Court Opinion

ID: 9574844
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:08:54.995285+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:45:48.268854
License: Public Domain

ANN WALSH BRADLEY, J.
¶ 4. {on motion for reconsideration) {dissenting). Armstrong asserts in his *123motion for reconsideration that a direct contradiction in Wisconsin law was created when this court released its opinion. I agree. Without explanation we said in State v. Armstrong, 223 Wis. 2d 331, 588 N.W.2d 606 (1999) that the harmless error doctrine applied to appeals taken after a guilty plea pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 971.31(10); State v. Pounds, 176 Wis. 2d 315, 324-26, 500 N.W.2d 373 (Ct. App. 1993) said that it did not. Because the majority on reconsideration concludes in a modified footnote that this discrepancy should be decided and Wisconsin law changed, without the benefit of full briefing and analysis, I respectfully dissent.
¶ 5. Upon reconsideration, the majority modifies a footnote and states that it "recognize[s] that some courts have interpreted" State v. Monahan, 76 Wis. 2d 387, 251 N.W.2d 421 (1977) to be a complete bar to applying a harmless error analysis where the appeal is taken after a guilty plea under Wis. Stat. § 971.31(10). Armstrong, 223 Wis. 2d at 369 n.38. That is an understatement. The fact of the matter is that every court that has interpreted Monahan has cited it for the proposition that the harmless error doctrine cannot be applied to appeals taken after a guilty plea. Yet, in the face of this unanimous interpretation, the majority concludes that it will not "read Monahan so broadly." Id.
¶ 6. Monahan has been interpreted "so broadly" by two federal circuits, the Seventh in Jones v. State, 562 F.2d 440, 446 (7th Cir. 1977), and the First in United States v. Weber, 668 F.2d 552, 562-63 (1st Cir. 1981). Monahan has been interpreted "so broadly" by the Maryland Court of Appeals in Bruno v. Maryland, 632 A.2d 1192, 1198 (Md. 1993). Monahan has been interpreted "so broadly" by Wisconsin's own court of appeals in Pounds, 176 Wis. 2d at 324-26, and State v. *124Esser, 166 Wis. 2d 897, 906 n.6, 480 N.W.2d 541 (Ct. App. 1992).
¶ 7. Additionally, the "broad" reading of Monahan is supported by opinions of other courts, both state and federal, which have concluded likewise. See, e.g., Weber, 668 F.2d at 562-63; Jones, 562 F.2d at 446; New York v. Grant, 380 N.E.2d 257, 264-65 (N.Y. 1978); California v. Hill, 528 P.2d 1, 29-30 (Cal. 1974), overruled on other grounds, California v. Devaughn, 558 P.2d 872, 876 (Cal. 1977). That conclusion, however, has not been unanimous. See, e.g., Bruno, 632 A.2d at 1198-1203.
¶ 8. Regardless of their end opinion, at least these courts had the benefit of having the issue fully briefed so that they could better articulate the rationale behind their conclusion and more fully appreciate the ramifications of their conclusion. The majority has merely replaced a statement written without supporting rationale in Monahan with another statement written without supporting rationale in footnote 38. Why should (or should not) the harmless error doctrine apply to appeals taken under Wis. Stat. § 971.31(10)? Jones, Weber, Grant, Hill, and Bruno offer the reader a justification; the majority does not.
¶ 9. In sum, I conclude that this court should have asked for additional briefing. Monahan did not provide a clear answer. The interpretation other courts have given to that answer is clearly not the answer the majority assigns to it today. The correct answer is not a foregone conclusion. Different courts have answered this question differently. What they have all had is a full briefing prior to their decision. What they have all done is provide a reasoned answer in their opinion. We should have had and done the same. Because we did *125not, I respectfully dissent from the denial of Armstrong's motion for reconsideration.
¶ 10. I am authorized to state that CHIEF JUSTICE SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON joins this opinion.