August 31, 2016 at 4:45 p.m.
Judge refuses to accept plea deal for man charged with child sexual assault
Judge refuses to accept plea deal for man charged with child sexual assault
The two felony cases against Steven J. Morris were filed in June 2015. In the first, he is charged with resisting or obstructing an officer and escaping criminal arrest. In the second, he is charged with first-degree child sexual assault (intercourse with a person under 12) and exposing genitals. The last two charges carry the repeater enhancer while the resisting charge is the lone misdemeanor.
The proposed plea agreement would have had Morris plead guilty to the two lesser charges while the two more serious child sex cases would have been dismissed. In exchange, assistant district attorney Mary Sowinski agreed to argue for a prison sentence no longer than what is recommended in a pre-sentence investigation report, but the sentence would run consecutively to the four-year sentence he is already serving.
Troy Nielsen, Morris' attorney, agreed with the proposed agreement Sowinski had outlined to Branch I Judge Patrick O'Melia.
O'Melia refused to accept the agreement, however, telling the parties he wasn't comfortable allowing the two more serious charges Morris faces, including a class B felony which carries a maximum prison sentence of 60 years, with a mandatory minimum of 25-years behind bars, to be dismissed.
The primary sticking point was the age of the alleged victim and an alleged witness, who is also under 10-years-old. Sowinski said the mother of the children had agreed to the plea agreement, which would have spared the children from having to testify if the case went to trial.
Because of the magnitude of the charges and the sex act Morris is alleged to have made the child perform, O'Melia said he wanted to hear from the mother in person, on the record. He said he would close that hearing to the public, but allow media to observe as long as the woman is not identified in the resulting coverage.
"That doesn't mean I won't accept it (the plea agreement) down the road," O'Melia noted.
On Aug. 6, 2015, a Lincoln County sheriff's tried to apprehend Morris on the outstanding Oneida County warrants and one out of Lincoln County, but Morris fled through a field to escape, according to court records. Another deputy tried to head Morris off and got into a physical altercation with him. The report from the sheriff's department said Morris escaped from the second deputy after fighting with him, taking his pepper spray away from him and spraying the deputy in the eyes. He then fled into a wooded area near County Road A near Tomahawk.
After an intense ground and aerial search, Morris was arrested in a seasonal cabin, according to the report.
Morris was charged with battery to a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer causing substantial bodily harm, disarming a peace officer, intent to use an oleoresin device on an officer and criminal trespass to a dwelling. All but the last charge were class H felonies punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. All five charges also carried the repeater enhancer, which could have added up to two years prison time to each charge.
Morris accepted a plea agreement in December 2015. He pled no contest to the felony charges while the misdemeanor was dismissed but read into the record for sentencing purposes.
Lincoln County Judge Jay Tlusty sentenced Morris to four years in prison followed by two years extended supervision on each count, to be served concurrently. He was also ordered to pay all court costs and surcharges and granted 107 days credit for time served in the Lincoln County Jail while the case was pending.
Under the terms of the proposed plea agreement in the Oneida County case, Morris would serve any prison sentence O'Melia hands down after completing the four years he received from Tlusty.
The Oneida County case was adjourned until Sept. 29 when it is set for another pretrial conference.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at [email protected].
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