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Recent Blog Posts
Motorcycle Accident Causes and Prevention
Although motorcycle accidents do not occur more frequently than automobile accidents, they are more likely than not to result in serious injury or even death. These results occur because motorcycles lack the same protection as automobiles, which leave riders more exposed than an automobile would. Motorcycles are also less visible than automobiles and they often have high performance capabilities, making the mistakes of novice riders more lethal.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in 2012, there were more than 2,600 motorcycle accidents resulting in more than 2,100 injuries and 107 deaths. The most frequent causes of motorcycle accidents are: failure to control; distracted driving; speeding; failure to obey traffic signs; failure to account for road conditions; and intoxicated driving.
Disorderly Conduct in Wisconsin
Whenever you think of disorderly conduct (also referred to as “disturbing the peace”), you may think of an individual or group of individuals engaging in some kind of activity that is offensive or disruptive to the public. The laws prohibiting disorderly conduct allow law enforcement officers to arrest individuals who interfere with other people’s use and enjoyment of public areas. Disorderly conduct covers a broad range of activities.
In Wisconsin, an individual is guilty of disorderly conduct when he or she, “in a public or private place, engages in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct under circumstances in which the conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance.” This crime is charged as a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a maximum fine for $1,000 and/or up to 90 days in jail.
Negligence in Nursing Homes
As the population of the United States ages, more and more people are spending their final years in nursing homes. Unfortunately, not all nursing homes are created equal, and some nursing homes do the unthinkable: neglect your loved one. This happens with enough regularity that you need to be aware of all the warning signs of neglect if you have a loved one in a nursing home.
The 2011 Wisconsin Act 2, a tort reform law enacted in 2011, prohibits families from using state health investigation records in state civil suits filed against nursing homes. It also makes state health records inadmissible in criminal cases against healthcare providers accused of neglecting patients or accused of abusing patients. Proving a nursing home or the workers in the nursing home neglected your loved one can be an uphill battle in the wake of this law. You should report any suspected neglect or abuse of your loved one in a nursing home to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, and contact a personal injury attorney to help further protect your loved one.
Have You Been Charged with Forgery in Wisconsin?
Forgery is the act of creating, altering, using, or possessing a false document with the intent to defraud someone, and it is considered a white collar crime in Wisconsin. There are many different ways forgery may occur, and the types of documents that might be the subject of a forgery charge vary widely. For example, forgeries can be made on documents such as birth certificates, transcripts, wills, or a bill of sale, or on objects, like membership cards, credit cards, or tickets to travel, that symbolizes some value or serves as a means of identification.
Regardless of the type of document or object at issue in a specific forgery case, in order to secure a conviction, the prosecutor must prove specific factors behind the forgery beyond a reasonable doubt. There are many defenses available that a skilled attorney can advance on your behalf.
Marijuana and OWI Charges
You can be charged with OWI in Wisconsin any time you operate a motor vehicle with a detectable amount of a restricted controlled substance in your blood. Wisconsin is therefore known as a “zero tolerance” state when it comes to driving under the influence of marijuana.
How and under What Circumstances Do the Police Test for Marijuana Use?
When there is suspicion of drugged driving, Wisconsin police test for Delta-9-THC, an active ingredient in cannabis, which passes through the body much faster than other inert metabolites of cannabis. If at the time you were pulled over and tested positive for cannabis use, you had a valid prescription for marijuana, then you can raise that as an affirmative defense. Otherwise, however, there is a strict liability standard, even if what is in your system was from use several hours or days prior.
Premise Liability Accidents
Premise liability accidents are common lawsuits alleging personal injury in Wisconsin. Premises liability involves responsibility for injuries that arise from accidents on someone’s property. Such accidents, which may include slip and fall or trip and fall accidents (often devastating or fatal for older adults), occur in restaurants, hotels, water parks, parking lots, amusement parks, your neighbor’s house, and in a myriad of other locations.
If you are injured on another party’s premises and there is any chance you have been injured in any way, take certain steps to ensure that you preserve your claim and can recover the maximum amount available for the injuries you sustained, and contact a veteran personal injury attorney today.
What Should You Do Right after a Premises Liability Injury Occurs?
Are You Being Investigated for or Charged with Embezzlement in Wisconsin?
Embezzlement is considered a white collar crime in the state of Wisconsin. For a non-violent crime, there are rather steep penalties involved, so if you are charged with embezzlement in Wisconsin, you need immediate legal representation.
What Is Embezzlement?
Embezzlement charges are commonly brought in Wisconsin against a former employee accused of stealing from an employer, although embezzlement charges are brought in a host of other situations as well. Embezzlement is a crime that is committed when somebody who was trusted to maintain or manage another person’s property or money steals all or part of what they were entrusted with for personal gain. Embezzlement is a unique crime, as it is a combination of traditional stealing with the requirement that the person alleged to be the embezzler must have been in a position of trust by the victim.
The Charge of Substantial Battery
There are many different types of battery in Wisconsin. As such, you can be charged with battery and be facing either misdemeanor charges or felony charges. One type of felony battery in Wisconsin is known as substantial battery. If you are facing substantial battery felony charges, it is imperative you reach out to an attorney for immediate assistance.
Substantial Battery as Defined
The most important thing for you to understand about substantial battery is that the prosecutor does not need to prove that you intended to cause substantial bodily harm. All the prosecutor needs to show is that you intended to cause any bodily harm, and that suffices. It used to be that the prosecutor was required to prove that you intended to cause the “substantial” harm that resulted, rather than just any level of harm. That was a much easier standard to defend, especially since many times people lash out in the heat of the moment and the damage caused is far greater than what was intended.
Wisconsin Shoplifting Charges Vary Widely
Shoplifting is a common theft crime to be charged with, and in Wisconsin the penalties can range from non-criminal tickets to felony charges, depending on the value of what was taken. It is important to not only be familiar with the laws governing theft in Wisconsin, but also the laws specifically related to shoplifting. The law in this area is varied, and if you have been arrested for shoplifting, you need experienced legal help to guide you through the many regulations.
Wisconsin Laws Governing Theft
There are a number of circumstances in which you may be charged by the prosecutor with theft. For example, intentionally taking the property of another without their consent and with the intent to deprive the owner permanently of possession of the property is one form of theft. Using fraud or deceit to obtain the title to property of another person is also theft under Wisconsin law, as is using or otherwise retaining possession of money through your employment or business without consent. Even intentionally failing to return personal property erroneously left on your premises can be theft. Shoplifting, also called retail theft, falls under the first category.
Armed Robbery Charges in Wisconsin
Armed robbery is a violent crime legislated by statute in Wisconsin as a Class C felony. Depending on the specific charge, it is punishable by up to 40 years prison and up to a $100,000 fine.
To be convicted of robbery in Wisconsin, the court generally requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that somebody else possessed the property in question; that the person charged with armed robbery took the property from the person in question with the intent to steal it; and that the defendant used or threatened to use force to take the property.
What Else Must the State Prove to Convict You of Armed Robbery?
Armed robbery, because of the great risk to the general public for violence, is punished severely in Wisconsin and elsewhere if you are found guilty. To prove armed robbery, in addition to the requirements above, the state of Wisconsin also needs to prove that at the time the property was stolen, you used or threatened to use a weapon or a dangerous article in a manner that led the victim to reasonably believe that it was in fact a dangerous weapon.
