Cut and Walk?
"(Congresswoman Gwen) Moore repeated her claim that (her son) Omokunde had only been prosecuted because of her political prominence..."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 20, page 10A
Before dawn on the day of the 2004 Election, tires were cut on about 40 vans that the Wisconsin Republican Party intended to use to ferry voters and pollwatchers to the polls in the morning. Sowande Omokunde, along with four other young men, were charged with felony (1) criminal damage to property in the case.
None of the defendants took the stand during the jury trial to deny under oath that they did it. When the jury reported it was deadlocked on Friday afternoon, January 20, Omokunde and three other defendants agreed to plead no-contest to a misdemeanor charge. The state promised to seek probation and restitution of $5,317, but no jail time. The fifth defendant declined the plea-bargain, and the jury quickly acquitted him.
It is natural for a mother to deny that her son could be guilty of any wrongdoing (just ask any teacher), but Rep. Moore went way beyond that in making the claim quoted above. Gwen, this is not about you! Maybe now that your son has pleaded no contest to the reduced charge, you understand that. Otherwise, consider the following:
The case was investigated and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney David Feiss, and all charges had to be approved by DA E Michael McCann. If, as claimed above, Omokunde was charged only because of his mother's political position, both Feiss and McCann are guilty of misconduct in public office, a state felony, and depriving a citizen of rights "under color of law", a federal crime. Is this plausible?
No! It is more accurate to state that Omokunde and Michael Pratt (son of former Milwaukee Mayor Marvin Pratt) were charged despite their parents' political prominence, rather than because of it. To gague how preposterous Rep. Moore's statement is, take a quick look at alleged conspirators McCann and Feiss.
E Michael McCann, a lifelong Democrat, has been elected District Attorney every two-years since 1968, after he defeated Gerald P Boyle for the Democratic nomination for the office. He sought the Democratic nomination for Congress in 1984, but lost the primary. McCann and Moore shared places on the Democratic slate in 2004, when (ironically) she beat Gerald P Boyle, Jr., the Republican candidate for Congress in the Fourth District. McCann has recently declined to seek re-election, and has taken a teaching job at Marquette Law School. He would thus have no political motive to discredit Gwen Moore by prosecuting her son. (2)
Asst. DA David Feiss is a former president of the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations, a strongly liberal (though non-partisan) group. Feiss has proved his support for electing black people to public office, as the following story shows.
In 1999, there were two openings in the Circuit Court for Milwaukee County: Branches 33 and 47. Fellow Asst DA Carl Ashley, an African-American, declared his candidacy for Branch 33, while (white) County Treasurer John Seifert and Atty. Anne Bowe sought the Branch 47 seat. To any observer it was obvious that the Branch 47 contest would be much tougher than that for Branch 33. Feiss knew that Seifert, a former Milwaukee Municipal Judge, would be harder to beat than Ashley, but chose the Branch 47 contest anyway because he did not want to oppose a black candidate. As it turned out, Feiss washed out in the primary, Seifert beat Bowe, and Ashley was elected unopposed. Would such a man prosecute Rep. Moore's son "because of her political prominence?" I don't think so!
Judge Michael Brennan is not bound by the plea-bargains, and I hope he jails each convicted defendant for about six months, still well under the nine-month maximum authorized by law. The crime was deliberate, pre-meditated, and adversely affected people seeking to exercise their political rights. This was far more serious than a mere prank, and restitution alone is insufficient punishment for it.
The defense Dream Team has earned congratulations for beating the felony charges. No doubt they will all attract numerous guilty clients who would prefer little or no penalty.
McCann and Feiss, already vilified by Gwen Moore for prosecuting these five men, will now be berated mercilessly by right-wing talk radio for offering the defendants a no-jail plea deal. (Otherwise, the jury may well have acquitted all of them.) A prosecutor's lot is often not a happy one, since he cannot please everyone involved. It is no wonder that McCann would rather teach law school and Feiss would rather be a judge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------(1) Under Wisconsin law, criminal damage to property is a felony if damages exceed $2,500, and a misdemeanor otherwise. If all the accused had acted together to cause the $5,317 damage, each would be guilty of a felony. Had each man acted independently in slashing a few tires, each would be guilty of only a misdemeanor. Prosecutors were blasted by relatives and friends of the accused men for choosing the more severe option.
(2) McCann was lambasted daily by rightwing talk-radio for about two months before he decided to issue charges in the case. If he had caved into this pressure for political reasons (as Rep. Moore and others claimed), and issued charges he did not believe could be proven, such an act would have been both cowardly and thoroughly reprehensible.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 20, page 10A
Before dawn on the day of the 2004 Election, tires were cut on about 40 vans that the Wisconsin Republican Party intended to use to ferry voters and pollwatchers to the polls in the morning. Sowande Omokunde, along with four other young men, were charged with felony (1) criminal damage to property in the case.
None of the defendants took the stand during the jury trial to deny under oath that they did it. When the jury reported it was deadlocked on Friday afternoon, January 20, Omokunde and three other defendants agreed to plead no-contest to a misdemeanor charge. The state promised to seek probation and restitution of $5,317, but no jail time. The fifth defendant declined the plea-bargain, and the jury quickly acquitted him.
It is natural for a mother to deny that her son could be guilty of any wrongdoing (just ask any teacher), but Rep. Moore went way beyond that in making the claim quoted above. Gwen, this is not about you! Maybe now that your son has pleaded no contest to the reduced charge, you understand that. Otherwise, consider the following:
The case was investigated and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney David Feiss, and all charges had to be approved by DA E Michael McCann. If, as claimed above, Omokunde was charged only because of his mother's political position, both Feiss and McCann are guilty of misconduct in public office, a state felony, and depriving a citizen of rights "under color of law", a federal crime. Is this plausible?
No! It is more accurate to state that Omokunde and Michael Pratt (son of former Milwaukee Mayor Marvin Pratt) were charged despite their parents' political prominence, rather than because of it. To gague how preposterous Rep. Moore's statement is, take a quick look at alleged conspirators McCann and Feiss.
E Michael McCann, a lifelong Democrat, has been elected District Attorney every two-years since 1968, after he defeated Gerald P Boyle for the Democratic nomination for the office. He sought the Democratic nomination for Congress in 1984, but lost the primary. McCann and Moore shared places on the Democratic slate in 2004, when (ironically) she beat Gerald P Boyle, Jr., the Republican candidate for Congress in the Fourth District. McCann has recently declined to seek re-election, and has taken a teaching job at Marquette Law School. He would thus have no political motive to discredit Gwen Moore by prosecuting her son. (2)
Asst. DA David Feiss is a former president of the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations, a strongly liberal (though non-partisan) group. Feiss has proved his support for electing black people to public office, as the following story shows.
In 1999, there were two openings in the Circuit Court for Milwaukee County: Branches 33 and 47. Fellow Asst DA Carl Ashley, an African-American, declared his candidacy for Branch 33, while (white) County Treasurer John Seifert and Atty. Anne Bowe sought the Branch 47 seat. To any observer it was obvious that the Branch 47 contest would be much tougher than that for Branch 33. Feiss knew that Seifert, a former Milwaukee Municipal Judge, would be harder to beat than Ashley, but chose the Branch 47 contest anyway because he did not want to oppose a black candidate. As it turned out, Feiss washed out in the primary, Seifert beat Bowe, and Ashley was elected unopposed. Would such a man prosecute Rep. Moore's son "because of her political prominence?" I don't think so!
Judge Michael Brennan is not bound by the plea-bargains, and I hope he jails each convicted defendant for about six months, still well under the nine-month maximum authorized by law. The crime was deliberate, pre-meditated, and adversely affected people seeking to exercise their political rights. This was far more serious than a mere prank, and restitution alone is insufficient punishment for it.
The defense Dream Team has earned congratulations for beating the felony charges. No doubt they will all attract numerous guilty clients who would prefer little or no penalty.
McCann and Feiss, already vilified by Gwen Moore for prosecuting these five men, will now be berated mercilessly by right-wing talk radio for offering the defendants a no-jail plea deal. (Otherwise, the jury may well have acquitted all of them.) A prosecutor's lot is often not a happy one, since he cannot please everyone involved. It is no wonder that McCann would rather teach law school and Feiss would rather be a judge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------(1) Under Wisconsin law, criminal damage to property is a felony if damages exceed $2,500, and a misdemeanor otherwise. If all the accused had acted together to cause the $5,317 damage, each would be guilty of a felony. Had each man acted independently in slashing a few tires, each would be guilty of only a misdemeanor. Prosecutors were blasted by relatives and friends of the accused men for choosing the more severe option.
(2) McCann was lambasted daily by rightwing talk-radio for about two months before he decided to issue charges in the case. If he had caved into this pressure for political reasons (as Rep. Moore and others claimed), and issued charges he did not believe could be proven, such an act would have been both cowardly and thoroughly reprehensible.
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 9:27 AM
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