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Recent Blog Posts
Objective Reasonableness: Mistakes of Law and the Fourth Amendment
When you are about to be pulled over by law enforcement officers, you presume the officers pulling you over know the law, since they are charged with enforcing it. Usually, law enforcement officers are aware of the laws they are enforcing. Sometimes, however, law enforcement officers stop you based on their mistaken belief of the law — specifically, on an incorrect understanding of the law.
- Judged through the perspective of a reasonable officer;
Attempted Homicide and the Prosecution’s Case
Homicide charges are some of the most serious crimes punished by society because homicide is often an intentional or unlawful taking of a human life, unless it is justified. In most states, including Wisconsin, the death penalty has been abolished. However, if someone commits homicide while also committing federal crimes, even if they lived and committed those crimes in Wisconsin, they could be subject to the death penalty.
Like homicide, attempted homicide is an extremely serious offense that comes with some of the most severe penalties that Wisconsin law has to offer. Attempted homicide occurs only when an individual intends to commit a homicide and tries to carry out the homicide but, for some reason, this individual fails to finish the crime.
Five Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your OWI Defense
When you have been arrested for operating your vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant (OWI), you may feel that your life cannot get any worse at that moment in time. Shortly after you are arrested, the circumstances surrounding your arrest are still developing, and depending on the situation, your case may even be dismissed months down the line. However, if you engage in certain actions, you may give the prosecution more ammunition against you and proving that you may be your own worst enemy.
Under Wisconsin law, in order to be convicted of a OWI, the prosecution must prove that you were operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant. The prosecution has to prove every single element of the OWI charge in order to obtain a conviction. If the prosecution fails to prove any single element, the case against you is substantially weakened which raises your chance of acquittal.
Things to Avoid
Sleeping Off a Long Night of Drinking and OWI Charges
Many people are unaware that they can be arrested for operating a motor vehicle under the influence (OWI) of alcohol, even if they are sleeping in their automobile. Wisconsin law prohibits anyone from operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, among other things, that render them incapable of safely driving. The law defines what penalties you may be subject to and even defines what qualifies as an intoxicant. However, the law conveniently fails to define the term ‘operating.’
Factors Courts Consider
An Insight into the Grant of Immunity in Criminal Cases
When Wisconsin or the federal government is investigating you or someone else, and they need information in your possession, they may offer you a certain form of immunity in exchange for your testimony. In the area of criminal law, there are two types of immunity that are generally available: use immunity and transactional immunity. Depending on the type of immunity you are offered, you will have different forms of protection.
Generally, transactional immunity is favored because it provides the most protection—a total ban on using the witness’s testimony against the witness. But, use immunity serves a different purpose. It allows the witness to give information to the prosecution and bars them from using those statements against the witness in the future.
Disorderly Conduct in Wisconsin
Whenever you think of disorderly conduct (also referred to as “disturbing the peace”), you may think of an individual or group of individuals engaging in some kind of activity that is offensive or disruptive to the public. The laws prohibiting disorderly conduct allow law enforcement officers to arrest individuals who interfere with other people’s use and enjoyment of public areas. Disorderly conduct covers a broad range of activities.
In Wisconsin, an individual is guilty of disorderly conduct when he or she, “in a public or private place, engages in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct under circumstances in which the conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance.” This crime is charged as a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a maximum fine for $1,000 and/or up to 90 days in jail.
The Charge of Substantial Battery
There are many different types of battery in Wisconsin. As such, you can be charged with battery and be facing either misdemeanor charges or felony charges. One type of felony battery in Wisconsin is known as substantial battery. If you are facing substantial battery felony charges, it is imperative you reach out to an attorney for immediate assistance.
Substantial Battery as Defined
The most important thing for you to understand about substantial battery is that the prosecutor does not need to prove that you intended to cause substantial bodily harm. All the prosecutor needs to show is that you intended to cause any bodily harm, and that suffices. It used to be that the prosecutor was required to prove that you intended to cause the “substantial” harm that resulted, rather than just any level of harm. That was a much easier standard to defend, especially since many times people lash out in the heat of the moment and the damage caused is far greater than what was intended.
Armed Robbery Charges in Wisconsin
Armed robbery is a violent crime legislated by statute in Wisconsin as a Class C felony. Depending on the specific charge, it is punishable by up to 40 years prison and up to a $100,000 fine.
To be convicted of robbery in Wisconsin, the court generally requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that somebody else possessed the property in question; that the person charged with armed robbery took the property from the person in question with the intent to steal it; and that the defendant used or threatened to use force to take the property.
What Else Must the State Prove to Convict You of Armed Robbery?
Armed robbery, because of the great risk to the general public for violence, is punished severely in Wisconsin and elsewhere if you are found guilty. To prove armed robbery, in addition to the requirements above, the state of Wisconsin also needs to prove that at the time the property was stolen, you used or threatened to use a weapon or a dangerous article in a manner that led the victim to reasonably believe that it was in fact a dangerous weapon.
Heroin and Homicide Charges in Wisconsin
Heroin addiction is growing in Wisconsin and throughout the nation, and lawmakers are attempting to discourage this through the adoption of harsh legal penalties. Just this past June, a 36-year-old woman was sentenced to five years in prison for reckless homicide after providing heroin to a man that overdosed. She was not accused of being a drug dealer, but was still charged and imprisoned for homicide for providing heroin which resulted in death.
What Is Reckless Homicide in Wisconsin?
You can be convicted of first degree reckless homicide in Wisconsin, which is a Class B felony, if a prosecutor proves that you caused the death of another person under circumstances that show utter disregard for human life. In the circumstances described above, however, the Wisconsin legislature has determined that the appropriate charge is a Class C felony.
Will Milwaukee Patrol Officers Have Body Cameras by the End of 2016?
The past several years have seen a rise in tension between police officers and the communities in which they work, especially African American communities. Since the death of Michael Brown and the unrest in Ferguson, calls have grown louder in Wisconsin and around the country for reform. One particular reform that is being implemented in major cities throughout the country is the use of body cameras on police officers. Similar calls have been made here in Wisconsin, with differing success to date. A Tale of Two Cities There is good news on the horizon for Milwaukee residents who have been the victim of police brutality in the past. By the end of 2016, the entire Milwaukee police department may be outfitted with body cameras, much sooner than police officers in many other big cities throughout the United States. This is what the mayor of Milwaukee has proposed, and it will cost $880,000 to implement in the 2016 budget. This comes on the heels of many tense moments between police and citizens in the past year, as well as a White House task force that reported that body cameras reduce officers’ use of force and complaints about excessive force. At the same time Milwaukee is poised to lead the nation on this issue, an advisory board in Madison voted four against two in September against a pilot program requiring patrol officers to be outfitted with body cameras. A petition has been started, however, by concerned citizens to also require Madison officers to be equipped with body cameras, based on a high number of excessive force complaints. What to Do in the Meantime The budget for body cameras in Milwaukee has still not been approved, and there are no plans on the horizon for Madison officers to be outfitted with body cameras. The rest of Wisconsin lags behind the major metropolitan areas. In the interim, we continue to hear stories of citizens who feel their rights were violated by the police when they were arrested. Of course, many police officers are overwhelmingly decent and law-abiding citizens, who protect the rest of us at great personal risk to their own safety. However, there are cases in Wisconsin and throughout the nation where people’s rights are violated by overzealous police officer or in other situations where tempers flare. Do You Think Your Rights Have Been Violated by the Police?
