Opinion ID: 1868629
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Bonds's Claim of Prejudice

Text: ¶ 31 It is the State's burden to prove that Bonds was not prejudiced and Wis. Stat. § 973.12(1) was satisfied through notice of sufficient allegations of the basis for charging habitual criminality. Stynes, 262 Wis.2d 335, ¶ 10, 665 N.W.2d 115. When we apply the principles from Stynes, Gerard, Campbell and Wilks to the facts before us, we conclude that Bonds was not prejudiced by the State's post-conviction amendment of the original allegations in the complaint on which the State based its assertion of habitual criminality. First, there is no dispute that Bonds's prior convictions made him a repeater. Second, there is no dispute that Bonds was alleged to be a repeater before he pled, in compliance with § 973.12. The complaint that was given to him before he pled to the battery charge attached, and incorporated by reference, certified copies of the judgments of conviction for three prior misdemeanors. The specific crime that was committed, the statutory section that was violated, the case number for each matter, and the county of conviction were all set out in the complaint for each misdemeanor. Third, Bonds suffered no prejudice when at sentencing, after he was convicted by a jury, the State amended the factual basis to a felony conviction that was sufficient to satisfy Wis. Stat. § 939.62, rather than relying on the three misdemeanor convictions listed in the criminal complaint. The amendment did not prevent Bonds from meaningfully assessing the potential maximum penalty to which he could be subjected. Under § 939.62(1)(a), whether the State proved his repeater status by three misdemeanor convictions or by one felony conviction, Bonds's potential maximum penalty was the same. This is so because a battery conviction under Wis. Stat. § 940.19(1) is a Class A misdemeanor that has maximum imprisonment of nine months. Wis. Stat. § 939.51(3)(a). Therefore, even with the repeater enhancement, Bond's maximum term of imprisonment for the battery conviction could not be increased to more than two years, regardless of whether the State relied on three misdemeanors or one felony. [10] ¶ 32 We also are unpersuaded by Bonds's argument that he pled not guilty because he believed that he would not be sentenced as a repeater as the actual dates of the misdemeanor convictions occurred more than five years before he was charged with battery. Any misstatement of dates listed in the body of the complaint was cured by the attachment of the certified copies of the judgments of conviction that were given to Bonds with the complaint. As explained in Fields, 249 Wis.2d 292, ¶ 8, 638 N.W.2d 897, providing a defendant with a certified copy of his prior convictions constitutes an amendment to the charging document that cures prior defects in it. Bonds acknowledges that he was incarcerated for ten months for the forgery conviction. This period of time is not counted in the five-year period of time when assessing whether convictions fall within the requisite timeframe of five years. Wis. Stat. § 939.62(2). In addition, the prejudice that Bonds complains of is the adverse effect on a potential defense to the repeater allegation. Campbell concludes this is insufficient to set aside an amendment to a repeater allegation because it does not affect a defendant's ability to assess the potential maximum sentence to which he may be subjected. Campbell, 201 Wis.2d at 793, 549 N.W.2d 501. We agree with Campbell.