
Local jury banned by judge after ruling man innocent

By Catherine Trevison
Of the Tribune staff

     La Crosse County Circuit Judge Peter Pappas has barred 12 
jurors from ever serving on a jury again because they found a man 
innocent.
     And the move has drawn the ire of a defense lawyer, who says 
his client can't get a fair trial.
     Pappas would not comment Wednesday on the accusation made by 
John Wabaunsee, a lawyer who works for the state public 
defender's office in La Crosse.
     Wabaunsee has asked Judge Michael Mulroy to reinstate the 
eligibility of jurors who served at a disorderly conduct trial 
Nov. 29, and to draw a new jury pool.
     The circuit courts select jurors from a pool of 200 people 
at any one time.
     Wabaunsee said his client, a man accused of child sexual 
assault, can't get a fair trial because the exclusion "has 
contaminated the entire array of people chosen," Wabaunsee said.
     Their names are now in a file with those of people who are 
permanently excused for things such as mental infirmity, 
commission of a felony, or the inability to read and write 
English.
     Mulroy denied Wabaunsee's request because he said Wabaunsee 
should have brought the issue before Pappas.
     Members of the all-female jury contacted Wednesday said they 
hadn't known why they were excused.  They said they did remember 
that the judge seemed angry with them after the verdict.
     "The look the judge gave us was incredible," said juror 
Kimberly S. DeCora.  "If looks could kill we all would have been 
dead."
     DeCora said the defendant was acquitted because the 
prosecution's witnesses contradicted each other when testifying.
     "They didn't have their stories straight," she said.
     Juror Betty L. Woodford said she felt the jury made the 
right decision.
     "It wasn't a decision made to get away (from the 
courthouse)," she said. "We felt he was innocent of what he had 
been accused of."
     Woodford said she had been looking forward to jury duty in 
the future, and felt she and the other jurors were treated 
unjustly.
     "We were on trial and we didn't even get a chance to plead 
innocent," she said.
