Sunday, March 9, 2008

#1 Louis Butler and the "show off" rapist

Phillip Harvey, the "show off" rapist

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler is misleading the public, claiming in TV advertisements that he's "tough" on criminals.

Butler says: "If you rob somebody, you should be punished..."

Apparently, Butler's forgotten about his defense of Phillip Harvey, the infamous show off rapist, whom he tried to help escape punishment.

Harvey was convicted before the Circuit Court, Milwaukee County, John E. McCormick, of kidnapping while armed, three counts of armed robbery, and seven counts of first-degree sexual assault.

Along with an accomplice, Harvey raped and abducted an 18-year-old girl who was parking her car in downtown Milwaukee on July 14, 1984. She was approached by two males, one of them Harvey.

One pointed a gun at her head. They robbed her and then took turns raping her while pointing a gun at her head. They put her in the trunk, drove around, and “displayed” her to observers. At one spot, a suspect said, “The white bitch is in the trunk.”

This earned the rapists the media nickname of "the show off rapists."

People laughed and congratulated the suspects as they observed the victim. The defendant admitted to the police that he was one of the rapists. He was charged with multiple counts including sexual intercourse, and assaulting the victim with a gun.

Phil Harvey initially tried to take responsibility for his horrific crimes, entering a guilty plea and being convicted and sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.

Louis Butler tried to get him off. Butler, then a senior public defender, took up Harvey's cause as his appellate lawyer.

Butler's argument on appeal centered over the defendant’s trial attorney, Alan Eisenberg’s, comments in a USA Today story before he was retained by the defendant. “I hope they fry in hell,” Eisenberg had stated.

But Butler should have known he was exploiting legal technicalities for the benefit of Harvey. After all, Harvey had been asked about the Eisenberg comments in depth at trial court level, and Harvey stated he still wanted Eisenberg to represent him.

Butler filed a motion to withdraw the defendant’s plea. The other issue was whether Eisenberg misled his client into believing the judge had promised him 75 years in prison.

The defendant expressed remorse at sentencing and apologized to the victim. There is no doubt: Phillip Harvey did it.

Butler lost the case before the state Supreme Court, so the show off rapist sits in prison today.

Holding offenders accountable? Only if you rewrite history at election time.


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