Sufficiency of Evidence

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WI Court of Appeals – District II

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Trista J. Ziehr

Case No.: 2015AP994-CR

Officials: HAGEDORN, J.

Practice Area: Sufficiency of Evidence

Trista Ziehr was the owner and operator of a daycare center. Wisconsin requires individuals in her position to immediately report to proper authorities if they have a reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused. In October 2014, a jury found Ziehr guilty of failing to so report, and she was sentenced to thirty days in jail. Ziehr now appeals her conviction, raising five grounds for our review. She alleges the following: (1) The circuit court failed to properly instruct the jury that she had a reasonable amount of time to investigate prior to reporting, that she could fulfill her obligations as a reporter by causing a third person to make a report, and that her duty to report was discharged when she reasonably believed that the appropriate authorities had already been notified; (2) The complaint failed to give her adequate notice of the charges against her because it was duplicitous; (3) The circuit court erred by admitting evidence of a separate incident where she purportedly failed to report child abuse; (4) The evidence was constitutionally insufficient such that no reasonable jury could have found her guilty; and (5) This court should exercise its discretionary powers to reverse her conviction. We disagree and affirm the circuit court on all counts. We conclude that (1) the jury instructions given were not in error; rather they fully and fairly informed the jury of the applicable law; (2) the circuit court did not abuse its discretion by admitting other-acts evidence of a second alleged failure to report; (3) the prohibition against duplicity was not violated because Ziehr was tried solely on the first failure to report incident, of which she had adequate notice; (4) sufficient evidence supports Ziehr’s conviction; and (5) a new trial pursuant to our discretionary powers is not warranted. Accordingly, the judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.

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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.