Wisconsin Supreme Court Decisions 2017
Date: December 29, 2017
Docket Numbers: 2015AP000870, 2012AP002377
Justia Opinion Summary: Debra Sands appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Menard, Inc. Sands and John Menard, Jr., were involved in a romantic relationship from late 1997 to April 2006. Sands alleged that from 1998 until 2006 she…
Date: December 21, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001928-D
Date: December 21, 2017
Docket Number: 2017AP001168-D
Date: December 21, 2017
Docket Number: 2017AP002036-D
Date: December 19, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP002041-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: State v. Douangmala, 646 N.W.2d 1, was objectively wrong because it failed properly to consider the harmless error statutes, Wis. Stat. 971.26 and 805.18, and is thus overruled. At issue in this case was whether…
Date: December 15, 2017
Docket Number: 2016AP000563-D
Date: December 15, 2017
Docket Number: 2017AP000539-D
Date: December 1, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001610-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court’s denial of Appellant’s postconviction motion asserting that defense counsel at trial had been ineffective. Appellant was…
Date: November 30, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP002420
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court’s small claims money judgment for the Estate of Stanley G. Miller against Diane Storey. In the…
Date: November 28, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001285-D
Date: October 3, 2017
Docket Number: 2016AP001877-D
Date: September 15, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP000754-D
Date: September 15, 2017
Docket Number: 2016AP002486-D
Date: July 7, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000450-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant’s consent to a blood draw was not given freely and voluntarily under the Fourth Amendment, and the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule did not apply in this case. Defendant submitted to a blood draw…
Date: July 7, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001294-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction for possession with intent to deliver non-narcotic controlled substances as a repeat offender, holding that the trial court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion to…
Date: July 7, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001523
Justia Opinion Summary: Applying Wis. Stat. 70.47(7)(aa) and Wis. Stat. 74.37(4)(a) in a manner that required submission to a tax assessor’s search as a precondition to challenging the revaluation of their property violated Plaintiffs’ due…
Date: July 6, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000643
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Frederick Wells, holding that North Highland, Inc. failed present sufficient evidence to support either its claim of conspiracy to breach a fiduciary…
Date: July 6, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000791-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded no contest to operating after revocation, causing death, contrary to Wis. Stat. 343.44(1)(b) and (2)(ar)4. After a hearing, the sentencing court sentenced Appellant to the maximum sentence of six years.…
Date: July 6, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001261-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The circuit court’s finding that Defendant consented to a blood draw was not clearly erroneous, and Defendant’s consent was voluntary. Defendant was convicted of operating while intoxicated, third offense. Defendant…
Date: July 6, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP002052-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S.C. 367 (1987), does not require officers to follow “standard criteria” when conducting a community caretaker impoundment. Defendant, a suspected in the armed robbery of a bank, was arrested…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001493
Justia Opinion Summary: Appointing a registered agent under Wis. Stat. 180.1507 does not signify consent to general personal jurisdiction in Wisconsin. Plaintiffs filed this suit against Defendant, alleging that Defendant fraudulently…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001989
Justia Opinion Summary: An employee is not eligible for benefits under Wis. Stat. 102.42(1m) if the disability-causing treatment was directed at treating something other than the employee’s compensable injury. Plaintiff suffered from a…
Date: June 29, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP001623-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968), is not violated by the admission of a non-testifying co-defendant’s statements that are nontestimonial. Accordingly, under the circumstances of this case, Defendant’s…
Date: June 29, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000231
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals that affirmed the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Appleton Area School District’s Communications Arts 1 Materials Review Committee…
Date: June 27, 2017
Docket Number: 2016AP000275
Justia Opinion Summary: Wis. Stat. 950.09(2)(a), (2)(c)-(d) and (3) and 950.11 are unconstitutional with respect to judges because they invade two exclusive aspects of judicial authority: the judicial power vested in the unified court system…
Date: June 22, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000671-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming a circuit court judgment of conviction and order denying Petitioner’s postconviction motion. The court of appeals concluded (1) the circuit court…
Date: June 22, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001877-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court’s order denying expungement of Defendant’s misdemeanor convictions. Defendant pleaded guilty to criminal damage to property and…
Date: June 22, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP002366
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals, which affirmed the circuit court’s judgment dismissing a lawsuit filed by Petitioners, four golf professionals, against the City of Madison (the City…
Date: June 21, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000993-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction for failure to protect a child from sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault of a child under thirteen as a party to a crime. Contrary to Defendant’s arguments on…
Date: June 20, 2017
Docket Numbers: 2015AP001119, 2015AP001016
Justia Opinion Summary: The thirty-day period under Wis. Stat. 68.13(1) during which certiorari review may be obtained for a town board’s highway order to lay out, alter, or discontinue a highway begins to run on the date that the highway order…
Date: June 14, 2017
Docket Numbers: 2015AP001293-CR, 2015AP001292-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: When a defendant follows a circuit court’s instruction to defer filing a request for substitution of a judge until after counsel is appointed, strict compliance with the twenty-day deadline for filing a request for…
Date: June 13, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP002701-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his convictions for resisting a law enforcement officer and intentionally pointing a firearm at an officer, arguing that his constitutional right to present a defense was denied by the circuit court’s…
Date: June 8, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP002360
Justia Opinion Summary: The policy and practice of the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) of creating and disseminating criminal history reports in a manner that sometimes indicate that some individuals who are innocent of any criminal…
Date: June 8, 2017
Docket Number: 2016AP000046-FT
Justia Opinion Summary: Mr. J. was a proper subject of treatment within the meaning of Wis. Stat. 51.20(1) because he had rehabilitative potential. Mr. J., an adult suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, was subject to an involuntary…
Date: May 31, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000491
Justia Opinion Summary: The circuit court affirmed the Trempealeau County Environment & Land Use Committee’s denial of a conditional use permit application for non-metallic mineral mining submitted by AllEnergy Corporation and allEnergy Silica,…
Date: May 4, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP002236
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that an attorney authorized by his or her client in writing via a HIPAA release form to obtain the client’s health care records is a “person authorized by the patient” under Wis. Stat.…
Date: May 4, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001055
Justia Opinion Summary: The circuit court affirmed a determination by the Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC) that Appellant was ineligible for unemployment benefits because she was terminated for substantial fault. The court of appeals…
Date: April 28, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001782-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Two motorcyclists died when Defendant’s vehicle collided with them on a highway. Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of hit and run resulting in death. The circuit court sentenced Defendant to ten years’ imprisonment…
Date: April 27, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000959-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with obstructing an officer. The State Public Defender (SPD) appointed a lawyer. Thereafter, three appointed attorneys withdrew in rapid succession. The circuit court determined that Defendant had…
Date: April 26, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000463-D
Date: April 20, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001452-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of the crime of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated - fourth offense. Defendant requested a new trial, arguing that his trial attorney provided ineffective assistance…
Date: April 18, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP002376
Justia Opinion Summary: Garland Brothers Joint Venture owned property at which Charter Manufacturing Company had housed its business under a triple net lease. MWF later purchased the property. MWF hired Hunzinger Construction to perform…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Numbers: 2014AP002279, 2014AP002278
Justia Opinion Summary: American Transmission Company and ATC Management, Inc. (collectively, ATC) filed a declaratory judgment action seeking an order from the court declaring that it had a right, under a 1969 easement, to enter the property…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP002581
Justia Opinion Summary: Taft and Carol Parsons sued Associated Banc-Corp asserting claims pertaining to a failed construction project. The Parsons sought a jury trial, but Associated claimed that the Parsons contractually waived their right to…
Date: April 12, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP001914
Justia Opinion Summary: McKee Family I, LLC (McKee) objected to the City of Fitchburg’s rezoning of two lots from a planned development district (PDD) zoning classification to a residential-medium (R-M) zoning classification. McKee sought…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 2013AP002882
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners brought suit against Pro Electric Contractors for negligence in connection with Pro Electric’s work as a contractor on a government construction project. Pro Electric argued that the damage at issue occurred…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP001767-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with burglary, possession of burglarious tools, criminal damage to property, and criminal trespass, each as a repeater. Defendant filed a motion to suppress seeking to prevent the prosecution from…
Date: April 6, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP002603-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of operating while intoxicated and operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration, both as third offenses. Defendant appealed the denial of his motion to suppress all…
Date: April 5, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000366-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of three counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child. Defendant filed a motion for postconviction relief, alleging that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. The…
Date: March 31, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP002813-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide. Defendant was sentenced to consecutive life terms in prison. Defendant filed a motion for postconviction relief,…
Date: March 29, 2017
Docket Number: 2016AP000923-W
Justia Opinion Summary: Universal Processing Services of Wisconsin, LLC, d/b/a Newtek brought a lawsuit against one of its independent sales agents, Samuel Hicks, and his Idaho company, Merchant Card Services (collectively, Hicks). Here, Newtek…
Date: March 9, 2017
Docket Number: 2013AP000950
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was adjudicated delinquent or convicted of sexually violent offenses three times, resulting in his incarceration. Before Talley was released on his last offense, the State filed a petition for Chapter 980…
Date: March 7, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000146
Justia Opinion Summary: Madison, Wis., Gen. Ordinances 3.14(4)(h) created the City of Madison’s Department of Transportation and Transit and Parking Commission and empowered the Commission to establish rules and procedures. In 2005, The…
Date: March 1, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP001870-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and operating a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration. Defendant filed a motion to suppress the results of a warrantless blood draw on the basis…
Date: February 28, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000202-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1982, Defendant and his brother were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2014, Defendant filed a motion requesting forensic DNA testing of evidence taken from the crime…
Date: February 24, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP001152
Justia Opinion Summary: Voces de la Frontera (Voces) submitted a public records request to Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. seeking all immigration detainer forms (I-247 forms) that the Sheriff received from the United States…
Date: February 23, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP002981-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner pleaded no contest to one count of burglary as a party to a crime. The judgment of conviction provided that Petitioner submit to a DNA sample and pay a $250 DNA analysis surcharge. At the time Petitioner…
Date: February 17, 2017
Docket Number: 2007AP000776-D
Date: February 17, 2017
Docket Number: 2016AP002014-D
Date: February 14, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000158-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree reckless homicide for delivering heroin that caused the death of S.L. Defendant appealed, arguing that the admission of a toxicology report at trial through a…
Date: February 9, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP002840-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a no contest plea to homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle resulting in great bodily harm. When sentencing Defendant, the sentencing court considered the…
Date: February 1, 2017
Docket Number: 2016AP000684-D
Date: February 1, 2017
Docket Number: 2016AP001400-D
Date: January 12, 2017
Docket Number: 2015AP000656-CR
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled no contest to one count of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, in violation of Wis. Stat. 346.63(1)(a), second offense. Defendant appealed, arguing, inter alia, that the trial court erred in…
Date: January 6, 2017
Docket Number: 2014AP000195
Justia Opinion Summary: This medical malpractice case was based on the claim that Dr. Kim Balink was negligent in the prenatal care of Braylon Seifert’s mother and in Braylon’s delivery. The jury returned a special verdict finding that Dr.…
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