Postconviction Relief-Court Error

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Rasheem D. Davis [Recommended for Publication]

Case No.: 2021AP001526-CR

Officials: Dugan, J.

Focus: Postconviction Relief-Court Error

Davis appeals from two judgments of conviction—one for false imprisonment and robbery with use of force, as acts of domestic violence, and one for fleeing or eluding an officer. He also appeals from orders of the circuit court denying his motion for postconviction relief, without a hearing. On appeal, he argues that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because it orally dismissed his case charging false imprisonment and robbery with use of force, without prejudice, when a witness did not appear for trial, but rescinded that order minutes later and the case proceeded to trial that same day before a different judge. He also argues that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to a lack of personal jurisdiction, which he argues occurred when the court orally dismissed the case without prejudice, that he is entitled to plea withdrawal in his case charging fleeing or eluding an officer, and that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for robbery with use of force.

The fact that the circuit court orally dismissed his case charging false imprisonment and robbery, without prejudice, but rescinded that order minutes later, did not result in the trial court losing subject matter jurisdiction over Davis’s case. Consequently, the appeals court also reject Davis’s claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and plea withdrawal, which are all premised on his claim that the circuit court’s order dismissing the case without prejudice was a final disposition of Davis’s case and, therefore, the trial court lost subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction.

Affirmed.

Decided 04/04/23

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