Appellate Division Director, Jeremy Perri, guest posts on the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s recent adoption of Rules Petition 15-02, which authorizes clerks of circuit court to electronically transmit the record on appeal to the appellate court. This rule takes effect July 1, 2016. [continue reading…]
Adams County DHHS v. D.S., 2015AP1937, District 4, 12/10/2015 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity
D.S. appeals the termination of her parental rights to her daughter, raising a substantive due process challenge to the jury’s finding of unfitness and contending that the circuit court erroneously found termination to be in the child’s best interest. [continue reading…]
State v. Larry J. Smith, 2016 WI App 8; case activity
Ordinarily, “the third time’s a charm.” But here, with its third decision rejecting a Daubert challenge to expert testimony, the court of appeals triple underscores just how flexible the test really is. The decision also addresses a vouching issue. [continue reading…]
State v. David Aaron Piggue, Jr., 2016 WI App 13; case activity (including briefs)
Under State v. Floyd, 2000 WI 14, 232 Wis. 2d 767, ¶¶14-18, 25-27, 606 N.W.2d 155, a defendant is entitled to sentence credit for time in custody on charges that are dismissed and read-in for sentencing purposes. The court of appeals declines to extend Floyd to require credit for time the defendant was in custody on a charge for which he was acquitted, even though the acquitted conduct is used by a judge to fashion a sentence for a different crime. [continue reading…]
Not revered. Reversed! Gannett Wisconsin does it again. Last week they gave us a a searchable database for comparing the sentences Wisconsin’s judges impose for certain types of crimes. Click here. This week they offer a searchable database for determining how often circuit court judges were reversed on appeal during 2010-2014. Click here for this new database. They also make the case here that, compared to other states, Wisconsin judges face little public accountability. In fact, there is a series of investigative reports on Wisconsin circuit court judges here.
On a bypass petition; case activity (including briefs)
Issues (from the appellant’s brief):
Does a circuit court lack subject matter jurisdiction to enter an OWI 1st offense civil judgment if a defendant has a prior unknown out-of-state OWI conviction?
Is a municipality legally precluded from pursuing a civil OWI citation if the defendant could also be charged criminally?
Whether the Sixth Amendment’s Speedy Trial Clause applies to the sentencing phase of a criminal prosecution, protecting a criminal defendant from inordinate delay in final disposition of his case. [continue reading…]
UW Law Professor Cecilia Klingele just published “The Promises and Perils of Evidence-Based Corrections” in the Notre Dame Law Review. The article lays out the history of corrections reform, the emergence of evidence-based practices (including actuarial risk assessments), and cautions policymakers and practitioners about the potential for misuse of them. Click here to read the full article.
As it happens, SCOW has accepted review of a case that challenges the use of COMPAS assessments at sentencing. Click here.
