(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
On September 2, 2023, on East Brady Street in Milwaukee, Paul Prediger, formerly known as Gaige Grosskreutz, was ran over by a 31-year-old Milwaukee man named Marvin Thomas. According to Prediger, he was able to learn the identity of the driver of the vehicle, which was not immediately known to police. On September 20, 2023, Thomas was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with Felony Hit and Run – Great Bodily Harm and Knowingly Operating A Motor Vehicle While Revoked – Cause Great Bodily Harm. Thomas faced 30 years in the Wisconsin Prison System if convicted. Prediger is widely known for being the only man shot by Kyle Rittenhouse to survive.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Defense attorney Lori Ann Kuehn and Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Stephan Eduard Nolten cut a deal the morning of trial, which irritated Prediger. He was, after all, preparing to tell a jury of strangers that he was run over, resulting in the tearing in all of the ligaments in his neck, cracking of his teeth, breaking his shoulder, breaking half of his ribs, a broken wrist, collapsed lung, and lacerated liver.
(Milwaukee County Sheriff)
(Photo from Behind Plexiglas by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Thomas was sentenced on July 22, 2024 by Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Kori Ashley, a Governor Tony Evers (D) appointee and the daughter of Milwaukee’s Chief Judge, Carl Ashley. Ashley violated Marsy’s law and the open seatings in court statutes and constitutions provisions by calling the case 32 minutes early. She then undercut the generous plea deal by giving Thomas only two-and-a-half years in prison, reducing the agreed-upon prison of four years by 40%.
Prediger showed up to the sentencing hearing on time and with friends. He was shocked and angered to learn that the sentencing was conducted without him having the chance to speak before sentencing and have his victim impact statement affect the sentence.
Prediger sent a letter to the court saying in part:
“Dear Judge Ashley,
I am writing to formally express my deep concern and dissatisfaction with the handling of the recent court case, 2023CF004275, in which I was the victim, on 07/22/2024. Specifically, the fact that the court case was called 32 minutes earlier than the scheduled time. This unexpected change deprived the public of their right to be present during the hearing and violated my rights as a victim to participate and speak at the defendant’s sentencing hearing. I received no notice from the prosecutor about this schedule change and was outside your courtroom well in advance. I contacted the Victim Rights Advocate several times that morning, as I had every intention of being present for the defendant’s sentencing hearing. My assistance and cooperation throughout the entire 10-month process, including providing the evidence necessary to arrest and charge the defendant, should have demonstrated my commitment to this case and its outcome.
As a victim, my right to be heard during sentencing is protected under Marsy’s Law. This law “ensures that victims of crime have equal, constitutional rights on the same level as those accused and convicted of crimes”. It also “ensures that victims have the opportunity to provide input, express the impact of the crime, and participate in the judicial process”. Calling this case 32 minutes earlier than scheduled, without advance notice to me, unfairly denied me this crucial opportunity to exercise my rights..”
With that, Judge Ashley held a hearing yesterday, July 29, 2024 to allow Prediger to speak. Both her and the prosecutor acknowledged the Marsy’s Law violation. Judge Ashley stated in court “…the victim was still deprived of an opportunity to speak at the hearing, which is his right under Chapter 950, as well as, now, our Constitution, with regard to Marsy’s law. It shouldn’t have happened. It did happen. I scheduled this hearing promptly… A terrible thing happened to the victim in this case that should not have happened.”
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
In court yesterday, Thomas had on two medical masks and looked back at Prediger only once. He wore two medical-style N95 masks, which Prediger speculated may have been due to shame.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Prediger finally got the chance to speak to the man that nearly took his life. Prediger read in court from a prepared statement that he shared with KCE:
“I only want to take a brief moment of the court’s time since the defendant has decided to waste all of ours for the past ten months. To put this into context, let’s all imagine Brady Street on a warm, summer weekend night, bustling with music and people along the street. Those lovely memories are shattered when a careless driver prioritizes their own desires over the lives of those around them. We saw this with Arne Bast and Quincy Alexander. Unfortunately, one lost their life, but neither will ever know who hit them, much less have that person face justice. Last year, at the end of summer, Marvin, you decided to not only injure me but also put the lives of everyone else on the road in jeopardy. How do I know? Because I found you. Despite you tearing every ligament in my neck, cracking my teeth, breaking my shoulder, breaking half the ribs on the side you drove three tons of metal into, despite you breaking my wrist, collapsing my lung, and lacerating my liver (that means cut, in case you’re unaware), despite all of this, I got out of the hospital standing tall and tracked you down from the moment you got in that car all the way back to where you parked it.
I was determined to find you, not only to hold you accountable for what you have done to my body but also for the pain and trauma you put my friends and family through. All of this is overshadowed by the fact that you robbed me of my privacy and safety. It’s no secret that I changed my name, but what many people don’t know is I did so because of harassment and stalking from law enforcement agencies across the state, including the Milwaukee Police Department.
When you left me to die in the street after running me over and dragging me 30 feet, the responding police officer failed to keep my information confidential, despite a legal obligation to do so. This led to Jessica McBride, a right-wing blogger, in her usual invasive fashion, discovering my new name and disrupting the quiet, normal life I was trying to live. You have jeopardized my life twice now.
To add insult to injury, you and your girlfriend tried to conspire and hide what you had done and even went as far as to taunt me on the internet, referencing the Rittenhouse shooting. You’re 30 years old, a multiple-count felon who can’t obey the rules of the road, much less society. You drive your girlfriend’s car, you have no job, and now you are going back to prison. Guess what I’m going to do? I’m going to enjoy the warm sunshine, spend time with my family and friends, go fishing, and not give you another thought, as should no one else.”
Prediger closed by asking for a re-sentencing. Neither the prosecutor nor the Judge allowed a new sentencing, despite Prediger not being in court.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Prediger agreed to an interview after court by KCE. Prediger said that the leniency that the judge showed Thomas was “kind of a slap in the face to me… It is, but I think more so it’s a slap in the face to the community because reckless driving is definitely an issue here in Milwaukee, and I think what I was trying to illustrate with my impact statement was that not many people have the opportunity to see their, I guess, assailant, whatever you want to call it, in court. A lot of people are just hit and ran on the road and left to die, and nobody knows who did it…Martin Thomas, the defendant, has multiple priors for burglary, multiple OWIs, driving while revoked.”
A local criminal defense attorney told KCE that unfortunately, the judge can’t be sanctioned for a violation of Marsy’s law by the Victim’s Right’s board – only the Wisconsin Judicial Commission can sanction her. As for starting the hearing 32 minutes early, the Judicial commission could discipline Judge Ashley for that violation as well.
33 Responses
That’s a tough one right there. That guy got away only getting the time he did! That’s not even a slap on the wrist. Interested if the girlfriend was charged.
Judge should have asked if everyone was in court ready to proceed. She obviously had a list of who should be there.
Since the victim was not “in court” the judge should have skipped over that case and put another on that also had people in court ready to go.
By all accounts these things take mere minutes.
The law needs improvement to sanction judges and allow for resentencing
In Milwaukee black is ok white is bad.
Just to clarify- judges don’t have a list of what victims will be present in court on what day in Wisconsin. (Not trying to say people shouldn’t be upset about this, but I like people to be upset about the correct things/not based on incorrect assumptions)
When a person is considered a victim in a case, they receive a form from the district attorney’s office asking about what type of involvement they want in the case/what they want to be notified of. In smaller crimes, (such as something like a hit & run unattended vehicle or a minor theft), some victims just want to be able to get restitution and don’t care about what else happens in court or what punishment the person receives. Alternatively, some people ask that they be notified of every hearing date by the DA’s office and insist on speaking at every hearing. Sometimes court hearings may be called early even when there is a victim in the case, if the victim has indicated on the form that they don’t care about whether or not they are notified of/present at a specific type of hearing. Alternatively, some judges won’t ever call a hearing early if there is a victim in the case regardless of what type of hearing is scheduled, just for the principle of it.
Generally, Judges ask at the start of a hearing if the state “is in victim rights compliance” and the state either confirms or denies that they are. Looking at the CCAP minutes, Judge Ashley did this at the plea hearing, but it isn’t indicated in the minutes for the sentencing hearing. (Which doesn’t really mean anything- the thoroughness of CCAP minutes varies depending on who the clerk is). While this is obviously an error of the judge, IMO, this error is as much on the state as it is on the court– judges do sometimes forget to ask this, but if they do, the state almost always pipes up and says that they are/aren’t in victim rights compliance. The state knew that PP wanted to speak at the hearing, ESPECIALLY since he had been in contact with a victim witness representative that morning, so they should never have allowed it to proceed.
For as much as you explained the process, it still doesn’t change the fact that this was said and done in under 32 minutes. If the judge was running early, I’m sure she could’ve found a lesser case to throw into that slot. Maybe even two. My original point, is that the judge didn’t do her job correctly regardless of what reasons they may have been. Certain jobs in society need to be executed in very deliberate fashion.
This is one of them
Those nasty conservative judges. Gotta be a Trump supporter… proudly supporting “The Palatium” project Trump wants to implement for the “black community.” If you only had access to low interest small business loans, and other government subsides, you would have never been jobless, carless, and the rest of those Trump traits you learned from you fearless leader.
Your comment makes no sense- can you slow down, use punctuation and elaborate?
Thanks in advance.
Awe shucks you’re confused. No shit!
We’re all confused over your ramblings.
Huh? Did u just watch a podcast on it or something?
Drugs are bad, mmmkay
I believe that you missed the fact that the judge is an Evers appointee. So much for blaming conservative judges on this one. Soros liberal justice system exposed here.
Looks like the judge and the Thomas go to the same hair salon.
The Judge later said, “if I had a son, I’d want him to look like Thomas”.
Freel , yo
Buckwheat’s Clippery.
sounds like his liberal friends have let him down.Maybe a lawsuit against someone…good luck!
State pay for his medical bills?
Most likely (by state, you mean WE).
How does one guy find himself in all these bad situations ?
I was wondering the same thing! Man this guy has nine lives!
Karma.
This guy has been shot and run over and thats a lot of trauma. Why dont we let him live in peace and stop posting about the name change that he asked to keep quiet. Can we try to be nice on this page for once ever, way to hurt a guy when he is down.
Agreed….let the guy live his life.
This guy talks like he’s some kind of martyr just because he got shot in the bicep and couldn’t look both ways before crossing a street.
He brought this all on himself- all of them did, both sides.
Because he is a satanist lying scumbag, convicted felon, who tried to get an innocent kid convicted of murder after he himself attacked him with a gun. Gage Grosskreutz, aka Paul Prediger is the sickest of the sick, the lowest of the low, and I don’t think anything that ever happens to him in this life will undo all the bad karma he brought upon himself.
Marvin Thomas is a brilliant man ! He aced my Theoretical Plasma Physics class at MIT.
😆😅🤣😂
This guy is like a magnet for trouble.
It is evident by his actions that fateful night in Kenosha that Paul is a terrible person; a true dumpster fire of a soul. The fact that he got run over by another dumpster fire is the strongest evidence of karma as I have seen. He should go away and live a life of solitude and destitution. Hopefully he does not breed.
When Marvin Thomas is released from prison early (and he will be) maybe he will run over judge Ashley. He should be liable to pay restitution for the hospital bills for the man he ran over. Oh yea, the genius don’t have a job.
My favorite picture of the lying scumbag attempted murder convicted felon Gage Grosskreutz, aka Paul Prediger. Here you can see him clearly wearing his church of satan garb. No joke, just look at the bandana around his neck. It clearly shows the satanic pentagram, etc. This guy is a monster. https://millionsofcelebs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/4deao6.png
My favorite picture of the lying scumbag attempted murder convicted of felony Gage Grosskreutz, aka Paul Prediger. Here you can see him clearly wearing his church of satan garb. No joke, just look at the bandana around his neck. It clearly shows the satanic pentagram, etc. This guy is a monster. https://millionsofcelebs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/4deao6.png