race for money; and (3)… Read more
State v. Marquis T. Williams, 2018 WI App 20; case activity (including briefs) Williams, a prison inmate, objected to DOC deducting funds from his prison account to pay the restitution ordered in his criminal case. He asked the sentencing judge to order DOC to stop but the sentencing judge declined. The court of appeals affirms… Read more
State v. Angela J. Coker, 2017AP1555, District 2, 2/14/18 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Coker was charged with OWI after police stopped her car because other drivers called police to report an erratic driver. The court of appeals rejects her claim that the information from the callers wasn’t sufficiently reliable because it… Read more
The Nation has published a long essay digging into an almost 30-year-old case from Colorado that reveals the problems with some forensic sciences. “What we found was a startling lack of scientific support for forensic pattern-matching techniques such as toolmark analysis; a legal system that has failed to separate nonsense from science even in capital cases… Read more
