WAUKESHA, WIS. – Suspect in Milwaukee suburban Christmas parade crash that killed five people gets $1,000 bail freed just two days before the deadly event, a fact that is leading The review of what happened and the extension calls for giving more power to judges to set higher bonuses.
A pending case against Darrell Brooks Jr includes an allegation that he intentionally hit a woman with his vehicle in early November following an altercation. Milwaukee County prosecutors on Monday called their bail recommendation “inappropriately low” based on the facts of that case and Sunday’s crash, and said they would look into it. again.
Julius Kim, a defense attorney and former assistant prosecutor, said bail could easily be set at more than double.
“He was accused of running on top of his kid’s mother and putting it at $1,000 made me look low,” Kim said. “It could have been an inexperienced attorney who happened to be reviewing the cases that day.”
Police say Brooks, 39, got behind the wheel of an SUV that sped through the parade route in Waukesha on Sunday, killing five people and injuring 48 others. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said Brooks was leaving the scene of a domestic dispute that had occurred just minutes earlier.
Brooks has been charged 16 times since 1999 and has two outstanding cases against him at the time of the march disaster. That includes resisting or obstructing an officer, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, jumping bail and batteries for the November 2 incident.
Thompson said police will recommend him to face five counts of first-degree murder, which carries a possible life sentence. He will appear in court on Tuesday afternoon.
Legal experts warn that an extreme case should not be a reason to push for a higher bail amount that would leave poorer defendants behind bars longer pending trial.
“We don’t want a knee-jerk reaction here and say, ‘Let’s lock up a lot of people first,'” said John Gross, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Law and director of the Public Defender Project. when adjudicating.
“I’m sure the district attorney’s office will review this and ask yourself: Did we do this wrong?” Gross, a law school professor, said. “This is a very serious incident… they might reasonably expect that he would get behind a car and run people on a parade route? What would warn you of the possibility? What capacity would he have for this kind of violence?”
Some Republicans were quick to jump on the case as an example of a broken legal system.
Republican Rebecca Kleefisch, a former Wisconsin governor who is running for governor in 2022, called the killings “another avoidable tragedy that happened because a violent criminal was allowed to walk freely and terrorize our community.”
And Republican Representative Cindi Duchow said she is reintroducing a constitutional amendment that would change the bail process in Wisconsin to allow judges to consider the danger a defendant poses to the community. when placing a guarantee. Judges are currently only allowed to consider the possibility that the defendants may not appear in court when placing bail.
Duchow said: “He was trying to run past his girlfriend in his car – it was a murder plot. “If you are a danger to society, you must try to get out.”
Thompson, the police chief, said there was no evidence that Sunday’s bloodshed was a terrorist attack or that Brooks knew anyone at the parade. Brooks acted alone, the sheriff said.
Brooks had left the site of the domestic disturbance before officers arrived, and was not being pursued by police at the time of the crash, according to the sheriff, who gave no further details about the incident. challenge.
Brooks is an aspiring rapper. On one YouTube page, a deleted video showed him rapping in front of a red Ford SUV like the one at the parade. The rapper uses the name MathBoi Fly on his Twitter and other social media accounts.
On Sunday, a jovial sight of marching bands and children dancing in Santa hats and waving was immediately replaced by screams and the sight of charred bodies. The SUV swerved over obstacles and crashed into dancers, musicians and others in the community of 72,000 people.
Police identified the dead as Virginia Sorenson, 79; LeAnna Owen, 71 years old; Tamara Durand, 52 years old; Jane Kulich, 52 years old; and Wilhelm Hospel, 81 years old. Sorenson, Owen and Durand were members of the Dancing Grannies club, and Hospel helped out with the group.
Nicole Schneiter, who was there with her children and grandchildren, said: ‘It looked like dummies were thrown into the air. “It took a second to check in, like, ` `Is that what we actually just saw?” And then you look at the road and only people are lying on the road. “
At least nine patients, most of them children, were in critical condition Monday at two hospitals, and seven others were reported in serious condition.
Hundreds of people gathered in a downtown park on Monday night in Waukesha, Wisconsin, for a candlelit vigil to honor those lost and injured in the crash of the Christmas parade. died the day before. A pair of missionaries solemnly read the names of the dead. Volunteers distributed sandwiches, hot chocolate and candles during the vigil, which was attended by interfaith leaders and elected officials.
“We’re parents. We’re neighbors. We’re hurt. We’re angry. We’re sad. We’re confused. We’re grateful. We’re all in this together. We’re all here. I am the Strong Waukesha,” a tearful Amanda Medina Roddy told the Waukesha School District.
The sheriff said police did not pursue Brooks before he entered the parade route, but n officers fired a shot to try to stop him. The officer stopped firing because of the danger to others. Brooks was uninjured.
Mayor Shawn Reilly described the parade as a “Norman Rockwell-style” event that had “become a nightmare.”
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Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin, and Condon reported from New York. Associated Press writers Kathleen Foody in Chicago, Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan, and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed.
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