State v. Robert E. Poch, Jr.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedDecember 17, 2024
Docket2019AP001022-CR
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Robert E. Poch, Jr. (State v. Robert E. Poch, Jr.) 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. Robert E. Poch, Jr., (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. December 17, 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. 2019AP1022-CR Cir. Ct. No. 2016CF8

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT III

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

ROBERT E. POCH, JR.,

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

APPEAL from a judgment and an order of the circuit court for Bayfield County: JOHN M. YACKEL, 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. Robert E. Poch, Jr., pro se, appeals a judgment convicting him of repeated sexual assault of a child and an order denying his No. 2019AP1022-CR

postconviction motion.1 On appeal, Poch argues that the circuit court erred by denying his motion seeking to suppress certain alleged custodial statements and seeking to suppress alleged coerced statements made to law enforcement. He also argues that the court erred by denying his postconviction motion for resentencing. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶2 Poch was charged in an amended complaint with one count each of repeated sexual assault of a child, mental harm to a child, and incest. Poch later filed a Miranda/Goodchild2 motion to suppress statements he provided to Red Cliff Police Department officers. Following two suppression hearings, the circuit court denied Poch’s motion, concluding that Poch was not “in custody” for purposes of Miranda when he gave statements to the detectives. The court also found that Poch’s statements were uncoerced and voluntarily given.

1 We pause to note the reason behind the age of this appeal. In case No. 2019AP2157-CR, Poch appealed a circuit court order denying his petition for waiver of fees. The petition related to additional transcripts for two telephone scheduling conferences and a motion hearing before the circuit court. By order dated November 18, 2019, we held this appeal in abeyance pending disposition of the transcript appeal.

In an opinion and order dated March 8, 2022, we affirmed the circuit court’s order in case No. 2019AP2157-CR. In that decision, we noted that “the only missing transcript able to be transcribed that may be necessary to issues on appeal is that of Poch’s plea hearing,” but Poch did not seek to include that transcript in the appellate record. On April 8, 2022, we notified Poch that we were proceeding “with this appeal and, on our own motion, extend[ed] the time for Poch to file a statement on transcript.” See WIS. STAT. RULE 809.11(4) (2021-22). Following additional extensions, Poch failed to file a statement on transcript, and we ordered that this appeal would proceed without additional transcripts.

All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2021-22 version unless otherwise noted. 2 See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966); State ex rel. Goodchild v. Burke, 27 Wis. 2d 244, 133 N.W.2d 753 (1965).

2 No. 2019AP1022-CR

¶3 Poch entered into a plea agreement by which he agreed to plead no contest to an amended count of repeated sexual assault of a child in violation of WIS. STAT. § 948.025(1)(d). In return, the State agreed to dismiss and read in the remaining two counts and to recommend fifteen years of initial confinement followed by ten years of extended supervision. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the defense remained free to argue a recommended sentence. At a plea hearing, the circuit court accepted Poch’s plea and found him guilty of the amended count of repeated sexual assault of a child.3

¶4 At the sentencing hearing, the State made a recommendation in accordance with the plea agreement. In turn, Poch’s trial counsel asked the circuit court to impose a sentence of eight to ten years of initial confinement followed by ten to twelve years of extended supervision. The court then provided Poch with an opportunity to exercise his right of allocution. Poch informed the court that he did not want to exercise that right.

¶5 The circuit court then sentenced Poch to twenty-five years of initial confinement followed by fifteen years of extended supervision. In imposing the sentence, the court stated:

[I]n reading the [presentence investigation report (PSI)] I was looking for Mr. Poch’s voice and his remorse that we were talking about here that I heard in the arguments. But not that Mr. Poch is required to talk to me, I was hoping to hear him explain it to me and for me to hear it with my own ears during his right of allocution … but he chose not to.

I’m not going to take his silence and use it against him in any way, shape, or form[,] but I have some gaps here.

3 The Honorable Robert Eaton presided over Poch’s plea hearing.

3 No. 2019AP1022-CR

¶6 Poch filed a postconviction motion for resentencing, arguing that he was denied his right to effective assistance of counsel. Poch argued that his trial counsel “improperly advised him and scared him out of exercising his right to allocution.” The circuit court held a Machner4 hearing, during which Poch and his trial counsel testified. In an oral ruling, the court denied the motion, finding that Poch’s trial counsel did not perform deficiently by advising Poch not to exercise his right of allocution. Poch now appeals.

DISCUSSION

I. Motion to suppress statements

¶7 Poch first challenges the circuit court’s decision to deny his motion to suppress the statements he gave to law enforcement. He again argues that he was in custody when questioned by law enforcement, and that they were required, but failed, to provide him Miranda warnings. He also again argues that his statements were involuntarily given under Goodchild.5 “Whether evidence should be suppressed is a question of constitutional fact.” State v. Rejholec, 2021 WI App 45, ¶16, 398 Wis. 2d 729, 963 N.W.2d 121 (citation omitted). “We review a circuit court’s findings of historical fact under a clearly erroneous standard and apply constitutional principles to those historical facts independently.” Id.

4 See State v. Machner, 92 Wis. 2d 797, 285 N.W.2d 905 (Ct. App. 1979). 5 Poch failed to file a reply brief or a statement that he would not be doing so as required by WIS. STAT. RULE 809.19(4)(a). We could treat this failure as a concession to the arguments made in the State’s brief. See Charolais Breeding Ranches, Ltd. v. FPC Secs. Corp., 90 Wis. 2d 97, 109, 279 N.W.2d 493 (Ct. App. 1979). Nonetheless, we will address each of Poch’s arguments.

4 No. 2019AP1022-CR

A. Miranda

¶8 The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, applicable to Wisconsin through the Fourteenth Amendment, provides that “[n]o person … shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against” themselves.6 See U.S. CONST. amends. V, XIV.

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Related

Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Strickland v. Washington
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Howes v. Fields
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State v. Matthew A. Lonkoski
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Charolais Breeding Ranches, Ltd. v. FPC Securities Corp.
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State v. Jennings
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State v. Gallion
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State Ex Rel. Goodchild v. Burke
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Bluebook (online)
State v. Robert E. Poch, Jr., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-robert-e-poch-jr-wisctapp-2024.