The judge presiding over the Timothy Hauschultz case wants to move forward with the trial, despite continued opposition from prosecutors and the defense.
The 55-year-old was back in Manitowoc County court yesterday (December 12th) for a motion hearing, with both parties again arguing that the trial should not start in February because Damian Hauschultz would be the essential witness, and both parties would have to cross-examine him in person.
However, online court records show that Damian’s appellate counsel informed the defense that he would invoke his 5th Amendment rights and would not be able to testify at trial.
Calumet County Judge Carey Reed, who’s now presiding over the case, said the trial can move forward despite the 22-year-old invoking the 5th amendment.
Reed will address the submissions at the pre-trial conference that is already scheduled. Timothy’s Defense Attorney Donna Kuchler and Brad Novreske again argued that the 55-year-old “won’t have a fair trial because of no cross-examination of the co-defendant or explanation regarding statements over time” before asking Reed to recuse himself.
The Calumet County Judge denied the motion and will send out a supplemental jury questionnaire to identify potential jurors.
Previously, prosecutors and the defense in Timothy’s case had brought two plea deals that would have had him serve his jail time.
However, the two judges who have presided over the case have both denied the plea deals, saying they weren’t in the public’s best interest.
The first judge before Reed, Manitowoc County Judge Jerilyn Dietz, had to rescue herself from the case due to a conflict of interst.
Timothy will return to court on January 12th for a pre-trial conference before his trial starts in February.
The 55-year-old is facing charges of felony murder, contributing to delinquency causing death, and three counts of child abuse- intentionally causing harm after the death of 7-year-old Ethan Hauschultz.
Ethan died after he was forced to carry a heavy log around for not knowing Bible verses.
Prosecutors say that while he wasn’t directly involved in the death, he did order the punishment to happen.
Damian is serving a 30-year prison sentence after taking a plea deal that had him plead guilty to 1st-degree reckless homicide in Ethan’s death after he poked and hit the 7-year-old multiple times before burying him in snow.
