Conditions of Probation – Court Error

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Marguerite Aplers

Case No.: 2015AP1784-CR

Officials: BRENNAN, J.

Practice Area: Conditions of Probation – Court Error

Marguerite Alpers appeals from the circuit court’s order denying her motion to rescind that portion of the court’s prior order imposing as a condition of probation that an ignition interlock device (“IID”) be placed on “her husband’s car.” Alpers argues that: (1) the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion when it initially ordered that the IID be placed on “her husband’s car”; and (2) the order violates Alpers’s constitutional rights. Because the State concedes that the circuit court’s order is not supported by the record, and our review of the record affirms that the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion, we reverse. We note that the effect of our decision is solely to remove the condition of IID on “her husband’s car.” Our decision does not remove the additional probation condition that requires Alpers to install an IID on “any vehicle operated/owned by the defendant.” We need not address Alpers’s constitutional argument because we decide the case on other grounds. See State v. Blalock, 150 Wis. 2d 688, 703, 442 N.W.2d 514 (Ct. App. 1989) (Cases should be decided on the narrowest possible grounds).

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