State v. Lock

2013 WI App 80, 833 N.W.2d 189, 348 Wis. 2d 334, 2013 WL 1879380, 2013 Wisc. App. LEXIS 394
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedMay 7, 2013
DocketNo. 2012AP1514-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 2013 WI App 80 (State v. Lock) 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. Lock, 2013 WI App 80, 833 N.W.2d 189, 348 Wis. 2d 334, 2013 WL 1879380, 2013 Wisc. App. LEXIS 394 (Wis. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

BRENNAN, J.

¶ 1. Michael A. Lock appeals from a judgment entered following a jury's verdict, convicting him of one count of conspiracy to pander, one count of conspiracy to solicit prostitutes, four counts of pandering as party to a crime, and four counts of soliciting prostitutes as party to a crime. He also appeals from the circuit court's order denying his postconviction motion.1 He argues that: (1) the circuit court erred when it adopted the State's brief as its decision when denying Lock's postconviction motion; (2) the fourteen-month interruption in this case while Lock was held on a federal detainer violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial; (3) counts one and two are multiplicitous; and (4) prosecutorial misconduct denied him due process. We disagree with Lock and affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2. In 2007, Lock found himself at the center of several major state and federal criminal investigations. [340]*340In total, Lock faced multiple felony charges in four different cases in two jurisdictions. The State filed its first complaint against Lock in July 2007, charging Lock with racketeering, kidnapping, and possession of cocaine with intent to deliver. The same day, the United States Attorney's Office filed a complaint against Lock in federal court, alleging twenty counts of wire and mail fraud; the grand jury indicted Lock the following month. Two months after the federal indictment, in October 2007, the State filed its second complaint against Lock, charging him with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide. The State's first two cases against Lock were eventually consolidated and the racketeering charge was dropped.

¶ 3. In December 2007, the State filed its third complaint against Lock, charging Lock, Shalanda Lock (Lock's wife), and Migdalia Smith with the ten counts in this case: one count of conspiracy to pander, one count of conspiracy to solicit prostitutes, four counts of pandering as party to a crime, and four counts of soliciting prostitutes as party to a crime. It is the State's third case against Lock, the prostitution-ring case, that forms the basis for this appeal.

¶ 4. In July 2008, the State tried Lock on the homicide, kidnapping, and drug charges. The jury found Lock guilty on all counts, and the circuit court sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences for the homicides, plus fifteen years bifurcated for the kidnapping, to be served consecutive to a seventeen-year sentence for the drug charge. At the same time, Lock's federal case moved forward. The motion practice there was extensive on both sides.

¶ 5. In the meantime, Lock and his co-defendants continued to battle the charges in this case, filing multiple pretrial motions. Not all of the motions were [341]*341filed by Lock; Lock adopted the motions filed by his co-defendants. Among these, Lock challenged the charges as multiplicitous. The circuit court issued a written decision denying the majority of the defense motions, including the motion challenging the charges as multiplicitous, and scheduled an evidentiary hearing on the remaining motions. Lock also later claimed a violation of his right to a speedy trial, which the circuit court rejected.

¶ 6. At trial, the State's theory of prosecution was that Lock, with his wife Shalanda, ran a prostitution ring that stretched from Milwaukee to Nebraska. The State alleged that the two recruited prostitutes, transported them to strip clubs, and profited handsomely. The defense argued that the State's witnesses were using Lock as a get-out-of-jail-free card, exchanging their testimony for concessions on their related criminal charges. Lock alleged that Shalanda was at the center of the ring and that he did not know what she was up to or how she earned the money she deposited into their joint accounts.

¶ 7. At the end of the five-day trial, the jury found Lock guilty on all ten counts. The circuit court sentenced Lock to fifty years of imprisonment concurrent to any prior sentences, comprised of thirty years of initial confinement and twenty years of extended supervision, and entered judgment accordingly.

¶ 8. Lock timely filed a postconviction motion, which the circuit court denied, issuing a short written opinion and adopting the State's brief in toto. This appeal follows. Additional facts are included in the discussion section as necessary.

[342]*342DISCUSSION

I. The circuit court did not err when it adopted the State's brief as its decision denying Lock relief.

¶ 9. Lock first argues that the circuit court denied him an independent and neutral evaluation of his postconviction motion because it adopted the State's brief in toto as its decision. As a remedy, Lock asks that we reverse and remand the case for a new evaluation of Lock's postconviction motion. We decline his request because he cites no grounds for a remand.

¶ 10. A circuit court is not prohibited from adopting the brief of one of the parties as its decision in the case. Trieschmann v. Trieschmann, 178 Wis. 2d 538, 544, 504 N.W.2d 433 (Ct. App. 1993). However, if a circuit court chooses to adopt a party's brief, it is required to indicate the factors on which it relied when making its decision and state those on the record. Id. The circuit court did so here.

¶ 11. The circuit court did issue a short written order. In it, the circuit court noted with respect to Lock's speedy trial claim that even though the pretrial delay was lengthy, he was not prejudiced by the delay because Lock was already serving two life sentences in the State's homicide case. The court also ruled that the charges against Lock were not multiplicitous because the inchoate conspiracy counts were much broader than the counts charging completed crimes. And finally, the court concluded that there was no proof of prosecutorial misconduct because there was no evidence that the State had a secret agreement to reduce the sentence of [343]*343a witness in exchange for his testimony. Such statements adequately set forth the factors the circuit court relied on and complement the State's brief, which the court adopted. See id.

¶ 12. Furthermore, we note that even if the circuit court's adoption of the State's brief was an error, we are required to disregard any error or defect that does not affect the substantial rights of the losing party. See Wis. Stat. § 805.18(1) (2011-12).2 Here, the three issues Lock raised before the circuit court in his postconviction motion, and which he now argues were given short shrift, are constitutional in nature and will therefore be independently evaluated by this court. See State v. McDermott, 2012 WI App 14, ¶ 9 n.2, 339 Wis. 2d 316, 810 N.W.2d 237. As such, any failure by the circuit court to review Lock's claims is inconsequential.

II. Lock has not shown that he was denied his right to a speedy trial.

¶ 13. Lock argues that his right to a speedy trial was violated by a delay caused by the fourteen months he was in federal custody.

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Bluebook (online)
2013 WI App 80, 833 N.W.2d 189, 348 Wis. 2d 334, 2013 WL 1879380, 2013 Wisc. App. LEXIS 394, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lock-wisctapp-2013.