Pleas Withdrawal-Plea Colloquy Defect

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. D. H.

Case No.: 2025AP002668

Officials: Colón, P.J.

Focus: Pleas Withdrawal-Plea Colloquy Defect

D.H. had entered a no-contest plea to the ground of failure to assume parental responsibility. During the plea colloquy, however, the circuit court incorrectly suggested that at the dispositional phase Wisconsin would have to prove “to a reasonable certainty” that termination was in the child’s best interests. No burden of proof applies at disposition and the court exercises discretion based on the child’s best interests.

After his parental rights were terminated, D.H. sought to withdraw his plea, arguing it was not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. The post-disposition court agreed, finding a defect in the plea colloquy and concluding that D.H. made a prima facie case under the Bangert framework. The burden then shifted to Wisconsin to prove the plea was nonetheless valid, which it failed to do.

The State then argued the error was minor and should be overlooked, but the Court of Appeals rejected this, finding the defect was significant because it misinformed D.H. about how the court would decide whether to terminate his rights. The court also agreed that D.H. may have misunderstood the legal standard, and the record did not show he was properly informed elsewhere.

The court concluded that D.H.’s plea was not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made, and allowed him to withdraw it.

Affirmed.

Decided 04/10/26

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