On Point

State v. Jermichael James Carroll, 2010 WI 8, affirming 2008 WI App 161 For Carroll: Michael K. Gould, SPD, Milwaukee Appellate Issue/Holding: Frisk analysis applies to police demand that suspect drop object in hand, ¶22. ¶23      Here, Carroll led officers on a high-speed chase in a car that the officers had been observing in connection with an armed robbery […]

State v. Sameeh J. Pickens, 2010 WI App 5, reconsideration denied 1/20 For Pickens: Eileen A. Hirsch, SPD, Madison Appellate Issue/Holding: A temporary detention is narrowly circumscribed, in terms of duration and intensity, by the least intrusive means necessary to dispel suspicion¸¶27. Thus, in the absence of any reason to believe weapons were present, use of handcuffs […]

supreme court “decision” (court splits 3-3); for Allen: Robert R. Henak Recusal – Individual Supreme Court Justice – Reviewability The question of whether a claim of bias against one Justice (Gableman) is reviewable by the full court fails to yield a majority. The court splits 3-3 (Justice Gableman not participating), in a total of 5 […]

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); Resp Br. (Baake); Reply (State) Traffic Stop – Failure to Yield to Stopped Police Vehicle Stop for failure to yield unsupported: “§ 346.072, by its plain language, only requires a motorist to change lanes if there are two or more lanes in the motorist’s direction of travel and it […]

court of appeals decision Appellate Procedure – Standard of Review – Evidence Admissibility ¶14     However, not all evidentiary rulings are discretionary. For example, if an evidentiary issue requires construction or application of a statute to a set of facts, a question of law is presented and our review is de novo. State v. Jensen, 2007 WI App 256, […]

US Supreme Court decision Habeas – Sufficiency of Evidence Review Evidence submitted well after trial may not be considered in determining sufficiency of the state’s proof under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (1979) … … An “appellate court’s reversal for insufficiency of the evidence is in effect a determination that the government’s case against the defendant was […]

US Supreme Court decision Habeas – Discovery Hall entitled to discovery and evidentiary hearing as to what prompted jury members to give “the trial judge chocolate shaped as male genitalia and the bailiff chocolate shaped as female breasts.” From beginning to end, judicial proceedings conducted for the purpose of deciding whether a defendant shall be […]

7th Circuit decision, denying relief in: Wis COA No. 2003AP1885 Habeas – Effective Assistance of Counsel – Lesser Included Instruction Given state court conclusion that Lopez was not entitled to lesser offense instruction on felony-murder, counsel could not have been ineffective for failing to request the instruction. Nor was the absence of the instruction “a fundamental miscarriage of […]

7th Circuit decision; granting habeas relief in: Wis App Nos. 2002AP791 and 2006AP2708 (earlier decision, 1/21/10, now amended); appeal following remand, 11-3228 Habeas – Confrontation “Because it was error for the state court to admit the co-actors’ statements through the police detective’s testimony at trial, violating Ray’s right of confrontation, we reverse and remand.” A somewhat recurrent problem. The […]

US Supreme Court decision Habeas – Effective Assistance of Counsel The state court finding that counsel made a strategic decision not to pursue mitigation of sentence on a theory of mental limitations was “not unreasonable,” and thus not subject to reversal. The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 contains two provisions governing federal-court […]