The lawyer for a Mishicot teen filed a formal appeal Friday to overturn Damian Hauschultz’s conviction for the death of a 7-year-old boy who was in his family’s care.
Hauschultz was convicted of first-degree reckless homicide after Ethan Hauschultz died from hypothermia and blunt force injuries in 2018.
His parents were Ethan’s court-appointed guardians since 2017. As punishment for not knowing their Bible verses, Ethan and his siblings were forced to walk laps around the yard for two hours a day while carrying heavy logs. The criminal complaint in the case said when the children kept dropping the logs, Hauschultz hit, kicked and poked Ethan, repeatedly pushed him to the ground, rolled the heavy log across his chest, and stood on the boy’s “body and head while Ethan was face-down in a puddle.” When Ethan became unresponsive, Hauschultz buried him under packed snow and ice.
At issue is whether statements Hauschultz, who was 14 at the time, should have been admissible in court. His lawyer points out police questioned the boy by himself three times -- first at the hospital, then at the sheriff’s office, and then after being awakened at 2:45 in the morning after Ethan was pronounced dead -- and he was never given Miranda warnings.
The circuit court said Hauschultz was not in Miranda custody at the time of the interviews, but would a 14-year-old boy feel free under those circumstances to end the questioning and leave, or even know that he could? His lawyer challenges a circuit court ruling that his statements were voluntary.
“Damian’s overnight questioning took place in the same stationhouse interrogation room he’d spent two-and-a-half hours in before, again with no friendly adult present, again without advice about his rights—or even any mention that he could decline to answer questions,” the appellate brief reads.
fox11online.com
