By: Derek Hawkins//January 14, 2020//
WI Court of Appeals – District I
Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. N.M.A.-S.
Case No.: 2018AP2308; 2018AP2309
Officials: BRASH, P.J.
Focus: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
N.M.A.-S. appeals the orders of the trial court terminating her parental rights of A.A.S. and A.J.S. N.M.A.-S. asserts that she received ineffective assistance of counsel because her trial counsel failed to request a strike for cause or use a peremptory strike for a juror who answered a question affirmatively during voir dire relating to whether someone struggling with addiction is unfit to be a parent.
A postjudgment hearing regarding this claim was held in September 2019. The postjudgment court determined that N.M.A.-S. had not demonstrated that she was prejudiced by this alleged deficiency of trial counsel, and denied her motion for a new trial. We agree and affirm the orders terminating N.M.A.-S.’s parental rights.