State Wisconsin v. Rodney E. Peterson

This is a review of a decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the circuit court for Dane county, Angela B. Bartell, circuit Judge. The issue posed is the propriety of the circuit courts sua sponte amendment of the pleadings to conform to the evidence presented. After the presentation of evidence the circuit court, upon its own motion, amended the complaint to charge violation of a traffic statute different from that originally charged and then found the defendant guilty of the amended charge. We conclude that while the circuit court was correct in holding that it had the power to amend the complaint on its own motion after the presentation of the evidence, the circuit court erred in not granting the parties an opportunity to present additional evidence on the complaint as amended. Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the court of appeals and remand the case to the circuit court for a new trial.