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 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.
968.38 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), 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 History
History: 1989 a. 336;
1995 a. 351.
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 he 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 4 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 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 his 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. 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 2-pronged Aguilar standard. State v. Marshall,
92 Wis. 2d 101,
284 N.W.2d 592 (1979).
968.01 Annotation
A criminal complaint may be attacked when there has been an omission of critical material when inclusion is necessary for an impartial judge to determine probable cause. State v. Mann,
123 Wis. 2d 375,
367 N.W.2d 209 (1985).
968.01 Annotation
Neither a presumption of prosecutor vindictiveness or actual vindictiveness was found when, following a mistrial resulting from a hung jury, the prosecutor filed increased charges and then offered to accept a plea bargain requiring a guilty plea to the original charges. Adding additional charges to obtain a guilty plea does no more than present the defendant with the alternative of forgoing trial or facing charges on which the defendant is subject to prosecution. State v. Johnson, 2000 WI 12,
232 Wis. 2d 679,
605 N.W.2d 846,
97-1360.
968.01 Annotation
The test of a complaint is of minimal adequacy in setting forth the essential facts establishing probable cause through a common sense, and not hypertechnical, evaluation. Only affidavits specifically incorporated into the complaint may be used to show probable cause, but the legal term of art, "incorporated by reference," need not be used; the term "attached" was sufficient. State v. Smaxwell, 2000 WI App 112,
235 Wis. 2d 230,
612 N.W.2d 756,
99-2261.
968.01 Annotation
Forms similar to the uniform traffic citations that are used as complaints to initiate criminal prosecutions in certain misdemeanor cases are sufficient to confer subject matter jurisdiction on the court, but any conviction that results from their use in the manner described in the opinion is null and void; ss. 968.02, 968.04, 971.01, 971.04, 971.05 and 971.08 are discussed. 63 Atty. Gen. 540.
968.02
968.02
Issuance and filing of complaints. 968.02(1)
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a complaint charging a person with an offense shall be issued only by a district attorney of the county where the crime is alleged to have been committed. A complaint is issued when it is approved for filing by the district attorney. The approval shall be in the form of a written endorsement on the complaint.
