By: Derek Hawkins//January 23, 2019//
WI Court of Appeals – District IV
Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Antorn Lamont Roby, Sr.,
Case No.: 2017AP2502
Officials: Sherman, Blanchard and Kloppenburg, JJ.
Focus: Due Process Violation
Antorn Lamont Roby, Sr., appeals an order denying postconviction relief. Roby contends that his constitutional due process right to present a defense was violated when police destroyed field notes taken by separate investigating officers after a single report was created by the lead officer to avoid any inconsistencies between the separate reports. Roby contends that the notes of the investigating officers were potentially useful as impeachment evidence. Roby contends that the State’s depriving Roby of the notes was a structural error requiring automatic reversal. Alternatively, he contends that, if the error was not structural, it was not harmless. Finally, Roby seeks a new trial in the interest of justice on the ground that the real controversy was not fully tried. For the reasons set forth below, we reject Roby’s contentions and decline to order a new trial in the interest of justice. We affirm.