High court to debate Sixth Amendment case

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Should a Lafayette County man who was involved in an armed standoff with two DNR wardens on his property have been allowed to present a defense at his trial?

That’s the question before the Wisconsin Supreme Court in State v. Robert Joseph Stietz. The court will be hearing oral arguments in that case and two others on. Feb. 15.

The case before the justices stems from a standoff Robert Stietz, a 64-year-old beef farmer, had with two DNR wardens on the afternoon of Nov. 25, 2012, the last day of the deer-hunting season. According to Steitz’s testimony at trial, he was walking that afternoon along his property – a 12-acre fenced parcel in Lamont – looking for trespassers.  According to court documents, the wardens saw Steitz’s vehicle parked along a fence, looked inside it, saw an empty gun case, and thought he might be hunting deer.

The wardens entered the property, found Steitz and asked him for his rifle. When he refused to hand it over, they wrestled it away from him. One of the wardens then drew a pistol and pointed it at Steitz, who drew his own pistol and pointed it at that warden.

The wardens called for backup from the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, and Steitz was later charged with six criminal offenses, including two counts of pointing a firearm at a law-enforcement officer.

Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge James Beer rejected Steitz’s counsel’s request for a jury instruction on self-defense and denied any argument that Steitz had acted in self-defense against trespassers.

The jury acquitted Steitz of four of the six charges, and found him guilty of pointing a firearm at law enforcement and resisting or obstructing an officer. Steitz moved for a new trial, but Beer rejected the request and sentenced him in May 2014 to one year of jail plus extended supervision and probation. He has since completed the jail sentence.

Steitz appealed in November 2014, arguing that Beer’s refusal to give the jury instructions on self-defense and trespassing violated Steitz’s Sixth Amendment right to present a defense. The Court of Appeals affirmed Beer’s decision in May of last year.

Steitz appealed shortly afterward, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court chose to hear the case in October.

Steitz is arguing before the high court that his constitutional right to present a defense was violated by the judge’s refusal to instruct the jury on self-defense and trespassing law. He is also arguing that the appeals court erred in ruling that the Steitz did not have a right to defend himself against the wardens because they were law-enforcement officers.

The state is arguing, among other things, that the testimony Steitz presented at trial was not sufficient for Beer to have granted a jury instruction on self-defense. They are also contending that there was no argument for a jury instruction on trespassing because the standoff happened on an easement  and that wardens are allowed to trespass on private property as long as their actions are reasonable and within their scope of authority.

The justices will hear oral arguments in the case at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 15 in the Supreme Court Hearing Room in the state Capitol. Follow @erikastrebel