By: Derek Hawkins//October 16, 2018//
WI Court of Appeals – District II
Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Darrin L. Malone
Case No.: 2017AP680-CR
Officials: Reilly, P.J., Gundrum and Hagedorn, JJ.
Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence
At approximately 10:40 p.m. on January 13, 2015, two men wearing green masks and blue latex gloves robbed a Citgo convenience store, with the first, shorter, robber shooting and killing the clerk. It is undisputed this first robber was Kenneth Thomas. Both robbers left the scene in a getaway car undisputedly driven by Jerica Cotton.
Based upon evidence it had gathered indicating Darrin Malone was the second robber, the State charged him with felony murder, as a party to the crime, and following a four-day trial, a jury convicted him of that offense. Malone moved for postconviction relief, which motion the trial court denied. He now appeals his judgment of conviction and the denial of his postconviction motion. He claims he is entitled to a new trial for various reasons related to the trial court’s admission of “other acts” evidence of a separate robbery. For the following reasons, we conclude the trial court did not err in denying Malone’s motion for postconviction relief and he is not otherwise entitled to a new trial.