(Mugshot from Kenosha Sheriff, Photo of Judge, KCE)
Kenosha Circuit Court Judge Jason Rossell had an important decision overturned by The Wisconsin Court of Appeals. This occurred a little less than two years ago, but KCE was only recently made aware of the decision by the higher court.
Mark J. Gahart plead guilty to Felony Hit And Run – Involving Injury, and OWI (2nd With Passenger Under 16 Years Old.)
According to the Court of Appeals decision:
Mark J. Gahart was convicted of operating while under the influence of an intoxicant (OWI) with a minor passenger in the vehicle. [Judge Rossell] determined that the minor was not a victim of the OWI offense and entered a judgment of conviction which was silent as to restitution and a postjudgment order stating that “Restitution is not ordered.” The State’s appeal raises the narrow issue of whether the minor passenger has a right to restitution. We conclude that the minor is a victim of Gahart’s crime under the restitution statute, Wis. Stat. § 973.20. Accordingly, we reverse [Judge Rosells’] postjudgment order denying the right to seek restitution and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The minor’s mother told [Judge Rossell] at sentencing that Gahart “placed [his daughter] in a vehicle and scared her with his erratic driving from Burlington to Kenosha.” The mother reported that her daughter asked Gahart to slow down, but he “silenced her” as he followed other vehicles closely and attempted to “pass everybody.”
The Court of Appeals wrote in part:
“The Legislature has determined to criminally punish and deter drivers who subject minors to the grave risks associated with drunk driving, identifying a minor as one against whom a crime has been committed. We reject Gahart’s contention that this is a victimless crime. As reported by his minor daughter’s mother, Gahart placed his daughter in the vehicle and drove erratically from Burlington to Kenosha, refused to slow down, followed other vehicles too closely, and frequently attempted to pass others. By directing his daughter to ride in a vehicle he was too intoxicated to drive safely, Gahart committed a crime against her.
For the reasons set forth above, the minor passenger and her nonoffending parent are crime victims; each has the statutory rights of crime victims, including the right to seek restitution. The circuit court declined to address whether the mother is entitled to recover the expenses and fees she incurred in the family court proceeding as restitution. Accordingly, we reverse the postjudgment order denying restitution and remand to the circuit court to conduct further proceedings to determine whether an award of restitution is appropriate.”
Judge Rossell gave Gahart 90 days of work release and two years of probation for the felony conviction. Gahart’s attorney was Ted Kmiec.
(Mugshot from Kenosha Sheriff)
16 Responses
61 years old and still acting like a selfish fool.
This just makes me sick.
The offender or the judge.
What a fool of a judge. Did the girl have the means to disagree with the custodial adult? What bs. Had better hopes for rossell.
What was the actual damages? A bad car ride from drunken daddy? Restitution seems a little shady.
Mental anguish, pain and suffering.
She can never ride a car again as she developed a fear of them and regresses into a infantile state when ever a horn beeps or an engine revvs.
It’s a million dollar lawsuit coming.
People can sue all they want. Even win and get judgements.
But you can’t get blood out of a turnip
Yes she is a victim. It’s called domestic abuse and potentially kidnapping if she was forced to stay in the vehicle while he terrorized her by intentionally driving to inflict fear. This child will have PTSD the rest of her life. I experienced this with an e, cannot imagine having a father do this. Horrible.
You sound like a person who thinks inflicting fear in someone is ok, especially if it’s a child.
You are probably the same type of person who would invalidate someone by saying “get over it”.
Do better
Shady you say? Just a bad car ride from a drunken daddy? This was his second offense. He pushed a car off of the road, from behind at highway speed only minutes after dropping his daughter off. He fled the scene at high speed with his hood up and his head out the window, but left his front bumper behind. Karma! He had been denying his issues in family court for years and purposely ran up attorney fees to punish the daughter’s mother for bringing his addiction issues to light. He was already under court order to refrain from alcohol intake while his daughter was in his care. Those orders had just lapsed prior to him drinking all afternoon knowing had had to bring his daughter to her mother’s place. The mother was forced, once again, to incur attorney and other fees to try to protect their daughter from a dangerous, unstable father. He refused to agree to re-instate the safety measures that had been court ordered, such as blowing in a sober link while the daughter was in his care. He denied his guilt in family court while running up legal fees for the mother. These were the financial damages claimed in restitution. They were the direct result of the criminal behavior. He placed the daughter in grave danger. That is the crime. Judge Rossell and other court officials denied restitution for those claims and disregarded the entire claim by an intentional misrepresentation of the facts. So obvious. The district attorney refused to file an appeal because they said it was not an important enough issue to spend time and money on. The mother filed her own appeal which not surprisingly was unsuccessful. She could not afford to be represented by an attorney. The father was relieved of any responsibility for the damages he inflicted which is contrary to law and precedent.
You sound like his family court attorney, who is an arrogant, corrupt, despicable being. Thank God he was not elected as a judge.
Who are Kenosha’s best judges for upholding the law?
Judge Rossell has always been a fair and impartial judge. The initial report seems like Judge Rossell errored, his reasons need to be known. Either way the Appellate had their say.
Maybe if he wasn’t multitasking and was paying attention he would have made a better decision. I have been in his court and have witnessed him answering messages while tasked with overseeing a motion hearing. Smathers is no better, she was playing games on her phone while the defense was questioning people. Completely unprofessional. And these are the people responsible for deciding a person’s fate.
WTF is up with our courts? Joel Trudell charges dismissed, bergs dismissed and stealing tens of thousands of dollars and no charges?
Thanks to DA office. Gravely and NcNeill are worthless for Kenosha county.
Vote Solis to save our city from these degenerates!
The Kenosha County Court System is seriously flawed.
Yes it is and unfortunately people ate unaware of how corrupt Kenosha county is. They need to be investigated by the Attorney General of Wisconsin. People who have experienced the corruption need to write the Attorney General and voice their concerns. Everything from the courts to the jail is corrupt and abuse of power is allowed. Did you know the staff at Kenosha county jail can deny people their medication? And the jail staff put people in restraint chairs and laugh about the fact that the person can sit there and piss and shit on themselves? This city is terrible and has terrible people working for them.