On Point: C. Unpublished Opinions

State v. Terry Sanders, 2017AP636-CR, District 3, 1/9/18 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)

Sanders challenges his arrest for OWI, saying the officer lacked probable cause based on a “mixed bag” of facts that included inconclusive field sobriety tests and things an officer “would likely see [being done] by day by sober folks.” (¶9). The court of appeals does not agree.

Kenosha County DHS v. V.J.G., 2017AP1150 & 2017AP1151, District 2, 12/27/17 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity

V.J.G.’s failed to appear at the pretrial and grounds trial in the TPR proceedings regarding his children. The circuit court then discharged V.J.G.’s lawyer, set a new evidentiary and dispostional hearing, and terminated V.J.G.’s parental rights. The court of appeals rejects V.J.G.’s challenges to  § 48.23(2)(b)3., the statute on which the court based its actions.

State v. Hector Miguel Ortiz Martinez, 2017AP668, District 1, 12/27/17 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)

After his arrest for OWI, Martinez refused to submit to a breath test. The arresting officer gave him the standard notice of intent to revoke operating privileges containing the standard written warning that the driver has 10 days to request a refusal hearing. Martinez requested a refusal hearing, but not within the 10-day limit under § 343.305(10)(a), so the circuit court declined to hold a hearing. (¶¶3-5). Martinez argues that a language barrier and incomplete information from the arresting officer mean the standard notice he was given was not legally sufficient to start the 10-day clock running. Yes it was, says the court of appeals.

State v. David M. Larson, 2017AP1610-CR, 12/27/17, District 2 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)

David Larson was driving drunk when another driver, who was cited for failing to yield the right of way, collided with him in a roundabout. Larson drove away while police were investigating. After a contested hearing, the court awarded the other driver restitution for injuries to himself and damage to his car.

State v. M.K., 2017AP1952-1953, 12/27/17, District 1 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity

The record for a termination of rights appeal is required by law to be confidential. Thus, in such a case the court of appeals must refer to the individuals involved by their initials, pseudonyms, or other appropriate designations. This rule balances the individual’s right to confidentiality with the public’s right to know how our judges are applying and developing the law. Nobody disputes the wisdom of the rule. On Point questions its application in this particular appeal.

State v. Kaitlin C. Sumnicht, 2017AP280-CR, 12/20/17, District 2 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)

Sumnicht was convicted of OWI second. She sought suppression of her blood test results on two grounds. First, she argued that that State did not develop an adequate factual record of her interaction with the deputy who allegedly obtained her consent to a blood test. Second, assuming that she did consent, she argued that she revoked it when her lawyer sent a letter to the State Laboratory of Hygiene before any testing was done and asserted her right to privacy in her blood. The circuit court denied suppression, and the court of appeals affirmed but its reasoning is unsatisfying.

State v. Anthony S. Taylor, 2017AP587-CR, 12/21/17, District 4 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)

Police responded to a 911 call from S.M., Taylor’s girlfriend. She had been in a fight with another woman in the apartment building they all lived in. The other woman told the cops that she had gone with Taylor to pick up marijuana that day, that he was storing it in the apartment he shared with S.M., and that he may also have had a firearm. An officer testified he also knew Taylor had recently been the victim of a robbery and was a felon.

State v. Ryan L. Schultz, 2017AP603-CR, 12/20/17, District 2 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs).

Schultz was convicted of operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol content 2nd offense. He sought suppression of his blood test results on the grounds that the warrant-issuing judge lacked probable cause, or alternatively, that Officer Halfmann’s application omitted facts that would have undermined a finding of probable cause. On appeal, Schultz lost both arguments.

State v. Darrin K. Taylor, 2016AP1956 & 1957, 12/20/2017, District 2 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs)

Taylor was convicted at trial of seventeen charges related to sexual assault of a child, S.F. On appeal he attacks only his conviction for causing mental harm to a child and the associated bail-jumping count. He argues the evidence was insufficient to show that S.F. suffered “mental harm” as it is defined in the statute, or that his post-assault contact with her was a substantial cause of said harm.

State v. Neil R. Hebert, 2016AP2168, 12/19/17, District 3 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)

That’s the long and short of it. The circuit court held the officer, who had pulled Hebert over for speeding,  unlawfully extended the stop to investigate an OWI, but the court of appeals reverses.