Court Opinion

ID: 9673216
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:08:31.468667+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:20.867911
License: Public Domain

HANLEY, J.
(dissenting). A motion under sec. 974.-06, Stats., does not lie to review a trial ruling on grounds of abuse of discretion. The question in this case is whether by refusing a continuance, the trial court denied defendant his constitutional right to be represented by counsel.
The majority remands this case for a hearing defendant did not want when he filed his motion relying solely on the trial record. He expressly disclaimed reliance on any other supporting evidence. The record which he relied on showed that he was represented by counsel at arraignment and preliminary hearing. He came to court on his trial date, which had been fixed almost three months earlier, without his first attorney. He claimed (not having been sworn) that his mother had contacted a second. The new attorney could not attend on the day of trial because he was deer hunting.
While I agree with the majority that a hearing would be required to grant defendant’s motion, I do not agree that a hearing was required to deny it. The trial judge disbelieved defendant’s story at the trial. The story was not worthy of belief then. It was not more credible the second time, seventeen months after conviction, and one month after probation on the conviction was revoked.
I would affirm.