COURT OF APPEALS DECISION DATED AND RELEASED March 7, 1996 |
NOTICE |
A party may file with the
Supreme Court a petition to review an adverse decision by the Court of
Appeals. See § 808.10 and
Rule 809.62, Stats. |
This opinion is subject to
further editing. If published, the
official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. |
No. 95-0062-CR-NM
STATE
OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF
APPEALS
DISTRICT IV
STATE OF WISCONSIN,
Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
NATHAN GILLIS,
Defendant-Appellant.
APPEAL from a judgment
of the circuit court for Dane County: P. CHARLES JONES, Judge. Affirmed.
Before Eich, C.J.,
Dykman and Sundby, JJ.
PER
CURIAM. Nathan Gillis appeals from a judgment of conviction
resulting from an Alford plea.
North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 37 (1970). Counsel has filed a no merit report. We affirm.
As a result of his plea,
Gillis was convicted of kidnapping, contrary to § 940.31(1)(b), Stats.; false imprisonment, contrary to
§ 940.30, Stats.; two counts
of second-degree sexual assault, contrary to § 940.225(2)(a), Stats.; and first-degree recklessly endangering safety, contrary to
§ 941.30(1), Stats. The state public defender's office appointed
Robert T. Ruth to represent Gillis on appeal.
Ruth has filed a no merit report with this court, pursuant to Anders
v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and Rule 809.32, Stats.,
and reports that a copy has been sent to Gillis. In compliance with Anders, both Ruth and this court
informed Gillis that he could respond to the report, but he has not done so,
although he filed various motions before the report was filed. After an independent review of the record as
mandated by Anders, we conclude that any further proceedings in
this matter would be wholly frivolous and without arguable merit.
All the charges against
Gillis arise from an incident in which he was accused of dragging a female
passerby into his apartment and twice forcibly sexually assaulting her while
choking and blindfolding her. Gillis
was convicted after a plea colloquy in which the circuit court determined that
the evidence against him was strong enough to provide a sufficient basis for
the plea, that the plea was knowing, intelligent and voluntary, that Gillis
understood the rights he was giving up, and that Gillis understood the elements
of the charges that the State would have to prove to obtain a conviction. Indeed, the plea came after several days of
trial, and after the complaining witness had been subjected to a complete
cross-examination taking most of a day.
Police witnesses and others also testified before Gillis entered his
plea, which stopped the trial.
The circuit court
sentenced Gillis to twelve years in the Wisconsin state prison system on the
two counts of sexual assault and the charge of recklessly endangering
safety. The circuit court imposed 26
years' probation on the kidnapping and false imprisonment charges, concurrent
with the prison sentences. The
sentencing was in accord with Gillis's plea agreement with the State. Among factors considered by the court in
determining the sentencing period was the impact on the victim, as well as
Gillis's demeanor.
The no merit report
addresses the question of whether the evidence was sufficient to support the
conviction, whether the plea was proper, and whether the circuit court abused
its discretion in sentencing Gillis to prison for twelve years. We agree with counsel that there is no merit
to any argument based on these issues.
Our independent review of the record reveals no other potential issues
for appeal. Therefore, we conclude that
any further appellate proceedings would be without arguable merit and would be
wholly frivolous, within the meaning of Anders, as well as Rule 809.32, Stats.
Accordingly, Gillis's conviction
is affirmed, and we grant his counsel's motion to withdraw from further
representation before this court.
By the Court.—Judgment
affirmed.