Herrmann Loses Appeal Of 31-Yr Sentence For Fatal Crash

A Wisconsin appeals court rejects a claim of courtroom bias in a La Crosse County drunk driving case…

The appeals judges have ruled that La Crosse Judge Ramona Gonzalez was not biased when she sentenced Jesse Herrmann to 31 years in prison for a Highway 35 crash that killed a young woman. Herrmann argued that Gonzalez showed bias at the sentencing hearing in 2011, when she spoke about losing a sister years earlier in a drunk-driving accident. The appeals court calls it a ‘close case,’ but rules that it’s common for circuit judges to speak in court about cases in which they were victims. They said it shows that a judge understands the severity of a case, and can identify with the victims.