State v. David John Kilgore

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedMay 23, 2023
Docket2021AP001241-CR
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. David John Kilgore (State v. David John Kilgore) 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. David John Kilgore, (Wis. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

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. May 23, 2023 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. 2021AP1241-CR Cir. Ct. No. 2017CF1595

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT III

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

DAVID JOHN KILGORE,

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

APPEAL from a judgment and an order of the circuit court for Brown County: JOHN ZAKOWSKI, Judge. Reversed and cause remanded for further proceedings.

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

Per curiam opinions may not be cited in any court of this state as precedent

or authority, except for the limited purposes specified in WIS. STAT. RULE 809.23(3). No. 2021AP1241-CR

¶1 PER CURIAM. David Kilgore appeals a judgment of conviction for two counts of first-degree sexual assault and an order denying his postconviction motion for a new trial. Kilgore contends that his trial attorney was constitutionally ineffective by failing to introduce surveillance video footage at trial. According to Kilgore, the footage would have impeached the alleged victim’s credibility and discredited her testimony that Kilgore sexually assaulted her.

¶2 We agree with Kilgore that his trial attorney performed deficiently by failing to introduce the surveillance video footage and that counsel’s deficient performance prejudiced Kilgore’s defense. We therefore reverse Kilgore’s judgment of conviction and the order denying his postconviction motion, and we remand for a new trial.

BACKGROUND

¶3 At about 12:30 a.m. on October 25, 2017, police were dispatched to a Green Bay motel following a report of a disturbance. The complainant reported that a male and female were in a particular motel room and that the male, who was intoxicated, was refusing to leave. When officers arrived at the scene, the male was identified as Kilgore, and the female was identified as Rhonda.1 An officer ordered Kilgore to leave the premises, and although Kilgore initially left, he returned shortly thereafter stating that he had left his coat in the motel room. An officer again ordered Kilgore to leave the premises, and when Kilgore refused to

1 Pursuant to the policy underlying WIS. STAT. RULE 809.86(4) (2021-22), we use a pseudonym when referring to the alleged victim in this case. All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2021-22 version unless otherwise noted.

2 No. 2021AP1241-CR

do so, he was arrested for disorderly conduct and transported to the Brown County Jail. Later that morning, at about 2:30, Rhonda contacted the police and reported that Kilgore had sexually assaulted her in the motel room.

¶4 The State charged Kilgore with two counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree recklessly endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon. The case proceeded to a jury trial.

¶5 At trial, Rhonda testified that on the night in question, she went to a gas station near the motel where she was staying. At the gas station she encountered Kilgore, whom she had never previously met. Rhonda testified that she left the gas station alone, but she saw Kilgore while she was walking back to the motel, and he asked her for a cigarette. Rhonda agreed to give Kilgore a cigarette and went to get one from her room, which was on the second floor of the motel.

¶6 Rhonda testified that as she entered her motel room, she felt a “nudge,” and Kilgore came into the room behind her. Rhonda then sat on one of the beds in the room, took a drink, and gave Kilgore a cigarette. Kilgore sat on the other bed and “just started talking[,] and then it just got really weird.” Kilgore started saying things that were sexual in nature and then “grabbed [Rhonda] and threw [her] up against the bed.” He got on top of Rhonda, grabbed her neck, and pulled her hair. Rhonda testified that Kilgore had some kind of weapon, like a box cutter or a razor, which he used to cut her neck, stomach, and face. Rhonda further testified that she told Kilgore to stop and tried to push him off of her, but she was unable to do so.

¶7 According to Rhonda, Kilgore took off her shirt, bra, pants, and underwear and “stuck his penis in” her vagina. After that, Kilgore got up, told

3 No. 2021AP1241-CR

Rhonda to “suck his dick,” put his penis in her mouth, and ejaculated. Rhonda testified that she then grabbed her phone and cigarettes and told Kilgore that she needed to use the bathroom. From the bathroom, she called a friend, who called the motel clerk. Motel employees then came to the room, but Rhonda testified that she did not tell them what had happened because she was afraid. Rhonda further testified that when the police later arrived, Kilgore told her to “shut [her] mouth” and was “very hostile” with the officers.

¶8 Rhonda testified that an officer took her to her friend’s house, and she ultimately told her friend and his father what had happened. They encouraged her to go to the hospital and to call the police, which she did. During Rhonda’s testimony, the State introduced photographs showing linear red marks on Rhonda’s face, neck, chest, and stomach.

¶9 On cross-examination, Kilgore’s trial attorney questioned Rhonda about the beginning of her interaction with Kilgore, and the following exchange occurred:

Q You allowed him into the hotel room?

A Did you hear me? I felt a push and then he walked in the room.

Q Okay. And at that point you let him stay in the [m]otel room?

A I guess, yes.

Q And then you two visited for a period of time?

A No. Like I said, I was sitting on the bed. I took a drink and that’s when everything occurred.

Later on during her cross-examination, when defense counsel suggested that Rhonda and Kilgore had been “drinking together that evening,” Rhonda

4 No. 2021AP1241-CR

replied: “Like I said, I had the drink and he could have had and grabbed a drink, and it was not that evening. It was—I don’t know how long it was. It was only a matter of time for me to go in the room and grab the cigarette.”

¶10 During his cross-examination of Rhonda, Kilgore’s trial counsel also highlighted a number of inconsistencies between Rhonda’s trial testimony and her previous statements about the assaults. For instance, counsel stressed that Rhonda had told emergency department personnel that she and Kilgore went back to the motel room together and that Kilgore pushed her against a wall, rather than onto a bed. Counsel further questioned Rhonda about statements she made at the hospital that: Kilgore had scratched her with his fingernail, rather than cutting her with a razor or box cutter; Kilgore did not ejaculate; and Kilgore did not use any foreign objects during the assaults. Counsel also questioned Rhonda about her alcohol consumption that night, including the number and strength of the drinks she had consumed.

¶11 Following Rhonda’s testimony, the jury heard testimony from one of the motel employees who came to Rhonda’s motel room. The employee testified that when she arrived at Rhonda’s room, Rhonda looked “afraid and scared” and had a “fresh marking on her cheek.” The jury also heard a nurse’s testimony that Rhonda was “[a]nxious, tearful, trembling, [and] agitated” while at the hospital. In addition, the jury learned that Rhonda’s DNA was found on a penile swab taken from Kilgore.

¶12 Kilgore did not testify in his own defense or present any evidence at trial.

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Bluebook (online)
State v. David John Kilgore, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-david-john-kilgore-wisctapp-2023.