State v. Tavodess Matthews, 2019AP2142, 5/12/20, District 1 (recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs). Section 801.58(1) states that if a party to a civil action files a judicial substitution request “preceding the hearing of any preliminary contested matter” and not later than 60 days after service of the summons and complaint then the request must be granted.  A “preliminary contested matter” refers to a “substantive issue” going to”the merits of the case.” The court of appeals holds that a motion to adjourn a probable cause hearing  in a Chapter 980 case fits that bill. Defense counsel moved to…

State v. Jeffrey I. Quitko, 2019AP200-CR, District 3, 5/12/20 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Quitko’s motion to suppress evidence obtained following his traffic stop for speeding violation should have been granted because law enforcement lacked probable cause to request that he submit to a preliminary breath test (PBT). ¶2     …. In State v. Goss, 2011 WI 104, ¶2, 338 Wis. 2d 72, 806 N.W.2d 918, our supreme court held, under facts largely similar to those present in this case, that a law enforcement officer has probable cause to request that a driver submit…

Town of Waterford v. Christopher Pye, 2019AP737, 5/6/20, District 2 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) The court of appeals rejects the municipality’s argument that the doctrine of equitable tolling applies to the two-year statute of limitation for bringing a forfeiture action. In June 2014 Pye was cited for first-offense OWI causing injury, first-offense operating with a prohibited alcohol content, and inattentive driving. Because of the causing-injury allegation, the OWI and PAC were charged as crimes in circuit court. But under the statute in effect in at the time of the offense (and since amended), “injury”…

State v. David William Krumm, 2019AP243-CR, District 3, 5/5/20 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Under § 343.303 and County of Jefferson v. Renz, 231 Wis. 2d 293, 603 N.W.2d 541 (1999), there was probable cause to believe Krumm was operating while intoxicated, so police could request he submit to a preliminary breath test. ¶11     Renz teaches that, here, [Officer] Volz had the required degree of probable cause to request of Krumm that he submit to a PBT. The totality of circumstances illustrates that, notwithstanding Krumm’s “passing” grades on his field sobriety tests,…

State v. Ronald Eugene Provost, 2018AP1268 & 1269, 4/14/20, District 3 (recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) It’s unclear why this opinion is recommended for publication. Best guess is that is provides a (rather thin) gloss on the “systemic breakdown” exception to the rule that delays attributable to defense counsel don’t weigh in favor of a speedy trial violation. The court cites and adopts a statement from a New Mexico court that defense counsel’s delays represent a “systemic breakdown” only when they are caused by “problems that are both institutional in origin and debilitating in scope.” (¶40…

Ladarius Marshall v. Scott Eckstein, No. 15-CV-008 (E.D. Wis. Apr. 22, 2020) Marshall pleaded to homicide and other charges. Before he did so, though, he moved to suppress statements he’d made during more than 12 hours of interrogation at the police station (he was 16 years old at the time). The trial court and our court of appeals held that the interrogating officers “scrupulously honored” Marshall’s multiple assertions that he didn’t want to talk with them anymore. The federal district court finds this conclusion unreasonable because the officers deflected his refusals to talk and cajoled him into continuing. What’s…

Courtesy of Garrett Epps, writing at The Atlantic, “A Citizen’s Guide to SCOTUS Live”: America’s typical amusements—March Madness, the NBA playoffs, Major League Baseball Opening Day, the U.S. Open, the Masters—have suddenly disappeared. Just in time, though, a new Big League debuts tomorrow [May 4], offering a welcome spectacle of bare-knuckle combat, vicious competition, taunts, and trash talk. The Ultimate Fighting Championship will return on May 9. Until then, the United States Supreme Court is the only show in town. Read the entire piece here. Over at the Gray Lady, Adam Liptak explains how “revolutionary” it is for the…

State v. Phyllis M. Schwersenska, 2018AP1619-CR, District 4, 4/30/20 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Schwersenska was convicted of embezzling money from a joint bank account she held with her daughter, H.R. The court of appeals holds trial counsel wasn’t ineffective for failing to raise the defense that, as joint owner of the account, none of the money in the account belonged solely to H.R. and so she can’t be guilty of theft from H.R. Based on testimony of H.R. and other witnesses, the state’s theory of prosecution was that most of the money deposited in the…

Langlade County v. D.J.W., 2018AP145-FT, reversing an unpublished court of appeals opinion, 4/24/20; case activity Wisconsin involuntarily commits more of its residents than any other state in the country–by a long shot. According to a report for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the annual commitment rate among states ranges from 0.23 to 43.8 per 1,000 adults with serious mental illness. The average is 9.4 per 1,000.  Wisconsin, which is ranked 20th in population size, owns the 43.8 rate. SCOW’s 4-3 decision here can begin to end Wisconsin’s fait accompli commitment hearings–but only if defense lawyers object…