Bail for suspect in deadly Wisconsin parade attack raises legal questions

WAUKESHA, Wisconsin－The suspect in a Christmas parade crash in suburban Milwaukee that killed five people was free on $1,000 bail posted just two days before the deadly event, a fact that is leading to a review of what happened and renewed calls for giving judges more power to set higher bail.

One pending case against Darrell Brooks Jr included an allegation that he deliberately hit a woman with his car after a fight in early November. Prosecutors in Milwaukee County called their bail recommendation on Monday "inappropriately low" given the facts of that case and the Sunday crash, and said they would review it.

Julius Kim, a defense attorney and former assistant prosecutor, said the bail could easily have been set more than twice as high.

"He was accused of running over the mother of his kid, and to put it at $1,000 strikes me as low," Kim said. "It could have been an inexperienced attorney who happened to be reviewing cases that day."

Police said Brooks, a 39-year-old black man, was behind the wheel of the SUV that sped through the parade route in Waukesha on Sunday, killing five and injuring 48 others. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said Brooks was leaving the scene of a domestic dispute that had taken place just minutes earlier.

Brooks has been charged with crimes 16 times since 1999 and had two outstanding cases against him at the time of the parade disaster. That included resisting or obstructing an officer, reckless endangering, disorderly conduct, bail jumping and battery for the Nov 2 incident.

Thompson said police were going to recommend five charges of first degree intentional homicide, which is punishable by life in prison. He said the motive for the attack was still a mystery, but that it was clear the suspect had acted intentionally.

Legal experts cautioned that one extreme case should not be reason to push for higher bail amounts that would keep poorer defendants behind bars longer while they await trial.

Broken legal system

"We don't want to have a knee-jerk reaction here and say, 'Let's lock up a lot of people pretrial'," said John Gross, professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School and director of its Public Defender Project.

"I'm sure the district attorney's office is going to look back at this and ask themselves, 'Did we get this wrong?' This is such an extreme incident ... could they reasonably expect he would get behind a vehicle and run people down on a parade route? What would have alerted you to the capacity he would have had for this kind of violence?"

Some Republicans were quick to jump on the case as an example of a broken legal system.

Republican Rebecca Kleefisch, a former Wisconsin lieutenant governor who is running for governor in 2022, called the killings "yet another avoidable tragedy that occurred because a violent career criminal was allowed to walk free and terrorize our community".

An aspiring rapper, Brooks goes by his rap name MathBoi Fly on his Twitter and other social media accounts. A video that has since been removed from a YouTube account showed him rapping in front of a red Ford SUV resembling the one at the parade.

On Sunday, a joyous scene of marching bands and children dancing in Santa hats and waving pompoms gave way in an instant to screams and the sight of crumpled bodies as the SUV sped through barricades and struck dancers, musicians and others in the community of 72,000.

"It looked like dummies being thrown in the air," said Nicole Schneiter, who was there with her children and grandchildren. "It took a second to register, like, 'Is that what we really just saw?' And then you looked in the road and there were just people laying in the road."

At least nine patients, most of them children, were in critical condition at two hospitals on Monday, and seven others were reported to be in serious condition.

Hundreds gathered at a downtown park in Waukesha on Monday night for a candlelight vigil in honor of those lost and hurt in the deadly Christmas parade crash. Volunteers handed out sandwiches, hot chocolate and candles at the vigil, which was attended by interfaith leaders and elected officials.

"We are parents. We are neighbors. We are hurting. We are angry. We are sad. We are confused. We are thankful," said a tearful Amanda Medina Roddy with the Waukesha school district. "We are all in this together. We are Waukesha Strong."

Agencies - Xinhua