JUSTICE SERVED?

YOU DECIDE

186. In Blog 5, I covered the long and winding journey of Devin Hakeem Franklin’s travels through the Wisconsin courts ending in probation, AKA supervised freedom.

In this blog, I will give an account of Jaylon James Brown, the perpetrator of the St. Patrick’s Day incident.

187. St. Patrick’s Day is one of the top 10 holidays celebrated in America’s bars. Green beer, Irish cream, leprechauns and shenanigans! Palace Bar was no different! We were ready for the usual large crowds that moved through Superior with a staff equipped in handling the party goers. The night went smoothly until last call when a fight broke out and the gun Jaylon Brown was carrying was fired. This was all caught on video. Nothing would be the same after this incident.

188. Jaylon James Brown wrapped up his last day in Court in August 2023. Let’s review his charges and the chain of events that followed.

1) 1st degree recklessly endangering safety WI statute 941.30(1) modifier use of a dangerous weapon WI statute 939.63(1)(b)

2) Carry handgun-Alcohol sold/consumed WI statute 941.237(2)

189. An arrest warrant for Jaylon Brown was issued March 18, 2022. Jaylon Brown turned himself in to the Superior Police Department 4 days after the incident at bar close. He was booked & released on March 22/2022 with his initial appearance before the Court on that same day.

Court orders $10,000 signature bond, $1,000 cash, with conditions of no contact with Palace Bar, no going to establishments who serve alcohol, no use or possession of alcohol, no use or possession of firearms or dangerous weapon. 

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 6, 2022.

190. As mentioned before in Blog 5, the glossary of law terminology and exercises within the Court has a learning curve. I’ll do my best to decipher the proceedings as they happened.

At the preliminary hearing Jaylon Brown was in attendance along with his lawyer plus the DA and a Superior police officer from the night of the incident as State’s witness.

During this time, the Police officer was questioned by the State & the Defense.

The Court finds probable cause and binds the Defendant over for Arraignment. An arraignment is where the defendant is formally charged and enters a plea. The court reminded Jaylon Brown of his bail conditions. (Keep this nugget in the back of your head for later!)

191. The date is set for May 13, 2022. The arraignment date is then changed to June 10, 2022. The arraignment date arrives with Jaylon Brown, his attorney and the DA all in Court. Not guilty pleas are entered in the Court and accepted. Status conference is then set for July 29, 2022.

192. Remember that nugget for later? Well, it ends up that Mr. Brown has returned to jail on bail jumping! He was in possession of a gun during a standard traffic stop! Brown was charged with 1 count of Bail Jumping WI Statute 946.49(1)(b). For those of you who don’t know, bail jumping is the failure to comply with the terms of his bond. He appears in Court via video in custody.

State asks for $5,000 cash, do not possess any firearms, no use or possession of a controlled substance or drug-related paraphernalia without a valid prescription. State indicates that the defendant is currently out on bail in a pending felony case. Defense asks for a high signature bond and low cash bond as the defendant has no amount he can post. The Court notes nature of the charges and failure to follow court orders. The Court then orders $2,500 cash bail and do not possess any firearms. Bond was posted on June 23, 2022.

Preliminary hearing scheduled for June 29, 2022.

193. Really!! So he shoot a gun off in my bar, gets out on bail, obviously has no regard for the Court, or anyone else for that matter and does whatever he wants! So far, with little time behind bars and about $3,500 cash, Jaylon Brown is back roaming the streets of Superior. Feeling safe yet?

194. On June 29, 2022 the defendant appears in Court and indicates he has not retained counsel for his latest case. Brown requests a reset for the hearing and waives time limits for the preliminary hearing. The court accepts this and it is now scheduled for August 3, 2022. In the meantime, on July 13, 2022, his attorney files a motion to withdraw as counsel.

195. A Status Conference is held July 29, 2022. The State indicates motion to withdraw filed. Defendant asked for reset of preliminary hearing on bail jumping case and a Status Conference on his first case. A Status Conference was granted, September 16, 2022. Preliminary hearing set for August 31, 2022.

196. At the Preliminary hearing Brown was without counsel and requests to adjourn for a month. The Court was not inclined to do so and the State requested to proceed. The State called a Superior Police officer as a witness. He IDs the defendant and recalled a traffic stop in the parking lot of Super One grocery store on Oakes Avenue, Superior, WI. The defendant had no questions for the witness. The State entered Exhibit 1 – it is a certified copy of a bail sheet regarding his charges from the St. Patrick’s Day shooting.

The State showed Mr. Brown Exhibit 1. He indicated that he doesn’t know what it is, what “exhibit” means and believes he has a right to an attorney. The Court then reviews the exhibit and takes notice of it.

The court finds probable cause that a felony was committed and binds over for an arraignment, schedule November 22, 2022.

197. At the Status Conference on September 16, 2022, Brown, his Attorney and the DA are in Court. Brown’s attorney requests to withdraw from his case and the Court granted the motion. A Status Conference is then set for November 22, 2022.

198. In the meantime in November 2022, Jaylon Brown was denied court appointed counsel. The Court adjourned the matter for the defendant to obtain counsel. The State agreed and a Status Conference & Arraignment was scheduled for February 3, 2023.

199. So here we are. Nine months later and the back and forth of court proceedings gives us all a headache! To make matters worse, Jaylon Brown lands back in jail on December 16, 2022! Now what? You would think that 2 stints in the Douglas County Jail would be enough to realize you wouldn’t want to go back there. But NO! This time his charges are 1 count of making terrorist threats WI Statute 947.019(1) & 2 counts of Bail Jumping WI Statute 946.49 (1)(b) I’m not certain of exactly what happened, but threats in today’s society are taken very seriously!

200. Jaylon Brown’s initial appearance before the Court on his third case is December 19, 2022. He appears by video in custody. The State requested $5,000 cash bail & no contact with Cenovus Refinery in Superior, WI. An attorney appears in Court for Brown and requested barely one tenth of that cash bond. Court ordered $5,000 cash bond and no contact with the refinery. Bond of $5,000 is posted December 21, 2022. A preliminary hearing is then scheduled for December 28, 2022. Ahhhh, Merry Christmas, Jaylon! Instead of coal in your stocking, you got some Benjamins!



201. At the preliminary hearing, Brown and the State are there. The Court notes that Brown is now qualified for a public defender but one had not been appointed. Court informed Mr. Brown that he may waive time limits and reset preliminary hearing. He agreed, State had no objection and the Preliminary hearing was scheduled for January 25, 2023.

202. At this Preliminary hearing, Jaylon Brown was in attendance along with his public defender, the DA plus a Superior Police detective as State’s witness. The police officer IDs the defendant and brings into evidence photos and information that was seized from his phone. Messages were found from the date in question. The defendant admitted the post was a joke. The Court questions the witness and states he did not know how many people saw the post. The State then submitted Exhibits 2 & 3, copies of bail bonds from prior cases. State moved for bind over, public defender opposed it, makes argument. The Court then binds over for Arraignment scheduled for February 3, 2023, 8:30am.

203. The Arraignment date arrives. The public defender is there, the Attorney for the State is there but NO Jaylon Brown. The public defender has no information as to why. Oh, boy! Brown was taking a page out of his buddy Devin Franklin’s book! The State requested a warrant and forfeiture of his bail/bond. The Court then ordered a warrant and forfeiture of bail/bond.

A bench warrant was then issued for the defendant, Jaylon Brown. At 10:46am Jaylon Brown appeared in Court. His Attorney stated that the defendant overslept. Brown is over 2 hours late! How rude and inconsiderate! The Court quashed the bench warrant and reinstates bail and conditions. In other words, no consequences for Mr. Brown.

204. A plea of non guilty is entered into Court. The Court accepts the not guilty plea. A Status Conference is granted and scheduled for April 14, 2023. Jaylon Brown appears by video, his public defender and the State’s attorney are present. The State has made an offer. The public defender noted recent discussions and requests another Status Conference. It is scheduled for May 15, 2023.

205. May 15, 2023, Brown appears by video, his public defender and State’s attorney are in attendance. Court called cases. The State deferred to the Defense as they rejected a counter proposal. The Defense believes a resolution is possible and requests one more Status Conference. The State doesn’t object and one more Status Conference is scheduled for June 9, 2023. Now, if I were the Judge, I’d demand Brown show up in person and not by video, but he has that choice in some court appears through a WI statute.

206. Next Status Conference date arrives, Brown appears by video again, his public defender & the State’s Attorney are present in Court. The State notes there is an agreement and requests a separate plea and sentencing date. The public defender agrees and a request for 30 days from now is agreed upon. Plea/sentencing is set for July 24, 2023.

207. There is then a change in the date for the plea/sentencing hearing. The date is now August 9, 2023. Will this truly be the end of the constant juggling within a Court room?

208. August 9, 2023 arrived. Jaylon Brown, his lawyer, and the State’s attorney are in Court and the State’s prepared to proceed.

The State reads the charges. Jaylon Brown pleads no contest to all counts. The Defendant is found guilty and the Judgement of Conviction is entered. The State made statements regarding sentencing and believed it was the appropriate sentence. The Victim impact statement that I prepared is read aloud in Court. Brown’s lawyer made statements and asked the Court to adopt the recommendations. Brown makes statements regarding remorse. For what he has done, it’s always easy to say “I’m sorry” after the fact! 

209. Jaylon James Brown is sentenced to the following:

In the original shooting case, Count 1, 5 years probation, 9 months jail time, DOC programming, $100 fine plus costs, no contact with Cenovus or Palace Bar. Count 2, 9 months jail and run concurrent to Count 1. In the bail jumping case, 5 years probation, 9 months jail time $100 fine plus costs, DOC programming, no contact with Cenovus or Palace Bar. The charges on making terrorist threats and bail jumping were moved to dismiss but read into Court. The sentences are to run concurrent, he must remain in jail for 9 months in total and was granted Huber. This is a privilege given so that a person confined to jail can maintain their employment, continue to support their families, and meet other obligations. 

210. To be honest, I’m glad it is over. Was it the kind of punishment we were looking for? NO. For an individual to be careless, might I say stupid and risk hurting others with a gun is sad. Considering he is a father of a child makes it worse! His recklessness had the City of Superior treating us like villains, not victims of his senseless crime.

211. And to the Judge on the cases, the Palace Bar has been closed since June 29, 2022. You might want to keep up to speed on your city. I would like to thank Martina at the Douglas County DA office for helping navigate the Court system, being a teacher and supporter of our rights as victims of a crime. I will see you all on the next blog.

Brian