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It’s not just a hot new technology trend. It’s also become the newest cocktail party question people ask criminal defense attorneys, especially the ones who handle drunk driving cases:
“Can I still get an OWI if I’m using the self-driving mode on my car?”
The short answer is yes.

Wisconsin’s drunk driving law is broader than most people think. It does not just punish people who drive while intoxicated. It also punishes people who “operate” a vehicle while intoxicated,…
Continue Reading ‘But the Car Was Driving, Not Me!’ Self-Driving Is Not a Defense in Wisconsin

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By Stephen E. Mays, Mays Law Office, LLC · Updated September 2026

Can you get a criminal record expunged in Wisconsin? For an adult conviction, only if the judge orders it at sentencing. Under Wis. Stat. § 973.015 a court may order expungement only when you were under 25 when the offense was committed and the maximum penalty is six years or less. Apart from a narrow trafficking-victim exception — and a separate juvenile process — there is generally…
Continue Reading Can You Get a Criminal Record Expunged in Wisconsin? The Under-25 Rule, the At-Sentencing Deadline, and Why the Reform You Read About Never Passed

A first offense OWI in Wisconsin is a civil violation, not a crime — no jail, no criminal record. That is the part most people hear first, and it is true. What almost nobody tells you at the roadside is that the deadlines that decide your driver’s license start running within days of the arrest, and that this “civil ticket” follows you for the rest of your life if you simply pay it.

Our office has defended OWI charges…
Continue Reading First Offense OWI in Wisconsin: Penalties, Your License, and What Happens Next

The court date printed on a Wisconsin OWI citation is rarely immediate — and for a first offense, that first appearance is short, procedural, and, if you understand what it is for, nothing to fear. But two things about it surprise almost everyone: the most important deadlines in your case expire before that date, and what you say at the appearance can lock in or give away your right to a jury.

Here is what actually happens at a…
Continue Reading What Happens at Your First Court Appearance for a Wisconsin OWI

Most first-time OWI defendants in Wisconsin assume there is nothing to defend — the machine said 0.08, so pay the ticket. After three decades practicing in Dane County’s courts — on both sides of OWI cases — I can tell you that assumption gives away real defenses in a surprising number of cases. The state’s evidence is built by human beings following detailed rules at every step — the stop, the roadside tests, the arrest, the chemical test —…
Continue Reading Defense Options for a First Offense OWI in Wisconsin

For privacy protection we will refer to a sexual assault victim as Jane Doe. This story briefly recounts a sexual assault.

Iron County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Stella Jr. is refusing to release records of what he and a prosecutor said at a court hearing in a criminal sexual assault case.

Stella and his staff refuse to allow the victim to purchase a transcript of the sentencing hearing of her assailant.

Meanwhile, the judge and his staff have refused

…
Continue Reading Victim’s story leads to Iron County Circuit Court stonewall on public records

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Aug. 17, 2026 – An unborn child has a right of informed consent by statute, and with it, a right to pursue legal action against a doctor, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held in Brekke v. Midwest Medical Insurance Co., 2026 WI 29.

“Charlie May Brekke was a patient under [Wis. Stat. section 448.30] before her birth. Dr. Batley had a duty to obtain informed consent from Samantha regarding herself and Charlie,” wrote Chief Justice Jill J. Karofsky…
Continue Reading Supreme Court: Statute Requires Informed Consent to Unborn Child

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Aug. 17, 2026 – The dispute in Cincinnati Insurance Co. v. Ropicky, 2026 WI 25, will return to circuit court after the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that damage from rain, but not damage resulting from the construction defect, was recoverable as an “ensuing loss.”

Justice Brian K. Hagedorn, writing for the 4-3 majority, said it was adopting Arnold v. Cincinnati Insurance Co., 2004 WI App 195, because it is “more consistent with normal language: that to ensue means…
Continue Reading Supreme Court: Rain Damage, Not Construction Defect, Recoverable

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Aug. 17, 2026 – Whether a statutory proceeding to restore competency to trial also could authorize involuntary medication for dangerousness resulted in the Wisconsin Supreme Court holding 6-1 in State v. N.K.B., 2026 WI 22, that the proceedings are separate. The tally overstates agreement. The case became a dispute between three interpretations of the relevant statutes. “We conclude that the best way to read [Wis. stat. section 51.61(1)(g)3.] in light of [Wis. Stat. section 971.14]’s separate,…
Continue Reading Supreme Court: Competency to Stand Trial and Dangerousness Separate

By Attorneys Stephen E. Mays and Halle Geiger

Every person accused of Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) has constitutional and statutory rights. When law enforcement fails to follow those rules, the consequences can be significant.

In a recent OWI First Offense case, Mays Law Office filed three separate motions asking the court to suppress critical evidence:

  • The unlawful arrest.
  • An improperly obtained Preliminary Breath Test (PBT).
  • The blood test — because our client’s legally guaranteed alternative chemical test was

…
Continue Reading Three Motions. Three Wins. OWI Charges Dismissed in Just 12 Minutes.

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July 22, 2026 – The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed with the Wisconsin attorney general in his dispute with the Wisconsin Legislature to cont​rol settlement funds that the Wisconsin ​Department of Justice (DOJ) receives, in Wisconsin State Legislature v. Kaul, 2026 WI 28 (July 10, 2026).

“We conclude that the attorney general complies with [Wis. Stat. section 165.10] when, in accordance with the straightforward language of the statute, he deposits settlement funds into the general fund,” wrote…
Continue Reading Supreme Court: Attorney General Controls Settlement Funds

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July 22, 2026 – A 65-year-old man’s appeal of a circuit court order continuing his protective placement in a nursing facility generated dissent among Wisconsin Supreme Court justices on whether the majority properly applied the standard of review in Racine County v. R.P.L., 2026 WI 26 (July 7, 2026).

The court held 4-3 in a decision authored by Justice Susan M. Crawford that under the “mixed question of fact and law” standard of review, the evidence was…
Continue Reading Supreme Court Debates Protective Placement Evidentiary Standards

Operating with a PAC in Wisconsin means driving with a Prohibited Alcohol Concentration — the per-se, number-based charge under Wis. Stat. § 346.63(1)(b) (0.08 for most drivers, 0.02 for a 4th-or-subsequent offense or while under an interlock order). It is a separate legal theory from OWI, § 346.63(1)(a), which is about impairment. Prosecutors file both from one stop, but § 346.63(1)(c) lets you be convicted of only one. Mays Law Office defends OWI and PAC cases across Madison, Middleton,…
Continue Reading OWI vs. PAC in Wisconsin: Why You’re Charged With Both — and Why You Can Only Be Convicted of One

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July 15, 2026 – The Wisconsin Supreme Court denied a records request for Notice of Voting Eligibility (NVE) forms because a 5-2 majority interpreted the guardianship statutes as excepting the forms from a public records request in
Wisconsin Voter Alliance (WVA) v. Secord, 2026 WI 27.

“The legislature said, with limited exceptions, ‘court records pertinent to the finding of incompetency are closed,’” wrote Justice Janet C. Protasiewicz for the majority. “Thus, the [WVA] does not have a right…
Continue Reading Supreme Court: Voter Eligibility Forms Confidential

Posted on July 15, 2026 in Criminal Defense
Being charged with a serious felony in Wisconsin changes your life overnight. While every criminal charge should be taken seriously, some offenses carry penalties that can keep someone in prison for decades or even for the rest of their life.

Wisconsin uses a felony classification system that assigns different maximum penalties based on the crime involved. If they believe the circumstances warrant it, prosecutors may also seek sentence enhancements that increase…
Continue Reading What Crimes Have the Longest Sentences in Milwaukee?

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Interior of an empty courtroom with gavel and sounding block on the desk.

WJI received a report in late June from controversial nonprofit Enough is Enough about reckless driving cases in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, highlighting significant differences in judges’ sentencing patterns.The court watch group, which was the subject of an open letter to the Milwaukee County judiciary last year, advocates against reckless driving and for “stronger measures to protect our communities,” according to its website.

“ENE” was founded after the death of Erin Morgensen, who was killed while a bystander to

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Continue Reading Opinion: New Report Shows Concerning Contrast in Reckless Driving Sentences Among Milwaukee Judiciary