CHAPTER 968
COMMENCEMENT OF CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
968.02 Issuance and filing of complaints.
968.03 Dismissal or withdrawal of complaints.
968.04 Warrant or summons on complaint.
968.05 Corporations or limited liability companies: summons in criminal cases.
968.06 Indictment by grand jury.
968.07 Arrest by a law enforcement officer.
968.073 Recording custodial interrogations.
968.075 Domestic abuse incidents; arrest and prosecution.
968.08 Release by law enforcement officer of arrested person.
968.085 Citation; nature; issuance; release of accused.
968.09 Warrant on failure to appear.
968.10 Searches and seizures; when authorized.
968.11 Scope of search incident to lawful arrest.
968.13 Search warrant; property subject to seizure.
968.135 Subpoena for documents.
968.15 Search warrants; when executable.
968.16 Detention and search of persons on premises.
968.17 Return of search warrant.
968.18 Receipt for seized property.
968.19 Custody of property seized.
968.20 Return of property frozen or seized.
968.205 Preservation of certain evidence.
968.21 Search warrant; secrecy.
968.22 Effect of technical irregularities.
968.24 Temporary questioning without arrest.
968.25 Search during temporary questioning.
968.256 Search of physically disabled person.
968.26 John Doe proceeding.
968.265 Lie detector tests; sexual assault victims.
968.28 Application for court order to intercept communications.
968.29 Authorization for disclosure and use of intercepted wire, electronic or oral communications.
968.30 Procedure for interception of wire, electronic or oral communications.
968.31 Interception and disclosure of wire, electronic or oral communications prohibited.
968.32 Forfeiture of contraband devices.
968.33 Reports concerning intercepted wire or oral communications.
968.34 Use of pen register or trap and trace device restricted.
968.35 Application for an order for a pen register or a trap and trace device.
968.36 Issuance of an order for a pen register or a trap and trace device.
968.37 Assistance in the installation and use of a pen register or trap and trace device.
968.373 Warrant to track a communications device.
968.375 Subpoenas and warrants for records or communications of customers of an electronic communication service or remote computing service provider.
968.38 Testing for HIV infection and certain diseases.
968.41 Oath or affirmation of grand jurors.
968.42 Presiding juror and clerk.
968.43 Reporter; salary; assistant.
968.45 Witness rights; transcripts.
968.47 District attorney, when to attend.
968.48 Attendance; absence; excuse; number required for grand jury session; number required to concur in indictment.
968.49 Fine for nonattendance.
968.50 Report progress and return indictments.
968.505 Procedure upon discharge of grand jury.
968.51 Indictment not to be disclosed.
968.52 Votes not to be disclosed.
968.53 When testimony may be disclosed.
Ch. 968 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See definitions in s.
967.02.
968.01(2)
(2) The complaint is a written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged. A person may make a complaint on information and belief. Except as provided in sub.
(3) or
(4), the complaint shall be made upon oath before a district attorney or judge as provided in this chapter.
968.01(3)
(3) A person may comply with sub.
(2) if he or she makes the oath by telephone contact with the district attorney or judge, signs the statement and immediately thereafter transmits a copy of the signed statement to the district attorney or judge using a facsimile machine. The person shall also transmit the original signed statement, without using a facsimile machine, to the district attorney or judge. If the complaint is filed, both the original and the copy shall be filed under s.
968.02 (2).
968.01(4)
(4) A person may comply with sub.
(2) if he or she makes the oath by telephone contact with the district attorney or judge and immediately thereafter electronically transmits the statement, accompanied by the person's electronic signature, to the district attorney or judge. If the complaint is filed, the electronically transmitted statement shall be incorporated into a criminal complaint filed in either an electronic or paper format under s.
968.02 (2).
968.01 Annotation
To be constitutionally sufficient to support the issuance of an arrest warrant and to show probable cause, a complaint must contain the essential facts constituting the offense charged. A complaint was fatally defective in merely repeating the language of the statute allegedly violated. State v. Williams,
47 Wis. 2d 242,
177 N.W.2d 611 (1970).
968.01 Annotation
For a charge of resisting arrest, a complaint stated in statutory language was sufficient and no further facts were necessary. State v. Smith,
50 Wis. 2d 460,
184 N.W.2d 889 (1971).
968.01 Annotation
A complaint is sufficient as to reliability of hearsay information if the officer making it states that it is based on a written statement of the minor victim of the offense charged. State v. Knudson,
51 Wis. 2d 270,
187 N.W.2d 321 (1971).
968.01 Annotation
A disorderly conduct complaint, which alleged that the defendant at a stated time and place violated s. 947.01 (1) by interfering with the police officer-complainant while the officer was taking another person into custody and that the charge was based on the complainant's personal observations, met the test of legal sufficiency and did not lack specificity so as to invalidate a conviction. State v. Becker,
51 Wis. 2d 659,
188 N.W.2d 449 (1971).
968.01 Annotation
A defendant waives objections to the sufficiency of a complaint by not objecting before or at the time of pleading to the information. Day v. State,
52 Wis. 2d 122,
187 N.W.2d 790 (1971).
968.01 Annotation
A complaint is a self-contained charge, and it alone can be considered in determining probable cause. Facts that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that a crime was committed by the defendant must appear within the four corners of the document. State v. Haugen,
52 Wis. 2d 791,
191 N.W.2d 12 (1971).
968.01 Annotation
A complaint is not defective because, based on statements to an officer that cannot be admitted at the trial,
Miranda,
384 U.S. 436 (1966), warnings were not given. Such an objection is waived if not raised prior to trial. Gelhaar v. State,
58 Wis. 2d 547,
207 N.W.2d 88 (1973).
968.01 Annotation
To charge a defendant with the possession or sale of obscene materials, the complaint must allege that the defendant knew the nature of the materials; a charge of acting “feloniously" is insufficient to charge scienter. State v. Schneider,
60 Wis. 2d 563,
211 N.W.2d 630 (1973).
968.01 Annotation
A complaint based on a police officer's sworn statement of what the alleged victim described as having actually happened met the test of reliability of the informer and constituted probable cause for a magistrate to issue a warrant for the arrest of the defendant. Allison v. State,
62 Wis. 2d 14,
214 N.W.2d 437 (1974).
968.01 Annotation
An absolute privilege attached to alleged defamatory statements made by the defendant about the plaintiff to an assistant district attorney in seeking the issuance of a criminal complaint. Bergman v. Hupy,
64 Wis. 2d 747,
221 N.W.2d 898 (1974).
968.01 Annotation
A criminal complaint sufficiently alleges probable cause that the defendant has committed the alleged offense when it recites that a participant in the crime has admitted the participant's own participation and implicates the defendant, since an inference may be reasonably drawn that the participant is telling the truth. Ruff v. State,
65 Wis. 2d 713,
223 N.W.2d 446 (1974).
968.01 Annotation
A complaint, alleging that the defendant burglarized a trailer at a construction site, based in part upon the hearsay statements of the construction foreman that tools found in the defendant's automobile had been locked in the trailer, was sufficient to satisfy the two-pronged test of
Aguilar,
378 U.S. 108 (1964). Anderson v. State,
66 Wis. 2d 233,
223 N.W.2d 879 (1974).
968.01 Annotation
In determining the sufficiency of a complaint, the credibility of informants or witnesses is adequately tested by the two-pronged
Aguilar,
378 U.S. 108 (1964), standard. State v. Marshall,
92 Wis. 2d 101,
284 N.W.2d 592 (1979).
