State v. Christopher J. McMahon, 2015AP2632-CR, District 3, 1/18/17 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) McMahon’s trial attorney wasn’t ineffective for failing to shield McMahon and another defense witness from impeachment using a prior conviction. McMahon testified in his own defense at his trial for misdemeanor theft. Before trial, the circuit court… Read more
F. Witnesses, Ch. 906
Counsel not ineffective in handling impeachment of defendant, defense witness with prior convictions
Joseph J. Jordan v. Randall R. Hepp, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-3613, 2016 WL 4119862, 8/3/16 Jordan claims the Wisconsin courts unreasonably applied clearly established federal law when they held that he was not denied the right to represent himself and that his trial lawyer was not ineffective for failing to object to… Read more
OLR v. John Kenyatta Riley, 2016 WI 70, 7/15/16; case activity (including briefs) Leaving us with another splintered decision as the current term comes to its end, a majority of the supreme court votes to publicly reprimand an attorney for “offering” false testimony from his client and then failing to take reasonable measures to correct the testimony. The… Read more
State v. Tony Phillip Rogers, 2015AP921-CR, 4/12/16, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Though the complainant in Rogers’s child sexual assault prosecution made statements to her mother about “hearing voices” and needing mental health assistance, trial counsel was not deficient for failing to move for an in camera review of her… Read more
State v. Esequiel Morales-Pedrosa, 2016 WI App 38; case activity (including briefs) The case law prohibiting vouching by one witness for the credibility of another witness didn’t clearly cover a forensic interviewer’s testimony that 90% of child sexual assault reports are true. Thus, trial counsel wasn’t deficient for failing to object to the testimony. At Morales-Pedrosa’s trial for… Read more
Review of a per curiam court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs) Issue (copied from the State’s petition for review): No witness, expert or otherwise, may give an opinion at a trial that another mentally and physically competent witness is telling the truth. Here, the social worker who interviewed a child regarding her claim… Read more
State v. Rafael D. Honig, 2016 WI App 10; case activity (including briefs) Honig, convicted at trial of two first-degree child sexual assaults, asserts that his trial counsel mishandled three issues bearing on the credibility of his accusers; the court of appeals agrees. Honig was accused of having intercourse and sexual contact with his two granddaughters, aged three… Read more
State v. Larry J. Smith, 2016 WI App 8; case activity Ordinarily, “the third time’s a charm.” But here, with its third decision rejecting a Daubert challenge to expert testimony, the court of appeals triple underscores just how flexible the test really is. The decision also addresses a vouching issue. The State charged Smith with repeated sexual… Read more
