When a Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney turned a witness list in a “shaken baby” case over to the defense 13 days before going to trial, attorneys for the defendant cried foul.
Read More »Author Archives: James Nicodemus, Special to the Wisconsin Law Journal
Man finds 2nd Amendment protects his use of banned switchblade
Although a switchblade is not typically considered the best weapon for home security, a recent District 3 appellate decision found that the owner of a folding blade in Wisconsin was still entitled to protection under the Second Amendment.
Read More »Ruling could have lawsuits barreling down on truckers
Should 30 years of experience and an average of more than eight hours a day behind the wheel make a trucker more aware than the average driver of dangerous traffic conditions and thus better able to avoid an accident?
Read More »Lemon Law leaves sour taste in couple’s mouth
When Mary Porter went shopping for a new car with her husband in 2010, she was dead-set on buying a red one with a beige interior to keep her cool in the summer.
Read More »Restaurant case shows consent is needed for certain uses of collateral
Most restaurants don’t make it past the three-year mark. Thomas Linn’s Bristol Restaurant, early on at least, seemed to be one of the few that would beat the long odds. By the middle of 2013, the New Berlin restaurant was well into its fourth year of operation.
Read More »Driver claims destroyed blood evidence violates due process
More than nine months after Michael Luedtke had rammed his Ford Escort into the back of a stopped vehicle at an Oshkosh intersection, he was charged on Dec. 19, 2009, with six felony counts of impaired driving and operating a vehicle with a controlled substance in his blood.
Read More »‘Known and compelling danger’ of gas leak explosion could strip Milwaukee of government immunity
Mary Oden was no doubt confused as she lay in a hospital bed the day after her Milwaukee duplex blew up in the middle of the night just over six years ago.
Read More »Do first refusal rights need termination dates to be enforceable?
Without a termination date, would a 1998 agreement giving a local dairy company the right of first refusal to buy or rent 450 acres of farmland in Outagamie County be enforceable?
Read More »State justices to decide covenant concern
When David Friedlen was asked by his employer of almost 20 years to sign a restrictive covenant or lose his job, he signed on the dotted line.
Read More »7th Circuit grapples with case law in auto search ruling
Just because a Kentucky parolee violated a rental car agreement should not prevent him from challenging a possibly illegal car search, according to a recent 7th Circuit opinion.
Read More »Ruling could raise liability risk for property owners
The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision, expected by the end of this term, in Julie A. Augsburger v. Homestead Mutual Insurance Co., could markedly increase liability risk for property owners who allow dogs on the premises, according to defense counsel in the case.
Read More »Appeals court clarifies shirking test in support case
When determining whether a former spouse has shirked his or her duties in paying child support, on what case should courts rely?
Read More »Appellate court rules on when contract is enforceable
When Re/Max Select LLC wrapped up negotiations to sell a $6.3 million vacant lot to Alexander & Bishop in 2007, the real estate firm probably figured its hard work was done.
Read More »Appeals court notes decision could seem ‘unfair’
Wisconsin easement holders beware: If your express easement hasn’t been referenced in a recorded document in either 40 or 60 years, you could lose it.
Read More »Justices to decide if right to confront applies to preliminary hearings
A consolidated case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court could affect how preliminary hearings are conducted in state.
Read More »Case analysis: Blood draw constitutional in fatal U-turn accident
Even though there was “no dispute” that a sheriff’s deputy lacked probable cause, the Court of Appeals ruled he did not violate state law or a defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights when requesting a blood draw at the scene of a fatal crash.
Read More »State Supreme Court considers donning, doffing pay
When should an employee be paid for the time it takes to put on and take off work clothes and other equipment before and after a shift at a Wisconsin pepperoni and salami processing plant?
Read More »Distributing settlement not enough to hold law firm accountable for lien
When Watertown Regional Medical Center filed a small claims lawsuit trying to collect on an outstanding hospital lien, the District 4 Court of Appeals court had to decide whether a law firm was just acting as a conduit for payment or as an actual payor when it disbursed a related personal injury settlement.
Read More »State’s slashing of early release options violated ex post facto law prohibition
Prohibitions against ex post facto laws are supposed to protect defendants from changes in the laws that increase punishment after a crime has been committed or sentencing has occurred, according to pro se defendant Aman D. Singh.
Read More »Justices considering questionable search
In a case now before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the state hopes the justices will find some reason to keep pornographic images on a computer file admissible after a questionable Fourth Amendment search.
Read More »Appeals court rules against city ordinance
A restrictive 2011 city of Delavan ordinance limiting property density to one lot every 35 acres was, in fact, an unlawful zoning restriction that needed approval from the county and surrounding towns, according to a recent Wisconsin appellate court decision.
Read More »Misconduct could cost minority shareholders millions
When company founders Terrance and Judith Paul decided to sell their majority interest in Wisconsin Rapids-based Renaissance Learning Inc. for $455 million in 2011, they offered a $1.60 per share bonus just to minority shareholders to keep them happy with the transaction.
Read More »Appeals court denies lakefront property owners reduction on assessment
A 1995 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision was not enough to sway the Court of Appeals to hold the town of Delavan to a similar standard, according to a recent decision.
Read More »Wisconsin justices to consider lease dispute
When landlord Anthony Gagliano & Co. Inc. tried to enforce terms of a lease against a remote tenant for a commercial space in downtown Milwaukee eight years after the lease was signed, tenant Quad Graphics asserted that 150 years of Wisconsin case law suggested the effort should fail.
Read More »Mistaken identity aids adverse possession claim
Wisconsin justices set to weigh in on longtime Lake Delton land dispute
Read More »Sloppy legal work might have compromised YouTube video ruling
A ruling by the Wisconsin appellate court may have been the result of bad lawyering more so than successful appellate arguments.
Read More »Evidence from warrantless search allowed by ‘good faith’ exception
Convicted murderer Jack E. Johnson asked the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to find that a warrantless search conducted in Mexico, which violated U.S. Fourth Amendment protections, should also be viewed as a bad search by Wisconsin courts.
Read More »State high court reverses appeal’s decision in ‘Girls Gone Wild’ case
The city of Wausau’s decision not to renew a liquor license for local bar IC Willy’s after it hosted a “Girls Gone Wild” event did not require de novo review, the Wisconsin Supreme Court recently ruled.
Read More »Appeals court: Not enough evidence to issue writ of mandamus in collective bargaining case
A writ of mandamus forcing Wisconsin’s Brown County and the city of Green Bay to maintain health insurance plans and benefits for police officers, firefighters and sheriff's employees should never have been issued, according to a Wisconsin appellate court decision in Green Bay Professional Police Association et al. v. City of Green Bay and Brown County, 2013 AP 269.
Read More »Despite ‘incompetence,’ Court of Appeals rules for foreclosure lender
As Wisconsin slowly pulls itself out of the real estate doldrums with the rest of the country, state courts’ dockets are teeming with property owners struggling to stay in their homes.
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