State v. Montrell D. Washington

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedOctober 14, 2020
Docket2019AP002170-CR
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Montrell D. Washington (State v. Montrell D. Washington) 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. Montrell D. Washington, (Wis. Ct. App. 2020).

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. October 14, 2020 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. 2019AP2170-CR Cir. Ct. No. 2017CF232

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT II

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

MONTRELL D. WASHINGTON,

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

APPEAL from a judgment and orders of the circuit court for Waukesha County: LEE S. DREYFUS, JR., and LAURA F. LAU, Judges. Affirmed.

Before Neubauer, C.J., Reilly, P.J., and Davis, J.

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. 2019AP2170-CR

¶1 PER CURIAM. Montrell D. Washington appeals from a judgment of conviction and from orders denying his postconviction motions for plea withdrawal and sentencing credit.1 We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Factual Background, Charges, and Preliminary Proceedings

¶2 On January 8, 2016, the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department responded to a dispatch in the Town of Vernon and found the victim dead from a drug overdose. The victim’s brother, Sean, told police that he had purchased heroin for his brother. According to Sean, he and his friend Thomas Sienkowski had traveled to Milwaukee the day before to buy heroin from Sienkowski’s drug dealer. Sienkowski corroborated this statement and admitted to purchasing drugs from his dealer, “T.”

¶3 On January 13, Sienkowski, acting as a confidential informant, conducted two controlled heroin buys from “T” under the direction of a Milwaukee area drug enforcement task force and the Waukesha County Metro Drug Unit. “T” was later identified as Washington.

¶4 At the time of these events, Washington was serving the extended supervision portion of sentences for two burglary convictions (case Nos. 10CF1917 and 11CF61). On April 5, an administrative law judge (ALJ) revoked Washington’s extended supervision. The ALJ found that on or around November 2015 through January 2016, Washington engaged in various acts that

1 The Honorable Lee S. Dreyfus, Jr., entered the judgment of conviction. The Honorable Laura F. Lau entered the orders denying Washington’s postconviction motions.

2 No. 2019AP2170-CR

violated his rules of supervision. There were eight allegations made against Washington; two of them concerned the January 13 heroin sales to Sienkowski. None of the allegations concerned the January 7 heroin sale that led to the victim’s death. The ALJ ordered that Washington be returned to prison for the remaining time on each case: two years on case No. 10CF1917 to be served consecutive to two years, three days on case No. 11CF61. Washington received custody credit on case No. 11CF61 from January 25 through the date of the order.

¶5 On February 7, 2017, the State charged Washington with first-degree reckless homicide—party to a crime, for manufacturing and/or delivering the heroin that caused the victim’s death. See WIS. STAT. §§ 940.02(2)(a), 939.05 (2017-18).2 At the June 19 preliminary/arraignment hearing, Dr. Zelda Okia, the Waukesha County associate medical examiner, testified that the cause of death was mixed-drug (heroin and alcohol) intoxication. Okia explained that morphine was detected in the victim’s blood; by comparing the levels of active (“free”) versus total drug in the blood, Okia determined that the victim’s use was “more recent”—“[p]erhaps hours.” Okia also pointed to the presence of a heroin metabolite in the victim’s urine, allowing her to conclude that the victim ingested the specific opioid heroin. Okia further noted injection sites on the victim; she sampled the sites, detected morphine, and determined the site at which the victim injected the fatal dose(s). Okia was thus able to conclude that “the heroin ingested by [the victim] was a substantial factor in causing his death.” Following this testimony, the trial court found probable cause to believe that Washington

2 All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2017-18 version.

3 No. 2019AP2170-CR

committed the allegations in the complaint and bound Washington over for trial. Washington pled not guilty.

Plea Hearing and Motion for Plea Withdrawal

¶6 On January 19, 2018, Washington pled guilty in Waukesha County circuit court to the amended charge of second-degree reckless homicide in exchange for a recommended sentence of five years’ initial confinement and ten years’ extended supervision (the State did not take a position as to whether the sentence should be consecutive or concurrent to any other sentences).3 At the plea hearing, Thomas Harris, Washington’s attorney, stated that he had met with Washington the day before and had reviewed the plea questionnaire/waiver of rights, along with the jury instructions explaining the elements of the crime. Washington had signed the forms, thus averring, “I have decided to enter this plea of my own free will. I have not been threatened or forced to enter this plea. No promises have been made to me other than those contained in the plea agreement.”

¶7 The court conducted a standard plea colloquy, in which it reviewed the elements of the charge, the rights Washington was giving up, and the possible sentences that could be imposed. The court asked Washington, “[O]ther than what’s been stated here [as to the amended charge and sentencing recommendation], has anybody promised or offered you anything else in order to get you to plead today?” Washington responded, “No.” The court further asked, “Is anyone forcing you or threatening you in any manner in order to get you to do

3 It is unclear if Washington was serving any other sentences besides those for case Nos. 10CF1917 and 11CF61, the cases for which his extended supervision was revoked on April 5, 2016.

4 No. 2019AP2170-CR

this today?” Washington again responded, “No.” The court accepted Washington’s plea and put over sentencing to another date.

¶8 Three weeks later, Washington brought a motion to withdraw his guilty plea on four alleged grounds: (1) he was facing pending charges in Milwaukee County and was told that those charges would be dismissed if he pled guilty in the Waukesha case, but those charges were not in fact dismissed; (2) his lawyer, Harris, “told me to take the deal or [Harris] would not be representing me anymore”; (3) the district attorney “threaten[ed] [that] if I didn’t take the deal that I’ll have to go straight to trial”; and (4) Harris pressured him in a more general sense to “take the deal”:

[M]y Attorney consistently [told] me I’m dumb to go to trial. Just take the deal [be]cause I’m guilty. In a way my Attorney [made] me feel guilty. I did not voluntar[ily] plead guilty. I was rushed into signing papers and just went along to please him.

¶9 Prior to the hearing on Washington’s motion, the court considered a motion by Harris to withdraw as counsel. Harris explained to the court that Washington had “indicated some doubt … [as to] whether or not I’ve misle[d] him.” Harris also pointed out that Washington’s plea withdrawal motion could put Harris: in an adversarial position … where I would have to be called to testify as to whether or not I, in fact, pressured him or coerced him in any way. So both because [Washington] prefers a new set of eyes and because I’m potentially a witness at this point, I thought the better course would be to withdraw.

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Montrell D. Washington, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-montrell-d-washington-wisctapp-2020.