Ineffective Assistance of Counsel – Postconviction Motion

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Jovon Diante Bethly

Case No.: 2021AP001453-CR

Officials: Brash, C.J., Donald, P.J., and Dugan, J.

Focus: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel – Postconviction Motion

Bethly appeals a judgment of conviction entered after he pled guilty to one count of first-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree sexual assault with the use of force. He also appeals an order denying his postconviction motion, which sought plea withdrawal on the ground that his trial counsel guaranteed him an aggregate fifteen-year term of initial confinement if he pled guilty to the two counts. In this court, Bethly challenges the credibility determinations that the circuit court made following a postconviction hearing at which Bethly and his trial counsel testified. Bethly contends that the circuit court erroneously found trial counsel substantially more credible than Bethly and therefore wrongly rejected Bethly’s testimony that his trial counsel made a sentencing guarantee. Bethly seeks a new postconviction hearing as a remedy. The court affirms the judgment and the postconviction order.

Affirmed.

Decided 01/10/23

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