On Point blog, page 4 of 17
Statements driver made before arrest admissible; so was retrograde extrapolation testimony
State v. Christopher J. Durski, 2018AP1750-CR, District 2, 8/21/19 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)
Durski was arrested at a motel, where he had decamped after a family dispute. In investigating the family dispute police learned Durski drank alcohol before leaving for the motel, so they tracked him down. Durski wasn’t in custody during the officers’ initial questioning of him at the motel, so his statements were admissible despite the lack of Miranda warnings. So was the state’s retrograde extrapolation evidence.
COA: driver ordered out of car and interrogated wasn’t in Miranda custody
State v. Traci Busha, 2018AP1863, 8/20/19, District 3 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)
Ms. Busha’s car was stuck in a ditch on the outskirts of Superior. A responding police officer found her alone in the passenger seat. She had been drinking but said she hadn’t been driving; her boyfriend “Scott” had been. For various reasons the officer didn’t buy her story. After about 15 minutes, while a tow truck was en route, the officer told her to get out of the car and stand by his vehicle. At this point, he told her he didn’t believe her account and said it was time to tell the truth. She admitted to driving.
SCOW muddles confrontation, hearsay analysis; addresses Miranda at John Doe proceeding
State v. Peter J. Hanson, 2019 WI 63, 6/5/19, affirming an unpublished decision of the court of appeals; case activity (including briefs)
Hanson was called to testify at a John Doe proceeding looking into an unsolved homicide. He was eventually charged with the crime, and at his trial the jury heard a portion of Hanson’s John Doe testimony. The supreme court held the admission of this evidence didn’t violate Hanson’s right to confrontation. The court also holds that Hanson’s John Doe testimony was admissible despite the lack of Miranda warnings because that warning isn’t required at a John Doe proceeding.
Defendant’s challenges to use of incriminating statements rejected
State v. Ulanda M. Green, 2018AP1350-CR, District 1, 5/29/19 (not recommended for publication), petition for review granted, 9/3/19; case activity (including briefs)
Green sought to suppress incriminating statements she made to police both before and after being given the Miranda warnings. The court of appeals holds that the pre-Miranda statement Green made was not the product of interrogation, so it’s admissible. As for the statements she made after the warnings, the court rejects her argument that she invoked her right to remain silent and so interrogation should have ceased.
Polite questioning about drinking and evening plans don’t amount to custody or require Miranda warning
Marquette County v. Christopher Patrick Bray, 2018AP665, 2/28/19, District 4 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs).
Bray was convicted of OWI. He argued that the circuit court should have suppressed statements he made to a sergeant during a traffic stop because he wasn’t Mirandized. The court of appeals held that Bray wasn’t in custody so no Miranda warning was necessary.
Police questioning of defendant while chained to a hospital bed was not an “interrogation”
State v. William Lester Jackson, 2018AP896-CR, District 1, 1/23/19, (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs)
Jackson accidentally shot himself with a firearm that a friend left in his car and then drove himself to a hospital. A detective chained him to his bed because he needed to talk to Jackson but he also had to help with chaos in the ER due to other shootings that night. Two detective later questioned Jackson without Miranda warnings, and he admitted to being a felon in possession.
SCOW to address admissibility of deceased’s hearsay statements, whether Miranda warnings are required at John Doe hearings
State v. Peter J. Hanson, 2016AP2058-CR, petition for review of per curiam opinion granted 1/15/19; case activity (including briefs)
Issues (from the petition for review):
Whether the admission of hearsay statements of a defendant’s deceased wife inculpating him in murder violates his right to confrontation?
Whether trial counsel is ineffective in failing to move to suppress inculpatory statements that the defendant made at a John Doe hearing where he was in custody and not properly Mirandized?
Another garage hot pursuit case
State v. Jonalle L. Ferraro, 2018AP498, 11/8/18, District 4 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity
As in Palmersheim just last week, here we have another successor to Weber from the 2016 term – an officer follows a driver (or recent driver) into his or her garage to arrest.
Non-custodial interrogation became custodial, so Miranda warnings were required
State v. Brian D. Frazier, 2017AP1249-CR, District 4, 8/2/18 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs)
Frazier agreed to drive himself to the police station to answer some questions and was assured when the questioning began that he was not under arrest and did not have to answer questions. But the initial non-custodial encounter was transformed into custody for purposes of Miranda by the officer’s subsequent words and actions, triggering the need for the Miranda warning. The officer never read Frazier the warning, so the confession he gave must be suppressed.
SCOTUS denied Brendan Dassey’s cert. petition
On Point is sorry to report that on Monday SCOTUS denied Brendan Dassey’s petition for writ of certiorari. Click here. This means that the 7th Circuit’s decision en banc stands and Dassey remains in custody. Dassey’s cert petition and the many amicus briefs supporting it make great arguments. With different facts, they might prevail. So take full advantage of the effort.