Sentence Modification

By: Derek Hawkins//November 11, 2021//

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WI Court of Appeals – District IV

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Thomas M. Parkman

Case No.: 2021AP27-CR

Officials: NASHOLD, J.

Focus: Sentence Modification

The issue in this appeal is whether the COVID-19 pandemic, as it may affect Thomas M. Parkman, is a “new factor” for purposes of modifying Parkman’s sentence. See State v. Harbor, 2011 WI 28, ¶35, 333 Wis. 2d 53, 797 N.W.2d 828. Parkman pled guilty to three misdemeanor offenses stemming from his use of pepper spray against T.S., his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child. On February 27, 2020—at least several weeks before the COVID-19 virus became a widely recognized public-health risk in Wisconsin— the circuit court sentenced Parkman to six months’ incarceration in the Dane County Jail. The circuit court has since stayed Parkman’s sentence multiple times, including pending this appeal, on acknowledgment of the dangers that the COVID-19 virus poses to inmates.

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.

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