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

Insurance Failure to pay premiums; estoppel Wisconsin Mutual Insurance Company appeals a judgment estopping it from denying coverage for Jean George’s automobile accident based on her failure to pay the premium. Wisconsin Mutual claims her husband’s testimony that a Wisconsin ...

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Family Property division Joel Brunner appeals a divorce judgment. He argues the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion by ordering an unequal division of the marital estate. We disagree and affirm. This opinion will not be published. 2009AP1801 In re ...

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Family Physical placement Roxann Pazdera appeals from an order revising physical placement, arguing the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion in numerous respects. We affirm. This opinion will not be published. 2009AP72 In re the marriage of: Pazdera v. Pazdera ...

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Employment Duty disability benefits Richard Lukszys filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, seeking judicial review under Wis. Stat. § 68.13(1) (2007-08) of a decision of the City of Milwaukee Annuity and Pension Board in which the Board denied ...

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Civil Rights Warrantless searches; summary judgment Brian E. Davis, pro se, appeals from the judgment dismissing his action against the City of Milwaukee (City) after he presented his case at trial. See Wis. Stat. § 805.14(3) (2007-08). Davis argues that ...

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Probation and Parole Sentencing after revocation; burden of proof At a sentencing after revocation of probation, the defendant has the burden of rebutting the allegations that led to revocation. “[T]o prove his due process rights were violated, we conclude Walker ...

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Criminal Procedure Right to counsel Where a defendant initiated conversation after invoking his right to counsel, his statements are admissible. “Here, after Hampton requested to speak with an attorney, the detectives scrupulously respected that request and began to leave. Hampton ...

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Criminal Procedure Confrontation Clause; forfeiture by wrongdoing Where the defendant made numerous telephone calls to the victim to dissuade her from testifying against him, admission of her statements to police does not violate the Confrontation Clause. “Here, the trial court ...

Tagged with: Confrontation Clause Criminal Procedure Digest

Bankruptcy Fraud An attorney could not get an exception to discharge a client’s debt on the basis that he was fraudulently induced to continue representing him. “The plaintiff’s argument is that he ‘trusted’ the debtor, but arguably the creditor in ...

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Bankruptcy Exemptions; tax refunds The right to receive a tax refund is not a “depository account” that can be exempted from the bankruptcy estate. “The right to a refund is more akin to other claims the debtor might possess than ...

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Bankruptcy Chapter 13; length of plan A bankruptcy court cannot confirm a plan proposed by above-median income debtors that lasts for less than 60 months, even if it offers creditors as much money as the chapter 13 means test would ...

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Criminal Procedure Honest services fraud; pecuniary fraud Where the jury instructions on a pecuniary fraud count were intertwined with erroneous instructions for honest services fraud, the conviction must be reversed. “The evidence was certainly sufficient to prove a pecuniary fraud, ...

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Consumer Protection TILA It violates the Truth in Lending Act for a lender to have a borrower sign a postdated certificate stating he did not wish to rescind the loan. “First, by having plaintiff sign a post-dated form electing not ...

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Torts Tortious interference with contract; statute of limitations The statute of limitations for tortious interference with contract is two years under sec. 893.57. “The jurisprudence of the Wisconsin Supreme Court casts doubts on the legal efficacy of the interpretation of ...

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Civil Procedure Subject matter jurisdiction; CFAA Merely accessing and disseminating information from a protected computer does not suffice to create a cause of action under the Computer Fraud Abuse Act. “[T]here are several fatal flaws with the core of the ...

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Criminal Procedure Ineffective assistance Ricardo E. Marinez appeals a judgment convicting him of three counts of repeated first-degree sexual assault. He also appeals an order denying his motion for postconviction relief. Marinez contends that his trial attorney was ineffective for ...

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Criminal Procedure New trials; exculpatory evidence Byron Stewart appeals from a judgment convicting him of first-degree intentional homicide, as party to a crime, and from an order denying his postconviction motion. Stewart contends that he is entitled to a new ...

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Criminal Procedure Coram nobis Andrew M. Obriecht seeks relief through a writ of coram nobis vacating three 1997 misdemeanor convictions and the resulting sentences. We affirm the circuit court’s order dismissing the writ. This opinion will not be published. 2010AP1469 ...

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Sexually Violent Persons New trials; newly discovered evidence Matthew A. Bailey appeals from a judgment and an order committing him, after a jury trial, as a “sexually violent person” under Wis. Stat. ch. 980 (2007-08). He also appeals from an ...

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Criminal Procedure Plea withdrawal Ricardo Lopez appeals from a judgment of conviction and an order denying postconviction relief by which he sought to withdraw his plea to second-degree sexual assault of a child. Lopez contends that he did not enter ...

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Civil Rights Search and seizure; probable cause Where a police officer found marijuana stems in the plaintiff’s garbage, and the plaintiff had received shipments from a supplier of marijuana cultivation products, the officer did not violate the plaintiff’s constitutional rights ...

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Sentencing Modification Jose Antonio Alicea, pro se, appeals an order denying his motion to modify his sentence as untimely. He challenges the DNA surcharge imposed by the circuit court, arguing that the circuit court failed to adequately explain why it ...

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Evidence Confrontation Clause; harmless error Peter Whyte appeals a judgment, entered upon a jury’s verdict, convicting him of second-degree intentional homicide. Whyte argues that the admission of hearsay evidence violated his right to confrontation. We conclude the error, if any, ...

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Criminal Procedure Appellate record Gregory M. Sahs appeals from a judgment of conviction entered after he pled guilty to one count of possession of child pornography, contrary to Wis. Stat. § 948.12(1m). Sahs argues that the trial court erred when ...

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Criminal Procedure Ineffective assistance Stephen Sherman, pro se, appeals an order denying his Wis. Stat. § 974.06[1] motion for postconviction relief. Sherman argues the circuit court erred by denying his motion without an evidentiary hearing. He contends he received ineffective ...

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Family Child support; modification Dana LeDuc, pro se, appeals from numerous postdivorce orders concerning modification of child support. She also claims circuit court bias and appearance of impropriety. We reject her arguments and affirm. This opinion will not be published. ...

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Family Physical placement; modification Michael Miheve appeals an order denying his motion to modify a physical placement order. He argues the circuit court erred by denying his motion without holding an evidentiary hearing. We agree and reverse. This opinion will ...

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Family Property division; maintenance Anna Smith appeals from a divorce judgment. She argues the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion with regard to the property division and maintenance determinations. We agree and therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings. This ...

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Contracts Accord and satisfaction; waiver Even though a lender accepted repayment, it is not barred from enforcing a prepayment penalty, where the borrower sent a letter reserving its right to contest the provision and then did contest it. “InvestorsBank did ...

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Evidence Relevance; undue prejudice Where a defendant’s recorded telephone conversations from jail could be interpreted either innocently or as an attempt to intimidate the government’s informant, they were properly admitted at trial. “Johnson claims that this conversation did in fact ...

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