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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.

Double Jeopardy – Retrial Following Mistrial over Defense Objection, Generally

State v. Barbara E. Harp, 2005 WI App 250
For Harp: Aaron N. Halstead, Kathleen Meter Lounsbury, Danielle L. Carne

Issue/Holding:

¶13      The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 8 of the Wisconsin Constitution prevent the state from trying a defendant multiple times for the same offense. [4] “[G]iven the importance of the constitutional protection against double jeopardy,

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Due Process – Identification Procedure – Show-up

State v. Tyrone L. Dubose, 2005 WI 126
For Dubose: Jefren E. Olsen, SPD, Madison Appellate

Issue: Whether the test for admissibility of a pretrial showup should be changed. (“A ‘showup’ is an out-of-court pretrial identification procedure in which a suspect is presented singly to a witness for identification purposes.” ¶1, n. 1, quoting State v. Wolverton, 193 Wis. 2d 234,

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Enhancement – OWI Prior, Collateral Attack – Procedure

State v. Alan J. Ernst, 2005 WI 107, on certification
For Ernst: Jeffrey W. Jensen

Issue1: Whether violation of the standards mandated by State v. Klessig, 211 Wis. 2d 194 ¶24, 564 N.W.2d 716 (1997) for valid waiver of counsel supports a collateral attack on a prior conviction.
Holding1:

¶25      … For there to be a valid collateral attack,

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Warrants – Good-faith Exception – “Indicia” of Probable Cause, Generally

State v. Bill P. Marquardt, 2005 WI 157, on certification; prior history: 2001 WI App 219
For Marquardt: John Brinckman; Patricia A. Fitzgerald

Issue/Holding: The good-faith exception is inapplicable when indicia of probable cause are so lacking as to render official belief in its existence unreasonable. This inquiry is distinct from the question of whether the supporting facts are clearly insufficient.

¶33      Under Leon‘s rationale,

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Warrants – Good-faith Exception – Sufficient Indicia of Probable Cause

State v. Bill P. Marquardt, 2005 WI 157, on certification; prior history: 2001 WI App 219
For Marquardt: John Brinckman; Patricia A. Fitzgerald

Issue/Holding: The search warrant was supported by sufficient “indicia of probable cause” to trigger the good-faith exception, including the following: Marquardt had not been seen for two days following his mother’s homicide, raising suspicion about his absence; the victim was covered in a blanket,

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Arrest – Search-Incident, Generally

State v. Michael D. Sykes, 2005 WI 48, affirming unpublished decision of court of appeals
For Sykes: Jeffrey J. De La Rosa

Issue/Holding: Where the police had probable cause to arrest for criminal trespass, they did not have to subjectively intend to arrest the person for that offense in order to perform a search incident to arrest. And, though the search must be “contemporaneous” with the arrest (relatedly: probable cause must exist independent of the fruits of the search),

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Grounds — Abandonment by Biological Parent, Occurring Prior to Adjudication as Parent, as Ground for Termination, §§ 48.02(13), 48.415(1)(a)3

State v. James P., 2005 WI 80, affirming, 2004 WI App 124

Issue: Whether biological father’s parental rights could be terminated on the ground of “abandonment” where he was not adjudicated as father until after alleged periods of abandonment.

Holding:

¶15 We hold that an individual who is in fact the biological father of a nonmarital child satisfies the definition of “parent”

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Competency of Court and Time Limit, § 48.422(2)

Sheboygan County DSS v. Rachel B., 2005 WI 84, reversing unpublished decision
IssueWhether competency challenge to a TPR proceeding is waived under § 48.422(2) if not first raised in circuit court.

Holding:

¶2        We conclude such a competency challenge based on the violation of the statutory time limitation of Wis. Stat. § 48.422(2) cannot be waived, even though it was not raised in the circuit court. 

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Plea-Withdrawal, Post-sentencing — Procedure — Pleading Requirements for Evidentiary Hearing on Bangert Motion Relative to Nature of Charge

State v. James E. Brown, 2006 WI 100, reversing summary order
For Brown: Richard D. Martin, SPD, Milwaukee Appellate

Issue/Holding:

¶59      To earn a Bangert evidentiary hearing, a defendant must satisfy a second obligation. In addition to making a prima facie case that the circuit court erred in the plea colloquy, a defendant must allege he did not enter a knowing,

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Hearsay – Residual Exception, § 908.045(6)

State v. Derek Anderson, 2005 WI 54, on certification
For Anderson: Neil C. McGinn, SPD, Milwaukee Trial; Wm. J. Tyroler, SPD, Milwaukee Appellate

Issue/Holding:

¶59 We agree with the State that while Krnak’s statement to Ellifson does not technically qualify as an excited utterance, or statement of recent perception due to timing problems, it does qualify under the residual hearsay exception because it contains several guarantees of trustworthiness similar to those found in statements admitted under the excited utterance exception….

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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.