Sufficiency of Evidence

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Teel Tyre Hargraves

Case No.: 2017AP1242-CR

Officials: Kessler, Brash and Dugan, JJ.

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence

Teel Tyre Hargraves appeals from the judgment of conviction entered upon a jury’s verdict finding him guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He also appeals an order of the circuit court denying his postconviction motion seeking a new trial. Hargraves’s arguments concern the admission of evidence relating to an anonymous 911 call that relayed the description of an individual with a gun. Hargraves asserts that the evidence relating to the call was testimonial hearsay and violates his right to confrontation. Hargraves further contends that even if the evidence is not hearsay, its probative value is outweighed by its unfair prejudice, and therefore it should have been excluded.

The State maintains that the evidence was not hearsay because it was not admitted to prove the truth of the matter asserted, but that even if it was erroneously-admitted hearsay, it was harmless error. The State further argues that the evidence was nontestimonial, and therefore there is no Confrontation Clause violation. Finally, the State asserts that the evidence was relevant to the police officers’ states of mind and was not unduly prejudicial.

We conclude that the 911 description was properly admitted for the limited purpose of providing context for the circumstances of the case, and although the State went beyond the scope of that purpose in its closing argument, those arguments are not evidence upon which an admissibility challenge can be based. We therefore affirm.

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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.