State v. Kruckenberg Anderson, 2023AP396-CR, 7/25/24, District IV (recommended for publication); case activity The tragic death of a newborn baby in the bucolic countryside of southwest Wisconsin prompted aggressive interrogation techniques by law enforcement that the Court of Appeals considered coercive in light of the suspect’s age of 16. But the court found that a… Read more
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Dane County v. J.B., 2024AP985, 7/25/24, District IV (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity Because J.B.’s request that COA reweigh the dispositional factors in her favor is precluded by governing case law, COA affirms. There really isn’t much to say about this TPR appeal. J.B. lost custody of her child following allegations of neglect… Read more
In the Wisconsin Lawyer, Retired Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Christopher R. Foley has an insightful piece titled “Left in the Dark: State v. A.G. & Burden of Proof in Involuntary TPR Dispositional Hearings.” The article contains an interesting analysis of the current state of the law, along with some arguments Judge Foley believes have… Read more
Karl W. Nichols v. Lance Wiersma, No. 22-3059, 7/16/24 In a complicated case that contains many harsh lessons about the standards applicable to habeas petitions, the Seventh Circuit affirms an order denying habeas relief as the exculpatory value of unpreserved evidence was not “apparent.” (Note that our prior post about COA’s decision can be found… Read more
In addition to the SCOTUS cases to which we devoted individual posts (Smith v. Arizona, Erlinger v. U.S., U.S. v. Rahimi, Garland v. Cargill), below is a summary of criminal or criminal-adjacent cases decided by SCOTUS in the 2023-24 term that we consider of interest to criminal practice in Wisconsin state courts. City of Grants… Read more
June brought several interesting criminal-law related cases, including two Fourth Amendment challenges involving THC in our changed legal landscape, a discussion of whether a crime forbidding the impersonation of police is unconstitutional, and a challenge to a conviction for lying on firearm purchase paperwork under the Second Amendment. United States of America v. Prentiss Jackson… Read more
State v. R.A.M., 2024 WI 26, 6/25/24, affirming an unpublished court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs) In a 5-2 defense win, SCOW concludes that a statute requiring the circuit court to wait two days before proceeding to disposition after finding a parent in default means what it says. There is no dispute about… Read more
Smith v. Arizona, USSC No. 22-899, 6/21/2024, vacating and remanding Arizona v. Smith, No. 1CA-CR 21-0451 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2022) (unreported); Scotusblog page (with links to briefs and commentary) SCOTUS unanimously holds that expert witness testimony restating an absent lab analyst’s factual assertions to support his or her own opinion is hearsay. However, the Court… Read more