State v. Kyle A. Moore

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedSeptember 26, 2024
Docket2023AP000999-CR
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Kyle A. Moore (State v. Kyle A. Moore) 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. Kyle A. Moore, (Wis. Ct. App. 2024).

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. September 26, 2024 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Samuel A. Christensen 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. 2023AP999-CR Cir. Ct. No. 2020CF1059

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT IV

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

KYLE A. MOORE,

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

APPEAL from a judgment of the circuit court for Rock County: KARL HANSON, Judge. Affirmed.

Before Kloppenburg, P.J., Blanchard, and Graham, 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. 2023AP999-CR

¶1 PER CURIAM. Kyle Moore appeals a judgment of conviction for second-degree recklessly endangering safety and disorderly conduct. Moore contends that the circuit court erred by admitting other-acts evidence at trial and that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction for second-degree recklessly endangering safety. For the reasons explained in this opinion, we reject those contentions. We affirm.

Background

¶2 Moore was charged with misdemeanor theft, disorderly conduct, felony intimidation of a victim, and second-degree recklessly endangering safety, all as a repeater and as an act of domestic abuse. The criminal complaint alleged that, in October 2020, police responded to a domestic disturbance reported by Moore’s then former girlfriend, A.B.1 A.B. reported the following to the responding officer. Moore entered A.B.’s residence without her consent and A.B. told him to leave. When Moore refused to leave, A.B. threatened to call the police. Moore responded, “All right, if you’re ready to die.” He then took A.B.’s phone out of her hands, left her apartment, and got into his car. A.B. also went outside, and partially entered the backseat of Moore’s car. Moore looked at A.B. and said, “Oh, you wanna go for a ride? We can go for a ride.” He then put the car in reverse and backed out the driveway, while the back door was open and A.B. was only halfway inside the vehicle. A.B. fell out of the vehicle and rolled onto the pavement, scraping her knee.

1 To protect the privacy of the victim, we refer to her as A.B., using initials that do not correspond to her real name. See WIS. STAT. RULES 809.19(1)(g) and 809.86 (2021-22). All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2021-22 version unless otherwise noted.

2 No. 2023AP999-CR

¶3 Prior to trial, the State moved to admit other-acts evidence of Moore’s prior acts of domestic violence against A.B. under the three-prong test for admitting other-acts evidence, see State v. Sullivan, 216 Wis. 2d 768, 576 N.W.2d 30 (1998), and the “greater latitude” rule for other-acts evidence in domestic violence cases, see WIS. STAT. § 904.04(2)(b)1. The State argued that the other- acts evidence met the three-prong test for admissibility under Sullivan that: (1) the other-acts evidence is offered for a permissible purpose under § 904.04(2)(a); (2) the other-acts evidence is relevant under WIS. STAT. § 904.01; and (3) the probative value of the other-acts evidence is not substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice under WIS. STAT. § 904.03. See Sullivan, 216 Wis. 2d at 772-73.

¶4 At issue on appeal is other-acts evidence from two prior criminal cases against Moore involving domestic abuse against A.B., as well as from an incident five days before the day of the charged offenses.2 First, the State sought to admit the following facts that formed the basis for a Rock County criminal case against Moore. In August 2016, Moore was in A.B.’s car when she drove to the hospital where she worked. A.B. told Moore that she wanted to keep her car at work rather than allow him to take the car during her shift. Moore responded by grabbing A.B.’s hair and smashing her face into the car’s center console. A.B. tried to call 9-1-1, but Moore broke her phone before she could reach an operator.

2 The State sought to admit evidence from three prior criminal cases against Moore involving domestic abuse against A.B., plus evidence from the incident five days before the day of the charged offenses. The circuit court granted the State’s motion as to two of the prior criminal cases and the incident five days before the day of the charged offenses. Because the circuit court denied the State’s motion as to the third case, we do not discuss the facts of that case in this opinion.

3 No. 2023AP999-CR

A.B. suffered a lip abrasion, swelling on her mouth, and a scratch on her wrist during that incident.

¶5 Second, the State sought to admit the following facts that formed the basis for a Dane County criminal case against Moore. In May 2019, Moore approached A.B. at a bowling alley while she was out with friends. Moore grabbed A.B.’s arms and tried to drag her out of the bowling alley. One of A.B.’s friends tried to intervene and Moore shoved the friend, breaking off the friend’s pinky nail and hyperextending her thumb.

¶6 The State asserted that it offered the other-acts evidence from these two incidents to prove Moore’s motive, intent, and lack of mistake or accident in committing the acts charged in this case. It argued that the prior acts involved similar conduct, and that the evidence of Moore’s prior acts of domestic abuse against A.B. was relevant to establish Moore’s motive to exercise power and control over A.B. by physically assaulting her. Moore argued that the evidence of the prior acts was not relevant to the charged offenses and, therefore, not admissible.

¶7 The circuit court determined that, applying the “greater latitude” rule for domestic violence cases: (1) the other-acts evidence was offered for the permissible purpose of establishing motive; (2) it was “relevant for that permissible purpose of showing motive to control a victim through physical conduct”; and (3) the probative value of the evidence was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.

¶8 At the outset of trial, the State moved to admit other-acts evidence regarding the third incident at issue here—specifically, A.B.’s testimony that Moore had punched a hole in A.B.’s wall five days before the day of the offenses

4 No. 2023AP999-CR

charged in this case. As the State’s offer of proof, A.B. testified that, on the day of the charged offenses, Moore was angry because he saw that A.B. had been texting her friends about the hole he punched in her wall five days earlier. The State argued that the evidence was offered to show, and relevant to prove, Moore’s motive in taking away A.B.’s phone. Moore argued that the evidence was not relevant to prove any fact at issue at trial. The circuit court determined that the evidence was offered for the proper purpose of showing Moore’s motive to exercise control over A.B. through physical conduct, that it was relevant to establish that motive, and that the probative value of the evidence was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.

¶9 A.B. at trial testified to the allegations in the criminal complaint, as well as the following additional allegations. When Moore came into her room uninvited, he lay partially on top of her to look at what she was doing on her phone. When Moore saw that she had texted her friends that Moore had punched a hole in her wall several days earlier, he got angry and took her phone out of her hands. A.B. demanded her phone back, but Moore backed away from A.B.

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Related

State v. Pettit
492 N.W.2d 633 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1992)
State v. Payano
2009 WI 86 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Sullivan
576 N.W.2d 30 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1998)
State v. Poellinger
451 N.W.2d 752 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1990)
State v. Joel M. Hurley
2015 WI 35 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2015)
State v. Marinez
2011 WI 12 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2011)
State v. Smith
2012 WI 91 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Kyle A. Moore, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kyle-a-moore-wisctapp-2024.