State justices grant new trial in homicide (UPDATE)

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has granted a new trial for a Milwaukee man convicted of homicide in 2009.

A jury found Jimothy Jenkins guilty of being party to first-degree intentional homicide in connection with a 2007 street shooting that left Anthony Weaver dead. Jenkins was sentenced to life in prison.

In a 2011 Machner hearing – which is held when an ineffective assistance of council claim is made – Jenkins argued that his trial attorney, Michael Backes, was ineffective because he failed to call Cera Jones, an eyewitness, to testify that Jenkins wasn’t the shooter.

The First District Court of Appeals rejected Jenkins’ argument last year. The state Supreme Court, in a decision authored by Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, reversed that decision Friday, ruling 5-2 that Jenkins proved his attorney was ineffective.

According to the opinion, “Taking into account all the circumstances of the case, we conclude that defense trial counsel’s performance was prejudicial to the defendant; there is a reasonable probability that the result of the proceeding would have been different had defense trial counsel called Jones to testify at trial.”

The state Department of Justice defended Jenkins’ appeal. An email attributed to DOJ spokeswoman Dana Brueck said attorneys are reviewing the decision.

Backes, reached Friday, said he didn’t recall the specifics of the case but was happy that Jenkins’ conviction was reversed.

“Whatever decisions I made at trial, certainly there were reasons for them,” Backes said.

Justice Annette Ziegler, in a dissent joined by Justice Michael Gableman, wrote that she would not have overturned the conviction, in part because there was no guarantee that Jones’ testimony would have cleared Jenkins.

“As a practical matter, this was a difficult case for the defense to build,” Ziegler wrote. “Witnesses were not exactly cooperative with counsel. Counsel was forced to secure the assistance of Jenkins’ sister to try and get witnesses to cooperate in Jenkins’ defense.”

The Associated Press also contributed to this report.