Court Opinion

ID: 9670025
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:12:46.866091+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:01.894598
License: Public Domain

DYKMAN, J.
¶ 37. (concurring in part; dissenting in part). I agree with the majority that the judgment in this matter should be reversed. But I would remand for a trial at which Sorenson would be permitted to introduce evidence of the victim's recantation. The jury could then weigh that testimony, Sorenson's possible testimony, and the testimony of the other witnesses to determine whether it was substantially probable that Sorenson would engage in acts of sexual violence in the future.
¶ 38. I also agree with the majority that trial courts are not barred from applying the doctrine of offensive issue preclusion in Wis. Stat. ch. 980 cases. Where I part company is with the majority's conclusion that "Sorenson's interpretation of the statutes would mark a dramatic shift in how Chapter 980 trials are conducted, requiring a retrial of prior sexual assault convictions. . . ." Majority at ¶ 25. While Sorenson does argue that offensive issue preclusion is unavailable in ch. 980 trials, he also argues that in this case, an analysis of the factors listed in Michelle T. v. Crozier, 173 Wis. 2d 681, 689, 495 N.W.2d 327 (1993), requires that he be permitted to present evidence of the victim's recantation. Recantation cases are rare, and it is the victim's recantation in this case that separates it from the usual ch. 980 case. In the usual ch. 980 case where *255a trial is held, the Michelle T. factors would generally balance out in favor of the State.1
¶ 39. I also disagree with the majority's decision to remand to the trial court to consider the fifth Michelle T. factor. The majority does so because it labels the fifth Michelle T factor discretionary, and therefore reviewed for an erroneous exercise of discretion. It is not that easy. The fifth factor is whether there "are matters of public policy and individual circumstances involved that would render the application of collateral estoppel to be fundamentally unfair...." Michelle T., 173 Wis. 2d at 689. The issue here is whether the circumstances have changed by virtue of the victim's recantation which make it inequitable to apply issue preclusion to bar evidence of that recantation. Because the majority examines that issue using the wrong standard of review, it reaches the wrong result.
¶ 40. In Paige K.B. ex rel. Peterson v. Steven G.B., 226 Wis. 2d 210, 225, 594 N.W.2d 370 (1999), the supreme court noted that in Ambrose v. Continental Ins. Co., 208 Wis. 2d 346, 560 N.W.2d 309 (Ct. App. 1997), we had concluded that certain of the Michelle T. factors present questions of law that we review de novo. In Ambrose, we also noted that the standard of review of a particular decision on issue preclusion may be affected by the context in which its application is sought. Ambrose, 208 Wis. 2d at 356. The supreme court in Paige K.B. also cited Ayers v. City of Richmond, *256895 F.2d 1267, 1270 (9th Cir. 1990), for the proposition that "[t]he availability of collateral estoppel [issue preclusion] is a mixed question of law and fact in which legal issues predominate." Paige K.B., 226 Wis. 2d at 225.
¶ 41. Certainly, whether public policy renders the use of offensive issue preclusion fundamentally unfair is a question of law.2 The legislature, not the courts, determines the public policy of Wisconsin. Rice v. City of Oshkosh, 148 Wis. 2d 78, 91, 435 N.W.2d 252 (1989). And the policy the legislature has set for ch. 980 proceedings is that "all rules of evidence in criminal actions apply," and "All constitutional rights available to a defendant in a criminal proceeding are available to the [subject of the petition]." Wis Stat. § 980.05(1m) (1995-96). One of the basic concepts in criminal cases is that a defendant must be given a fair opportunity to defend against the State's accusations and be permitted to call witnesses to challenge the State's accusation. Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 294 (1973). I conclude that public policy requires that Sorenson be permitted to present evidence of the victim's recantation.
¶ 42. "Individual circumstances" are certainly factual in nature, but here the individual circumstance which dwarfs all others is the victim's recantation. That recantation is undisputed.3 We do not give a deferential *257review to matters where facts are undisputed. In re Sarah R.P., 2001 WI App 49, ¶ 6, 241 Wis. 2d 530, 624 N.W.2d 872. While the weight and credibility of evidence are matters in which we defer to a trial court, Matter of Estate of Huehne, 175 Wis. 2d 33, 43, 498 N.W.2d 870 (Ct. App. 1993), in ch. 980 proceedings, the subject of a ch. 980 petition is entitled to a jury trial. A trial court may not exclude relevant evidence because it concludes that the jury would not find the evidence persuasive. See Wis. Stat. § 904.03 (1995-96). Thus, I conclude that the individual circumstances, i.e. the victim's recantation, would render it fundamentally unfair to apply offensive issue preclusion to prevent Sorenson from presenting the recantation evidence to the jury.
¶ 43. I agree with the majority that it is far from clear that an inquiry into Sorenson's innocence would weigh in favor of Sorenson. But I view the real issue as whether we should adopt rules which effectively prevent an innocent person from demonstrating his or her innocence. The rule the majority has adopted has, as a practical matter, made it difficult to the point of near impossibility for an innocent person facing a ch. 980 proceeding to try to show a jury that he or she was wrongly convicted and therefore not dangerous. I would relax that standard somewhat. In the usual ch. 980 case where there is no victim recantation or similar factor, there would be no reason why offensive collateral estoppel would not apply to prevent a challenge to the *258underlying judgment of conviction.4 But where, as here, there is a factor which, if believed by a jury, would cast significant doubt on that conviction, and hence the likelihood of future dangerousness, I would leave it to a jury to sort out the truth. I therefore respectfully concur in the majority's mandate, though not its reasoning or directions.

 The usual Wis. Stat. ch. 980 case will often involve a guilty or no-contest plea to the underlying crime. Generally, issue preclusion is only available when the prior adjudication was the result of a trial. See Michelle T. v. Crozier, 173 Wis. 2d 681, 687, 495 N.W.2d 327 (1993). Thus, while the majority asserts that Sorenson's view would make dramatic changes in the way ch. 980 matters are tried, in reality the opposite is true.

 Under the majority's theory, trial courts could come to differing conclusions as to the public policy of Wisconsin and an appellate court would affirm if the courts gave sufficient reason for their conclusions. This seems a strange way to determine the public policy for the State.

 The majority is concerned with the "particulars" of what it terms an "alleged recantation." Not even the State doubts that L.S. testified at a motion hearing that Sorenson was not the *257person who sexually assaulted her. Presumably, the "particulars" of recantation would make it more or less believable. That, in the context of a ch. 980 proceeding, is a matter for the jury. See Kinship Inspection Serv., Inc. v. Newcomer, 231 Wis. 2d 559, 583, 605 N.W.2d 579 (Ct. App. 1999) (credibility of witnesses is left to the province of the jury).

 But see note 1.