Court Error – Jury

Listen to this article

WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Miguel Muniz-Munoz

Case No.: 2014AP702-CR

Officials: Curley, P.J., Kessler and Brennan, JJ

Focus: Court Error – Jury

We are satisfied that the trial court properly exercised its discretion when it denied the motions for the following reasons: (1) the requested voir dire of the “sleeping” jurors was properly denied because the trial court found the jurors were not sleeping, and this finding is not clearly erroneous; (2) the trial court did not violate Muniz-Munoz’s confrontation rights because the doctor testified to his own independent opinion regarding the cause of death; (3) the trial court determined that the request for a special jury instruction did not reflect Wisconsin law, and the trial court read the jury the standard jury instruction but without the paragraph dealing with unrecorded interrogations as the law did not require recorded interrogations at the time of Muniz-Munoz’s interrogation; and (4) the trial court properly denied the discovery motion because even if Muniz- Munoz’s allegations were true, it would not lead to the dismissal of his charges. Consequently, we affirm.

Full Text

Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.