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State v. Donaven C. Sprague, 2022AP876-CR, 5/20/25, District III (not recommended for publication), case activity

In the second defense win this week on appeal from a Barron County conviction (see Wooldridge), the COA vacated Donaven Sprague’s sentence to 10 years of initial confinement for repeated sexual assault of a child because the State breached its plea agreement to recommend no more than 5 years of initial confinement and did not cure the breach.  The Court also found…
Continue Reading Defense Win: COA orders resentencing before a different judge

Sheboygan County v. N.A.L., 2024AP1195, petition for review of an unpublished decision of the court of appeals, granted 5/122/25; case activity

In yet another interesting Chapter 51 appeal, SCOW signals its willingness to resolve whether a colloquy is required before accepting a stipulation to an involuntary mental commitment order (and accompanying involuntary med order)–an issue which has recurred since 2005.

As it has continued to do in other recent cases, SCOW accepts only one of the issues…
Continue Reading SCOW accepts review in Chapter 51 appeal

Outagamie County v. M.J.B., 2024AP250, 5/20/25, District III (recommended for publication); case activity
In a case clarifying a legal question that has persisted for years in 51 litigation, COA holds that when the examiners do not satisfy the statutorily-imposed deadline for filing their reports in connection with a final hearing in an original commitment proceeding, the circuit court can lose competency.

Note 2.o: In what we believe to be a first, this opinion was withdrawn and reissued a…
Continue Reading Defense Win! COA agrees that failure to timely provide examiner reports prior to initial commitment hearing deprives court of competency

State of Wisconsin v. F.S.-E., 2054AP10, District I, 5/20/25 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity
The COA rejects F.S.-E.’s claim that he is entitled to an evidentiary hearing to determine whether his no contest plea was knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made. It holds that there is no requirement that the circuit court pause after explaining each right during the plea colloquy to inquire as to F.S.-E.’s understand of that particular right.
The state filed a petition to…
Continue Reading COA affirms TPR plea, holds circuit court not required to pause after explaining each right

State v. Kelsy R. Wooldridge, 2022AP1927-CR, 5/20/25, District III (not recommended for publication), case activity
In a decision not recommended for publication, the COA reversed Kelsy Wooldridge’s conviction for possessing methamphetamine and found that no reasonable jury could have determined beyond a reasonable doubt that she knew a bloody syringe seized from her purse contained an unmeasurable amount of the drug.

Police conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle that was registered to Wooldridge, but in which she…
Continue Reading Defense Wins: COA finds insufficient evidence to support guilty verdict for possessing methamphetamine.

Posted on May 19, 2025 in Criminal Defense
Physicians and other medical professionals hold positions of immense trust. When the law is broken, even unintentionally, that trust can quickly become a legal liability. Criminal charges against doctors are on the rise in the United States, and the consequences can be devastating: prison time, license suspension, and irreversible harm to a hard-earned reputation.

At Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown, LLP, our Milwaukee, WI criminal defense attorneys represent medical professionals throughout…
Continue Reading 5 Reasons Doctors Are Criminally Indicted

May 19, 2025 – A Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) permit did not need to require supplementary battery storage for a new natural gas-fired electric generating plant, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals decided Thursday in
Sierra Club v. DNR, No. 2024AP673 (May 15, 2025). The court remanded the permit to DNR because part of the permit’s basis comes from the agency’s Background Concentration Protocol, which the court held was an unpromulgated rule – created outside the required…
Continue Reading Court of Appeals: Gas-Fired Power Plant Rule Requires Remand

Marathon County v. S.S., 2024AP1866, 5/8/25, District III (1-judge decision, ineligible for publication); case activity

“Sean” appeals orders of the circuit court terminating his parental rights to his daughter, “Zoey,” and denying his motion for postdisposition relief. He argues that he was denied effective assistance of counsel in four respects during the grounds trial, and that he was prejudiced by the individual and cumulative effects of counsel’s deficient performance. COA rejects Sean’s first two IAC claims and concludes…
Continue Reading COA rejects numerous IAC claims, affirms jury verdict in TPR appeal

May 13, 2025 – Three victims of a violent 2015 hostage-taking in Neenah recently lost their Fourth Amendment claims before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Moderson v. City of Neenah, No. 23-2843 (May 9, 2025).

In a decision written by Circuit Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi and joined by Judges Frank H. Easterbrook and Ilana Diamond Rovner, the dangerous crime scene made brief seizures reasonable even when two victims were handcuffed…
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals: Rough Handling Not Wrongful Seizure

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State v. Bernabe Gonzalez,  2024AP358-CR, 5/6/25, District I (1-judge decision, ineligible for publication); case activity

In what we believe is COA’s first foray into the vexing world of firearm regulation post-Bruen and Rahimi, COA holds that a Wisconsin’s statute prohibiting intoxicated persons from “going armed” passes muster under an originalist legal analysis.

Faithful readers will recall that this issue previously reached SCOW in 2021, resulting in a 5-1-1 decision (with Justice Hagedorn concurring and Justice R.G. Bradley…
Continue Reading COA Holds That Statute Prohibiting Possession of a Firearm While Intoxicated Passes Muster

May 2, 2025 – The partial veto power extends to allow Gov. Tony Evers to change a biennial budget provision to last 402 years, a 4-3 majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court recently held in LeMieux v. Evers, 2025 WI 12.

The dissent found this partial veto problem greater than the acts of the current governor – 49 years of supreme court decisions strayed from the constitution, necessitating correction.

Revenue Increase Through 2425

In the 2023-25 biennial budget,…
Continue Reading Constitution Allows Partial Veto Fixing Biennial Budget Increase for 402 Years

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Posted on April 29, 2025 in Medical License Defense
Being convicted of a serious crime — especially a white-collar or high-profile offense — is not necessarily the end of the road. In Wisconsin, the law provides the opportunity to challenge a criminal conviction through the appeals process. Whether the issue involves procedural errors, improper jury instructions, or newly discovered evidence, a successful appeal can mean the difference between years behind bars and full exoneration.

At Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin…
Continue Reading What is the Criminal Appeals Process in Wisconsin? 

Leon Carter v. Lizzie Tiegels, No. 23-1266, 4/24/25

In a knotty habeas case, the complexities of habeas corpus law mean that Carter’s challenges to how COA handled his no-merit appeal and an underlying (and unique) claim of juror intrusion do not merit relief.

During the jury deliberations at Carter’s trial, the jury passed a note to the bailiff with the intent that it be delivered to the judge. (p.3). The note read: “What happens if we…
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit affirms in Wisconsin-originating habeas on juror intrusion claim; analyzes Wisconsin’s no-merit procedure

State v. Kimberly D. Rowe, 2022AP2122-CR, 4/22/25, District III (1-judge decision, ineligible for publication); case activity

The COA considered when a collection of liquor bottles behind the counter of what appeared to be a bar becomes “intoxicating liquor” for which a license is required to possess for intended sales.  Because the State did not prove the identity of the liquid in the bottles or submit the liquid for chemical testing, the COA reversed Kimberly Rowe’s conviction for possessing…
Continue Reading Defense wins sufficiency of evidence claim in COA after trial for possessing intoxicating liquor without a license

State v. Jonah Michael Hoffman, 2024AP1221-CR, 4/24/25, District IV (1-judge decision, ineligible for publication); case activity
The sole issue on appeal is whether the deputy who arrested Hoffman had probable cause to search his truck for evidence of an open container. COA concludes that probable cause was lacking, and accordingly reverses and remands with directions that any evidence derived from the search be suppressed.
The deputy saw ran the plates on Hoffman’s truck after seeing it on the…
Continue Reading COA reverses, holding deputy lacked probable cause to search truck under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement

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April 24, 2025 – After an employer had police investigate possible theft by employees, the employees’ subsequent discharge violated the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act’s (WFEA) prohibitions against termination discrimination because of an arrest record, a 5-2 supreme court majority decided April 10 in

Oconomowoc Area School District v. Cota, 2025 WI 11.

Three justices didn’t like that result. Justice Janet C. Protasiewicz’s concurrence said this “strange result” required legislative revision of the WFEA.

Chief Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler’s…
Continue Reading Suspicious District Faulted for WFEA Firing Violation