Courts

Crawford County driver could get new trial for OWI

Published

5 years ago

February 20, 2020

A Crawford County man’s conviction for drunk driving has been reversed, and he could get a new trial soon.

A state appeals court has ruled that the trial attorney for Ryan Diehl failed to object to questions about his client’s driving record, and that might have prejudiced the jury.

Diehl was living in Ferryville, Wis., in 2018, when he was arrested for driving with a blood alcohol level over .02.

The prosecution suggested that Diehl had a long record of drunk-driving arrests, and he was sentenced to four years in prison.

The appeals judges have ruled that Diehl’s defense attorney made a mistake in not objecting to certain courtroom questioning about his driving record.

Related Topics:appeals court drunk driving Ryan Diehl

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.