APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A judge hit the reset button Tuesday in connection with a convicted killer’s appeals for the 2000 murder of a Kaukauna woman.
Kenneth Hudson is serving a life prison term for the June 25, 2000, murder of Shanna Van Dyn Hoven while she was jogging in a Kaukauna park. He was also sentenced to consecutive sentences after that for kidnapping, attempted homicide and recklessly endangering safety, totaling another 70 years in prison.
Since sentencing, Hudson has filed more than a dozen appeals and motions – usually focusing on claims he was framed – and all have failed. The latest issue is a motion to modify his sentence.
At a hearing Tuesday, Outagamie County Judge Gregory Gill agreed to set aside the motions Hudson has filed while in prison, allowing his latest attorney – the seventh one since sentencing – to review the case and file what motions he deems appropriate. No deadline was set for those to be filed, and no hearings were scheduled.
Also, defense attorney Walter Stern agreed to withdraw a motion asking Judge Gill to remove himself from the case – although it could be refiled at a later date.
Stern’s filings so far contain allegations of misconduct by two former prosecutors, now both judges, in how they handled the case. As a colleague of both, Stern suggested there could be an appearance of conflict if Gill stayed on the case.
Additionally, District Attorney Melinda Tempelis agreed to withdraw a motion seeking disciplinary action against Stern for missed deadlines and other actions in the case. But, as with Stern’s recusal motion, Tempelis could re-file it at a later date.
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