MONROE - The attorney for a woman convicted of embezzling more than $300,000 from the New Glarus Home has requested the Green County district attorney turn over key evidence that was thought destroyed.
Joyce Ziehli, 57, Belleville, was charged in January of 2014 with six counts of theft from a business dating from between 2003 and 2013. Ziehli entered a plea agreement and was sentenced last March to 2.5 years in prison on five of the charges and ordered to pay $295,839 in restitution.
However, a motion filed last week by Ziehli's lawyer, Cole Ruby, argues that Zielhi entered into the agreement without having access to records that may have partially exonerated her.
According to the motion, Ziehli's former lawyer, Bob Duxstad, had made a written stipulation requesting that the prosecutor, Green County District Attorney Gary Luhman, provide a series of financial records from the New Glarus Home in time for a preliminary hearing. These records, including transaction control reports and ledger detail transactions, would provide a detailed picture of how Ziehli handled her funds and could potentially reveal that she had stolen less money than believed.
Instead, Luhman said the New Glarus Home was unable to provide many of the requested records, leading Zielhi and her defense to assume the missing records had been destroyed.
Had the records been available, the motion argued, Ziehli would not have accepted the plea agreement.
After Zielhi's conviction, however, Dawn Johnson, a private investigator hired by Ruby, learned that all the requested records had, in fact, been delivered to Luhman's office.
"The records were gathered and given to DA Luhman," said Rick Colby, then-director of the New Glarus Home, in Johnson's report. Colby added that Zielhi's computer and hard drive records had not been expunged as had been thought. Colby said he "has no idea why" Luhman might not have received the records.
In a phone interview, Luhman said Duxstad "had received all the records we had and all that he requested." He added that many of the disputed records concerned what he called "the historical charge," a dropped charge dealing with Zielhi's financial misappropriations between 2003 and 2006.
The historical charge was ultimately dropped because the home could not provide sufficient documentation of the crime. Duxstad said the charge was based on a "crude analysis" that greatly exaggerated Zielhi's offense.
Luhman was skeptical that the disputed records would have mitigated Ziehli's sentence, saying "all we had to prove was $10,000 per charge."
Luhman must respond to the court by March 25.
Ruby's motion argues that the legal remedy for the missing evidence can lead to a reduction or complete dismissal of Ziehli's sentence.
Joyce Ziehli, 57, Belleville, was charged in January of 2014 with six counts of theft from a business dating from between 2003 and 2013. Ziehli entered a plea agreement and was sentenced last March to 2.5 years in prison on five of the charges and ordered to pay $295,839 in restitution.
However, a motion filed last week by Ziehli's lawyer, Cole Ruby, argues that Zielhi entered into the agreement without having access to records that may have partially exonerated her.
According to the motion, Ziehli's former lawyer, Bob Duxstad, had made a written stipulation requesting that the prosecutor, Green County District Attorney Gary Luhman, provide a series of financial records from the New Glarus Home in time for a preliminary hearing. These records, including transaction control reports and ledger detail transactions, would provide a detailed picture of how Ziehli handled her funds and could potentially reveal that she had stolen less money than believed.
Instead, Luhman said the New Glarus Home was unable to provide many of the requested records, leading Zielhi and her defense to assume the missing records had been destroyed.
Had the records been available, the motion argued, Ziehli would not have accepted the plea agreement.
After Zielhi's conviction, however, Dawn Johnson, a private investigator hired by Ruby, learned that all the requested records had, in fact, been delivered to Luhman's office.
"The records were gathered and given to DA Luhman," said Rick Colby, then-director of the New Glarus Home, in Johnson's report. Colby added that Zielhi's computer and hard drive records had not been expunged as had been thought. Colby said he "has no idea why" Luhman might not have received the records.
In a phone interview, Luhman said Duxstad "had received all the records we had and all that he requested." He added that many of the disputed records concerned what he called "the historical charge," a dropped charge dealing with Zielhi's financial misappropriations between 2003 and 2006.
The historical charge was ultimately dropped because the home could not provide sufficient documentation of the crime. Duxstad said the charge was based on a "crude analysis" that greatly exaggerated Zielhi's offense.
Luhman was skeptical that the disputed records would have mitigated Ziehli's sentence, saying "all we had to prove was $10,000 per charge."
Luhman must respond to the court by March 25.
Ruby's motion argues that the legal remedy for the missing evidence can lead to a reduction or complete dismissal of Ziehli's sentence.