Defendant was convicted on firearm and drug possession charges in Wisconsin state court and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. After exhausting his state appeals, defendant filed a federal habeas petition, arguing that the trial court violated his due process rights when it misidentified him as a person appearing in a social media video and when the judge spoke at length during sentencing that the video impacted the length of the sentence. In support of his petition, defendant attached for the first time a photograph of his appearance at the time of sentencing. The Seventh Circuit acknowledged that the photograph suggested that defendant was not the man in the video, but affirmed the district court’s denial of the petition because the photograph could not be considered on habeas review. (HAMILTON and RIPPLE, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Writ of Habeas Corpus