Court Error – Abuse of Discretion

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Deandre D. Rogers

Case No.: 2017AP670-CR

Officials: Kessler, Brash and Dugan, J.J.

Focus: Court Error – Abuse of Discretion

Following a jury trial, Deandre D. Rogers was convicted of two counts of armed robbery, one count of robbery and three counts of bail jumping. On appeal, Rogers contends that the trial court erroneously exercised its discretion by (1) admitting evidence that a vehicle, from which his fingerprint was lifted, had been reported stolen, and (2) allowing the prosecutor’s closing argument regarding the mathematical probability that Rogers had been mistakenly identified in the photo arrays.

We conclude that the trial court properly exercised its discretion in admitting evidence that the vehicle was reported stolen and that Rogers was not prejudiced by the prosecutor’s improper comments in closing argument. Therefore, we affirm Roger’s conviction. The following facts are relevant to the issues on appeal. Additional facts will be included in our discussion.

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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.