Saturday, February 14, 2009

The Coveted Oswald Endorsement

Here’s an endorsement nobody wants. 

Unsolicited praise from a convicted cop killer isn’t the kind of endorsement that a judge with a tough law enforcement stance wants.

But that’s what Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick got from former client Ted Oswald, a man convicted of killing a police captain in 1994. The judge is now seeking a position on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

In a letter sent from prison to The Associated Press, Oswald said Koschnick, his former public defender, did “exceedingly productive and good work” on his case in 1994 and 1995.

“If Judge Koschnick is selected for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, his voluminous first-hand knowledge of defense cases and the personalities of accused criminals would bestow to that court a fairer, more effective and more trustworthy perspective ... .” Oswald wrote. “I only observed his practice on one case, but I would be inclined to see it his way.”

Oswald is serving a life prison term for killing a Waukesha police captain after robbing a bank with his father. Oswald, then 18, and his father were pulled over after the robbery and opened fire on police with semiautomatic rifles. They also took a woman hostage and injured two other officers before they were arrested.

(3) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2251 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. Koschnick is lucky that the Chief Justice has more class than Gableman and the turds who ran the independent expenditure campaigns on his behalf.

    Unlike Louis Butler (who got a new trial for the rapist—a new trial that the rapist also lost), Koschnick’s client ended up in the slammer, where he belongs.

    It is fun, however, watching the wingnuts attempt to differentiate between the evil public defender (Butler) who only handled appeals (the most difficult assignment) and the other idiot from Hamline (Koschnick).

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 15, 2009 at 0023 hrs


  2. Endorsed by cops and cop killers alike.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 15, 2009 at 0026 hrs


  3. This is EXACTLY why this guy doesn’t have a chance.  Regardless of your feelings about Public Defenders and the nobility (or lack thereof) of choosing to do this work within the criminal justice system, the fact that he had this guy in particular as a client will never fly with voters.  I can see the ‘Endorsed by Cop Killers’ ad now.  He will NOT be taken seriously as a law and order candidate.  This is not a judgement of him ... its not even a judgement of his fitness to serve ... its simply a pragmatic assessment.  Most people are not gonna vote for a guy who defended a convicted cop killer and/or is getting public endorsements from cop killers.  Its a shame, for conservatives, that this is the best candidate they could come up with.  This seat was winnable.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 16, 2009 at 1136 hrs


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