KLESER, TEEN IN GAY MURDER CASE, TO FACE TRIAL IN JUVENILE COURT

Ruling, to be Issued Today, Stuns Prosecutor

If Guilty, Must be Released in 8 Years -- Unless --

By Michael Horne

Corey Kleser, held in detention since November 8^th, 2006 on first degree murder charges, will face trial in juvenile court, in a rare decision of reverse waiver to be filed in Judge Mary Triggiano’s court today, Monday, November 19^th, 2007, at 2 p.m. The ruling also applies to two felony counts of battery by prisoner and battery – intend substantial harm filed against Kleser in Milwaukee County Court on February 7^th, 2007 for an incident at the Children’s Court Center, where he had been held at the time.

The decision to try Kleser as a juvenile has caused dismay in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office, where Assistant District Attorney Joy Hammond unsuccessfully argued that Kleser, who will turn 17 on December 31^st, should have been tried as an adult.

Hammond, a 1997 Syracuse University alum, noted that there was nobody to speak for the victim at the hearing, which may have balanced things in Kleser’s favor, despite court documents showing the murder to be particularly violent. [Kleser was alleged to have finished off his victim with 19 stab wounds to the neck from a scissors, after having bludgeoned him.] The juvenile also had a lengthy record, and was among a Gothy group that infested Brady Street and the east side for a period. [See previous Milwaukeeworld postings.]

Hammond adds that Kleser shows evidence of being a sociopath in her opinion, and that he has continued to rebel while held in juvenile detention, as seen by his subsequent felonies and lack of cooperation. She is particularly concerned that even if found guilty, he may not mellow during his sentence and could pose a threat upon his mandated release, where he would be back on the streets in eight years – a fraction of the sentence he would have faced as an adult.

According to sentencing guidelines, Kleser could be released at age 25 if found guilty of murdering Ronald O. Adams on Halloween, 2006, when the 57-year old man offered to pay Kleser money for sex. If young Kleser had shown some restraint on that evening, Adams would be facing time, and recovering from a kick to the groin, while Kleser could have had the compassion of the community in his role as an innocent victim.

There may apparently still be some hope that Kleser could serve more time, and not be released at the relatively young age of 25. He faces Waukesha County felony charges for assault of a guard at the Ethan Allen home in Wales, where he has been detained at that juvenile facility. Hon. Lee S. Dreyfus, Jr., [Ole Miss, ‘78] the judge in the Waukesha assault case, might not be as easily convinced that Kleser deserves juvenile treatment as was Judge Triggiano in Milwaukee County. Those charges were filed in Waukesha, since Ethan Allen is located in that county. Dreyfus recently ruled that a man alleged to have killed his mother with an ax was competent to stand trial, which might not bode well for our accused murderer.

Triggiano was appointed to her post in 2004 by Governor Jim Doyle to replace retiring judge Victor Manian. The 1988 University of Wisconsin Law School graduate previously worked for Legal Action Wisconsin, the state’s largest legal program for low income citizens, where she served as Managing Attorney before becoming judge.