Wisconsin Law Journal – WI Legal News & Resources Wisconsin Legal News & Resources

George Hardy appeals from a judgment ordering him to pay a certain sum to Christine Trudell, his former wife. The issue is whether Trudell’s motion seeking to enforce the judgment was barred by a statute of limitations or laches. We ...

The State appeals an order dismissing the criminal charges against Bruce Knutson. The State argues that the trial court erred as a matter of law when it ordered the State to produce a confidential informant at an in camera hearing ...

“Equitable tolling ‘excuses a timely filing when the plaintiff could not, despite the exercise of reasonable diligence, have discovered all the information he needed in order to be able to file his claim on time.’ Taliani, 189 F.3d at 597. ...

Toni Nicoletti applied to the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds (DETF) for a disability annuity under Wis. Stat. sec. 40.63 (1999-2000). Initially, her claim was denied, but following an administrative appeal and the submission of additional medical reports, benefits ...

Jamie Jardine appeals an order denying his motion to modify or vacate a 1994 sentence for attempted first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of first-degree sexual assault. We construe the request to vacate the sentence in part as an effort ...

“We publish this opinion as a reminder, both to district judges and to counsel. A certificate of appealability never should have been issued in this case – not, that is, unless the underlying ineffective-assistance claim is ‘substantial,’ and we have ...

Ed Mordell and LaVerne Blumka appeal an order admitting the late Peter Blumka’s will to probate. The issue is whether the trial court erred by rejecting the appellant’s claim of undue influence in the making of the will. We affirm. ...

Juan Smith appeals from the judgment entered following a jury trial, convicting him of delivery of cocaine. Smith asserts that the trial court: (1) erroneously exercised its discretion in denying his motion to adjourn the jury trial; (2) erred when ...

“We need not consider whether there is deficient performance in the failure to use the New letter in this case, because there is no prejudice. … Our review of the trial transcript reveals that the New letter was indeed cumulative ...

Hartford Fire Insurance Company and Hartford Casualty Insurance Company (Hartford) have appealed from a judgment awarding Central Resistor Corporation $45,400, plus attorney’s fees, costs and disbursements of $34,358. Precision Cable Assemblies, LLC, was awarded $109,599, plus attorney’s fees in the ...

Fairly W. Earls appeals from the judgment of conviction entered against him and the order denying his motion for postconviction relief. He argues on appeal that the State presented improper opinion evidence, that the court erred in admitting certain videotaped ...

“Just as the filing of a notice of appeal is a prerequisite to a federal appeals court’s jurisdiction of an appeal, so the exhaustion of state remedies, including postconviction remedies, is a prerequisite to seeking federal habeas corpus. So one ...

The Sheboygan County Department of Health and Human Services (Department) appeals from an order of the trial court dismissing a petition to terminate Julie A.B.’s parental rights to Prestin T.B. The Department argues that the trial court applied the wrong ...

The guilty-plea-waiver rule blocks Bernie M. Reinhard’s challenge to the retroactive application of Wis. Stat. sec. 346.65(2)(b) that results in Reinhard being charged with a second offense operating while under the influence of an intoxicant (OWI). Therefore, we affirm. This ...

“We note … that, after the decision of the state court of appeals in this case, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin explicitly declared in State v. Oimen, 516 N.W.2d 399 (Wis. 1994), that the felony murder statute ‘encompasses the immediate ...

Susan K. B. appeals an order terminating her parental rights to her daughter, Brenda F.W., after a jury found grounds for termination under Wis. Stat. sec. 48.415(1)(a)3, abandonment. Susan argues that the answers on the special verdict form are inconsistent, ...

Donna Prill pled no contest to the charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, third offense. The circuit court sentenced Prill as a third-time offender under Wis. Stat. sec. 346.65(2)(c), which establishes the repeater penalties for violations of sec. ...

“According to Sumner, there was a significant temporal gap between the uncharged conduct and the offense of conviction, there was evidence that he voluntarily ceased the uncharged activity, the uncharged conduct involved a different drug than the offense of conviction, ...

David and Ricky Palmquist appeal a judgment declaring that Fred and Maureen Meyer, and Maurice and Lillian Secore acquired by adverse possession land previously titled to the Palmquists. The Palmquists argue that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s ...

William Tinder appeals a circuit court order which affirmed a judgment of the City of Beloit Municipal Court. The municipal court found Tinder guilty of violating a city ordinance prohibiting obstructing an officer. Tinder contends that the elements of the ...

Robert Kucharski appeals from a judgment denying his action for partition of two lots. Robert argues that he has an equitable one-fourth interest in the lots by virtue of a previous settlement agreement, a letter and an unrecorded deed to ...

Harlan Richards appeals from an order affirming a parole commission decision to deny him discretionary parole. Jerry Smith, chairperson of the board, made the decision on its behalf. Richards contends that Smith did not follow the law, made an arbitrary ...

St. Paul Insurance Company (St. Paul) appeals an order granting a new trial to David Sensenbrenner on his personal injury claim. The trial court granted Sensenbrenner’s motion “in the interest of justice” under Wis. Stat. sec. 805.15(1) (1999-2000). St. Paul ...

“The district court believed that the position the Board announced in its proposed version of Comment 18(g)-4 was patently inconsistent with the position the Board announced in the adopted version of Comment 18(g)-4. The court noted that the Board initially ...

“Under Wis. Stat. sec. 802.12(2), a trial court has authority to order parties in civil litigation to attempt mediation or other settlement processes to resolve a case. … Nowhere, however, does sec. 802.12 provide a court the authority to require ...

William Whitnall appeals from a judgment entered against him in this legal malpractice action. He challenges on appeal the judgment awarding damages to the respondent, Linda Painter. We affirm the judgment of the circuit court. This opinion will not be ...

“Congress has unambiguously conditioned the States’ receipt of Title IX funds on their waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity from private causes of action. Although Title IX does not expressly provide for a private right of action, the Supreme Court has ...

“Unlike Mose [v. Tedco Equities-Potter Road Ltd. Partnership, 228 Wis.2d 848 (Ct. App. 1999)], neither G&L nor K&T knew that the land was going to be contaminated and neither party negotiated a compromised purchase price as a result. Thus, we ...

Wisconsin Patients Compensation Fund, Boscobel Area Health Care (BAHC), and Wisconsin Hospital Association Liability Insurance Plan appeal from a judgment on a hospital malpractice claim. The plaintiff, Elizabeth Wilson, recovered damages for injuries suffered while she was a BAHC patient, ...

“We do not consider a position in an amicus brief to be more deserving of Chevron deference than a tariff classification ruling. Upon reading Mead, we find that a litigation position in an amicus brief, perhaps just as agency interpretations ...