On Point

Question presented

Whether the court of appeals erred in holding that any degree of judicial participation in plea negotiations, in violation of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1), automatically requires vacatur of a defendant’s guilty plea, irrespective of whether the error prejudiced the defendant.

Lower court opinion (United States v. Davila, 664 F.3d 1355 (11th Cir. 2011) (per curiam) )

Docket

Scotusblog page

This case appears to be of limited import to Wisconsin practitioners,

State v. Thomas G. Felski, 2012AP1115-CR, District 2, 1/3/13

Court of appeals decision (1 judge; ineligible for publication); case activity

Felski was convicted of violating Wis. Admin. Code ATCP § 110.05 (criminalized by virtue of § 100.20(2)) for failing to have a written contract covering some remodeling projects. Evidence at trial focused on construction of a garage, but Felski also worked on an addition to the house not covered by a written contract.

Moore v. Madigan, 7th Circuit Nos. 12-1269 & 12-1788, 12/11/12

7th Circuit court of appeals decision

Illinois’s broad ban forbidding most persons to carry a gun that is loaded, immediately accessible, and uncased violates the Second Amendment:

We are disinclined to engage in another round of historical analysis to determine whether eighteenth-century America understood the Second Amendment to include a right to bear guns outside the home.

Appling v. Doyle, 2013 WI App 3, petition for review granted 6/12/13, sub. nom. Appling v. Walker; case activity

Wisconsin’s domestic partnership law upheld against challenge it violates 2006 “marriage amendment” to the state constitution (art. XIII, § 13), declaring that the only marriage recognized in Wisconsin is one “between one man and one woman” and prohibiting same-sex couples entering into a “legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage.”

¶2        In 2009,

State v. Bobby L. Tate, 2012AP336-CR, District 1, 12/27/12;  court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication), petition for review granted 6/12/13; case activity

Order allowing police to track the current location of cell phone upheld, rejecting Tate’s argument that it constituted an illegal search warrant:

¶8        The heart of Tate’s argument on appeal is that the order authorizing the tracking of Tate’s phone to find its location was invalid under Wis.

State v. Jesse D. Fries, 2011AP517-CR, District 4, 12/27/12

Court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity

Cost of installing new, upgraded security system in a convenience store after robbery was a “special damage” and therefore a proper item of restitution:

¶8        Fries’ primary contention is that an expenditure does not qualify as a special damage unless it was “spent to return the victim to the financial state he was in before the crime occurred.”  Here,

State v. Daniel Ryan Curry, 2012AP515-CR, District 1, 12/27/12

Court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); case activity

Newly discovered evidence

Defendant not entitled to new trial based on potentially exculpatory testimony of two witnesses, because the witnesses were known to him before trial. The two witnesses were the son and nephew of a defense witness named Rivera. Statements made by Curry and Rivera and contained in police reports,

State v. Melvin Pugh, 2013 WI App 12; case activity

Two officers on patrol saw Pugh near two cars parked next to a vacant, boarded-up building posted with a “no parking” sign. This caused the officers to question Pugh—legitimately—about his possible illegal parking, but during that questioning the police also started asking about a nearby drug house and ended up physically seizing Pugh by grabbing his wrists when he slowly backed away.

court of appeals publication orders, 12/19/12

On Point posts:

2012 WI App 133 State v. Gary M. Hemmingway

2012 WI App 134 State v. Shawn David Schulpius

2012 WI App 136 State v. Joshua A. Prescott

2012 WI App 137 State v. Thomas E. Schmidt

2012 WI App 138 State v. Tony J.

Here is an update on the most recent activity of the three Legislative Council study committees on which the SPD has members.  The week before Thanksgiving, all three committees met to review 24 either brand new or revised bill drafts which were released at the end of the week before.

Special Committee on the Supervised Release and Discharge of Sexually Violent PersonsWLC: 0032/1, relating supervised release and discharge proceedings.