Prosecutors oppose new trial in fatal wrong-way crash

WEYAUWEGA – Waupaca County prosecutors are urging a court to reject a bid for a new trial by a Neenah man convicted of killing four siblings in a 2023 wrong-way crash near Weyauwega, arguing that a missing judicial signature on a blood-draw warrant was a “clerical error.”

In a response filed Aug. 28, District Attorney Kat Turner argued that Scott Farmer’s motion to withdraw his no-contest pleas should be denied without an evidentiary hearing. Turner argued that Farmer’s trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to seek suppression of the search warrant authorizing a legal draw of Farmer’s blood because such a motion would have been “frivolous.” She argued that the warrant fully satisfied the constitutional requirements for an oath and probable cause.

Farmer, 50, filed a post-conviction motion on July 6, seeking to withdraw his pleas and vacate his convictions for four counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and fifth-offense operating while intoxicated (OWI). His attorneys argue that because Judge Troy Nielsen verbally authorized a deputy to sign his name over a recorded telephone line but never physically signed the original warrant, the blood draw was an unconstitutional, warrantless search.

According to court records, Judge Nielsen placed Deputy Justin Malueg under oath during a recorded telephone call at 10:55 p.m. on the night of the crash. After finding probable cause, the judge told the deputy, “I will authorize Deputy Malueg to go ahead and sign my name to the search warrant, so that he can execute it at this time.”

The deputy then handwrote “Judge Troy Nielsen,” annotated it with his badge number, and marked the time as 11:06 p.m.

The defense argues that under Wisconsin’s “duplicate original” warrant procedure, the officer must read the warrant verbatim over the phone so the judge can transcribe it and immediately sign an original copy on their end. Because the warrant’s typed contents were never read aloud and no signed original was ever produced, the defense contends the warrant was void from the start.

In the state’s response, Turner argued that neither the state nor federal constitutions specify a particular procedure for demonstrating that an oath was administered. She asserted that the extensive record, which includes the phone call recording and written transcripts, proves the deputy’s oath was validly enforced.

Turner pointed to Wisconsin statutes showing that “technical irregularities” do not invalidate an otherwise constitutional warrant and that a failure to meet notary jurat requirements does not invalidate a sworn oath.

The state also contends that even if the warrant was procedurally defective, the blood-test evidence should not be suppressed because the “good faith exception” applies. Turner wrote that the deputy acted in objectively reasonable reliance on the judge’s explicit verbal authorization.

Farmer was sentenced in November 2024 to 37 years in prison for the Dec. 16, 2023, head-on collision on Highway 10 in Weyauwega. The crash claimed the lives of siblings Daniel Gonzalez, 25; Fabian Gonzalez, 23; Lilian Gonzalez, 14; and Daniela Gonzalez, 9, who were originally from Saragur, Ecuador.

At the hospital, Farmer’s blood was drawn and tested, revealing a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.346%, which is more than 17 times his legal limit of 0.02% as a repeat offender with four prior OWI convictions.

Malueg, who is no longer with the sheriff’s department, previously said by phone that his actions were standard procedure and that proper policies were followed. He noted that under the county’s standard process, a judge concurrently signs a copy of the warrant, but acknowledged that step may have been missed by the judge in this instance.

The defense maintains that if the blood-test evidence had been suppressed, Farmer would have rejected the plea deal and insisted on a trial. Without the chemical test, prosecutors would have had to rely on subjective observations of impairment that a jury could have attributed to the severe trauma of the head-on collision rather than alcohol, Farmer’s attorneys argue.

The court must now decide whether to schedule a special evidentiary hearing to question Farmer’s former defense attorneys. Turner argued that because a challenge to the warrant would have failed anyway, Farmer’s original lawyers did not provide ineffective representation, and asked the court to reject the request.