Sentencing – Judge Bias

By: Derek Hawkins//May 17, 2017//

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. John L. Phillips, Sr.

Case No.: 2015AP2418-CR

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

Focus: Sentencing – Judge Bias

John Phillips, Sr., appeals a judgment of conviction for threatening a judge and identity theft, as well as an order denying his postconviction motion. Phillips argues the judge who presided over his trial and sentencing was objectively biased because that judge worked in the same courthouse as the judge Phillips had threatened. Phillips also argues that law enforcement obtained his confession by virtue of an inadmissible “continuation” of a polygraph examination, to which Phillips had consented. We conclude Phillips has not satisfied his burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the trial judge was objectively biased. We also conclude the circuit court properly denied Phillips’s suppression motion. Accordingly, we affirm.

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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.

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