State v. Jones (In Re Commitment of Jones)

2018 WI 44, 911 N.W.2d 97, 381 Wis. 2d 284
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedMay 4, 2018
Docket2015AP002665
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 2018 WI 44 (State v. Jones (In Re Commitment of Jones)) 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. Jones (In Re Commitment of Jones), 2018 WI 44, 911 N.W.2d 97, 381 Wis. 2d 284 (Wis. 2018).

Opinions

ANNETTE KINGSLAND ZIEGLER, J.

*288¶ 1 This is a review of an unpublished, unauthored summary affirmance of the court of appeals, State v. Jones, No. 2015AP2665, unpublished order, 2017 WL 1324281 (Wis. Ct. App. Apr. 10, 2017), affirming the Dane County circuit court's1 judgment finding Anthony Jones ("Jones") to be a "sexually violent person" under Wis. Stat. § 980.02(1)(a) (2015-16).2

¶ 2 On November 29, 1993, Jones was convicted of three counts of second-degree sexual assault, use of force, under Wis. Stat. § 940.225(2)(a), and was scheduled to be released from custody on August 15, 2013. On August 9, 2013, the State filed a petition to commit Jones as a sexually violent person, pursuant to Wis. Stat. ch. 980. Prior to the commitment trial, Jones filed a motion in limine to exclude testimony pertaining to the Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool-Revised ("MnSOST-R") and the Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism ("RRASOR"),3 which are actuarial instruments designed to measure an offender's *289risk of reoffending. He argued that testimony as to the results produced by these instruments was not admissible under Wis. Stat. § 907.02 because it was not based on sufficient facts or data, was not the product of reliable principles and methods, and was not reliably applied to the facts of his case. The circuit court denied the motion, finding that such testimony was admissible. After a four-day trial, the jury found *100that Jones was "a sexually violent person, as alleged in the petition." Jones appealed.

¶ 3 The court of appeals affirmed. It held that the circuit court had not erroneously exercised its discretion in admitting the testimony because the circuit court applied the proper standard and found that the instruments were the product of sufficient facts or data, that the instruments were the product of reliable principles and methods, and that the instruments had been the subject of extensive review. The court of appeals further noted that Jones' arguments went to weight, not admissibility, and that, therefore, he had had the opportunity to discredit the testimony through cross-examination. Jones petitioned for review.

¶ 4 We consider one issue on review: whether the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion under Wis. Stat. § 907.02(1) when it admitted expert testimony based on the results of the MnSOST-R and the RRASOR tests. We conclude that the circuit court did not erroneously exercise its discretion because it evaluated the relevant facts under the proper standard and articulated a reasonable basis for its decision.

¶ 5 Thus, we affirm the decision of the court of appeals.

*290I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Statutory History

¶ 6 The admissibility of expert testimony is governed by Wis. Stat. § 907.02. Prior to 2011, § 907.02 read as follows:

Testimony by experts. If scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.

Wis. Stat. § 907.02 (2009-10). This was a liberal standard. Under this prior standard

"questions of the weight and reliability of relevant evidence [were] matters for the trier of fact." State v. Fischer, 2010 WI 6, ¶ 7, 322 Wis. 2d 265, 778 N.W.2d 629. "[E]xpert testimony [was] generally admissible in the circuit court's discretion if the witness [was] qualified to testify and the testimony would help the trier of fact understand the evidence or determine a fact at issue." State v. Kandutsch, 2011 WI 78, ¶ 26, 336 Wis. 2d 478, 799 N.W.2d 865.

Seifert v. Balink, 2017 WI 2, ¶ 174, 372 Wis. 2d 525, 888 N.W.2d 816 (Ziegler, J., concurring) (alterations in original). "This was a 'low threshold.' " Id. (citations omitted).

¶ 7 In 2011, the legislature amended the statute,4 which now reads as follows:

Testimony by experts. (1) If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact *291

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Bluebook (online)
2018 WI 44, 911 N.W.2d 97, 381 Wis. 2d 284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jones-in-re-commitment-of-jones-wis-2018.