Scott Farmer appears before Waupaca County court via Zoom, January 23, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Prosecutors say Scott Farmer should not be allowed to withdraw his no contest plea to charges stemming from a drunken driving crash that killed four siblings.
Farmer pleaded no contest to four counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle to the Dec. 16, 2023, crash which killed four Gonzalez siblings: Daniel, 25; Fabian, 23; Lilian, 14; and Daniela, 9. He was sentenced to 37 years, six months in prison.
Farmer filed a post-conviction motion asking to withdraw his plea and to have evidence from a blood draw tossed out because of alleged problems with the warrant.
In her reply, District Attorney Kat Turner argues Turner should not be granted the relief he seeks.
As to the warrant:
“Trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress the search warrant authorizing a legal draw of Farmer’s blood. Farmer does not dispute that his blood was drawn pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant, that the warrant was issued based upon an affidavit that established probable cause, or that the officer who prepared that affidavit swore to the document’s contents as the state and federal constitutions demand. Rather, he argues only that his constitutional right against unreasonable searches was violated — and his blood test results should be suppressed — because the judge who issued that search warrant failed to obey a state statutory requirement to date and sign the affidavit’s jurat when he swore the officer to its contents and authorized the officer to affix the judge’s name to the document. This Court should reject Farmer’s argument because it enjoys no support from Fourth Amendment jurisprudence or even the statutory authority he cites,” Turner wrote.
Turner also contends the plea should not be allowed to be withdrawn based on the attorney’s actions.
“Farmer’s trial counsel did not perform deficiently by not making a suppression motion that was meritless. This Court should exercise it’s discretion and deny Farmer’s plea withdrawal without a Machner hearing and affirm the judgment of conviction on all counts,” Turner wrote.
No hearings have been scheduled. Court records show the judge has to make a decision in the case by Dec. 28.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a report of a wrong-way driver on Highway 10, near County X, in Weyauwega. The crash happened at about 9:15 p.m.
Farmer’s truck was travelling westbound in the eastbound lane, and crashed into the other vehicle. A medic told police there was a large bottle of vodka by Farmer.
According to an amended criminal complaint, a blood test revealed Farmer’s BAC was .346. The legal limit for driving in most cases is .08. Because Farmer had previous convictions for drunken driving, his legal limit was .02.
Farmer was previously convicted of drunken driving for offenses on Oct. 6, 1999, Sept. 18, 2001, Nov. 29, 2006, and Dec. 18, 2019. His driver’s license was revoked at the time of this crash.
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