Court Opinion

ID: 9675782
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:05:45.943164+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:39.132411
License: Public Domain

JON E WILCOX, J.
¶ 90. (dissenting). Judges and justices are umpires, not pinch hitters.1 Nonetheless, the majority in this case takes their second at-bat this term for a defendant that failed to make a motion alleging a lack of a factual basis pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 971.08(1)(b). See State v. Lackershire, 2007 WI 74, 734 N.W.2d 23, 301 Wis. 2d 418.
¶ 91. Previously, the plea-withdrawal procedure empowered defendants to make a motion alleging how a plea-taking court failed to satisfy a plea colloquy duty. That motion permitted the defendants to have the court deal with their allegation directly.
¶ 92. Now, judges considering defendants' motions have the added obligation to be on the lookout for substantial questions and red flags in the record. That role used to be fulfilled by the defendants and their counsel.
¶ 93. Because I conclude defendants and defense counsel are still better suited than judges to spot substantial questions in a plea colloquy, I respectfully dissent.
*393HH
¶ 94. During a plea colloquy, a circuit court judge has a number of duties. One of the duties is to "[m]ake such inquiry as satisfies it that the defendant in fact committed the crime charged." Wis. Stat. § 971.08(l)(b). The court has referred to this as the factual basis requirement. State v. Thomas, 2000 WI 13, ¶ 14, 232 Wis. 2d 714, 605 N.W.2d 836. If a defendant believes that a court failed to satisfy its § 971.08(1)(b) obligation, he or she may allege that failure in a motion to withdraw his or her plea.
¶ 95. Howell never made a motion that alleged that the plea-taking court failed to satisfy the factual basis requirement. Rather, in his motion, Howell alleged that "he failed to understand what the state had to prove to find him guilty as a party to a crime of the charge of first degree reckless injury." Howell's allegation arises out of an obligation distinct from the factual basis requirement of § 971.08(l)(b). It arises out of a plea-taking court's duty under Wis. Stat. § 971.08(1)(a) to "[a]ddress the defendant personally and determine that the plea is made voluntarily with understanding of the nature of the charge and the potential punishment if convicted."
¶ 96. Nevertheless, the majority here ascribes to Howell's motion an allegation that the factual basis accepted by the circuit court was insufficient. Majority op., ¶ 57. The majority does this in the face of Howell's own argument. While the majority spends pages discussing the § 971.08(1)(b) factual basis requirement, Howell did not do so in his brief to the court. Actually, a reference to § 971.08(l)(b) never even appears in his brief.
*394II
¶ 97. Howell never alleged that the judge that took his plea failed to satisfy the factual basis requirement. Nevertheless, this court is stepping in on Howell's behalf. It concludes that the judge reviewing Howell's plea withdrawal motion erred in not finding that the plea-taking judge did not satisfy the § 971.08(l)(b) factual basis requirement. Appellate courts that fail to recognize when judges are humbly applying the rules, rather than engaging in the work properly left to the advocates, undermine the proper role of the judiciary.
¶ 98. For the forgoing reasons, I respectfully dissent.
¶ 99. I am authorized to state that Justices DAVID T. PROSSER and PATIENCE DRAKE ROGGENSACK join this opinion.

 Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., as nominee to be the Chief Justice of the United States, stated the following in his opening statement:
Judges and Justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules, they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules, but it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire.
Confirmation Hearing on the Nomination of John G. Roberts, Jr. to be Chief Justice of the United States, 109th Cong. 109-158 (2005).