State v. Bonds

2006 WI 83, 717 N.W.2d 133, 292 Wis. 2d 344, 2006 Wisc. LEXIS 375
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJune 30, 2006
Docket2005AP948-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 2006 WI 83 (State v. Bonds) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bonds, 2006 WI 83, 717 N.W.2d 133, 292 Wis. 2d 344, 2006 Wisc. LEXIS 375 (Wis. 2006).

Opinions

PATIENCE DRAKE ROGGENSACK, J.

¶ 1. We review the State's post-conviction amendment to a criminal complaint for battery in violation of Wis. Stat. § 940.19(1) (2003-04),1 as the amendment affects the basis for the allegation that Jamale Bonds is an habitual criminal. In regard to habitual criminality, the complaint alleged three misdemeanor convictions. The date of the prior convictions was misstated in the body of the complaint, but certified copies of the judgments of conviction were attached to the’copy of the complaint that was given to Bonds. Bonds pled not guilty and was convicted by a jury. At sentencing, he did not admit the allegation of habitual criminality. The State then changed the factual basis for its allegation that Bonds was a repeater and sought to prove a prior felony forgery conviction. The State submitted a Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP) report as proof of that conviction. Bonds objected to amending the basis on which the State sought to prove habitual criminality and also asserted that the proof the State had submitted was insufficient to prove habitual criminality beyond a reasonable doubt. The circuit court permitted the amendment, accepted the CCAP report as sufficient [349]*349proof of habitual criminality, and sentenced Bonds as a repeater. Bonds claims it was error to do so.

¶ 2. Four members of the court conclude that with sufficient proof, the State's post-conviction amendment of the basis for proving habitual criminality would have been permissible for two reasons: (1) The complaint satisfied the requirements of Wis. Stat. § 973.12 and of due process because Bonds had notice that he was being charged as an habitual criminal and of the potential maximum sentence he faced before he pled; and (2) Bonds was not prejudiced in making an intelligent plea as a result of the State's shift to a different prior conviction as the factual basis for its repeater allegation.2 However, a different majority of the court also concludes that the State's use of a CCAP report as evidence of Bonds's conviction does not constitute prima facie proof of that conviction and that Bonds did not waive his right to object to the State's use of the CCAP report.3 Accordingly, the court of appeals decision is reversed and the matter is remanded to the circuit court to vacate the enhancer portion of Bonds's sentence.

I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3. The relevant facts are undisputed. Jamale Bonds was charged with battery as an habitual crimi [350]*350nal, in violation of Wis. Stat. §§ 940.19 and 939.62. In the criminal complaint, the State alleged three prior misdemeanor convictions as the basis for the habitual criminality allegation:

[T]he defendant is a repeater as defined in Wisconsin Statutes Section 939.62, in that the defendant was convicted of... (three misdemeanors) during the five year period immediately preceding the commission of the crime charged in this complaint, which conviction(s) remain[] of record and unreversed. If this is found to be the case, the maximum term of imprisonment for this crime may be increased to not more than 2 years, exclusive of other enhanced penalties charged herein.

Criminal Complaint 1 (Milwaukee County Cir. Ct. July 29,2003). The three prior misdemeanor convictions were described individually by: the offense committed, the statute that was contravened, the county of conviction and the case number for each matter. The date of the convictions was misstated in the body of the complaint; however, certified copies of the judgments of conviction were attached to the copy of the complaint that was given to Bonds.

¶ 4. Bonds pled not guilty, went to trial, and was convicted by a jury. At sentencing, the State recommended that Bonds be sentenced to the maximum term for battery with an habitual criminality enhancer: 18 months initial confinement and six months extended supervision. In support of its sentencing request, the State asked that the habitual criminality finding be based on a 1998 felony forgery conviction in lieu of the misdemeanor convictions that were alleged in the complaint. Bonds did not admit to a prior conviction so the State presented a CCAP report that indicated he was convicted of felony forgery one day after the misdemeanor convictions set out in the complaint. The sen[351]*351tencing transcript provides the following communication between the sentencing judge and the prosecutor about the amendment of the basis for habitual criminality that was alleged in the complaint and the calculations that bore on Bonds's repeater status:

MR. RESAR:... I have copies of all the circuit court access records. I would ask specifically, either through these records or through the defendant's own admission that a finding be made that the defendant was convicted of a felony forgery and that that conviction took place on April 16th of 1998.
THE COURT: That is the day after he was found guilty of the battery charge and bail jumping charge, misdemeanor charges. Right?
MR. RESAR: That is accurate. But I just, I think that using the felony is a little cleaner and doesn't rely on the older misdemeanor that we need to piece together confinement time. However, we still do need to rely on confinement time. The State is asking the court to rely on that. As the defendant was charged in this case on July 29th, 2003. So, we need at least 5 months at that point. There is approximately five years and five months between the time the defendant was charged and the time the defendant was convicted of the felony forgery and that time, excludes that five year period, excludes any time defendant spent in confinement. There are records from the Milwaukee County Jail which have been shown to counsel, which establish that the de[352]*352fendant was in the custody of the Milwaukee County Jail between July 26th in 1999 and May 8th of 2000. That he was serving a sentence on those cases the court refers to.
So, with that we know the defendant was in custody for nearly ten months, far surpassing the five months that would be required in order to establish habitual criminality enhancer in this case. With that, I would ask that the court make those findings, either through those documents or through the defendant's own admission to the validity of the same.

¶ 5. Defense counsel objected to the State's amendment and asked the court to find that the habitual criminality allegation was defective for two reasons: (1) the felony conviction was not alleged in the complaint; and (2) the State had not proved the felony conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. The State responded that all that was required to advance on the habitual criminality enhancer was to allege prior to a plea that a person was an habitual criminal. The State contended that the complaint was not required to specifically allege which conviction or convictions formed the basis for the habitual criminality allegation. Additionally, the State contended that CCAP reports are sufficient proof.

¶ 6. CCAP is a case management system provided by Wisconsin Circuit Court Access program (WCCA).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2006 WI 83, 717 N.W.2d 133, 292 Wis. 2d 344, 2006 Wisc. LEXIS 375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bonds-wis-2006.