criminal defense

wisconsin attorneys

Successful criminal and drunk driving defense lawyers, Attorney Chris Van Wagner and Attorney Tracey Wood represent people in both Wisconsin Courts and Federal Courts against both felony and misdemeanor criminal and drunk driving charges. For more information about the criminal charges for which clients very frequently hire them, please click on the words and photos to the left.

Attorney Chris Van Wagner

As a result of referrals from other attorneys and his highly publicized court trials, Attorney Chris Van Wagner is frequently hired by people who are facing serious criminal charges related to sexual assault (Wisconsin's rape charge), repeated acts of sexual assault, enticement and solicitation, and other sex crimes, homicide by negligent use of vehicle (Wisconsin's Vehicular Homicide charge), 1st Degree Intentional Homicide and 2nd Degree Intentional Homicide (Wisconsin's murder charges) and Felony Murder. Attorney Van Wagner also frequently represents people in serious drunk driving cases. For more information about Chris Van Wagner and his more than twenty years of devoted criminal law practice, please refer to Attorney Chris Van Wagner.

Attorney Tracey Wood

As Wisconsin's foremost authority on drunk driving laws and defense, Attorney Tracey Wood has represented more than 2,000 people facing OWI (Wisconsin's drunk driving charge), PAC (Wisconsin's prohibited alcohol content charge), Homicide By Intoxicated Use of Vehicle (Wisconsin Drunken Vehicular Homicide charge) and challenged prior under influence convictions. Attorney Wood is also frequently hired by clients to represent them in serious criminal charges such as Conspiracy and Conversion (Wisconsin conspiracy and theft charges), sexual assault of an unconscious victim (one of Wisconsin's rape charges) and failure to prevent sexual assault of a minor child. For more information about Tracey Wood and her legal practice, please refer to Attorney Tracey Wood.

wisconsin courts

Criminal trials take place in a court that has proper jurisdiction over the person being charged with a crime (or crimes) and the crime being charged. Within Wisconsin's borders, an adult person can be tried in a United States Federal Court (called a District Court) or a Wisconsin County Court (called a Circuit Court), depending upon which law enforcement agency brought the charges. In cases in which a person is charged with both Federal and State of Wisconsin crimes, the person can be tried by both courts, but in most cases involving both Federal and Wisconsin charges, the person will be tried by one or the other court.

The attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood have handled criminal cases in throughout the state of Wisconsin for more than thirty years. In that time, those criminal defense lawyers have gone before nearly all of the judges in the state of Wisconsin. That is important for you to know because the various judges and courts all subscribed to specific rules and customary procedures.

Wisconsin Trial Courts

Each of the 72 counties in the State of Wisconsin has a county seat where the county's Circuit Court is located, and may have one or more Municipal Courts. State of Wisconsin criminal trials are held in Circuit Courts or Municipal Courts. (Note that the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and the Wisconsin Supreme Court are not trial courts).

Juvenile Courts & Adult Courts Hearing Juvenile Cases

A juvenile is a person who is under the age of 18 years. The majority of cases involving a younger juvenile who has been charged with a crime will be handled by a juvenile court; however, older juveniles or juveniles who are charged with hanious crimes can be waived into adult court (a Wisconsin Circuit Court).

Wisconsin criminal defense attorneys

The attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood appear in Wisconsin Circuit Courts located throughout Wisconsin, and most frequently in those located in Madison, Eau Claire, Wausau, La Crosse, Monroe, Baraboo, Portage, Columbus, Janesville, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Rapids, Lancaster, Darlington, Dodgeville, Juneau and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

united states district courts (federal courts)

Van Wagner & Wood's criminal defense lawyers, Attorney Chris Van Wagner and Attorney Tracey Wood, are both admitted to the U. S. Eastern District Courts and the U. S. Western District Courts where they represent people accused of federal crimes. The U. S. Western District Court is located in the Federal Building in Madison, Wisconsin; the U. S. Eastern District Court is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both courts operate satellite courts, with one in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and the other in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Van Wagner & Wood's attorneys frequently represent people whose cases are being heard in a Federal Court. That is very important for you to know because not all criminal defense attorneys are admitted to the District Courts, and of those that are, few have tried Federal cases.

Wisconsin Court of Appeals

If a legal error occurs during a criminal trial, if a person is convicted of a crime and believes the conviction is in error, or if a person is sentenced after conviction and believes the sentence is unduly harsh, the criminal case can be appealed to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

Automatic right of appeal

Wisconsin law provides convicted persons with an automatic right to appeal a conviction to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. All appeals must follow strict guidelines that require immediate action in the Circuit Court, and strict timelines for notifying the Court of Appeals of an intent to appeal.

Federal Appeals

U. S. Federal law operates under Federal guidelines, which don't afford a criminal defendant the same ease of access to an appeal. Even so, Federal trials resulting in a conviction or unduly harsh sentence can be appealed to the United States District Court of Appeals.

Matters on Appeal

Neither the Federal Appellate Courts nor the Wisconsin Appellate Court act as trial courts; their review of a case is limited to determining if the law was applied to the facts correctly, if proper procedures were employed during the trial, or if the sentence fits the crime.

If an appeal is unsuccessful, then the next step may be to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Experienced Appellate Attorneys

The attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood frequently handle appeals for people whose cases were tried by other attorneys. They are very experienced in appealing cases to both the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and the US District Court of Appeals.

Speak to an attorney today

If you are under investigation for a Federal or Wisconsin State criminal or drunk driving offense, if you have been arrested on Federal or Wisconsin State charges, or if you have already been convicted of a Federal or Wisconsin State criminal or drunk driving charge and believe your convicted was incorrect or the sentence was unduly harsh, please call (284-1200 locally in Madison, Wisconsin or 1-888-663-8163 from anywhere in the continental United States) to speak with an attorney today.

Van Wagner & Wood's attorneys will provide you with a brief but professional straight-forward "first-impression" analysis of your case and the potential outcomes you are facing so that you can make that next critical decision to hire your criminal defense attorney. They cannot provide you with a guarantee of the outcome, and no attorney should do so, but by placing your trust in their hands you will have done all that you can possibly do to prepare your defense.

Contact Van Wagner & Wood