On Point: 7. Obstructing/resisting

State v. Ryan D. Wilkie, 2022AP730-CR, 3/11/25, District III (1-judge decision, ineligible for publication); case activity

COA rejects Wilkie’s interesting constitutional arguments regarding the authority of law enforcement to enter his home without a warrant and affirms his conviction for obstructing an officer.

State v. Allan Nathan Carroll, Jr. A/K/A/ U’si Ch-ab, 2023AP870, 3/20/24, District 2 (one-judge appeal; ineligible for publication); case activity

Carroll, Jr., a.k.a. Ch-ab, pro se, appeals a jury verdict convicting him of resisting or obstructing an officer. Ch-ab raises two claims on appeal: (1) that his constitutional rights were violated during a traffic stop that led to his arrest and conviction and (2) that his “status as an ‘Indigenous Aborigine American’ relieved him of the obligation to comply with Wisconsin law requiring that motor vehicles operating on Wisconsin roads be registered and display license plates.” The court rejects his arguments on appeal and affirms.

State v. Jeffrey S. Clemons, 2020AP1450-CR, 9/6/23, District III (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (briefs not available).

Applying an almost-insurmountable standard of review, COA concludes there was sufficient evidence to support the circuit court’s finding that Clemons violated an obstructing ordinance.

State v. Corey Stauner, 2019AP81-CR, District 3, 3/10/20, (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)

This seems wrong. The State charged Stauner with resisting an officer and bail jumping for committing that crime. The jury acquitted him of resisting an officer but found him guilty of bail jumping. The court of appeals recognized that the 2 verdicts were inconsistent, but said that this result was permissible pursuant to State v. Rice, 2008 WI App 10, 307 Wis. 2d 335, 743 N.W.2d 517 (2007).

State v. Scott H. Wenger, 2017AP2305, 6/14/18, District 4 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)

Wenger got arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting at Art in the Park in Stevens point. The circuit court dismissed the DC but found him guilty, after a bench trial, of resisting. He claims insufficient evidence as to all three elements of resisting an officer:

State v. Tory C. Johnson, 2015AP1322-CR, 6/28/2016, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs)

Tory Johnson raises various challenges to his jury-trial conviction for resisting an officer causing substantial bodily harm.

State v. Jeffrey S. Decker, 2015AP1997-CR, District 2, 5/4/2016 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity

Jeffrey Decker had been banned from the UW-Oshkosh, and was arrested when he arrived at a grand opening event. The arrest was not without incident and he was charged with obstructing an officer and convicted after a jury trial.

State v. Michael A. Durham, 2015AP1978-CR, 4/12/2016, District 3 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)

Police were dispatched in response to a 6:30 p.m. phone call from a neighbor about unintelligible yelling and “banging” that shook the walls of Durham’s residence. (¶2). After knocking and ringing the doorbell and receiving no response, police simply entered the house, guns drawn, and proceeded toward the stairs, where they encountered Durham. (¶¶3-5). The officers ordered Durham to show his hands, he didn’t, and they tasered him. (¶6). He was charged with resisting an officer, unsuccessfully moved to suppress evidence obtained via the warrantless search of his home, and was convicted at trial. (¶1). The court of appeals here reverses the conviction because the suppression motion should have been granted.

State v. Andrew K. Valiquette, 2013AP909-CR, District 4, 12/19/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge; ineligible for publication); case activity

Valiquette, convicted of resisting arrest, argues the police lacked lawful authority when they moved to pat him down for weapons, and asserts trial counsel’s failure to pursue that defense was based on a misunderstanding of the applicable law. The court of appeals disagrees, concluding instead that trial counsel’s testimony indicates she made a strategic decision to focus on the issue of whether Valiquette resisted instead of whether the police were acting with lawful authority.

State v. Earnest Lee Nicholson, 2013AP722-CR, District 1, 10/29/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge; ineligible for publication); case activity

Nicholson was arrested for felony battery of his girlfriend, Marnice Franklin, but the battery charge was dismissed after Franklin failed to appear to testify at trial; Nicholson was also charged with resisting an officer, and that charge proceeded to trial and a guilty verdict. (¶¶2-4). At sentencing on the resisting charge the judge made extensive remarks concerning the alleged battery,