criminal justice

More than half of the criminal cases in Milwaukee County never make it to a trial, instead they end in a plea deal. An expert explains what plea deals are, how they work and what's the impact.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel crime reporter Ashley Luthern joins Lake Effect's Audrey Nowakowski to explain what parole is, how it works, and what a governor can and cannot do when it comes to releasing people on parole under Wisconsin's truth in sentencing system.

As election day approaches, Wisconsinites are constantly seeing political attack ads. The topic of cash bail has been coming up in a lot of those ads — particularly in the U.S. Senate race. But what does cash bail actually mean?

Months after a Waukesha County Judge denied Darrell Brooks’ request to bring in outside jurors, a jury of 16 white people were selected Tuesday.

A local defense attorney says the opening statement may be challenging for defendant Darrell Brooks.

Judge Jennifer Dorow says Darrell Brooks has been too disruptive to be in trial courtroom.

In between Wisconsin legislative sessions, study committees take on tough issues and then propose legislation. One committee is looking at job access for those being released from prison.

A sex trafficking victim accused of killing a man who allegedly trafficked her can argue at trial that she was justified in killing him, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision that could help define the limits of legal immunity for trafficking victims nationwide.

The man charged with killing seven people at an Independence Day parade confessed to police that he unleashed a hail of bullets from a rooftop in Highland Park, Illinois and then fled to the Madison area, where he contemplated shooting up an event there.

Darrell Brooks has switched his plea from not guilty to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.