State v. Carl Lee McAdory

2025 WI 30
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 1, 2025
Docket2023AP000645-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

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Bluebook
State v. Carl Lee McAdory, 2025 WI 30 (Wis. 2025).

Opinion

2025 WI 30

STATE OF WISCONSIN, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. CARL LEE MCADORY, Defendant-Appellant-Petitioner.

No. 2023AP645-CR Decided July 1, 2025

REVIEW of a decision of the Court of Appeals Rock County Circuit Court (Karl Hanson, J.) No. 2016CF26

DALLET, J., delivered the majority opinion of the Court, in which KAROFSKY, C.J., ANN WALSH BRADLEY, HAGEDORN, and PROTASIEWICZ, JJ., joined. ZIEGLER, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which REBECCA GRASSL BRADLEY, J., joined.

¶1 REBECCA FRANK DALLET, J. A jury found Carl Lee McAdory guilty of both operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance as an eighth offense (OWI), and operating a motor vehicle with a detectable amount of a restricted controlled substance in his STATE v. MCADORY Opinion of the Court

blood as an eighth offense (RCS).1 See WIS. STAT. § 346.63(1)(a), (am) (2015– 16).2

¶2 At sentencing, and on the State’s motion, the circuit court dismissed the RCS charge and guilty verdict and sentenced McAdory only on the OWI pursuant to § 346.63(1)(c). That statute provides that “[i]f the person is found guilty of any combination of” OWI, RCS, or a third offense, operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration (PAC), “for acts arising out of the same incident or occurrence, there shall be a single conviction for purposes of sentencing and for purposes of counting convictions under ss. 343.30(1q) and 343.305.” Id.

¶3 McAdory’s conviction for OWI was later reversed, however, and the case was remanded to the circuit court “for a new trial” on the OWI charge. See State v. McAdory, 2021 WI App 89, ¶2, 400 Wis. 2d 215, 968 N.W.2d 770 (McAdory I). Rather than hold a new trial on remand, the circuit court instead granted a motion by the State to reinstate the previously dismissed RCS charge and guilty verdict.

¶4 We must decide whether the circuit court was permitted to do so. Despite McAdory’s many arguments to the contrary, we conclude that it was. We therefore affirm the court of appeals’ decision.

I

¶5 After a traffic stop in January 2016, McAdory was charged with both OWI and RCS pursuant to § 346.63(1)(a), (am). An individual may be charged with any combination of OWI, RCS, or PAC in a single complaint that is joined for trial. § 346.63(1)(c). The jury found McAdory guilty of both OWI and RCS.3 Prior to sentencing the State moved

1 McAdory was also charged and convicted of obstructing an officer and pleaded guilty to one count of operating after revocation. Those convictions are not at issue in this appeal.

2All subsequent references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2015-16 version unless otherwise indicated.

3The Honorable John M. Wood of the Rock County Circuit Court presided at trial and McAdory’s first sentencing.

2 STATE v. MCADORY Opinion of the Court

(without objection) to dismiss the RCS charge and guilty verdict as “duplicative” under § 346.63(1)(c). That statute provides that if a person is found guilty of more than one enumerated offense of OWI, RCS or PAC, “there shall be a single conviction for purposes of sentencing . . . .” Id. The circuit court granted the motion, and sentenced McAdory on the OWI charge and verdict alone.

¶6 On appeal, the court of appeals overturned the OWI conviction on grounds unrelated to the RCS charge and guilty verdict.4 See McAdory I, 400 Wis. 2d 215, ¶2. Accordingly the court of appeals’ opinion stated that it “reverse[d] and remand[ed] for a new trial on” the OWI offense. Id. The mandate line at the close of the opinion said “By the Court.—Judgment reversed and cause remanded.” Id., ¶71. The State did not seek review of that decision.

¶7 The State did not seek to retry McAdory on remand. Instead, it asked the circuit court to reinstate the previously dismissed RCS charge and guilty verdict, enter a judgment of conviction, and dismiss the OWI charge. The circuit court agreed and proceeded to sentencing on the RCS charge and guilty verdict alone, granting McAdory sentence credit for the time he had already served on the invalidated OWI conviction.

¶8 McAdory challenged the circuit court’s reinstatement of the RCS charge and guilty verdict first in post-conviction proceedings and later in the court of appeals. Although his arguments evolved somewhat over that time, McAdory made the following four claims before the court of appeals: (1) that circuit courts lack the authority under § 346.63(1)(c) to reinstate a previously dismissed OWI, RCS, or PAC charge and verdict under § 346.63(1); (2) that doing so in this case violated the court of appeals’ mandate in McAdory I; (3) that the State forfeited its right to seek reinstatement by failing to raise that prospect in McAdory I; and (4) that reinstatement violated his right to be free from double jeopardy.

¶9 The court of appeals rejected each of these arguments. See generally State v. McAdory, 2024 WI App 29, ¶5, 412 Wis. 2d 112,

4 Specifically, the court of appeals concluded that a problem with the jury instructions had effectively relieved the State of its burden of proof on one of the elements of OWI in violation of McAdory’s due-process rights. See State v. McAdory, 2021 WI App 89, ¶2, 400 Wis. 2d 215, 968 N.W.2d 770.

3 STATE v. MCADORY Opinion of the Court

8 N.W.3d 101 (McAdory II). First, the court of appeals concluded that the circuit court had implicit statutory authority under § 346.63(1)(c) to reinstate the previously dismissed RCS charge and guilty verdict. Id. ¶¶14–21. Second, despite the language in McAdory I remanding for a new trial on the OWI charge, the court of appeals explained that its mandate did not prohibit the circuit court from instead granting the State’s motion to reinstate the RCS charge and guilty verdict. Id. ¶¶23–25. Third, the court of appeals held that the State did not forfeit its ability to seek reinstatement on remand by failing to raise the issue in McAdory I because it was not obligated to raise the issue then. Id. ¶¶32–37. Fourth, and finally, the court of appeals determined that the Double Jeopardy Clause did not prohibit reinstating the previously dismissed RCS charge and guilty verdict. Id. ¶¶38–46.

II

¶10 Before this court, McAdory essentially reiterates the arguments he raised in the court of appeals. First, he contends that the circuit courts lack the authority under § 346.63(1)(c) or any other source to reinstate previously dismissed OWI, PAC, and RCS charges and guilty verdicts rendered under § 346.63(1). Second, he asserts that by failing to raise the possibility of reinstating the RCS charge and guilty verdict in a cross-appeal or its briefing in McAdory I, the State forfeited the issue. Third, McAdory argues that reinstating the RCS charge and guilty verdict violated the court of appeals’ mandate in McAdory I and, for related reasons, that the circuit court lacked competency to reinstate the charge and guilty verdict. Fourth, in McAdory’s view, reinstating the previously dismissed RCS charge and guilty verdict violated the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and Wisconsin constitutions. Each of these arguments raise questions of law, which we review de novo. See State v. R.A.M., 2024 WI 26, ¶¶9, 18, 412 Wis. 2d 285, 8 N.W.3d 349 (statutory interpretation and competency); State v. Coffee, 2020 WI 1, ¶17, 389 Wis. 2d 627, 937 N.W.2d 579 (forfeiture); State v. Killian, 2023 WI 52, ¶19, 408 Wis. 2d 92, 991 N.W.2d 387 (double jeopardy).

¶11 We hold that § 346.63(1)(c) implicitly authorized the circuit court to reinstate the previously dismissed RCS charge and guilty verdict on remand.

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2025 WI 30, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-carl-lee-mcadory-wis-2025.