Waukesha Christmas parade trial is an ‘absolute disaster’ for Brooks: Brian Claypool
Criminal defense attorney Brian Claypool provides analysis of the chaotic Waukesha Christmas parade trial where Darrell Brooks is being charged with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
Darrell Brooks, the 40-year-old Milwaukee man accused of plowing a Ford Escape SUV through a Christmas parade in nearby Waukesha last year, has been found guilty of six intentional first-degree homicide counts and dozens of other charges — Wisconsin's equivalent of murder — in a trial over the deaths of six and injuries to dozens more.
Brooks made several objections over "subject matter jurisdiction" before the jury returned. Judge Jennifer Dorow invited the jurors back. Brooks made a series of requests for documents; Dorow said they were noted and denied.
The decision came Wednesday after a 23-day trial which saw the defendant, who was representing himself, ejected from the courtroom multiple times for disruptive behavior.
He attacked the credibility of witnesses on the stand, raised frivolous objections and at one point went on a 50-minute rant asserting that the court had a conflict of interest, and he had not been able to "face his accuser."
WAUKESHA CHRISTMAS PARADE ATTACK: JURY ENTERS DELIBERATIONS IN DARRELL BROOKS TRIAL
Darrell Brooks Jr. looks down as Judge Jennifer Dorow reads off dozens of guilty verdicts following jury deliberations in his trial over the Waukesha Christmas parade attack. (FOX6 News Milwaukee)
The paradegoers who Brooks killed on Nov. 21, 2021 were Jackson Sparks, 8; Tamara Durand, 52; Jane Kulich, 52; LeAnna Owen, 71; Virginia Sorenson, 79; and Wilhelm Hospel, 81.
"Burn in hell you piece of s---," someone yelled from the gallery before Dorow got to the jury's decision on the third murder charge. The judge ordered him out of the room.
It took Dorow roughly a half-hour to read through all of the jury's decisions. Afterward, she thanked and dismissed the jurors and entered judgments of conviction on all 76 counts.
Dorow set a scheduling hearing for 1 p.m. CT Monday and asked both sides to give estimates for how long they would need to present their sentencing remarks. The judge said sentencing would come at a later date. Brooks faces a mandatory life sentence in prison.
"No surprise here," the California defense attorney Lara Yeretsian told Fox News Digital after the hearing. "Unless Brooks was delusional, he must have known this trial would not end well for him."
GALLERY: Darrell Brooks Courtroom Antics
Jurors entered deliberations Tuesday evening and requested several exhibits: the map that lays out the location of victims and police officers during the attack; a picture of Erika Patterson, Brooks' ex-girlfriend; and surveillance video which shows members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies members hit with the SUV in the attack.
Brooks objected. Judge Dorow overruled him.
Darrell Brooks attempts to get the court's attention as he appears via video from an adjacent courtroom due to his continuous interruptions of Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow during his trial in Waukesha, Wisconsin. (Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Jurors broke for the evening at 8 p.m. and resumed Wednesday morning.
In closing arguments Monday, Waukesha District Attorney Sue Opper said Brooks displayed an "utter disregard for human life" and that "overwhelming evidence" in favor of a conviction had been introduced at trial.
"Not one person had to be hurt that day if he had just stopped driving," she said.
Extensive front-end damage shown on the red Ford Escape SUV Waukesha Christmas parade suspect Darrell Brooks allegedly used to mow down celebrants last year. Jurors were allowed to view the van at the courthouse. (FOX6 News Milwaukee)
Brooks, in his closing argument, asked the jury to disagree and let him off the hook.
"One thing that I believe that you have not been privy to is the truth of your rights and your duties being the jury," he said. "The fact that you and you alone, have the power, not well-prepared DAs with well-prepared and clearly rehearsed speeches, exhibits, a lot of theatrics. Frankly, not the judge. You and you alone have the power. You and you alone decide what is truth and what isn’t truth."
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow admonishes defendant Darrell Brooks during his trial in Waukesha County Circuit Court on Oct. 5, 2022. (Pool via Scott Ash / Now News Group)
Brooks has a history of criminal behavior — and convictions — stretching back to 1999, involving domestic violence, child sex crimes, drugs and more on a 50-page rap sheet.
Brooks is a registered sex offender in Nevada. He was convicted of obstructing an officer in 2005 and 2003. In 2002, he had another felony marijuana charge. In 2010, Brooks pleaded no contest to felony strangulation charges after allegedly attacking a woman during an argument about phone calls. In 2012, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor bail jumping and marijuana charges. A year earlier, Brooks pleaded guilty to felony marijuana charges and resisting arrest.
A lineup of multiple mugshots showing Waukesha suspect Darrell Brooks over the years. (Waukesha Police/AP)
Nonetheless, a Milwaukee judge freed him on $1,000 just days before the attack after he allegedly used the same SUV to run over his child’s mother in a domestic dispute. At the same time Brooks was dealing with those charges, he was out on bail for firing an illegal handgun during an argument with his nephew. There were no injuries reported in that incident.
Darrell Brooks looks to the prosecution while discussion takes place regarding a Reddit post from someone claiming to be a juror posting information critical of Waukesha County officials during his trial in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Wednesday. (Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, Pool)
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In Brooks’ first remarks from behind bars last year, he told Fox News Digital that he felt "demonized" and "dehumanized" following his arrest.
Fox News' Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
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