State v. Kevin J. McDowell, 2022AP164-CR, District 4, 9/22/22 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) The decision in this interlocutory appeal addresses the procedure for assessing whether out-of-court statements the state proposes to admit at a criminal trial are “testimonial” and therefore inadmissible under the Confrontation Clause. It also rejects the state’s claim… Read more
11. Defense Wins
State v. Caroline J. Arndt, 2022AP450-CR, District 2, 10/12/22 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Arndt pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct, but the circuit court’s plea colloquy was defective in two crucial ways, so on the merits—and because the state declined to file a brief in the court of appeals—she’s entitled… Read more
State v. Annika S. Christensen, 2022AP500, 9/9/22, District 4 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Christensen was one of two occupants of a parked car after dark. A police truck approached, parked close behind her, and shined its takedown light into the car. At least one officer got out of the car… Read more
State v. James P. Killian, 2022 WI App 43; review granted 1/20/23; reversed, 2023 WI 52; case activity (including briefs) The state provoked a mistrial in a case charging Killian with child sexual assault offenses against two complainants. The circuit court later dismissed the case due to the prosecutor’s misconduct. When the state recharged Killian… Read more
State v. Jamie Lee Weigel, 2022 WI App 48; case activity (including briefs) In Wisconsin criminal law, the word “sentence” is sometimes used generically to include probation; other times it’s used in a technical sense to refer only to imprisonment, and thus excludes probation. See, e.g., State v. Fearing, 2000 WI App 229, ¶6, 239… Read more
State v. Eric J. Debrow, 2021AP1732, 7/21/22, District 4 (not recommended for publication); petition for review granted, 12/15/22, reversed, 2023 WI 54; case activity (including briefs) The court of appeals holds Debrow is entitled to a new trial because of the unfair prejudice caused by one witness’s testimony that would have led the jury to… Read more
State ex rel. DeLorean Bryson v. Kevin Carr, 2022 WI App 34; case activity (including briefs) A few months ago the court of appeals decided Ortiz v. Carr, holding (with a number of important caveats) that DOC may not take a greater percentage of an inmate’s wages for restitution than the circuit court has ordered–if… Read more
State v. M.S.H., 2022AP369, 6/1/2022, District 1 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity The circuit court found M.S.H. to be an unfit parent on summary judgment. Turning to the dispositional phase, the court granted the state’s request to conceal from M.S.H. the identity of the person who the state considered likely to adopt her… Read more
