(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
A 16-year-old Kenosha teen smiled today as Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Gerad Dougvillo ordered the dismissal of his second degree sexual assault charge, with prejudice. With prejudice means that the charge is permanently dismissed and cannot be re-filed.
This came after a court case spanning almost one year, with many twists and turns. KCE was present in court today.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
“The state is moving to dismiss this case with prejudice. I have been looking over at this case,” said Kenosha County District Attorney Xavier Solis in court today. “I have done my due diligence on this case. I have spoken to other witnesses in this case that were not called to trial, such as the ESL teacher for the alleged victim, and also I was able to receive more information through my investigation. Also, looking at some of the statements that were given by the alleged victim, I believe based on the fact that the state will not be able to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt at trial, we are moving to dismiss with prejudice,” Solis added.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
“Certainly no objection,” said defense attorney Carl Johnson. “We’re thankful and grateful that District Attorney Solis put effort into this to examine the case, investigate it, and saw the weaknesses that we thought existed as well, and we appreciate them moving to dismiss. We think it’s the right outcome,” he added.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
“This has been certainly an incredibly unique and, I would imagine, very difficult road for everybody involved,” said Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Gerad Dougvillo, “It’s also quite unique in the fact that the individuals we have here, both in the state and the defense, were not the initial individuals who had tried this case and somewhat brought us to this point. But, nevertheless, I am glad that we’re now at an appropriate conclusion here to grant the state’s motions,” the judge added.
With that, Mr. Lee is now a free man.
“The difference I saw between the new and the old [prosecutor], [Smathers], I don’t think she was looking for justice. I think she just wanted to see me locked up. She was looking for a win….I just feel like she wasn’t fair. I don’t even know why she picked the case up,” said Matel after court. “The District Attorney shook my hand and told me ‘good luck.’ That was crazy, that made me feel good.
Lee says that he will be be going back to graduate High School. He’s started a new career option. He’s been recording hip-hop music about this difficult time. His first song will be featured on YouTube soon.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
“I was heartbroken. I couldn’t work. I couldn’t eat. … I was so emotional. I really couldn’t be there for my other kids the way I was supposed to because I was so depressed about my son being in jail for something that he didn’t do. Didn’t want to go outside because I felt like, why am I hanging out and my son is in jail for something that he didn’t do,” said Jen Jones, Martel’s mom. “{DA Solis saw the truth in this case and he did what was right. And I appreciate that. I really do,” she added.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
District Attorney Solis told KCE that if he were DA at the time Lee was charged, he may not have even charged the case. “I definitely would have done more due dilegence with this type of case. We have a 16-year-old defendant. If this individual, was in fact guilty, we would have held him accountable. However, we need to make sure that this the investigation is thorough… Basically, I would have done more investigation as the prosecutor. The former prosecutor never spoke to the teachers at the school. The previous prosecutor never spoke to the teachers on that day. The detective did his part, but the prosecutor didn’t do hers.”
Back Story
In a courtroom filled to capacity On November 22, 2024, 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 last 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 this author, 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.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Smathers wrote a letter to the court attempting to get Mathewson removed from the case as an investigator because 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.”
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
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.
Judge 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.
After overturning the verdict, Smathers asked the Wisconsin Department of Justice to appeal. They declined.
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.”
DA Solis took over this case on his first day in office and spoke to the alleged victim on his second day in office. “This case was a priority, along with others, to review. I started on day one,” said Solis.
Martel submitted paperwork right after court to have his arrest records expunged from the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Once they receive it, they will remove the record of his arrest from the Statewide database.
46 Responses
SMATHERS The corrupt asst DA, trying to push it threw for her own agenda not for justice not for the truth. this is why she needs to be gone.
The only reason any of these attorney and judges don’t want Kenosha County eye in court room is because Kevin will report their court room behavior and there
unprofessional corrupt ways they like to use the law for their own agendas, this needs to stop she needs to go away, she cannot get a job anywhere else no one wants her
so we the people of Kenosha need to stand up and request her termination from the DA office. or make it easy on yourself Smathers resign ,
During the selection process, Judge Gabriele exercises unilateral authority, creating a troubling precedent. Four years ago, she leveraged her influence to secure her twin sister Iverson’s appointment as Commissioner, despite Heather’s problematic tenure at the Child Support Agency, where she reportedly had significant interpersonal conflicts with colleagues. Despite Iverson’s total lack of experience compared to others that applied for the job, she was selected, and last year the same circumstance takes place with Smutchers.
Most concerning is that Judge Gabriele, while serving on the bench, acted as her sister’s de facto campaign manager, ultimately facilitating Iverson’s elevation to her current judicial position.
This pattern raises serious ethical questions about judicial conduct and nepotism, particularly regarding a sitting judge’s active involvement in managing campaigns for whoever she determines should win, while serving on the bench.
Mr. Mathewson, It would be particularly enlightening to interview the newly appointed Chief Judge in Racine, and bring these facts to his attention, especially considering how the eternal predecessor consistently and unconditionally supported Judge Gabriele’s decisions throughout his tenure.
Smuckers has no business handling important family court cases. It is already wasting taxpayer $$ because she needs substantial training. Apparently the other commissioners have to go to her courtroom and hold her hand next week as she handles her fist week of cases. Which means someone else has to cover their calendars – people don’t work for free! Great choice – pick someone with zero experience and then spend a ton of time and $$ training them to do something that other candidates have been doing for decades.
Alex Smuckers was promised employment as a family court commissioner in exchange for participating in the collective resignation. Among all who departed, she was the sole individual unable to secure alternative employment, leading to her hesitation. Subsequently, judge Gabriele contacted Smuckers and guaranteed her the job. Said assurances were extended in advance of the official job posting, as evidenced by existing text message communications currently in circulation.
This pattern of behavior continues to repeat itself. While Gabriele lost Carli and her associates, she is already recruiting new minions. It is unfortunate, as several highly qualified candidates applied for the position but were disregarded due to preferential treatment and nepotistic practices
Sounds right… Heather left behind email messages from Aangie when she left the child support agency. When she wasn’t safeguarding our community 🤮, she was emailing Aangie about how to get picked as a commish. And Angie emailed her advice. Also – somehow…Heather got the interview questions when nobody else did? Not via emial…text maybe? Handed over I. Person, maybe? We’ll never know how but weknow it did happen.
Show us the text messages. You say they are in circulation so prove it…
“Among all who departed, she was the sole individual unable to secure alternative employment, leading to her hesitation.”
Tells you a lot…
Yep…Comm Blouterse was in Room101 with Smithers today. Why does it take both of them to do what one magistate usually does?
What. A. Waste. Of. Money. Taxpayers just paid for 2 people to do what ONE person should be doing. Taxpayers also paid for someone else to cover Blouterse’s courtroom.
THANKS to AAngie and Heather, Jason, David and Gerald – the taxpayers are paying 3x as much as this time last year. And they are getting 3x LESS the experience…
You forgot Tony.
Just as stated above – Smuckers has been on the payroll since last week but she has done no work by herself. Kevin should stop by to take a picture of the 2 commissioners sitting next to each other on the bench in family court. What an embarrassment…
sorry miss read the article she is leaving thank goodness sorry to Sheboygan for the toxic currpt person you hired .
Sadly she has been appointed at a court commissioner by our current judges! What a shame!
https://kenoshacountyeye.com/2025/01/09/former-rogue-prosecutor-says-she-will-be-appointed-family-court-commissioner-she-has-no-experience/
The state of the judicial system in Kenosha is seriously disturbing. The nepotism, corruption, smug attitudes astound me.
Citizens upset over a Sheriff Department name change pale in comparison to the corrupt liberal takeover of this city seemingly little regards to its taxpayers or citizens.
A who you know city government and judicial system networking with relatives and friends to build wealth through tax dollar jobs. Seems that’s all that really matters to these people.
Not a place I want to raise my children.
I admired the campaign of DA Solis, the underdog in a scheme of corruption. I wish him well. I often think of how wonderful it would be if Mr. Solis was able to clean up Kenosha politically as Giuliani cleaned up NY back in the day.
Fight, fight, fight!
~ DT
Shame on us for not taking action regarding these matters. It is our responsibility to properly document and report all irregularities. If we fail to do so, justice cannot be properly served and maintained.
not true. You should check out Kevin’s other articles. She’s been given a promotion and a prestigious new position as a court commissioner.
The Criminal Justice system in Kenosha is broken. There are likely many wrongfully convicted people. This young man was very lucky he did not spend decades in prison. I hope things get better.
Wait! This guy is probably guilty of something or will commit future crimes. I mean, look at him!
Kenosha needs to wake up. They are charging and putting people in jail without doing a proper investigation. I wonder how often this happens. This kid will never be the same all because one person made up a lie about him. Horrible.
The fact that Smathers was promoted after pushing so hard to lock this kid up is sick. I hope the families in our community aren’t further affected by this corruption. Kevin, thanks for all the reporting here–I don’t want to think about what would happen without your investigation. I hope that Martel and family can move on.
Kevin,
Keep your Catcher’s Mitt and other Protective Gear on as you will no doubt need to field some of Smathers’ Arrows shot in your direction in the future.
YES!!! So happy for this kid and his family as this case should have never gone as far as it did! Great work Kevin and Solis! In your face Smathers!!!!
Finally! Complete bullshit this young man was charged with a crime. Enjoy your freedom and don’t ever forget what it felt like to have your freedom stripped away.
So sad that Smathers has received a promotion for her negligent work, what is going on in the court system? All the upstanding, competent Judges have retired, there’s no integrity left in the judicial system. Although Judge Wilk is an honorable man.
Wilk voted for Smathers…not as honorable as you might think.
Smather is an absolute POS! Wants Mathewson removed due to a bias against her? Kevin is the most honest a fair player in the court along with DA Solis. Very happy charges were dismissed for the young man, now lidigation is in order for wrongful prosecution I would hope. Smathers you ugly bitch, you reep what you sow. Foolish bitch!
Which judges voted for Smathers to be a family court commissioner?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
Also, do her actions qualify for disbarment?
YES
The People want to know WTF is going on
I copied this from another post –
“Angelina and Heather “campaigned” to get Smuckers hired even though Smuckers had ZERO family law experience. Meijer and Kerkman were absolutley blindsided at the interviews. A and H went to Jason, David and Gerald to get their votes ahead of time. They had a majority of.votes.before the interviews. What a waste of time.for the other candidates. ALL of whom were much more qualified than Angie 2.0, I mean Smuckers.”
I can add that Angie, Gerad and Heather are known as the Axis of Evil. Jodi is North Korea and Kerkman is Iceland. Wilks is normally Switzerland and Jason is Angie’s lapdog. Tony has checked out so much that we call him Hilton, as in hotel check outs.
I assume that Martel Lee switched his defense to Johnson & Cafferty, smart move if so. I love the way Lee is glaring at Mike Barth. I feel his thoughts, “Comb your hair you ugly POS and represent me.” Barth is a slob. Who would hire this guy? Anyone getting him as a court appointed attorney would be smart to request a new one IMO. He looks like a carnival barker from 7 mile fair.
Great job Da Solis. FU Smathers (without bias).
Smathers and Team
ADA Smather resembles a type of Dinosauer. Is it a Stegosaurus, a Protoseratops, no a Carnotaurus, oh I know, a Lycalotopuss.
Smather is wearing a wedding ring? Who would married this bitch. He or she should cheat.
probably already has. she probably put up with it.
@Kevin you may also need them removed from the FBI database, or at least have the family follow up to ensure WI sent the necessary documents to the FBI. Otherwise this bullshit will show up in any federal background checks in the future.
Kevin, very important image you have at the end of the story. I assume that is the state’s expungement form. Most people who are arrested, any time you have fingerprints taken by law enforcement, have a criminal record created with the state, and in most cases, with the FBI.
If your case is dismissed or found not guilty in court, you MUST have your fingerprint record for that arrest expunged(deleted) from your record. Most lawyers do not tell their clients this very important fact. This does not apply to any previous arrests that you may have been convicted of, but as in the case, Lee will have this removed forever from his record.
Kudos Kevin.
So true
Everyone see how petty and corrupt this creep Smathers is?
Baby River
The time has come for justice to be served to that horrible woman allegedly responsible for the Baby’s death. Mr. Solis please take care of it so Baby River can finally rest in peace
Smathers should not be a civil servant.
Haribo is hiring. Can’t ruin the life of a gummie. Let’s get rid of her by any means. Totally incompetant and a fool. Should no way serve in Family Court. That’s very scarey.
Whoever voted her in this position should be disbarred as unqualified Smathers will not be in the best interest of families and children and they knew this, just didn’t care.
We need more info on who exactly got her this position in Family Court.
She won’t work for a Republican she says. How immature and she wants a grown up job? Excuse her being corrupt. Blame her upbringing for she is a Democrat and mental ill. Leave the country now that a right wing President will be in charge little baby. How many grown adults would say they won’t work for a certain political persuasion and announce it in public? Put that on your resume sweetheart. Then resign and get a facelift with all the overpaid State of Wi. tax dollars you’re getting for nothing ignorant bitch.
Seems like justice has finisher of, I can’t say an inspiring hip hop artist feels Good Life choices for the future, but if there is a next event, we have a better district attorney to decide whether or not he gets charged and prosecuted.
Dear Editor,
I am writing to request the publication of information regarding the recent judicial nomination. Specifically, we seek transparency concerning:
1. The complete list of officials responsible for the nomination
2. The voting record of judges who selected the nominee over other experienced family law candidates
While it is public knowledge that Judges Rossell and Iverson cast votes in favor of the nominee, the remaining voters’ identities remain undisclosed. In the interest of transparency, we request the release of all voting members’ names.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Best regards,
Nick W.
Angie, Jared, Heather, Jason, David, and Tony all voted for the candidate with ZERO experience.
Chad and Jodie did not – they wanted someone with at least 5 years experience- per the HR job application!!!!!!!!!!! Jodie met with Smathers recently and basically bullied, threatened and lied to her. She told her she has to stay to 5pm every date but that’s not true… since SMathers has to work weekends and be on call, she gets a flex schedule… Jodie also lied about the work hours to Lisa but Lisa’s too scared to do anything.
Irony considering how early Jodie leaves each day…
#shouldavoted4Ward
Nothing will happen to anyone. The judges knew this and that’s why they don’t care.
Just as DT stated, Exposing any and all abuses of power. It is about time to apply this at a local level.