County of Milwaukee v. Roosevelt Cooper, Jr., 2021AP1224, 5/17/21, District 1 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Cooper wins a new trial because the trial court improperly amended the charge against him and denied him an opportunity to present evidence regarding the amended charge. Cooper was also denied the opportunity to cross-examine… Read more
11. Defense Wins
State v. Tomas Jaymitchell Hoyle, 2020AP1876-CR, 4/26/22, District 3 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Hoyle chose to remain silent at his trial for child sexual assault. During closing arguments, the prosecutor repeatedly argued that the testimony from “Hannah” (the complaining witness) was “uncontroverted” and told the jury it had “heard no evidence”… Read more
State v. A.P., 2022AP95-97, 4/26/22, District 1 (1-judge opinion, ineligble for publication); case activity Seems like we went years without a defense win in a TPR appeal. Then–just like that–we get 4 citable defense wins in 9 months. See also this win, this win, and this win! At the disposition stage in A.P.’s case, the… Read more
State v. Rodney J. Ofte, 2021AP1302-CR, 4/21/22, District 4 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) After the State charged Ofte with OWI 2nd, he moved for suppression because Deputy Paulson had interrogated him in the back of a locked squad car without a Miranda warning. The circuit court suppressed all evidence from… Read more
State v. Eric D. Bourgeois, 2022 WI App 18; case activity (including briefs) Police went looking for Bourgeois at a hotel because he might have been in possession of stolen handgun, he had PTSD, and he had a drug problem. At 2:00 a.m., despite a “do not disturb” sign, 3 officers tried to enter his… Read more
Victor Ortiz, Jr. v. Kevin A. Carr, 2022 WI App 16; case activity (including briefs) Attorneys Jason Luczak and Jorge Fragoso of Gimbel, Reilly, Geurin & Brown generously took this case pro bono. And now Jorge offers this guest post on their defense win: Prison inmate (and hero to institutionalized persons) Victor Ortiz filed a… Read more
State v. Shane Allan Stroik, 2022 WI App 11; case activity (including briefs) A jury convicted Stroik of the sexual assault of a then-five-year old girl, “Amy,” the daughter of his girlfriend. Postconviction, Stroik brought a slew of claims for a new trial; the circuit court rejected them all. The court of appeals now holds… Read more
State v. Jere J. Meddaugh, 2022 WI App 12; case activity (including briefs) Wearing black clothing and riding a bicycle across publicly accessible school grounds in the middle of the night while a Safer at Home order is in effect does not constitute reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed. So says the court… Read more
