Educational resources for teachers
Case of the month archive
To find a case, scroll down the page or use the following quicklinks: 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009| 2008 | 2007 | 2006
2013
Case  |
Description | Opinion(s) |
Case No./ Briefs |
Listen to argument |
| Showers Appraisal v. Musson Brothers | This case involves a lawsuit over water damage that occurred to a privately owned building during a road construction project in Oshkosh in the summer of 2008. The Supreme Court examines whether a private governmental contractor is entitled to sovereign immunity under Estate of Lyons v. CNA Insurance Company, 207 Wis. 2d 446, 558 N.W.2d 658 (Ct. App. 1996) for its efforts to maintain water drainage on the construction site so as to protect the adjacent private property from water damage. | SC opinion |
2011AP1158 | Audio |
| State v. Lonkoski | This case examines what constitutes interrogation and what constitutes custody under Miranda. | SC opinion |
2010AP2809-CR | Audio |
2012
| Case |
Description | Opinion(s) |
Case No./ Briefs |
Listen to argument |
| State v. Neumann | This certification involves consolidated appeals that raise issues related to statutory construction, constitutional rights and appropriate jury instructions for persons charged with reckless homicide based on their choice to rely on prayer rather than medical treatment for an ill child. | SC opinion COA certification |
2011AP1044-CR/ 2011AP1105-CR |
Audio |
| Acuity v. Society Insurance | This case examines whether damages arising from faulty construction work performed by a contractor qualifies as an "occurrence" under the terms of a commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policy. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2009AP2432 | Oral argument was cancelled and not rescheduled. |
| Schinner v. Gundrum | This case examines the meaning of "occurrence" and "accident" under the terms of a homeowners insurance policy and how they apply to the facts presented here. The Supreme Court is asked to review whether a homeowners insurance policy covers the 21-year-old host of a drinking party who provided alcohol to an underage guest who assaulted another guest. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2011AP564 | Audio |
| State v. Brereton | This case examines whether a defendant's constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures was violated when police seized his vehicle and covertly installed a sophisticated real-time GPS tracking device. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2010AP1366-CR | Audio |
| Wis. Industrial Energy Group v. PSC | This certification involves a dispute over the Wisconsin Public Service Commission's (PSC) approval process and whether a certificate of public convenience and necessity was needed for a Wisconsin public utility to construct a wind electric generating facility in Minnesota. | SC opinion CA certification |
2010AP2762 | Audio |
| Wis. Dolls v. Town of Dell Prairie | This case involves a dispute between the owners of Wisconsin Dolls, an adult-themed resort in the Wisconsin Dells, and the town of Dell Prairie and its town board, over a liquor license. | 2010AP2900 | Audio | |
| State v. Negrete | This case involves an illegal immigrant now facing deportation proceedings because of a crime he was convicted of 18 years ago. The Supreme Court examines whether the fact a transcript of Abraham C. Negrete's plea hearing is no longer available means that a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, pursuant to Sec. 971.08(2), Stats., cannot be granted. | SC opinion |
2010AP1702 | Audio |
| State v. Tyler T. | This case examines the fairly narrow issue of whether it is improper for an assistant district attorney to appear at a waiver recommendation meeting when neither the juvenile nor his attorney was asked to attend. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2010AP784 | Audio |
2011
| Case |
Description | Opinion(s) |
Case No./ Briefs |
Listen to argument |
| Fond du Lac Co. v. Helen E.F. | This case examines whether a person who has Alzheimer's or similar dementia may also be found to have a mental illness for purposes of a ch. 51 involuntary commitment and whether certain medications constitute "treatment" under the statute. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2010AP2061 | Audio |
| State v. Soto | This certification examines whether a defendant's statutory right to be physically present during a plea hearing was violated when the court conducted the hearing through video teleconferencing, and whether the issue was properly preserved. More broadly, the Supreme Court examines the effect of Wis. Stat. ch. 885, regarding the use of videoconferencing, on prior law. | SC opinion CA certification |
2010AP2273-CR | Audio |
| Hirschhorn v. Auto-Owners Insurance Company | This case calls upon the Wisconsin Supreme Court to decide if bat urine and droppings ("guano"), and the associated smell, fit the definition of "pollutant" for purposes of determining whether homeowner's insurance will cover losses related to an accumulation of bat excrement. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2009AP2768 | Audio |
| MBS-Certified Pub. Accountants v. Wis. Bell | This case arises from a class action lawsuit over the practice of "cramming" in which a telephone company deceptively inserts relatively small, unauthorized charges into a telephone bill. As part of its review, the Supreme Court examines the voluntary payment doctrine and statutory damage claims under §§ 100.207, 100.18, and §§ 946.80-946.88 (Wisconsin Organized Crime Control Act or WOCCA). | SC opinion COA opinion |
2008AP1830 | Audio |
| State v. West | In this case, the Supreme Court is asked to review statutory and constitutional issues related to Wis. stat. ch. 980, the state's law that allows civil commitment for persons deemed to be sexually violent. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2009AP1579 | Audio |
| Lk. Beulah Mgt. Dist. v. Wis. DNR and Lk. Beulah Mgt. Dist. v. Village of East Troy | These two cases arise from a dispute between the Lake Beulah Management District (Lake District) and the Village of East Troy (the Village) and the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) over a proposed high-capacity well. Proponents argue the well is needed to support increased development; opponents charge that pumping millions of gallons of water per day will damage the lake and surrounding wetlands. | SC opinion SC opinion COA opinion COA opinion |
2008AP3170 2009AP2021 |
Audio Audio |
| Jessica Siebert et al v. Wis. American Mutual Insurance Co. | This case examines insurance coverage in a situation where a woman lent her father's car to a man who said he was running an errand. Instead, he picked up a woman who was then injured in an accident on the way to a party. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2009AP1422 | Audio |
| E-Z Roll Off v. County of Oneida | This case involves allegations that Oneida County helped a waste-hauling company engage in monopolistic behavior by selectively charging reduced dumping fees at a county-run landfill. The Supreme Court is asked to examine the notice requirements of Wis. Stat. § 893.80(1) for filing claims against a county. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2009AP775 | Audio |
| State v. Beauchamp | In this case, the Supreme Court examines whether "dying declarations" made under the circumstances presented here constitute a permissible exception to the confrontation clause of the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The confrontation clause generally guarantees a criminal defendant's right to confront an accusing witness in court. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2009AP806-CR | Audio |
2010
| Case |
Description | Opinion(s) |
Case No./ Briefs |
Listen to argument |
| Brown County DHS v. Brenda B. | In this termination of parental rights case, the Supreme Court examines a trial court's discretion in denying a motion to withdraw a no contest plea without an evidentiary hearing. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2010AP321 | Audio |
| Curt Andersen, et al v. DNR | In this case, the Supreme Court examines issues arising from a dispute between environmental advocates and the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) over re-issuing a wastewater discharge permit for a paper manufacturing plant in Green Bay. A decision by the Supreme Court could have broad statewide implications for industries regulated by the permits. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2008AP3235 | Audio |
| State v. Janet A. Conner | In this case, the Supreme Court examines provisions of Wisconsin's stalking statute, Wis. Stat. § 940.32(2m)(b) to determine what acts may constitute a course of conduct and whether the defendant in this case received adequate notice of the course of conduct elements of the statute. | SC opinion COA opinion |
2008AP1296-CR | Audio |
| State v. Patrick R. Patterson | This reckless homicide case involves the death of a 17-year-old girl, who died as a result of a drug overdose. The primary issues before the Supreme Court are whether contributing to the delinquency of a child resulting in death is a lesser-included offense of first-degree reckless homicide under Wis. Stat. § 939.66(2), and whether a defendant can be found guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a 17-year-old, even though 17-year-olds cannot be prosecuted as juveniles. | SC opinion | 2008AP1968 | Audio |
| State v. David A. Dearborn | In this case, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is asked to examine the search-incident-to-arrest doctrine and how it applies to a vehicle search in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Arizona v. Gant, 129 S. Ct. 1710 (2009). | SC opinion | 2007AP1894-CR | Audio |
| State v. Michael A. Sveum | In this criminal case, the Supreme Court is asked to consider whether a defendant's constitutional rights or Wisconsin Statutes were violated when police placed a global positioning system (GPS) device on his vehicle and recorded its movements. | SC opinion | 2008AP658 | Audio |
| Zarder v. Humana Insurance Co. | In this case, the Supreme Court is asked to clarify the meaning of "hit-and-run" in an uninsured motorist policy, and in an insurance statute, as applied to the facts of this case. | SC opinion | 2008AP919 | Audio |
| State v. Pinkard | This criminal case examines the law as it relates to the "community caretaker" function of police and constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure | SC opinion | 2008AP1204 | Audio |
2009
| Case |
Description | Opinion(s) |
Case No./ Briefs |
Listen to argument |
| McConkey v. Van Hollen | In this certification, the District IV Court of Appeals asks the Supreme Court to review issues arising from a state constitutional amendment passed by voters on Nov. 7, 2006. The ballot measure read, in part, "that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state and that a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state." | SC opinion | 2008AP1868 | Audio |
| Pawlowski v. American Family and Nancy L. Seefeldt | In this strict liability case involving a dog bite, the Supreme Court has been asked to review statutes and case law to clarify the statutory keeper provisions of Wis. Stat. § 174.02. | SC opinion | 2007AP2651 | Audio |
| State v. Lange | In this case, the state has asked the Supreme Court to review how the standards for determining probable cause should apply to an arrest for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. | SC opinion | 2008AP882-CR | Audio |
| State v. Baron | This is the second time this case, which involves e-mail messages and the state's identity theft statute, Wis. Stat. § 943.201, has reached the Supreme Court. The defendant filed a petition to bypass, which was denied Nov. 5, 2007; a petition for review was granted July 25, 2008 after the Court of Appeals decision. | SC opinion | 2007AP1289-CR | Audio |
| Tammi v. Porsche | This certification from the U.S. District Court for the 7th Circuit asks the Wisconsin Supreme Court to clarify issues related to the state's "lemon law." A decision could affect consumers, auto manufactures and the sale of motor vehicles throughout the state. | SC opinion | 2008AP1913-CQ | Audio |
| State v. Jordan L. Gajewski | This case involves a high school student who was convicted of third-degree sexual assault after allegedly having intercourse with a high school student at a party. The Supreme Court is expected to clarify how 'ineffective assistance of counsel' claims are to be analyzed. | SC opinion | 2007AP1849-CR | Audio |
2008
| Case |
Description | Opinion(s) |
Case No./ Briefs |
Listen to argument |
| State v. Mark H. Tody, Jr. | This case arises from Mark H. Tody Jr.'s conviction for operating a motor vehicle without consent as party to a crime. Tody asks the Supreme Court to review several issues stemming from the fact the trial judge's mother served on the jury that found him guilty. | SC opinion | 2007AP400-CR | Audio |
| State v. Kramer | This case, which involves a conviction for intoxicated use of a motor vehicle (OWI), examines the "community caretaker" function of a police officer, who was checking on a vehicle pulled to the side of the road. | SC opinion | 2007AP1834-CR | Audio |
| State v. Jordan A. Denk | This case involves a police search. The Supreme Court is expected to determine whether police were acting lawfully when they seized an item that (1) was not inside the automobile that they were searching, and (2) belonged to a passenger who had not been arrested. | SC opinion | 06AP1744-CR | Audio |
| State ex rel. Hipp v. Murray | This case examines whether judges have exclusive authority to issue subpoenas to produce witnesses in John Doe proceedings. The state has asked the Supreme Court to review a Court of Appeals' decision, which could alter the way John Doe subpoenas have historically been handled. | SC opinion | 2007AP230-W | Audio |
| WIREdata Inc. v. Village of Sussex | This litigation, which includes cases involving the villages of Sussex and Thiensville and the city of Port Washington, concerns the state's open records law and its application to requests for access to large data bases created by private contractors on behalf of municipalities. The Supreme Court has been asked to consider a number of issues about the scope, timing, procedure, cost and format of electronic records involved in open records requests. | SC opinion | 2005AP1473/ 2006AP174-75 |
Audio |
2007
| Case |
Description | Opinion(s) |
Case No./ Briefs |
Listen to argument |
| WRA, Inc. v. Town of West Point | This certification from the District IV Court of Appeals could affect the state's Smart Growth statute and examines whether towns in Wisconsin have the authority to place moratoriums on new development of land while updating land-use plans. | SC opinion | 2006AP2761 | Audio |
| Richards v. Badger Mutual Insurance Co. | This insurance liability case stems from a fatal automobile accident and wrongful death lawsuit that was filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. | SC opinion |
06AP1114-CR | Audio |
| State v. Michelle R. Popenhagen | This case examines whether a person has a protected right to privacy of bank records under Wisconsin law and how state law interacts with federal law regarding the question. | SC opinion |
06AP1114-CR | Audio |
| State ex rel. Jose Castaneda v. Woody Welch, et al. | This case could determine the scope of Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission’s rulemaking authority. | SC opinion |
04AP3306 | Audio |
| State v. Jeffrey Allen House | This is an appeal by a man who was convicted of conspiracy to deliver cocaine. The issue before the Wisconsin Supreme Court is whether the circuit court should have suppressed evidence that was gathered from a wiretap that the defendant alleges was illegal. | SC opinion |
05AP2202-CR | Audio |
| Kristie L. M., et al v. Dennis E. M. | The issue raised in this case is whether the lower courts infringed on a parent’s constitutional right to have a relationship with a child by expanding the definition of “severe” bruising to include any bruising. | SC opinion |
05AP1034 | Audio |
| State ex rel. Jose Castaneda v. Woody Welch, et al. | This case could determine the scope of Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission’s rulemaking authority. | SC opinion |
04AP3306 | Audio |
| State v. Robert E. Post | This case examines the legality of a traffic stop, and whether there was reasonable suspicion to investigate when an officer observed a vehicle weaving within its own lane. | SC opinion | 05AP2778 | Audio |
| State of Wisconsin v. Edward Bannister | In its petition for review, the state has asked the Supreme Court to clarify whether the corroboration rule operates as a rule of admissibility or a rule of substantive evidence. | SC opinion | 05AP767-CR | Audio |
2006
| Case |
Description | Opinion(s) |
Case No./ Briefs |
Listen to argument |
| Shannon E.T. v. Alicia M.V.M. | The case involves a man who hopes to establish that he is the father of a stillborn baby so he can pursue a wrongful death claim based upon the stillbirth. The circuit court dismissed his case, and the Court of Appeals affirmed this decision but under different reasoning. Now the Supreme Court will clarify whether the law permits an unmarried man who claims to be the father of a stillborn baby to seek a legal order establishing himself as the father for purposes of filing a wrongful death claim. | SC opinion | 05AP77 | Audio |
| City of Milwaukee v. Ruby Washington | This case involves a woman with infectious tuberculosis (TB) who was confined in the Milwaukee County jail to keep her from spreading the disease after she refused to follow her treatment regimen. The Supreme Court will clarify whether the circuit court had the authority to order confinement in this type of facility. | SC opinion | 05AP3141 | Audio |
| Karl McNeil v. Brandon Hansen | This case involves a man who was injured while working on a vehicle at an oil change shop. The Supreme Court is expected to determine whether the man’s co-worker, who was standing outside the vehicle but set it in motion by leaning in and turning the key, was operating the vehicle under the meaning in the Worker’s Compensation Statute. | SC opinion | 05AP423 | Audio |
| State v. David Allen Bruski | This case involves a police search of a travel bag. The Supreme Court is expected to determine if the search was legal. | SC opinion | 05AP1516-CR | Audio |
| Jo-El Hanson v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company | This is a personal injury case arising out of a car crash. The woman who was injured sought medical treatments, including a surgery that allegedly was not medically necessary. The Supreme Court is expected to clarify whether there is a difference between unnecessary surgery and surgery that is badly performed for purposes of allowing the accident victim to recover compensation for medical expenses. | SC opinion | 04AP2065 |
Audio |
| State v. Brian Hibl | This is a so-called “accidental confrontation” case involving an encounter that occurred by chance rather than as a part of a police investigation. The Supreme Court is expected to clarify the admissibility of this type of eyewitness identification. | SC opinion |
Audio | |
| Lina M. Mueller v. McMillian Warner Insurance Company | This case began with an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). Those in a position to render aid to the victim claimed not to have immediately recognize her injuries. The Supreme Court is expected to clarify the circumstances under which a person who comes to the aid to an injured person at or near the scene of an accident is immune from civil liability under the Good Samaritan law. | SC opinion | 05AP121 | Audio |
| State v. Scott K. Fisher | This is a ‘concealed carry’ case. The Supreme Court will decide if the law that prohibits carrying concealed weapons may be enforced against a business owner who kept a loaded gun in the console of his vehicle for security while making night deposits. | SC opinion |
04AP2989-CR | Audio |
| State v. Mark D. Jensen | This case stems from a Kenosha County homicide investigation. The question before the Supreme Court is whether a voice mail message and a letter that the victim left behind, and that implicate the defendant, were properly barred from evidence. | SC opinion | 04AP2481-CR | Audio |