On Point

State v. Andre D. Hansbrough, 2011 WI App 79(recommended for publication); for Hansbrough: Amelia L. Bizzaro; case activity Verdict Forms – Harmless Error Failure to provide a not guilty verdict option with a lesser included offense instruction is, although error, not structural but is instead subject to analysis for harmlessness, ¶¶10-17. ¶9        At the outset, we […]

State v. Robert L. Brinson, 2010AP001819-CR, District 1, 5/10/11 court of appeals decision (3-judge, not recommended for publication); for Brinson: Paul Bugenhagen, Jr.; case activity Cautionary instruction cured any potential prejudice from revelation of prior record. ¶16      We disagree.  The trial court instructed the jury several times that it could not consider Brinson’s possible status as a probationer or parolee, or the […]

State v. Calvin Jerome Pirtle, 2011 WI App 89(recommended for publication); for Pirtle: Christopher J. Cherella; case activity Consent to Search – Georgia v. Randolph Pirtle’s failure to object to the police presence allowed them to act on the co-tenant’s consent to a warrantless search under Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103 (2006): ¶15      In […]

State v. Shantell T. Harbor, 2011 WI 28, affirming unpublished decision; for Harbor: Joseph E. Redding; case activity Sentence Modification – New Factor The “new factor” test for sentence modification has split into “two divergent lines of cases”: Rosado v. State, 70 Wis. 2d 280, 288, 234 N.W.2d 69 (1975) (fact(s) highly relevant to, but not brought out at, sentencing […]

State v. Robert Lyle Lawver, Jr., 2010AP382-CR, District 4, 5/5/11 court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Lawver: Cole Daniel Ruby; case activity Conviction for disorderly conduct upheld on following facts: ¶9        The pertinent facts include the following.  Lawver was walking at night down an unlit highway, traveling with traffic, so that he […]

State v. Brian M. Joski, 2010AP2223-CR, District 3, 5/3/11 court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Joski: Thomas J. Coaty; case activity A prior conviction used to enhance a new sentence may be collaterally attacked on the basis of violation of right to counsel, in other words, that the defendant didn’t validly waive counsel within […]

State v. Marvin L. Beauchamp, 2011 WI 27, affirming 2010 WI App 42; for Beauchamp: Craig S. Powell; case activity Confrontation – Dying Declaration, § 908.045(3) ¶34  We therefore, like every state court that has considered the dying declaration exception since Crawford, take a position consistent with the language of Crawford and Giles and decline […]

State v. Randy L. Martin, 2010AP505-CR, District 1, 5/3/11 court of appeals decision (3-judge, not recommended for publication), reversed, 2012 WI 96; for Martin: Byron C. Lichstein; case activity Although Martin was in custody and had not received Miranda warnings, his statement wasn’t the result of “interrogation” and therefore wasn’t suppressible. When it appeared that Martin’s […]

State v. Eliseo Peralta, 2011 WI App 81(recommended for publication); for Peralta: Martin J. Pruhs; case activity Conspiracy, § 939.31 – “Overt Act” The “overt act” element of conspiracy, though it must go “beyond mere planning and agreement,” may be “virtually any act,” even if “insignificant,” ¶¶19-21. Thus, Peralta’s “communication to an undercover police detective […]

in-chambers opinion on motion to stay mandate Habeas – Stay of Mandate The State’s request to stay the mandate in the court’s grant of relief is denied by Judge Ripple’s in chambers opinion. The standard for granting a stay is set forth in Books v. City of Elkhart, 239 F.3d 826, 828 (7th Cir. 2001): […]