Copyright 2006 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Accused firefighters say law unconstitutional
By DAVID DOEGE
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
WAUKESHA, Wis. — Two North Lake firefighters facing criminal charges over a confrontation with a Milwaukee man fishing in Waukesha County could learn this month whether they will be prosecuted under the state’s hate crime law for the incident.
After nearly three months of deliberation, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Lee Dreyfus Jr. has set a Jan. 25 hearing for his decision on a constitutional challenge to the hate crime law raised by the attorneys for the two men.
The attorneys for Mark J. Weber and Terrence J. Stapleton contend that the hate crime law is overbroad, vague and impossible to use without subjective interpretation. District Attorney Paul Bucher, meanwhile, insists there is nothing wrong with Wisconsin’s hate crime law, which withstood a constitutional challenge in 1993 that advanced to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In deciding the constitutional questions raised by the defense attorneys, Dreyfus will be deciding whether the hate crime law can be applied to the prosecution of Stapleton and Weber in the form of penalty enhancers that would increase the maximum punishment the two would face if convicted.
Whichever side loses with the decision is apt to appeal, something that could further delay the case, which was filed in April.
Stapleton, 66, the North Lake fire chief, is free on a personal recognizance bond on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct under the hate crime statute and obstructing an officer.
Weber, 42, is free on $5,000 bail on charges of intentionally pointing a firearm at a person as a hate crime and of disorderly conduct in connection with the confrontation.
The use of the hate crime law in the case upgrades the firearm charge against Weber from a misdemeanor to a felony and increases the maximum possible jail term from nine months to two years. The disorderly conduct charge both men face carries a jail term of up to 90 days, but the hate crime enhancer added to the count against Stapleton raises the maximum possible term to one year for him.
The charges stem from an encounter the two men, both white and of the Town of Merton, had April 19 with Mark Bratton, an African-American.
The incident unfolded when Weber was forced to stop his truck as Bratton crossed Highway E to fish in the Monches Mill Pond, according to a criminal complaint.
Bratton says he was fishing with his family when Weber shouted racial slurs at him as he crossed Highway E.
The complaint says Weber met with Stapleton at the Fire Department and the two returned to the pond in separate trucks. Witnesses say they saw Weber threaten Bratton with a handgun and saw Stapleton go after Bratton with a leashed German shepherd. Bratton contacted Waukesha County sheriff’s deputies, who traced the whereabouts of the two men through the firefighter license plates on one of their vehicles.
Weber and Stapleton have pleaded not guilty.
After Dreyfus announces his decision, either the defendants or the prosecution - depending on which side loses - could ask that the proceedings in the case be suspended for an appeal. Even if Dreyfus declines to suspend the proceedings pending appeal, attorneys could go directly to the state Court of Appeals and try to persuade that panel to suspend the proceedings in circuit court while Dreyfus’ decision on the constitutionality issues is appealed.