Green Lake County District Attorney Gerise LaSpisa announced she will not press charges against Wisconsin Elections Commissioner Marg Bostelmann due to a lack of evidence.
LaSpisa is the third DA to decline to file charges against Wisconsin Elections Commissioners after Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling requested criminal charges against five members.
Racine County DA Patricia Hanson earlier this year declined to prosecute the five commissioners, finding she lacked jurisdiction because none lived in her county. Schmaling then sent referrals to the four DAs where the five commissioners live.
Bostelmann, a Republican appointee, is among the five commissioners who voted three times in 2020 to suspend the requirement that local clerks send special voting deputies to nursing homes at least twice before sending absentee ballots to residents who requested them.
“Based on my review of the facts and law, I decline to issue criminal charges as I do not believe that there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that a crime was committed,” LaSpisa said in a release.
Dem Gov. Tony Evers appointed LaSpisa to the post last spring after she had spent 13 years as an assistant DA there.
Milwaukee County DA Matthew Westphal declined to press charges against Dem-appointed Commissioners Ann Jacobs and Mark Thomsen due to insufficient evidence just over a week ago.
St. Croix County DA Karl Anderson is reviewing the case against Commissioner Dean Knudson but has not responded to calls for comment this week. Sheboygan County DA Joel Urmanski told WisPolitics.com last week he hoped to announce his decision this week on whether or not to press charges against Commissioner Julie Glancey.
See the release:
https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/220315GreenCountyDA-1.pdf
