Judge Substitution Request

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WI Court of Supreme Court

Case Name: Antonio S. Davis v. Circuit Court for Dane County

Case No.: 2022AP001999-W

Officials:

Focus: Judge Substitution Request

Davis faced charges for misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct. While awaiting representation assignment from the State Public Defender (SPD), Davis was arraigned, pleaded not guilty, and had his case scheduled for future proceedings. It took 65 days from his arraignment for the SPD to allocate a lawyer to him. Within six days after acquiring a lawyer, Davis sought to change his trial judge, but the Dane County Circuit Court dismissed his application as delayed.

Subsequently, Davis pursued a supervisory writ, claiming the Circuit Court should have acknowledged his judge substitution request as punctual. The Court of Appeals rejected his plea, prompting an evaluation by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. The key questions were whether Davis relinquished the rights to his claims and if he merited a supervisory writ to mandate the lower court to recognize his substitution request as timely.

Opting to resolve the issues for the sake of outlining the appeal process regarding the late judge substitution requests, the Supreme Court decided to proceed. Nonetheless, the Court determined Davis did not qualify for a supervisory writ, indicating the Circuit Court was under no compulsory obligation to deem Davis’s substitution plea timely, according to Wisconsin Statute § 971.20(4), Dane County Local Rule 208, the concept of a government-created impediment, or equitable tolling grounds. Thus, the Supreme Court upheld the Appeals Court’s decision and sent the case back for continued proceedings.

Affirmed

Decided 03/26/24

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