May 9, 2018 at 6:04 p.m.
Weston man sentenced for third time in Oneida child sex assault case
Weston man sentenced for third time in Oneida child sex assault case
According to a criminal complaint filed in September 2013, Turner admitted to having repeated sexual contact with a boy who has a cognitive disability when the child was between the ages of 7 and 12. This contact began in 2008, according to the complaint.
Turner ultimately pled no contest to one count of first-degree and one count of second-degree sexual assault of a child. In May 2015, Judge Patrick O'Melia sentenced him to eight years in prison followed by eight years of extended supervision.
The defense later filed an appeal seeking a re-sentencing on the grounds the Oneida County district attorney's office did not request the sentence that district attorney Mike Schiek and Turner's lawyers had negotiated as part of the plea agreement.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, the state was to recommend a sentence of 20 years probation, house arrest for one year, $10,000 in restitution to the victim for counseling expenses, and a letter of apology to the victim.
If he had not accepted the plea agreement and had been found guilty at trial, Turner could have been sentenced to a maximum of 60 and 40 years in prison, respectively, for the Class B and C felonies.
Meanwhile, the Department of Corrections, in a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report, recommended a sentence of between 13 and 16 years in prison, followed by three to four years of extended supervision.
At the May 2015 sentencing hearing, the DA's office was not represented by Schiek, who had worked out the agreement with defense counsel, but by assistant district attorney Steve Michlig.
Michlig, who has since retired from the district attorney's office, said he understood why Schiek entered into the agreement, primarily to spare the now 19-year-old victim from having to testify at trial. He then went on to point out the seriousness of the offense and what the PSI recommended before asking O'Melia to go along with the sentencing recommendation called for in the plea agreement.
On Dec. 15, 2015, Turner filed a motion for post-conviction relief alleging that Michlig's lengthy recitation of the aggravating circumstances of the case amounted to a breach of the plea deal.
O'Melia agreed and ordered a new sentencing hearing in front of a different judge.
The re-sentencing hearing was held April 13, 2017 before Price County judge Douglas Fox. Public defender John Voorhees represented Turner.
At that hearing, both Schiek and Voorhees told Fox that the sentencing recommendation in the original plea agreement was "unrealistic" and both sides agreed to change the terms of the agreement so that Schiek would ask for six years of initial confinement and 14 years extended supervision, with Voorhees free to argue for a shorter period of incarceration.
Before handing down his sentence, Fox noted that the sentencing recommendation in the original plea agreement was "absolutely unrealistic."
"It was something that I think not one of the 245 circuit court judges in this state would have followed," Fox said, according to a transcript of the hearing. If the case had been his from the beginning, he would have imposed a sentence of 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervision, he added. Instead, he handed down an eight-year sentence to be followed by two years of supervision.
On Nov. 22, 2017, public defenders Hannah Jurss and Elizabeth Svehlek filed a second motion for post-conviction relief on Turner's behalf.
In this motion, Jurss asserted that not only did the district attorney's office not abide by the terms of the plea agreement, but Voorhees did not represent Turner properly when he agreed to change the terms of the agreement. This amounted to a breach of the plea agreement on Schiek's part and ineffective assistance of counsel on Voorhees' part, Jurss asserted.
On Jan. 12, 2018, Vilas County Judge Neal Nielsen III granted the motion and ordered another sentencing hearing in front of yet another judge, with a limitation on what material that judge would have at that hearing. He also ordered the district attorney's office to honor the original plea agreement, court records show.
This set up a third sentencing hearing April 27 in front of Lincoln County judge Jay Tlusty.
Tlusty withheld sentence and placed Turner on probation for 20 years with one year in jail or house arrest. It was stated that it is Turner's intention to live in Jackson County, which does have electronic monitoring, thus he will be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest.
Turner must also pay up to $10,000 restitution to cover counseling and other medical costs for the victim. He must also write a letter of apology to the victim within 30 days and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
If his probation is revoked, he will receive credit for 1,086 days served dating back to his arrest.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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