On Point: B. Published opinions

State v. Gerald P. Mitchell, 2022 WI App 31; case activity (including briefs)

Mitchell v. Wisconsin, 139 S.Ct. 2525 (2019), held that when police have probable cause to believe a driver has committed a drunk driving offense and the driver is unconscious or stupefied to a point that requires hospitalization and precludes a breath test, police will be justified in getting a blood test without a warrant under the exigent circumstances exception unless the driver can show that; (1) his or her blood wouldn’t have been drawn if police weren’t seeking blood alcohol information; and (2) police didn’t reasonably conclude they had no time to seek a warrant given their other pressing needs or duties. See also State v. Richards, 2020 WI App 48, 393 Wis. 2d 772, 948 N.W.2d 359. Applying that test to Mitchell himself on remand, the court of appeals holds Mitchell hasn’t made the first showing and therefore the warrantless blood draw of him was reasonable.

State C. Catti J. Meisenhelder, 2022 WI App 37; case activity (including briefs)

Meisenhelder was busted for shoplifting mouthwash and eyeliner at a Walmart. When police searched her purse they spotted a keychain that had a small, purple vial attached to it. They looked inside, found what looked like meth, and arrested her. She moved to suppress arguing that the search was unlawful under State v. Sutton, 2012 WI App 7, 338 Wis. 2d 338, 8080 N.W.2d 411 (2011). The circuit court denied the motion. In a decision recommended for publication, the court of appeals affirmed.

Outagamie County v. C.J.A., 2022 WI App 36; case activity

On April 12th the court of appeals issued an opinion holding that due process does not require a county to give particularized notice of the standard of dangerousness that a person will satisfy if treatment is withdrawn. It also found that special verdict given to the jury defective. The court of appeals reversed and remanded the case for a new trial on a recommitment that had expired. Happy news! The court of appeals withdrew that opinion. The reissued opinion omits the due process decision, retains the special verdict win, and now reverses outright.

On May 25, 2022, the court of appeals ordered publication of the following criminal law related decisions:

State v. Joseph M. Marks, 2022 WI App 20; case activity (including briefs)

Given the facts in this case, the court of appeals rejects the defendant’s claim that an audiovisual recording of a child’s statement was inadmissible under § 908.08 because investigators merged a separate audio file of the interview with the video to correct a problem with the original audio.

On April 28, 2022, the court of appeals ordered publication of the following criminal law related decisions:

State v. Antonio Darnell Mays, 2022 WI App 24; case activity (including briefs)

Mays was accused of forcing his way into an apartment with and firing a gun at at least one of its occupants. One occupant fired back; in the end, two people were dead. The state initially charged Mays with, among other things, a reckless homicide for each of the deaths. But when, at trial, the evidence suggested that one of the decedents had been shot not by Mays, but by the occupant returning fire at Mays, the state moved to amend the information as to that death to charge felony murder instead. Mays opposed the amendment, and ultimately the state instead convinced the court to instruct the jury on felony murder as a lesser-included offense of reckless homicide. The jury convicted Mays of this lesser-included (and other counts).

State v. Hajji Y. McReynolds, 2022 WI App 25; case activity (including briefs)

This decision addresses: 1) the propriety of successive postconviction motions; 2) a claim that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to testimony vouching for the credibility of another witness and to improper character evidence; and 3) the novel issue of the sentencing judge’s use of a written rather than oral explanation of its sentencing rationale under § 973.017(10m)(b).

On March 30, 2022, the court of appeals ordered publication of the following criminal law related decisions:

State v. Eric D. Bourgeois, 2022 WI App 18; case activity (including briefs)

Police went looking for Bourgeois at a hotel because he might have been in possession of stolen handgun, he had PTSD, and he had a drug problem. At 2:00 a.m., despite a “do not disturb” sign, 3 officers tried to enter his room unannounced first using a key card and then a master key. Due to the chain lock, they could only peek through but they saw that Bourgeois alone and unarmed  He declined to let them in and turned away. Claiming exigent circumstances, police busted through the hotel door.