State v. DeAnthony K. Muldrow
State v. DeAnthony K. Muldrow
Opinion
*495
¶ 1 A defendant who enters a guilty plea waives numerous constitutional rights.
State v. Bangert
,
¶ 3 Petitioner DeAnthony K. Muldrow pled guilty to second-degree sexual assault contrary to
¶ 4 The parties agree that the circuit court failed to inform Muldrow that his guilty plea would subject him to lifetime GPS tracking. The issue in this case is whether lifetime GPS tracking is a "punishment" such that due process requires a defendant be informed of it before entering a plea of guilty. The Manitowoc County Circuit Court
5
concluded that lifetime GPS tracking is not punishment, and so denied Muldrow's motion to withdraw his plea. The court of appeals affirmed.
State v. Muldrow
,
¶ 5 This case presents us with an opportunity to set forth the proper test for determining whether a sanction 6 is "punishment" such that due process requires *498 a defendant be informed of it before entering a plea of guilty. We must first, therefore, determine what that test is.
¶ 6 We hold that the intent-effects test is the proper test used to determine whether a sanction is punishment such that due process requires a defendant be informed of it before entering a plea of guilty.
¶ 7 After determining the proper test for whether a sanction is punishment such that due process requires a defendant be informed of it before entering a plea of guilty, we must apply that test to the facts of Muldrow's case.
¶ 8 Applying the intent-effects test, we hold that neither the intent nor effect of *78 lifetime GPS tracking is punitive. Consequently, Muldrow is not entitled to withdraw his plea because the circuit court was not required to inform him that his guilty plea would subject him to lifetime GPS tracking. Accordingly, we affirm.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A. Muldrow's Plea
¶ 9 In 2009, the State charged Muldrow with five counts of criminal conduct as a consequence of an incident in which he had forcible intercourse with a 15-year-old girl. He reached a plea agreement with the State whereby he agreed to plead guilty to the first two counts: second-degree sexual assault of a child contrary to
¶ 10 The State moved to vacate the DJA in 2015 after Muldrow violated the terms of his extended supervision in a different case by,
inter alia
, cutting off the GPS tracker he was required to wear as a condition of that extended supervision, absconding, and using controlled substances. Muldrow did not contest the facts underlying the State's motion. The circuit court vacated the DJA and ordered that a judgment of guilt be entered on count one. The court then withheld sentence and placed Muldrow on ten years of probationary supervision. Additionally, following the judgment of guilt being taken against him as to count one, and by dint of
*500
¶ 11 Muldrow moved to withdraw his plea in October 2015-approximately six months after the circuit court revoked the DJA and entered the judgment of conviction on count one. His motion alleged that his guilty plea was not made in a knowing fashion because the circuit court did not inform him that pleading guilty to count one would subject him to lifetime GPS tracking pursuant to
¶ 12 Muldrow relied to a great extent on a federal district court decision that concluded
*79
lifetime GPS tracking violated the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution
11
if applied to a person convicted before the statute was in effect.
Belleau v. Wall
,
¶ 13 Shortly before the circuit court hearing on Muldrow's motion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court's conclusion that lifetime GPS tracking is punishment.
Belleau v. Wall
,
¶ 14 The circuit court, relying on the Seventh Circuit's decision in Belleau , denied Muldrow's motion to withdraw his plea. The circuit court concluded that lifetime GPS tracking is not punishment and, consequently, Muldrow did not have a right to be informed that his guilty plea would result in its imposition.
¶ 15 The court of appeals affirmed.
Muldrow
,
¶ 16 Be that as it may, the court of appeals concluded that Muldrow's claim failed under either test.
Muldrow
,
¶ 17 Muldrow petitioned this court for review, which we granted on October 17, 2017.
B. Lifetime GPS Tracking
¶ 18 The DOC has not yet begun tracking Muldrow pursuant to
¶ 19 Certain serious sex offenders are subject to lifetime GPS tracking.
*504
¶ 20 Though called "lifetime" GPS tracking, some offenders may be released from tracking.
¶ 21 The GPS tracker is attached to the offender's ankle by a black neoprene rubber strap.
Belleau
,
¶ 22 The tracker is approximately 2.5 x 3.5 x 1.5 inches.
¶ 23 The tracker must be charged for one hour once per day, which requires the offender to stay close enough to an electrical outlet for the cord to reach. Id. at 1090. The tracker has a speaker that can play messages sent from DOC personnel, such as orders to call the DOC, orders to report to the DOC, reminders of upcoming appointments with DOC personnel, and *505 warnings for low batteries. Id. at 1091. These messages can be heard by anyone within earshot of the offender. Id.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 24 Whether a plea was entered knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently is a question of constitutional fact.
Bollig
,
¶ 25 In determining whether
III. ANALYSIS
¶ 26 We first consider the proper test for determining whether a sanction is "punishment" such that due process requires a defendant be informed of it before entering a plea of guilty. We hold that the intent-effects test is the proper test used to determine whether a potential sanction is punishment such that due process requires a defendant be informed of it before entering a plea of guilty.
¶ 27 Next, we apply the intent-effects test to the facts of Muldrow's case. Applying the intent-effects test, we hold that neither the intent nor effect of lifetime GPS tracking is punitive and, consequently, the circuit court was not required to inform Muldrow of it.
*506 A. Whether a Sanction is Punishment Such that Due Process Requires a Defendant be Informed of it Before Entering a Plea of Guilty is Determined by Application of the Intent-Effects Test.
¶ 28 The State brings to our attention three proposed tests to determine whether a sanction is punishment. First, the State asks us to adopt a bright-line rule whereby only imprisonment and fines are punishment. The State grounds this test on
State v. Finley
,
¶ 29 In the alternative, the State encourages us to adopt the "fundamental purpose" test. The fundamental purpose test looks to "the fundamental purpose of the sentencing provision at issue" in order to determine whether a particular sanction constitutes punishment.
Dugan
,
¶ 30 The third time here indeed being the charm, we choose to adopt the State's final proposed standard, the intent-effects test. The intent-effects test
*507
was first articulated by the United States Supreme Court in
Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez
,
¶ 31 In determining whether forfeiture of citizenship was a punishment, the Court first looked to the "statute's primary function," i.e., intent.
[1] Whether the sanction involves an affirmative disability or restraint, [2] whether it has historically been regarded as a punishment, [3] whether it comes into play only on a finding of scienter, [4] whether its operation will promote the traditional aims of punishment-retribution and deterrence, [5] whether the behavior to which it applies is already a crime, [6] whether an alternative purpose to which it may rationally be connected is assignable for it, and [7] whether it appears excessive in relation to the alternative purpose assigned ....
*508
¶ 32 The intent-effects test is used in many contexts to determine whether a sanction is punishment. The United States Supreme Court applied the intent-effects test to determine whether Alaska's sex offender registry was punishment for purposes of the ex post facto clause,
Smith
,
¶ 33 Wisconsin courts have similarly used the intent-effects test to determine whether a sanction is punishment in multiple contexts. For example, Wisconsin courts have applied it to determine whether civil commitment pursuant to Wis. Stat. ch. 980 is punishment such that it violates either the ex post facto clause or double jeopardy clause,
State v. Rachel
,
*509
¶ 34 Other jurisdictions have applied the intent-effects test to the issue of whether a sanction is punishment such that the defendant must be informed of it in order for a guilty plea to be knowing, voluntary, and intelligent.
People v. Cole
,
¶ 35 We conclude that the intent-effects test is the proper test to determine whether a sanction is punishment such that due process requires a defendant be informed of it before entering a plea of guilty. We do so not out of habit or blind adherence to custom. We do so because the intent-effects test has been effectively applied by courts in multiple contexts and, consequently, brings with it a broad and deep base of case law, which provides us with the type of helpful guidance necessary to our analysis of the issue we address herein.
Winnebago Cty. v. J.M.
,
B. Application of the Intent-Effects Test to
¶ 36 In his application of the intent-effects test, Muldrow relies primarily on the district court's decision in
Belleau
,
1. The intent of lifetime GPS tracking is not punitive.
¶ 37 "Determining whether the legislature intended [a] statute to be punitive 'is
*84
primarily a matter of statutory construction ....' "
Scruggs
,
¶ 38 Statutory interpretation begins with the plain meaning of the text.
State ex rel. Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane Cty.
,
*511
¶ 39 Muldrow relies on the Michigan Supreme Court's decision in
Cole
,
A person convicted ... [of] criminal sexual conduct ... against an individual less than 13 years of age shall be sentenced to lifetime electronic tracking ...
(2) Criminal sexual conduct in the first degree is a felony punishable as follows:
...
(d) In addition to any other penalty imposed under subdivision (a) or (b), the court shall sentence the defendant to lifetime electronic tracking under section 520n.
(2) Criminal sexual conduct in the second degree is a felony punishable as follows:
...
(b) In addition to the penalty specified in subdivision (a), the court shall sentence the defendant to lifetime electronic tracking under section 520n ...
*512
¶ 40 In
Cole
, the Michigan Supreme Court quite reasonably concluded that lifetime GPS tracking is intended to be punitive because the relevant statutes expressly refer to it as a "penalty."
Cole
,
¶ 41 Our legislature has set forth the purpose of chapters 301-304, which include "provid[ing] a just, humane[,] and efficient program of rehabilitation of offenders."
¶ 43 Conversely, lifetime GPS tracking is located in chapter 301, which sets forth both the organizational overview for the DOC and administrative matters such as: purchasing care and services for prisoners,
¶ 44 Wisconsin Stat. § 301.48 is, in fact, surrounded by statutes that establish various safeguards to protect the public from persons convicted of criminal conduct.
See generally
¶ 45 Wisconsin Stat. §§ 301.45 and 301.46 govern the Wisconsin sex offender registry. Section 301.45 requires sex offenders to register with the Wisconsin
*514
sex offender registry. Section 301.46 regulates the use of information in the registry. We held that mandatory compliance with the registry is not punishment in
Bollig
,
¶ 46 Wisconsin Stat. § 301.47, the statute immediately preceding lifetime GPS tracking, prohibits sex offenders from changing their names (whether legally or through common usage). The only court to analyze whether § 301.47 is punitive concluded that it is not.
Doe v. Raemisch
,
*86
¶ 47 The final two sections (
¶ 48 A review of the three provisions for terminating lifetime GPS tracking indicate that the intent of tracking is protecting the public. The three means of terminating tracking-upon motion of the offender after 20 years of full compliance, upon motion of the DOC based on offender incapacitation, and upon the offender moving out of state-are tailored to ensure an offender is tracked only when he poses a threat to Wisconsin residents. See supra , ¶19. This tailoring strongly indicates that the intent of lifetime GPS tracking centers more closely around the protection of the public than it does punishment of the offender. Put simply, if punishment was the objective, the legislature would have had no reason to allow termination of "lifetime" GPS tracking.
2. The effect of lifetime GPS tracking is not punitive.
¶ 49 We now consider whether lifetime GPS tracking "is so punitive in effect as to transform [it] into a criminal penalty."
Scruggs
,
*516 a. We determine whether lifetime GPS tracking is punitive by applying the seven Mendoza-Martinez factors.
i. Whether lifetime GPS involves an affirmative disability or restraint.
¶ 50 The "paradigmatic affirmative restraint" is imprisonment.
Smith
,
¶ 51 Muldrow is "restrained" in the sense that he must be close enough to an electrical outlet to charge the GPS tracker for one hour each day. However, sitting near a wall for an hour per day is so "minor and indirect" a restraint that it does not have the effect of punishment.
ii. Whether lifetime GPS tracking has historically been regarded as punishment.
¶ 52 Lifetime GPS tracking has not historically been regarded as punishment-largely
*87
because GPS is relatively new technology.
iii. Whether lifetime GPS tracking comes into play only on a finding of scienter.
¶ 53 Lifetime GPS tracking is contingent upon a criminal conviction (or acquittal by reason of mental disease or defect).
iv. Whether lifetime GPS will promote the traditional aims of punishment-deterrence and retribution.
¶ 54 We acknowledge that lifetime GPS tracking likely promotes deterrence because the offender knows that his location is constantly known to authorities-indeed, this is likely one of the purposes of lifetime GPS tracking.
Belleau
,
¶ 55 A statute promotes retribution if it "affix[es] culpability for prior criminal conduct."
Kansas v. Hendricks
,
v. Whether the behavior to which lifetime GPS tracking applies is already a crime.
¶ 56 Where "[e]vidence of a crime ... is essential to the [sanction]," then the sanction is more likely punitive.
Lipke v. Lederer
,
vi. Whether an alternative purpose to which lifetime GPS tracking may rationally be connected is assignable for it.
¶ 57 The existence of an alternative non-punitive purpose for a sanction is considered "the most significant factor" in determining whether the effect of a sanction is punitive.
Belleau
,
¶ 58 Courts have, in analogous contexts, deemed protection of the public from future sex offenses a non-punitive purpose: sex offender registration,
*520
Smith
,
¶ 59 Lifetime GPS tracking has a rational relationship to this non-punitive purpose because it ensures law enforcement will have ready access to evidence of an offender's whereabouts.
Belleau
,
vii. Whether lifetime GPS tracking appears excessive in relation to the alternative purpose assigned.
¶ 60 Lifetime GPS tracking is commensurate with the goal of protecting the public. It provides a middle ground between releasing dangerous sex offenders into the public wholly unsupervised and civil commitment pursuant to chapter 980. In light of the "frightening and high" rate of recidivism for sex offenders, the relatively minimal intrusion of lifetime GPS tracking (especially when compared to chapter 980 commitment) is not excessive in relation to protecting the public.
Smith
,
¶ 61 The opportunity to terminate tracking,
see
supra
, ¶¶19, 45, keeps lifetime GPS tracking closely-tailored to its purpose. Unlike any other sanction known to Wisconsin law, any offender who wishes to discontinue "lifetime" GPS tracking can terminate it by simply moving out of state.
*521 IV. CONCLUSION
¶ 62 We hold that the intent-effects test is the proper test used to determine whether a sanction is punishment such *89 that due process requires a defendant be informed of it before entering a plea of guilty.
¶ 63 Applying the intent-effects test, we hold that neither the intent nor effect of lifetime GPS tracking is punitive. Consequently, Muldrow is not entitled to withdraw his plea because the circuit court was not required to inform him that his guilty plea would subject him to lifetime GPS tracking. Accordingly, we affirm.
By the Court. -The decision of the court of appeals is affirmed.
The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution states "[n]o State shall ... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property[ ] without due process of law ...." U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1.
All subsequent references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2015-16 version unless otherwise indicated.
Lifetime GPS tracking applies after an offender has completed all sentences and any periods of probationary supervision.
See
Muldrow did not specify in his motion to withdraw his plea in the circuit court whether his plea was not knowing, voluntary, or intelligent-or some combination thereof. Before this court, Muldrow argues only that his plea was not knowing.
Honorable Jerome L. Fox, presiding.
Though the colloquial definitions of "sanction" and "punishment" may be similar, courts routinely use "sanction" as a general term for a negative consequence that may or may not rise to the level of "punishment."
See, e.g.
,
Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez
,
"Whoever has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with a person who has not attained the age of 16 years is guilty of a Class C felony."
"Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person without the consent of that person is guilty of a Class G felony."
The conditions of the DJA included: no new violations of the criminal law, no contact with the victim, compliance with the Wisconsin sex offender registry, no sexual contact or intercourse with anyone under the age of 18, and compliance with all conditions of extended supervision.
During the time of his probationary supervision, GPS tracking would occur by operation of
The Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution states, in relevant part, "[n]o state shall ... pass any ... ex post facto law." U.S. Const. art. I, § 10.
The Wisconsin Constitution also prohibits passage of ex post facto laws. Wis. Const. art. I, § 12 ("No ... ex post facto law ... shall ever be passed."). We construe the protections afforded by Article I, Section 12 of the Wisconsin Constitution to be equivalent to those afforded by Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution.
See
State v. Thiel
,
Offenders are subject to lifetime GPS tracking when released from DOC supervision after conviction (or released from Department of Health Services supervision after acquittal on the basis of mental disease or defect) for a violation of
1. (i) the offender had sexual contact or intercourse with (ii) a victim who is unrelated to the offender, (iii) is under 13 years old, and (iv) suffered great bodily harm as a result of the sexual contact or intercourse.Wis. Stat. § 301.48 (1)(cm)1.
2. (i) the offender had sexual intercourse with (ii) a victim who is not related to the offender and (iii) is under 12 years old.Wis. Stat. § 301.48 (1)(cm)2.
3. (i) the offender had sexual intercourse (ii) by use or threat of force or violence (iii) with a victim who is not related to the offender that (iv) is under 16 years old.Wis. Stat. § 301.48 (1)(cn)1.
4. (i) the offender had sexual contact (ii) by use or threat of force or violence (iii) with a victim who is not related to the offender that (iv) is under 16 years old when (v) the offender was over 18 years old.Wis. Stat. § 301.48 (1)(cn)2.
An inclusion zone is an area that the offender is prohibited from leaving.
An exclusion zone is an area that the offender is prohibited from entering other than to pass through.
This is in contrast to the fundamental purpose test. We agree with the court of appeals that the fundamental purpose test is equivalent to the intent prong of the intent-effects test.
State v. Muldrow
,
Strickland v. Washington
,
"Punishment" is defined, inter alia , as a "penalty ... assessed against a person who has violated the law." Black's Law Dictionary 1428 (10th ed. 2014).
Wisconsin Stat. § 301.001 states in whole:
The purposes of this chapter and chs. 302 to 304 are to prevent delinquency and crime by an attack on their causes; to provide a just, humane and efficient program of rehabilitation of offenders; and to coordinate and integrate corrections programs with other social services. In creating the department of corrections, chs. 301 to 304, the legislature intends that the state continue to avoid sole reliance on incarceration of offenders and continue to develop, support and maintain professional community programs and placements.
Express statements of legislative purpose are part of a plain-meaning inquiry.
Wilmet v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co.
,
The district court concluded that enforcing
It has been noted elsewhere that just as with other electronic devices, as technology advances, the size and, therefore, the apparentness of the monitor will be reduced.
Belleau v. Wall
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. DeAnthony K. MULDROW, Defendant-Appellant-Petitioner.
- Cited By
- 9 cases
- Status
- Published