May 4, 2015 at 4:39 p.m.
Civil suit against former medical examiner resumes
Civil suit against former medical examiner resumes
According to federal court records, U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson of the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison held a telephone status conference Thursday, April 30 with attorneys representing all parties. Now that the question of whether Forest County District Attorney Charles Simono violated the terms of a plea agreement that resolved a criminal case against England has been settled, Peterson sought to discuss scheduling for the civil lawsuit.
During the status conference, Peterson told the lawyers on both sides to draft a calendar for how the case will proceed, culminating in a trial in either November of December of this year. This would cover all pretrial conferences to be held before the start of a trial, if the case advances to that point.
Peterson also determined that if the two sides could not agree on a jointly recommended calendar, then the dissenting party should submit their own proposed alternative. He set a May 11 deadline for the two sides to submit either a joint recommendation or alternative suggestions.
In the criminal case, England was sentenced to one year in jail after being convicted of two counts of misconduct in public office for taking human tissue and body parts from deceased persons, without permission, to train her dog to search for corpses as well as for a law enforcement exercise.
Her attorney, Joel Hirschhorn, filed a motion to vacate the criminal sentence Dec. 2, 2014, alleging Simono had violated the plea agreement.
The plea agreement stipulated that both Hirschhorn and Simono would recommend a 10-day jail sentence as part of England's punishment. Instead, Stenz jailed England for one year, which she completed earlier this year.
Hirschhorn contended in his motion that while Simono argued in court for the 10-day sentence, he violated the plea agreement when he urged the victim's families to argue for a longer period of incarceration.
Last month, Stenz rejected the motion.
In the order announcing his ruling, Stenz stated that England and Hirschhorn were both made aware that he was not bound to the terms of the plea agreement, and neither were the family members.
"I agree with the defendant that, if in fact, the District Attorney intentionally encouraged and instructed the victims to argue against the plea agreement, there would be a breach of the plea agreement entitling the defendant to relief," the discussion section of the order said. "However, the court finds that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the District Attorney has breached the plea agreement much less a substantial and material breach."
As a result of the ruling, England still must complete three years of probation and perform 300 hours of community service that were a part of her sentence.
The ruling also means the civil lawsuit, brought by one of the victim's families, can move forward.
The lawsuit was filed in Oneida County Circuit Court on Jan. 16, 2014 but was moved to federal court on Feb. 11, 2014. While the criminal matter was pending, Hirschhorn would not allow England to give a deposition in the lawsuit, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at [email protected].
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