On Point

State v. N.M.A.-S., 2018AP2308-09, 12/17/19, District 1 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity

This TPR case involves a mom with a substance abuse problem and her daughter  who had ingested morphine.  At the trial on grounds, defense counsel asked the jury pool: “Is there anyone that believes that someone who is struggling with an addiction currently is not fit to parent their children?” [continue reading…]

On December 18, 2019, the court of appeals ordered publication of the following criminal law related cases:

State v. Brian L. Halverson, 2019 WI App 66 (incarceration is no longer custody per se under Miranda)

State v. Jeffrey L. Ionescu, 2019 WI App 68 (“warm” pursuit is as good as “hot” pursuit, at least in this case)

State v. Robert James Pope, Jr., 2019 WI 106, affirming an unpublished court of appeals opinion; case activity (including briefs)

In the most absurd decision this term (still time for worse), SCOW has denied a defendant sentenced to life without parole both a direct appeal and a new trial because the court system destroyed all of his trial transcripts. The defendant “sat on his rights,” said the majority opinion, written by Justice Ziegler. When his lawyer failed to file a timely notice of intent to pursue postconviction relief, he should have immediately, without counsel, figured out how to defend his appeal rights and effectively defended them. He didn’t. No relief. [continue reading…]

Wood County v. Trevor J. Krizan, 2019AP350, 12/12/19, District 4 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)

A sheriff’s deputy on patrol at 2:00 a.m. happened by a parking lot for a boat landing. The lot was open to the public 24 hours a day, and he saw a vehicle parked, not running, with its lights off. The officer pulled behind it and shined his spotlight and “takedown lights” (these are apparently very bright lights that may temporarily blind occupants of a vehicle on which they are shined) at the car. He saw two occupants and no signs of distress, but he approached the vehicle, spoke to the occupants, and took their identification. Eventually he noted signs of intoxication that led to Krizan’s arrest for first-offense OWI. But Krizan challenged the stop and won in the trial court, and the county appealed. [continue reading…]

Normally we report on that cert petitions that SCOTUS grants, not the ones that it denies. But this is an interesting case. The City of Boise Idaho tried to regulate camping and sleeping in public places. The 9th Circuit held that the enforcement of such laws constitute cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the 8th Amendment when there is  greater number of homeless individuals in the jurisdiction than the number of beds available in shelters.  SCOTUS just denied Boise’s cert petition. Read SCOTUSblog’s post here. Anyone know the ratio of homeless people to shelter beds in say . . . Milwaukee?

You know the grim statistics. an estimated 65% of people in U.S. prisons and jails have a diagnosable substance use disorder and about 15% of men and 30% of women have mental health disorders. According to this new paper by Leo Beletsky at Northeastern University School of Law, correctional facilities’ efforts to address these conditions fall below medically-accepted standards of care. Sound like a substantive due process problem?

So argues Premal Dharia in this new article on Salon.com.  Yay for ending cash bail, increasing diversion programs, and dropping prosecution of minor cases. But these changes won’t have nearly as much impact on the nation’s indigent defense crisis as simply adequately funding public defenders.