Justia Wisconsin Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

After William Weborg died of severe coronary artery disease, his wife and their minor sons (collectively, the Weborgs) commenced a medical malpractice action against three physicians, their insurer, and the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund (collectively, the physicians), claiming that the three physicians were negligent in their care and treatment of William, resulting in his death. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the physicians, and the circuit court dismissed the Weborgs' complaint against the physicians. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the circuit court applied an improper legal standard in admitting the evidence of life insurance proceeds and social security benefits, but the error was harmless; and (2) the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion in modifying the standard jury instruction on expert testimony, but the error was harmless. View "Weborg v. Jenny" on Justia Law

Defendant entered into a plea agreement with the State in which Defendant pled no contest to manufacturing THC. Based on a plea colloquy, the circuit court determined that the plea was entered knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently. The circuit court accepted Defendant's plea and placed Defendant on probation for a period of two years. Defendant subsequently filed a motion for post-conviction relief, arguing that he was entitled to withdraw his plea to correct a manifest injustice because did not admit to having more than four marijuana plants at the time of the plea colloquy, but rather admitted to having only four plants. The circuit court denied Defendant's post-conviction motion, determining that Defendant's plea was entered knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the record, when viewed in its totality, did not support withdrawal of Defendant's plea, as Defendant did not meet his burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence that allowing the withdrawal of his no contest plea was necessary to correct a manifest injustice. View "State v. Cain" on Justia Law

This case revolved around public records requests of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters seeking dispatch records and incident reports from the Milwaukee Police Department. The City requested advance payment for copying and staff time spent reviewing and redacting the records. The newspaper and its reporters (Newspaper) refused to pay the requested charges and instead sued the City, seeking judgment compelling the City to release the records without prepayment of any fees assessed for redacting information. The circuit court granted summary judgment to the City on the issue of the fees for redaction. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that, in light of the Wisconsin Public Records Law as well as prior interpretations of the Law by the appellate courts, the City could not charge the Newspaper for the costs, including staff time, of redacting information from requested records. View "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel v. City of Milwaukee" on Justia Law

In this case, an officer conducted a traffic stop of Dimitrius Anagnos's vehicle. Once the vehicle was stopped, the officer determined that Anagnos was intoxicated and arrested him for operating while under the influence of an intoxicant (OWI). The circuit court determined that the traffic stop was unconstitutional and that Anagnos's operating privileges should not have been revoked on account of his refusal to take a chemical test to determine the presence or quantity of alcohol in his blood or breath. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the arresting officer pointed to specific and articulable facts, which taken together with rational inferences from those facts, gave rise to the reasonable suspicion necessary for an investigative stop; and (2) because the stop of Anagnos's vehicle was supported by reasonable suspicion, the circuit court erred in concluding that the stop was unconstitutional and that Anagnos was not lawfully placed under arrest. Remanded. View "State v. Anagnos " on Justia Law

The State brought a civil action against Pharmacia Corporation, alleging that the company reported inflated drug prices to Wisconsin Medicaid. A jury found Pharmacia liable for violating the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) and the Medicaid fraud statute. The jury awarded the State $2 million for the DTPA claim and $7 million for the Medicaid fraud claim. The jury also determined that Pharmacia committed 1,440,000 separate violations of the Medicaid fraud statute. In post-trial proceedings, the circuit court reduced the number of violations to 4,578. Both parties appealed. The court of appeals certified three issues to the Supreme Court. The Court affirmed the circuit court's judgment on the issues and remanded to the court of appeals, holding (1) the State was entitled to a jury trial on its Medicaid fraud claim; (2) the jury did not impermissibly speculate in determining the damage award; and (3) the circuit court properly reduced the number of violations found by the jury. View "State v. Abbott Labs." on Justia Law

As a result of an investigatory stop and search, police discovered drugs and drug paraphernalia in a vehicle driven by Defendant Joseph Miller. The circuit court denied Miller's motion to suppress the evidence and statement obtained from this stop, and Miller pleaded no contest to possession of between five and fifteen grams of cocaine with intent to distribute as a party to a crime. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that under the totality of the circumstances, police acted reasonably when they conducted an investigatory stop of the vehicle that Miller was driving based on reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot, and therefore, the circuit court did err in denying Miller's motion to suppress. View "State v. Miller" on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of, inter alia, battery to a police officer, carrying a concealed weapon, and DUI. For the battery conviction, Rowan was sentenced to initial confinement followed by extended supervision. Among the conditions of extended supervision imposed by the sentencing court was the condition that Rowan's person, residence, or vehicle was subject to search for a firearm at any time by any law enforcement officer without probable cause or reasonable suspicion. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court, holding (1) while the condition the circuit court imposed on Rowan's extended supervision may have impinged on constitutional rights, it did not violate them; and (2) the evidence in regard to Rowan's conviction for battery to a police officer was sufficient to support the conviction. View "State v. Rowan" on Justia Law

Defendant Douglas Williams pled no contest to manufacturing THC. Williams appealed the denial of his motion to suppress, asserting that the search warrant that was issued for his home by a circuit court commissioner was invalid as beyond the lawful authority of court commissioners, and that the evidence obtained upon the execution of the warrant should be suppressed. Williams' argued that any exercise of power by unelected persons, such as circuit court commissioners, violated the Wisconsin Constitution. At issue before the Supreme Court was whether Wis. Stat. 757.96(1)(b), which grants specific statutory authority to circuit court commissioners to issue search warrants, was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's denial of Williams' motion to suppress, holding (1) section 757.69(1)(b) is constitutional, as it does not impermissibly intrude upon the judicial power granted to the courts by Wis. Const. art VII, 2; and (2) therefore, the circuit court commissioner's search warrant was validly issued. View "State v. Williams" on Justia Law

The circuit court granted summary judgment to Community Insurance Corporation (CIC) on a claim by the Hartford Union High School Board of Education and the Hartford Union High School District (collectively, the District) that insurance coverage had been created by virtue of CIC's failure to issue a reservation of rights letter during its unsuccessful defense of the District in a contract lawsuit. The court of appeals reversed, holding that CIC was estopped from denying coverage because the District relied on CIC's defense to its detriment and was prejudiced thereby. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the failure to issue a reservation of rights letter cannot be used to defeat, by waiver or estoppel, a coverage clause in an insurance contract that would otherwise justify the insurer's denial of coverage. View "Maxwell v. Hartford Union High Sch. Dist." on Justia Law

Marco Marquez, the consumer, brought this action against Mercedes-Benz USA, alleging that his new car was a "lemon" under the state's Lemon Law, that he requested a refund and provided Mercedes-Benz with the required notice and information, and that Mercedez-Benz failed to provide a refund within the thirty-day period as required under the Lemon Law. At issue in this case was whether Marquez intentionally thwarted Mercedes-Benz's attempt to provide a refund within the thirty-day statutory period by failing to provide necessary information. On remand, the jury found in favor of Mercedes-Benz, but the circuit court entered a directed verdict in favor of Marquez, finding no credible evidence that Marquez intentionally thwarted Mercedes-Benz's efforts to provide a refund. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that no credible evidence supported the jury's verdict, and therefore, the circuit court was not clearly wrong in directing the verdict in favor of Marquez. View "Marquez v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC" on Justia Law