15. Evidence

State v. Oscar C. Thomas, 2020AP32, petition for review of a published decision granted 1/11/2022; affirmed 2/21/23; case activity (including briefs) Issues presented (from the petition): Whether the Court of Appeals applied the wrong standard in determining that admission of DNA evidence in violation of [Thomas’s] right of Confrontation was harmless? Whether the Court of… Read more

Rock County v. H.V., 2021AP1760-FT, 1/13/22, District 4 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity This appeal concerns a recurring problem in Chapter 51 cases: the lack of objection to damaging hearsay at the final hearing. If the appellate lawyer raises ineffective assistance of counsel in the circuit court, the case will become moot before… Read more

State v. Michael T. Paczkowski, 2021AP340, 9/29/21, District 2 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Paczkowski crashed his motorcycle, and responding deputies requested that he take a preliminary breath test. He agreed and blew a .149. The circuit court held that he deputies lacked the requisite probable cause to ask for the… Read more

Marquette County v. T.W., 2020AP1908, 9/16/21, District 4 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity T.W. was living in a group home in 2019 when, per testimony at his commitment trial, he punched, choked and threatened various people while refusing to take his medications. He was committed. On appeal he challenges the circuit court’s admission… Read more

State v. Oscar C. Thomas, 2021 WI App 55; Review granted 1/11/22; affirmed 2/21/23; case activity (including briefs) This is the appeal from Thomas’s second conviction at trial for the false imprisonment, sexual assault and murder of his wife. (The first conviction was ultimately undone by the Seventh Circuit, which held that his counsel had… Read more

State v. M.T.W., 2021AP420-FT, District 2, 8/11/21 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity Information that goes to a witness’s character for truthfulness doesn’t meet the standard under § 48.46(1) for newly discovered evidence that warrants a new trial. At the trial in a CHIPS proceeding relating to M.T.W.’s child, a witness named Polewczynski testified… Read more

St. Croix County v. Kelly M. Lagerstrom, 2019AP928, District 3, 8/10/21 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) As in State v. Giese, 2014 WI App 92, 356 Wis. 2d 796, 854 N.W.2d 687, retrograde extrapolation testimony from a toxicologist was admissible as evidence of Lagerstrom’s possible blood alcohol content around the time the state… Read more