WAUKESHA, Wis. — If Darrell Brooks, the man convicted Wednesday of killing six people and injuring dozens more when he drove through the Waukesha Christmas parade last year, wants to appeal his case, it would likely be a “really long and really complicated” process, a Madison area defense attorney told News 3 Now.
Chris Van Wagner, a criminal defense attorney who is not involved in Brooks’ case, said any appeal wouldn’t happen until Brooks is sentenced; as of Wednesday afternoon, a sentencing date has not been set.
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Once Brooks is sentenced, which will be a multi-part process, he will have 20 days to file a notice of intent to pursue an appeal, should he choose to do so.
While Brooks represented himself during his trial, Van Wagner said he expects the court would direct a public defender to appoint counsel for him, adding appeals lawyers have a different role than trial lawyers.
“An appeal is literally based on cold record, so it will take, probably… three, four, five months to just prepare the transcripts from the trial alone, so his case will not even reach a briefing stage for a full year,” Van Wagner said.
It would likely be at least a year, he added, before it becomes clear what Brooks’ claims would be during an appeal.
A potential appeal could also focus on whether Brooks should have been allowed to represent himself.
“The lawyer can actually claim ineffective assistance of counsel to himself, as crazy as that sounds, and claim that he didn’t get a fair trial in the interest of justice because he should not have been allowed to represent himself,” Van Wagner said. “That seems to fly in the face of common sense and logic as well as Mr. Brooks’ wishes, but I have no doubt that will be considered.”
Brooks’ behavior in court also did him no favors, Van Wagner said.
“There’s an old saying that a person who represents himself has a fool for a lawyer and a bigger fool for a client,” Van Wagner said. “I’m not calling Mr. Brooks a fool, but I’m saying we witnessed live on a daily basis exactly why the client suffers when they don’t have a real lawyer.”
As for whether Brooks could get a new trial on appeal, Van Wagner said he believes the likelihood is “only slightly better than the average case and that’s only because he chose to represent himself.”
Van Wagner also offered high praise for Judge Jennifer Dorow, who he said displayed “a show of patience that I would say is unrivaled in my 41 years of practice.”
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