Court Opinion

ID: 9662963
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:24:13.169547+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:44.247049
License: Public Domain

BROWN, J.
¶ 40. (concurring). I believe that, as an officer of the court, the district attorney not only has the right, but also the responsibility, to protest any perceived departures from normal practice when PSI's are being prepared if those changes are detrimental to victims' rights. A change in a PSI recommendation, prompted by a hearsay telephone call that disputes a *299victim's account, without giving the victim an opportunity to respond, warrants a protest by the district attorney. The district attorney has a duty to protect victims throughout the criminal process, including the PSI stage. To the extent that the majority opinion may he saying otherwise, I respectfully disagree.1
¶ 41. Nor do I believe that the actions of the district attorney's office resulted in a de facto "end around" the district attorney's plea agreement to keep silent regarding any sentencing recommendation. To the extent that the majority opinion says otherwise, I disagree. I do not believe that the district attorney intentionally or functionally breached the plea bargain.
¶ 42. The reason why I concur rather than dissent is because the avenue chosen by the district attorney's office to register its concerns about PSI procedure was to commence and carry out a series of presentence, ex parte communications with the Division of Community Corrections about the method employed in this case, all of which occurred before the final sentencing hearing. I think this was improper. The correct avenue would have been to bring its concerns to the attention of the court, with notice to opposing counsel, and ask the court to deal with these concerns. The emphasis would not have been on any change in recommendation, but *300upon the right of the victim to reply to the hearsay information provided by some other person.
¶ 43. Such as it is, the ex parte communications ruined the independent nature of this PSI. As the majority points out, the PSI writer may have been subconsciously influenced by the relationship between the Division of Community Corrections and the district attorney's office in making a change in the recommendation to the court. For this reason, the objective nature of the PSI was in danger of being compromised. I would reverse in the interests of justice, not because of any perceived breach of the plea bargain. I agree with the instructions on remand.

 I point out that Wis. Stat. § 950.04(lv)(p) (2001-02) provides that, as part of a victim's basic bill of rights, the presentence writer must make a reasonable attempt to contact the victim. Viewing § 950.04 as a whole, I cannot conceive of any other interpretation than that this section includes being notified if some person tells the PSI writer that the victim has retracted a statement originally made. Failure to do so is unreasonable. As an officer of the court and as one with a special duty toward victims, the district attorney has the right and obligation to protest.