Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
A competency exam was ordered this week for a Shawano man whose bank robbery conviction three years ago was overturned on appeal.
Darrin H. Church, 52, was sentenced in July 2014 to five years in prison and 10 years extended supervision.
Church had pleaded no contest to charges of using the threat of force to rob the CoVantage Credit Union at 911 E. Green Bay St. and attempting to rob Cash Tyme at 705 E. Green Bay St. in April 2013.
The District IV Court of Appeals reversed Church’s convictions on those charges, as well as bail jumping and other misdemeanors.
His case was scheduled for review in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court on Wednesday, though Church was unable to appear in person because of a medical condition, according to court records. He is being held at Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun.
According to the Department of Corrections, Church’s condition is “deteriorating,” court records state.
Church’s attorney and the state agreed that Church should be evaluated for competency before a new trial takes place. The results of that exam are due by June 2.
A state appeals court in March reversed Church’s conviction because Circuit Judge William Kussel Jr. did not ask Church at the plea hearing if he knew he was entitled to a unanimous jury verdict.
The court returned the case to Kussel with instructions that the district attorney has to prove Church understood all the rights he was giving up prior to pleading no contest.
During a December 2015 appeals hearing in Shawano County Circuit Court, Church’s defense counsel argued that the court did not conduct a proper question-and-answer with the defendant with respect to his rights and the possible outcome for a jury trial, and that the sentence for time in prison was not calculated correctly.
Kussel denied the motion.
According to the appeals opinion:
During the plea hearing, Kussel noted that the defendant had checked the boxes on the plea questionnaire, including his right to a unanimous verdict. Kussel learned from Church’s attorney, Steven Weerts, that on or near the day of the hearing, he had discussed with Church the constitutional rights he was giving up by entering a plea.
Kussel then addressed Church that he was giving up his right to remain silent, right to proof beyond reasonable doubt and other rights a defendant has at trial.
Church said he understood what he was giving up. However, Kussel didn’t ask Church about the right to a unanimous verdict, and one omission was enough to invalidate the plea.
“(W)e conclude that the circuit court’s failure to engage in a personal colloquy with Church regarding jury unanimity was a plea colloquy defect,” the court said in its 10-page unsigned opinion.
The criminal complaint alleged that Church entered CoVantage Credit Union on April 8, 2013, and gave a teller a note demanding money. He left with more than $6,000 but was arrested a short time later and the money was recovered.
Just before the CoVantage robbery, Church had entered the nearby Cash Tyme Store, gave the teller a note and then told her it was a joke. He left with no funds.
Church had entered another bank earlier the same day but didn’t use the note he had written.
Church was initially found incompetent to stand trial, but that was reversed after a doctor concluded Church had been faking his incompetency.