Green Bay Criminal Defense Attorney Blog | Appleton Criminal Defense Lawyer

50-year-old man faces life in prison after stabbing

On behalf of Froelich Law Offices posted in Criminal Defense on Wednesday, May 15, 2013.

A 50-year-old man faces charges of first-degree intentional homicide when he allegedly stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death on May 3 in Green Bay after she ended their relationship. If he is convicted, he will receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison for the domestic violence crime. The courts set his bond at $250,000.

According to official documents, the couple dated for about nine months. They were staying with an elderly friend where she served as a caregiver. After a heated discussion, she told the accused man she wanted to end their relationship. However, she said he could stay at the home for a month until he made other living arrangements. She planned to begin dating other people.

Proposed drunk driving bill would toughen mandatory sentences

On behalf of Froelich Law Offices posted in Drunk Driving on Friday, May 10, 2013.

A new bill that would toughen Wisconsin's drunk driving laws faced little resistance at a hearing on May 2. The bill was written by Republicans Jim Ott and Alberta Darling and aims to increase mandatory jail time for those who are repeatedly convicted of drunk driving offenses, and for those involved in accidents that caused injuries, even if their BAC is below the limit.

The new bill would require judges to hand out three-year prison sentences for drivers with seven, eight or nine drunk driving convictions. Drivers with ten or more drunk driving convictions would receive a mandatory four-year sentences. Drivers who cause an injury while driving drunk would receive a mandatory 30-day jail sentence if their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is between 0.04 and 0.08. The legal limit for BAC in Wisconsin for drivers with less than three OWI convictions is 0.08. This change would mean that a first-time offender would get jail time if they caused an injury even if their BAC was below the 0.08 limit.

32-year-old man accused of drug possession

On behalf of Froelich Law Offices posted in Drug Charges on Friday, May 3, 2013.

A Wisconsin man, 32, who was charged by the state for drugs in early April, now faces federal drug charges. After his arrest on April 8 in La Crosse, he was accused of possession and delivery of cocaine and heroin. The federal drug charges on April 24 were for drug distribution and possession of drugs, including heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine after police found drugs valued at almost $10,000 at his residence.

A conviction for the federal charges means mandatory prison sentences of between five and 40 years. Local and federal authorities worked together on both cases.

42-year-old man charged with fraud, lying to authorities

On behalf of Froelich Law Offices posted in Criminal Defense on Wednesday, April 24, 2013.

A 42-year-old man from China faces two charges after he was suspected of stealing a promising formula in the fight against cancer from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Although the researcher does not face theft charges, he was indicted on April 9 for computer fraud and lying to a government official. His attorney plans to enter not guilty pleas on both charges.

Although there were suspicions of economic espionage swirling around the man, he has not yet been indicted on that charge either. Prosecutors previously accused him of espionage because they suspected he wanted to share information on the medical compound with China.

Case sent back to lower court after statements suppressed

On behalf of Froelich Law Offices posted in Sex Crimes on Friday, April 19, 2013.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled on April 3 that a Wisconsin man's comments about sexual assault of a 5-year-old child should not have been admitted in court. After the girl claimed the accused man of sexual abuse, he was taken to the police station in handcuffs. He was told he was not under arrest. Although he asked for a lawyer, police kept questioning him, and he finally incriminated himself. The man wanted the statements suppressed, but a judge denied his request. He pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault of a child and received a 12-year prison term.

The appeals court decided that the defendant should not have been questioned further and that his statements should not have been admitted in court. The court determined that because he was handcuffed, he believed he was in custody when he was questioned. The case now goes back to the county for review.

Man faces 2 felonies, 2 misdemeanor drug offenses after search

On behalf of Froelich Law Offices posted in Drug Charges on Friday, April 12, 2013.

25-year-old Wisconsin man was arrested for two felony counts of delivering cocaine and two misdemeanor drug crimes and told to pay $6,000 in bail and bond money on March 22, the day after officers conducted a search at his Hudson home. The misdemeanor charges included possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Law enforcement personnel arrested the accused man after an undercover operation that was launched after he supposedly delivered cocaine to a confidential informant on March 6 and again on March 12. These incidents caused police to obtain a search warrant for the March 21 search. No information was available related to their specific findings.

Military recruiter accused of misuse of position

On behalf of Froelich Law Offices posted in Sex Crimes on Friday, April 5, 2013.

On March 19, a 27-year-old Marine recruiter employed in Wisconsin was accused of impersonating at least one recruit in order to solicit sexual pictures from the man's female friends. A further search of the accused man's residence revealed child pornography on his computer. The Marine faces several charges of child abuse including five counts of child pornography and two counts of misusing personal information, with a possible penalty of up to 137 years in prison and $520,000 in fines.

One of the potential recruits reported that the man had accessed his social media account and email information. The Marine allegedly pretended to be the recruit and requested naked pictures from more than three dozen of the recruit's female friends. Further information revealed he may have hacked into the women's computers to look for and steal private images as well.

Jury returns guilty verdict after death of four in crash

On behalf of Froelich Law Offices posted in Drunk Driving on Tuesday, March 26, 2013.

A jury returned a guilty verdict for a 19-year-old man from Dane County, Wisconsin after four people died when he drove while under the influence of alcohol and drugs in February 2012. His car slammed into an electric pole near Madison, but the defendant fled the scene and was arrested a few blocks away. He was initially charged with four counts of homicide by ^{; however, the charges were later amended to 17 counts, including 12 felonies. The jury found him guilty of eight homicide charges, obstructing an officer and driving with no license while he was found not guilty of failure to follow legal obligations in a crash.

The man's passengers, three teenagers and a 25-year-old man, were tended to at the scene. All four died from traumatic injuries, three onsite and one within a day at a medical facility. The defendant was also treated for injuries after the accident. He was arrested and held in custody on an immigration detainer.}DWI

Wisconsin lawmakers weigh in on Violence Against Women Act

On behalf of Froelich Law Offices posted in Criminal Defense on Thursday, March 21, 2013.

The Violence Against Women Act, which Congress voted to renew in late February, means specific changes for victims in Appleton, Wisconsin, and the surrounding areas. However, Wisconsin lawmakers don't agree with everything in this bill, although most agree that the bill provides much-needed funds --nearly $660 million annually over the next five years-- for shelters, legal aid, hotlines and police education to help women.

One volunteer at a local domestic violence hotline and shelter knows the feelings of victims all too well. She lived through it and received shelter services, and she is now giving back at the shelter. She observed that volunteers like her pour their hearts into the shelter, but they need the funding to keep operating.

Brown County agents confiscate heroin valued at $10K

On behalf of Froelich Law Offices posted in Drug Charges on Saturday, March 16, 2013.

A recent Green Bay drug bust yielded $10,000 in heroin after agents confiscated the drugs. One man faces charges for three felonies involving possession of drugs because of allegations that an informant bought the heroin from him three times during the month of February. He could receive a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and fines of up to $100,000 if he is convicted of the crimes.

The man allegedly sold different amounts of the drugs to the informant in less than a two-week period. A second man also supposedly sold heroin to the first suspect. The second man was taken into custody but was not yet charged. He may have had the drugs routed to him from Chicago. Law enforcement personnel located nearly 10 grams of heroin and more than 5 grams of marijuana at the second man's home. According to local estimates, the street value of a gram of heroin ranges between $300 and $600.

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