Video, Transcripts of Wisconsin Woman's Police Interview Cannot Be Used at Her Trial, Judge Rules
A court decided on Tuesday that a Wisconsin woman who is suspected of killing a man she claims was sexually abusing her cannot have video or transcripts of their police interrogation entered as evidence in her trial.
Judge David Wilk of Kenosha Circuit Court determined that it would probably be against the woman's constitutional rights to use the transcript and video of Chrystul Kizer's 2018 interview with Kenosha police investigators as trial evidence, as reported by the Kenosha News.
The information was suppressed, per Kizer's attorneys' request, which the judge granted. In his decision, Wilk stated that it would be "hard pressed" for the court to conclude that using the video and transcript would violate Kizer's rights under the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination and the Sixth Amendment to have an attorney present while being questioned.
While in jail, Kizer was interviewed by police in a room located in the Public Safety Building in Kenosha. She had already obtained legal counsel at this point. She did not bring her attorney to the interview.
According to Helmi Hamad, one of her attorneys, the police interview was a "horrible thing that occurred." "It's a step towards ensuring Chrystul gets a fair trial and gets her life back," he said of Wilk's decision.
Following the hearing on Tuesday, the prosecutors chose not to comment.
Due to their belief that Kizer initiated contact with investigators, they had claimed that the footage from October 2018 and the transcripts might be introduced at trial. Additionally, they stated that she had written them a note expressing her want to speak with them on a homicide case and that she was not being unduly influenced by law enforcement.
Kizer did not receive a Miranda warning and had extensive conversations with detectives without the presence of her attorney. The 34-year-old Volar was allegedly shot by Kizer at his Kenosha residence when she was just 17 years old—a legal age in Wisconsin for an adult.
Kizer, who is now 23 years old, claims Volar was sex trafficking her. According to her, she met Volar through a sex-trafficking website, and he assaulted her sexually and sold her to other people for sex.
Usually, the Associated Press does not identify people who claim to be victims of sexual assault, but in a 2019 Washington Post interview conducted from jail, Kizer talked about her case.
Court records state that in June 2018, Kizer informed her boyfriend she was going to shoot Volar because she was sick of him touching her and had hidden a revolver in her book bag. She drove from Milwaukee to Volar's house in Kenosha, where she shot him once in the head, set his house on fire, and took his BMW, according to court documents.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court decided last year that Kizer might claim during her trial that the death was justified. This decision may have implications for the national boundaries of legal immunity granted to victims of human trafficking.
References
Haworth, K. (n.d.). (PDF) Tapes, transcripts and trials: The routine contamination of police interview evidence. ResearchGate. Retrieved October 31, 2023, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328169355_Tapes_transcripts_and_trials_The_routine_contamination_of_police_interview_evidence
Hubbard, K. (2023, October 31). Video, Transcripts of Wisconsin Woman's Police Interview Cannot Be Used at Her Trial, Judge Rules. USNews.com. Retrieved October 31, 2023, from https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/wisconsin/articles/2023-10-31/video-transcripts-of-wisconsin-womans-police-interview-cannot-be-used-at-her-trial-judge-rules
Video, transcripts of Wisconsin woman's police interview cannot be used at her trial, judge rules. (2023, October 31). TMJ4. Retrieved October 31, 2023, from https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/video-transcripts-of-wisconsin-womans-police-interview-cannot-be-used-at-her-trial-judge-rules