What's next legally for Darrell Brooks? The Milwaukee man was found guilty of 76 criminal charges Wednesday in the Waukesha parade deaths trial. Prosecutors say Brooks drove his SUV through parade-goers last November—killing six and injuring dozens.
We may learn next Monday as to when a later court session will be held to help determine and then announce Brooks' prison sentence.
But already, even the prosecution says it expects Brooks to appeal the verdicts, possibly based on how the trial was handled. Waukesha County District Attorney Sue Opper told a post-verdict news conference that after Brooks was allowed to send away his public defenders and represent himself, her team and the judge were very careful to avoid potentially appealable issues.
Opper says that included recommending Brooks be allowed to make a closing statement Tuesday even though the judge said she was concerned he was going to violate court rules and tell jurors they could engage in jury nullification. That would have meant returning a not-guilty verdict even if they believed the defendant broke the law.
Opper explained Tuesday's move:
"That was strategic for the appeal to be blunt. I wasn't throwing a lifeline to Mr. Brooks. I really had no interest in hearing what he had to say. That was just trying to do what was legally required at the moment," Opper said.
Milwaukee area defense attorney Anthony Cotton said he also expects Brooks to appeal.
"I think what happens in cases like this is you have somebody go through trial—there's a bunch of charges brought against them, a number of things that happen during a trial," Cotton said. "Any lawyer is going to be able to identify numerous potential issues for the Court of Appeals. It'll remain to be seen whether any of those issues are viable or not."
Cotton said a lot may depend on whether Brooks keeps trying to represent himself or goes back to the State Public Defenders office for help.
"If it's Brooks doing it pro se, as we call it, you know, on his own, lord only knows what he's going to throw at the Court of Appeals. He might throw out issues related to his name or throw out issues related to subject matter jurisdiction—these hollow-type arguments he was making at the trial court level. If he has a lawyer doing the appeal, then I think there are going to be more interesting issues about the scope of self-representation," Cotton said.
Some people in Waukesha didn't want this month's trial to take place because it would bring back memories of the parade incident. Now it's possible that courtroom drama involving Darrell Brooks isn't over.
WUWM's Eddie Morales contributed to this story.
