Opinion ID: 1312244
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: purpose of section 974.06, stats.

Text: With the exception of subsection (4), sec. 974.06 [6] is a direct adaptation of 28 U.S.C. sec. 2255. [7] The federal statute attempted to provide an expeditious remedy for correcting erroneous sentences without resorting to habeas corpus. Angela B. Bartell, Comment, Wisconsin Post Conviction RemediesHabeas Corpus: Past, Present and Future, 1970 Wis. L. Rev. 1145, 1152 [hereinafter Wisconsin Post Conviction Remedies]. See also U.S. Code Congr. Serv. 1248 (1949) (Act of May 24, 1949). In fact, as applied in Wisconsin, the postconviction motion procedure under sec. 974.06 was designed to replace habeas corpus as the primary method in which a defendant can attack his conviction after the time for appeal has expired. Howard B. Eisenberg, Post-Conviction Remedies in the 1970's, 56 Marg. L. Rev. 69, 79 (1972). In 1972, this court stated that [t]he postconviction motion under sec. 974.06, Stats., is not a substitute for a motion for a new trial. A sec. 974.06 motion can be made only after the defendant has exhausted his direct remedies which consist of a motion for a new trial and appeal. A sec. 974.06 motion is limited in scope to matters of jurisdiction or of constitutional dimensions. The motion must not be used to raise issues disposed of by a previous appeal. Peterson v. State, 54 Wis.2d 370, 381, 195 N.W.2d 837 (1972) (footnote omitted). See also Nichols v. State, 73 Wis. 2d 90, 241 N.W.2d 877 (1976); Sass v. State, 63 Wis.2d 92, 216 N.W.2d 22 (1974). By contrast, the language of subsection (4) of sec. 974.06 was adapted from the Uniform Post-Conviction Procedure Act. See 11 U.L.A. 477 (1974). First approved in 1955 by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and the American Bar Association, it was revised by the same bodies in 1966. The primary purpose of the act was to compel a prisoner to raise all grounds regarding postconviction relief in his or her original, supplemental or amended motion, thereby cutting off successive frivolous motions. [8] See sec. 8 of the uniform act [Waiver of Claims]; see also Wisconsin Post Conviction Remedies, 1970 Wis. L. Rev. at 1153. In 1980, the new Post-Conviction Procedure Act was approved and superseded the 1966 version. The substance of sec. 8 is now embodied in sec. 12 [Affirmative Defenses-Res Judicata-Misuse of Process]. [2] Though Wisconsin did not formally adopt the Uniform Post-Conviction Procedure Act, the purpose underlying the original sec. 8 was incorporated into sec. 974.06(4). Contrary to the assertion of the dissent in this case, the purpose of sec. 974.06(4) is clear: to require criminal defendants to consolidate all their postconviction claims into one motion or appeals. [9]