Koll v. Department of Justice

2009 WI App 74, 769 N.W.2d 69, 317 Wis. 2d 753, 2009 Wisc. App. LEXIS 249
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedApril 1, 2009
Docket2008AP2027
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2009 WI App 74 (Koll v. Department of Justice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Koll v. Department of Justice, 2009 WI App 74, 769 N.W.2d 69, 317 Wis. 2d 753, 2009 Wisc. App. LEXIS 249 (Wis. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

SNYDER, J.

¶ 1. The Department of Justice appeals from an order requiring the DOJ to issue a handgun permit to Joseph E. Koll, Jr. The DOJ contends that the circuit court erred when it reversed a DOJ decision to deny Koll's permit request based on a conviction for disorderly conduct in 1998. At issue is whether Koll was convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, as defined 18 U.S.C. § 92l(a)(33)(A)(2006),1 which would preclude Koll from obtaining a handgun. Our review of the record reveals that Koll was convicted of "non-domestic" disorderly conduct; however the charging documents describe a domestic relationship between Koll and the victim. That is sufficient, under United States v. Hayes, 555 U.S. _, 129 S. Ct. 1079 (2009), to serve as a predicate offense barring Koll from [755]*755possessing a gun. The DOJ also appeals from an order awarding costs and fees to Koll. Because we reverse the circuit court's order to issue the gun permit, costs and fees are not available to Koll. Accordingly, we reverse both orders of the circuit court.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2. The State charged Koll with violent disorderly conduct and battery arising from an incident that occurred on June 11, 1998.2 The probable cause statement supporting the complaint indicated that Koll had slapped the hand and twisted the arm of his live-in girlfriend, and that when she tried to leave, Koll broke the side mirror off of the vehicle. During the course of the investigation, the police officer on the scene had the victim complete a domestic abuse packet. Ultimately, Koll pled no contest to two counts of disorderly conduct, specifically described as "non-domestic," and was convicted under Wis. Stat. § 947.01 (1997-98).3 The circuit court imposed and stayed a sentence of ninety days in jail on each count, to be served consecutively. The court then placed Koll on probation for three years and ordered him to participate in "Domestic Abuse Perpetrator's" counseling.

¶ 3. On December 10, 2007, Koll attempted to purchase a handgun at a local retailer. The DOJ denied his request. Koll then submitted his fingerprints for [756]*756verification, but was again denied. On December 28, Koll requested a review of the decision before the administrator of the Division of Law Enforcement Services. On January 9, 2008, the administrator summarily denied Roll's request, citing the 1998 conviction as running counter to the Gun Control Act, 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33). Applying the federal law, the administrator concluded that Roll's convictions involved "misdemeanor crime[s] of domestic violence."

¶ 4. Koll sought review of the agency decision in circuit court. The court conducted a hearing on June 16, 2008. At that hearing, the DOJ argued that it had merely applied the federad law and had "no discretion in [the] matter" once it looked at the "underlying complaint" and determined the case involved a domestic relationship. In other words, because the complaint alleged that Koll did "unlawfully cause domestic abuse to another," and because the disposition required Koll to attend domestic abuse counseling, the DOJ denied the handgun permit under the Gun Control Act.

¶ 5. The circuit court was not persuaded and held in favor of Koll. It relied on the "non-domestic" characterization of the offense for which Koll was convicted. The court ruled that the department wrongfully withheld the gun permit and ordered the permit to issue. The DOJ appeals.

DISCUSSION

¶ 6. We begin by noting that we review the agency decision, not the decision of the circuit court. Beecher v. LIRC, 2004 WI 88, ¶ 22, 273 Wis. 2d 136, 682 N.W.2d 29. Generally, an agency action may be set aside or remanded only if it is unsupported by substantial [757]*757evidence in the record. R.W. Docks & Slips v. DNR, 145 Wis. 2d 854, 860, 429 N.W.2d 86 (Ct. App. 1988). However, "where there is no hearing, and thus no 'record' as that term is commonly understood, the question on review is not whether the agency can produce 'substantial evidence' to support its decision, but rather whether the facts compel a particular result as a matter of law." Id. at 860-61; see also Wis. Stat. § 227.57(7). Accordingly, we must determine whether Roll's conviction for disorderly conduct prohibits him, under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(A), from exercising his constitutional right to bear arms.

¶ 7. Since its inception in 1968, the Gun Control Act has barred felons from possessing firearms. In 1996, Congress extended the prohibition on gun possession to persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). Although Roll's predicate offense was labeled "non-domestic," the criminal complaint indicates that Roll's conduct was directed against the woman with whom he lived. He does not dispute cohabiting with the victim; however, Roll asserts that the Gun Control Act targets convictions for misdemeanor crimes that include, as an element, a domestic relationship. Because the State was not required to prove a domestic relationship to obtain a conviction for disorderly conduct, Roll argues, the gun possession ban does not apply to him.

¶ 8. In the Gun Control Act, Congress defined a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to mean an offense that:

(i) is a misdemeanor under Federal, State, or Tribal law; and
[758]*758(ii) has, as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, committed by a current or former spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or by a person similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim.

18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(A)(footnote omitted). In Hayes, the question before the court was: "[T]o trigger the [gun] possession ban, must the predicate misdemeanor identify as an element of the crime a domestic relationship between aggressor and victim?" 129 S. Ct. at 1082.4

¶ 9. The U.S. Supreme Court reasoned that construing the Gun Control Act "to exclude the domestic abuser convicted under a generic use-of-force statute (one that does not designate a domestic relationship as an element of the offense) would frustrate Congress' manifest purpose" in extending gun control laws to abusers who are not charged with felonies. Id. at 1087. The Court observed that in 1996, only about one-third of all states had criminal statutes specifically describing crimes of domestic violence. Id.

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Koll v. Department of Justice
2009 WI App 74 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
2009 WI App 74, 769 N.W.2d 69, 317 Wis. 2d 753, 2009 Wisc. App. LEXIS 249, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/koll-v-department-of-justice-wisctapp-2009.