Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Quaid Q. Belk

Case No.: 2019AP982-CR

Officials: Brash, P.J., Blanchard and Dugan, JJ.

Focus: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Quaid Q. Belk appeals from his judgment of conviction and an order denying his motion for postconviction relief. Belk was convicted on several counts relating to an automobile accident caused by Belk’s intoxicated use of a vehicle, which killed one victim and injured another. Those counts were hit and run causing death; hit and run causing great bodily harm;  homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle; injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle; second-degree reckless homicide; and second-degree reckless injury.

In his postconviction motion, Belk asserted several claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, including that his trial counsel failed to call a witness to the crash who would have testified that Belk was not trying to flee the scene of the accident. We conclude that Belk’s motion is sufficient to entitle him to a postconviction evidentiary hearing on that claim as it relates to the two counts of hit and run causing death and great bodily harm. We therefore reverse the trial court’s order denying a hearing on that claim.

However, Belk’s other ineffective assistance claims—which would have an effect on the other four counts for which he was convicted—were not sufficiently pled in his postconviction motion to warrant the grant of an evidentiary hearing. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s order denying an evidentiary hearing on those claims. We also affirm Belk’s judgment of conviction for the remaining four counts.

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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.