Court Opinion

ID: 9707864
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 02:23:29.136774+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:39.073964
License: Public Domain

SUNDBY, J.
(concurring). I agree with the result herein. However, I write separately to point out that the Criminal Benchbook Committee recommends that the trial court poll the jury in every case. Wisconsin Judicial Benchbook, CR 25-3 (1994). The User's Guide to the Benchbook states that when the user encounters the words "Recommendation" or "Comment" in place of a citation, the authors, editors, and committee members suggest that the proposition presented is appropriate in the absence of binding authority. Id. at xiii.
Polling the jury in every case will forestall a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. In Smith v. State, 51 Wis. 615, 623, 8 N.W. 410, 413 (1881), the Wisconsin Supreme Court stated that it should not be presumed that the accused knew he had the right to poll the jury and voluntarily relinquished it. I anticipate ineffective assistance claims based on trial counsel's failure to inform defendant of that right. In view of the importance of this right, the trial court should poll the jury in every case.