Date: 2/13/2009
By DINESH RAMDE
Associated Press Writer
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A former Milwaukee alderman who pleaded no contest to charges of trying to buy votes and contempt of court has been sentenced to a year in jail.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Richard Sankovitz on Friday ordered Michael McGee Jr. to serve the state sentence after he finishes a 6½-year term in federal prison.
The 39-year-old McGee was convicted last year on federal charges of extortion and taking bribes from business owners. Prosecutors had asked for 18 months in prison and up to one year in jail.
McGee maintained his innocence before the sentencing. He says he’s sure a jury would have acquitted him if he went to trial.
He didn’t say why he pleaded no contest in November.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Federal judge strikes down Wis. markup gas law
Date: 2/13/2009
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge has declared Wisconsin’s 70-year-old minimum markup on gas unconstitutional, saying it illegally restricts trade.
Rudolph T. Randa, chief judge of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, made the decision Wednesday in a lawsuit filed in 2008 by Flying J, a Utah company that runs pit stops in Black River Falls and Oak Creek.
A state law passed in 1939 prohibited retailers from selling products for less than they paid. Part of that law required gas stations to mark up gas either 6 percent over what they paid or 9 percent over the average wholesale price, whichever is higher.
The measure was meant to keep larger companies from selling gas for less than smaller competitors’ prices and driving them out of business. Violators faced stiff fines and lawsuits from competitors.
At least 10 states have laws that prevent gas stations from selling below cost, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least two states, Wisconsin and Minnesota, require a certain percentage increase.
Lotus Business Group, based in Kenosha, sued Flying J in 2007, saying the company did not mark up gas as required. A federal magistrate judge ruled the markup unconstitutional in October 2007, but state regulators continued to enforce it.
Flying J then filed a lawsuit against the state Justice and Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection departments in January 2008 to stop enforcement.
Randa on Wednesday found the Wisconsin law violated the Sherman Act, a federal statute that limits cartels and monopolies. The restrictions on monopolies wouldn’t apply to the state if it had a clear policy and a program to monitor gas prices, but it doesn’t, the judge said.
Spokesmen for the state departments said their attorneys were reviewing the decision.
State Justice Department spokesman Bill Cosh said the agency wouldn’t bring any enforcement actions while Randa’s order stands.
Matt Hauser, president of the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said he was disappointed with the ruling because it threatened more than 1,400 gas stations with independent owners in the state.
If those businesses go under, competition will be reduced and prices could climb, he said.
“We’re hoping for an immediate appeal … to make sure consumers are protected from a less competitive marketplace,” Hauser said.
But Flying J company attorney Jonathan Dibble said the ruling should increase competition and drive down gas prices.
“The citizens of Wisconsin have paid hundreds of millions of dollars more than they should have over the years,” he said. Randa had estimated the state’s markup law cost drivers about 30 cents on every gallon during the past two years, when gas prices rose to nearly $4 per gallon.
Gov. Jim Doyle also said the ruling would benefit customers.
Linda Casey, a spokeswoman for Speedway SuperAmerica that has 75 stores in Wisconsin, said other factors affect gas prices and that Randa’s decision wouldn’t necessarily mean lower prices at the pump.
But she said the ruling “encourages competition.”
“That’s a good thing,” she said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge has declared Wisconsin’s 70-year-old minimum markup on gas unconstitutional, saying it illegally restricts trade.
Rudolph T. Randa, chief judge of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, made the decision Wednesday in a lawsuit filed in 2008 by Flying J, a Utah company that runs pit stops in Black River Falls and Oak Creek.
A state law passed in 1939 prohibited retailers from selling products for less than they paid. Part of that law required gas stations to mark up gas either 6 percent over what they paid or 9 percent over the average wholesale price, whichever is higher.
The measure was meant to keep larger companies from selling gas for less than smaller competitors’ prices and driving them out of business. Violators faced stiff fines and lawsuits from competitors.
At least 10 states have laws that prevent gas stations from selling below cost, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least two states, Wisconsin and Minnesota, require a certain percentage increase.
Lotus Business Group, based in Kenosha, sued Flying J in 2007, saying the company did not mark up gas as required. A federal magistrate judge ruled the markup unconstitutional in October 2007, but state regulators continued to enforce it.
Flying J then filed a lawsuit against the state Justice and Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection departments in January 2008 to stop enforcement.
Randa on Wednesday found the Wisconsin law violated the Sherman Act, a federal statute that limits cartels and monopolies. The restrictions on monopolies wouldn’t apply to the state if it had a clear policy and a program to monitor gas prices, but it doesn’t, the judge said.
Spokesmen for the state departments said their attorneys were reviewing the decision.
State Justice Department spokesman Bill Cosh said the agency wouldn’t bring any enforcement actions while Randa’s order stands.
Matt Hauser, president of the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said he was disappointed with the ruling because it threatened more than 1,400 gas stations with independent owners in the state.
If those businesses go under, competition will be reduced and prices could climb, he said.
“We’re hoping for an immediate appeal … to make sure consumers are protected from a less competitive marketplace,” Hauser said.
But Flying J company attorney Jonathan Dibble said the ruling should increase competition and drive down gas prices.
“The citizens of Wisconsin have paid hundreds of millions of dollars more than they should have over the years,” he said. Randa had estimated the state’s markup law cost drivers about 30 cents on every gallon during the past two years, when gas prices rose to nearly $4 per gallon.
Gov. Jim Doyle also said the ruling would benefit customers.
Linda Casey, a spokeswoman for Speedway SuperAmerica that has 75 stores in Wisconsin, said other factors affect gas prices and that Randa’s decision wouldn’t necessarily mean lower prices at the pump.
But she said the ruling “encourages competition.”
“That’s a good thing,” she said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Former priest gets 25 years on sex charge with boy
Date: 2/11/2009
By DON BABWIN
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) — A former Roman Catholic priest convicted of taking a boy on religious retreats to have sex with him was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison.
Donald McGuire, of Oak Lawn, displayed no emotion as U.S District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer imposed a 300-month sentence that likely means the 78-year-old former priest will die in prison.
Pallmeyer said McGuire used his stature, his international reputation that included being a spiritual adviser to Mother Teresa and the trust parents had in him that he would care for “the finest gifts God ever gave them: their children.”
She said the boys’ confidence, faith, innocence and sexual desire were destroyed.
“You robbed them of all these things,” she said after a hearing that included statements from victims, including McGuire’s godson.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Ruder told the judge that it was “a horrific and monstrous crime.”
McGuire was convicted in October of charges of traveling outside the United States and across state lines to have sex with a teenager between 2000 and 2003. The Vatican ordered McGuire out of the priesthood last year.
In 2006, McGuire was convicted in Wisconsin of child molestation and sentenced to seven years in prison. He has appealed that conviction.
McGuire also has been indicted in Arizona on child molestation charges and faces lawsuits on new child molestation accusations.
Victims and their parents testified before the sentencing Wednesday that they felt guilty for not coming forward sooner with their allegations.
“I apologize to the other victims,” said one man who told the judge he was abused by McGuire for six years beginning in the late 1970s. “I apologize that I didn’t come forward.”
Many of those who testified also asked McGuire to apologize to them, which Pallmeyer noted the former priest didn’t do.
McGuire has maintained his innocence throughout the trial. At the hearing, he told the judge he would continue to pray for everyone connected to the trial and spoke of being near the end of his life.
“I see that horizon, it’s heaven, where every tear will be wiped away,” he said.
McGuire would have to serve most of his sentence before he is eligible for release.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By DON BABWIN
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) — A former Roman Catholic priest convicted of taking a boy on religious retreats to have sex with him was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison.
Donald McGuire, of Oak Lawn, displayed no emotion as U.S District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer imposed a 300-month sentence that likely means the 78-year-old former priest will die in prison.
Pallmeyer said McGuire used his stature, his international reputation that included being a spiritual adviser to Mother Teresa and the trust parents had in him that he would care for “the finest gifts God ever gave them: their children.”
She said the boys’ confidence, faith, innocence and sexual desire were destroyed.
“You robbed them of all these things,” she said after a hearing that included statements from victims, including McGuire’s godson.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Ruder told the judge that it was “a horrific and monstrous crime.”
McGuire was convicted in October of charges of traveling outside the United States and across state lines to have sex with a teenager between 2000 and 2003. The Vatican ordered McGuire out of the priesthood last year.
In 2006, McGuire was convicted in Wisconsin of child molestation and sentenced to seven years in prison. He has appealed that conviction.
McGuire also has been indicted in Arizona on child molestation charges and faces lawsuits on new child molestation accusations.
Victims and their parents testified before the sentencing Wednesday that they felt guilty for not coming forward sooner with their allegations.
“I apologize to the other victims,” said one man who told the judge he was abused by McGuire for six years beginning in the late 1970s. “I apologize that I didn’t come forward.”
Many of those who testified also asked McGuire to apologize to them, which Pallmeyer noted the former priest didn’t do.
McGuire has maintained his innocence throughout the trial. At the hearing, he told the judge he would continue to pray for everyone connected to the trial and spoke of being near the end of his life.
“I see that horizon, it’s heaven, where every tear will be wiped away,” he said.
McGuire would have to serve most of his sentence before he is eligible for release.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
DNA match breaks open Wisconsin slaying from 1976
Date: 2/10/2009
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) — A DNA match has helped detectives arrest a man in the stabbing death of a 19-year-old woman more than three decades ago, apparently clearing a case that has haunted this central Wisconsin city for a generation.
Police arrested Thomas Niesen, 53, of Ashwaubenon, last week in the 1976 death of Kathleen Leichtman. Prosecutors said Monday they expect to formally charge him Tuesday morning.
Leichtman’s death was the only unsolved homicide in Fond du Lac, and the case dogged detectives and the victim’s relatives for years.
“This was their nightmare,” Fond du Lac Police Chief Tony Barthuly said at a press conference Monday.
Barthuly’s own uncle, Alexander Semenas, was district attorney when Leichtman was killed. “Last week was one of the happiest moments of my career,” he said. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell Kathleen’s family I hope this resolution allows you to sleep comfortable at night.”
Fond du Lac, a city of about 42,000 people, lies at the south end of Lake Winnebago about 70 miles from Madison, Milwaukee and Green Bay, the state’s three largest cities.
Leichtman, who was from Milwaukee, came to Fond du Lac on July 14, 1976, to work as a go-go dancer at a nightclub called The Other Place. A motorist discovered her body in the road across from a golf course about 2 a.m. the next day. Someone had slit her throat and stabbed her multiple times.
Police put together sketches of two men who left the nightclub with Leichtman, but no arrests were ever made.
Detectives sent DNA evidence from Leichtman’s death to the state crime lab in 2001 but received no matches. The sample went into the national DNA database. There were no results for seven years.
“This is the one everybody looked at as the one that was going to get away,” said Capt. Michael Frank, the Fond du Lac Police Department’s detective supervisor.
Then, in October 2008, the lab matched the Leichtman sample to Niesen, who had to submit DNA after he was convicted of felony child abuse in Brown County earlier that year. Niesen gave his sample in August, Frank said.
The department assigned two detectives to work exclusively on the case. Frank estimated the agency has spent about 1,000 hours on the case since the DNA hit came back.
Detectives interviewed Niesen at his home Wednesday and took him into custody. He remains in the Fond du Lac County Jail, police said.
District Attorney Dan Kaminsky declined comment on the investigation before filing charges. He said only that investigators have a working theory about what happened to Leichtman and believe they have the right man.
Leichtman’s family issued a two-sentence statement through police, asking the media to leave them alone and thanking detectives for their work.
They said they “would like to express their special appreciation and gratitude to everyone working on this case and to their dedication.”
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) — A DNA match has helped detectives arrest a man in the stabbing death of a 19-year-old woman more than three decades ago, apparently clearing a case that has haunted this central Wisconsin city for a generation.
Police arrested Thomas Niesen, 53, of Ashwaubenon, last week in the 1976 death of Kathleen Leichtman. Prosecutors said Monday they expect to formally charge him Tuesday morning.
Leichtman’s death was the only unsolved homicide in Fond du Lac, and the case dogged detectives and the victim’s relatives for years.
“This was their nightmare,” Fond du Lac Police Chief Tony Barthuly said at a press conference Monday.
Barthuly’s own uncle, Alexander Semenas, was district attorney when Leichtman was killed. “Last week was one of the happiest moments of my career,” he said. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell Kathleen’s family I hope this resolution allows you to sleep comfortable at night.”
Fond du Lac, a city of about 42,000 people, lies at the south end of Lake Winnebago about 70 miles from Madison, Milwaukee and Green Bay, the state’s three largest cities.
Leichtman, who was from Milwaukee, came to Fond du Lac on July 14, 1976, to work as a go-go dancer at a nightclub called The Other Place. A motorist discovered her body in the road across from a golf course about 2 a.m. the next day. Someone had slit her throat and stabbed her multiple times.
Police put together sketches of two men who left the nightclub with Leichtman, but no arrests were ever made.
Detectives sent DNA evidence from Leichtman’s death to the state crime lab in 2001 but received no matches. The sample went into the national DNA database. There were no results for seven years.
“This is the one everybody looked at as the one that was going to get away,” said Capt. Michael Frank, the Fond du Lac Police Department’s detective supervisor.
Then, in October 2008, the lab matched the Leichtman sample to Niesen, who had to submit DNA after he was convicted of felony child abuse in Brown County earlier that year. Niesen gave his sample in August, Frank said.
The department assigned two detectives to work exclusively on the case. Frank estimated the agency has spent about 1,000 hours on the case since the DNA hit came back.
Detectives interviewed Niesen at his home Wednesday and took him into custody. He remains in the Fond du Lac County Jail, police said.
District Attorney Dan Kaminsky declined comment on the investigation before filing charges. He said only that investigators have a working theory about what happened to Leichtman and believe they have the right man.
Leichtman’s family issued a two-sentence statement through police, asking the media to leave them alone and thanking detectives for their work.
They said they “would like to express their special appreciation and gratitude to everyone working on this case and to their dedication.”
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Wis. religious leader: No contest in corpse case
Date: 2/5/2009
MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) — A religious leader pleaded no contest Thursday to charges that he stashed a rotting corpse for two months in a follower’s bathroom.
Alan Bushey was charged last year with hiding a corpse, causing mental harm to a child and theft. Investigators said the body of a 90-year-old member of his religious group was concealed at another group member’s home in a scheme to collect the dead woman’s Social Security checks.
Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth agreed to drop the mental harm and theft counts in exchange for Bushey’s plea, according to online court records.
Bushey, 58, of Necedah, faces up to 10 years in prison and $25,000 in fines. His sentencing is set for May 5.
His attorney, Thomas Steinman, didn’t immediately return a telephone message left at his office Thursday. Southworth’s office declined to comment.
Prosecutors accused Bushey and follower Tammy Lewis of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth’s body on a toilet in Lewis’ home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint said Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth’s family expressed concern.
Lewis pleaded no contest in November to obstructing a police officer and was fined $350.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) — A religious leader pleaded no contest Thursday to charges that he stashed a rotting corpse for two months in a follower’s bathroom.
Alan Bushey was charged last year with hiding a corpse, causing mental harm to a child and theft. Investigators said the body of a 90-year-old member of his religious group was concealed at another group member’s home in a scheme to collect the dead woman’s Social Security checks.
Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth agreed to drop the mental harm and theft counts in exchange for Bushey’s plea, according to online court records.
Bushey, 58, of Necedah, faces up to 10 years in prison and $25,000 in fines. His sentencing is set for May 5.
His attorney, Thomas Steinman, didn’t immediately return a telephone message left at his office Thursday. Southworth’s office declined to comment.
Prosecutors accused Bushey and follower Tammy Lewis of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth’s body on a toilet in Lewis’ home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint said Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth’s family expressed concern.
Lewis pleaded no contest in November to obstructing a police officer and was fined $350.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Cheerleading is a contact sport, Wis. court rules
Date: 1/27/2009
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — High school cheerleading is a contact sport and therefore its participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a case being closely watched in the cheerleading world.
The court ruled that a former high school cheerleader cannot sue a teammate who failed to stop her fall while she was practicing a stunt. The court also said the injured cheerleader cannot sue her school district.
The National Cheer Safety Foundation said the decision is the first of its kind in the nation.
At issue in the case was whether cheerleaders qualify for immunity under a Wisconsin law that prevents participants in contact sports from suing each other for unintentional injuries.
It does not spell out which sports are contact sports. The District 4 Court of Appeals ruled last year cheerleading doesn’t qualify because there’s no contact between opposing teams.
But all seven members of the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to overturn that decision. In the opinion, Justice Annette Ziegler said cheerleading involves “a significant amount of physical contact between the cheerleaders.” As an example, she cited stunts in which cheerleaders are tossed in the air.
The lawsuit was brought by Brittany Noffke, who was a varsity cheerleader at Holmen High School in western Wisconsin. Practicing a stunt in 2004, Noffke fell backward off the shoulders of another cheerleader and suffered a serious head injury.
She sued a 16-year-old male teammate who was supposed to be her spotter but failed to catch her; the school district; and the district’s insurer.
Ziegler rejected Noffke’s argument that “contact sports” should mean only aggressive sports such as football and hockey. She wrote they should include any sport that that includes “physical contact between persons.”
The decision means cheerleaders can be sued only for acting recklessly. The court said Noffke’s teammate only made a mistake or showed a lack of skill. As for the school district, Ziegler said it cannot be sued for the coach’s behavior under a Wisconsin law that shields government agencies from lawsuits for the actions of employees.
Many observers had warned that families of cheerleaders would be forced to take out big insurance policies if the lower court decision stood.
Because of the increasingly difficult stunts, injuries among high school cheerleaders are a problem. Researchers at the University of North Carolina have found that two-thirds of the roughly 100 cases of “catastrophic” sports injuries among high school girls since 1982 have involved cheerleading.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — High school cheerleading is a contact sport and therefore its participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a case being closely watched in the cheerleading world.
The court ruled that a former high school cheerleader cannot sue a teammate who failed to stop her fall while she was practicing a stunt. The court also said the injured cheerleader cannot sue her school district.
The National Cheer Safety Foundation said the decision is the first of its kind in the nation.
At issue in the case was whether cheerleaders qualify for immunity under a Wisconsin law that prevents participants in contact sports from suing each other for unintentional injuries.
It does not spell out which sports are contact sports. The District 4 Court of Appeals ruled last year cheerleading doesn’t qualify because there’s no contact between opposing teams.
But all seven members of the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to overturn that decision. In the opinion, Justice Annette Ziegler said cheerleading involves “a significant amount of physical contact between the cheerleaders.” As an example, she cited stunts in which cheerleaders are tossed in the air.
The lawsuit was brought by Brittany Noffke, who was a varsity cheerleader at Holmen High School in western Wisconsin. Practicing a stunt in 2004, Noffke fell backward off the shoulders of another cheerleader and suffered a serious head injury.
She sued a 16-year-old male teammate who was supposed to be her spotter but failed to catch her; the school district; and the district’s insurer.
Ziegler rejected Noffke’s argument that “contact sports” should mean only aggressive sports such as football and hockey. She wrote they should include any sport that that includes “physical contact between persons.”
The decision means cheerleaders can be sued only for acting recklessly. The court said Noffke’s teammate only made a mistake or showed a lack of skill. As for the school district, Ziegler said it cannot be sued for the coach’s behavior under a Wisconsin law that shields government agencies from lawsuits for the actions of employees.
Many observers had warned that families of cheerleaders would be forced to take out big insurance policies if the lower court decision stood.
Because of the increasingly difficult stunts, injuries among high school cheerleaders are a problem. Researchers at the University of North Carolina have found that two-thirds of the roughly 100 cases of “catastrophic” sports injuries among high school girls since 1982 have involved cheerleading.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Wis. man freed 23 years after wrongful conviction
Date: 1/30/2009
By DINESH RAMDE and TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writers
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A man sentenced to life in prison for killing a woman in 1984 had his conviction overturned and was released Friday on a personal recognizance bond after spending 23 years behind bars.
Robert Lee Stinson, 44, of Milwaukee, walked out of the New Lisbon Correctional Institution in street clothes and hugged his sister and members of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. A judge vacated the sentence after the Project argued that bite-mark analysis and DNA evidence that didn’t match evidence from the crime scene, defense attorney Byron Lichstein said.
Stinson was convicted in 1985 of first-degree murder in the death of a 63-year-old Milwaukee woman. Evidence suggested she had been raped, and her body also had eight different bite marks, Lichstein said.
Stinson still faces a charge of first-degree homicide related to the woman’s death, Lichstein said. A status hearing is set for July 27, according to online court records.
At trial, two forensic odontologists testified that Stinson’s teeth were a match, even though Stinson was apparently missing a tooth in a place where the bite marks indicated a tooth, Lichstein said.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said in a statement Friday that Stinson’s conviction was not wrongful, and that he was convicted based on “state-of-the-art scientific evidence available at the time of his trial.”
“The question today is whether there is newly discovered evidence in this case to warrant a new trial, and we agree that such evidence exists,” Chisholm said. The statement did not specify the evidence.
Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Norman Gahn said he has six months to decide whether to retry Stinson.
Lichstein, who last spoke to Stinson on Thursday, said his client was happy but in shock.
“I don’t think it had completely sunk in,” Lichstein said. “Personally, I feel a real sense of relief. It’s been a long time coming for Mr. Stinson.”
Stinson’s conviction was based almost exclusively on evidence suggesting that bite marks matched Stinson’s teeth, Lichstein said. The lawyer said he did not know why special technology was necessary if the missing tooth could have indicated there was no match.
“I wish I could tell you. I wasn’t around back then,” he said.
Steven Kohn, Stinson’s trial attorney, said he didn’t remember the details of the prosecution but recalled that the two state experts had discussed the case at a conference for forensic odontologists, leaving them unable to serve as defense witnesses. Kohn said he was forced to rely on an expert whose expertise was in dental records, not forensic odontology.
DNA taken from saliva on the victim’s sweater also did not match Stinson.
For a decade, attorneys and even some forensic experts have ridiculed the bite-mark identification as sham science and glorified guesswork.
Critics say human skin changes and distorts imprints until they are nearly unrecognizable. As a result, courtroom experts end up offering competing opinions. But odontologists insist the science is sound if applied properly.
Since 2000, at least eight people in five states who were convicted largely on bite-mark identification have been exonerated, according to the Innocence Project.
Stinson attended a celebratory reception with family and other Innocence Project lawyers Friday afternoon. He previously told lawyers the first thing he wanted to do as a free man was to eat shrimp, which he did later at an Applebee’s restaurant in Wisconsin Dells.
He maintained his innocence and said he planned to work on a book about his experiences, adding: “I’m finally out and I’m going to enjoy my life.”
___
On the Net:
Wisconsin Innocence Project, http://tinyurl.com/dcurlt
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By DINESH RAMDE and TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writers
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A man sentenced to life in prison for killing a woman in 1984 had his conviction overturned and was released Friday on a personal recognizance bond after spending 23 years behind bars.
Robert Lee Stinson, 44, of Milwaukee, walked out of the New Lisbon Correctional Institution in street clothes and hugged his sister and members of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. A judge vacated the sentence after the Project argued that bite-mark analysis and DNA evidence that didn’t match evidence from the crime scene, defense attorney Byron Lichstein said.
Stinson was convicted in 1985 of first-degree murder in the death of a 63-year-old Milwaukee woman. Evidence suggested she had been raped, and her body also had eight different bite marks, Lichstein said.
Stinson still faces a charge of first-degree homicide related to the woman’s death, Lichstein said. A status hearing is set for July 27, according to online court records.
At trial, two forensic odontologists testified that Stinson’s teeth were a match, even though Stinson was apparently missing a tooth in a place where the bite marks indicated a tooth, Lichstein said.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said in a statement Friday that Stinson’s conviction was not wrongful, and that he was convicted based on “state-of-the-art scientific evidence available at the time of his trial.”
“The question today is whether there is newly discovered evidence in this case to warrant a new trial, and we agree that such evidence exists,” Chisholm said. The statement did not specify the evidence.
Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Norman Gahn said he has six months to decide whether to retry Stinson.
Lichstein, who last spoke to Stinson on Thursday, said his client was happy but in shock.
“I don’t think it had completely sunk in,” Lichstein said. “Personally, I feel a real sense of relief. It’s been a long time coming for Mr. Stinson.”
Stinson’s conviction was based almost exclusively on evidence suggesting that bite marks matched Stinson’s teeth, Lichstein said. The lawyer said he did not know why special technology was necessary if the missing tooth could have indicated there was no match.
“I wish I could tell you. I wasn’t around back then,” he said.
Steven Kohn, Stinson’s trial attorney, said he didn’t remember the details of the prosecution but recalled that the two state experts had discussed the case at a conference for forensic odontologists, leaving them unable to serve as defense witnesses. Kohn said he was forced to rely on an expert whose expertise was in dental records, not forensic odontology.
DNA taken from saliva on the victim’s sweater also did not match Stinson.
For a decade, attorneys and even some forensic experts have ridiculed the bite-mark identification as sham science and glorified guesswork.
Critics say human skin changes and distorts imprints until they are nearly unrecognizable. As a result, courtroom experts end up offering competing opinions. But odontologists insist the science is sound if applied properly.
Since 2000, at least eight people in five states who were convicted largely on bite-mark identification have been exonerated, according to the Innocence Project.
Stinson attended a celebratory reception with family and other Innocence Project lawyers Friday afternoon. He previously told lawyers the first thing he wanted to do as a free man was to eat shrimp, which he did later at an Applebee’s restaurant in Wisconsin Dells.
He maintained his innocence and said he planned to work on a book about his experiences, adding: “I’m finally out and I’m going to enjoy my life.”
___
On the Net:
Wisconsin Innocence Project, http://tinyurl.com/dcurlt
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Hudson crash co-pilot hopes to fly again in weeks
Date: 1/29/2009
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The co-pilot who helped to safely crash-land a passenger plane into the Hudson River hopes to fly again in a few weeks and praised everyone involved in the rescue.
Jeff Skiles, of Oregon, Wis., was in the cockpit of the US Airways plane assisting pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger when it landed in the river Jan. 15 after bird strikes apparently knocked out its engines. All 155 passengers and crew were rescued.
Skiles, 49, said he and the rest of the plane’s crew were lucky that things turned out as well as they did.
“I’d just like to say we were all very fortunate that things went our way and there were a lot more people involved than just me,” Skiles said. “Flight attendants in back who evacuated the airplane, all the first responders who were there with the boats, the New York Fire Department, the New York Police Department, all had a role in the successful outcome. We were quite fortunate.”
Skiles visited the state Capitol on Wednesday to receive a commendation for heroism from the state Senate. He also appeared as Gov. Jim Doyle’s guest at his State of the State address Wednesday evening.
After receiving his award, Skiles told reporters he can fly commercially again immediately and hopes to get back in the air by the end of February.
Asked if he wished he’d done anything differently the day of the crash, he replied: “No. Not really.”
Skiles, his wife, Barb, their three children and Skiles’ parents stood along the side of the chamber as the Senate chief clerk read the commendation. Skiles seemed a bit uncomfortable with the attention, clasping and unclasping his hands and looking down at the ground and up, smiling at times.
He did not address lawmakers. When it was over, the entire Senate rose and gave him an ovation. Senators then went over to him and shook his hand. He and his family posed for photographs by senators’ aides as well as a photographer for the Wisconsin Blue Book, a biennial directory of state lawmakers and agencies.
Doyle ended his State of the State speech by introducing Skiles as a hero who exemplified a never-say-die attitude and thanked him on behalf of the state.
“Jeffrey, your heroism and heroic actions of your fellow crew members have made all the difference in the world for your passengers and all their families,” Doyle said.
The packed state Assembly chamber gave Skiles a bipartisan standing ovation marked by cheers and whoops. Skiles, flanked by his wife and Doyle’s wife, Jessica, in the balcony, stood up quietly in acknowledgment.
Last week, Skiles attended President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The co-pilot who helped to safely crash-land a passenger plane into the Hudson River hopes to fly again in a few weeks and praised everyone involved in the rescue.
Jeff Skiles, of Oregon, Wis., was in the cockpit of the US Airways plane assisting pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger when it landed in the river Jan. 15 after bird strikes apparently knocked out its engines. All 155 passengers and crew were rescued.
Skiles, 49, said he and the rest of the plane’s crew were lucky that things turned out as well as they did.
“I’d just like to say we were all very fortunate that things went our way and there were a lot more people involved than just me,” Skiles said. “Flight attendants in back who evacuated the airplane, all the first responders who were there with the boats, the New York Fire Department, the New York Police Department, all had a role in the successful outcome. We were quite fortunate.”
Skiles visited the state Capitol on Wednesday to receive a commendation for heroism from the state Senate. He also appeared as Gov. Jim Doyle’s guest at his State of the State address Wednesday evening.
After receiving his award, Skiles told reporters he can fly commercially again immediately and hopes to get back in the air by the end of February.
Asked if he wished he’d done anything differently the day of the crash, he replied: “No. Not really.”
Skiles, his wife, Barb, their three children and Skiles’ parents stood along the side of the chamber as the Senate chief clerk read the commendation. Skiles seemed a bit uncomfortable with the attention, clasping and unclasping his hands and looking down at the ground and up, smiling at times.
He did not address lawmakers. When it was over, the entire Senate rose and gave him an ovation. Senators then went over to him and shook his hand. He and his family posed for photographs by senators’ aides as well as a photographer for the Wisconsin Blue Book, a biennial directory of state lawmakers and agencies.
Doyle ended his State of the State speech by introducing Skiles as a hero who exemplified a never-say-die attitude and thanked him on behalf of the state.
“Jeffrey, your heroism and heroic actions of your fellow crew members have made all the difference in the world for your passengers and all their families,” Doyle said.
The packed state Assembly chamber gave Skiles a bipartisan standing ovation marked by cheers and whoops. Skiles, flanked by his wife and Doyle’s wife, Jessica, in the balcony, stood up quietly in acknowledgment.
Last week, Skiles attended President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Litigant rapper gets poetic justice in Wis. court
Date: 1/24/2009
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Justice might be blind, but apparently it likes good rhythm.
A Wisconsin appellate court ruled in favor of a trombone player who filed his legal brief partially written in the form of a rap to argue he shouldn’t have to pay $3,750 in fees.
Gregory Royal, 47, is not an attorney but represented himself in a dispute with La Crosse County officials stemming from his divorce. He filed a federal lawsuit against county officials who recommended their two children spend most of their time with his ex-wife, but the case was thrown out because the federal courts do not intervene in such domestic disputes.
A county lawyer then asked a circuit court judge to order Royal to pay fees for bringing the case, which the judge later found frivolous.
But Royal, who lived in Wisconsin and now resides in Washington, said he wanted to convince the appeals court in a creative way that he was being treated unfairly.
“Imagine a real attorney who can actually capitalize and perfect that expression and throw some heavy stuff in there,” he said. “It’s like Einstein’s theory of relativity. It’s so short but so perfect there’s nothing you can say about it.”
Among several lines of lyrics in the six-page brief, Royal wrote: “A domestic relations exception, I was supposed to know. Appellee would know too, so why did he spend so much doe?”
The District 4 Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 13 that the judge did not have the authority to order Royal to pay fees, thereby allowing Royal to now seek costs from the lawyer who brought the lawsuit.
Royal said he has already asked for $800.
The court did not mention Royal’s lyrics in its decision but he said he believed they helped him win.
He said he may repeat the technique in another lawsuit, which claims a Canadian rock band improperly interfered with a contract to air a television show that his employer helped produce on the Oxygen cable network.
“I’m thinking about a rap scenario there,” he said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Justice might be blind, but apparently it likes good rhythm.
A Wisconsin appellate court ruled in favor of a trombone player who filed his legal brief partially written in the form of a rap to argue he shouldn’t have to pay $3,750 in fees.
Gregory Royal, 47, is not an attorney but represented himself in a dispute with La Crosse County officials stemming from his divorce. He filed a federal lawsuit against county officials who recommended their two children spend most of their time with his ex-wife, but the case was thrown out because the federal courts do not intervene in such domestic disputes.
A county lawyer then asked a circuit court judge to order Royal to pay fees for bringing the case, which the judge later found frivolous.
But Royal, who lived in Wisconsin and now resides in Washington, said he wanted to convince the appeals court in a creative way that he was being treated unfairly.
“Imagine a real attorney who can actually capitalize and perfect that expression and throw some heavy stuff in there,” he said. “It’s like Einstein’s theory of relativity. It’s so short but so perfect there’s nothing you can say about it.”
Among several lines of lyrics in the six-page brief, Royal wrote: “A domestic relations exception, I was supposed to know. Appellee would know too, so why did he spend so much doe?”
The District 4 Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 13 that the judge did not have the authority to order Royal to pay fees, thereby allowing Royal to now seek costs from the lawyer who brought the lawsuit.
Royal said he has already asked for $800.
The court did not mention Royal’s lyrics in its decision but he said he believed they helped him win.
He said he may repeat the technique in another lawsuit, which claims a Canadian rock band improperly interfered with a contract to air a television show that his employer helped produce on the Oxygen cable network.
“I’m thinking about a rap scenario there,” he said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Wis. school’s epic snowball fight flakes out
Date: 1/24/2009
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — When a whistle blew Saturday afternoon, two teams of University of Wisconsin-Madison students pelted each other with snowballs, but the 45-minute battle won’t be going down in history.
Freshman organizer Mike Basak had hoped the epic snowball fight would break a 2006 record set by 3,700 students at Michigan Technological University, but acknowledged Saturday that the turnout at his school was disappointing.
Basak guessed that 2,000 or more students showed up, but other observers put the total at hundreds of students, not thousands.
“It was definitely huge and it was a great event,” he said.
In advance of the fight, more than 4,000 people had joined the event’s Facebook group, and word continued to spread as rival dormitories got ready to rumble in the center of campus.
School officials also prepared, recruiting a student group of volunteer emergency medical technicians to be on the scene.
Basak said no one was hurt in the melee, although “there were a few bumps and scrapes.”
Some skeptics had said chilly weather and a scheduled school basketball game would diminish an attempt at the record. Temperatures in Madison were only in single digits, and the powdery snow on campus was hard to pack.
Basak said organizers hoped to go for the record again later this winter or next winter.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — When a whistle blew Saturday afternoon, two teams of University of Wisconsin-Madison students pelted each other with snowballs, but the 45-minute battle won’t be going down in history.
Freshman organizer Mike Basak had hoped the epic snowball fight would break a 2006 record set by 3,700 students at Michigan Technological University, but acknowledged Saturday that the turnout at his school was disappointing.
Basak guessed that 2,000 or more students showed up, but other observers put the total at hundreds of students, not thousands.
“It was definitely huge and it was a great event,” he said.
In advance of the fight, more than 4,000 people had joined the event’s Facebook group, and word continued to spread as rival dormitories got ready to rumble in the center of campus.
School officials also prepared, recruiting a student group of volunteer emergency medical technicians to be on the scene.
Basak said no one was hurt in the melee, although “there were a few bumps and scrapes.”
Some skeptics had said chilly weather and a scheduled school basketball game would diminish an attempt at the record. Temperatures in Madison were only in single digits, and the powdery snow on campus was hard to pack.
Basak said organizers hoped to go for the record again later this winter or next winter.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.