1. Deficient performance

State v. Julius Lee Sanders, 2014AP2644, 6/6/2017, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Julius Sanders appeals from his judgment of conviction and the denial, without a hearing, of his postconviction motion. His motion claimed that his counsel was ineffective for two reasons–he failed to investigate allegations Sanders made about the alleged… Read more

State v. David Earl Harris, Jr., 2016AP548-CR, 5/31/17, District 1 (unpublished); case activity (including briefs) The state charged Harris with heinous conduct giving rise to false imprisonment, sexual assault, and strangulation charges. At trial, the DA introduced a copy of a TRO that pre-dated the criminal complaint but mirrored the facts that it alleged. Defense… Read more

Former ASPD John Breffeilh just brought a real gem to On Point’s attention. It’s an indexed compilation of hundreds (maybe thousands) of successful ineffective assistance of counsel cases from around the nation. The database runs from 1984 when SCOTUS  decided Strickland through the present. It includes Wisconsin cases and covers everything from criminal cases, to sexual predator cases, to… Read more

State v. Anthony R. Pico, 2015AP1799-CR, 5/10/17, District 2 (not recommended for publication), petition for review granted 10/10/17, affirmed, 2018 WI 66; case activity (including briefs) The circuit court granted Pico a new trial on a charge of first degree child sexual assault after concluding Pico’s trial lawyer was ineffective on various grounds. Over a dissent, the… Read more

State v. Lemberger, 2017 WI 39, April 20, 2017, affirming a one-judge court of appeals decision; 2017AP1452; case activity (including briefs) The supreme court declares Lemberger’s legal claim “unsettled,” and thus holds his trial counsel did not perform deficiently by not raising it. The court’s opinion, however, fails to present the actual substance of the… Read more

State v. D.W., 2016AP1827, 4/11/17, District 1,(1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity The briefs in this TPR case are confidential, so we only know what the court of appeals’ opinion tells us about the case. D.W. apparently alleged ineffective assistance of counsel based upon his trial lawyer’s failure to call witnesses and failure to… Read more

State v. Desmond Anthony Mattis, 2016AP982, 3/28/17, District 3 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including state’s brief) Desmond Mattis raises three issues in this appeal of the circuit court’s denial of his Wis. Stat. § 974.06 motion. The court of appeals rejects them seriatim. Mattis first claims to have newly discovered evidence relating… Read more