State v. Darrell K. Smith, 2021AP72-CR, 9/20/22, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) A jury convicted Smith of 2nd degree sexual assault of A.B. He argued that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object when (1) statements from a non-testifying sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) were admitted in violation… Read more
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M.K.S. v. R.J.F., 2021AP1839, 8/16/22, District 1 (no recommended for publication); case activity Here is a result we don’t often see: a successful ineffective assistance of counsel claim in a TPR case. A jury found grounds to terminate “Richard’s” parental rights. Allegedly, he had failed to assume parental responsibility for his daughter, “Morgan.” On appeal… Read more
SCOWstats just reviewed 70 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions over the past 2 years to determine which court of appeals judge was reversed most often and least often. And the winners are . . . SCOW reversed Judges Dugan, Donald and Kessler (and District 1 in general) most often. It reversed Judge Davis least often… Read more
July 17, 1962, witnessed an event that changed the course of Wisconsin history. That day, Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson signed the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s Roll of Attorneys. At age 28, she could finally fulfill her childhood dream of practicing law. She ultimately became Wisconsin’s first woman justice and first woman chief justice. When she retired from… Read more
Today’s post by SCOWstats.com looks at the length of decisions, the number of dissents and concurrences, the number of days between argument and decision, and the frequency of fractured decisions for SCOW’s 2021-2022 term… Read more
SCOWstats just published its first post in a multi-part series reviewing SCOW’s 2021-2022 term. The burst of June and July opinions confirmed a trend that emerged in May. This term, SCOW released an unprecedented number of 4-3 decisions with Hagedorn casting the decisive vote in 86% of them. And in 50% of those, he swung… Read more
State v. A.T., 2022AP544, 6/28/22, District 1, (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity Guys, if you have unprotected sex, call or text your partner after. And “Wisconsin law does not require courts to consider race or culture when determining whether to terminate parental rights.” Opinion, ¶29. Those are the two main takeaways from this… Read more
State v. Donald P. Coughlin, 2019AP1876-CR, 2022 WI 43, reversing an unpublished court of appeals opinion; case activity (including briefs) How should an appellate court measure the sufficiency of the evidence to support a jury verdict where the instructions and the special verdict define the crime differently? In a 5-1 opinion, the majority held, based… Read more
