Waukesha Parade Deaths Trial

WUWM's coverage of the Darrell Brooks trial. He is the Milwaukee man accused of using his SUV to kill six people and injure dozens more at the Waukesha Christmas parade in 2021.

Jury slated to see SUV, major shift is in store for Waukesha parade deaths trial

WUWM 89.7 FM | By Chuck Quirmbach

Published October 19, 2022 at 8:55 AM CDT

Darrell Brooks cross-examines Waukesha Detectives Jay Carpenter as he testifies during Brooks trial in a Waukesha County Circuit Court in Waukesha, Wis., on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022.

There could be some key days ahead in the Waukesha parade deaths trial.

Around noon Wednesday, the jury is expected to leave the courtroom and join the judge, prosecution and defendant in a walk to another part of the Waukesha County courthouse complex. Their aim is to view the red Ford Escape SUV that defendant Darrell Brooks allegedly used to drive through the Christmas parade last November, killing six people and injuring five dozen more.

Brooks has plead not guilty to more than seventy charges. In court Tuesday, he questioned the reason for viewing the vehicle. Waukesha County District Attorney Sue Opper said in six intentional homicide counts, and most other counts, Brooks has been charged with acting while armed with a dangerous weapon.

"We believe it's relevant and appropriate for the jury to view what we're alleging to be the dangerous weapon, in this case, that is the 2010 Ford Escape. It'd be no different than bringing a firearm into the courtroom during a shooting case," Opper told the court.

Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow addresses Darrell Brooks during his trial in a Waukesha County Circuit Court in Waukesha, Wis., on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022.

Judge Jennifer Dorow noted she previously okayed the viewing of the vehicle, and in a brief exchange with Brooks, told him he has to come along.

Brooks responded: "That's not explaining why I have to be there, though."

Dorow replied: "Because I'm requiring you to be there, sir."

Apparently, not allowed at the vehicle viewing are news reporters. Dorow said the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department will shoot a video of the session and post it into the court record.

The viewing will come the same day the prosecution is expected to rest its case against Brooks. Then, the defendant is expected to start calling witnesses on Wednesday or Thursday—the remaining dozen people he has subpoenaed.

Juan Marquez, who was hit, along with his son, by the SUV in the Waukesha Christmas Parade, testifies during Darrell Brooks' trial in a Waukesha County Circuit Court in Waukesha, Wis., on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022.

On Tuesday, Brooks called Juan Marquez to the stand to meet the time when the county could supply an English-Spanish interpreter. Prosecutors said Brooks' vehicle hit Marquez during the parade, breaking his left leg.

But in one exchange, Brooks got Marquez to say he didn't see the SUV. Patrick Ryan is the interpreter:

Brooks: "Any reason why you don't recall seeing anything?"

Marquez replied in Spanish, which Ryan interpreted as: "I did not see the vehicle."

But during cross-examination, Marquez told prosecutors he traveled 15 to 20 feet in the air after the vehicle hit him.

Brooks, representing himself, can likely expect more challenges from the three lawyers at the prosecution table as he tries to present his defense.