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

Search and Seizure Search incident to arrest Where police officers had reason to believe evidence relevant to the crime of arrest might be found in the vehicle after arresting the driver, the search of the vehicle is lawful, even though ...

Tax Uniformity clause Where a municipality assessed one taxpayer using the income approach when it could have similarly reassessed all comparable properties, the assessment violated the Uniformity Clause. “There is no dispute that Furdek used the income method to reassess ...

Tagged with: Inc.

Evidence Mail fraud; relevance In a fraud prosecution, evidence of crimes not involving the defendant were relevant to demonstrate the scope of the fraud. “[E]vidence of the blatant and open nature of the requests for payments, and of the large ...

Tagged with: Evidence Digest Mail fraud Relevance

Civil Procedure Injunctions Rule 65 (d)(2)(C) is not the appropriate remedy for compelling a website manager to remove defamatory material. “With sympathy for the Blockowiczs, we conclude that Rule 65(d)(2)(C) is not the appropriate mechanism for achieving the removal of ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Digest Injunctions

Sentencing Multiple enhancements; ‘serious bodily injury’; harmless error Where defendant robbed a bank and then led police on a high-speed chase that included carjacking a vehicle and ended only after three officers were injured in pursuit, a 240-month sentence based ...

Tagged with: harmless error Sentencing Digest

Immigration Asylum; removal; credibility determinations An IJ did not err when she made an adverse credibility determination regarding appellant’s claims in an asylum application that the Chinese government had forced his wife’s abortion and sterilization, where there were inconsistencies in ...

Tagged with: Asylum Immigration removal

Civil Procedure Jurisdiction; preemption; Class III medical device; dismissal with prejudice In a diversity action where plaintiff alleges injury by a hip replacement, a Class III medical device under the federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, under Illinois common law ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Digest jurisdiction preemption

Administrative Law Food stamp trafficking; SNAP disqualification; preponderance of evidence Where a USDA investigation found that a convenience-store operator routinely engaged in large food stamp transactions and an unusually high number of even-dollar transactions, the trial court was correct when ...

Search and Seizure Investigative stop; reasonable suspicion; erratic driving John Eaton appeals from a judgment of conviction for operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration (PAC), second offense, contrary to WIS. STAT. § 346.63(1)(b). Eaton argues the circuit ...

Tagged with: reasonable suspicion Search and Seizure Digest

Search and Seizure OMVWI; investigative stop; probable cause Kevin L. Shaw appeals a judgment of conviction for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant, fifth offense. See WIS. STAT. § 346.63(1)(a). Shaw contends that both the ...

Tagged with: probable cause Search and Seizure Digest

Maintaining a Drug Trafficking Place Sufficiency of evidence Cham Omot appeals the judgment of conviction entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of maintaining a drug trafficking place as party to the crime and possession with intent to deliver ...

Tagged with: Sufficiency of evidence

Criminal Procedure Jury separation during deliberations Bradley Brandsma was convicted of misdemeanor battery at a jury trial during which the circuit court allowed the jury to separate for the night after beginning deliberations, then return to the courthouse to resume ...

Tagged with: Criminal Procedure Digest

Property Rental agreement for self-storage space; damages; amendment of pleadings This action arises out of a rental agreement for self-service storage space between Penn Self Storage and Jane Low.  After a jury trial on Low’s claim that Penn violated provisions ...

Tagged with: amendment of pleadings damages Property Digest

Search and Seizure Warrantless home entry; community caretaker function Where police officers observed a damaged building and a nearby damaged vehicle covered in snow, parked in a driveway and partially blocking the road, and then entered the private residence that ...

Tagged with: community caretaker function Search and Seizure Digest

Failure to Pay Child Support Willfulness; inability to pay Gifts to the defendant may be considered in determining whether he willfully refused to pay child support. “[F]or purposes of assessing the defendant’s ability to pay in a prosecution under Section ...

Criminal Procedure Severance Blame-shifting by a co-defendant does not require severance of the trials. “Graham does his best to fashion a Sixth Amendment confrontation violation out of Plato’s attorney’s conduct. Plato’s attorney essentially became a testifying witness, the argument goes, ...

Tagged with: Criminal Procedure Digest Severance

Trusts Attorney fees Joann Seevers Wolfgram appeals and David Wolfgram and Diane Krawczyk as co-trustees of the James H. Wolfgram Revocable Trust cross-appeal from an order establishing the trust’s monthly obligation to Joann and requiring the establishment of an account ...

Tagged with: Attorney fees trusts

Municipalities Zoning; certiorari Certiorari review of a zoning decision must be sought against the zoning board of appeals, not the municipality. “Looking first at the city planning statute, Wis. Stat. § 62.23(7)(e)10. provides: Any person or persons, jointly or severally ...

Tagged with: certiorari Municipalities Digest Zoning

Contracts Attorneys; interest A law firm is not entitled to 18 percent interest on its unpaid legal bills when its attorney fee retainer agreement was silent on interest. “Attorneys have a burden to clearly draft their legal fee agreements. Gorton ...

Tagged with: Contracts Digest interest

Criminal Procedure Plea withdrawal; ineffective assistance; newly discovered evidence Charles Bouc was convicted upon his no contest plea to second-degree sexual assault of a child, contrary to Wis. Stat. § 948.02(2) (2007-08). Bouc now appeals the circuit court’s denial of ...

Tagged with: Criminal Procedure Digest Ineffective assistance newly discovered evidence Plea withdrawal

Contracts Injury to property; economic waste Where a defect is cosmetic rather than structural, the circuit court properly awarded the cost to repair rather than replace the defective product. “The circuit court here, like the court in Jacob, used economic ...

Tagged with: Contracts Digest

Criminal Procedure Successive appeals Benjamin Cruz, pro se, appeals the circuit court’s order denying his motion for postconviction relief under Wis. Stat. § 974.06 (2007-08). He contends that he should be allowed to withdraw his plea and that he received ...

Tagged with: Criminal Procedure Digest Successive appeals

Sentencing Accurate information Christopher John Johnson pled guilty to one count of repeated sexual assault of the same child. See Wis. Stat. § 948.025(1)(b) (2005-06). He appeals on the grounds that his sentence is based on inaccurate information, and the ...

Tagged with: Accurate information Sentencing Digest

Motor Vehicles Speeding Alexander Friedman, pro se, appeals from a judgment entered following a court trial, at which the trial court found Friedman guilty of driving too fast for conditions, a violation of Wis. Stat. § 346.57(3), as adopted by ...

Tagged with: Motor Vehicles Digest Speeding

Extended Supervision Revocation Gregory Holloway, pro se, challenges a circuit court order upholding the revocation of his extended supervision. We affirm. This opinion will not be published. 2010AP728 State ex rel. Holloway v. Schwarz, et al. Dist I, Milwaukee County, ...

Tagged with: Revocation

Criminal Procedure Successive appeals Jose Matamoros, pro se, appeals an order denying his motion for postconviction relief filed under Wis. Stat. § 974.06 (2007-08). Matamoros argues that the postconviction court erred when it concluded that the claims asserted in his ...

Tagged with: Criminal Procedure Digest Successive appeals

Probation Revocation Mark Szarkowitz, pro se, appeals from an order dismissing as untimely his petition for writ of certiorari. The petition challenged a decision sustaining the revocation of his probation. Szarkowitz argues we should construe a prior letter to the ...

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Juveniles TPR; notice Lorie O. appeals a partial summary judgment finding her unfit, and an order terminating her parental rights to Kody O. The circuit court found Lorie unfit under Wis. Stat. § 48.415(4) based on a continuing denial of ...

Tagged with: Juvenile Digest notice TPR

Family Maintenance; modification; change in circumstances Michael Baldocchi appeals from an order denying his motion to modify limited-term maintenance. Baldocchi argues the court erred by concluding that he failed to satisfy his burden to show a substantial change in circumstances. ...

Tagged with: change in circumstances Family Digest maintenance modification

Family Physical placement; modification; change in circumstances Dale Schmit appeals from an order dismissing his motion for modification of physical placement. The circuit court determined Schmit failed to establish a substantial change in circumstances. Because the undisputed facts do not ...

Tagged with: change in circumstances Family Digest modification Physical placement