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

“During the plea colloquy, the trial court specifically addressed Randle about the jurisdiction issue. Randle indicated that he understood he was waiving his right to raise all jurisdictional issues. Moreover, as aptly stated by the trial court: To reach the conclusion that Randle did not give up his right to challenge the court’s jurisdiction under section 939.03 after entering a ...

John B. Young appeals from an order revoking his driving privileges for one year. Young contends that the arresting officer failed to comply with the standardized field sobriety testing requirements established in the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) training manual; therefore, the officer did not have probable cause to request Young to submit to an evidentiary test of his ...

“As noted, we must balance the interests we all have to be free from unjustified governmental intrusion against our need to have government protect us from predators. Here, the possible grave danger to the occupants of the house outweighed the intrusive aspects of the officer’s warrantless entry. The trial court also implicitly recognized this when it observed: I agree that ...

David Bork appeals an order denying his Wis. Stat. sec. 974.061 postconviction motion to withdraw his no contest plea for lack of a factual basis. The postconviction hearing was conducted by telephone. Bork argues that the trial court violated his right to a public trial and denied him access to legal assistance when it ordered a prison inmate to either ...

“While we accept Krohn’s challenge to the circuit court’s restitution order, we reject his attempt to prevent the court from properly determining restitution and issuing the appropriate restitution order. Consistent with ‘the goal [of Wis. Stat. § 973.20] of facilitating complete restitution for the victim,’ see Perry, 181 Wis. 2d at 56, we: (1) reverse the portion of the judgment ...

Matthew J. Andersen appeals from a judgment of conviction of party to the crime of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver. The sole issue on appeal is whether police complied with the knock-and-announce requirement when executing a search warrant at Andersen’s residence. We sustain the trial court’s denial of Andersen’s motion to suppress evidence of cocaine found during the ...

Phoenix Internet Technologies Inc. appeals from a circuit court order denying reconsideration or modification of an order granting default judgment in favor of Partners In Design Architects, Inc. We affirm. This opinion will not be published. Dist II, Kenosha County, Schroeder, J., Per Curiam Attorneys: For Appellant: Kelly P. O’Reilly, Milwaukee; William S. Fisher, Milwaukee For Respondent: Gregg N. Guttormsen, ...

Angelo J. Ewing appeals from the judgment of conviction entered after he pled guilty to the crime of armed robbery, party to a crime. He also appeals from the trial court’s order denying his postconviction motion seeking sentence modification. Ewing contends: (1) his 35-year sentence is unduly harsh and unconstitutionally disparate from his co-defendant’s 20-year sentence; (2) his co-defendant’s 20-year ...

Brenda S. Garceau appeals from an order setting a method by which she will realize the value of Jerry J. Garceau’s termination benefits package. In a prior appeal, we remanded for further proceedings after deciding that the termination benefits package should be included in the property division in the parties’ divorce. We affirm. This opinion will not be published. Dist ...

Congress is presumed to draft limitations periods in light of the principle that such periods are customarily subject to equitable tolling unless tolling would be inconsistent with statutory text. Tolling is appropriate here. Petitioners’ Chapter 13 petition erected an automatic stay under sec. 362(a), which prevented the IRS from taking steps to collect the unpaid taxes. When petitioners later filed ...

Binta Njai appeals an order which dismissed her petition for a divorce from Ray Lang. She claims the circuit court erred in concluding that it lacked jurisdiction to grant Njai a divorce. We agree that the circuit court erred and accordingly we reverse. Not recommended for publication in the official reports. Dist IV, Dane County, Sumi, J., Deininger, J. Attorneys: ...

New York insists that retail transactions are subject only to state regulation, but the electric industry has changed since the FPA was enacted, at which time the electricity universe was neatly divided into spheres of retail versus wholesale sales. The FPA’s plain language readily supports FERC’s jurisdiction claim. Section 201(b) gives FERC jurisdiction over “electric energy in interstate commerce,” and ...

Steve and Jane Meyer appeal an order dismissing Rural Insurance Company from this action. The issues are whether: (1) the insurer established on summary judgment that its policy did not provide coverage, and (2) there is a dispute of material fact that precludes summary judgment. We reverse. This opinion will not be published. Dist IV, Vernon County, Rosborough, J, Per ...

Relying on the canon that expressing one item of a commonly associated group or series excludes another left unmentioned, Vonn claims that Rule 11(h)’s specification of harmless-error review shows an intent to exclude the plain-error standard with which harmless error is paired in Rule 52. However, this canon is only a guide, whose fallibility can be shown by contrary indications ...

Mary G. appeals an order terminating her parental rights to her son, Shannon G. Appellate counsel filed a no merit report pursuant to Wis. Stat. Rule 809.32 and In re Ashley A.T., 218 Wis.2d 160, 579 N.W.2d 293 (Ct. App. 1998). Mary G. received a copy of the report and has filed a response. The no merit report discusses three ...

“[T]he Agreement provides for 50% recapture of appreciation on whichever of the following dates occurs first: the Agreement’s expiration on September 14, 1999, the date plaintiffs pay the loan in full, the date the plaintiffs cease farming, or the date that the plaintiffs transfer title of their property. Both parties agree that plaintiffs did not pay their loan in full, ...

The Village of Lake Delton appeals the dismissal on summary judgment of its action to compel James Roberts to remove a backyard deck which the Village alleged violated a local setback ordinance. We conclude that the deck complied with the zoning code in effect at the time the deck was built, and therefore affirm. This opinion will not be published. ...

“Just as Sandin dealt with prison regulations, it also dealt with a prison and a prisoner. Although the WRC, in part, houses correctional inmates, it cannot be termed a prison with regard to Chapter 980 patients. The entire premise of Wisconsin’s sexually violent person commitment scheme is that a patient is not confined as punishment for his earlier criminal behavior. ...

Martin McGlone appeals an order remanding him to the custody of the Outagamie County Sheriff to serve jail time of 1,160 days for failure to pay forfeitures. McGlone argues that his right to due process was violated because the court imposed forfeitures for conduct that was not proved and that occurred after his trial. We agree and reverse the order ...

“On the facts of this complaint, Delgado had information about criminal activity that potentially involved an immediate relative of an elected official, who also happened to be a close personal friend of Chief Jones. Fully divulging this information to his superiors may have been consistent with his obligations as a police officer in seeking an independent and objective investigation. And ...

For example, contrary to the Village’s argument, we conclude that the proposed ordinance does not conflict with Wis. Stat. Sec. 67.05(2)(b), authorizing a municipality to borrow funds. “The proposed ordinance is not an initial resolution. It requires a referendum ‘prior to the start of any physical construction of any municipally financed … project.’ Borrowing is not and need not be ...

Sinai Samaritan Medical Center, Inc. (Sinai) appeals the judgments entered against it following a jury trial in a medical malpractice action brought by Kira Gardner and her parents against Sinai and Dr. Richard Panish. Sinai argues that it is entitled to a new trial because the special verdict failed to list Kira’s mother, Barbara Gardner, in the comparative fault question. ...

Anthony Blue appeals the judgment convicting him of resisting an officer and bail jumping. Blue requests this court to modify his sentence to one year from the trial court imposed two consecutive nine-month sentences. He argues that what occurred here was an “abuse of the courts [sic] discretion,” and that new factors require changing his sentence. This court affirms. This ...

“Treating the word as a synonym for receipts could produce odd outcomes. Consider a slot machine in a properly licensed casino. Gamblers insert coins, and the machine itself returns some of them as winnings. Later the casino opens the machine and removes the remaining coins. What are the ‘proceeds’ of this one-armed bandit: what’s left in the cash box, or ...

Although the Joint Review Board was erroneously listed as one of the Boards that would not be taking formal action at the meeting, Wis. Stat. sec. 19.84(2) is not violated in each instance that a public notice contains any type of incorrect information, when the notice is not otherwise misleading to the public. Therefore, the public notice did not violate ...

Jharvan Bridges appeals from the judgment of conviction entered against him. The issue on appeal is whether there was sufficient evidence produced at trial to support Bridges’ conviction for possession of cocaine with the intent to deliver, as a party to a crime. Because we conclude that there was sufficient circumstantial evidence from which a jury could reasonably have found ...

“We agree that encouraging the efficient resolution of disputes through settlement negotiations and avoiding factual inquiries that are certain to devolve into swearing matches are important public policy considerations. These public policy goals may, upon initial examination, appear to justify rules like the ones Montonen advances. Ultimately, however, we are not convinced that they are best achieved by an expansion ...

“Lemmons accompanied the police around his trailer, inviting them to look at different things. Had Lemmons stuck to his initial consent limiting the police to search for a camera or recordings of his neighbor, the computer search would have been illegal. Had Lemmons consented to the search of the computer, but only for computer images of his neighbor, Pope’s search ...

“The Estimated Income and Expense document does not contain a date. However, because it was provided in late 1998, it is reasonable to infer that Armstrong actually expected to receive $146,700 in income from the current leases in 1998. Since Armstrong would receive that amount of income only if all the tenants listed on the Lease Information paid the full ...

Victor Williams appeals from an order denying his postconviction motion brought under Wis. Stat. sec. 974.06 (1999-2000). He raises a number of issues. We affirm. This opinion will not be published. Dist IV, Dane County, Ebert, J., Per Curiam Attorneys: For Appellant: Victor T. Williams, Oshkosh For Respondent: John R. Burr, Madison; William L. Gansner, Madison