DA’s office drops reckless homicide case against couple in infant’s death
Earlier this week Winnebago County prosecutors dropped the charges of being a party to the crime of first-degree reckless homicide against a town of Menasha couple, accused of causing injuries which resulted in the death of a 10-week old infant being cared for at their in-home day care about three years ago. The reason, according to Assistant Dist. Atty. Cathy Huber, is that under a Supreme Court ruling in a 1993 Kenosha County case, it would have been impossible for the state to continue prosecuting each defendant as being a “party to the crime.”
You can read more about the details of this case and the district attorney’s office’s position on the charges in this Oshkosh Northwestern report but, without passing judgment on the accused or being insensitive to the victims’ parents, who still have a civil action pending against the Pages, the recent turn of events has stirred two schools of thought for me.
The first is this: Why did our former Dist. Atty. Bill Lennon pursue the charges as he did, despite this Supreme Court ruling? Was he even aware of it and, if not, why not? Is this one more thing on top of other things that occurred while he was in office that made people question his capability and ultimately cost him a bid for a judicial seat in Winnebago County? This, coupled with other charging decisions and handling of other cases while in office, I believe, lend credence to the fact that voters made the right decision in last year’s judicial race and that we seem to have the right man – Christian Gossett – in the district attorney’s office now.
The second is this: We need to give credit to our new Dist. Atty. Christian Gossett and his staff for recognizing a charging problem and stepping up to the plate to right a “procedural” wrong, if you will.
Again, I am not taking a position on the guilt or innocence of the Pages, nor must we ever lose sight of the fact that an innocent child lost his life, somehow. But that being said, the laws must be followed, and disregarding one (a Supreme Court ruling), even if unintentional, in order to uphold another in one’s quest for justice is no way to do the people’s business. Former DA Lennon should have been more versed in the law and paid closer attention to all the details of the case. I feel confident that if the charges are eventually re-filed against one or the other defendant, it will be done properly and Mr. Gossett and his staff will be paying closer attention to all aspects of the law. That is, after all, what real justice is all about and the only way our justice system can truly work.
You can read more about the details of this case and the district attorney’s office’s position on the charges in this Oshkosh Northwestern report but, without passing judgment on the accused or being insensitive to the victims’ parents, who still have a civil action pending against the Pages, the recent turn of events has stirred two schools of thought for me.
The first is this: Why did our former Dist. Atty. Bill Lennon pursue the charges as he did, despite this Supreme Court ruling? Was he even aware of it and, if not, why not? Is this one more thing on top of other things that occurred while he was in office that made people question his capability and ultimately cost him a bid for a judicial seat in Winnebago County? This, coupled with other charging decisions and handling of other cases while in office, I believe, lend credence to the fact that voters made the right decision in last year’s judicial race and that we seem to have the right man – Christian Gossett – in the district attorney’s office now.
The second is this: We need to give credit to our new Dist. Atty. Christian Gossett and his staff for recognizing a charging problem and stepping up to the plate to right a “procedural” wrong, if you will.
Again, I am not taking a position on the guilt or innocence of the Pages, nor must we ever lose sight of the fact that an innocent child lost his life, somehow. But that being said, the laws must be followed, and disregarding one (a Supreme Court ruling), even if unintentional, in order to uphold another in one’s quest for justice is no way to do the people’s business. Former DA Lennon should have been more versed in the law and paid closer attention to all the details of the case. I feel confident that if the charges are eventually re-filed against one or the other defendant, it will be done properly and Mr. Gossett and his staff will be paying closer attention to all aspects of the law. That is, after all, what real justice is all about and the only way our justice system can truly work.
posted by Cheryl Hentz at 6:35 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home