State v. Jobert L. Molde, 2021AP1346-CR, petition for review of an unpublished court of appeals decision, granted 11/12/24; case activity In a case that we correctly identified as SCOW bait, SCOW accepts review of the State’s petition for review asking to modify the substantive law on vouching as applied by COA. The case is also… Read more
D. Ineffective Assistance
State v. Percy Antione Robinson, 2020AP1728-CR, 8/6/24, District I (recommended for publication); case activity In a published decision that criminal practitioners have been waiting on for years, COA holds that a CR-215 probable cause procedure used to satisfy the requirements of Riverside triggers the attachment of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. The facts in this… Read more
Rodney Lass v. Jason Wells, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 23-2880, 6/26/24 Lass was charged with multiple felony counts after his first trial on misdemeanor domestic abuse charges ended in a mistrial. During state postconviction and appeal proceedings, he raised claims of vindictive prosecution, ineffective assistance, and violation of his 6th amendment rights. The… Read more
State v. Reynaldo Rosalez, 2022AP1929-CR, 6/11/24, District I (not recommended for publication); case activity In a case illustrating the stringent standard of review used to assess findings of fact, COA dispatches with Rosalez’s claim that his lawyer failed to discuss a defense related to his alleged medication-induced amnesia. Rosalez pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting… Read more
State v. Jobert L. Molde, 2021AP1346-CR, 5/21/24, District III (not recommended for publication);petition for review granted case activity Although this defense win is unpublished and therefore nonprecedential, COA’s analysis and synthesis of the law regarding this commonly litigated issue is an important read for litigators considering such claims. Molde was prosecuted for first-degree sexual assault of… Read more
Kenosha County DC&FS v. A.G.O., 2023AP1305, 1307 & 1308, 5/8/24, District II (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity In yet another TPR case involving allegations of ineffective assistance, COA affirms based on hard-to-overcome legal standards. “Adam” appeals TPR judgments involving three of his children. (¶1). He raises two issues: Summary Judgment In the run-up… Read more
Kenosha County DC&FS v. M.A.M., 2023AP1643-45, 4/24/24, District II (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity In a case demonstrating the difficult hurdles litigants must clear in order to prove deficient performance, COA affirms an underlying order terminating “Mary’s” parental rights. In this TPR action involving multiple children, the County alleged only one ground–continuing CHIPS… Read more
State v. Matthew Robert Mayotte, 2022AP1695, 1/23/24, District 3 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Given the state of the postconviction record and COA’s narrow reading of precedent, Mayotte fails to establish he is entitled to plea withdrawal given his misunderstanding of the consequences of his Alford plea. This is probably one of the… Read more
