By: Derek Hawkins//December 27, 2018//
WI Court of Appeals – District IV
Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Dustin Charles Yenter
Case No.: 2017AP2253
Officials: LUNDSTEN, P.J.
Focus: OWI – Defense of Coercion
Dustin Yenter appeals a judgment of conviction for operating while under the influence of an intoxicant and operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration, both as a first offense. Yenter contends that he was entitled to raise the defense of coercion pursuant to State v. Brown, 107 Wis. 2d 44, 318 N.W.2d 370 (1982), and that he alleged sufficient facts to present the defense to a jury. I will assume, for purposes of this opinion, that the defense of coercion may be raised as a defense to the citations in this case. However, I agree with the circuit court that, at the time the court ruled on this topic, the facts presented to the court did not support a reasonable finding that a person in Yenter’s position would have reasonably believed that violating the law was the only means of preventing bodily harm to himself or to those people with him. Accordingly, I affirm.