MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A group of juvenile justice advocates from the across the country filed a brief Friday, urging the state Court of Appeals to overturn Damian Hauschultz’s conviction for the death of his cousin, Ethan, 7. They argue juveniles, especially those with trauma histories such as the then-14-year-old Damian, cannot fully comprehend their situation to waive their Miranda rights.
Damian Hauschultz, now 19, was 14 years old when he supervised Ethan’s punishment at their Manitowoc County home. Ethan had to carry a log for two hours in the back yard, but then Damian beat him, and buried him in a snowbank for 20 minutes without a coat or boots. Ethan died of hypothermia, but also had extensive other injuries, including blunt force injuries to his head, chest and abdomen, and a rib fracture. Damian pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, plus 10 years of extended supervision.
His mother, Tina McKeever-Hauschultz, is serving a five-year prison term for her role in the events leading up to and failing to prevent Ethan’s death. Timothy Hauschultz, Damian’s stepfather, is awaiting trial on multiple counts, including felony murder and child abuse for allegedly ordering the punishment. Neither parent was home when Ethan died.
In December, Damian Haushultz appealed. It raised two primary arguments: Due to his age (14), Damian would not have felt free to end the questioning by police, therefore, he was in custody and should have been read his Miranda rights during three separate interviews. And, given the pressures placed by police, “Damian’s self-incrimination was not based on “deliberateness of choice,” but immaturity, ignorance, and susceptibility to pressure from law enforcement,” therefore were not voluntary, and should not have been allowed at trial.
The appeal asks the court to reverse the trial court’s ruling allowing the statements from his first three interrogations, and it wants Hauschultz to be able withdraw the guilty plea, and have the case resume from that point.
Prosecutors replied in April, arguing the law was followed, and Damian did, in fact, understand what he was doing.
Hauschultz’s attorneys have until May 26 to reply to the state’s arguments. After that, the appeals court will issue a ruling, likely in several months.
Meanwhile, Friday’s filing comes in the form of a ‘friend of the court’ brief, filed by the Juvenile Law Center. The Philadelphia-based organization says it works “to reduce the harm of the child welfare and justice systems, limit their reach, and ultimately abolish them so all young people can thrive.”
In the 19-page brief, the groups “urge this Court to integrate research on the impacts of adolescent brain development and trauma into its interrogation analysis for adolescents,” wrote attorneys Matthew Pinix and Marsha Levick.
First, they argue the interrogations were unconstitutional due to Damian’s age and trauma history.
“Accounting for the impacts of both adolescent brain development and trauma, the court should find that (1) Damian was in custody during the interrogations and was therefore entitled to Miranda warnings, (2) he could not understand, appreciate, and enforce his Miranda rights and, therefore could not give a voluntary and informed waiver, and (3) because youths’ faculties are so easily overborne by police, especially when they have a trauma history, Damian’s statements to police were involuntary,” the brief states.
Even if Hauschultz was read his Miranda rights, “Damian could not appreciate or validly waive his rights. A valid Miranda waiver must be knowing and intelligent,” it argues.
Additionally, the statements should not be allowed because Damian was, in effect, coerced.
“Throughout his interrogations, Damian displayed signs of stress, emotional distress, and disengagement consistent with his age and trauma history. In this emotionally charged state, Damian’s decision-making skills and his ability to withstand pressure were significantly diminished, increasing the likelihood that his statements were involuntary in violation of due process,” the brief states.
The groups joined with Haushultz’s attorneys asking the appeals to overturn the circuit court judge’s decision to allow the teen’s statements to be used in the case.
Besides the Juvenile Law Center, the brief filed Friday was also listed as being on behalf of the Barton Child Law and Policy Center, Emory Law School; The Gault Center; Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law; Children and Family Justice Center; Issa Kohler-Hausmann, Professor of Law, Yale University; Kristin Henning, Director, Georgetown Juvenile Justice Clinic & Initiative; Youth Law Center; National Center for Youth Law; BJ Casey, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience, Barnard College – Columbia University; Dr. Arielle Baskin-Sommers, Associate Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, Yale University; Mid-Atlantic Region of the Gault Center; Human Rights for Kids; Center for the Study of Social Policy; and the Children’s Defense Fund.
