Repeater Portion of Sentence- WIS. STAT. § 973.12(1)

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Steven M. Nelson

Case No.: 2021AP000843-CR

Officials: Hruz, J.

Focus: Repeater Portion of Sentence- WIS. STAT. § 973.12(1)

Steven Nelson appeals from several judgments of conviction and from an order denying his motion to modify one of his sentences. Nelson argues that he was improperly sentenced as a repeater under WIS. STAT. § 939.62(1)(b) (2021-22)2 because the State failed to provide sufficient notice of his repeater status, as required by WIS. STAT. § 973.12(1). In particular, Nelson contends that the State’s repeater allegation in the Information was deficient because it contained an incorrect description of a prior conviction. He therefore argues that the repeater portion of his sentence is void as a matter of law.

The State complied with WIS. STAT. § 973.12(1) and provided Nelson with the requisite notice of his repeater status. Although the charging language in the criminal complaint and in the Information incorrectly described the underlying offense of Nelson’s prior conviction, it correctly identified the case number, the county, and the date of that conviction. In addition, the probable cause portion of the complaint correctly stated all of the necessary information for a proper repeater allegation, including an accurate description of Nelson’s repeater offense. Under those circumstances, Nelson had sufficient notice of the prior conviction establishing his repeater status, and he was therefore properly sentenced as a repeater

Affirmed.

Decided 04/04/23

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