Louise Milan v. Billy Bolin, et al., 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 15-1207, 7/31/15
Police officers who conducted a SWAT raid on the wrong home weren’t entitled to qualified immunity because of their “insouciance” about another, more probable suspect of the crime being investigated and “the perfunctory nature of their investigation before the search….” (Slip op. at 4). [continue reading…]
United States v. Larry Bentley, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 13-2995, 7/28/15
A drug dog’s alert on Bentley’s car during a traffic stop was sufficient to establish probable cause to search in light of the standard established by Florida v. Harris, 133 S. Ct. 1050 (2013). [continue reading…]
United States v. Karenza S. Pickering, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-3730, 7/23/15
Because there was no proof—let alone the required proof beyond a reasonable doubt—that Pickering willfully disobeyed a summons for jury duty, her conviction for criminal contempt is reversed. [continue reading…]
United States v. Dontray A. Smith, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-2982, 7/20/15
Smith’s encounter with two officers on bicycles amounted to a seizure based on the totality of the circumstances surrounding the encounter, and because he was seized without reasonable suspicion, his Fourth Amendment rights were violated. [continue reading…]
Laderian McGhee v. Michael A. Dittmann, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-1763, 7/22/15
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals reasonably applied federal law in rejecting McGhee’s claim that he was denied the right to self-representation under Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975). [continue reading…]
Cory M. Welch v. Randall Hepp, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-1164, 7/14/15
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejected Welch’s claim that he was denied a fair trial because of two improper comments by two witnesses. His habeas petition was denied by the district court, and the Seventh Circuit affirms, holding Welch has not shown that the Wisconsin appellate court’s decision was “so lacking in justification” that there is no possibility for “fairminded disagreement,” Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 103 (2011). [continue reading…]
Robert Gacho v. Kim Butler, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 13-3911, 7/2/15
The dismissal of Gacho’s habeas petition without prejudice to refiling makes the dismissal order non-final; because the court of appeals’ jurisdiction extends only to final orders, his appeal is dismissed. [continue reading…]
State v. Emiliano Calzadas, 2015AP162-CR, District 4, 9/3/15 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs)
An officer stopped the vehicle Calzadas was driving because registered owner—who was female—had a suspended driver’s license; but immediately after stopping the car the officer realized Calzadas was male and thus not the registered owner. Even if the reason for the stop dissipated when the officer learned that Calzadas was not the registered owner, the officer’s request for and verification of Calzadas’s identification did not transform what was initially a lawful stop into an unreasonable seizure. [continue reading…]
