CHMURA JUDGE SAYS ASSISTANT DA IS OUT

From the Capital Times

A judge has disqualified an assistant district attorney from thesexual assault case against former Green Bay Packer Mark Chmura.
Judge Mark Gempeler ruled Wednesday that Waukesha County Assistant DistrictAttorney Dennis Krueger cannot participate in Chmura's trial because of adefense request to have him answer questions about possible coercion of awitness to change his story.Chmura's attorney, Gerald Boyle, asked that District Attorney Paul Bucherand Krueger be discharged from the case because they could be called aswitnesses.
But Gempeler allowed Bucher to continue prosecuting the case.
Boyle argued that both prosecutors should be disqualified because theyallegedly coerced a key witness into changing his testimony. Boyle said hewanted the opportunity to question the two in court about the interview. Buthe would not be able to do so if Bucher and Krueger were also prosecuting thecase.
Chmura, 31, is charged with third-degree sexual assault and childenticement. Prosecutors said he had nonconsensual sex with a 17-year-old girlduring a high school post-prom party at his friend Robert Gessert's Hartlandhome in April. The girl was a baby sitter for Chmura's children.
The Packers later cut the tight end from their roster.
Last week, Gempeler refused to delay Chmura's trial, which is scheduled tobegin Jan. 23. Boyle had asked for either the case's dismissal or a trialdelay in a motion that accused Bucher of ``prosecutorial misconduct.''
Bucher has defended his actions, saying he hits hard but plays fair.
``For whatever reason, they don't want this office to try this case. Thisis just another way they're trying to sidetrack this trial,'' Bucher saidWednesday.
Krueger was in court, but did not speak on the disqualification motion.Gempeler earlier ordered the attorneys not to discuss the case with the media.None of the attorneys commented after the hearing.
Boyle filed the motion to remove Bucher from the case Dec. 22. According tothe motion, Bucher coerced a Waukesha Catholic Memorial High School footballplayer who attended the party to change his testimony.
``Bucher set this up. Mr. Krueger was there. They played heavy-handed withthis boy, 16 years old and all worried about his future,'' Boyle saidWednesday.
In a Nov. 6 Sports Illustrated story, sources described as close to thedefense said the youth will stick to his original statement that he warned thegirl not to enter the bathroom where the sexual assault allegedly took place,but she went in anyway.
She testified during a preliminary hearing this summer that Chmura led herinside and locked the door.
The boy's father told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the Sports Illustratedstory wasn't entirely accurate but would not elaborate.
Boyle said in the motion that Bucher used ``belligerent interrogationtechniques'' and threats of prosecution to force the youth to change his storyso Chmura would get convicted.
In a Nov. 28 letter to the youth, Bucher said he never threatened orcoerced him and was only interested in the truth.
The high school athlete's attorney, Gerald Boisits, said in another letterthat the youth changed his statement out of fear. He said Bucher told theyouth he could be charged with underage drinking, false swearing orobstruction of justice.