Kenosha Judge Grants 16-Year-Old New Trial After Several Jurors Say They Were Bullied Into Guilty Verdicts
- KCE Staff
- Nov 22, 2024 - 3:39 pm
- 26 Comments
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In a courtroom filled to capacity this morning, a Kenosha Judge vacated a guilty verdict for 16-year-old Martel D. Lee. On August 15, 2024, Lee was found guilty of second degree sexual assault. The assault allegedly occurred at Indian Trail High School earlier this year. Lee was supposed to be sentenced on October 28, 2024, but three jurors sent letters to the Judge, expressing remorse for agreeing to a verdict that they did not believe in.
Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Gared Dougvillo delayed the sentencing. He gave defense attorney Mike Barth and prosecutor Alexandra Smathers time to write briefs. The judge also indicated that he wanted affidavits from jurors to validate the letters sent to the court. The Wisconsin Public Defender’s office appointed Kevin Mathewson, a criminal defense investigator and editor of Kenosha County Eye to gather affidavits and evidence. Mathewson submitted three affidavits from jurors that he contacted and spoke to. Lee, Attorney Barth, and Lee’s mother all signed a conflict of interest waiver that allowed Mathewson to act as the defense investigator and report on this case.
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Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Smathers wrote a letter to the court attempting to get Mathewson removed from the case as an investigator becuase of what she calls a “bias against herself and the Kenosha County DA’s office.” The judge ignored this foolest request. Smathers also made false assertions about Mathewson in another letter. Today, Judge Dougvillo acknowledged the statements by Smathers as being “not correct.”
“I’m glad that Judge Dougvillo made a record that Smathers’ attempt to discredit me was unfounded. I do my job professionally. I find it strange that Smathers doubted my work on this case but failed to ask the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Investigator to check my work. I believe she was being disingenuous with the court, something she’s done before. She wrote a false and defamatory letter to Aurora Health to get a cherished SANE nurse fired. She lies and has no integrity,” said Mathewson. “I’m glad she’s leaving the Kenosha DA’s Office. She’s not only a bad prosecutor, but a bad person. I can now see why she was demoted in Sheboygan County.”
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Barth argued in his written brief that Lee should be given a new trial due to the jurors’ sworn testimony, saying that their verdicts weren’t their real verdicts. Barth faced a very high bar and an uphill battle. A Kenosha Attorney with decades of experience told KCE this was only the second time he saw a jury’s verdict overturned like this.
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Dougvillo gave a synopsis of this case. He noted that while the jury’s verdict was read, several jurors were crying, some had their heads down, and one even seemed to be praying. He acknowledged that there was no physical evidence in this case and it came down to the credibility of the defendant and the complaining witness. He said that the deliberations took longer than the trial. The jury seemed deadlocked several times. Dougvillo noted that all of the cases that Smathers cited were for cases in which the defendant was already sentenced. In this case, Lee has not been sentenced. Dougvillo reiterated that The Constitution and State Statute mandated that he properly administered justice. Dougvillo found that good cause exists that there was a miscarriage of justice. With that, he ordered the verdict overturned. He ordered that there be a new trial.
Smathers told the court that the State would be appealing the decision. She then left the courtroom and went into the back room. She was then seen crying.
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KCE spoke to Jen Jones, Lee’s mother after the hearing. “I was overjoyed with the judge’s decision. It was fair. I don’t understand why [Smathers] is fighting this so much. She knew for a fact she didn’t have enough evidence to take this to trial. She is evil,” said Jones. “[Smathers] was crying becuase she lost. I feel she had a ‘win at all costs’ attitude. I hope she leaves this county becuase she’s not fair. She’s not in this for justice.”
Judge Dougvillo scheduled a hearing for this Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. to discuss bail. Since Lee made a demand for a speedy trial, there is a chance he could be released then. If he is, Lee’s mother said he wants “Pizza from Dominos and to play his PS5.” She said “Maybe we’ll put up Christmas decorations together.”
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Allegations
According to the criminal complaint, he raped another student at Indian Trail High School on January 15, 2024. On February 19, 2024 the victim made a delayed report to police that Lee went into the bathroom stall after him and raped him. The victim also told police that the Lee used a translation app on his phone that translated from english to spanish to order the man to do his bidding. The victim was a spanish-only speaker and just recently immigrated to the USA. The victim, however had some credibility issues. His story changed many times. He recanted his allegations at least once, and then re-reported the allegations after a suicide attempt in which he stabbed himself in the chest multiple times and told his father he was “speaking with Satan.”
KCE was only present during the reading of the verdict. At least four jurors were actively weeping as the judge read the verdict, “Guilty.” Lee’s mother, Jen Jones was at every day of the trial and told us about many inconsistencies. “First [the victim] said my son went under the wall of the bathroom stall, later he said he followed him into the stall. He recanted his story twice. Also, [the victim] and his dad testified differently from what police wrote in their reports. First, [the victim] said that Martel threatened him in the classroom, but at trial, said it happened in the bathroom.” That’s when the state moved to dismiss the second count. The victim, who was also 16 at the time of the alleged rape suffers from schizophrenia. (KCE doesn’t usually publish juvenile mental health information, but in this case, it goes to credibility.)
When interviewed by a Kenosha Police Detective, the victim told him that he lied about the sexual assault. He did not know why, but he “just lied.” He was adamant that [he] was not sexually assaulted and “made the story up.”
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Judge Orders 16-Year-Old Martel Lee Released Pending Possible New Trial
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A Kenosha Judge has ordered the release of 16-year-old Martel Lee this morning. In a courtroom filled to capacity last week, a Judge Dougvillo vacated a guilty verdict for 16-year-old Martel D. Lee. On August 15, 2024, Lee was found guilty of second degree sexual assault. The assault allegedly occurred at Indian Trail High School earlier this year. Lee was supposed to be sentenced on October 28, 2024, but three jurors sent letters to the Judge,
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I just hope that Carli McNeil, Smatters and their associates leave this kid alone. They attempted to assist this undocumented alleged victim in obtaining citizenship by trying to convict an innocent American kid who couldn’t afford a proper defense attorney. This case highlights their ineffectiveness, which seems consistent regardless of where they go. It’s regrettable that they are manipulating people’s lives in such a manner. Hopefully Solis will ensure that justice is served.
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This is exactly what they were doing!
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By the time this case goes much further, there will be a new DA in power and Smathers and Carli will be gone.
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Everyone is welcome in America
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Our family will be praying that this young man receives a fair trial the second time around, and that justice will prevail.
After he is found not guilty, the accuser needs to face charges. He should not get away with the havoc he has wreaked. If he did this to change his immigration status-if he is not here legally, he should be promptly sent back to his homeland.
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WE NEED Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Smathers investigated !!!! She’s disgusting soul!
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Shove it up your ass.
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Sounds like Smathers doesn’t like the idea of being held accountable for her failures to the public.
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As someone close to those in this courtroom, it is baffling how a jury could return a guilty verdict. This is one of the weakest cases ever to see a courtroom. The prosecution should be ashamed of themselves for pushing this with no physical evidence, no consistent story and a tainted jury. Judge Dougvillo did a great thing today. Smathers is a hateful person and needs to go.
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GREAT WORK KEVIN FOR ALL YOU DID ON THIS CASE
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Yes thanks Kevin.
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Would a white kid get a do over?
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Good fucking question. Better yet, would a white kid have gotten convicted? 🤷🏼♂️🤔🤔🤔
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Under this circumstance everyone would, even a white kid
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Awe. Smathers had to cry because she has to redo her homework. What a pos trial attorney. Here let me get you a Kleenex for what you did to that defendant. Not.
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Jurors bullied ? Bunch of bull shit. The punk is guilty jury said
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and you mom is still dating the garbage man while daddy works, uh?
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You evil sick person do you know my son? How do you know he’s guilty? Was you there? Can’t answer any of those questions you just wanna say something negative I hope one day you have to deal with something like this and then maybe you’ll see how it feels you evil person sincerely, Martel‘s mother
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Thank you, Kevin, for all of your work on this case. Thank God this young man’s life was not ruined by our DA’s office as so many others before him have had their lives destroyed by these vicious, incompetent freaks. Xavier Solis has his work cut out for him, but I finally have hope that we will see justice in Kenosha from our DA’s office.
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Kevin, I am sure that the family is very thankful for all the work that you have done on this case. I, as one of your readers is appreciative because this case didnt sit well with me since I read it and wondered how in the heck it got as far as it did. And,
Shame on all of you that are throwing in the race card.It doesn’t matter what color the kid is. He Deserves a fair trial and he did not get one the first time around.12
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Thank you for your kind words.
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This kid NEEDS A BETTER ATTORNEY! Mom, do whatever you need to do to get him a better lawyer! Barth is useless. Have your son tell him he is fired (he’s allowed to do that) Have the PD office appoint somebody competent so he doesn’t lose again.
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Great work Kevin.
You are an asset to the community.2
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One thing we DON’T need on juries, are gutless people
that are afraid to speak up when they don’t like the
way the deliberations are being handled.
It’s bad enough that attorneys are allowed to strike
potential jurors they feel are too smart to believe the
lines of BS that they are fooled into believing.
By BOTH sides.
Intelligent people are usually smart enough to sift
through the chicanery.2
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Once again Kenosha county eye finds corruption reports it and people realize it ain’t all sweet. Now imagine the things that our elected officials and appointed individuals have slipped pass us. I know first hand the results of exposing bogus officials! Love or hate it,you have to respect that Kenosha county eye has put people on notice!!!! Love it!!!!
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