Plea Withdrawal – Harmless Error

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WI Supreme Court

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Jose Alberto Reyes Fuerte

Case No.: 2017 WI 104

Focus: Plea Withdrawal – Harmless Error  

This is a review of a published decision of the court of appeals that reversed the Columbia County Circuit Court’s order denying Jose Alberto Reyes Fuerte’s (“Reyes Fuerte”) motion to withdraw two guilty pleas for two separate criminal violations. The motions for withdrawal were made pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 971.08(2) (2013- 14). State v. Reyes Fuerte, 2016 WI App 78, 372 Wis. 2d 106, 887 N.W.2d 121.

The State argues that motions to withdraw a guilty plea pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 971.08(2) should be subject to harmless error analysis pursuant to Wis. Stat. §§ 971.26 and 805.18, and thus this court should overrule its decision in State v. Douangmala, 2002 WI 62, 253 Wis. 2d 173, 646 N.W.2d 1. The State asks this court to remand this matter to the circuit court for a Bangert hearing in order to determine whether Reyes Fuerte knew of the potential immigration consequences of his plea at the time of the plea hearing.

We hold that Douangmala was objectively wrong because it failed to properly consider the harmless error statutes, Wis. Stat. §§ 971.26 and 805.18, and is thus overruled. Applying harmless error analysis, we further hold that the circuit court’s error in this case was harmless as a matter of law and thus reverse the decision of the court of appeals.

Reversed

Concur:

Dissent: ABRAHAMSON, J. dissents, joined by A.W. BRADLEY, J. (opinion filed).

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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.