State v. Walker
| Decision Date | 23 May 2023 |
| Docket Number | 2020AP2115-CR |
| Parties | State of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Jeffrey Kyle Walker, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Wisconsin Court of Appeals |
This opinion will not be published. See Wis. Stat. Rule 809.23(1)(b)5.
APPEAL from a judgment and an order of the circuit court for Brown County Cir. Ct. No. 2015CF1118 TIMOTHY A. HINKFUSS, Judge. Affirmed.
Per curiam opinions may not be cited in any court of this state as precedent or authority, except for the limited purposes specified in Wis.Stat. Rule 809.23(3).
Before Stark, P.J., Hruz and Gill, JJ.
¶1 Jeffrey Walker, pro se, appeals a judgment convicting him of three counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child under thirteen years old, five counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child, and one count of child enticement. He also appeals an order denying his motion for postconviction relief. Walker argues that he received constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel, that the State engaged in prosecutorial misconduct, that the evidence was insufficient to support his child enticement conviction, that the jury engaged in misconduct by failing to weigh the evidence, and that the circuit court erroneously decided several issues related to other-acts evidence. We reject all of his arguments and affirm.
¶2 In August 2015, the State charged Walker with two counts of sexual assault and one count of child enticement. The criminal complaint described reports by two young boys, Mason and Spencer,[1] who separately told police how they each slept at Walker's home on different occasions and awoke to Walker sexually assaulting them. The complaint also described an incident on August 1, 2015, in which Walker purchased alcohol, drove himself and Mason to a motel, and checked into a room. While Walker was checking into the room Mason fled to a friend's house out of fear that "something" was going to happen to him.
¶3 During the pretrial proceedings, the circuit court granted the State's motion to admit other-acts evidence of Walker sexually assaulting Mason in Kewaunee County. The court also granted the State's request to file an amended Information that charged a total of nine offenses. Counts 1 through 5 of that Information were based on Walker's sexual assaults of Spencer in the spring of 2011; Counts 6 through 8 were based on Walker's sexual assaults of Mason in the summer of 2013; and Count 9 was based on Walker's enticement of Mason on or about August 1, 2015. Walker did not object to this amended Information.
¶4 At trial, Spencer was the State's first witness. Spencer testified that his father and Walker had been friends and that Walker would "hang out," play video games, and watch movies with Spencer. Spencer further testified that in the spring of 2011, when Spencer was either eleven or twelve years old, Walker invited him to go bowling and to spend the night with Walker. Spencer accepted Walker's invitation and the two subsequently went bowling and then later watched movies together at Walker's mother's apartment. During the evening, Spencer drank two "tall cans" of beer that Walker had offered to him.
¶5 Later in the night, Spencer woke up to Walker touching Spencer's genitals. Spencer described being "in disbelief" and not "know[ing] what to do." Spencer further described how Walker made him "rub [Walker's] penis," how Walker performed oral sex on Spencer, how Walker made Spencer insert Spencer's penis into Walker's rectum, and how Walker inserted his penis into Spencer's rectum.
¶6 Spencer did not immediately report the sexual assaults because he feared that people would not believe him. In 2014 however, Spencer reported the assaults to his mother after she asked why he was "acting up" and receiving citations for drinking alcohol and possessing drugs. Spencer testified that he did not know or recognize Mason. On cross-examination, Spencer acknowledged that he initially reported that the sexual assaults had occurred in 2012 instead of 2011 and that a detective in this case had offered to help him with some of his outstanding citations.
¶7 Following Spencer's testimony, the State called Mason as the next witness. Mason testified that Walker was a family friend of one of Mason's friends and that Mason met Walker through that friend. Mason described how Walker took him and his friends swimming and how Walker bought him shoes, clothes and food. Mason testified that in the summer of 2013, when he was twelve years old, he spent the night at Walker's mother's home. Mason said that he and Walker watched television and that Mason drank a Mike's Hard Lemonade, which Walker had offered to him. After Mason had fallen asleep, he woke up to Walker unbuttoning and unzipping Mason's pants. Mason testified that Walker subsequently put his penis into Mason's rectum, performed oral sex on Mason, and then used Mason's hand to masturbate Walker's penis.
¶8 Mason further testified to a separate incident that occurred several months later. During that incident, Walker had taken both Mason and Mason's friend on a fishing trip, and the three of them stayed together in a motel in the City of Kewaunee. At the motel, Walker gave Mason a beer and told him to "chug it." Later in the night, after Mason had fallen asleep, he woke up to Walker picking him up and carrying him over to Walker's bed. Once there, Walker pulled Mason's pants down and put his penis in Mason's rectum.
¶9 Finally, Mason testified to the incident that occurred on August 1, 2015. Mason testified that Walker had stopped seeing him for "a while" but then spontaneously came over to Mason's home that day. Thereafter, Walker took Mason out for dinner and later stopped at a gas station to purchase alcohol. Mason testified that he started to grow concerned at this point "[b]ecause all the other times [Walker] bought alcohol he raped [Mason]." Walker then took Mason back to Walker's mother's home where Walker started a bonfire and poured strawberry liquor into Mason's drink. Walker and his mother subsequently argued about Walker's boat in the yard, which prompted Walker to leave with Mason. Walker then drove Mason to a motel and attempted to check into a room, but the motel was full. Walker took Mason to a different motel and again went to check into a room.
¶10 While Walker was in the motel, Mason fled from Walker's vehicle and ran to a friend's house. Mason explained that he "didn't want the same thing to repeat over again." Once Mason reached his friend's home, he called his sister and asked her to come get him. Before Mason's sister arrived, however, Walker showed up at Mason's friend's home and asked "why did you fucking run from me," to which Mason responded: "[Y]ou know." Walker yelled at Mason to get in Walker's vehicle, but Mason refused. Walker subsequently gave Mason $20 for "working on [his] boat"-which Mason stated that he had not done-and demanded that he shake Walker's hand. When Mason finally got home, he told his mother about the prior sexual assaults. Mason testified that he did not know Spencer.
¶11 On cross-examination, Mason acknowledged that he initially told law enforcement that the fishing trip incident had occurred first, but he said that he made the mistake because "it was early morning" and he had not slept. Mason also agreed that Walker did not say anything about wanting to have sexual contact with Mason nor did he "try to have sexual contact with [him]" on August 1, 2015.
¶12 The State subsequently called several other witnesses to testify, including Spencer's mother, Mason's mother and sister, and a detective. The defense called Walker's mother, who testified that she did not recall Mason ever spending the night at her home, nor did she recall observing any "abnormal interaction[s]" between Mason and Walker. Walker also testified in his own defense, denying that he ever had any sexual contact or sexual intercourse with either Spencer or Mason. Walker acknowledged that Spencer stayed at his mother's home once in the summer of 2011, but he denied that Mason had ever spent the night at his mother's home. Walker described trying "to be a positive role model" for the young boys.
¶13 At the end of the trial, the jury found Walker guilty on all nine counts. The circuit court later sentenced Walker to a total of twenty years' initial confinement followed by fifteen years' extended supervision. Walker subsequently filed a pro se postconviction motion, raising numerous claims. The court held a Machner[2] hearing on that motion, at which both Walker and his trial counsel testified.[3] The court concluded that Walker was not entitled to relief on any of his claims and denied the motion.
¶14 Walker now appeals. Additional facts will be provided as necessary below.
¶15 To prevail on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the defendant must prove: (1) that counsel's performance was deficient; and (2) that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. State v. Sholar, 2018 WI 53, ¶32, 381 Wis.2d 560, 912 N.W.2d 89. We need not address both components of this inquiry if the defendant does not make a sufficient showing on one. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 697 (1984).
¶16 To establish deficient performance, a defendant must demonstrate that his or her trial counsel's performance fell below "an objective standard of reasonableness." State v. Savage, 2020 WI 93 ¶28, 395 Wis.2d 1, 951 N.W.2d 838 (citation omitted). "Courts afford great deference to trial counsel's conduct, presuming that it 'falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance.'" Id. (citation omitted). Indeed, "counsel's performance need not be perfect, nor even very good, to be...
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