State of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent-Petitioner v. Carroll D. Watkins, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The court affirmed the court of appeals' reversal of Watkins' second-degree intentional-homicide conviction, but on the ground that the real controversy had not been fully and fairly tried. It held that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction under the applicable appellate standard, yet the circuit court inadequately analyzed the interaction among accident, intent, and self-defense and relied on reasoning that created substantial uncertainty about the basis for its decision. The case was remanded for a new trial under the court's discretionary reversal authority.