D. Ineffective Assistance

Taylor County DHHS v. S.A.L., 2016AP2369, 6/7/17, District 3 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity S.A.L. appeals the termination of her parental rights to her two children. She alleges ineffective assistance of her trial counsel and that the court failed to properly exercise discretion during the dispositional phase. The court of appeals affirms. The… Read more

State v. Julius Lee Sanders, 2014AP2644, 6/6/2017, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Julius Sanders appeals from his judgment of conviction and the denial, without a hearing, of his postconviction motion.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State v. David Earl Harris, Jr., 2016AP548-CR, 5/31/17, District 1 (unpublished); case activity (including briefs) The state charged Harris with heinous conduct giving rise to false imprisonment, sexual assault, and strangulation charges.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

Winnebago County v. J.M., 2016AP619, 5/15/17, granting a petition for review of  an unpublished court of appeals decision; case activity  Issues: Whether the subject of a §51.20(1)(a) extension of involuntary commitment and medication order has a claim for ineffective assistance of trial counsel where his lawyer fails to object to, prevent the admission of, or request… 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State v. Anthony R. Pico, 2015AP1799-CR, 5/10/17, District 2 (not recommended for publication), petition for review granted 10/10/17, affirmed, 2018 WI 66; case activity (including briefs) The circuit court granted Pico a new trial on a charge of first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State v. George D. Taylor, 2015AP1325-CR, 4/27/17, District 1/4 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Taylor raises a host of challenges to his felony murder conviction. The court of appeals rejects all of them except one: an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, which the court orders must be assessed at a Machner hearing. Taylor… Read more