Prosecutors have launched “ample” proof To level out Darrell Brooks Jr. in all probability dedicated felonies, Waukesha County Courtroom Commissioner Kevin Costello said On The prime of a preliminary listening to. That is the objective Inside the felony justice course of the place court officers decide whether or not there’s enough proof to bind defendants over for trial.

Brooks faces 77 costs in all, collectively with six counts of homicide and a quantity of counts of reckless enhazardment. He would face obligatory life in jail if convicted on even Definitely one of many homicide costs.

District Lawyer Susan Opper referpurple to as Simply one witness, police detective Thomas Casey. He testified that he and completely different officers yelled at Brooks to sprime as he drove the SUV by way of the parade in downtown Waukesha on Nov. 21.

He described how the car zig-zagged throughout The road for blocks, smashing into marchers from behind and working them over. He said Brooks injupurple 61 people, collectively with the six people he killed.

Brooks’ attorney, public defender Anna Kees, argued that Brooks was extreme Through the incident, noting that officers who arrested him noticed he smelled of marijuana and his eyes have been purple and glassy.

She maintained that he Might not flip off the parade route as a Outcome of the facet roads have been barricaded and Full of spectators. She famous, too, that he informed detectives that he Did not imply to kill anyone and Might not convey himself to look when detectives confirmed him photographs of the carnage.

Opper countepurple That Every one Brooks Needed to do was sprime the car and Even when he was extreme on marijuana he nonetheless dedicated a quantity of crimes.

Brooks sat quietly On the protection desk in a purple jail jumpsuit and surgical masks. He said nothing. Costello ordepurple him To seem for an arraignment on Feb. 11. That is the objective the place Brooks will enter a plea. He stays jailed on a $5 million money bond.

Any potential motives stay unclear. The grievance alleges Brooks beOn the mcompletely different of his baby minutes earlier than driving into the parade as a Outcome of she refused to bail him out of jail after he was arrested for allegedly working her over with The identical car earlier in November.

Brooks had been arrested in neighboring Milwaukee County in That Every oneeged earlier incident. He walked out of jail on Nov. 19, two days earlier than the parade, after posting $1,000 bail.

Milwaukee County District Lawyer John Chisholm, a Democrat, has taken intense criticism for his office recommending bail be set so low for Brooks.

Chisholm informed county officers in December thOn the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a backlog of circumstances in his office. An evaluation of The hazard Brooks posed to the group by no implys made it into his office’s pc system and went unseen, Chisholm said, and a youthful, overworked assistant prosecutor useful $1,000 bail for him so she could transfer on to completely different circumstances.

A gaggle of Milwaukee County taxpayers filed a grievance with Gov. Tony Evers in December demanding he take away Chisholm from office. An attorney the Evers administration employed to consider the grievance concluded Tuesday thOn the grievance suffers from technical authorized deficiencies and isn’t legitimate. Evers refused to take any movement in the direction of Chisholm, a fellow Democrat.

Chisholm has pushed for ending money bail, saying it’s not truthful to poor defendants. He wants A mannequin new system By which solely violent offenders are jailed till trial.

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This story has been corrected To level out a court commissioner, not a decide, decided whether or not to bind Brooks over for trial.

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