Review of a published court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs) Issue: Whether a defendant may, by voluntary absence or other conduct, waive the statutory right to be present at trial before the trial has begun? As explained in our post on the court of appeals decision, Washington complained to the trial court about… Read more
36. Sentencing
Cle A. Gray, Jr. v. Robert Humphries, 2016AP584-CR, 4/6/17, District 4 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including state’s brief) Gray sought to prevent the Department of Corrections from taking certain money from his prison accounts to pay the costs and restitution Gray had been ordered to pay, but the court of appeals holds DOC’s… Read more
State v. David L. Johnson, 2015AP2605-CR, 4/4/17, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) A jury found Johnson guilty of aggravated battery and false imprisonment but acquitted him of sexual assault and strangulation. The court imposed 2 consecutive 6-year sentences. Johnson appealed and argued that the postconviction court erred in denying his claim for ineffective assistance of… Read more
State v. Peter J. Long, 2016AP729, 3/28/17, District 1 (one-judge decision, ineligible for publication); case activity (including state’s brief) Peter Long filed a Wis. Stat. § 974.06 arguing that his sentence for OWI-4th should be commuted or modified to the maximum sentence for an OWI-3rd, because one of his priors was uncounseled. There are two problems here… Read more
State v. Matthew A. Seward, 2016AP1248-CR, 3/22/17, District 2 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) This is a permissive appeal. Matthew Seward is charged with OWI-3rd; he seeks reversal of the circuit court’s denial of his collateral attack on his OWI-2nd conviction. State v. Ernst, 2005 WI 107, ¶25, 283 Wis. 2d 300… Read more
McKinley Kelly v. Richard Brown, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 17-1244, 3/16/17 Two judges on the Seventh Circuit apparently think so, based on their rejection of Kelly’s motion to file a second federal habeas petition so he can challenge his sentence under Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012) (mandatory life sentence for juvenile… Read more
State v. Bruce T. Henningfield, 2015AP1824-CR, 3/15/17 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Bruce Henningfield was convicted by a jury of OWI and PAC counts, and was sentenced on the OWI as a tenth or subsequent offense. He raises three issues related to his prior convictions; the court rejects them all. Henningfield, outside… Read more
State v. Roy A. Mitchell, Jr., 2016AP937-CR, 3/16/17, District 4 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Mitchell pled guilty to misdemeanor theft, resisting or obstructing an officer, and prostitution in exchange for the State’s agreement to dismiss charges for misdemeanor/battery, strangulation/suffocation, and felony theft. But when the State sought restitution for medical expenses… Read more
