COURT OF APPEALS

DECISION

DATED AND FILED

NOTICE

June 29, 1999

This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports.

Marilyn L. Graves

Clerk, Court of Appeals

of Wisconsin

A party may file with the Supreme Court a petition to review an adverse decision by the Court of Appeals. See § 808.10 and Rule 809.62, Stats.

I. BACKGROUND

II. DISCUSSION

A.Is Zivcic entitled to a new trial with a twelve-person jury?

As a practical matter, of course, we cannot hear each case pending on direct review and apply the new rule. But we fulfill our judicial responsibility by instructing the lower courts to apply the new rule retroactively to cases not yet final. Thus, it is the nature of judicial review that precludes us from "[s]imply fishing one case from the stream of appellate review, using it as a vehicle for pronouncing new constitutional standards, and then permitting a stream of similar cases subsequently to flow by unaffected by that new rule."

Id. at 323 (quoted source omitted). To be a "similar" case, of course, the issue must have been preserved in the trial court-as it was in Griffith, 479 U.S. at 317, 319; Koch, 175 Wis.2d at 692, 499 N.W.2d at 157 (preserving claim to which subsequently announced ruling by United States Supreme Court applied), and Hansford, 219 Wis.2d at 232, 580 N.W.2d at 174. By seeking reversal and a new trial based on an argument that he did not make before the trial court, Zivcic seeks not parity with Hansford, Koch and Griffith, but an advantage that would ignore the general rule that, except for unusual circumstances, even constitutional issues must be raised in the trial court before they must be considered on appeal. See State v. Caban, 210 Wis.2d 597, 604, 563 N.W.2d 501, 505 (1997).2 Although undoubtedly there is some advantage to a defendant to have more rather than fewer jurors, because that increases the numerical chance for a hung jury, that advantage does not require overturning a fair, error-free trial on a ground that Zivcic did not raise before the trial court.

B.Sheriff's Jurisdiction.

C.Admission of Expert Testimony.

A trial court's decision to admit or exclude expert testimony is a discretionary determination that is made pursuant to Rule 901.04(1), Stats. The decision will not be upset on appeal if it has "a reasonable basis" and was made "`in accordance with accepted legal standards and in accordance with the facts of record.'" A determination of whether a proffered expert witness should be permitted to testify requires an evaluation of whether the testimony will "assist" the jury. Generally, expert testimony will assist the jury when the issue to be decided requires an analysis that would be difficult for the ordinary person in the community.

State v. Blair, 164 Wis.2d 64, 74-75, 473 N.W.2d 566, 571 (Ct. App. 1991) (citations omitted). Based on this standard of review, we conclude that the trial court did not erroneously exercise its discretion when it allowed Deputy Pauley to offer expert testimony on the HGN sobriety test. The record reflects that Deputy Pauley testified that he was trained in administering and evaluating the test. Thus, there was a reasonable basis for the trial court to conclude that he was qualified, pursuant to §907.02, Stats., to offer the expert opinion regarding the HGN sobriety test.

D.Admission of "Deficient Sample" Record.

If there are not two samples or the sequence is not followed, then there is no "test" within the meaning of the statute. If there is no "test" within the meaning of the statute, then there are no test results available to be admitted into evidence. The person who fails to give a complete breath test is considered to have refused consent

Id. at 149, 477 N.W.2d at 317. It is undisputed that Zivcic failed to adequately perform the breath test. As a result, a "deficient sample" resulted, because Zivcic failed to blow sufficiently hard or long enough to register a reading on the Intoxilyzer. Zivcic argues that because there was no "test," there is nothing that can be admitted. We disagree.

1 The judgment and order arose from two related cases in the trial court and were consolidated for appeal.

2 One of the unusual circumstances justifying appellate relief, even though the issue was not raised before the trial court, is where the defendant has been convicted of a substantive crime that an appellate court later decides is beyond the legislature's constitutional power to create. See State v. Benzel, 220 Wis.2d 588, 592-93, 583 N.W.2d 434, 436-37 (Ct. App. 1998). The instant case, however, is not such a case. Rather, to use the words of Benzel, this case concerns the application of a constitutional principle that "does not affect the basic accuracy of the factfinding process at trial." Id. at 592, 583 N.W.2d at 436.

3 Section 175.40, Stats., which governs "Arrests; assistance" provides in part:

          

(5)(a) For any county having a population of 500,000 or more, if any law enforcement officer has territorial jurisdiction that is wholly or partially within that county and has authority to arrest a person within the officer's territorial jurisdiction, the officer may arrest that person anywhere in the county.

(d)In order to allow its officers to exercise authority under par. (a), a law enforcement agency for a municipality or county must adopt and implement written policies regarding the arrest authority under this subsection, including at least all of the following:

1.Investigations conducted in another jurisdiction.

2.Arrests made in another jurisdiction if the crime is observed by a law enforcement officer.

3.Arrests made in another jurisdiction if the crime is not observed by a law enforcement officer.

4.Notification to and cooperation with the law enforcement agency of another jurisdiction regarding investigations conducted and arrests made in the other jurisdiction.