In State v. McAlister a majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court struggled to appropriately define cumulative evidence and introduces a contrived definition of recantation.
Read More »Author Archives: Jean DiMotto
BENCH BLOG: Three billboards in Dane County
Adams Outdoor Advertising leased three billboards near the Dane County Regional Airport. Before the expiration of the lease, Adams Outdoor Advertising sought to renew it.
Read More »Pro rata distributions amid insufficient policy limits
An insurance company deposited its remaining policy limits with the court after settling with several, but not all, of the claimants in a personal-injury lawsuit.
Read More »Court finds handwritten note not enough for payable-on-death account
Todd Mueller had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in court. He walked into the Winnebago County Courthouse hoping to be declared the beneficiary of $200,000, but walked out with nothing. He had sued Thomas Edwards and Martina Welke arguing that he was the rightful beneficiary of money his neighbor had deposited in a payable-on-death account at US ...
Read More »Case shows difficulty of untangling who is owed bundled debt
The phenomenon of corporate purchases of bundled consumer debt is nothing new. What is new is the question of what a successor buyer must show to collect on individual debt accounts within the bundle.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Court finds tip from social media is same as from citizen informant
Is a tip to law enforcement from Tumblr.com equivalent to a tip from an anonymous police informant or a tip from an identified citizen informant?
Read More »102-year-old case speaks to us in 2017
The Court of Appeals relied on an 102-year-old precedent to decide the case of Hart v. Artisan and Truckers Cas. Co.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: On this much they agree: DOJ database seriously flawed
Read the case of Teague v. Schimel at your peril.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Client behavior: Enough to draw a tier
The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently reaffirmed its two-tiered framework for loss of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. It overruled another case requiring a finding of intentionality and once again declined to mandate warnings to a defendant before forfeiture.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Accrual of a legal malpractice claim
The Court of Appeals took the opportunity to again offer instruction regarding when a tort claim accrues for purposes of the statute of limitations.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Officer’s question to suspect a lesson for deposition preparation
A police officer’s question to a suspect led the Wisconsin Supreme Court on a 42-page exploration of the constitutional consequences recently. State v. Harris tells the tale.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Judge and juror
A recent jury summons prompted to me to think about judges being called to jury service.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Phoning in a guilty plea
In a carefully reasoned decision, the Court of Appeals required certain safeguards before a defendant may be allowed to plead guilty by phone.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: In fight over travel ban, court holds trump card (UPDATE)
In a lucid, logically ordered and eminently readable opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit denied the federal government’s motion for an emergency stay of a temporary restraining order enjoining the enforcement of President Trump’s travel ban.
Read More »Apparent authority doctrine determines jurisdiction dispute
The Court of Appeals applied the agency doctrine of apparent authority when deciding whether the property owners in an eminent domain case had obtained jurisdiction over the governmental entity that condemned their property.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Public trust doctrine wins in family feud over riparian rights
The Court of Appeals took a dim view of a brother’s response to his sister’s declaratory lawsuit in which she sought to affirm her riparian rights on the Sailor Creek Flowage in Price County.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Hot pursuit for a brake-light violation?
In its first non-disciplinary case of the term, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a 3-1-3 decision for the second time in six months despite the presence of a new justice.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Appeals court finds tree service not entitled to recreational immunity
Is a tree-cutting service entitled to recreational immunity when cutting trees on a conference center’s property that has a public path? The Court of Appeals says “no,” relying on a Wisconsin Supreme Court case from earlier this year on recreational immunity.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Immunity for aid when there’s a drug overdose
The Court of Appeals examined immunity from prosecution for a person who aids someone who appears to be suffering from a drug overdose. In the process, the opinion in State v. Williams offered a raw glimpse into the drug subculture.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: No restitution for mother of child-porn victim
In a case that lies at the intersection of child-pornography law and restitution law, the Court of Appeals concluded that the mother of a victim of child pornography could not obtain restitution from an offender.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Appeals court gets it right in complex case of statutory construction
The Court of Appeals recently tackled the novel question of whether an employee of a health care organization can access a patient’s records without the patient’s consent.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Implied consent case shows need to update refusal-hearing statute
Under the implied-consent law, is your consent to a blood test for alcohol “coerced” because it is a foregone conclusion that the threatened license revocation for refusing would be vacated at a refusal hearing? The Court of Appeals recently took up this question.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Court trims damage awards in small-claims case
Issues concerning damages were front and center in a small-claims case that was successfully appealed.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Case answers the call re: text message authentication
The Court of Appeals recently tackled the timely issue of what constitutes evidentiary authentication of cell phone text messages.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Shiffra case causes trouble for state Supreme Court … again
In a highly unusual “decision,” the Wisconsin Supreme Court again deadlocked in a Shiffra case but this time issued five different opinions, most of them containing personal sniping.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Supreme Court has wrong say on pro se
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals recently rebuked the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a 2010 opinion upholding a Waukesha County judge’s cursory denial of a defendant’s right to self-representation.
Read More »Stanford rape case raises question of when judges should be punished
A furor was incited in California when Judge Aaron Persky sentenced a Stanford student-athlete to probation with six months in jail for sexual assault, reasoning that a longer prison sentence for the three felony convictions would have “a severe impact” on the young man.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Court weighs in on difference between custody, detention
A sexual-assault case provided the context for the Court of Appeals to distinguish a formal arrest from detention in one’s home during the execution of a search warrant.
Read More »BENCH BLOG: Sheriff fights law, law wins
A sheriff did battle with the open records law and lost.
Read More »Should grandparents have visitation rights?
In a rare unanimous decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court construed the meaning of the statute on grandparents’ visitation rights after a divorce.
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