Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Wausau ex-officer close to trial for attempted murder
SHAWANO, Wis. (AP) — State prosecutors failed Tuesday to get evidence previously banned back into their case against a former Wausau police officer accused of trying to kill his wife.
Chueng Lee, 46, of Weston, is accused of forcing his wife, Chao Lee, into a vehicle and deliberately crashing it into a Shawano County bridge in September.
Chueng Lee, a 15-year police veteran, is charged with attempted first degree intentional homicide, false imprisonment and aggravated battery. He faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted on the charges.
Prosecutors had asked the court Tuesday at the final motions hearing ahead of jury selection on May 16 to allow evidence from Lee’s home seized with a new search warrant after the old search warrant had been ruled invalid.
Shawano County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Grover had ruled evidence from the home should be suppressed because of an error in the original search warrant.
After the ruling, prosecutors obtained a new search warrant from Circuit Court Judge J.R. Habeck because Grover was out of town.
The state argued that the second search warrant wasn’t based on any material seized in the first search, but Grover disagreed.
“You got a different judge who wasn’t familiar with the situation to sign a new warrant,” he said. “I don’t believe I would have signed it.”
According to court records, Lee threatened to kill Chao Lee at her Weston home Sept. 18 before she got into his pickup for what he said was a drive to a casino.
Chao Lee, who filed for divorce earlier last year, told investigators that she got into his truck because of the threats and when she tried to fasten her seat belt several times, he repeatedly removed it before the crash into the concrete bridge near Bowler.
Chueng Lee initially told investigators the crash happened after he swerved to miss a deer, the complaint said.
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