On Point blog, page 1 of 2
COA calculates discharge date on sentences for crimes committed between 1999 and 2003 in published case.
State of Wisconsin ex rel. Christopher P. Kawleski v. State, 2022AP1129, 7/3/25, District IV, (recommended for publication); case activity
COA recommends publication in a case addressing how to calculate the maximum discharge date for a defendant sentenced to a bifurcated sentence on a felony between 1999 and 2003 upon release from reconfinement after extended supervision was revoked.
Defense win: SCOW rebuffs circuit court’s apparent attempt to take on the role of a DOC supervision agent
State v. Junior L. Williams-Holmes, 2023 WI 49, 6/20/23, reversing and remanding a published court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs)
Reaffirming that the Department of Corrections, not the circuit court, is responsible for regulating the day-to-day affairs of persons being supervised by DOC, the supreme court sends this case back to the circuit court for it to either modify the supervision condition it ordered in this case or clarify how it is consistent with the law.
SCOW will review circuit court’s attempt to act like a DOC supervision agent
State v. Junior L. Williams-Holmes, petition for review of a published court of appeals decision granted 11/16/22; case activity (including PFR, PFR response, and briefs)
Issue presented (from the defendant’s PFR)
Can a circuit court use its statutory authority to modify conditions of probation and extended supervision to regulate the day-to-day affairs of individuals on supervision, contrary to statutes conferring on the Department of Corrections the exclusive authority to administer probation?
CoA upholds probation condition requiring judge’s permission to live with certain persons
State v. Junior L. Williams-Holmes, 2022 WI App 38, petition for review granted, 11/16/22, reversed and remanded, 2023 WI 49; case activity (including briefs)
Williams-Holmes was given a bifurcated prison sentence and consecutive probation after being convicted of battery to and false imprisonment of his girlfriend. Because of Williams-Holmes’s history of domestic violence, the circuit court ordered, as a condition of probation and extended supervision, that Williams-Holmes not reside with any member of the opposite sex or any child not related to him by blood “without permission of the Court.” (¶1). Williams-Holmes argues the circuit court’s condition is improper because it results in the court “administering” probation, which is a task reserved for the Department of Corrections. The court of appeals disagrees, holding that the circuit court may impose this condition—though it must implement it using the statutory process for modifying conditions of supervision.
Machner hearing denied because lawyer’s advice was correct
State v. Michael Nelson, 2021AP1133-CR, 3/9/22, District 2 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity
Nelson, who values his right to bear arms, pled guilty to several crimes, including disorderly conduct and domestic violence. As a condition of his probation, he was barred from possessing firearms. Postconviction, he claimed that his trial lawyer incorrectly advised him that “pleading to disorderly conduct could result in a temporary rather than permanent loss of his gun rights” and that the trial court erred in denying him a hearing on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim.
COA upholds severe restrictions on internet use during supervised release
State v. Peter J. King, 2020 WI App 66; case activity (including briefs)
Packingham v. North Carolina, 137 S Ct. 1730 (2017) struck down a law making it a felony for a registered sex offender to use any social networking site that permits minors to become members or to create personal web page. The statute was so broad that it violated the 1st Amendment. See our post here. In this case, the court of appeals holds that Packingham’s reasoning does not apply to court-ordered conditions of extended supervision that sharply restrict a defendant’s access to the internet.
Defendant not entitled to sentence credit for charges dismissed but not read in
State v. Demario D. Fleming, 2017AP1851-CR, District 1, 7/17/18 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs)
Applying its recent decision in State v. Piggue, 2016 WI App 13, 366 Wis. 2d 605, 875 N.W.2d 663, the court of appeals rejects Fleming’s request for sentence credit for time he spent in custody on charges that were dismissed, but not read in, as part of a plea agreement.
Defense win: Person revoked from ES entitled to sentence credit until return to prison
State v. Larry Davis, 2017 WI App 55; case activity (including briefs)
Applying § 304.072(4) and State v. Presley, 2006 WI App 82, 292 Wis. 2d 734, 715 N.W.2d 713, the court of appeals holds that a person who is revoked from extended supervision resumes serving his sentence when he is received in the prison system, not when revocation occurs; he is therefore entitled to sentence credit up to the date he returns to prison.
Court of Appeals rejects constitutional challenges to juvenile’s life sentence
State v. Antonio D. Barbeau, 2016 WI App 51; case activity (including briefs)
Barbeau killed his great-grandmother when he was 14 years old, and eventually pled no contest to first-degree intentional homicide, which carries an automatic life sentence. When imposing such a sentence, the court must make a decision as to extended supervision: it can either deny any possibility of ES, or it can set a date at which the person becomes eligible, though such date must occur after the person has served at least 20 years. Wis. Stat. § 973.014(1g).
Circuit court can’t order condition of supervision that restricts operating privileges in excess of the period set under § 343.30
State v. Jack E. Hoppe, 2014 WI App 51; case activity
A sentencing court may not prohibit a defendant convicted of OWI from driving a motor vehicle as a condition of extended supervision when the length of extended supervision exceeds the maximum period for revoking operating privileges set by § 343.30.