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Recent Blog Posts
What Are the Differences Between a Bench and Arrest Warrant?
Wisconsin law details two types of criminal warrants: arrest warrants and bench warrants. While both serve the same purpose - apprehending a person - they are each used for different reasons. If you have had any brushes with the legal system, including an arrest, you may have experienced either an arrest warrant or a bench warrant and may have contacted a criminal defense attorney. Below, you will see the differences between the two. Contacting an experienced Walworth County, WI criminal defense attorney can ensure you receive an aggressive defense no matter what type of crime you are being charged with.
What Is A Wisconsin Arrest Warrant?
An arrest warrant gives law enforcement the green light to seek out and apprehend a person suspected of committing a criminal offense. After law enforcement presents evidence and sworn statements to a judge or magistrate, he or she will determine whether there is sufficient probable cause for a warrant. If that question is decided in the affirmative, an arrest warrant will be issued.
Commit Crimes in WI at 17, Expect to Receive Adult Penalties
Only Georgia, Texas, and Wisconsin treat 17-year-olds as adults in the criminal justice system. This means that across the state of Wisconsin, a 17-year-old who commits a criminal offense faces the same charges, legal process, and penalties as an adult. Since 17-year-olds are not grown up enough to always exercise good judgment, thoughtless actions can potentially derail a young person’s life.
While rare, a minor as young as 12 years old can be charged as an adult for specific crimes in Wisconsin. If your child is in trouble, it is important to keep his or her case in the juvenile court system whenever possible. When you choose an experienced Dodge County, WI juvenile criminal lawyer from Bucher Law Group, LLC, we will use our broad network of resources and our commitment to our clients to limit the impact on your child’s future.
Are Traffic Citations Involving School Buses More Serious?
Recently, a driver slammed into the back of a stopped school bus in Waupaca County as the bus was letting off children after school. Thankfully, no children were seriously injured, and while the driver of the pickup was not charged criminally, he received four traffic citations: Failure to stop for a school bus, reckless driving endangering safety, operating a vehicle with a suspended license, and failure to have a vehicle properly registered. He faces fines of $1,676.00.
In the state of Wisconsin, drivers can be ticketed for school-bus-related violations without being pulled over by a police officer. School bus drivers can send their own reports to the police, resulting in a ticket for the driver. Failure to stop for a school bus was among the top 50 traffic citations issued across the state of Wisconsin. If you are facing a traffic citation relating to a school bus, it is a good idea to speak to an experienced Racine County, WI traffic violation attorney to discuss your options.
How Can a Criminal Defense Lawyer Get Your Charges Dropped?
Anyone who has ever faced criminal charges knows it can be one of the most overwhelming, daunting experiences in their life. Uncertainty can feel like it has taken over your entire life. Will you be convicted? Will you have to go to jail or prison? (That alone is a terrifying scenario). How will a criminal conviction impact the rest of your life?
In addition to the criminal penalties you may face, there are many collateral damages you could also face. You could lose your current job and be unable to secure employment after you have served your sentence. Criminal charges and convictions can destroy your financial security. If you are convicted of a felony offense, you may be unable to obtain a professional license, rent an apartment, obtain a federal student loan for college, work with children, or even vote or own a firearm.
For all of these reasons, it is critical that you have the best, most experienced Jefferson County, WI criminal defense attorney as your legal advocate. You need an attorney who will fight for you and your future and one who will look at every aspect of your charges to determine whether mistakes were made that could lead to having your charges dropped.
Charges of Negligent Homicide by Operation of a Motor Vehicle
A Janesville, WI man was recently found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide and negligent homicide by operation of a motor vehicle. After crossing the center line while driving, he crashed into an oncoming car, causing a collision that resulted in the death of another driver.
The man’s trial lasted four days before a Rock County jury found him guilty of the charges against him. He admitted to consuming alcohol before the crash, and alcohol was found in his system several hours after the crash. The defendant could face up to 15 years in prison and up to 10 years of extended supervision.
Negligent homicide by operation of a motor vehicle and second-degree reckless homicide are very serious charges with serious penalties. If you should find yourself facing such charges, it is important that you have an experienced Racine County, WI criminal defense attorney who will vigorously defend your charges.
Possession of Virtual Child Pornography a Crime in WI
In 2023, Wisconsin Act 224 (Senate Bill 314), Possession of Virtual Child Pornography was introduced. The law went into effect on March 29, 2024. The Act defines "obscene" material as a photograph, computer-generated image or picture, motion picture, film, or photograph, whether produced electronically or mechanically that the "average" person would find appeals to the sexual nature of human beings.
While Wisconsin state law already prohibited the possession of child pornography, the new law prohibits possession of child pornography that may be generated through AI, meaning it might or might not show an actual child. Possession of child pornography is a very serious crime with serious penalties. If you have been charged with child pornography or another sex crime, it is extremely important that you contact an experienced Racine County, WI criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.
Is an Air Gun Considered a Firearm in Wisconsin?
Last week, a 30-year-old man was wounded in a shooting that involved an air-powered rifle. Calls regarding a man firing a "shotgun" at an apartment complex came in just before 7:30 p.m. from the 400 block of West Scott Street. Approximately 10 minutes later, police received notification of a gunshot victim at St. Agnes Hospital.
The victim had suffered a wound to his upper arm from an air gun and was treated and released. Based on the description given by the victim, a car was pulled over approximately a mile and a half from the scene, and the driver was arrested. Police are as yet unsure whether the shooting was random or whether the victim and the shooter knew one another.
A police spokesman made it clear that although the weapon involved in the shooting was an air-powered rifle that shoots pellets, any firearm has the potential to cause harm. If you have been charged with a weapons violation, it is important that you speak to an Ozaukee County, WI weapons crimes attorney.
Is Removing a Wisconsin GPS Bracelet a Felony Offense?
The Sturgeon Bay, WI Police Department is currently searching for a sex offender who removed his GPS bracelet while on parole. The man was convicted of sexual assault in 1999. As a part of his parole conditions, he was required to be on the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry and wear a GPS bracelet.
The suspect has a prior charge of tampering with a GPS device from 2020 that added three years to the length of his probation. Tampering with a GPS device is a serious offense with serious penalties that require a highly experienced criminal defense. If you are facing this charge or another criminal defense charge, it is important that you speak to a Walworth County, WI criminal defense attorney.
How is Tampering with a GPS Device Charged and Punished?
Tampering with a GPS device is a Class I felony offense that can result in up to three and a half years in prison. The statute includes refusing a GPS device as well as tampering with or removing a device. Any person who does not have authorization from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections who knowingly refuses, obstructs, resists, tampers with, blocks, prevents the clear reception of, or removes a GPS device is subject to these penalties.
Fewer WI Disorderly Conduct and Marijuana Charges in 2025?
A Wisconsin proposal that has formerly been rejected multiple times has been reintroduced. This proposal, if passed, could decrease criminal charges across the state. The public defender’s office proposes amending state laws to do away with state criminal charges for the possession of marijuana and limit the definition of criminal disorderly conduct.
In 2023, disorderly conduct charges were filed more frequently than any other criminal charge (27,500 cases). A lobbyist claims the charge of disorderly conduct is a "catch-all," often used when how to charge a criminal offense is not clear. Currently, disorderly conduct in the state includes any type of "indecent, profane, boisterous, or unreasonably loud" behavior.
The new proposal would allow disorderly conduct and marijuana possession to be filed as civil offenses rather than criminal offenses. Some believe these changes will reduce caseloads and save the public defender’s office a considerable amount of time and money.
Have You Been Designated as a Habitual Traffic Offender?
The first speeding ticket was issued in 1899 when a driver in downtown Manhattan was caught driving 12 mph in an 8-mph zone. Speeding tickets are, by far, the most commonly received traffic ticket across the United States, with about 11 percent of all adult drivers receiving at least one speeding ticket. A speeding ticket not only costs an average of $150 but can increase auto insurance rates by as much as 25 percent.
Traffic tickets are the most common way most Americans interact with law enforcement. Out of the nearly 200 million licensed drivers in the United States, about one out of every five will receive a traffic ticket within any given year. Wisconsin Rules of the Road statute gives drivers a good idea of which driving behaviors in the state could result in a traffic citation.
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