MILWAUKEE, WI (WTAQ) – A federal judge has dismissed claims by a Fond du Lac woman that authorities violated her Constitutional rights by keeping her in jail without a hearing for two weeks, and then was never charged.
Tina Ewell immediately appealed Monday’s decision to the federal appeals court in Chicago, according to federal court records.
Ewell was arrested, along with her sister, Eve Nance, in connection with the October 2013 murder of Nance’s husband, Tim.
Nance was charged for the death – and goes to trial Jan. 19 – but Ewell was never charged.
Ewell sued several city & county officials, including then-District Attorney Eric Toney, and city of Fond du Lac police detectives William Ledger and Matt Bobo.
In the decision Monday, federal Judge Pamela Pepper ruled Toney is entitled to what’s known as a “qualified immunity” for his actions in his official capacty, and did not deprive Ewell of any rights.
For detectives Ledger and Bobo, the judge noted the evidence gathered by police to that point.
“While they would not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the plaintiff played some part in concealing the decedent’s disappearance and/or death, they are sufficient to provide probable cause for arrest,” the decision states, dismissing the claims against them.
In both cases, the judge notes a Fond du Lac County judge signed a probable cause statement ordering Ewell to be held.
Fond du Lac Sheriff Mylan Fink and assistant District Attorney Dennis Krueger were previously dismissed from the case.
