State v. Jackie E. Lott

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedAugust 9, 2022
Docket2019AP001271-CR
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Jackie E. Lott (State v. Jackie E. Lott) 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. Jackie E. Lott, (Wis. Ct. App. 2022).

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. August 9, 2022 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. 2019AP1271-CR Cir. Ct. No. 2013CF136

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT III

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

JACKIE E. LOTT,

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

APPEAL from a judgment and an order of the circuit court for Brown County: DONALD R. ZUIDMULDER, Judge. Affirmed.

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).

¶1 PER CURIAM. Jackie Lott, pro se, appeals a judgment of conviction for second-degree sexual assault, incest, and administering a stupefying drug, as No. 2019AP1271-CR

well as an order denying his motion for postconviction relief. Lott argues that the circuit court erred in preventing his attorney from eliciting certain testimony from an expert witness during cross-examination, that the real controversy was not fully tried, and that he was deprived of the right to present a defense. We reject Lott’s arguments and affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶2 Lott was charged with second-degree sexual assault for having intercourse with a victim known to be unconscious, incest, and administering a stupefying drug with the intent to facilitate a crime. At trial, Darlene,1 Lott’s blood relative, testified that she was at home watching a movie late at night with Lott. She was half asleep when she felt a finger in her mouth and Lott put three pills in her mouth. He then gave her a drink of water and she went back to sleep. When Darlene woke up, Lott was behind her engaging in sexual intercourse with her.

¶3 The jury also heard testimony from fourteen other witnesses, including Darlene’s mother, responding officers, the nurse who conducted the sexual assault examination, and two employees of the State Crime Laboratory. Sherry Culhane, a forensic DNA analyst, testified that the sperm from Darlene’s vaginal swab matched Lott’s DNA and that Darlene’s DNA was found on penile swabs taken from Lott. Michael Larson, a toxicologist, testified that diazepam was found in Darlene’s blood and urine samples. The jury also heard from Lott’s orthopedic surgeon, who testified that he had performed arthroscopic knee surgery on Lott and that he routinely prescribed diazepam for post-operative patients.

1 Pursuant to the policy underlying WIS. STAT. RULE 809.86 (2019-20), we use a pseudonym when referring to the victim and also omit other personally identifying details. All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2019-20 version unless otherwise noted.

2 No. 2019AP1271-CR

¶4 Lott testified in his own defense, denying that he had sex with Darlene or that he put any drugs in her mouth. Lott testified that on the night in question, he had fallen asleep on the couch and then woke up alone and confused. As he was looking for Darlene, the police arrived. Lott stated that he had “[n]o idea” why Darlene’s DNA ended up on his penis and that he had no recollection of anything that happened. Lott also testified that he had “a lot” of prescription drugs in his home, including diazepam.

¶5 The jury convicted Lott of all three counts. On the sexual assault charge, the circuit court sentenced Lott to fifteen years of initial confinement followed by ten years of extended supervision. The court withheld sentence on the remaining two charges and imposed five years of probation, to run consecutively to his sentence on the sexual assault charge.

¶6 Lott filed a postconviction motion, alleging numerous trial errors as well as claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The circuit court denied his motion without a hearing. Lott now appeals, focusing only on the court’s refusal to allow his trial attorney to elicit certain hypothetical testimony from Larson during cross-examination.

¶7 Lott’s arguments center on the levels of diazepam and metabolites that were detected in Darlene’s blood and urine samples, and whether those levels were consistent with a dose that would have rendered Darlene unconscious at the time of the sexual assault. Specifically, Larson testified that the level of diazepam in Darlene’s blood was less than fifty micrograms per liter. Larson further testified that diazepam is typically prescribed in tablets of two, five, or ten milligrams, and that blood concentrations for therapeutic levels of diazepam range from 20 micrograms to 4,000 micrograms per liter.

3 No. 2019AP1271-CR

¶8 During cross-examination, Lott’s trial attorney sought to elicit testimony from Larson about whether the level of diazepam detected in Darlene’s blood was consistent with a dose strong enough to render her unconscious. The attorney first asked Larson, “[B]ased on the numbers … is it likely that the diazepam was strong enough to have knocked [Darlene] unconscious?” Larson responded, “I can’t say likely. I can say possibly.” After a sidebar discussion, Lott’s trial attorney elicited additional testimony from Larson that blood concentration levels usually peak between thirty minutes and two and one-half hours after a person takes diazepam, depending on the dose. Larson then explained that diazepam is a moderate sedative, with an onset effect that typically occurs within twenty or thirty minutes, with the duration of the effect dependent on a person’s blood level concentration.

¶9 At that point, Lott’s trial attorney asked, “Let’s talk about levels in general. Isn’t it true that if somebody took a single oral dose of diazepam of 10 milligrams, at their peak time they’d be showing a concentration of about 300 to 800 micrograms per liter?” The prosecutor objected, on the grounds that the question called for speculation and was not relevant. The circuit court stated that Larson could answer if it was within his expertise. Larson testified that he was able to answer.

¶10 Lott’s trial attorney then varied the question slightly, asking Larson whether “somebody who takes a single oral dose of diazepam at 10 milligrams would be showing a concentration of about 300 micrograms per liter to 800 micrograms per liter at the peak time of a half hour to two hours.” This time, the circuit court sustained the prosecutor’s objection on relevancy grounds, explaining that “there’s nothing in this record that talks about taking a single pill, and therefore, this question isn’t relevant to anything that’s in [this] case.” The court invited Lott’s

4 No. 2019AP1271-CR

trial attorney to rephrase the question, at which point counsel asked, “How about three pills of 5 milligrams apiece, typically what would a peak level show?”

¶11 Larson explained that the answer depended on many factors, including the dose of the pill, the individual’s body weight, and the individual’s volume of distribution. Larson further testified that “the problem with diazepam is the volume of distribution is not typically known, and it shows a lot of variation. So … two people with the same body weight take the same dose, they can have vastly different blood concentrations of a pretty wide range.” Nonetheless, Larson testified that he could use a calculator to figure out the expected range of blood concentration for a dose of fifteen milligrams.

¶12 At that point, the circuit court revisited the prior objection, explaining that Larson’s testimony was relevant if he was in a position to opine about the effect of that level of dosage.

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Jackie E. Lott, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jackie-e-lott-wisctapp-2022.