ANDERSON, J. 1 Mark D. Jensen appeals from a judgment of conviction for the first-degree intentional homicide of his wife Julie Jensen. Jensen presents many arguments on appeal, none of which persuade. We affirm. Background 2 Paragraphs three through thirteen of this opinion relate pertinent background facts laid out by our supreme court in State v. Jensen, 2007 WI 26, 299 Wis.2d 267, 727 N.W.2d 518 . We will recite additional facts as they become relevant to our discussion of the...
CURLEY, P.J. 1 The City of Milwaukee appeals a judgment vacating its $14 million tax assessments of U.S. Oil's property for 2004 and 2005 as excessive under the Wisconsin Constitution's Uniformity Clause. The City initially assessed the property—consisting of three oil terminals at the Granville Terminal Complex—at about $6 million for each of these tax years, relying on a 2002 sale of the subject property. When U.S. Oil challenged these assessments in front of the City's Board of Review,...
REILLY, J. 1 Ziolkowski Patent Solutions Group (Ziolkowski), a Wisconsin intellectual property law firm, sued its former client, Great Lakes Dart Manufacturing, Inc., (GLD) for legal fees and 18% interest on the unpaid fees. Ziolkowski included a clause at the foot of its invoices imposing a finance charge of 1.5% per month on all accounts thirty days past due, but the original contractual engagement letter between Ziolkowski and GLD did not mention interest charges for late payments. The...
ANDERSON, J. 1 On September 23, 2009, Linda Acevedo filed a certiorari action in Kenosha county circuit court. The action named only the City of Kenosha as the defendant. The City moved to dismiss Acevedo's lawsuit on the basis that the action failed to state a claim for which relief could be granted. In particular, the City argued that Acevedo's claim should have been against the City of Kenosha Zoning Board of Appeals, which, the City contends, is a separate body politic. The City further...
KESSLER, J. 1 Miguel A. Ayala appeals from a judgment of conviction and sentence after a jury found him guilty of one count of first-degree intentional homicide as party to a crime by use of a dangerous weapon, contrary to WIS. STAT. 940.01(1)(a), 939.05 and 939.63(1)(b) (2007-08), 1 and three counts of armed robbery with use of force, as party to a crime, contrary to WIS. STAT. 943.32(2) and 939.05. Ayala argues that the trial court erred in failing to suppress a gun and Ayala's...
FINE, J. 1 Milwaukee District Council 48, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees appeals the final orders in consolidated Milwaukee County circuit-court cases that, respectively, vacated and refused to confirm an arbitration award determining that a reduction in work hours for members of District Council 48 violated the union's collective-bargaining contract with Milwaukee County. We reverse both orders. I. 2 This case arises out of the unilateral attempt by...
NEUBAUER, P.J. 1 Ilana C. appeals from a circuit court order granting her mother and stepfather, Ilya R. and Stephen R., full guardianship of Ilana's daughter Alexis. Ilana challenges the order on three grounds. First, Ilana contends that Wisconsin lacked jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), see WIS. STAT. ch. 822 (2007-08), 1 because Indiana was Alexis's "home state." Ilana next contends that the circuit court failed to apply the correct...
SHERMAN, J. 1 Heritage Farms, Inc. appeals a judgment and an order of the circuit court denying its request for double damages under WIS. STAT. 26.21(1) (2007-08), 1 and his request for interest on any award of double damages and on the legal fees and costs incurred to obtain such damages. Heritage Farms argues 26.21 mandates that double damages be awarded in situations where a private owner's property is destroyed by a forest fire which occurred though negligence, or in the...
KESSLER, J. 1 At issue in this consolidated appeal is whether commercial general liability insurance coverage exists for the plaintiffs' claims of negligent misrepresentation against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The Archdiocese appeals the finding of the trial courts that insurance coverage does not exist under a commercial general liability policy (CGL) issued by OneBeacon Insurance Company 1 because the actions underlying the complaints constitute volitional acts, not accidents that...
FINE, J. 1 Vickie L. Flejter and Joan C. Reich, as co-personal representatives of the estates of Gary W. and Barbara L. Kitchen, and John L. Makoutz and Clarence Kitchen appeal the circuit court's grant of summary judgment to West Bend Mutual Insurance Company dismissing the appellants' claims against West Bend, holding that neither its Commercial General Liability policy nor its umbrella policy provides coverage for the damages appellants seek. We affirm. I. 2 According to the complaint,...
FINE, J. 1 Dekoria Marks appeals the judgment entered on a jury verdict finding her guilty of attempted second-degree intentional homicide, see WIS. STAT. 940.05(1)(a) & 939.32, and from the order denying her motion for postconviction relief. 1 She claims that: (1) her trial lawyer gave her constitutionally deficient representation; (2) the trial court erred when it refused to let the jury hear the unredacted version of what she told a Milwaukee police detective; and (3) she is...
FINE, J. 1 Farmers Insurance Exchange and its insured, Cindy L. Close, appeal the judgment awarding damages to Rene Correa for injuries a jury found he sustained as a result of an automobile accident with Close. They also appeal the trial court's order denying their postverdict motion. The only issue on appeal is whether there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's award of $30,000 for Correa's "[p]ast hospital and medical expenses." We affirm the judgment and order in part, and...
SHERMAN, J. 1 Robert Farrar appeals from an order of summary judgment in favor of Mt. Morris Mutual Insurance Company (Mt.Morris). The circuit court concluded as a matter of law that Mt. Morris has no duty to indemnify or defend Farrar, its insured, for any damages or claims arising from or related to an accident which occurred when Farrar was moving a mobile home with his tractor. We conclude that Mt. Morris failed to demonstrate that it was entitled to summary judgment and, therefore,...
NEUBAUER, P.J. 1 Cintas Corporation No. 2 (Cintas No. 2) appeals from a default judgment entered in favor of its employee, Robert Johnson. Cintas No. 2 contends the default judgment, entered immediately after the trial court permitted amendment of the pleadings to name Cintas No. 2, is void because the original summons and complaint named the wrong corporate entity—its parent, Cintas Corporation. We agree. Because personal jurisdiction is acquired by personal service of a summons naming the...
BRENNAN, J. 1 Joshua Lashawn Munford appeals the judgment of conviction entered after a jury found him guilty of first-degree intentional homicide. Munford argues that: (1) his due process rights were violated when the State destroyed evidence with apparent exculpatory value; and (2) the trial court abused its discretion when it prevented Munford from telling the jury that the State destroyed the evidence. Because we conclude that the evidence's purported exculpatory value was not apparent...
BLANCHARD, J. 1 This case raises the question of the procedural steps that clerks of circuit courts are required to take in order to trigger the deadline for a landowner to appeal a just compensation award issued by a condemnation commission. The narrow issue presented is whether a clerk of circuit court needs to comply strictly with the notice requirements in WIS. STAT. 32.06(8) 1 in order to commence the sixty-day time limit for an appeal pursuant to WIS. STAT. 32.06(10). 2 We...
BRENNAN, J. 1 Patrick E. Hampton appeals from a judgment entered after he pled guilty to first-degree reckless homicide. He contends that the circuit court erred when it denied his motion to suppress the statements he made to police on July 20 and 21, 2008. Hampton claims that, at the outset of the July 20 interview, he expressly invoked his right to counsel and to remain silent and again expressly invoked his right to counsel two hours and thirty-eight minutes into the interview....
BRENNAN, J. 1 BV/B1, LLC, appeals from a declaratory judgment awarding InvestorsBank $833,798.52 in prepayment penalty fees following a summary judgment hearing. BV/B1 argues that the clause on which the circuit court relied is subject to at least four different logical interpretations, thereby making the clause ambiguous and inappropriate for construction on summary judgment. BV/B1 also argues that the circuit court erred in failing to conclude that InvestorsBank waived its right to...
BLANCHARD, J. 1 The State appeals from a circuit court order granting Carl Dowdy's request to reduce the period of Dowdy's probation from ten years to seven years. We conclude that the court had neither statutory nor inherent authority to order the reduction. The plain language of WIS. STAT. 973.09(3)(a) (2007-08) 1 does not authorize the circuit court to reduce Dowdy's probation period. Furthermore, whether or not circuit courts possess inherent authority to reduce a period of probation...
BROWN, C.J. 1 James, Jr., and Jody Schmitz argue that they were insured for their losses when their home collapsed during heavy rains in June 2008. They acknowledge that their insurance policy with American Family Mutual Insurance Company excluded damages resulting from surface water and flooding. But they assert that the policy excepts collapses resulting from defective methods of construction and claim that their failure to build a retaining wall when adding onto their house caused rain to...
