By Mike Johnson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Copyright 2006 Journal Sentinel Inc.
WAUKESHA, Wisc. — Calling former North Lake Fire Chief Terrence Stapleton’s conduct against a black man last year “blatantly racist,” Waukesha County Circuit Judge Lee S. Dreyfus Jr. on Tuesday ordered Stapleton to perform at least 50 hours of community service to an organization that primarily serves African-Americans.
In sparing Stapleton jail time, Dreyfus placed him on 12 months of probation, directed him to undergo racial sensitivity training and ordered a total of 100 hours of community service, including the 50-hour requirement.
“The color of one’s skin,” Dreyfus said, “should not be an issue in the 21st century.”
Authorities said Stapleton used his German shepherd and firefighter Mark J. Weber flashed a handgun in threatening Mark Bratton of Milwaukee. Dreyfus said Tuesday that it was clear the incident was racially motivated.
Stapleton, 67, entered an Alford-type no contest plea to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct with a hate crime enhancer. In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but concedes there is sufficient evidence to convict. A misdemeanor count of obstructing that had been filed against Stapleton was dismissed.
In convicting Stapleton, Dreyfus imposed, but stayed, a 45-day jail term with work release privileges. If Stapleton violates the terms of his probation, he could be ordered to serve the jail term.
Stapleton had faced up to one year of incarceration and a $10,000 fine, but District Attorney Paul Bucher recommended probation.
Bratton and his relatives reached a settlement this summer in a federal civil lawsuit they filed against Stapleton, Weber, the North Lake Fire Department and the Town of Merton, which contracts with the Fire Department for services.
The town and the Fire Department, which was eventually dismissed from the lawsuit, have declined to release the terms of the settlement. Bratton said Tuesday that he could not disclose the terms because he is bound by a confidentiality clause.
Weber faces incarceration
Weber, 42, meanwhile, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor count of pointing a firearm at a person and to misdemeanor disorderly conduct with a hate crime enhancer. The hate crime enhancer increases the maximum punishment that can be meted out.
Weber is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 22. Weber, who, like Stapleton, has resigned from the Fire Department, faces up to one year of incarceration and a $10,000 fine.
Before Dreyfus imposed Stapleton’s sentence, Bratton told the judge that he believed Stapleton should serve some jail time.
“This has affected me and my family and will for the rest of our lives,” Bratton said.
But outside the courtroom after Stapleton had been sentenced to community service, Bratton said making Stapleton work with an agency that serves African-Americans would accomplish more than a jail term.
“I was actually pretty amazed when he (Dreyfus) asked for the community service. That will probably be more of an impact on (Stapleton) than anything. That probably will be better than probation. He needs to be educated. I think it’s better than jail time. It’s going to have a much greater effect on him,” Bratton said.
He noted that Stapleton “would be forced to deal with us, and be educated by that situation . . . and see that we’re not any different than he is.”
Bratton said he felt that Stapleton was not “truly remorseful” for his actions and he still views Stapleton “as a racist.”
“He’s still seeing himself as the good Samaritan that day. I was there that day. He was not a good Samaritan. In all honesty, I believe he had a bigger role, actually, even though Mark Weber had a gun.”
Stapleton’s attorney, Jerome Buting, said Stapleton got involved in the incident only to defuse a tense situation between Weber and Bratton.
Before he was sentenced, Stapleton apologized to the Bratton family. Then he told the judge, “I would like to clear one thing up, sir. When I went over there and told them they had to leave, I just wanted to cool everything down for that day. I told them, I says, you have to leave today and come back tomorrow and fish. You’ve got to go now for the day. . . . And that’s from the bottom of my heart, that’s what I said,” Stapleton said.
Firefighters had been drinking
The hate crime cases stem from an encounter Weber and Stapleton, both white residents of the Town of Merton, had on April 19, 2005, with Bratton at the Monches Mill Pond.
The incident unfolded when Weber, who had been drinking at a nearby restaurant, was forced to stop his truck as Bratton crossed Highway E to fish, according to a criminal complaint.
Bratton said he did nothing to provoke the incident and was merely fishing with his family.
“He said, ‘Hey, (racial epithet), get out of my town,’ ” Bratton said of Weber during a preliminary hearing shortly afterward.
After encountering Bratton, Weber went to the North Lake Fire Department station, where he met Stapleton, who also had been drinking, the complaint says. The two men went to the pond, where witnesses said they saw Weber threaten Bratton with a handgun and Stapleton use his German shepherd to chase Bratton.
Bratton said he feared for his life during the incident.
Bratton said Tuesday that he now believes Weber only “wanted to scare me.” Bratton said that he believes Weber has accepted responsibility and is “truly remorseful for his actions” because he pleaded guilty.
“I don’t see the same look in his face that I saw that day. I don’t see the level of hate,” Bratton said of Weber.
Bucher said Weber definitely was “more culpable,” was the “instigator” of the incident and “clearly was more dangerous” because he flashed the gun. But he said Stapleton’s actions and comments he made to reporters after the incident “poured gasoline on a smoldering fire.”
“If there ever was a hate crime, this was it,” he said.
Bucher said normally he would have sought jail time for someone accused of a hate crime. But he said because Stapleton had no prior criminal record and had an impeccable record of community service, probation was appropriate.