The Wisconsin Supreme Court has affirmed a Court of Appeals ruling from a Manitowoc County child sexual assault case.
The 4-3 decision was released yesterday in the case of State Vs. K.R.C.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court was deciding whether the defendant, Kevin, should have been allowed to make statements in a bench trial.
Kevin, who is a juvenile and was only 12 years old at the time of the incident, was convicted of fourth-degree sexual assault after he touched another student in the groin area.
The issue in the case is whether Kevin should have been allowed to suppress statements he made to school resource officers (SROs) who questioned him, since he claimed they questioned him without reading him his Miranda rights.
Manitowoc County Judge Jerilyn Dietz denied a suppression motion, saying that Kevin’s statements about the incident to the SROs were admissible because “this was a non-custodial voluntary conversation.”
After Kevin was found delinquent, he appealed to the Court of Appeals, arguing that his statements about the incident were involuntary.
The Court of Appeals ruled that there was no Miranda Rights violation, and the case was moved to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Judge Janet Protasiewicz said, “Accordingly, the circuit court erred when it admitted statements Kevin made during the interrogation. Still, that error was harmless.”
The court calls an error harmless if it is “clear beyond a reasonable doubt that a rational jury would have found the defendant guilty absent the error.”
During Kevin’s bench trial, the judge heard statements from his defense claiming that it was accidental, while evidence and testimony showed that it was intentional.
In the dissenting opinion, Judge Brian Hagadorn said he disagreed that Miranda rights do not apply to Kevin because “he was not subject to a custodial interrogation.”
He also said there was no error in allowing Kevin’s statements.
