Sufficiency of Evidence

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Jasmine J. Lanier

Case No.: 2019AP2344-CR

Officials: Dugan, Graham and White, JJ.

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence

Jasmine J. Lanier appeals her judgment of conviction for felony intimidation of a witness by force or violence, substantial battery, and battery or threat to a witness, all as a party to a crime, and the trial court’s order denying her postconviction motion without a hearing. On appeal, Lanier argues that the evidence was insufficient to convict her of felony intimidation of a witness and battery or threat to a witness. She also argues that the prosecutor failed to disclose an informant agreement that the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) had with the victim, that the trial court erred in granting the State’s motion to join her trial with the trials of her father and her cousin and erred by denying her motion for severance, and that her trial counsel was ineffective.

We conclude that there is sufficient evidence to support Lanier’s convictions for felony intimidation of a witness and battery or threat to a witness. Additionally, we conclude that, even assuming without deciding that the jury instructions for felony intimidation of a witness were erroneous, any error was harmless, and that the jury instruction for battery or threat to a witness did not result in a conviction for an uncharged offense or improperly modify the amended information. We further conclude that Lanier is not entitled to disclosure of any informant agreement and that she conceded her arguments that the trial court erred in granting the State’s motion for joinder and denying Lanier’s motion for severance, and her argument that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel because she failed to refute the State’s arguments regarding these issues in her reply brief. Accordingly, we affirm.

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.