DARLINGTON - The Argyle teen accused of helping his brother set a deadly house fire to collect on insurance money was scheduled for sentencing Friday, July 19, but instead he brought forward a motion to withdraw his June pleas of guilty, based on new evidence that the state's key witness told conflicting stories about his whereabouts the night of the fire.
This is not the first change of heart for Jeremy Wand, who turned 19 Friday. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last December. The Lafayette County Circuit Court was preparing until June for a weeklong trial, scheduled to begin this week.
But in June he unexpectedly switched his plea to guilty. He faces first-degree intentional homicide charges for the deaths last September of his nephews Allan Wand, 7, Jeffery Wand, 5, and Joseph "Jo Jo" Wand, 3. He also pleaded guilty in June to an attempted homicide charge for his sister-in-law Sharon Wand, 27, to a felony murder charge for her unborn child, and to a felony arson charge for the destroyed house on Oak Street in Argyle.
His brother Armin Wand III, 33, father to the dead children and husband to Sharon, pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced in April to life imprisonment without chance for parole. He was transferred in June to the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility in Boscobel, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Aaron Swanum. The facility is commonly known as Wisconsin's Supermax prison.
Jeremy Wand's most recent change of heart came out of new evidence he learned last Friday from the pre-sentence investigation ordered in his case, according to public defender Frank Medina.
Medina says the new evidence raises credibility issues with the state's key witness, Sharon Wand, namely that she has told an investigator conflicting stories about her brother-in-law's presence at the scene of the fire and was recently charged with theft and trespassing in Iowa County for allegedly stealing a figurine and other small items from her fellow residents at a care facility where she was recuperating from her burn injuries.
Medina filed a motion on Jeremy Wand's behalf arguing that "it would be a manifest injustice to deny him a withdrawal of his guilty plea."
A hearing on Wand's motion to withdraw his pleas is set for 10 a.m. Aug. 22, with a sentencing scheduled three hours later, in case Judge Thomas Vale denies the motion and takes the case directly to sentencing.
Vale closely questioned Wand about his motion at the Friday hearing, as he also did before Wand entered his guilty pleas in June. The exchange that followed between them Vale described at one point as "going around in circles."
Wand explained he had felt pressured by Medina's assistant, Miguel Michel, to enter the guilty pleas.
"I wasn't really on board with it," he said, adding that he was just pleading guilty "to make people happy."
When Vale asked if he still wanted to continue with Medina and Michel as his attorneys, Wand responded several times he did, but added qualifiers each time to this affirmation, such as, "after we get our misunderstandings out."
Finally he answered yes, he'd stick with Medina and Michel.
Prosecutors Roy Korte and Richard DuFour were visibly annoyed with the motion to withdraw Wand's pleas, though Korte said afterward that the motion did not come "as a complete surprise."
Korte said the allegations of Sharon Wand's inconsistency have no basis and her pending misdemeanor charges in Iowa County are irrelevant in this case.
"The fact that someone is charged is not something you can use at a trial," he said. Only if a witness is convicted of an offense involving dishonesty can that be used against them, he said.
Sharon Wand came in a wheelchair to her husband's sentencing in April but Friday she walked into the courtroom and sat up and down without assistance. She wore a tank top that exposed her arms, which are blotchy and disfigured from the severe burns she sustained in the fire that killed her children.
Medina said afterward he tried this week to call her, to ask for her blessing of a life sentence with a chance for parole for her brother-in-law, but was unable to reach her.
"It would certainly help if she would say something positive about him," Medina said.
Medina said he's still investigating Wand's concerns about his sister-in-law's credibility. So far, "I think we have some grounds for it." He wouldn't say whether he plans to amend the motion before the Aug. 22 hearing or bring witnesses that day.
Wand has problems conceptualizing words and is given to varying moods, Medina said. The teen's biggest challenge up until the fire was being on the high school wrestling team, and now "he's wrestling for his life."
Medina's job, as he sees it, is to bring Wand "back to reality."
"In his 19-year-old mind, he'd like to walk away from this," Medina said. "When you're 19, you do a lot of magical thinking."
This is not the first change of heart for Jeremy Wand, who turned 19 Friday. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last December. The Lafayette County Circuit Court was preparing until June for a weeklong trial, scheduled to begin this week.
But in June he unexpectedly switched his plea to guilty. He faces first-degree intentional homicide charges for the deaths last September of his nephews Allan Wand, 7, Jeffery Wand, 5, and Joseph "Jo Jo" Wand, 3. He also pleaded guilty in June to an attempted homicide charge for his sister-in-law Sharon Wand, 27, to a felony murder charge for her unborn child, and to a felony arson charge for the destroyed house on Oak Street in Argyle.
His brother Armin Wand III, 33, father to the dead children and husband to Sharon, pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced in April to life imprisonment without chance for parole. He was transferred in June to the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility in Boscobel, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Aaron Swanum. The facility is commonly known as Wisconsin's Supermax prison.
Jeremy Wand's most recent change of heart came out of new evidence he learned last Friday from the pre-sentence investigation ordered in his case, according to public defender Frank Medina.
Medina says the new evidence raises credibility issues with the state's key witness, Sharon Wand, namely that she has told an investigator conflicting stories about her brother-in-law's presence at the scene of the fire and was recently charged with theft and trespassing in Iowa County for allegedly stealing a figurine and other small items from her fellow residents at a care facility where she was recuperating from her burn injuries.
Medina filed a motion on Jeremy Wand's behalf arguing that "it would be a manifest injustice to deny him a withdrawal of his guilty plea."
A hearing on Wand's motion to withdraw his pleas is set for 10 a.m. Aug. 22, with a sentencing scheduled three hours later, in case Judge Thomas Vale denies the motion and takes the case directly to sentencing.
Vale closely questioned Wand about his motion at the Friday hearing, as he also did before Wand entered his guilty pleas in June. The exchange that followed between them Vale described at one point as "going around in circles."
Wand explained he had felt pressured by Medina's assistant, Miguel Michel, to enter the guilty pleas.
"I wasn't really on board with it," he said, adding that he was just pleading guilty "to make people happy."
When Vale asked if he still wanted to continue with Medina and Michel as his attorneys, Wand responded several times he did, but added qualifiers each time to this affirmation, such as, "after we get our misunderstandings out."
Finally he answered yes, he'd stick with Medina and Michel.
Prosecutors Roy Korte and Richard DuFour were visibly annoyed with the motion to withdraw Wand's pleas, though Korte said afterward that the motion did not come "as a complete surprise."
Korte said the allegations of Sharon Wand's inconsistency have no basis and her pending misdemeanor charges in Iowa County are irrelevant in this case.
"The fact that someone is charged is not something you can use at a trial," he said. Only if a witness is convicted of an offense involving dishonesty can that be used against them, he said.
Sharon Wand came in a wheelchair to her husband's sentencing in April but Friday she walked into the courtroom and sat up and down without assistance. She wore a tank top that exposed her arms, which are blotchy and disfigured from the severe burns she sustained in the fire that killed her children.
Medina said afterward he tried this week to call her, to ask for her blessing of a life sentence with a chance for parole for her brother-in-law, but was unable to reach her.
"It would certainly help if she would say something positive about him," Medina said.
Medina said he's still investigating Wand's concerns about his sister-in-law's credibility. So far, "I think we have some grounds for it." He wouldn't say whether he plans to amend the motion before the Aug. 22 hearing or bring witnesses that day.
Wand has problems conceptualizing words and is given to varying moods, Medina said. The teen's biggest challenge up until the fire was being on the high school wrestling team, and now "he's wrestling for his life."
Medina's job, as he sees it, is to bring Wand "back to reality."
"In his 19-year-old mind, he'd like to walk away from this," Medina said. "When you're 19, you do a lot of magical thinking."