In the Matter of a Privately Filed Criminal Complaint: State of Wisconsin Ex Rel. Ralph A. Kalal and Jackie Kalal…

Summary

The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals' denial of a supervisory writ sought by Ralph and Jackie Kalal, the targets of a privately filed criminal complaint authorized under Wis. Stat. § 968.02(3) after the Dane County district attorney declined to charge them with stealing retirement-account funds. The court held that the statute's expressly ex parte procedure denies the complaint's subjects standing to obtain reconsideration of the filing decision, that the circuit judge's finding of a prosecutorial 'refusal' violated no 'plain duty' warranting extraordinary relief, and that 'refuses' — though meaning more than mere inaction — need not be an explicit statement and may be proven directly or circumstantially. Deciding the statutory question because it would otherwise evade review, the court also restated Wisconsin's interpretive framework: statutory meaning is drawn primarily from the enacted text, with extrinsic sources such as legislative history generally reserved for resolving (or confirming) ambiguity. Chief Justice Abrahamson, concurring, joined the mandate but urged a comprehensive, history-inclusive interpretive method, while Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, concurring, agreed with the result but endorsed neither interpretive discussion.