(Kenosha County Sheriff's Office)
KENOSHA, Wis. — For those wondering how newly appointed Court Commissioner Daniel E. Kellum will treat criminal defendants, his handling of an alleged third-time drunk driver is perhaps the clearest indication yet that Kellum will be a liberal activist, soft-on-crime court commissioner. The position is one of the most consequential in the Kenosha County Circuit Court system: Kellum is among the first judicial officials to see criminal defendants after charges are filed and makes critical initial decisions about bail and conditions of release. On Wednesday, Kellum gave 27-year-old Alexandria R. Czarnecki, of Racine, no-cash bail on an OWI-3 case — and went a step further by removing the cash requirement that had already been imposed, resulting in the $850 cash bail she had already posted being returned to her. The decision came just one day after Kellum himself presided over the initial appearance of Natalie Faith Benante, 21, of Bristol, who is charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and second-degree reckless homicide after prosecutors say she drove under the influence of marijuana and caused a violent head-on crash that killed 67-year-old David A. Aiken. Kellum set Benante's bail at $200,000 cash Tuesday. Yet less than 24 hours later, when another alleged impaired driver — this one accused of OWI-3 with a 0.17 alcohol concentration — stood before him, Kellum eliminated her existing cash bail and sent her $850 back. It appears the deadly consequences of alleged impaired driving that Kellum had confronted in his own courtroom just one day earlier fell on deaf ears.
(Kenosha County Sheriff's Office)
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