Following a trial in which he defended himself with absurd legal arguments and emotional outbursts, a Wisconsin man was found guilty of killing six people and wounding hundreds of others when he drove his SUV through a Christmas procession.
Darrell Brooks was found guilty of all 76 charges, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide, in only a little over three hours. He faces a mandatory life sentence on each homicide count.
As the judgments were read, Brooks, who was wearing a suit and tie, folded his hands and softly laid his head on them. His reserved demeanour marked a marked change from earlier in the trial, when the judge had chastised him for his occasionally obscene behaviour.
Prosecutors claim that on November 21, Brooks entered the Waukesha Christmas parade in his Ford Escape just moments after escaping a domestic dispute with his ex-girlfriend.
Jackson Sparks, 8, who was participating in the parade with his baseball team and three of the Dancing Grannies, a group of grandmothers who dance in parades, were among the six fatalities. Many more people, some seriously, were harmed.
The catastrophe left a lasting scar on the 70,000-person municipality located 25 km west of Milwaukee. People in the neighbourhood held vigils and erected tributes to the deceased.
Someone in the audience yelled “burn in hell” as the judgments were being read, demonstrating the rage that was still present today. According to WITI-TV, cars passing the courthouse honked their horns in jubilation.
After the verdict, Laurie Hogeland, a friend of some of the parade victims, told journalists outside the courthouse that justice had been done.
It was only relieved for a time, she said. “But, then all the pain comes back. The discomfort returns.
“Earlier this year, Brooks entered a plea of not guilty by reason of a mental illness, but he abruptly withdrew it before his trial started.
He fired his public lawyers days before the trial began and chose to represent himself in spite of the overwhelming evidence against him. Both parade participants and police officers testified that they observed Brooks driving the SUV. District Attorney Susan Opper presented several photos of Brooks driving the vehicle to the jury.
The primary justification Brooks offered seemed to be that he was a sovereign citizen, echoing a conspiracy theory that holds that everyone is a nation-state exempt from governmental control. He contested the court’s authority to hear his case, declined to answer questions in his own name, began rambling cross-examinations, and muttered under his breath that the trial wasn’t fair.
He frequently engaged in yelling matches during his everyday disagreements with the judge.
He once gave Dorow such a hard look that she had to take a break from class because she said she was terrified of him.
She repeatedly transferred him to another courtroom where he could view the proceedings on a video monitor and she could silence his microphone when he started to interrupt the proceedings.
One day, after he was moved to the other room, he stripped off his shirt and sat bare-chested on his table with his back to the camera. He later constructed a barricade out of his legal document boxes and hid behind it.
On a third occasion, he threw his copy of the jury instructions into the trash while holding up a Bible to block anyone from seeing his face on video.
In her closing remarks, Opper said that Brooks’ failure to stop after entering the procession path demonstrates his premeditated intention to murder people.
Dorow gave Brooks permission to return to the main courtroom and address the jury directly with his closing argument.
He attempted to cast doubt on whether the SUV’s throttle malfunctioned and whether the driver was merely shaken by fear in a rambling, repetitious speech. He said he’s not a killer and bemoaned the fact that he hasn’t been allowed to see his kids since he was detained.
Opper countered during her rebuttal that a Wisconsin State Patrol vehicle inspector testified earlier that the SUV was in good working order. She cautioned the jury that Brooks was merely attempting to capitalise on their pity.
US citizen guilty of using SUV to kill six people in Christmas procession
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