B. Opinions

State v. Lamont Donnell Sholar, 2018 WI 53, 5/18/18, affirming an unpublished court of appeals opinion, 2016AP897-CR, case activity Appellate lawyers will want to pay attention to this decision because it clarifies the law and procedure governing claims for ineffective assistance of trial counsel. In particular, resolving an issue of first impression, it holds that… Read more

State v. DeAnthony K. Muldrow, 2018 WI 52, 5/18/18, affirming a published court of appeals decision, 2017 WI App 47; case activity (including briefs) A unanimous supreme court holds that lifetime GPS monitoring is not punishment, so a judge doesn’t have to advise a defendant that he or she is pleading to a crime that will… Read more

State v. Anthony Jones, 2018 WI 44, 5/4/2018, affirming an unpublished summary order, 2015AP2665, case activity We noted in our post on the grant of Jones’s PFR that at the time there were “exactly zero Wisconsin appellate cases holding expert testimony inadmissible under Daubert.” That’s still true. Jones sought to exclude from his ch. 980 commitment trial… Read more

State v. David McAlister, Sr., 2018 WI 34, 4/17/18, affirming an unpublished court of appeals order, 2014AP2561; case activity A jury convicted McAlister in 2007 of three counts having to do with an attempted and a completed armed robbery. The state’s case was founded on the testimony of two men (Jefferson and Waters) who had… Read more

State v. David Hager, Jr. and State v. Howard Carter, 2018 WI 40, 4/19/18, reversing (Hager) and affirming (Carter) published court of appeals decisions, 2015AP330 & 2015AP1311, case activity (Hager) (Carter) With these consolidated cases our supreme court maintains its perfect record for the term: it has decided every single criminal/commitment case as the state has requested… Read more

Winnebago County v. J.M., 4/18/18, 2018 WI 37, affirming an unpublished court of appeals opinion, 2016AP619, case activity. This opinion will interest lawyers who handle Chapter 51 cases and appellate lawyers of all stripes. It establishes that persons undergoing Chapter 51 mental commitments are entitled  to the effective assistance of counsel and formally adopts the… Read more

State v. Brian Grandberry, 2018 WI 29, affirming an unpublished court of appeals decision, 2016AP173; case activity (including briefs) Here’s the upshot: the majority opinion here means that, if you don’t have a concealed carry permit, you can’t have a handgun “concealed” in your car, unless it’s out of your reach. How will you know… Read more