State v. Hughes
| Decision Date | 01 November 2022 |
| Docket Number | 2021AP1834-CR |
| Parties | State of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Etter L. Hughes, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Wisconsin |
Not recommended for publication in the official reports.
APPEAL from a judgment and an order of the circuit court for Milwaukee County 2021AP1834-CR M. JOSEPH DONALD and JONATHAN D. WATTS, Judges. Affirmed.
Before Brash, C.J., Dugan and White, JJ.
¶1 Etter L. Hughes appeals her judgment of conviction after she pled guilty to four counts relating to the child abuse and neglect of T.W. and J.W. She also appeals from the order denying her postconviction motion.[1]
¶2 Hughes argues that the trial court erred in accepting an amended information filed by the State that added three additional charges against her, asserting that there was no independent factual basis for those charges and that there was a multiplicity issue that violated Wis.Stat. § 948.03(5)(c) (2015-16).[2] She further argues that her trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the amended information. Based on these alleged errors, she seeks to withdraw her pleas. We reject Hughes' arguments and affirm.
¶3 According to the criminal complaint, in August 2016, Hughes moved from Arkansas to Milwaukee with her fiancé and her son, L.F. Hughes' second cousin was also planning to move to Milwaukee; the cousin had two sons, J.W. who was born in October 2007, and T.W. who was born in June 2009, and asked Hughes to take the boys to Milwaukee with her.
¶4 However, Hughes' cousin never made the move to Milwaukee. Additionally, Hughes' fiancé was arrested shortly after they arrived in Milwaukee, and was extradited back to Arkansas. As a result, Hughes contacted Mary Martinez, whom Hughes had met when she was previously incarcerated in 2003 seeking a place to stay. Martinez allowed Hughes, L.F., T.W., and J.W to stay with her at her residence on South 19th Street in Milwaukee.
¶5 On the morning of November 29, 2016, Hughes took T.W. To St Luke's Hospital. Hughes told medical staff that she had discovered T.W. unresponsive when she woke up. T.W. was admitted to the hospital; he was "pulseless unresponsive, and cold to the touch," and extensive lifesaving measures were begun immediately. Additionally, his body showed "significant signs of trauma," such as lacerations to several areas including his wrists and ankles, and multiple abrasions to his chest and back. Hospital staff immediately notified the police, suspecting severe child abuse.
¶6 T.W. was transferred to Children's Hospital, where lifesaving measures were continued. However, T.W. succumbed to his injuries that afternoon.
¶7 Prior to his passing away, T.W. was examined at Children's Hospital by a pediatric child abuse specialist. The doctor found multiple patterned injuries "too numerous to count" all over T.W.'s body, which were consistent with being restrained by the hands and neck, beaten with a belt or cord, and struck with a long, straight object. T.W. had multiple other injuries which were in various stages of healing, along with an injury consistent with a cigarette burn.
¶8 T.W. was also severely malnourished. He weighed only forty-four pounds, when a boy his age should have generally weighed approximately fifty-five pounds. The doctor noted several other "classic characteristics of malnutrition" during her exam.
¶9 The doctor concluded that T.W.'s injuries would have caused "intense pain and suffering." His injuries and state of malnutrition were "diagnostic for severe, life-threatening child physical abuse and medical and nutritional neglect," which resulted in T.W.'s death.
¶10 J.W. was also hospitalized at that time for severe malnutrition. J.W. was examined and was found to have numerous injuries consistent with severe physical abuse, including the same patterned injuries indicative of being beaten and tied down at the arms and neck.
¶11 Police detectives interviewed Hughes, who denied physically abusing T.W. or J.W., and had no explanation for their malnutrition. They also interviewed L.F., Hughes' son, who was thirteen years old at the time. L.F. told the detectives that he had seen Martinez abuse both T.W. and J.W. multiple times, using "her hands and a shoe."
¶12 Both Hughes and Martinez were taken into custody. Detectives then interviewed Hughes again, who stated that she had noticed wounds on T.W. and J.W., but thought that they were hurting each other. She also said that the boys had begun losing weight shortly after they moved into Martinez's residence, and that the home was "infested with rats and mice." Additionally, Hughes stated that the boys had "exhibited many behavior issues" that had made Martinez "very angry," and that Martinez had "express[ed] a desire to hurt both children." Hughes also said that Martinez would not let her call 911 when she had discovered that T.W. was unresponsive. Hughes was convinced that Martinez had been abusing the boys.
¶13 Forensic interviews were conducted with J.W. and L.F. J.W. Stated that Martinez had repeatedly abused both he and T.W. and had denied them food. L.F. stated that he had seen Martinez abuse both boys multiple times, punching them with a closed fist and beating them with a shoe. L.F. further explained that the night prior to T.W.'s death, Martinez had hit T.W. repeatedly in the head and face, and had punched him in the back with enough force that he fell to the ground and was "losing his breath."
¶14 In further investigating this matter, the police detectives interviewed Carlos Gonzalez, Martinez's adult son, who also lived at the residence. Gonzalez told the detectives that he had seen Hughes strike both T.W. and J.W., and that Hughes had given Martinez "permission to 'physically discipline'" the boys. Gonzalez had never observed Martinez physically abusing the boys, but he had heard sounds of such abuse toward T.W. and J.W. from his bedroom. Additionally, Gonzalez had seen the boys "tied up and seated on the floor behind a couch," and said that Martinez told him Hughes had tied them up.
¶15 Hughes and Martinez were charged in December 2016. They were both charged with child neglect resulting in death with regard to T.W., and child neglect resulting in great bodily harm with regard to J.W., both as a party to a crime. Additionally, Martinez was charged with two counts of repeated acts of child abuse causing bodily harm, while Hughes was charged with two counts of failure to act to prevent bodily harm to a child. Both Hughes and Martinez waived their preliminary hearings and entered not guilty pleas. The cases were severed shortly thereafter.
¶16 Furthermore, at the scheduling conference in January 2017, where the motion to sever was discussed, the State informed the trial court that J.W., who was by then in foster care, had started making additional "significant allegations" as to the role Hughes had played in the abuse of both boys. Thus, the State noted that the charges contained in the criminal complaint "may only scratch the surface" of Hughes' involvement in the abuse.
¶17 Subsequently, at a bail hearing held in March 2017, the State informed the trial court that an additional forensic interview had been conducted with J.W., where he disclosed that Hughes had "played a much more active role" in the abuse of the children. Therefore, the State said that if the matter proceeded to trial, it anticipated that the charges against Hughes would be "increased" due to this new information. The State also had provided a copy of the new forensic interview to Hughes' counsel in February 2017, and had mentioned the likelihood of amending the charges at that time as well.
¶18 The State did indeed file an amended information for Hughes on the morning of her final pretrial conference, in May 2017. The count relating to T.W.- child neglect resulting in death-was amended to first-degree reckless homicide. The State also added two counts of repeated acts of physical abuse of a child causing great bodily harm. Hughes did not object to the amended information, waived its reading, and entered pleas of not guilty.
¶19 A few days later, Hughes entered into a plea agreement in which she agreed to plead no contest to the original charges in the complaint.[3] The trial court accepted her pleas and imposed a sentence that totaled twenty years of initial confinement and fifteen years of extended supervision.
¶20 Hughes subsequently filed a postconviction motion seeking to withdraw her pleas on the grounds that they were not knowingly and voluntarily entered. Specifically, Hughes asserted that she was "induced" to enter the pleas as a result of the State's filing the amended information with "upgraded" charges, for which there was no factual basis, and that she was "significant[ly] prejudiced" by this "last-minute" filing. Hughes further argued that her trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the filing of the amended information.
The postconviction court further noted the statement of Gonzalez Martinez's adult son, in the complaint, where he indicated that he had witnessed Hughes abusing T.W. and J.W. The court found that these allegations were sufficient to establish probable...
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