Criminal Law & Procedure

Wisconsin

• Court System Overview: How a Case Moves Through the Courts (WI Court System)
• Criminal Court Process (Dane County District Attorney)
• Directories
  • WI District Attorneys (WI Sheriffs & Deputy Sheriffs Asso.)
  • WI State Public Defender Directory
• Trials
• US Attorneys' Manual: Criminal Division (US Dept of Justice)
• WI Court System: Demystifying the Judicial Branch (WI Blue Book 2005-2006 feature article)
  Includes Trial of a civil or criminal case, Alternatives to traditional civil and criminal procedure
• WI Dept. of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation
  Investigates crimes that are statewide in nature or importance.
• WI Legislative Reference Bureau
  Publications on Wisconsin laws concerning criminal justice.
• WI Office of the Public Defender
  • Financial Eligibility
  • Public Defender Information
  • Trial practice guides on such subjects as state public defenders in drug courts, experts, duties of trial counsel, sample revocation letters, and truth-in-sentencing guidelines

The Law (Additional statutes, regulations & opinions may apply to your specific situation.)

• WI Statutes: ch. 938-951"Criminal Code"
  • WI Statutes: s. 939.50 "Classification of Felonies"
    View classes & penaties for felonies.
  • WI Statutes: s. 939.51 "Classification of Misdemeanors"
    View classes & penaties for misdemeanors.
  • WI Statutes: s. 939.62 - 939.648 Increased Penalties
• WI Statutes: ch. 967-980 "Criminal Procedure"
• Opinions
  • Case Summaries (WI State Public Defender)
    Includes confessions and summaries for various crimes.
  • Criminal Law Decisions Online (WI Dept. of Justice)
• Rules
  • WI Supreme Court Rules
  • WI Circuit Court Rules

Search for more statutes, regulations & opinions.

Federal

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
  • Forms
  • Legal Representation & the Criminal Justice Act
  • Local Court Rules
  • Summary of Changes to Local Court Rules (US Courts Library)
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
  • Forms
  • Legal Representation & the Criminal Justice Act
  • Local Court Rules
    
    
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Jurisdiction over Federal Cases
• U.S. Dept. of Justice, Criminal Division
  • Public Services on criminal topics such as child exploitation, computer crime, fraud, fugitives, gambling device registration and chemical hazard information.
• Understanding the Federal Courts: Criminal Cases (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts)
  Explanation of the federal judicial process in criminal cases.

The Law (Additional statutes, regulations & opinions may apply to your specific situation.)

• U.S. Constitution: 8th Amendment
• U.S. Code: 18 USC 1-6005 "Crimes and Criminal Procedure"
• Rules
  • Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

Search for more statutes, regulations & opinions.

General

• Criminal Justice (American Bar Association)
  Questions/answers on criminal law basics, the police & your rights, lawyers & criminal law, criminal charges, initial criminal proceedings, evidence in criminal trials, witnesses, defenses, pretrial procedures, trial, sentencing, appeals of criminal cases, rights of victims & jurors, and juvenile criminal cases.
• Criminal Law (Nolo.com)
  Topics covered: Search, Seizure & Interrogations; Criminal Lawyers & Procedure; Proving Guilt or Innocence; Trials, Sentencing & Appeals
  • Does Self-Representation in a Criminal Case Ever Make Sense?
• Criminal Law (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
  Commentary with links to U.S. Constitution, federal statutes, regulations & opinions, and state criminal codes.
• Criminal Procedure (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
  Commentary with links to U.S. Constitution, federal statutes, rules & opinions, and state criminal procedure statutes.
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service
  Full-text justice & substance abuse publications and hosts an abstracts database of over 170,000 criminal justice publications.
  
  
• Prosecutors
  • Directories
    • Attorneys General
    • Prosecuting Attorneys, District Attorneys, Attorneys General & US Attorneys
    • WI District Attorneys (WI Sheriffs & Deputy Sheriffs Asso.)
  • Harmful Error (Center for Public Integrity)
    Research on prosecutorial misconduct.
    
    
• Statistics
  • SEARCH (National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics)
    Support organization for local and state justice agencies.
    
    
• Trials
  • Criminal Trial Procedures (Nolo.com)
    General procedure for a criminal trial.
    • Defendant's Rights During a Court Trial
  • Manual on Recurring Problems in Criminal Trials (Federal Judicial Center, 5th ed., 2001)
    Guide to law governing procedure in criminal trials. Problems addressed include jury-related problems, disclosure issues, evidence, civil & criminal contempt, the 5th Amendment, confessions, and severance of defendants.
  • Steps in a Trial (American Bar Association)
    Provides extensive information on numerous topics such as Arrest Procedures, Bail, Motions, Discovery, Pre-Trial Conferences, Opening Statements, Evidence, Direct & Cross Examination, Closing Arguments, Plea Bargaining, Mistrials, etc.

The Law (Additional statutes, regulations & opinions may apply to your specific situation.)

• U.S. Constitution: 6th Amendment "Rights of Accused in Criminal Prosecutions"
• WI Constitution: Art. I , sec. 7 "Rights of Accused"
• WI Statute: s. 971.10 "Speedy Trial"
• WI Statute: ch. 972 "Criminal Trials"
• WI Statute: s. 972.02 "Jury Trials; Waiver"
• The Wisconsin Statutes contain numerous references to right of jury trial or demanding trial by jury. Examples of possible word or phrase searches include: "jury trial" ; "trial by jury"

County Resources

Recommended links from our County Resources database:

• Guides

  • Criminal Court Process (District Atty)
  • Criminal Court Process (District Atty)
  • Criminal Process (Marathon District Attorney)
  • Felony Procedure Flowchart (District Atty)

Last Updated: June 1, 2010 | Up to Top