State v. Terry L. Hibbard

2022 WI App 53, 982 N.W.2d 105, 404 Wis. 2d 668
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedSeptember 21, 2022
Docket2020AP001157-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2022 WI App 53 (State v. Terry L. Hibbard) 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. Terry L. Hibbard, 2022 WI App 53, 982 N.W.2d 105, 404 Wis. 2d 668 (Wis. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

2022 WI App 53

COURT OF APPEALS OF WISCONSIN PUBLISHED OPINION

Case No.: 2020AP1157-CR

†Petition for Review filed

Complete Title of Case:

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

TERRY L. HIBBARD,

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.†

Opinion Filed: September 16, 2022 Submitted on Briefs: June 16, 2022 Oral Argument:

JUDGES: Gundrum, P.J., Neubauer and Grogan, JJ. Concurred: Dissented:

Appellant ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the defendant-appellant, the cause was submitted on the brief of Megan Sanders-Drazen, assistant state public defender, Madison

Respondent ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the plaintiff-respondent, the cause was submitted on the brief of Sara-Lynn Shaeffer, assistant attorney general, Joshua L. Kaul, attorney general. 2022 WI App 53

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 September 21, 2022 volume of the Official Reports.

Sheila T. Reiff A party may file with the Supreme Clerk of Court of Appeals Court a petition to review an adverse decision by the Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10 and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2020AP1157-CR Cir. Ct. No. 2018CF111

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

APPEAL from a judgment and an order of the circuit court for Ozaukee County: PAUL V. MALLOY, Judge. Affirmed.

Before Gundrum, P.J., Neubauer and Grogan, JJ. No. 2020AP1157-CR

¶1 NEUBAUER, J. This appeal requires us to examine Wisconsin’s “Len Bias” law, WIS. STAT. § 940.02(2)(a) (2017-2018),1 which makes the “manufacture, distribution or delivery” of a controlled substance a first-degree reckless homicide offense if “another human being uses the controlled substance … and dies as a result of that use,” and WIS. STAT. § 939.05, which as relevant here makes a person liable for a criminal offense if the person “[i]ntentionally aids and abets” its commission.2 A jury found Terry L. Hibbard guilty of first-degree reckless homicide, party to a crime, contrary to §§ 940.02(2)(a) and 939.05, as the result of his involvement in a drug deal that led to the death of his daughter from an overdose. Hibbard appeals the judgment of conviction and an order denying his postconviction motion, contending that the evidence to prove that he aided and abetted the seller’s delivery of the drugs to his daughter, the buyer, was insufficient, or, if sufficient, that § 940.02(2)(a) is unconstitutionally vague as applied to aiders and abettors. We reject Hibbard’s challenges and affirm the judgment and order.

BACKROUND

¶2 The evidence presented at Hibbard’s trial established the following facts. On Monday, July 10, 2017, the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of a deceased person at Hibbard’s residence. Upon arrival, the responding officer encountered Hibbard and his wife, who directed the officer to a bedroom in which Hibbard’s 32—year old daughter, Taralyn, lay dead. A detective with the department responded to the scene and located: (1) a syringe near Taralyn’s body which was later determined to contain heroin and fentanyl; (2) a

1 Len Bias was a prominent basketball player for the University of Maryland who died of a cocaine overdose. See State v. Patterson, 2010 WI 130, ¶37, 329 Wis. 2d 599, 790 N.W.2d 909. 2 All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2017-18 version unless otherwise noted.

2 No. 2020AP1157-CR

“drug kit” in the bedroom containing a lighter and additional syringes; and (3) Taralyn’s cell phone. The detective also observed bruises and contusions on Taralyn’s body that he suspected could have been injection sites. The medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Taralyn found heroin and fentanyl in her system and determined the cause of death to be acute mixed drug intoxication.

¶3 Another officer who responded to the scene spoke with Hibbard. Hibbard told the officer that Taralyn “did not have access to a vehicle” and did not drive. He also denied knowing that Taralyn was using drugs. Through further investigation, the officer learned that Taralyn had spent the weekend before her death with a friend at his residence in Sullivan, Wisconsin. Text messages on Taralyn’s phone showed that she had communicated with Hibbard over the weekend about bringing drugs back to Hibbard’s residence when she returned. The messages reflected Hibbard’s interest in obtaining drugs. The messages also showed that Taralyn asked Hibbard to meet her at a fast food restaurant where she would be dropped off and to “[b]ring your pipe.” Taralyn’s phone also contained text messages between her and a person identified as “Cheese” about purchasing heroin.

¶4 After reviewing these messages, the police reinterviewed Hibbard, who told them that after picking up Taralyn on Sunday, July 9, he drove her to an apartment complex in Milwaukee where she purchased heroin from Cheese. Hibbard and Taralyn then returned to his residence, where she gave him some of the heroin. Taralyn was found dead in her bedroom the following morning.

¶5 The police identified Cheese as Davion Poe. Poe was arrested and ultimately convicted of reckless homicide. Following Poe’s conviction, the police arrested Hibbard and charged him with first-degree reckless homicide, as party to a crime, in violation of WIS. STAT. §§ 940.02(2)(a) and 939.05. Hibbard pled not

3 No. 2020AP1157-CR

guilty and, after the close of evidence at trial, moved to dismiss the case arguing that the State had not established a prima facie case for liability under § 939.05 because there was no evidence that Hibbard had aided or abetted Poe. At most, Hibbard argued, the evidence showed that he had helped Taralyn obtain the drugs; it did not show that Poe was aware that Hibbard would assist him in delivering the drugs to Taralyn. The circuit court did not rule on the motion, saying it would look at the relevant jury instructions and consider the parties’ arguments.

¶6 The following day, the circuit court finalized the jury instructions with the parties but did not mention the motion to dismiss. The court instructed the jury on the elements of the first-degree reckless homicide offense and the legal standards governing liability under WIS. STAT. § 939.05(2)(a) and (b) for “[d]irectly commit[ting]” or “[i]ntentionally aid[ing] and abet[ting] the commission of” the homicide offense. In its closing argument, the State told the jury that the “whole key here is whether or not the defendant’s conduct as it is … whether that conduct fits the crime that he’s been charged with. In other words, whether or not he truly was an aider and abettor.” The jury found Hibbard guilty and the circuit court sentenced him to six years of initial confinement, followed by four years of extended supervision.

¶7 Hibbard filed a postconviction motion, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to show he aided and abetted Poe’s delivery of drugs to Taralyn and that, if he was liable for her death, then WIS. STAT. § 940.02(2)(a) was unconstitutionally vague. The circuit court denied Hibbard’s motion. The court rejected Hibbard’s first argument because the evidence showed that Hibbard “did things that put this deal, that enabled Poe to deliver the drugs. Without Terry Hibbard’s participation and assistance to Taralyn to getting there, she wouldn’t get the heroin.” Hibbard “knew that Poe was going to be committing a criminal act,

4 No. 2020AP1157-CR

and he acted in furtherance of that conduct. He was aware of the fact that a crime was being committed, and participated in its perpetration by driving Taralyn.” This was sufficient, in the court’s view, to submit the case to the jury.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2022 WI App 53, 982 N.W.2d 105, 404 Wis. 2d 668, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-terry-l-hibbard-wisctapp-2022.