State v. Andrae D. Howell, 2007 WI 75, reversing 2006 WI App 182
For Howell: Ellen Henak, SPD, Milwaukee Appellate
Issue/Holding:
¶27 A Bangert Motion. A defendant may invoke Bangert only by alleging that the circuit court failed to fulfill its plea colloquy duties. [16] A Bangert motion warrants an evidentiary hearing if (1) the motion makes “aprima facie showing that [the] plea was accepted without the trial court’s conformance with [Wis. Stat.] § 971.08 or other mandatory procedures,”[17] and if (2) the motion alleges that in fact the defendant did not know or understand the information that should have been provided at the plea colloquy. [18]
¶28 The requirements for a Bangert motion are relatively relaxed because the source of the defendant’s misunderstanding, the plea colloquy defect, should be clear from the transcript of the hearing at which the plea was taken. We require less from the allegations in a Bangert motion because the circuit court bears the responsibility of preventing failures in the plea colloquy. [19]
¶29 If the defendant’s motion meets both prongs of Bangert, the State has the burden to prove at the evidentiary hearing that the plea was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. [20]
