Winnebago County v. J.M., 4/18/18, 2018 WI 37, affirming an unpublished court of appeals opinion, 2016AP619, case activity. This opinion will interest lawyers who handle Chapter 51 cases and appellate lawyers of all stripes. It establishes that persons undergoing Chapter 51 mental commitments are entitled to the effective assistance of counsel and formally adopts the… Read more
13. Due Process
State v. Gerrod R. Bell, 2018 WI 28, 4/10/18, affirming an unpublished court of appeals opinion, 2015AP2667-2668-CR; case activity (including links) A defendant is presumed innocent until the State proves him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s what the Constitution says. Yet, in this child sexual assault case, the State cleverly told jurors that they… Read more
State v. Timothy P. Gregory, 2016AP1265-CR, District 2, 3/14/18 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) In this lengthy decision, the court of appeals rejects multiple challenges Gregory makes to his convictions for child sexual assault that occurred in 1997. Because of the number of issues and their fact-intensive nature, this post will simply list the… Read more
State v. C.L.K., 2017AP1414, petition for review of an unpublished court of appeals opinion granted 3/14/18; case activity Issues: 1. Where, during the grounds phase of a TPR trial, the circuit court errs by directing a verdict in favor of the State without giving the respondent an opportunity to present evidence, has the court committed… Read more
State v. Michael L. Washington, 2018 WI 3, 1/9/18, affirming a published court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs) The supreme court determines that, despite the absence of any colloquy, a defendant who was not present for his trial waived his statutory right to be there. As we noted in our prior post on… Read more
State v. Gary Lee Wayerski, 2015AP1083-CR, District 3, 10/31/17 (not recommended for publication), petition for review granted 3/13/18, and modified, and afford as modified, 2019 WI 11; case activity (including briefs) Rejecting Wayerski’s argument to the contrary, the court of appeals holds that a police officer alleged to have sexually assaulted two teenage boys could… Read more
McCoy v. Louisiana, USSC No. 16-8255, cert granted 9/28/17 Question presented: Is it unconstitutional for defense counsel to concede an accused’s guilt over the accused’s express objection? Decision below: State v. McCoy, 218 So.3d 535 (La. 2016) USSC Docket Scotusblog page (including links to cert petition and responses; briefs; and commentary) You’d think the answer… Read more
Some states say “no.” The Marshall Project just ran this article on the practice. For the Connecticut case mentioned in the article, click here… Read more
