State v. Dustin J. VanderGalien, 2023AP890-CR, 12/29/23, District 4 (recommended for publication); case activity VanderGalien pled no contest to three counts stemming from a fatal motor vehicle crash after a non-impairing cocaine metabolite (benzoylecgonine or “BE”) was detected in his blood hours after the incident. The court of appeals rejects his facial challenge to the… Read more
12. Double Jeopardy, 5th Am.
State v. James P. Killian, 2023 WI 52, 06/21/23, reversing a published court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs) The state’s threat to add new charges against Killian during a trial that ended in a mistrial didn’t expand the scope of the protection against double jeopardy to those new charges. The facts and procedural… Read more
State v. Mitchell D. Green, 2023 WI 57, 6/29/23, review of an unpublished court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs) In yet another reversal of a defense win, a divided Court upholds the circuit court’s exercise of discretion, despite serious criticisms of the circuit court’s reasoning made by the dissenters. (See our previous posts… Read more
Smith v. United States, USSC No. 21-1576, 2023 WL 4002949 (June 15, 2023), affirming United States v. Smith, 22 F. 4th 1236 (11th Cir. 2022); Scotusblog page (including links to briefs and commentary). A unanimous Supreme Court holds that the Constitution does not bar retrial of a defendant whose conviction is reversed because the prosecution… Read more
State v. Tomas Jaymitchell Hoyle, 2023 WI 24, 3/31/22, reversing an unpublished court of appeals opinion; case activity (including briefs) This split decision is important for two reasons. First, it authorizes the State to penalize the defendant for exercising his 5th Amendment right to remain silent at trial. Second, it foreshadows how Justice Hagedorn will… Read more
State v. Lynne M. Shirikian, 2023 WI App 13; case activity (including briefs) Shirikian pleaded to OWI as a fifth offense. Back in 2019, the legislature amended the statutes to create a both a presumptive and a mandatory minimum sentence for OWI 5th and OWI 6th. See 2019 Wis. Act 106; Wis. Stat. § 346.65(2)(am)5… Read more
State v. James P. Killian, 2020AP2012, review of a published court of appeals decision granted 1/20/23; case activity Issues presented (from state’s PFR): Has the State exposed Killian to multiple prosecutions for the same offense in violation of double-jeopardy principles? The facts here are complex, and summarized in our post on the court of appeals decision… Read more
State v. Etter L. Hughes, 2021AP1834-CR, District 1, 11/1/22 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) The court of appeals rejects Hughes’s claim that she should be allowed to withdraw her pleas to four counts of child abuse on the grounds that the state improperly amended the information to add more charges against her… Read more
