State v. Damion L. Brown, 2015AP2029-CR, 1/4/2017, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs)
Damion Brown’s roommate consented to a search of their apartment after being arrested on suspicion of dealing heroin. Brown raises three challenges to the voluntariness and validity of that consent. [continue reading…]
There is new research to support a racial bias challenge to COMPAS. You may recall that last spring Pro Publica studied COMPAS scores for some 10,000 people arrested for crimes in Broward County, Florida and published its results. It found that black defendants were twice as likely to be incorrectly labeled as higher risk to reoffend than white defendants. And white defendants labeled low risk were far more likely to end up being charged with new offenses than blacks with comparably low COMPAS risk scores. [continue reading…]
Democratic Party of Wisconsin v. Wisconsin Department of Justice, 2016 WI 100, 12/28/16, reversing a summary disposition of the court of appeals; case activity (including briefs)
Before the November 2014 election, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed an open records request for videos of two training presentations made by Brad Schimel, the DA running for Attorney General. The Department of Justice denied the request, but a circuit judge ordered the videos to be released, and the court of appeals affirmed that order. In an opinion that will arguably enhance the ability of prosecutors to deny release of their records—or, as the dissent aptly describes it, will dim or even shut out some of the light meant to be shed by Wisconsin’s “Sunshine Law”—a majority of the supreme court holds the videos don’t have to be released. [continue reading…]
State v. Brittanie Jo Palaia, 2016AP467-CR, 12/30/17, District 3 (1-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case history (including briefs)
Here we have the latest twist on State v. Newer, 2007 WI App 236, 306 Wis. 2d 193, 742 N.W.2d 923, which held that an officer who knows only that a moving vehicle is registered to a person with a revoked license has reasonable suspicion for a stop. [continue reading…]
On December 22, 2016, SCOW issued Regency West Apartments LLC v. City of Racine, 2016 WI 99 concerning a tax appeal. Justice Abrahamson filed a dissent which, among other things, sought to inform litigants and lawyers about a procedure the justices us when deciding petitions for review by email. This is what she wrote: [continue reading…]
State v. J.F.K., 2016AP941, District 3, 12/28/16 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity
Fifteen-year-old J.F.K. confessed to having sex twice with his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend. At the delinquency hearing, the State (1) played his video confession, (2) offered the testimony of a detective who said that police had referred the girlfriend to be charged for having sex with J.F.K., and (3) a JOC showing that the ex-girlfriend had pled guilty to 4th degree sexual assault but, of course, did not name the victim. [continue reading…]
State v. B.H., 2016AP892-893, District 1, 12/28/16 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication)
B.H.’s twins were taken from her due to a report of violence between her and their father. The trial court found that she had failed to meet the conditions for their return and to assume parental responsibility. B.H. argues that those findings rest upon inadmissible hearsay in the form of testimony from the foster mother and from a social worker and in the form of a letter from the Bureau. B.H. asserts that trial counsel’s failure to object to this evidence amount to ineffective assistance of counsel. [continue reading…]
City of Eau Claire v. David Eugene Phelps, 2016AP248, District 3, 12/28/16 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)
Contrary to the circuit court’s conclusion, a police officer’s observations about Phelps’s driving provided more than a “hunch” and justified the stop of his car. [continue reading…]
