State v. Amonoo

2019 WI App 21, 927 N.W.2d 922, 386 Wis. 2d 629
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedMarch 14, 2019
DocketAppeal No. 2017AP2142
StatusPublished

This text of 2019 WI App 21 (State v. Amonoo) 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
State v. Amonoo, 2019 WI App 21, 927 N.W.2d 922, 386 Wis. 2d 629 (Wis. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

¶1 Kwesi B. Amonoo, pro se , appeals a circuit court order denying his fourth postconviction motion for a new trial under WIS. STAT. § 974.06 (2009-10).1 Amonoo argued in the motion that he was entitled to a new trial based on newly discovered evidence. On appeal, he argues that the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion when it denied the motion without an evidentiary hearing. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the order of the circuit court.

BACKGROUND

¶2 This is Amonoo's fifth appeal related to his 1995 conviction, entered after a jury found him guilty of two counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of first-degree reckless endangerment of safety. The charges against Amonoo arose from a shooting outside a Kohl's grocery store. On direct appeal, we affirmed his convictions and the order denying his postconviction motion.

¶3 In 2010, Amonoo filed a motion for a new trial under WIS. STAT. § 974.06 on the basis of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The circuit court denied the motion without a hearing, and Amonoo appealed. This court affirmed the order of the circuit court.

¶4 In 2013, Amonoo filed a second motion for a new trial under WIS. STAT. § 974.06, this time on the basis of newly discovered evidence. In support of the motion, Amonoo submitted multiple affidavits, including affidavits from Nakisha Sanders and Marcus Johnson, averring that another individual, David Walker, had confessed to the crime for which Amonoo was incarcerated. According to Amonoo, Walker committed suicide at some point after making the purported confessions. The circuit court denied Amonoo's motion for a new trial without a hearing, and we affirmed on appeal.

¶5 Amonoo filed a third motion for a new trial under WIS. STAT. § 974.06 in 2015, again on the basis of newly discovered evidence. Amonoo attached the same affidavits that were submitted with his prior motion for a new trial, and also added an additional affidavit from Sesi Edu. Edu averred that she had seen Walker commit the shooting and also that Walker confessed to the shooting. Edu's affidavit also stated that she tried to "forget about the ordeal" until she connected with several people on Facebook who knew Amonoo. The circuit court denied the motion for a new trial without a hearing, and we affirmed on appeal.

¶6 The current appeal arises from Amonoo's fourth postconviction motion for a new trial under WIS. STAT. § 974.06. Amonoo again bases his motion on a claim of newly discovered evidence. Included with the motion are multiple affidavits. Most of the affidavits already were submitted with Amonoo's prior postconviction motions and were considered by this court in his previous appeals.2 We will not reiterate their contents here. The only affidavits not previously submitted are Amonoo's own affidavit dated May 16, 2017, and the affidavit of La'Precious Hill dated March 8, 2017.

¶7 In her affidavit dated March 8, 2017, Hill avers that she was visiting a friend named Tyesha Quinn in Milwaukee on an unspecified date. They had plans to meet Quinn's friend known as "Tone" at a restaurant, but Tone did not show up. The affidavit further states that Hill then went with Quinn to a Kohl's grocery store and that, as they neared the store, they saw a "guy standing in the street" who shot at a group of people near the store entrance. Quinn informed Hill that the shooter was "Tone," which was Walker's nickname. Hill's affidavit also states that she saw Walker about 30 minutes after the shooting, and that Walker mentioned he couldn't meet up at the restaurant because "he had to get down on some people that had jumped him at school."

¶8 Amonoo's own affidavit of May 16, 2017, describes how he came to learn that Hill purported to have seen the shooting. According to the affidavit, Amonoo learned during "a phone conversation with an associate named Stacie" that an individual named James Mays wanted to speak to him. Mays told Amonoo that Quinn had been "telling anybody who would listen, while high & drinking heavily, that she and someone named La'Precious saw David Walker shoot the people that I was locked up for." Amonoo's daughter then searched for and located La'Precious Hill on Facebook.

¶9 As with his first three motions for a new trial, the circuit court denied Amonoo's fourth motion without a hearing. Amonoo now appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶10 The decision to grant or deny a motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence is committed to the discretion of the circuit court. State v. Avery , 2013 WI 13, ¶22, 345 Wis. 2d 407, 826 N.W.2d 60. We review the circuit court's decision for an erroneous exercise of discretion. Id. A court erroneously exercises its discretion when it applies the wrong legal standard or makes a decision not reasonably supported by the facts of record. Id. , ¶23.

DISCUSSION

¶11 Amonoo asserts that the newly discovered evidence described in his most recent postconviction motion meets the criteria for a new trial and that the circuit court erred when it denied the motion. For the reasons discussed below, we disagree.

¶12 A defendant seeking a new trial based on newly discovered evidence must establish "by clear and convincing evidence, that: (1) the evidence was discovered after conviction; (2) the defendant was not negligent in seeking evidence; (3) the evidence is material to an issue in the case; and (4) the evidence is not merely cumulative." State v. Armstrong , 2005 WI 119, ¶161, 283 Wis. 2d 639, 700 N.W.2d 98 (quoted source omitted). The circuit court properly stated this four-prong test in its order denying Amonoo's postconviction motion. The circuit court assumed, without deciding the issue, that Amonoo had satisfied these four general requirements. We make the same assumption on appeal, without deciding the issue.

¶13 However, even when the four prongs of the newly discovered evidence test are satisfied, a court also "must determine whether a reasonable probability exists that a different result would be reached in a trial." Avery , 345 Wis. 2d 407, ¶25 (quoted source omitted). Here, the circuit court concluded:

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Related

State v. Armstrong
2005 WI 119 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Witkowski
473 N.W.2d 512 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1991)
State v. Avery
2013 WI 13 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
2019 WI App 21, 927 N.W.2d 922, 386 Wis. 2d 629, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-amonoo-wisctapp-2019.