State urges rejection of Vogel’s new trial bid in Green Bay prison killing case

Jackson Vogel is led out of a Brown County courtroom June 4, 2025, after his conviction in the hate crime murder of his Green Bay Correctional Institution cellmate, Micah Laureano. PC: Fox 11 Online

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Jackson Vogel’s bid for a new trial for killing his prison cellmate, Micah Laureano, should be rejected, the state said in a new court filing.

Vogel is serving a life prison term with no chance at parole for the Aug. 27, 2024, murder of Laureano at the Green Bay Correctional Institution.

Vogel’s appeal raised several issues including that the judge should not have allowed Vogel’s comments about cannibalism to be heard by the jury.

But Asst. Attorney General Donald Latorraca argued it was admissible evidence.

Contrary to Vogel’s argument, his statements were relevant to his prosecution for first-degree intentional homicide. And Vogel failed to show that the risk of unfair prejudice from the admission of the challenged statements substantially outweighed their probative value” Latarraca states. “Here, Vogel tied his comments about cannibalism directly to his killing of (Laureano). Not only were those comments properly admitted, but it would have been an erroneous exercise of discretion for the circuit court to have excluded them.

The state also argues the trial court was correct in not giving the jury an instruction about ‘adequate provocation,’ given Laureano’s repeated sexual advances towards Vogel.

even if Vogel had satisfied the “some evidence” threshold to receive the adequate provocation instruction, the circuit court’s failure to give this instruction was harmless. Considering the overwhelming evidence of his guilt, the jury would have reached the same verdict even if the court had instructed on the affirmative defense of adequate provocation,” the brief states.

Vogel’s reply brief is due at the end of the month. It will likely be several months before a decision is released.