State v. Verhagen

¶ 1. Kim Verhagen,1 Christopher Nickles, Craig Van Asten and James Bell appeal2 judgments of conviction for criminal operating while intoxicated (OWI). In each case, the appellant contends the circuit court erroneously denied his pretrial motion seeking an order requiring the State to prove before the jury and beyond a reasonable doubt all elements of his first-offense OWI conviction. We conclude the elements of an underlying first-offense OWI need not be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal proceeding for a subsequent OWI violation.

¶ 2. Separately, Van Asten mounts a…