Admission of Evidence

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Giancarlo Giacomantonio

Case No.: 2015AP968-CR

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

Focus: Admission of Evidence

Giancarlo Giacomantonio appeals from a judgment of conviction of sexual exploitation of a child, contrary to WIS. STAT. § 948.05(1)(a) (2013-14), entered after a jury trial. Giacomantonio contends on appeal that: (1) photographs of text messages found on the victim’s phone should have been excluded because they were unauthenticated, unoriginal, and hearsay; and (2) his right to present a defense was infringed upon when the trial court refused to conduct an in camera review of the victim’s mental health records We affirm because we conclude: (1) the proper foundation was laid for authentication of the photographs of text messages; and (2) the trial court did not err in refusing to conduct an in camera review of the victim’s mental health records because the defendant failed to satisfy his burden of showing materiality to the defense as set forth in State v. Shiffra, 175 Wis. 2d 600, 608-09, 499 N.W.2d 719 (Ct. App. 1993) and State v. Green, 2002 WI 68, ¶¶32-34, 253 Wis. 2d 356, 646 N.W.2d 298. We discuss each issue in turn below.

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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.