State v. Marie A. Ezell, 2014 WI App 101; case actvity Prison guards overheard Ezell tell her incarcerated boyfriend that she would smuggle in drugs for him on her next visit. When she tried to follow through, the guards detained her in a conference room, questioned her, and obtained damning evidence. Due to the lack… Read more
A. In-Custody, 5th Amendment
State v. Carlos Cummings and State v. Adrean L. Smith, 2014 WI 88, 7/24/14, affirming per curiam court of appeals decisions in 2011AP1653-CR & 2012AP520-CR, majority opinion by Justice Ziegler; concurrence/dissent by Justice Prosser (joined by Justice Bradley); dissent by Chief Justice Abrahamson; case activity for Cummings and Smith These cases address whether two Mirandized suspects… Read more
State v. Russell S. Krancki, 2014 WI App 80; case activity In the first Wisconsin case to address how Salinas v. Texas, 570 U.S. ___, 133 S. Ct. 2174 (2013), affects the admission of evidence of a defendant’s silence, the court of appeals reads Salinas to apply to a narrow factual scenario not present in this case. The court goes on to assume that trial counsel should… Read more
State v. Thaddeus M. Lietz, 2013AP1283-CR, District 3, 5/20/14 (1-judge; ineligible for publication); case activity Leitz’s statements to police were not obtained in violation of either the Fifth or Sixth Amendment, so the circuit court properly denied his suppression motion. Lietz had been issued a forfeiture citation for trespass in Waukesha county when Appleton Police… Read more
State v. Brandon D Andre Burnside, 2013AP1293-CR, District 1, 4/29/14 (not recommended for publication); case activity Under the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable person in Burnside’s position would not have believed that he could stop police questioning and leave. Therefore, the statements he made to the police before they administered Miranda warnings must be suppressed… Read more
Randy White v. Robert Keith Woodall, USSC No. 12-794, 4/23/14, reversing and remanding Woodall v. Simpson, 685 F.3d 574 (6th Cir. 2012); case activity It’s getting harder and harder to win a habeas case. Woodall requested an instruction forbidding jurors from drawing adverse inferences from his decision to not testify during the penalty phase of… Read more
Review of 2 unpublished per curiam court of appeals decisions in 2 unrelated cases now joined for purposes of oral argument. State v. Carlos A. Cummings, District 4 court of appeals decision, case activity State v. Adrean L. Smith, District 1 court of appeals decision, case activity Cummings and Smith both present the question of whether defendants… Read more
State v. Deandre J. Bernard, 2012AP750-CR, District 4, 10/17/13; court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity Trial counsel’s failure to impeach witness with mental health condition was not prejudicial Trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to impeach the credibility of a witness who testified that Bernard told her “I think I… Read more
