State v. Alice M. Fischer, 2018AP422-CR, 9/18/18, District 1 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity This case may sound vaguely familiar. Trial counsel failed to investigate and make use of a claim against a sheriff’s sergeant, Matthew Paradise, the defendant in a civil rights action alleging that he and others conspired to create inaccurate… Read more
4. Litigating IAC
State v. Marcia Render, 2017AP1779-CR, 8/14/18, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Render and her sister got into a brawl, and Render ended up on the floor on top of her sister, holding her head down to subdue her. Unfortunately, she died. At trial, the State’s doctor testified that her death… Read more
State v. Ronald Lee. Gilbert, 2016AP1852-CR, 6/26/18, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Congratulations to Quarles & Brady, which took this appeal pro bono, for scoring a defense win! Gilbert, who was convicted trafficking a child and related crimes, argued that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to (1) challenge… Read more
State v. Anthony R. Pico, 2018 WI 66, 6/15/18, affirming a split, unpublished court of appeals opinion, 2015AP1799-Cr, case activity (including briefs) This split decision clarifies important aspects of ineffective assistance of counsel law, sentencing law, and appellate procedure. In addition, Justice Abrahamson’s dissent includes a word of caution for lawyers representing clients who have… Read more
State v. Anthony Donte Dixon, 2017AP2221-2222-CR, 6/5/18, District 1 (1-judge opinion, eligible for publication); case activity Dixon wasn’t happy with his trial lawyer. They hadn’t communicated before the final pre-trial conference. When they did communicate, Dixon told his lawyer that he wanted him to contact several alibi witnesses and provided their names and numbers. Two… Read more
State v. Lamont Donnell Sholar, 2018 WI 53, 5/18/18, affirming an unpublished court of appeals opinion, 2016AP897-CR, case activity Appellate lawyers will want to pay attention to this decision because it clarifies the law and procedure governing claims for ineffective assistance of trial counsel. In particular, resolving an issue of first impression, it holds that… 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State v. Lee Vang, 2017AP75-77-CR, District 1, 2/20/18,(not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Vang argued that his trial was ineffective in failing to object to (1) a police officer’s hearsay testimony about the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
At least three justices of the Supreme Court of the United states think so. The three (Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Kagan) dissented from the court’s denial of certiorari in Reeves v. Alabama last week. Reeves had challenged his death sentence on the ground that his counsel had been ineffective in investigating and presenting potential mitigation evidence. He… Read more
