Latest news with #DaneCounty
CBS News
28-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Wisconsin Supreme Court suspends judge who left court to arrest a hospitalized defendant
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended a Dane County judge for a week Tuesday for leaving court to try to arrest a hospitalized defendant herself and getting into a sarcastic exchange with another defendant seeking a trial delay. The court agreed with a judicial conduct review panel's suspension recommendation for Ellen Berz, finding that she deserved more than a reprimand because she behaved impulsively and showed a lack of restraint. The suspension will begin June 26, the court ordered. "We believe that the recommended seven-day suspension is of sufficient length to impress upon Judge Berz the necessity of patience, impartiality, and restraint in her work, and to demonstrate to the public the judiciary's dedication to promoting professionalism among its members," the justices wrote in the suspension order. Justice Jill Karofsky, herself a former Dane County judge, did not participate in the case. The suspension order noted that Berz has acknowledged the facts of the case and has accepted full responsibility. Andrew Rima, one of two attorneys for Berz listed in online court records, declined to comment. Her other attorney, Steven Caya, didn't immediately respond to an email. Berz is the second Wisconsin judge that the state Supreme Court has suspended in the last five weeks. The justices suspended Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan indefinitely on April 29 after federal prosecutors accused her of helping a man evade U.S. immigration agents by showing him out a back door in her courtroom. A federal grand jury has indicted Dugan on one count of obstruction and one count of concealing a person to prevent arrest. She has pleaded not guilty and is set to stand trial in July. The Wisconsin Judicial Commission filed a misconduct complaint against Berz, the Dane County judge, in October, accusing her of failing to promote public confidence in judicial impartiality, failing to treat people professionally and failing to perform her duties without bias. According to the complaint, Berz was presiding over an operating-while-intoxicated case in December 2021. The defendant didn't show up in court on the day the trial was set to begin. His attorney told Berz that the defendant had been admitted to a hospital. Berz had a staff member investigate and learned that he was in a Sun Prairie emergency room. The judge ordered her bailiff to go arrest him, but was told the bailiff couldn't leave the courthouse. She declared that she would retrieve the defendant herself, and if something happened to her, people would hear about it on the news, according to the complaint. She then left court and began driving to the emergency room with the defendant's attorney in the passenger seat, the complaint says. No prosecutor was present in the vehicle. She eventually turned around after the defense attorney warned her that traveling to the hospital was a bad idea because she was supposed to be the neutral decision-maker in the case, according to the complaint. She went back into court and issued a warrant for the defendant's arrest. The complaint also alleges she told a defendant in a child sexual assault case who had asked to delay his trial for a second time that he was playing games and should "go to the prison and talk to them about all the games you can play." When the defendant said her sarcasm was clear, she told him: "Good. I thought it would be. That's why I'm saying it to you that way, because I thought you would relate with that."
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Wisconsin Supreme Court suspends judge who left court to arrest a hospitalized defendant
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended a Dane County judge for a week Tuesday for leaving court to try to arrest a hospitalized defendant herself and getting into a sarcastic exchange with another defendant seeking a trial delay. The court agreed with a judicial conduct review panel's suspension recommendation for Ellen Berz, finding that she deserved more than a reprimand because she behaved impulsively and showed a lack of restraint. The suspension will begin June 26, the court ordered. 'We believe that the recommended seven-day suspension is of sufficient length to impress upon Judge Berz the necessity of patience, impartiality, and restraint in her work, and to demonstrate to the public the judiciary's dedication to promoting professionalism among its members,' the justices wrote in the suspension order. Justice Jill Karofsky, herself a former Dane County judge, did not participate in the case. The suspension order noted that Berz has acknowledged the facts of the case and has accepted full responsibility. Andrew Rima, one of two attorneys for Berz listed in online court records, declined to comment. Her other attorney, Steven Caya, didn't immediately respond to an email. Berz is the second Wisconsin judge that the state Supreme Court has suspended in the last five weeks. The justices suspended Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan indefinitely on April 29 after federal prosecutors accused her of helping a man evade U.S. immigration agents by showing him out a back door in her courtroom. A federal grand jury has indicted Dugan on one count of obstruction and one count of concealing a person to prevent arrest. She has pleaded not guilty and is set to stand trial in July. The Wisconsin Judicial Commission filed a misconduct complaint against Berz, the Dane County judge, in October accusing her of failing to promote public confidence in judicial impartiality, failing to treat people unprofessionally, and failing to performing her duties without bias. According to the complaint, Berz was presiding over an operating-while-intoxicated case in December 2021. The defendant didn't show up in court on the day the trial was set to begin. His attorney told Berz that the defendant had been admitted to a hospital. Berz had a staff member investigate and learned that he was in a Sun Prairie emergency room. The judge ordered her bailiff to go arrest him, but was told the bailiff couldn't leave the courthouse. She declared that she would retrieve the defendant herself, and if something happened to her, people would hear about it on the news, according to the complaint. She then left court and began driving to the emergency room with the defendant's attorney in the passenger seat, the complaint says. No prosecutor was present in the vehicle. She eventually turned around after the defense attorney warned her that traveling to the hospital was a bad idea because she was supposed to be the neutral decision-maker in the case, according to the complaint. She went back into court and issued a warrant for the defendant's arrest. The complaint also alleges she told a defendant in a child sexual assault case who had asked to delay his trial for a second time that he was playing games and should 'go to the prison and talk to them about all the games you can play.' When the defendant said her sarcasm was clear, she told him: 'Good. I thought it would be. That's why I'm saying it to you that way, because I thought you would relate with that.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Body recovered from Wisconsin's Lake Monona during week-long search for missing boater
DANE COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – Late Friday night, authorities say a body was recovered from Wisconsin's Lake Monona while search efforts were ongoing for a boater who went missing a week prior. Deputies with the Dane County Sheriff's Office say that around 9:45 p.m. on May 23, search teams recovered a male body while on Lake Monona. The release states that detectives 'will continue their investigation' and the Dane County Medical Examiner's Office will be performing additional testing to confirm the identity of the man. Three people dead after two-vehicle Marinette County crash, missed stop sign Saturday's release did not specifically note anything about the boater who went missing when a group's sailboat capsized on Friday, May 16. However, search efforts have been ongoing on Lake Monona for the missing man since last week. The Dane County Sheriff's Office would like to thank first responders from the Madison Fire Department, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Fontana Fire Department, along with volunteers from Bruce's Legacy, Wisconsin K9 SOS Search and Rescue and other community members who assisted in the extensive search efforts over the last week. Dane County Sheriff's Office No additional information was provided. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wisconsin Republican convention delegates back resolution to enforce strict 1849 abortion law
ROTHSCHILD – Wisconsin Republican delegates at their state convention approved a party resolution calling for the state to enforce an 1849 abortion law — a stance that touches on an issue that has caused trouble for the party in recent elections. The May 17 vote carries no authority, but it reflected a willingness from grassroots Republicans in the state to embrace a position on abortion at odds with some of the state's top party leaders. Democrats have leaned heavily on abortion as a motivator in races both in Wisconsin and across the country. The issue played an outsized role in the 2023 state Supreme Court race that flipped the court into liberal control. Some Republicans in the state and elsewhere have sought to distance themselves from positions that would outlaw almost all abortions. More: The word you seldom hear during Republican National Convention speeches: abortion The 1849 law went into effect in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion case. It was interpreted at the time as banning doctors from performing abortions in every case except when the mother would die without the procedure. But a Dane County judge in December 2023 ruled that the old law does not prohibit abortions. That ruling returned Wisconsin to its abortion laws from before the country's high court overturned Roe v. Wade; abortions in the state are now banned 20 weeks after 'probable fertilization.' That case is now before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The resolution was adopted alongside a slew of others at the Republican Party of Wisconsin's annual convention in Rothschild. Other resolutions adopted included those calling for banning central counts to tabulate absentee votes during elections and seeking to require areas using central counts to finish calculating all their votes no later than two hours after polls close. They also passed a resolution endorsing a ban on same-day voter registration. When it comes to abortion, though, some of Wisconsin's top elected Republicans have said the issue should be up to individual states and have largely declined to take a firm stance. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, the highest-ranking Republican in the state, has said the issue should be decided through a referendum, though that would require amending the state constitution — something Republicans who control the state Legislature have rejected. More: At Wisconsin GOP convention, Ron Johnson urges party faithful to unify on abortion The resolution called to 'reaffirm the sanctity of all human life and reestablish legal protection of innocent human life from fertilization to natural death through legislation and a human life amendment to both the state and federal constitutions.' It demanded 'that our state legislators support and pass legislation allowing individuals and/or institutions in the health care field to exempt themselves from any and all abortion procedures.' Delegates moved to consider the resolution separately from others, though there was ultimately little debate on it. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Republican convention backs strict 1849 abortion law
