On Point: Uncategorized

Check out this new study: Gideon by the Numbers: Emergence of Evidence-Based Practices in Indigent Defense by Jennifer Laurin at the University of Texas Law School.

Note to Chapter 980 aficionados: Are men genetically predisposed to commit sex crimes? There’s a new report out on this subject too.

Still reeling from the Badgers defeat in the NCAA finals? Bucky may be 2nd place on the basketball court but he is 1st place–by a long shot–in the court that counts!!!!

Ooooh fun! Try these 20 “access to justice” apps. Click here.

Did you see the new study on access to counsel in immigration court? Click here.

Law firm’s April Fools Day joke backfires here!

How we treat the world’s most dangerous criminals here. Plus Norway’s humane approach here.

Are the endorsements on your LinkedIn profile unethical?

SCOTUS declines to sanction Foley & Lardner, but cautions lawyers: state your petitions in plain terms; avoid obscure acronyms and convoluted sentences! Here.

Law firm success rates in SCOW here.

DA’s alteration of interrogation transcript was no joking matter. Case dismissed here.

“The Executioner’s Dilemma.” A new study on botched injection procedures.

How to be a “suckcessful”

Our very own Mike Tobin reports on last Thursday’s big win on expunction in SCOW. See Mike’s article for the Collateral Consequences Resource Center here.

Will Chief Justice Abrahamson lose her job in 2015? Click here for more.

AAG gets bench slapped because appellate record literally emits foul stench. Click here.

Are plea bargains confessions? Brandon Garrett says “no”. Click here.

Judge Posner says the NSA should have unlimited access to your personal digital information.  Read this PCWorld article for more on his views.

Being a lawyer is hard.  Being a public defender is even harder! Did you know that the challenging profession you’ve chosen will have a BIG pay off in your old age? Says so here.

Appellate courts want their processes to appear blind and balanced.  

Remember the post about the judge who punched a public defender?  The judge has returned to the bench, and the PD has resigned in protest.  More here.

What was it like to practice law in 1981?  There were no computers.  Smoking was allowed and so was little sexual harassment.  Check out this article and video capturing life as lawyer before most of us started practicing.

Two public defenders fired over “hate speech”

State v. Cherry, 2012AP1137-CR; District 2, 6/19/13; (not recommended for publication); case activity

Cherry was convicted of burglary and criminal damage to property, both as party to a crime.  Here’s what happened:  While investigating a residential burglary, officers saw two black men (Cherry and a companion) walking down a rural road near the scene of the crime. Their pants were wet as if they had been crossing a swampy area near the home.  

State v. Cecil Lennel Hudson, 2012AP702-CR, District 1, 11/27/12

court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity

Hudson isn’t entitled to credit against his new (disorderly conduct) sentence because it runs consecutive to his old (ES-revocation) sentence:

¶9        At the time of Hudson’s plea and sentencing hearing on the disorderly conduct charge, Hudson’s trial counsel was aware that Hudson was going to be serving an additional eighteen months on the 2008 case.  

Village of Little Chute v. John D. Bunnell, 2012AP1266, District 3, 11/14/12

court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity

Officer’s failure to perform FSTs pursuant to established protocols (HGN test requires 4-second pass-of-the-eye, and officer used 2-second pass), “compromises the validity of the test results,” and therefore “cannot be used to support a determination of probable cause to arrest,” ¶19. Grounds for OWI arrest nonetheless existed:

¶20      However,

State v. Samuel J. Jacobs, 2012AP728-CR, District 2,10/31/12

court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity

Frisk resulting in seizure of marijuana upheld where detective, investigating reported drug activity, stopped a vehicle on the pretense a headlight was out and, after questioning the driver (Jacobs) for several minutes, discerned that Jacobs had become unusually nervous in that he began “moving from one foot to the other foot,”