Question presented: Whether the Florida scheme for identifying mentally retarded defendants in capital cases violates Atkins v. Virginia. Lower court opinion: Hall v. State, 109 So.3d 704 (Fla. 2012) Docket Scotusblog page Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), held that it is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment to execute a person who is found… Read more
H. Modification/Review
State v. David J. Lawrence, 2013AP796, District 4, 10/10/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity The circuit court knew of Lawrence’s mental health diagnoses at sentencing, but after sentencing Lawrence was hospitalized after a psychological breakdown. (¶¶3-4). He requested sentence modification, arguing the court was not aware of all his diagnoses… Read more
State v. Ali Mursal, 2013 WI App 125; case activity Before accepting a defendant’s guilty or no contest plea the court is required to advise the defendant there may be immigration consequences. Wis. Stat. § 971.08(1)(c). While that statute prescribes a text for the required warning—complete with quotation marks—the court of appeals holds in this… Read more
State v. Jerry Lee Carson, 2012AP2616-CR, District 1, 9/17/13; court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity Ineffective assistance of trial counsel Carson, convicted of second degree recklessly endangering safety, claimed his trial lawyer was ineffective on various grounds. The court of appeals holds counsel was not ineffective for failing to: Demand a… Read more
State v. Brandon M. Pokey, 2012AP2412-CR, District 2, 8/14/13; court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity The sentencing court did not erroneously exercise its discretion when it made Pokey, who was convicted of armed robbery of a bank, ineligible for the Earned Release Program. At sentencing the court based its decision on… Read more
State v. Robert J. Betters, 2013 WI App 85; case activity When sentencing of Betters for child sexual assault, the judge stated that “every child is a gift from God,” and indicated Betters’s conduct toward the victims was “an abomination in the sight of God and in the sight of man, and … totally unacceptable.”… Read more
State v. Lamont L. Travis, 2013 WI 38, affirming published court of appeals decision, 2012 WI App 46, 340 Wis. 2d 639, 813 N.W.2d 702; case activity ¶9 The question of law presented to this court is whether a circuit court’s imposition of a sentence using inaccurate information that the defendant was subject to a mandatory minimum five-year period… Read more
In the Matter of State v. Michael Buchanan: State ex rel. Office of State Public Defender v. Wis. Court of Appeals, District IV, 2013 WI 31, on review of petition for supervisory writ; case activity In an important decision for all lawyers who handle criminal cases in the state appellate courts, the supreme court affirms… Read more
