Scott Farmer appears in Waupaca County Court Dec. 26, 2023. (Image courtesy Waupaca County Courts/Zoom)
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Scott Farmer, who was sentenced to 37 years in prison for the drunk driving crash which killed four siblings, wants to withdraw his no contest plea, contending that because the judge didn’t sign the warrant authorizing the blood draw, the evidence shouldn’t be allowed in the case and he should get a new trial.
Farmer pleaded no contest to four counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle to the Dec. 16, 2023, crash which killed four Gonzalez siblings: Daniel, 25; Fabian, 23; Lilian, 14; and Daniela, 9. He was sentenced to 37 years, six months in prison.
In a post-conviction motion filed Monday, Farmer’s new attorney, Nicholas Smith, argues Farmer should be able to withdraw the plea due to ineffective assistance of counsel by his trial attorney for not challenging the warrant used for the blood draw.
The motion says that a judge took testimony over the phone from the Deputy Justin Malueg, and gave verbal permission granting the warrant for the blood draw.
On the judicial signature line, the handwritten name “Judge Troy Nielsen” is annotated “signed by [J.M.] #545” and dated 11:06 p.m.; the “ENDORSEMENT ON WARRANT” block is likewise completed in the executing officer’s hand and at the same minute. This entry is printed, and does not represent a signature. Seemingly, no original warrant bears the judge’s own signature, and no judicial entry of the issuance time appears anywhere; not that night, not after the return,” the motion states.
“At best for the State, the warrant proceeded by electronic transmission; but that method also requires the judge to sign and “immediately transmit the signed warrant,” 968.12(3)(b)2., and the record shows no transmission of any kind, the “Executed by” line left blank. That the call was recorded does not supply the signature: the recording requirement preserves proof for review, not issuance,” it continues.
The motion asks for hearing and “an order vacating the judgment on Counts 1–5, permitting withdrawal of his pleas, suppressing the December 16, 2023 blood draw and its fruits, and granting such further relief as is just,” it states.
Prosecutors have not replied to the motion. No hearings have been scheduled.
Farmer is currently housed at the Dodge Correctional Institution.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a report of a wrong-way driver on Highway 10, near County X, in Weyauwega. The crash happened at about 9:15 p.m.
Farmer’s truck was travelling westbound in the eastbound lane, and crashed into the other vehicle. A medic told police there was a large bottle of vodka by Farmer.
According to an amended criminal complaint, a blood test revealed Farmer’s BAC was .346. The legal limit for driving in most cases is .08. Because Farmer had previous convictions for drunken driving, his legal limit was .02.
Farmer was previously convicted of drunken driving for offenses on Oct. 6, 1999, Sept. 18, 2001, Nov. 29, 2006, and Dec. 18, 2019. His driver’s license was revoked at the time of this crash.
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