WISCONSIN: Why Did Susan Crawford Let a Rapist Go With a Slap On the Wrist?
Voters deserve to know—an inexcusable failure by Crawford’s office to file a Supreme Court appeal on time allowed a sweetheart plea deal for a rapist.
In 2001, a rapist walked free from prison after serving less than two years of a seven-year sentence because Susan Crawford missed a key filing deadline. The result: the county district attorney, boxed into a corner, was forced to make a sweetheart plea deal that let the offender go free. Today a candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in 2001 Crawford was head of the criminal appeals unit in the Wisconsin Attorney General’s office.
Three years earlier, a Waukesha County jury convicted Thomas Gogin of false imprisonment and sexual assault and the judge sentenced him to seven years in prison. Gogin had been accused of forcibly assaulting a friend and fellow horse rider after a rodeo event, including hold a spur to her arm. Gogin appealed his case and in 2001, the appeals court agreed that Gogin’s trial attorney had been ineffective and ordered a new trial.
Trials of sexual assault cases can be incredibly re-traumatizing on victims. An advisory from Legal Momentum and the National Judicial Educational Program advises judges to minimize continuances since victims must psych themselves up for each court appearance and repeated continuances cause victims to cease participating in the trial process. Repeating an entire trial would almost certainly take an emotional toll on the victim and could result in the victim dropping out of the trial process, negatively impacting the likelihood of a second successful prosecution.
Three People In Crawford’s Office Botched Timeline
Crawford’s office prepared a 20-page petition seeking a review of the appeals court decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Unfortunately, Crawford’s office dropped the ball—filing the appeal a day after the deadline. Three separate employees in Crawford’s office were eventually found to have all independently miscalculated the filing deadline.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the petition as untimely.
The calamitous failure to file the appeal on time left the prosecuting attorney on the original case, Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Debra Blasius, lost for words. The victim in the original case blasted Crawford saying she her reaction was one of “utter disgust” and said the error by the Wisconsin AG’s office had taken away her constitutional right.
Crawford promised to help the District Attorney’s office retry the case, but ultimately the DA decided a plea deal was the best course of action left. Gogin walked away with a sentence of time served and five years’ probation on a single, reduced charge of felony third-degree sexual assault.
Crawford Said No One Would Be Disciplined
Attorney General Jim Doyle claimed his office had apologized to the victim, a claim disputed by the victim. Eventually after being contacted by the victim’s husband, Crawford finally expressed her apology.
After the botched appeal became known to the public, Crawford said no one in her office would be disciplined. Eventually, one employee, Assistant Attorney General Kathleen Ptacek, recieved a written reprimand. Crawford then suggested they may never know how the mistake occurred due to “faulty memory.”
That’s unconscionable. Through their incompetence, Crawford’s office fundamentally betrayed the faith placed in them by the victim and the people of Wisconsin. This bungled appeal is yet another example of Susan Crawford’s career of bad judgement and lack of transparency. Wisconsin can do better than having Susan Crawford on their Supreme Court.
(READ MORE: Who’s Bankrolling Susan Crawford’s Supreme Court Campaign?)
