Summary

The 3rd edition of Wisconsin Crimes is now available from Continuing Legal Education of Wisconsin. This unique book has become an invaluable resource for:

• judges and lawyers evaluating the sufficiency of criminal complaints;
• law enforcement officers making decisions about arrests or drafting complete reports;
• prosecutors making charging decisions or preparing for guilty plea entries;
• defense counsel advising clients on plea decisions or preparing for guilty plea entries.

Contents

Elements

Wisconsin Crimes: Elements, Definitions and Penalties contains summaries of the elements of the vast majority of crimes in the Criminal Code of Wisconsin, plus selected criminal traffic offenses and some non-Criminal Code offenses.

Virtually all crimes for which there are published jury instructions are included, along with several offenses for which there are no standard instructions. Penalties for each crime are specified by reference to its penalty class.

Each entry also includes, where applicable, reference to significant "collateral consequences," identifying offenses that qualify as predicates for application of "persistent repeater" provisions ("3 Strikes" and "2 Strikes"), mandatory sex offender registration, Chapter 980 commitment, and more.

Definitions

General definitions of terms used in the Criminal Code are provided.

Also included are summaries of general matters like "party to crime," "attempt," "defenses," etc.

Crimes

Crimes are grouped according to the chapter of the Wisconsin statutes in which they appear, organized by statute number. The table of contents for each chapter is included, as it appears in the published statutes. 

About the Author

David Schultz is Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Professor Schultz worked as a staff attorney in the Corrections Legal Services Program for two years before he became affiliated with the UW Extension Law Program.

Through the Continuing Legal Education and Outreach Program, Professor Schultz taught criminal law for lawyers, judges, and police officers.

He has been the Reporter for the Wisconsin Jury Instructions Criminal since 1976. He co-authored Law, Trial Judges, and the Psychiatric Witness (1980) with Frank Remington and Walter Dickey which appeared in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. He also co-authored The Importance of Clarity in the Law of Homicide: The Wisconsin Revision (1989) with Dickey and James Fullin.

Professor Schultz has been a member of the Wisconsin Judicial Council since 1989; he chaired the organization from 1991 through 1996.