Criminal Procedure — ineffective assistance — juror bias — exculpatory evidence

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Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Criminal

Criminal Procedure — ineffective assistance — juror bias — exculpatory evidence

Edward Beck appeals a judgment of conviction for disorderly conduct in violation of Wis. Stat. § 947.01, as a repeater. Beck filed a motion for postconviction relief, however, the circuit court lost jurisdiction to hear Beck’s motion. Beck contends that: (1) the circuit court erred by failing to request an extension to hear his postconviction motion, which caused the court to lose jurisdiction under Wis. Stat. § 809.30(2)(i) and violated his due process rights; (2) the circuit court erred by failing to strike for cause three potentially biased jurors, which forced Beck to use all three of his peremptory strikes under Wis. Stat. § 972.03 to remove these jurors and left other potentially biased jurors on the panel; and (3) the State withheld material evidence favorable to his case by failing to produce the victim’s hospital records and a video recording of the incident or its immediate aftermath.

We conclude the court did not err in failing to request an extension to hear Beck’s postconviction motion because the court had no duty to do so under Wis. Stat. § 809.30(2)(i). With regard to Beck having to use peremptory strikes to remove jurors who should have been struck for cause, we reject Beck’s claims of court error and ineffective assistance of counsel, and conclude that, while one potential juror was objectively biased, and a second may have also been biased, the use of two of Beck’s peremptory strikes to remove these potential jurors did not affect his substantial rights. With regard to Beck’s allegations that the State withheld exculpatory evidence, we conclude that the claim that a video recording of the incident or its immediate aftermath was withheld warrants an evidentiary hearing. Similarly, we conclude that the claim that the State withheld the victim’s medical records of the treatment she received at the hospital on the night of the incident also warrants an evidentiary hearing. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part and remand for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether a video recording of the incident or its immediate aftermath and the medical records exist and whether this evidence is exculpatory, and for additional proceedings as necessary. This opinion will not be published.

2010AP872-CR State v. Beck

Dist IV, Juneau County, Roemer, J., Higginbotham, J.

Attorneys: For Appellant: Beck, Edward, Milwaukee; For Respondent: Weber, Gregory M., Madison; Southworth, Scott Harold, Mauston