The Board concludes that DOC properly applied the statute in question, that there has been an insufficient showing of negligence on the part of the state, its officers, agents or employees, and that this claim is neither one for which the state is legally liable nor one which the state should assume and pay based on equitable principles.
7. Ronald Lane of Waupun, Wisconsin claims $234.03 for return of restitution payments deducted by DOC. Lane was convicted of three burglaries committed in October 2003 along with his nephews, George Saunders and Shaun Halper. The burglaries took place at the Club Forest Tavern in Portage County, Dayton Hills Tavern in Richland County, and Kickapoo Inn in Vernon County. The Judgements of Conviction (JOCs) for the Kickapoo Inn and Dayton Hills Tavern burglaries ordered Lane, Saunders, and Halper to pay restitution to the same parties in the same amounts, jointly and severally. The JOCs for the Club Forest Tavern burglary ordered all three to pay restitution to the same parties (Todd & Pam Booth, Society Insurance, and Encompass Insurance) in the same amounts. However, while Halper’s and Saunders’ JOCs stated the restitution was to be paid jointly and severally, Lane's JOC did not contain that language. Lane alleges that Halper satisfied the restitution payments for Club Forest Tavern. He points to DOC account statements showing Halper made restitution payments to Society Insurance, Encompass Insurance, Daniel Goska, and Van Beck Vending regarding cases in Portage and Wood counties. The court later vacated all three co-defendants' restitution orders for Dayton Hills Tavern and Kickapoo Inn. Halper's and Saunders' restitution orders were also vacated for Club Forest Tavern, but Lane's was not. In November 2019, Portage County Judge Robert Shannon vacated Lane's restitution for Club Forest Tavern and ordered DOC to reimburse him $234.03. Lane believes that a DOC employee may have stolen the restitution money that should have gone to Society Insurance. Lane notes that two different judges have determined that the Club Forest Tavern restitution was paid. He believes that DOC should have appealed Judge Shannon's order if they disagreed with it but because they did not do so, they are required to abide by the order and reimburse him.
DOC believes that the courts erred in vacating Lane's, Halper's and Saunders' Club Forest Tavern restitution obligations. DOC also believes Judge Shannon lacked jurisdiction to order DOC to reimburse Lane. DOC notes that in addition to the three crimes they committed with Lane, Halper and Saunders by themselves also burglarized Goose's Pub, located in Wood County. Society Insurance insured both Club Forest Tavern and Goose's Pub and was owed restitution in both burglaries. DOC notes that Lane's JOC for Club Forest Tavern did not indicate that his restitution should be paid jointly and severally with Halper and Saunders.
DOC also can find no evidence that the Club Forest Tavern restitution was satisfied as Lane alleges. The available evidence related to Club Forest Tavern restitution payments shows the following: for Society Insurance - $9,443.35 ordered minus $549.88 (Halper) and $151.05 (Lane)= $8,679.35 still owed and for Encompass Insurance - $5,197.00 ordered minus $302.64 (Halper) and $95.77 (Lane)= $4,798.59 still owed. Although there was money confiscated by law enforcement from the Club Forest Tavern burglary which went to some of the victims, court records indicate that Society Insurance did not receive any of that money. DOC believes Lane may have committed a fraud upon the courts and is now trying to perpetrate a fraud upon the Claims Board by deliberately misrepresenting Halper's Wood County restitution payments as proof of satisfaction of the Club Forest Tavern restitution. DOC believes Lane is fully aware that the Wood County restitution payments relate to the Goose’s Pub burglary, a crime in which Lane did not participate. DOC believes that, although there may be some confusion regarding payments made to other victims in the Club Forest Tavern case, the evidence shows that at a minimum, Lane still owes thousands of dollars to Society Insurance for his role in that crime.
The Board defers decision of this claim at this time in order to obtain additional information from the Department of Corrections.
8. Victor Robinson of Green Bay, Wisconsin claims $607.14 for the value of books and other publications allegedly lost by DOC. Robinson was transferred to Waupun Correctional Institution (WCI) in 2018. WCI inventoried his property and gave him a receipt which stated, "misc. papers sent to security for review." Robinson notes that he did not receive a conduct report, which proves the property was not taken as contraband. Robinson states that he sent multiple inquiries to the security department asking for the status of the review, but security staff did not respond. In 2002, Robinson contacted the WCI Security Director and asked for the return of his property. The Security Director confirmed that some of Robinson's property had been taken for review, but he was unable to determine what specific items were taken, by whom, and to whom they were given in the security office. He also was not able to locate any of the property. Robinson filed an inmate complaint, but it was rejected as untimely. Robinson believes this rejection was unfair because it is not unusual for staff to hold an inmate’s property for a long period of time, and the security office failed to respond to his earlier inquires. Robinson believes it is cruel for DOC to dismiss his missing publications as not having value; they are valuable to him, and he believes he should be reimbursed.
DOC points to Robinson's property inventories from 2017 up to his arrival at WCI, which show that he possessed 19-22 books, and the property inventories conducted while he was at WCI, which show that he possessed 22-23 books. Robinson claims that DOC lost 29 books and a dictionary. DOC notes that he was allowed to keep 4 books when he arrived at WCI, which means Robinson is alleging that he arrived with 33 books, plus a dictionary. That is not possible because DOC only allows inmates to possess 25 books, plus a dictionary. DOC also notes that the property receipt referenced by Robinson says that miscellaneous papers not books-were kept for security review. DOC points to the fact that Robinson filed six property-related complaints at WCI before he filed a complaint about these allegedly missing items. DOC believes that the fact that Robinson waited two years before filing that complaint and the fact that he did not mention the allegedly missing publications in any of his prior complaints, provides strong evidence that the publications were never actually missing.
Finally, DOC believes that many of the items claimed by Robinson do not appear to have any value that would warrant Claims Board reimbursement and DOC therefore recommends denial of this claim.
The Board concludes there has been an insufficient showing of negligence on the part of the state, its officers, agents or employees and this claim is neither one for which the state is legally liable nor one which the state should assume and pay based on equitable principles.
The Board concludes:
That decision of the following claim will be issued separately:
Sam Hadaway
That decision of the following claim is deferred to a later date:
Ronald Lee
That the following identified claimants are denied:
David Martens
Andrew Pelkey
Lauren Coffey and Shannon Cook
Frank Davidson
Wesley Renard
Victor Robinson
Dated at Madison, Wisconsin this 7th day of May, 2021.
COREY FINKELMEYER
Chair, Representative of the Attorney General
ANNE L. HANSON
Secretary, Representative of the Secretary of Administration
RYAN NILSESTUEN
Representative of the Governor
MARY FELZKOWSKI
Senate Finance Committee
TERRY KATSMA
Assembly Finance Committee
_____________
STATE OF WISCONSIN CLAIMS BOARD
CLAIM OF: SAM HADAWAY
CLAIM NO. 2020-038-CONV
Notice of Appeal Rights
This is a final decision of the Wisconsin Claims Board.
Any person aggrieved by this decision has a right to petition for judicial review in circuit court as provided in Wis. Stat.§§ 227.52 and 227.53. Any petition must be filed in court and served on the Board within 30 days of service of the decision. The time to file and serve a petition runs from the date the final decision is mailed. The petition shall name the Wisconsin Claims Board as the respondent. Any person aggrieved may also file a petition for rehearing with the Board under Wis. Stat. § 227.49(1); that petition must be received by the Board within 20 days of the service of this decision. This notice of appeal rights is provided pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 227.48. Decision
The Claims Board considered this matter on April 20, 2021. Attorney Heather Lewis Donnell and claimant Sam Hadaway appeared at the hearing. Assistant District Attorney Paul Tiffen appeared on behalf of the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
Background
This is a claim for Innocent Convict compensation pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 775.05. The claim relates to Hadaway's 1996 conviction for attempted armed robbery, party to a crime in relation to the murder of Jessica Payne. Hadaway states he is innocent of this crime. He requests the maximum reimbursement of $25,000 for the 5 years he spent in prison. Claimant’s Facts and Argument
Hadaway served almost five years in prison after being convicted of attempted armed robbery in relation to the August 1995 murder of 16-year-old Jessica Payne. Payne's body was found outside a vacant house in Milwaukee with her throat slashed and evidence of sexual assault. Police arrested and interrogated Richard Gwin, who gave a statement falsely implicating himself and two others, Chaunte Ott and Sam Hadaway. Several years later Gwin confessed to his sister that this statement was false, and that he had been coerced by the police into naming others.
After speaking to Gwin, the police arrested Hadaway and interrogated him over the course of several days. At the time of his arrest, Hadaway had significant cognitive and intellectual disabilities. He was born with Cerebral Palsy and suffered from a seizure disorder for which took medication. Hadaway communicated these limitations and his need for medication to the police officers who interrogated him. He alleges that during the multiple-day interrogation, officers yelled, threw chairs, pounded on the table, isolated him from his family, and refused to give him his medication despite his requests. They repeatedly threatened that he would serve 80 years in prison, where he would be raped, unless he implicated Ott in the murder. The officers told Hadaway they would arrange a plea deal for attempted armed robbery if he made a statement against Ott. Hadaway was frightened into making a false confession and a fabricated statement. Hadaway notes that the officers' misconduct was never disclosed to the prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery and was sentenced to five years in prison.
In 2002, new DNA testing excluded Gwin, Ott, and Hadaway as sources of the semen found at the Payne crime scene. In 2003 and 2007, the Wisconsin State Police Crime Lab matched this newDNA profile to DNA taken from the victims of two similar unsolved homicides which occurred within a few blocks of the Payne murder. In 2009, the Milwaukee County Police Department announced that they matched this DNA profile to a man named Walter Ellis. Ten unsolved homicides in North Milwaukee were eventually linked to Ellis, who became known as the "North Side Strangler." Based on the DNA evidence implicating Ellis, the Wisconsin Innocence Project petitioned the courts to vacate Hadaway's conviction and allow him to withdraw his guilty plea. The Court of Appeals agreed and the charges against Hadaway were dismissed in October 2019.
Hadaway notes that the Claims Board previously awarded compensation to Chaunte Ott, who was convicted of the Payne murder, and to William Avery, who was convicted of another murder committed by Walter Ellis. Ott and Avery were both exonerated based on the same DNA evidence that proves Hadaway's innocence.
Hadaway does not believe that his confession and guilty plea should bar him from compensation under Wis. Stat. § 775.05, as having contributed to his conviction. Hadaway points to the fact that he recanted his confession in a 2007 declaration filed in support of Ott's post-conviction motion seeking a new trial. In addition, although there is no Wisconsin case law interpreting this issue, Hadaway points to People of the State of fllinois v. Thames, et al., where the court considered whether to award a certificate of innocence to four co-defendants, including one who had falsely confessed and pleaded guilty to murder. Like Wis. Stat. § 775.05, the Illinois statue required the court to find that the petitioner was innocent and "did not by his or her own conduct voluntarily cause or bring about his or her own conviction." In reaching its decision in favor of all four co-defendants, the court noted that "Thames' decision to plead guilty to a sentence of 30 years' incarceration was calculated to avoid the sentence received by his co-defendants, and not an attempt to manipulate the justice system in his favor." Hadaway states that he was coerced into falsely implicating Ott and himself in the Payne murder and that his decision to plead guilty to the crime was reasonable in light of the real and/or apparent risk of receiving a long prison sentence for a crime he did not commit. Based on the DNA evidence proving that he is innocent of this crime, the previous Claims Board awards to Chaunte Ott and William Avery, and the damages caused by his wrongful conviction, Hadaway requests the statutory maximum compensation of $5,000 per year for a total of $25,000.
DA’s Response and Argument
Based on a review of the facts surrounding the crime, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office did not oppose Hadaway's claim for $25,000, which is the statutory maximum amount, under Wis. Stat. § 775.05(4). Discussion and Conclusion
Under the standards of Wis. Stat. § 775.05(3), the Claims Board must determine whether or not the evidence is clear and convincing that the petitioner was innocent of the crime for which he was imprisoned. Based on the Claimant's facts and arguments summarized above, which are not opposed by the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office, the Board concludes and finds that the evidence is clear and convincing that Hadaway was innocent of the charge discussed herein, and that under the circumstances Hadaway's confession and guilty plea should not bar him from compensation. Accordingly, the Board further concludes that compensation in the amount of $25,000 shall be awarded from the Claims Board appropriation Wis. Stat. § 20.505(4)(d). Vote: 5-0 Dated at Madison, Wisconsin this 7th day of May, 2021.
COREY FINKELMEYER
Chair, Representative of the Attorney General
ANNE L. HANSON
Secretary, Representative of the Secretary of Administration
MARY FELZKOWSKI
Senate Finance Committee
TERRY KATSMA
Assembly Finance Committee
RYAN NILSESTUEN
Representative of the Governor
_____________
Referrals and Receipt of Committee Reports Concerning Proposed Administrative Rules
The joint committee for review of Administrative Rules reported and recommended:
Relating to sales and use tax provisions and affecting small business.
Relating to sales and use tax provisions.
Relating to the credit for tax paid to another state.
STEPHEN NASS
Senate Chairperson
_____________
The committee on Natural Resources and Energy reported and recommended:
Relating to nonferrous metallic mineral exploration, bulk sampling, prospecting and mining and nonferrous mining waste management.
hist133402Referred to the joint committee for review of Administrative Rules, May 10, 2021. ROBERT COWLES
