On Point blog, page 259 of 264

Traffic Stop – Unsafe Backing

City of Tomah v. Matthew Pudlow, 2010AP1044, District 4, 9/15/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Pudlow: Rick Niemeier, Maggie Premo; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Traveling in reverse at 30 mph, near an intersection with a highway, provided reasonable suspicion to stop:

¶13      The totality of the circumstances provided Officer Furlano with reasonable suspicion to justify an investigative stop of the vehicle in order to investigate Pudlow’s driving behavior,

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Interrogation Request for Counsel – Re-Initiation by Suspect; Assertion-Waiver, Right to Silence

State v. Robert Allen, Jr., 2009AP2596-CR , District 1, 9/14/10

court of appeals decision (3-judge, not recommended for publication); for Allen: Bradley J. Lochowicz; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Interrogation Request for Counsel – Re-Initiation by Suspect

Allen’s invocation of right to counsel terminated his interrogation, but he immediately re-initiated communication with the police by asking “what’s going on”:

¶15      “Even after a suspect in custody asks to speak with a lawyer,

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Expert Witness Qualifications; Admissibility – Field Sobriety Tests; WI (Drugs) – Sufficiency of Evidence

City of Mequon v. James E. Haynor, 2010AP466-FT, District 2, 9/8/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Haynor: Peter L. Ramirez; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Expert Witness Qualifications – Lab Chemist: Physiological Effects of Drugs

The trial court didn’t erroneously exercise discretion in qualifying as an expert, the supervisor of forensic toxicology at the Wisconsin  State Laboratory of Hygiene on the matter of how certain drugs interact and impair judgment,

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SVP – Retroactivity of Qualifying Offense Legislation; State’s Waiver; Newly Discovered Evidence – Re-normed Actuarial

State v. Christopher Melendrez, 2009AP2070, District 4, 9/2/10

court of appeals decision (3-judge, not recommended for publication); for Melendrez: David R. Karpe; BiC; Resp.; Reply

SVP – Retroactivity of Qualifying Offense Legislation

Third-degree sexual assault wasn’t an SVP-qualifying offense when Melendrez plea-bargained a reduction of 2nd-degree sexual assault to 3rd. But by the time he was released from prison,

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Obstructing – Unanimity – Course of Conduct; Obstructing – Sufficiency of Proof

State v. Jennette L. Ellifritz, 2010AP713-CR, District 2, 9/1/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Ellifritz: Gary Grass; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Obstructing – Unanimity – Course of Conduct

Because Ellifritz’s actions occurred during a single course of action, over a short (40-second) period of time, instructional failure to require agreement as to which separate act constituted obstructing didn’t violate her right to unanimous verdict;

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Reasonable Suspicion – Continued Detention

City of Oshkosh v. Richard A. Selquist, 2010AP862, District 2, 9/1/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Selquist: Walter Arthur Piel, Jr.; BiC; Resp.; Reply

The police had reasonable suspicion to continue temporary detention of Selquist and to request filed sobriety testing while investigating a traffic accident:

¶7        …  In reviewing whether the officer’s further investigation and request for field sobriety tests were warranted,

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Incest – Sufficiency of Evidence

State v. Nick J. W., 2009AP2030-CR, District 4, 8/26/10

court of appeals decision (3-judge, not recommended for publication); for Nick J.W.: Joseph L. Sommers; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Incest – Sufficiency of Evidence

The 16-year-old complainant’s testimony that her biological father had sex with her sufficed to prove the crime of incest, the court rejecting the defense argument that, because she didn’t look at the perpetrator,

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In Camera Inspection, Shiffra/Green Material

State v. Donovan L. Lewis, 2009AP2531-CR, District 4, 8/26/10

court of appeals decision (3-judge, not recommended for publication); for Lewis: Shelley Fite, SPD, Madison Appellate; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Defense access to a complainant’s privileged counseling records requires first convincing the trial court to conduct an in camera inspection to see if the records contain information material to innocence. And that requires showing a reasonable likelihood the records contain non-cumulative material information.

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PAC – Burden of Proof

State v. David E. Steinke, 2009AP3207-CR, District 4, 8/26/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Steinke: Cody Wagner; BiC; Resp.; Reply

Driving with a prohibited alcohol content of .08 or more, second offense, is a crime and therefore subject to beyond-reasonable-doubt burden of proof. Sitting as trier of fact in a bench trial, the circuit arguably misapprehended the burden as greater weight of the credible evidence,

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TPR- Ineffective Assistance – Change of Placement, Warnings; Disposition, Exercise of Discretion

State v. Jesenia R., 2009AP2906, District 1, 8/24/10

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Jesenia R.: Mary D. Scholle, SPD, Milwaukee Appellate

No prejudice resulted from counsel’s failure to object to violation of the change-of-placement notice requirement in § 48.357. ¶¶15-16.

The background is a bit fact-intensive. Roughly: The child (Elizabeth) had been placed with a foster family, who moved to Idaho and took Elizabeth with them,

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