Declaratory Judgments – Criminal Statutes – Evidence
In 'Braun v. City of Wauwatosa' (2009AP839) the plaintiff sued
the defendants for false arrest and personal injuries from
alleged use of excessive force during his arrest for trespass to
land. The plaintiff also sought a declaratory judgment pursuant
to Wis. Stat. §806.04(2) to "determine the extent and
parameters" of the term "occupant" as used in §943.13, the
criminal statute defining what constitutes trespass to land.
The defendants moved to dismiss the declaratory judgment action
on the grounds that characterizations of the plaintiff’s
behavior would be determined in his pending appeal of the
criminal violations, and that the civil suit was not the proper
forum to provide clarification on past and future conduct. The
circuit court agreed and dismissed the declaratory judgment
action. The suit proceeded to a jury trial determining the
remaining issues of false arrest and use of excessive force, and
the plaintiff was precluded from admitting evidence concerning
his opinion about his prior ban from the property by the
property owners.
The jury returned a defense verdict, and the plaintiff appealed
both the verdict and the court’s dismissal of the declaratory
judgment action.
The court of appeals affirmed dismissal of the declaratory
judgment action, holding that a circuit court in a civil suit
did not have the authority to provide clarification through
declaratory judgment concerning past or future conduct that was
the subject of a criminal proceeding. The court of appeals also
affirmed the jury verdict, holding that the plaintiff's opinion
concerning his ban from the property was irrelevant with regards
to the defendants' use of excessive force. Notably, the
criminal charge of trespass to land had been dismissed during
the pendency of this civil suit appeal, and thus the issue of
declaratory judgment with regard to the terms of the criminal
statute defining trespass to land was moot in any event.
