Slow Justice Takes Toll
Wisconsin State Journal :: LOCAL :: B1
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Susan Lampert Smith
The old saw "justice delayed is justice denied"
normally applies to the defendant.
That's why the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
guarantees everyone the right to a speedy and public trial.
But delays in bringing a case also affect the victim and
the victim's family.
In the last week, I've heard from the victims' side in two
criminal cases. They have little in common: one is a sexual assault case
in Crawford County, one a homicide by intoxicated driving case in Columbia
County.
What they do share are victims' relatives who feel they
are being denied justice as the cases seem slow to make it to court. Oh,
and coincidentally, both defendants are being represented by Madison defense
attorney Chris Van Wagner.
Not coincidentally, Van
Wagner is the kind of guy I'd hire myself if I wanted to stay out
of jail. He's smart and aggressive.
I can't see where he's to blame for the fact that Nicholas
Pulver, 22, of Wyocena, has yet to be tried on charges of homicide by
intoxicated use of a motor vehicle. Pulver was first charged in July 2004,
but Van Wagner has been Pulver's attorney only since Sept. 1 of this year.
The trial is currently set for February 2007.
But I do understand the feelings of Renee Whirry, the mother
of Scott Grams, 22, who died in April 2004 when his car collided with
Pulver's. Pulver is accused of crossing the center line of Highway 22
while under the influence of marijuana.
Since then, Pulver has been free on bond and has been arrested
for driving while intoxicated, speeding and driving after his license
was revoked.
"Our son's death seems unimportant," Whirry wrote
to this newspaper and others.
Van Wagner says his client denies using marijuana the day
of the accident. Much of the delay before he joined the case, he said,
was due to challenges to the constitutionality of the impaired driver
law, which was new when Pulver was charged.
In the other case, that of Frank Pintz, 65, of Prairie du
Chien, Van Wagner says
that justice is indeed being denied.
"My client is innocent," he said.
But family members of the victim, a girl who was 7 at the
time of the first alleged assault, say the delay is worse for her and
her family. They are troubled that Pintz has spent one winter vacationing
in Arizona and may spend part of this coming winter there, too. Trials
scheduled for August and September were postponed, and the next is set
for January.
Van Wagner
says the most recent delay was necessary because the prosecution turned
over a nine-page expert witness report on Sept. 21, three days before
jury selection was supposed to begin. Van Wagner said the latest delay
was necessary to ensure a fair trial, saying that surprise evidence "went
out of style with Perry Mason."
But the prosecutor in the case, Crawford County District
Attorney Tim Baxter, said he is unhappy about the delays.
"I hate them," he said. "I hate them on behalf
of the victims. I have a little girl victim and her family" who want
the case finished.
Circuit Judge William Dyke, who was brought in to hear the
case from Iowa County, said he couldn't comment on the reasons he granted
the delays.
If that case does indeed go to trial in late January, it
doesn't seem to me that a 13-month lag between charging and trial is all
that long.
But I do think it depends where you're sitting.
If you're the relative of a little girl victim, or the mother
of a dead son, time can seem like eternity.
Justice Is Finally Served
On January 26, 2007, after a 5-day trial, the jury brought
back a not guilty verdict. Frank Pintz was acquitted on all charges of
sexual assault. [See Sexual Abuse
- Acquitted - Wisconsin State Journal]
Attorney Christopher T. Van Wagner
Attorney Chris
Van Wagner exclusively devotes his legal practice to helping people
accused (or convicted) of criminal offenses or drunk driving. In practice
since 1981, Chris Van Wagner has tried nearly 100 felony cases to verdict
ranging from low level fraud causes to homicide in both state and federal
courts. [See About Christopher T.
Van Wagner]
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