59 results for 'court:"Wisconsin Court of Appeals"'.
J. Grogan finds the circuit court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his knowing and voluntary guilty plea to charges of possession with intent to deliver five or more grams of cocaine. Despite defendant's argument that no factual basis for his plea exists because the state essentially combined smaller amounts of crack cocaine he was alleged to have sold on separate occasions into one larger amount to satisfy the requirements of the charge he pleaded guilty to, the plain language of the relevant statute "precisely" allows for that under certain circumstances. There is also no support for defendant's claim that he is at least entitled to an evidentiary hearing. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Grogan, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 2022AP002196, Categories: Drug Offender, Plea
J. Gill finds the circuit court in 2019 properly convicted defendant of two counts of first-degree murder after law enforcement used saliva from an envelope he gave them to match his DNA to DNA collected from semen at the scene of an unsolved double murder and sexual assault from 1976. Although defendant's DNA was collected as part of a "ruse" concocted by law enforcement involving a fake survey the circuit court referred to as a "complete fabrication" designed to collect his DNA after he became a suspect based on DNA analysis, defendant's challenge to the surreptitious collection of his DNA fails because he voluntarily and with consent handed the envelope containing his saliva to law enforcement. Defendant's motion to suppress was properly denied, and his judgment of conviction stands. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gill, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 2022AP000882-CR, Categories: Dna, Evidence, Murder
J. Gill finds the lower court improperly dismissed a tenant's claims for damages and attorney fees associated with an allegedly illegal eviction. A tenant was served with a five-day eviction notice by a landlord during a period when evictions were prohibited due to Covid-19. While the landlord eventually moved to dismiss its claim, the tenant’s counterclaims moved forward, but were dismissed on grounds that the Wisconsin Consumer Act did not apply to residential leases. But the instant court finds it does apply, as a residential lease is a consumer transaction, with the tenant as the customer. The matter is remanded to determine attorney fees owed to tenant’s counsel and to determine the amount of damages to be awarded to the tenant. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gill, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2022AP182, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Damages, Attorney Fees
Per curiam, defendant's appeal is denied. Defendant was convicted on two counts of arson and one count of possessing a firebomb associated with his role attempting to burn the district attorney's garage and firebomb the district attorney’s home. He was sentenced to 35 years confinement followed by 15 years extended supervision for the arson convictions, and a consecutive two-year sentence followed by three years extended supervision for the firebomb conviction. Defendant argues his sentence should be modified since he assisted law enforcement in the prosecution of a fellow inmate, but the lower court found that it did not constitute a new factor, and is therefore not eligible for sentence modification. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2022AP002094-CR, Categories: Sentencing, Arson
A group of policemen and firefighters appeal the lower court’s decision to dismiss their action concerning retirement benefits. They began their employment in February 2000, while negotiations were underway for changes in retirement funds. When the existing fund rolled into the current fund, with the consent of the group and all other investors in the fund, certain additional benefits became available to invested employees who began working on or prior to January 1, 2000. Despite their employment beginning after that date, the group argues they are entitled to the additional benefits as if they were employed on or before the date. The lower court disagreed as does the instant court. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2022AP1401, Categories: Employment
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
J. Neubauer finds the lower court improperly found that an insurance policy did not cover the property owners’ claimed damages. Property owners of condominium units filed a complaint against an insurance company for damages to their units due to neglected repairs in common areas of the community. The lower court found the damages were the result of the condominium community’s repair decisions, and not an accident or single unforeseeable incident. The instant court finds water intrusion as a result of the repair decisions constitutes an occurrence, as steps were taken to address the underlying issues, and damage to the units was not anticipated. The court also finds the owners are not considered insureds, and are not subject to exclusions prohibiting their claims. The matter is remanded for further consideration. Reversed in part.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Neubauer, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 2023AP1011, Categories: Insurance, Real Estate, Damages
J. Gundrum finds the lower court properly terminated the parental rights of a father to his minor daughter for failure to assume parental responsibility and that it is in the best interest of the child. The daughter was placed in care outside of parental custody when she was only months old and has remained so; she was four-years-old at the time of the termination hearing. The lower court found the father failed to complete parental plan requirements for the child to be returned to his custody, and that termination of his parental rights is in the child’s best interest. The instant court finds no abuse of discretion in the lower court’s decision. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gundrum, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 2024AP81, Categories: Family Law
J. Blanchard finds the circuit court did not err when, at the state's request upon remittitur, it reopened defendant's judgment of conviction on a DUI charge that was reversed on appeal, dismissed the DUI charge, reinstated a previously dismissed charge of driving with a restricted controlled substance, and entered a guilty conviction and re-sentenced defendant on that charge. The circuit court's actions adhered to state statutes, including one involving the "single-conviction provision," did not exceed its authority, and did not violate defendant's double jeopardy rights. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Blanchard, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 2023AP000645-CR, Categories: Double Jeopardy, Dui
J. Gill finds the circuit court properly decided that the insurance company is obligated to defend and indemnify the insureds in a lawsuit from a man whose leg was crushed in a crash while he was a passenger on a UTV operated by the insureds' son on a frozen lake near the insureds' second home. An exception to an exclusion in the insureds' homeowner's insurance policy offering coverage for lawsuits stemming from bodily injuries caused by "the ownership, maintenance, use, loading or unloading of a UTV 'which is' used to service an insured's residence" is ambiguous and can be constructed in more than one reasonable way, and the facts in the complaint fit one of the circumstances under which coverage would be triggered. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gill, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 2022AP000742, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Graham finds the circuit court improperly denied the water distribution business' motion for judgment on the pleadings in the bottle water supplier's lawsuit alleging false representations and warranties about assets the supplier purchased from the business, including delivery trucks that were not road-worthy, non-functioning water coolers and a candy business that was no longer operational. The parties' asset purchase agreement has a survival clause with a one-year statute of limitations that blocks the supplier's breach of contract and breach of warranty claims, and the supplier's tortious misrepresentation claims are barred by Wisconsin's economic loss doctrine. The case is remanded for the circuit court to dismiss the supplier's complaint. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Graham, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 2023AP000778, Categories: Warranty, Contract
J. Taylor finds the circuit court properly denied the doctor's motions to dismiss and for summary judgment in the patient's lawsuit alleging the doctor failed to inform the patient about her recommendation to the patient's surgeon that the patient's ovaries be removed during surgery to remove part of her colon as treatment for endometriosis. The doctor's argument that she had no duty to inform the patient regarding the removal of her ovaries because she was not the surgeon who actually removed them is not enough to overcome the patient's sufficiently pleaded duty-to-inform claim, and the doctor has not made a facial case for summary judgment in terms of whether her negligence was a cause of the patient's injuries. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Taylor, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 2023AP000255, Categories: Negligence, Medical Malpractice
J. Neubauer finds the circuit court properly reversed the tax appeals commission's conclusion that the cheese manufacturer's equipment, machinery and tools were exempt from taxation. The equipment, machinery and tools in question were correctly found to be "manufacturing property" as outlined in Wisconsin statutes properly determined to be ambiguous and, considering the statutes in conjunction with the relevant legislative history, the equipment, machinery and tools must be assessed for taxation. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Neubauer, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 2022AP001909, Categories: Tax, Agency
J. Lazar finds the circuit court improperly dismissed the business lobby's lawsuit over the village's enactment of a "transportation user fee" to fund a transportation utility, a fee which the lobby claims is actually an unlawful tax. In light of a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision directly handling a similar fee enacted by another municipality, the "funding mechanism" for the village's transportation utility counts as a tax, and it is illegal as enacted. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Lazar, Filed On: March 13, 2024, Case #: 2023AP000690, Categories: Tax
J. Grogan finds the circuit court properly granted summary judgment to the commerce lobby and dry cleaning business in their lawsuit challenging certain regulations put in place by the natural resources agency regarding PFAS and other contaminants. The agency's policies for PFAS and other "emerging contaminants" fall under the statutory definition of "rules" according to the five-factor test established by Wisconsin Supreme Court precedent, and the rules are invalid and unenforceable because the agency did not put them through statutorily required rule-making procedures under state law which, among other things, give parties affected by the rules proper notice of how the law is to be implemented. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Grogan, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 2022AP000718, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment, Agency
J. Gill finds the circuit court improperly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence of marijuana discovered from searches police conducted of her car with a canine during a traffic stop for not having a front license plate and a passenger not wearing a seat belt. The searches of defendant's car, which occurred when a canine being led around the outside of the car was allowed to twice enter defendant's open driver's side door, both count as "searches" under the Fourth Amendment, and they constitute unlawful searches because the officers did not get a warrant and no exception to the warrant requirement was at play. Whether or not the standard adopted by some jurisdictions creating an exception to the warrant requirement if a canine instinctively extends a search into someone's car exists and is recognized in Wisconsin, such an "instinct exception" will not be adopted in this case because the officer handling the canine "implicitly encouraged" it to enter defendant's car. The circuit court's judgment of conviction is reversed and the case is remanded for the circuit court to grant defendant's motion to suppress. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gill, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 2020AP001813-CR, Categories: Constitution, Drug Offender, Search
J. Graham finds the circuit court properly dismissed a lawsuit from the cheese company and associated entities challenging the state agency's tax assessments of their properties because they did not properly serve the lawsuit to the agency. The record shows the company and entities failed to strictly adhere to process service requirements under state law, in part because the individual tasked with personally serving the agency handed the documents to a security guard and tax specialist at the agency's office, not "an official" with the agency, the day before the documents were due under statutes without clearly noting she was serving legal papers. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Graham, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 2023AP000583, Categories: Civil Procedure, Tax
J. Lazar finds the circuit court improperly ruled in favor of the school sports organization in a lawsuit from a high school wrestler appealing orders that effectively stripped him of his 2019 state title and eliminated other results from his wrestling season in part because he participated in a varsity regionals match when the organization had declared he had to serve a suspension for previous unsportsmanlike conduct. In the wrestler's case, the organization applied its suspension rules in an "arbitrary, oppressive or unreasonable manner," in part by determining that the wrestler could not serve out his suspension by sitting out a junior varsity invitational instead of varsity regionals because that would be an attempt to "circumvent" its rules. This decision by the organization was "one of its will, not its judgment," and the circuit court's order is reversed and a permanent injunction is entered reinstating the wrestler's state title and other results. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Lazar, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2021AP001525, Categories: Administrative Law, Agency
J. Blanchard finds the circuit court properly denied the inmate's petition for a writ of certiorari in his challenge to sanctions of disciplinary separation and restitution ordered by the prison disciplinary committee for possession of intoxicants and use of intoxicants that required an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Despite the inmate's claim of delays that were out of his control, the record shows he failed to submit all the necessary administrative documents relevant to his case within 45 days of the state corrections secretary's adverse decision on his inmate complaint, making his challenge untimely under statutes and giving the circuit court authority to dismiss his petition. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Blanchard, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 2022AP001076, Categories: Administrative Law, Prisoners' Rights
J. Graham finds the circuit court improperly ordered defendant to pay restitution in his burglary case beyond what he is able to pay financially, which lined up with the state's argument citing an amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution expanding crime victims' rights, also known as Marsy's Law. As the state now concedes, a provision in Wisconsin statutes limiting monetary restitution in juvenile delinquency cases to an amount which "the juvenile alone is financially able to pay" is constitutional and jibes with the requirements of Marsy's Law. The circuit court's order requiring defendant to pay $26,788 in restitution is reversed, and the circuit court should recalculate defendant's restitution after the case is remitted. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Graham, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2021AP001437, Categories: Burglary, Juvenile Law, Restitution
J. Stark finds defendant is not entitled to withdraw her no-contest plea leading to a judgment of conviction for conspiracy to deliver more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and a sentence of 12 years' confinement and 15 years' supervision. Even though the circuit court's plea colloquy was defective because it never corrected false information defendant received from her counsel saying she faced a potential maximum sentence of 46 years instead of the 40 years she actually faced under the terms of her plea agreement, defendant's plea was knowing, intelligent and voluntary because she understood the potential punishment she faced despite being told she may receive a sentence not substantially higher than was actually possible. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Stark, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 2022AP000199-CR, Categories: Drug Offender, Plea
J. Nashold finds the circuit court erred by not deciding whether U.S. Bank had waived its right to arbitration by its conduct through a year of litigating with the consumer over his unpaid debt and instead ordering the issue to be resolved in arbitration. Given the weight of case law from other jurisdictions that is consistent with Wisconsin law, courts must decide the "waiver-by-litigation-conduct" issue unless given parties' arbitration agreement explicitly requires otherwise. The arbitration agreement pertaining to U.S. Bank and the consumer's dispute does not have anything that overcomes the presumption of the court handling the issue, so the case is remanded for the circuit court to decide it. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Nashold, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 2022AP000920, Categories: Arbitration, Debt Collection
J. Gill finds the police violated defendant's Fourth Amendment rights when they encouraged a canine unit to twice enter the open driver's side door of defendant's car without a warrant while the canine was sniffing around the outside of the car during a traffic stop. Despite the state's arguments, the so-called "instinct exception" to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement adopted by other jurisdictions for canines that instinctively search inside a vehicle without direction would not apply to defendant's case even if the exception were recognized in Wisconsin. Defendant's judgment of conviction for marijuana and paraphernalia possession is reversed, and the case is remanded so the circuit court can grant her motion to suppress. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gill, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 2020AP001813-CR, Categories: Constitution, Drug Offender, Search
J. Gundrum finds the circuit court improperly affirmed the administrative agency's finding that the brothers were unlawfully fired by the school district after they allegedly stole funds from selling scrap metal belonging to the district, conduct for which they both received municipal theft citations that were resolved by paying the district $500. The plain language of the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act does not extend employment-discrimination protections for those terminated because of their "arrest record" to individuals fired due to civil, municipal charges. The matter is remanded to the circuit court, which is to remand to the agency so the latter can dismiss the brothers' claims. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gundrum, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 2022AP001158, Categories: Municipal Law, Employment Discrimination
J. Kloppenburg finds the circuit court properly convicted defendant and sentenced him to 21 years in prison on charges related to a fatal car accident he caused while he had a detectable amount of a cocaine metabolite in his bloodstream. Despite defendant's argument that the relevant statute is unconstitutional because there is no rational basis to include inactive, non-impairing cocaine metabolites in the definition of a restricted controlled substance, which could lead to more "false positives" resulting from blood draws, it is concluded the statute is facially constitutional because it bears a reasonable relationship to its goal of promoting roadway safety and jibes with a "zero tolerance" approach to prosecuting impaired driving that has already been found to be constitutional. Defendant is not entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his motion for post-conviction relief claiming due process violations and ineffective assistance of counsel. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Kloppenburg, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 2023AP000458-CR, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Dui
J. Lazar finds the circuit court improperly dismissed a voter group’s petition for writ of mandamus that sought for a public record request to obtain voter eligibility notices containing statutorily information required to be communicated to local officials. The group has demonstrated these records are appropriate under the public records law. The court holds that the group is entitled to redacted requested forms and remands this case for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Lazar, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 2023AP36, Categories: Elections, Public Record
J. Blanchard finds the circuit court partially erred in modifying maintenance payments the ex-husband must pay to the ex-wife under the terms of their 1999 divorce to $3,850 per month after the payments were initially lowered from $4,500 to $2,800 based on the ex-husband being unable to work for several months due to spinal surgery. The portion of the circuit court's order setting the payments at $3,850 per month is reversed, as the court failed to properly explain the basis for the award based on facts like the parties' total assets and monthly income, and on remand the court is ordered to explain the basis for whatever award it deems necessary. The circuit court did not err in ordering the ex-husband to pay the ex-wife $19,000 in attorney fees and, based on the language of the relevant statutes, the circuit court had competency to hold the hearing de novo requested by the ex-wife even though the hearing occurred more than 60 days after she requested it, as the 60-day time frame in the statute is directory and not mandatory. Reversed in part.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Blanchard, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 2023AP000573, Categories: Family Law, Attorney Fees
J. Stark finds the circuit court properly found in favor of the town in the homeowners' lawsuit seeking damages for flooding on their property they say was caused by the town's negligent repairs to a neighboring highway. The homeowners' claims are barred and preempted by the relevant statutes related to claims against municipalities over flooding caused by highway construction, in part because some of their claims, including for inverse condemnation, were untimely under one statute's three-year statute of limitations. The circuit court's summary judgment ruling in favor of the town stands, as does its dismissal of the homeowners' lawsuit with prejudice. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Stark, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 2022AP001567, Categories: Municipal Law, Property, Damages
J. Gill finds the circuit court properly affirmed the administrative law judge's decision reversing the natural resources department's issuance of a wetland individual permit to the manufacturing company related to the construction of a new golf course that would require discharging dredged or fill material into more than three acres of wetlands. The relevant Wisconsin statutes require the department to consider the entire "proposed project" beyond just the effects on the specific impacted wetlands, which necessarily includes secondary impacts on wetland functional values such as the value of bird habitats and "scenic beauty," water quality and other net environmental impacts. There is also substantial evidence that the department did not have sufficient information to determine the overall adverse impacts of the project at the time it issued the permit, and it is also concluded that the administrative law judge did not require the department to make quantitative findings about secondary impacts of the project. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gill, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 2021AP001187, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment
J. Gundrum finds the circuit court improperly granted defendant's motion for a new trial in a case in which he was convicted in 2001 of four counts related to his alleged sexual assault of his seven-year-old step-daughter on two occasions in 1998 and 1999. Defendant's confrontation clause challenge to the admission of out-of-court statements from his step-daughter and her younger brother and his claim that he was denied a fair trial by being unable to cross-examine a witness for the state regarding immunity he was granted for his testimony both fail, as the statements admitted at trial were either non-testimonial or ultimately harmless and, while the state and defendant agree the circuit court erred by keeping defendant from cross-examining the physician witness for the state, the error was also harmless in that it would not have meaningfully affected the outcome of the trial. On remand the circuit court is directed to reinstate defendant's 2013 amended judgment of conviction. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gundrum, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 2021AP001590-CR, Categories: Confrontation, Sex Offender, Witnesses
J. Nashold finds the circuit court properly dismissed the advocacy group's petition for a writ of mandamus forcing the county register in probate to provide records the group claims would show a discrepancy between a list of ineligible voters maintained by the state elections commission and people considered incompetent to vote based on guardianship proceedings in the county. The group now concedes it is not entitled to most of the records it sought because court records related to incompetency proceedings are closed, but its argument that it is still entitled to notice of voter eligibility forms fails, as those forms are also clearly pertinent to incompetency proceedings. The group's argument of judicial bias based on the circuit court judge's comments about the group's "political" goals and reference to its petition as a "fishing expedition" also fails, in part because the group's selection of these quotes either omit the judge's full statements or important context in which they were made. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Nashold, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 2022AP001794, Categories: Elections, Public Record