(Download) "State Wisconsin v. Franz Michels" by Court of Appeals of Wisconsin ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State Wisconsin v. Franz Michels
- Author : Court of Appeals of Wisconsin
- Release Date : January 19, 1987
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 63 KB
Description
Franz Michels appeals from a judgment of conviction for manslaughter, heat of passion in violation of sec. 940.05(1), Stats. 1 The conviction resulted from the death of Michel's foster child, Richard Crivello. Michels argues that: (1) the state improperly filed an information charging second-degree murder after he had waived the right to a preliminary hearing on a criminal complaint which only charged homicide by reckless conduct; (2) his inculpatory statements were involuntarily made and should have been suppressed; (3) the admission of his wife's testimony regarding the death of their foster child violated the husband-wife privilege; (4) the trial court erroneously denied his request for an instruction on the lesser-included offense of homicide by reckless conduct; and (5) the conviction is not supported by the evidence. We reject all of Michels' arguments and affirm the conviction. On February 11, 1985, Michels' foster child, Richard, was discovered unconscious at the Michels' home. Earlier that day, Richard and Michels' wife, Gisela, had an altercation involving profane language. This row related to Richard's unkept room. Gisela testified that when Michels returned to their home, she told him of Richard's behavior whereupon Michels became kind of upset. Michels then confronted Richard about his behavior. Michels testified that he struck Richard with his hand and with a cat-scratching post after Richard denied using profane language. Michels also testified that when he left the room, Richard was sitting up and seemed all right. Gisela testified that she did not see her husband strike Richard and, because the child had epilepsy, she assumed that he had suffered a seizure when he was subsequently discovered unconscious. Richard was pronounced dead at the hospital as the result of a skull fracture and brain hemorrhage due to external trauma.