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Criminal Procedure – Right to counsel – harmless error

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//September 15, 2011//

Criminal Procedure – Right to counsel – harmless error

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//September 15, 2011//

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Criminal Procedure
Right to counsel; harmless error

Dennis D. Lemoine appeals a judgment of conviction entered after a jury trial for first-degree sexual assault of a child under thirteen, contrary to Wis. Stat. § 948.02(1)(e) (2009-10), and an order denying his motion to suppress incriminating statements made to investigators in a noncustodial interview. Lemoine contends his statements were coerced and therefore involuntary where, among other things, an investigator induced the statements by promising that Lemoine would not spend that night in jail if he gave the “true story,” and by suggesting that, if he were jailed, he would be unable to exercise his constitutional right to counsel. Assuming without deciding that the challenged portion of Lemoine’s incriminating statements were involuntary and therefore should have been suppressed, we conclude that the court’s admission of these statements was harmless error. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment. Not recommended for publication in the official reports.

2010AP2597-CR State v. Lemoine

Dist IV, Sauk County, Reynolds, J., Higginbotham, J.

Attorneys For Appellant: Hintze, Donna L., Madison; York, Katie R., Madison; For Respondent: Fallon, Thomas J., Madison; Freimuth, James M., Madison

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