By: Derek Hawkins//September 4, 2019//
WI Court of Appeals – District IV
Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Maurice J. Holt
Case No.: 2018AP215-CR
Officials: Fitzpatrick, P.J., Blanchard and Kloppenburg, JJ.
Focus: Court Error – Abuse of Discretion
Maurice Holt appeals a judgment convicting him, following a jury trial, of armed robbery, substantial battery, battery, two counts of felony intimidation of a victim, and two counts of false imprisonment, each as a party to the crime. He also appeals an order denying his post-conviction motion.
Holt argues that the trial court erroneously exercised its discretion, and denied him his right to present a defense, when it rejected his request to admit evidence that he contends would have served as a basis to impeach Dale’s trial testimony and would have supported the defense theory that R.G. was the third assailant. More specifically, the court denied Holt’s request to be allowed to attempt to impeach Dale with two photographs showing two masked persons, possibly armed, purportedly taken several hours before the robbery. Holt argued that the photos would help him show that R.G. was one of the masked persons in the photos and, therefore, more likely the third assailant. We conclude that the trial court did not erroneously exercise its discretion in denying this request and that exclusion of the photographs did not deny Holt his right to present a defense.