Plea colloquy found inadequate by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

• Author: Ziemer, David

Byline: David Ziemer

A May 29 opinion from the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirms a published state Court of Appeals' decision that a defendant's guilty pleas were knowingly and voluntarily entered.

However, the opinion imposes greater duties on trial courts accepting guilty pleas than the lower court ruling did.

Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson wrote for a unanimous court, A circuit court may not ... rely entirely on the Plea Questionnaire/Waiver of Rights Form as a substitute for a substantive in-court plea colloquy.

In contrast, the Court of Appeals had concluded, when the court incorporates the plea questionnaire into the colloquy, the contents of the plea questionnaire become an intrinsic part of that colloquy. (State v. Hoppe, 2008 WI App 89, 754 N.W.2d 203, 210.)

Sexual Assault

Christopher S. Hoppe was charged in Walworth County Circuit Court with a number of child pornography and sexual assault offenses.

He entered guilty pleas to 12 child pornography counts, with the rest of the charges read in for sentencing purposes. At the plea hearing, he signed the standard Plea Questionnaire/Waiver of Rights Form.

During the colloquy, Hoppe stated that he had gone over the plea with his attorneys and that he understood everything in the form. However, the court did not go over any individual rights that Hoppe was waiving during the colloquy.

After sentencing, Hoppe moved to withdraw his pleas. The circuit court concluded that he had failed to make a prima facie case that the plea hearing was inadequate, but nevertheless conducted an evidentiary hearing, at which it found that the pleas were entered knowingly.

On appeal, the Court of Appeals held that the plea colloquy was sufficient because the circuit court incorporated the plea questionnaire into the colloquy, and thus, the contents of the questionnaire became an intrinsic part of the colloquy.

The Supreme Court accepted review and agreed that the evidence presented at the hearing showed that Hoppe did in fact enter his pleas knowingly and voluntarily.

As is evident in the colloquy, the circuit court specifically invoked the Plea Questionnaire/Waiver of Rights Form, ascertained that the defendant's counsel had helped the defendant to review the Form, and further ascertained that the defendant generally...