Double Jeopardy

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WI Supreme Court

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Alexander M. Schultz

Case No.: 2020 WI 24

Focus: Double Jeopardy

The State charged Alexander M. Schultz with repeated sexual assault of a child for engaging in sexual intercourse with the fifteen-year-old victim, M.T., in “late summer to early fall of 2012.” A jury acquitted him of this charge. Shortly thereafter, paternity test results revealed Schultz to be the father of M.T.’s child. The State then charged Schultz with sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age occurring “on or about October 19, 2012,” the date M.T.’s obstetrician determined the child was conceived. We review whether the State exposed Schultz to multiple prosecutions for the same offense in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and Wisconsin Constitutions. Schultz asks us to consider whether a court may ascertain the scope of jeopardy in the first prosecution based upon trial testimony, as well as to determine who bears the burden resulting from any ambiguity in the timeframe of a charging document——the defendant or the State.

We hold that a court may examine the entire record of the first proceeding, including the evidence admitted at trial, when determining the scope of jeopardy in a prior criminal prosecution. Because the complaint incorporated the police report, which documents a certain end date for the intercourse, and the evidence presented at Schultz’s first trial did not encompass the same timeframe of the offense charged in his second prosecution, we conclude that Schultz was not twice in jeopardy for the same criminal offense. Specifically, the State’s second prosecution of Schultz for sexual assault of a child under 16 “on or about October 19, 2012,” did not include the same timeframe as its first prosecution for repeated sexual assault of a child in the “late summer to early fall of 2012.” We affirm the court of appeals.

Affirmed

Concur:

Dissent: HAGEDORN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which ANN WALSH BRADLEY, and DALLET, JJ., joined.

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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.