State v. Henning

2004 WI 89, 681 N.W.2d 871, 273 Wis. 2d 352, 2004 Wisc. LEXIS 456
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJune 30, 2004
Docket02-1287-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 2004 WI 89 (State v. Henning) 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. Henning, 2004 WI 89, 681 N.W.2d 871, 273 Wis. 2d 352, 2004 Wisc. LEXIS 456 (Wis. 2004).

Opinions

DAVID T. PROSSER, J.

¶ 1. This case presents intricate issues of double jeopardy. The State seeks review of a published decision of the court of appeals,1 reversing Wyatt Henning's (Henning) convictions of three counts of bail jumping. The State does not challenge the reversal of Henning's convictions. It disputes the court's determination that Henning may not be retried on bail jumping charges because a jury found him not guilty of two charges of possession of controlled substances with intent to deliver. Those charges had served as the basis for the three bail jumping counts. The State views the court's "remedy" of barring a new trial on bail jumping charges — this time alleging the crime of simple possession of a controlled substance as the basis for "bail jumping" — as a misapplication of double jeopardy principles. We agree. Accordingly, we withdraw any language to that effect, especially ¶ 29, from the court of appeals opinion and remand the matter to the circuit court.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. Wyatt Henning, then 19, was arrested by two officers of the Burlington Police Department on January 25,2001. He was taken into custody on an outstanding Racine County arrest warrant. At the time of his arrest, Henning was already released on bond in two separate misdemeanor cases from Racine County and in a felony case from Walworth County.

[358]*358¶ 3. Henning was arrested as his brother's car pulled away from a restaurant in Burlington. Police stopped the vehicle, arrested Henning, and searched him and the vehicle incident to his arrest. The search of the vehicle uncovered a number of potentially incriminating items including three separate plastic bags containing marijuana and ten individually-wrapped sugar cubes laced with LSD. The narcotics were located in a plastic wireless phone accessory package in the back seat behind a folded up armrest next to where Henning had been seated. Fingerprint analysis revealed Henning's thumb print and palm print on the plastic accessory package and his thumb print on the plastic bag which held the three smaller plastic bags of marijuana. The police also found a postal scale in Henning's possession.

¶ 4. One of the other occupants of the vehicle, Jeff Willis, later testified that he saw a "bag of weed" in the back seat and saw Henning place the drugs in a package and put the package behind the armrest. Willis said that he believed the drugs belonged to Henning.

¶ 5. The State prosecuted Henning for (1) possession of THC with intent to deliver;2 and (2) possession of LSD with intent to deliver.3 It also charged Henning with (3) misdemeanor bail jumping, based on Henning's release on a bond arising out of a criminal trespass charge in Racine County;4 (4) misdemeanor bail jumping, based on Henning's release on a second bond [359]*359arising from a separate bail jumping charge for failing to comply with the first Racine County bond;5 and (5) felony bail jumping based on Henning's release on a third bond from Walworth County for burglary.6 The State did not charge Henning with simple possession of a controlled substance, and it did not rely on simple possession of a controlled substance as the basis for the bail jumping charges.

¶ 6. Under Wisconsin law, defendants charged with misdemeanors (Wis. Stat. § 969.02) or felonies (Wis. Stat. § 969.03) violate the bail jumping statute if they commit any crime while released on bond.7 Wis. Stat. §§ 969.02(4), 969.03(2). Because Henning was subject to three separate bonds, the State charged Henning with three counts of bail jumping because it believed he intentionally violated the conditions of his release by committing another crime.

¶ 7. At trial Henning and the State stipulated that, if Henning were found guilty of either count of possession with intent to deliver, Henning would have [360]*360no defense to the three bail jumping charges. The stipulation benefited both parties. It relieved the State of the burden of proving the additional bail jumping elements and it helped the defendant keep the jury from hearing information about the burglary, criminal trespass, and other bail jumping charge that formed the basis for the three bonds.

¶ 8. Neither the parties nor the court foresaw how the parties' stipulation would be handled by the jury. The court gave no instruction to the jury regarding the crime of possession, which is a lesser-included offense of possession with intent to deliver, because no verdict was requested by either party for that crime. Consequently the jury received no general instruction from the court about lesser-included offenses. With the stipulation in place, Henning and the State assumed that the bail jumping verdicts would depend entirely on the jury's resolution of the possession with intent to deliver charges.

¶ 9. During its deliberations, the jury sent the court a note saying it needed "more information on [the bail jumping counts], what was violated, what were the conditions." After consulting with the prosecutor and defense counsel, the court responded: "The condition of the bond was that he not commit a new crime while out on bond such as possession with intent to deliver LSD or THC."

¶ 10. That response did not satisfy the jury. The court received a second note, this time asking, "If we find the defendant not guilty of [possession of LSD and THC with intent to deliver], but we believe he is guilty of another crime, can we still find him guilty [of bail jumping], crime being possession as opposed to possession with intent?" (Emphasis added.) The court heard [361]*361arguments from the prosecution and defense as to the appropriate response and then answered the question with a "yes."

¶ 11. The record indicates that the jury reached its verdict approximately seven minutes later. The jury acquitted Henning on the two possession with intent to deliver charges and found him guilty of all three bail jumping charges.

¶ 12. Henning appealed, and the court of appeals reversed. Henning, 261 Wis. 2d 664, ¶ 4. The court noted that Henning's defense to the bail jumping charges relied on his defense to the charges of possession with intent to deliver. Id., ¶ 18. The evidence presented focused on the possession with intent to deliver charges, and not the lesser-included offense of possession. Id., ¶ 19. Further, the jury was not properly instructed on lesser-included offenses, and therefore had no guidance as to the proper manner to deliberate regarding simple possession, nor was the jury provided a separate verdict relating to possession. Id., ¶ 20. The court of appeals summarized the issue as whether the court could uphold "an undocumented lesser-included jury finding based upon incomplete lesser-included jury instructions." The court of appeals refused to do so. Id., ¶ 28.

¶ 13. Since the State does not challenge the court of appeals' primary analysis, we focus in this review on the remedy awarded to Henning by the court of appeals. Because of the procedural irregularities at trial, the court first reversed Henning's convictions, then went on to state:

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Bluebook (online)
2004 WI 89, 681 N.W.2d 871, 273 Wis. 2d 352, 2004 Wisc. LEXIS 456, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-henning-wis-2004.