Court Opinion

ID: 9687981
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 16:56:00.70109+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:33.886842
License: Public Domain

Hallows, C. J.
(concurring). I have misgivings about the procedure used by the trial court to hear the postconviction petition under sec. 974.06, Stats. Based upon my experience, I conclude this procedure adds more delay and confusion to the determination of the petition and causes frustration of the defendant. There is no statewide uniform system on the trial level for hearing postconviction petitions. No time limit is placed upon the attorney as to when he should make a report and as I understand it he is not paid for his services. If such an attorney makes a no-merit report, the trial court must do what it was supposed to do in the first place, *387make its own determination from the motion files and records under sec. 974.06 that the motion is conclusively without merit. If it has possible merit, the court must again appoint an attorney to prosecute the petition and wait for a response from the district attorney. The court is also under the duty to grant a prompt hearing. Sec. 974.06 (3) (c).
The procedure of handling the petition under sec. 974.06, Stats., is in an experimental stage. The criticism so far is that the petitions are not expeditiously being determined by the trial courts and that the petitioners are not being notified of what is happening to their petitions. There seems to be a total lack of communication between the petitioners, the trial court, the clerks of court, and appointed counsel. This court has had several applications for mandamus against trial judges to determine these petitions expeditiously and I do not think farming them out to attorneys who are not on the staff of the judge improves the efficiency of determining the petitions.
One possible help for the trial judges is to hire part-time legal assistants, which is being done in some parts of Wisconsin with the assistance of LEAA funds.