United States v. Dontray A. Smith, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-2982, 7/20/15 Smith’s encounter with two officers on bicycles amounted to a seizure based on the totality of the circumstances surrounding the encounter, and because he was seized without reasonable suspicion, his Fourth Amendment rights were violated. Two Milwaukee police officers on bicycle patrol were investigating… Read more
11. Defense Wins
Village of Thiensville v. Conor B. Fisk, 2015AP576-FT, District 2, 8/26/15 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Sending the opposing party with a copy of a notice of appeal by email attachment satisfied § 800.14(1)‘s requirement that the appellant “giv[e] the municipal judge and other party written notice of appeal within 20 days… Read more
State v. Kim M. Lerdahl, 2014AP2119-CR, District 3, 8/4/15 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) In an interesting decision that sheds some light on how to apply the newly-adopted “reasonable mistake of law” doctrine to traffic stops, State v. Houghton, 2015 WI 79, ___ Wis. 2d ___, ___ N.W.2d ___, the court… Read more
State v. Albert J. Chagnon, 2015 WI App 66; case activity (including briefs) Under § 948.14, no registered sex offender may intentionally “capture a representation” of a minor without consent of the minor’s parent or guardian. The phrase “captures a representation” is defined in § 942.09(1)(a) to mean “takes a photograph, makes a motion picture, videotape, or other… Read more
State v. Kerby G. Denman, 2014AP2133, District 4, 7/9/15 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Denman is entitled to a hearing on his petition for discharge from his ch. 980 commitment because an expert changed her opinion about Denman’s risk to reoffend based on a new risk assessment scale that hadn’t been relied on… Read more
State v. Andrew Obriecht, 2015 WI 66, 7/7/15, reversing a published court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs) When sentence credit is granted after a convicted defendant’s parole is revoked, the additional credit must be applied to the parolee’s reincarceration time, and not—as the Department of Corrections and the court of appeals thought—to any period of parole remaining… Read more
State v. Tommy Lee Branch, 2015 WI App 65; case activity (including briefs) The circuit court had no authority to order cash seized from Branch on his arrest to be used to pay court obligations because there was no basis for concluding the money was not subject to return under § 968.20. As the court of appeals… Read more
DeBartolo v. United States, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-3579, 6/26/15 DeBartolo pleaded guilty to violating 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) by growing more than 100 marijuana plants, “[b]ut unbeknownst to DeBartolo, and also it seems to his lawyer, the prosecutors, and the judge, his conviction of the drug offense made him deportable (‘removable’ is the official term)… Read more
