Sentencing – Sentence Credit

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Carter T. Hopson

Case No.: 2015AP2265-CR

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ

Focus: Sentencing – Sentence Credit

Carter Hopson appeals a judgment of conviction for several drug offenses and an order denying his postconviction motion. Hopson contends he is entitled to sentence credit on the present conviction for time he spent in jail after his extended supervision for a prior offense was revoked. We conclude that revocation and the concomitant reconfinement sentence order severed the connection between his confinement and the present charges, such that he was no longer incarcerated “in connection with the course of conduct for which sentence was imposed” in this case. See WIS. STAT. § 973.155(1)(a) (2013-14).1 Accordingly, we reject Hopson’s argument that the severing event was his arrival at the prison where he would be serving the reconfinement term prior to his sentencing in this case, which arrival occurred twenty-two days after he was sentenced upon revocation. Hopson also argues he is entitled to plea withdrawal because the circuit court impermissibly participated in plea negotiations. The conduct giving rise to Hopson’s “participation” argument involved the circuit court’s pretrial efforts to ensure that Hopson was aware of, and had personally rejected, all prior plea offers from the State. We conclude the circuit court’s mere act of confirming on the record that the defendant had received and personally rejected all plea offers the state had made—apparently to forestall a subsequent challenge to any resulting conviction based on Missouri v. Frye, 566 U.S. 133 (2012), or State v. Ludwig, 124 Wis. 2d 600, 369 N.W.2d 722 (1985)—does not amount to judicial participation in plea negotiations. We therefore affirm the judgment of conviction and order denying postconviction relief. However, during our review of this case, we discovered defense counsel had possibly miscalculated the number of days Hopson had spent in confinement in connection with the present charges, and, consequently, the amount of sentence credit Hopson is owed. We therefore remand this matter to the circuit court to ascertain whether the judgment contains a clerical error and, if so, to correct it. See infra n.4.

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