Plea Withdrawal – Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

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WI Court of Appeals – District II

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Patrick H. Dalton

Case No.: 2016AP6-CR

Officials: GUNDRUM, J.

Focus: Plea Withdrawal – Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Patrick Dalton appeals from his judgment of conviction and the circuit court’s order denying his postconviction motion. He seeks to withdraw his plea, contending that his trial counsel provided him ineffective assistance by failing to file a motion to suppress evidence arguing “that police lacked the exigent circumstances necessary to forcibly draw his blood without a warrant,” and that the circuit court erred in denying his postconviction motion related to this failure without affording him a Machner3 evidentiary hearing. He alternatively asserts the court erroneously exercised its discretion at sentencing by “increas[ing] [his] punishment” because of his refusal to allow the blood draw and erred in denying his postconviction motion seeking resentencing. We agree the circuit court erred in denying without a Machner hearing Dalton’s postconviction motion as related to his ineffective assistance of counsel claim. We remand for a Machner hearing. Upon remand, we also direct the circuit court to address Dalton’s claim related to sentencing in light of the United States Supreme Court’s very recent decision in Birchfield v. North Dakota, 579 U.S. ___ (2016). We therefore reverse the court’s postconviction order and remand for further proceedings.

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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.