Sufficiency of Evidence

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Sean N. Jones

Case No.: 2018AP948-CR

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ.

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence

Sean Jones appeals a judgment of conviction for armed robbery as a party to the crime, as well as an order denying his motion for postconviction relief. Jones asserts there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that Jones knew his accomplice was armed with a firearm during the commission of the offense. Additionally, Jones argues the real controversy was not fully tried because the circuit court failed to give certain jury instructions, including the instruction for the lesser-included offense of simple robbery, and because it admitted certain improper identification evidence, including evidence of Jones’s nickname, “Sneak.” Finally, Jones challenges certain aspects of his sentence. He contends the court failed to explain how the specific length of Jones’s initial confinement advanced the articulated sentencing objectives, and that it also failed to award 204 days’ sentence credit for the time Jones was in custody between his arrest and his sentencing after revocation of a probationary term imposed in earlier cases.

We reject Jones’s challenges to his conviction and to the circuit court’s exercise of its sentencing discretion, but we conclude Jones is entitled to the sentence credit he seeks. To explain, we conclude the jury could reasonably infer from the circumstances of the robbery that Jones knew his accomplice was armed with a firearm. We also conclude Jones is not entitled to a new trial in the interest of justice based upon either the court’s failure to give certain jury instructions or the court’s evidentiary decisions. We further reject Jones’s challenge to the court’s exercise of its sentencing discretion because the court provided the required explanation for the general range of the sentence imposed. However, because Jones was held in custody on a probation hold as a result of the armed robbery, he is entitled to sentence credit for the time he spent confined between his arrest and his sentencing after revocation. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with directions for the circuit court to grant Jones’s motion for sentence credit.

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.