DARLINGTON — A Grant County man convicted of reckless endangerment in October by a jury was again found guilty by Lafayette County jurors after another trial last week, this time on three counts of felony bail jumping.

David Arnold Heisz, 60, Bagley, is currently serving three years in prison for recklessly endangering the safety of a Shullsburg woman he claimed stole money from him. The woman told the court he kidnapped her in his Cadillac on a night in March 2017, drove out to a rural road and punched her when she tried to escape the car. Seconds after she managed to escape and was running away, she heard a gunshot from Heisz’s firearm.

The more recent case, alleging felony bail jumping, stems from a September 2017 traffic stop on an interstate in Pennsylvania. Heisz was traveling alone in a California rental car and told police he was en route to Whitehaven, Pennsylvania.

A search of the car produced two grams of crystal methamphetamine, six doses of LSD, 10 grams of psilocybin (psychedelic) mushrooms and drug paraphernalia, according to court records.

As possessing drugs violated his bond conditions back in Wisconsin, Heisz was charged as a result of the traffic stop with felony bail jumping in Lafayette County Circuit Court.

The jury deliberated one and a half hours Sept. 19, before finding Heisz guilty on all three counts of felony bail jumping.

During the trial, District Attorney Jenna Gill argued that Heisz knew about the drugs located in an armrest compartment in the backseat. She said Heisz was ordered as part of bond not to commit a crime and knew he was doing so by having the drugs in his vehicle.

“This case is actually very simple,” Gill said. “It is about choices. The defendant has made a series of choices that has put him before you. The rules here in his bond conditions were clear: not to violate any other crimes. He chose to ignore that.”

Heisz’s attorney, Nils Wyosnick, argued that his client didn’t know about the drugs in the backseat because the car was a rental. He contended that the state never did a background check on the rental vehicle and that where the drugs were located is a key point.

“This is not a very simple decision,” Wyosnick said. “Mr. Heisz is being accused of a crime … he did not commit.”

Gill called Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Gary Knott to the witness stand to testify what he remembers from the traffic stop he conducted that day.

Knott said he is a 21-year veteran of the force and trained to detect behavioral indicators of criminal activity.

Knott said he remembered he was parked in the median of the four-lane highway when he observed Heisz’s vehicle following too closely behind a semitrailer. Upon entering the highway, Knott closed the gap and determined that the registration on the vehicle’s plates was expired. He proceeded to pull Heisz over.

He approached Heisz’s vehicle from the passenger side and observed that the vehicle looked “lived-in” from long travel.

Knott testified that Heisz’s demeanor was nervous and he appeared to be sweating and clammy.

Wyosnick argued that Heisz appeared nervous not because he knew there were drugs in the backseat but because the day was very hot, with the temperature close to 90 degrees, and Heisz has a heart condition. Wyosnick asked Knott if he found any of Heisz’s personal belongings in the backseat.

Knott replied that he did not, just in the front passenger seat and trunk.

Gill rebutted by asking Knott if the air conditioning was on and he said yes. She also asked Knott where he has found drugs in other vehicles and asked if he has found any in other rental vehicles.

Knott replied that in the roughly 30,000 stops he has made in his career, with over 1,000 of them resulting in contraband being found, he has located drugs in a multitude of places and that, yes, many have been in rental vehicles.

Michael Larson, a controlled substance analyst with the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, testified how he concluded that the substances found in the vehicle were in fact LSD, crystal meth and psilocybin.

In her closing arguments, Gill reiterated the simplicity of the case and that Heisz broke his bond conditions by choosing to possess drugs and not follow the rules.

“The fact that the drugs were hidden in the backseat doesn’t cast doubt as to whether they were his,” Gill said. “The defendant gave no other evidence other than it was a rental car, making you think for one second that those weren’t his drugs. That is not a reasonable hypothesis to make.”

Wyosnick told the jury the state failed to meet their burden of establishing that the drugs were Heisz’s by failing to seek more information on the rental vehicle.

“Allegation of a crime does not make you guilty,” Wyosnick said. “What is he guilty of? The state can’t provide evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Heisz knew the drugs were in the car. They weren’t in his car; it was a rental car. It is a reasonable reaction for someone to be nervous when being pulled over by law enforcement. His reaction he displayed was because of his heart condition.

“The state just established the facts and did not meet their burden,” Wyosnick added.

Heisz faces a prison term up to 18 years on the three bail jumping convictions. A sentencing is not yet scheduled. A status conference is scheduled for Oct. 17.