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On Point is a judicial analysis blog written by members of the Wisconsin State Public Defenders. It includes cases from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of Wisconsin, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Arrest and warrantless search of a home – no probable cause, exigent circumstances, community caretaker exception, or consent.

State v. Daniel Cervantes, 2011AP1858-CR, District 1, 2/12/13; court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity

The police lacked probable cause to arrest Cervantes when he opened the door of his apartment (¶¶10-16); there were neither exigent circumstances nor community caretaker grounds for the police to enter Cervantes’s apartment following his arrest to do a protective sweep (¶¶14-23); and his subsequent “consent” to search the apartment was not sufficiently attenuated from the illegal arrest and entries (¶¶24-30). 

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Protective placement – sufficiency of evidence

Wood County v. Zebulon K., 2011AP2387, and Wood County v. Forest K., 2011AP2394, District 4, 2/7/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity: Zebulon K.; Forest K.

The evidence was not sufficient to prove that Zebulon and Forest need to be protectively placed. Though Zebulon and Forest are developmentally disabled, the evidence does not establish they are “so totally incapable of providing for [their] own care and custody as to create a substantial risk of serious harm to [themselves] or others” under Wis.

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Truancy — jurisdiction of court; judicial bias

City of Appleton v. Kylie M. Johnson, 2012AP1922, District 3, 2/12/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity

Jurisdiction of court – defects in truancy citation

Defects in an habitual truancy citation did not prevent court from obtaining personal jurisdiction over Johnson before it entered default judgment. She did not appear at the first hearing on the citation, so the court entered a default judgment against her;

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TPR – opinion testimony by case manager

State v. Gloria C., 2012AP1693 and 2012AP1694, District 1, 2/5/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity

Trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to the opinion testimony of the parent’s ongoing case manager, who said that based on the parent’s conduct in the preceding two years, she would not be able to meet the conditions necessary for the return of her children within nine months.

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Ineffective assistance of counsel; “new factor” based sentence modification

State v. Stephen Lehman, 2011AP2821-CR, District I (not recommended for publication).   Case activity.

Lehman pled guilty to 2 counts of burglary of a dwelling.  The trial court sentenced him to 5 years of initial confinement and 3 years of extended supervision for each count.  The court ran the sentences consecutively, ordered Lehman to pay $1,700 in restitution, and declared him ineligible for the Challenge Incarceration and Earned Release programs.  

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Indiana ban on sex offenders using social networking and social media sites violates First Amendment

Doe v. Prosecutor, Marion County, Indiana, Case No. 12-2512, 1/23/13; Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision

A recent Indiana statute prohibits most registered sex offenders from using social networking websites, instant messaging services, and chat programs. John Doe, on behalf of a class of similarly situated sex offenders, challenges this law on First Amendment grounds. We reverse the district court and hold that the law as drafted is unconstitutional. Though content neutral,

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Disorderly conduct, § 947.01 — sufficiency of the evidence

State v. William G. Bennett, 2012AP1757-CR, District 2, 1/30/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge; ineligible for publication); case activity

Evidence that Bennett sent a lewd and obscene letter to a person was sufficient to support conviction for disorderly conduct because the content of the letter placed it beyond a mere “personal annoyance” to the victim. Purely written speech can constitute disorderly conduct even if that written speech fails to cause an actual disturbance,

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OWI – reopening case improperly treated as a first offense

State v. James A. Krahn, 2012AP1898-CR, District 2, 1/30/13; court of appeals decision (1-judge, ineligible for publication); case activity

Motion to dismiss second-offense OWI charge was properly denied, where the charge resulted from the state’s successful motion to reopen a conviction for a first offense that had been entered a few weeks after a conviction in another case that was also treated as a first offense:

¶6        Wisconsin trial courts have no subject-matter jurisdiction over second or subsequent drunk driving offenses tried as first offenses contrary to Wis.

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Denial of fair trial – restraint of defendant during trial; sentencing – reliance on inaccurate information; new factor

State v. Richard Wade Shirley, 2012AP263-CR, District 1, 1/29/13; court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity

Denial of fair trial – restraint of defendant during trial

Defendant forfeited claim that he was deprived of a fair trial because at least one juror saw he was shackled in the court room: “Not only does the record show that Shirley failed to strike the one juror that the record demonstrates saw the restraints,

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Terry stop — reasonable suspicion; DNA surcharge — exercise of discretion; sentence credit — time between revocation and return to prison

State v. Manuel R. Williams, 2012AP357-CR, District 1, 1/29/13; court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity

Terry stop – reasonable suspicion

Police had reasonable suspicion to stop defendant where, based on suppression hearing testimony, circuit court found that: the officers were sent to a shooting in “a high risk area”; when police arrived, they noticed Williams because he had a big jacket on and was holding his hands in an “odd” way,

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On Point provides information (not legal advice) about important developments in the law. Please note that this information may not be up to date. Viewing this blog does not create an attorney-client relationship with the Wisconsin State Public Defender. Readers should consult an attorney for their legal needs.