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Yes.
Watch the video version of this fact brief by Trisha Young.
A man convicted of sexual assault was freed after an office led by Susan Crawford missed a court deadline.
In an ad, Brad Schimel, the conservative candidate in the April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, suggested that Crawford, the liberal candidate, was personally responsible.
In October 1999, a Waukesha County jury convicted Thomas Gogin of second-degree sexual assault. Gogin contended the sex was consensual. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
In July 2001, a Waukesha-based state appeals court ordered a new trial. It ruled Gogin’s attorney made errors that could have affected the verdict.
An attorney in the Wisconsin Justice Department’s appeals unit, led by Crawford, missed the deadline to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Gogin, who served about two years in prison, was not retried. Instead the Waukesha County district attorney offered a plea deal. Gogin pleaded no contest to third-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to five years of probation.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Brad Schimel campaign: "Careless" ad
- Wisconsin Circuit Court Access: State of Wisconsin vs. Thomas D. Gogin
- Wisconsin Court of Appeals: State of Wisconsin vs. Thomas D. Gogin
- Wisconsin State Journal: Critics: Botched appeal a rare event
- Associated Press: Altered image of Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate in new ad raises ethics concerns
- Fond du Lac Reporter: Townsend rips Doyle for 'placing sexual predator back on the streets'
- Associated Press: Woman in rape case blasts AG
- Wisconsin Department of Corrections: Thomas Gogin movement
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