State v. Amy Joan Zahurones

2019 WI App 57
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedSeptember 10, 2019
Docket2018AP001845-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2019 WI App 57 (State v. Amy Joan Zahurones) 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. Amy Joan Zahurones, 2019 WI App 57 (Wis. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

2019 WI App 57

COURT OF APPEALS OF WISCONSIN PUBLISHED OPINION

Case No.: 2018AP1845-CR

Complete Title of Case:

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

AMY JOAN ZAHURONES,

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

Opinion Filed: September 10, 2019 Submitted on Briefs: August 6, 2019 Oral Argument:

JUDGES: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ. Concurred: Dissented:

Appellant ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the defendant-appellant, the cause was submitted on the briefs of Cary Bloodworth, assistant state public defender of Madison.

Respondent ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the plaintiff-respondent, the cause was submitted on the brief of Joshua L. Kaul, attorney general, and Courtney K. Lanz, assistant attorney general. 2019 WI App 57

COURT OF APPEALS DECISION NOTICE DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. September 10, 2019 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Sheila T. Reiff petition to review an adverse decision by the Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10 and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2018AP1845-CR Cir. Ct. No. 2015CF115

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS

APPEAL from a judgment and an order of the circuit court for Langlade County: JOHN B. RHODE, Judge. Reversed in part and cause remanded with directions.

Before Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ.

¶1 STARK, P.J. Amy Zahurones pled no contest to four counts arising from a single course of conduct. On three of the counts to which Zahurones pled, the circuit court withheld sentence and imposed two years’ probation. The court No. 2018AP1845-CR

deferred entry of judgment on the remaining count—Count 2—pending the successful completion of Zahurones’ probation. However, following multiple probation holds, both Zahurones’ probation and the deferred entry of judgment agreement were revoked, and Zahurones received concurrent sentences on all four counts.

¶2 Zahurones now appeals, arguing the circuit court erred by granting her insufficient sentence credit against her sentence on Count 2. Specifically, Zahurones argues she is entitled to credit on Count 2 for time she spent in custody on probation holds on the other counts. We agree with Zahurones that the time she spent in custody on the probation holds was “in connection with” the course of conduct for which sentence was imposed on Count 2. Under WIS. STAT. § 973.155(1)(a) (2017-18),1 Zahurones was therefore entitled to sentence credit for those time periods against her sentence on Count 2. Accordingly, we reverse that portion of the judgment of conviction granting Zahurones only four days of sentence credit on Count 2 and that portion of the postconviction order denying Zahurones’ request for additional sentence credit on that count. We remand for the circuit court to modify the judgment of conviction to grant Zahurones a total of 276 days of sentence credit against her sentence on Count 2.

BACKGROUND

¶3 The criminal complaint in this case alleges that on July 3, 2015, police entered a house in which Zahurones was living and found Zahurones in a

1 All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2017-18 version unless otherwise noted.

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back bedroom. In the same room, officers also found several clonazepam tablets, a pill bottle containing multiple types of prescription medication, a pipe containing burnt marijuana residue, and drug paraphernalia related to methamphetamine use. Zahurones refused to follow the officers’ instructions and was placed under arrest. She continued to be uncooperative after her arrest, and the officers were ultimately required to pick her up and carry her to a squad car. Zahurones’ two-year-old daughter was among the individuals in the residence at the time of her arrest. A social worker subsequently transported the child to a hospital where she tested positive for methamphetamine.

¶4 Based on the events described above, the State charged Zahurones with the following six counts, each as a repeater:

 Count 1: possession of drug paraphernalia;

 Count 2: physical abuse of a child;

 Count 3: possession of a controlled substance;

 Count 4: possession of an illegally obtained prescription drug;

 Count 5: resisting an officer; and

 Count 6: possession of drug paraphernalia.

Zahurones spent four days in custody on these charges before being released on cash bond.

¶5 During a plea and sentencing hearing on September 23, 2015, Zahurones pled no contest to Counts 1, 2, 3, and 5, pursuant to a plea agreement, and Counts 4 and 6 were dismissed and read in. The parties jointly recommended

3 No. 2018AP1845-CR

that the circuit court withhold sentence on Counts 1, 3, and 5 and place Zahurones on two years of concurrent probation on each of those counts. The parties further recommended that the court defer entry of judgment on Count 2 for two years pursuant to a deferred entry of judgment agreement (DEJ). As a condition of that agreement, Zahurones was required to “successfully complete probation on Counts 1, 3 and 5.” The court accepted Zahurones’ pleas and adopted the parties’ joint sentencing recommendation. In addition, the court converted Zahurones’ original cash bond to a signature bond, explaining that Zahurones remained on bond with respect to Count 2 because judgment on that count was deferred.

¶6 On September 30, 2015—seven days after the plea and sentencing hearing—Zahurones was taken into custody on a probation hold for Counts 1, 3, and 5. She remained in custody on that probation hold for fifty-five days. Zahurones later spent seven additional days in custody on a probation hold for Counts 1, 3, and 5, beginning on May 11, 2016. On January 11, 2017, the State filed a motion to revoke Zahurones’ DEJ on Count 2. The stated basis for the motion was that Zahurones had “failed to comply with all terms of the [DEJ], specifically [Zahurones] has failed to complete probation.”

¶7 On February 22, 2017, Zahurones was once again placed in custody on a probation hold for Counts 1, 3, and 5. Her probation was subsequently revoked on May 24, 2017. Thereafter, she remained in custody pending her sentencing after revocation on Counts 1, 3, and 5, and pending the revocation of the DEJ on Count 2. That third period of custody lasted 210 days.

¶8 The circuit court held a sentencing after revocation hearing on September 20, 2017. During the hearing, the court also addressed the State’s motion for revocation of the DEJ. The court concluded Zahurones had breached

4 No. 2018AP1845-CR

the DEJ by failing to successfully complete her probation on Counts 1, 3, and 5. The court therefore proceeded to sentence Zahurones on all four of the counts to which she had previously pled no contest. After considering the parties’ arguments, the court imposed the following concurrent sentences: thirty days in jail on Count 1; two years of initial confinement and two years of extended supervision on Count 2; thirty days in jail on Count 3; and nine months in jail on Count 5. The court granted Zahurones 285 days of sentence credit against her sentences on Counts 1, 3, and 5, but it did not grant any credit against her sentence on Count 2.

¶9 Zahurones subsequently moved for postconviction relief, seeking sentence credit adjustments in this case and two others. As relevant to this appeal, Zahurones conceded that she was entitled to only 276 days of sentence credit on Counts 1, 3, and 5—down from 285 days. She argued, however, that she was also entitled to 276 days of credit against her sentence on Count 2.

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Bluebook (online)
2019 WI App 57, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-amy-joan-zahurones-wisctapp-2019.