Supreme Court affirms 'once waived, always waived' applies in cases involving more that one county.

Byline: Michaela Paukner, mpaukner@wislawjournal.com

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has decided the "once waived, always waived" rule for sending juveniles to adult court applies from county to county.

On Tuesday, a 4-2 majority of the justices upheld an appeals court's previous ruling that there is no requirement that juveniles be waived into adult court waivers on separate occasions if they are to be tried in more than one county.

The dispute started with a robbery and high-speed chase in 2015. Court documents say16-year-old Matthew Hinkle robbed someone of a car in Milwaukee County and drove to Fond du Lac. When spotted by police in Fond du Lac, Hinkle took off, leading officers on a chasethat reached speeds of 120 miles an hour. Police caught up to him after he smashed the car into an SUV and ran off on foot.

Hinkle was charged in both Milwaukee and Fond du Lac counties. He was initially waived into adult court in Milwaukee County. Meanwhile, the Fond du Lac County circuit court considered the state's petition to waive him into adult court. Court documents say everyone, including Hinkle's lawyer, agreed the rule referred to as "once waived, always waived" meant that Milwaukee County's decision to waive him into adult court required Fond du Lac Countyto also do so.

Hinkle was charged as an adult in both counties and received six years of initial confinement, three years of extended supervision and two years of probation for the Fond du Lac County charges. He filed a post-conviction motion...