Defendants in overdose death cases moving toward trial

A pair of unrelated cases involving separate fentanyl-related overdose deaths in Oneida County are moving closer to the trial stage.

Jasmine M. Lariviere, 25, is scheduled to stand trial starting April 9 in connection with the overdose death of 29-year-old Kyle Polinski in April 2022.

She is charged with first-degree reckless homicide-deliver drugs (as party to the crime). 

The trial, which is expected to last four days, was in danger of being postponed after a witness availability issue developed, however a workaround has been found, according to assistant district attorney Mary Sowinski.

During a brief hearing on Feb. 20, Sowinski and defense attorney Antoni Apollo advised Judge Daniel Overbey they have found a way to get the needed testimony, which is related to evidence and chain of custody, into the record.

Lariviere was originally scheduled to stand trial in mid-July 2023 but a witness availability issue at that time prompted a postponement. Then a new judge had to be assigned when interim circuit judge Mary Roth Burns left office on July 31. 

Burns was replaced by Judge Michael Schiek, who won the April 2023 election to replace Judge Patrick O’Melia who retired in the summer of 2022. However, because Schiek was serving as district attorney when Lariviere was charged, he was barred from presiding. As a result, the case was assigned to Overbey of Vilas County.

The judicial transfer took place in August but Lariviere was not required to return to court until late January when a status conference was held.

In the interim, the second witness availability issue arose. While that matter has apparently resolved, there was another development late last week.

Lariviere’s co-defendant, Mailk Jones, filed a handwritten motion asking Overbey to lift the no-contact order that prohibits him from communicating with Lariviere. 

Jones, 26, is serving a 3 1/2 year prison sentence, to be followed by 8 years extended supervision, after pleading guilty to first-degree reckless homicide-deliver drugs (as party to the crime) in connection with Polinski’s death. 

The charges were filed in September 2022, after toxicology results showed Polinski died from fentanyl toxicity. 

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid analgesic 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine.

According to the complaint and previous court testimony, shortly after Polinski died, police received information indicating a crime may have occurred and that Jones and Lariviere might have been involved. Law enforcement later obtained a warrant to place a GPS device on the couple’s vehicle and track their movements. 

The two were arrested in early May 2022 following a traffic stop. At the time, they were under bond and/or probation conditions prohibiting them from having any contact.

Various amounts and types of illicit substances were found in the vehicle during the traffic stop, including pills located inside Lariviere’s purse. According to the complaint, the pills matched the description of the pill Lariviere and Jones later told police they delivered to Polinski. The pills were sent to the state crime lab for testing and came back positive for the presence of fentanyl, according to the complaint. 

According to testimony during Jones’ preliminary hearing, Jones and Lariviere purchased what they were told were Percocet pills from a contact outside of the area and traveled to Oneida County to deliver one of the pills to Polinski.

The police interviews indicate Jones and Lariviere believed the pills were Percocet but were aware that there were “fake Percocet” pills circulating at the time. 

As he was sentenced last April, Jones is close to finishing the first year of his sentence. According to his motion, he is asking the court to lift the no contact order for the purposes of “family reunification” as he and Lariviere share a very young child.

As part of his plea agreement, Jones agreed to testify truthfully should Lariviere’s case go to trial. Overbey has yet to rule on the motion to lift the no-contact order and it remains unclear if the state still intends to call him to testify at Lariviere’s trial.

She faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

In a separate case, the La Crosse County woman charged with first-degree reckless homicide-deliver drugs in connection with the overdose death of a Rhinelander man in January 2023 is awaiting the scheduling of her trial.

Walker was in court Feb. 13 at which time her attorney, Stephen Sawyer, requested that Judge Mike Bloom set the case for trial. The parties attempted to find a date but ran into difficulties.

One complicating factor is that Bloom is due to leave office at the end of July. 

Ultimately, district attorney Jillian Pfeifer suggested scheduling a status conference for shortly after the April election.

As Sowinski is running against Oneida County corporation counsel Mike Fugle for the judicial seat Bloom is about to vacate, the outcome of the election could impact scheduling.

Walker, 42, of Bangor, is accused of being “the middleman” in a drug transaction wherein the Rhinelander man purchased heroin and methamphetamine. 

According to the criminal complaint, the man was found dead in his Rhinelander home days after the alleged transaction took place in western Wisconsin.

The state crime lab later determined his cause of death was mixed drug toxicity/overdose (fentanyl and methamphetamine).

The criminal complaint details the police investigation that took place after a family member found the man deceased.

 “A large pile of white crystalline substance” was located on a dresser and a bed in the room where he was found, and other drug paraphernalia was located elsewhere in the residence, the complaint states.

A family member who had been living with the deceased told police the man had been “acting weird” and “bumping into things” the night before his death. The family member also told police the man had recently traveled to the Tomah area and was acting “very hyper” since he returned. 

The complaint also details investigators’ application for and use of search warrants to obtain Facebook and phone records tying Walker to the deceased, including references to a meeting between the two in La Crosse County days before the man was found dead.

When Rhinelander officers interviewed Walker while she was being held in the La Crosse County jail, she admitted to being involved in a transaction between the deceased and individuals in La Crosse County.

“I guess it’s my fault if I’m the middleman,” she said, according to the complaint. 

The status conference in Walker’s case is set for 11:30 a.m. April 16.

Heather Schaefer may be reached at heather@rivernewsonline.com.