No Innocence, No Recourse

The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of a legal malpractice claim

David Skindzelewski committed a crime, pled guilty, and spent time in jail as a consequence for committing that crime until a circuit court vacated his conviction because the statute of limitations rendered the conviction erroneous. In this action, Skindzelewski sued his criminal defense attorney for legal malpractice because his attorney failed to raise the statute of limitations as an affirmative defense in his criminal case. Neither the circuit court nor the court of appeals permitted his suit to proceed to trial because Skindzelewski could not prove he was actually innocent of the crime of which he was convicted. Skindzelewski asks this court to reverse the unpublished court of appeals opinion affirming the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment.

The actual innocence rule requires a criminal defendant who sues his defense attorney for legal malpractice to establish the defendant did not commit the crime of which he was convicted. Skindzelewski concedes his guilt but advocates the formulation of an exception to the actual innocence rule. We decline to create one under the facts presented by Skindzelewski’s lawsuit. Nothing about Skindzelewski’s case warrants developing an exception to the actual innocence rule; recognizing one under these circumstances would reward criminality. As a matter of law, Skindzelewski cannot succeed on his legal malpractice claim. We affirm the decision of the court of appeals.

Rationale

Skindzelewski took money from his victim in advance payment for work he never performed. Instead of returning the money, Skindzelewski converted it to his own use. Skindzelewski pled guilty to the crime of theft-by-contractor. Once postconviction counsel discovered the statute of limitations had lapsed prior to the State charging Skindzelewski, he was released from jail after serving only a portion of his sentence. Despite his guilt, the law afforded Skindzelewski a remedy for the erroneous conviction——namely, his liberty. The law does not, however, give him an additional monetary remedy against his negligent lawyer. Doing so would be tantamount to rewarding this guilty defendant for his crime, which “would . . . shock the public conscience, engender disrespect for courts and generally discredit the administration of justice.”

Justice Dallet dissented

Because the rationale for the actual innocence requirement does not apply in Skindzelewski’s case, I would create a narrow exception in legal malpractice cases where defense
counsel’s failure to raise a valid statute of limitations defense results in an unlawful conviction. Accordingly, I would reverse the court of appeals and remand the case to the circuit court with an order to grant Skindzelewski summary judgment on liability and to conduct further proceedings on damages.

The Court of Appeals opinion is linked here. (Mike Frisch)