On Point

State v. Troy A. Keys, 2011AP550-CR, District 3, 8/30/11 court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Keys: Donna L. Hintze, SPD, Madison Appellate; case activity Evidence held insufficient to support scienter element of illegal possession of prescription drug,  § 450.11(7)(h). A pill container, container 2 Citalopram pills, were found on Keys’ coffee table The court rejects […]

State v. Thomas J. Haiduk, 2011AP551-CR, District 3, 8/30/11 court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Haiduk: Gary S. Cirilli; case activity In determining restitution for home improvement-related theft, the trial court failed to resolve whether the underlying contract was fixed-price or time-and-materials, therefore remand is necessary. ¶22      The court’s value-based $100,517.96 offset, and corresponding […]

State v. Cedrick M., 2010AP3011, District 1, 8/30/11 court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Cedrick M.: John J. Grau; case activity Directed verdict as to grounds for termination held permissible, citing Door Cnty. DHFS v. Scott S., 230 Wis. 2d 460, 602 N.W.2d 167 (Ct. App. 1999), ¶¶10-11. The trial court was empowered to […]

State v. Joseph Gayden, 2010AP2360-CR,District 1, 8/30/11 court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); for Gayden: Matthew S. Pinix; case activity The difference between Wis JI-Criminal 800 and 805 is that the latter limits the defendant’s intentional use of force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to reasonable belief that the force is necessary to […]

State v. Stephen R. Jones, 2011AP864-CR, District 3, 8/30/11 court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication; for Jones: Brian P. Dimmer; case activity) Failure to move to strike juror wasn’t deficient performance. Juror’s public support of election of the presiding judge and the district attorney (who was not herself prosecuting this case) didn’t establish a significant […]

seventh circuit court of appeals decision Inadequate Argumentation – Sanction  Counsel’s woefully inadequate argumentation (“a single, underdeveloped legal argument” that, “(w)orse yet … was foreclosed by” prior precedent) not only dooms his client’s effort to resist deportation, notwithstanding palpable equities on her side, but has consequences for counsel himself: … We are disturbed, however, by Baniassadi’s perfunctory […]

seventh circuit court of appeals decision; cert granted, 4/30/12 Padilla v. Kentucky: Retroactivity – Habeas Review  The holding of Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S. Ct. 1473, 1486 (2010), that as in incident of effective representation, “counsel must inform her client whether his plea carries a risk of deportation,” is a “new rule” within the meaning of Teague v. […]

seventh circuit court of appeals decision, denying habeas relief in Wis COA No. 2008AP398-CR Habeas – Duty to Preserve Apparent Exculpatory Evidence  Pretrial destruction of car driven by McCarthy didn’t violate State’s duty to preserve exculpatory evidence, the court rejecting McCarthy’s argument that the destruction unconstitutionally impaired his affirmative defense of brake failure (against charge of causing great bodily harm by […]

Joseph Muniz v. Smith, 6th Cir. No. 09-2324, 7/29/11 sixth circuit court of appeal decision Habeas – Ineffective Assistance – Sleeping Counsel  The fact that counsel has slept through a portion of trial does not, alone, amount to denial of counsel so as to require relief under United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648 (1984), rather than inquiry into the prejudice component of  Strickland […]

State v. Jeffrey D. Knickmeier, 2011AP368-CR, District 4, 11/25/11 court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); pro se; case activity The court upholds the sentence – 2, concurrent 6-month jail terms for theft by bailee – of disbarred attorney Knickmeier. The court patiently discusses each of Knickmeier’s challenges to sentencing discretion (some of which, […]