State v. Baker

2005 WI App 45, 694 N.W.2d 415, 280 Wis. 2d 181, 2005 Wisc. App. LEXIS 142
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedFebruary 17, 2005
Docket04-0590-CR, 04-0591-CR
StatusPublished

This text of 2005 WI App 45 (State v. Baker) 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. Baker, 2005 WI App 45, 694 N.W.2d 415, 280 Wis. 2d 181, 2005 Wisc. App. LEXIS 142 (Wis. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

DYKMAN, J.

¶ 1. The State appeals from the circuit court's order returning a bond deposit to the person who posted it and applying five days of pre-sentence jail incarceration to satisfy court costs upon a judgment of conviction against Ryan E. Baker. The State contends that the circuit court erred because Wis. Stat. § 969.02(6) (2003-04) 1 does not permit the application of incarceration time for this purpose and instead requires the payment of court costs from a defendant's bond deposit. Baker asserts that § 969.02(6) makes no such requirement of judges and instead is directed at clerks. Alternatively, he argues that his indigency provided an adequate basis under Wis. Stat. § 814.29(1) for the court's action. Because we interpret § 969.02(6) to require a circuit court to order that any remainder of a defendant's bond deposit be applied toward the payment of court costs, we reverse the circuit court's order and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

*185 BACKGROUND

¶ 2. Ryan E. Baker pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of violating a domestic abuse injunction, contrary to Wis. Stat. § 813.12(8)(a), and one count of misdemeanor bail jumping, contrary to Wis. Stat. § 946.49(l)(a). In a separate case, he also pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor violation of a domestic abuse injunction. The bail-jumping charges stemmed from committing a new crime while on bond for five counts of selling fake identification cards. The court found Baker guilty on these five counts as a result of the bail violation. Baker's court costs and fees from these proceedings included: $375 in filing fees for five counts of selling fake identification cards pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 814.61(l)(a); $60 in filing fees for three criminal charges pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 814.60(1); $150 for crime victim and witness assistance surcharges for three criminal charges pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 973.045.

¶ 2a. Baker's father had posted a $500 bond at an earlier date. The bond was in effect at the time of Baker's plea and sentencing hearing. At that proceeding, the State asked the court to order that the bond be applied to Baker's court costs, arguing that Wis. Stat. § 969.02(6) mandated this result. The court declined to apply the bond to the court costs, thereby permitting the return of the bond to Baker's father. The court instead ordered that court costs be satisfied by pre-sentence jail incarceration, applying six days of incarceration at a rate of $100 per day to satisfy the costs. The court explained:

Well, I understand the argument that [use of jail credit to pay court costs] is not, that it is not authorized by statute. I haven't really chased it down vigorously. I do *186 know that it has been accepted typically in Dane County. So I think on the basis of giving the equivalent treatment to people that come before the Court and not singling out any particular defendant for treatment of the statutory costs, while I certainly see a basis for trying to get this defendant's attention more effectively than has been done yet, in his own best interest I don't think I should depart from the practice that has been in place.

The State appeals. The Chief Judge granted the State's motion that this case be heard by a three-judge panel. See § 752.31(3).

DISCUSSION

Use of Bond

¶ 3. The parties dispute whether Wis. Stat. § 969.02(6) requires that remaining bond money be used to satisfy court costs, and whether this section gives a circuit court discretion to order payment of court costs through application of credit for jail incarceration time. These are questions of statutory interpretation that we review de novo. In re Commitment of Burris, 2004 WI 91, ¶ 31, 273 Wis. 2d 294, 682 N.W.2d 812.

¶ 4. We consider the bond money question first. Under Wis. Stat. § 969.02(2), a circuit court may require a defendant charged with a misdemeanor to "execut[e] ... an appearance bond with sufficient solvent sureties, or the deposit of cash in lieu thereof." Section 969.02(6) provides that "[w]hen a judgment for a fine or costs or both is entered in a prosecution in which a deposit had been made in accordance with sub. *187 (2), the balance of such deposit, after deduction of the bond costs, shall be applied to the payment of the judgment."

¶ 5. We review a statute to ascertain its meaning, so that the statute may be given its full, proper and intended effect. State ex rel. Kalal v. Circuit Court, 2004 WI 58, ¶ 44, 271 Wis. 2d 633, 681 N.W.2d 110. "Judicial deference to the policy choices enacted into law by the legislature requires that statutory interpretation focus primarily on the language of the statute." Id. When interpreting a statute, we "begin[] with the language of the statute. If the meaning of the statute is plain, we ordinarily stop the inquiry." Seider v. O'Connell, 2000 WI 76, ¶ 43, 236 Wis. 2d 211, 612 N.W.2d 659. If the statutory intent is set forth clearly and unambiguously in the statutory language, we apply that intent to the case at hand and do not search for meaning outside the text of the statute. State v. Setagord, 211 Wis. 2d 397, 406, 565 N.W.2d 506 (1997). We may resort to extra-textual sources only when the statutory language is ambiguous, i.e., it "reasonably gives rise to different meanings." Bruno v. Milwaukee County, 2003 WI 28, ¶ 21, 260 Wis. 2d 633, 660 N.W.2d 656.

¶ 6. Baker contends that Wis. Stat. § 969.02(6) "does not restrict the circuit court's discretionary powers in the pronouncement of judgment... it only proscribes a ministerial duty that the clerk 'shall' perform ...." But Baker cites no authority to support this contention, and we know of none.

¶ 7. We conclude that the plain language of Wis. Stat. § 969.02

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Related

State v. Beets
369 N.W.2d 382 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1985)
Grobarchik v. State
307 N.W.2d 170 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1981)
State v. Setagord
565 N.W.2d 506 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1997)
Seider v. O'CONNELL
2000 WI 76 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2000)
State v. Burris
2004 WI 91 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Sprosty
595 N.W.2d 692 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1999)
State Ex Rel. Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane County
2004 WI 58 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2004)
Bruno v. Milwaukee County
2003 WI 28 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2003)
Fond Du Lac County v. Elizabeth M. P.
2003 WI App 232 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2003)
State Ex Rel. Girouard v. Circuit Court for Jackson County
454 N.W.2d 792 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1990)
Klein v. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
2003 WI App 118 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2003)

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Bluebook (online)
2005 WI App 45, 694 N.W.2d 415, 280 Wis. 2d 181, 2005 Wisc. App. LEXIS 142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-baker-wisctapp-2005.