State v. Thor S. Lancial, 2022AP146-CR, 1/5/22, District 3 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) A jury convicted Lancial of 10 counts of possession of child pornography. On appeal, he argued that (1) the State’s evidence was insufficient to support the conviction and (2) the circuit court erred in denying his motion to… Read more
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County of Monroe v. Kling, 2022AP339, 12/30/22, District 4, (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Section 346.70(1) governs a driver’s duty to report a car accident. When the accident does not cause injury or death, the driver must report the “total damage to property owned by any one person. . . to… Read more
State v. Steven W. Bowers, 2023 WI App 4; case activity (including briefs) In this important decision addressing a novel Fourth Amendment issue, the court of appeals holds that Bowers had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of his Dropbox account, despite the fact he (1) used his work email address to create the… Read more
The indispensable and indefatigable Doug Berman recently posted about an interesting sentencing-related petition for certiorari pending in the U.S. Supreme Court that might be considered at the January 6 conference. To quote from the amicus brief he helped prepare in support of the petition, the issue involves “the oft-recurring issue of whether the Constitution and federal sentencing… Read more
State v. Quaheem O. Moore, 2021AP938-CR, petition for review of an unpublished court of appeals decision granted 12/21/22; reversed 2023 WI 50; case activity (including PFR, Response, and briefs) Issues presented (from State’s PFR): 1. Did the court of appeals correctly read State v. Secrist, 224 Wis. 2d 201, 589 N.W.2d 387 (1999), to establish… Read more
State v. Damon D. Taylor, 2021AP272-CR, District 4, 12/30/22 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Taylor moved to withdraw his Alford pleas to three crimes. The court of appeals agrees his plea to one of the three crimes was not knowing and intelligent because the circuit court failed to ascertain that he understood the… Read more
There’s an interesting petition for writ of certiorari on this issue pending in SCOTUS. As this post from the Confrontation Blog explains: “The question is whether, or in what circumstances, the testimony of a prosecution witness at a preliminary hearing may be used at trial if the witness is then unavailable. This is an issue… Read more
Marathon County v. L.A.R., 2022AP1226-FT, 12/29/22, District 3 (one-judge opinion; ineligible for publication); case activity “Laura” has suffered from bipolar disorder for over 30 years. At her initial commitment hearing, one examiner testified that she met the 2nd standard of dangerousness. Another testified that she also met the 4th standard. The circuit court held that… Read more
