Milwaukee homicide suspect's bail 'completely inappropriate,' judge rules

At least one Milwaukee County prosecutor says a court commissioner is consistently setting bail too low. 

A homicide suspect was released on $2,000 bail Monday, Oct. 17. The suspect was back in court Tuesday when a judge ruled the original $2,000 bail was "completely inappropriate."

Homicide case: 

Lamar Conners,17, is charged with second-degree reckless homicide. He's accused of shooting and killing Johnathon Robinson, 24, near 25th and Maple on Oct. 12.   The criminal complaint says Milwaukee police interviewed Conners about what happened. In that interview, Conners said he lives with his mother and the shooting victim. The shooting victim entered the kitchen at their home and "suddenly began to swing" at another person, Conners told police. The complaint says Conners said he "did not know what to do," "saw a gun on the table, picked it up and shot (the victim)."

Initial appearance: 

On Saturday, Oct. 15, Conners made his initial appearance in court. During the hearing, prosecutors asked for $20,000 cash bail, citing the seriousness of the crime. The defense argued for low bail citing Conners works two jobs, is in 10th grade and has no previous criminal history. 

Attorney Alejandro Lockwood also brought up a possible self-defense argument. 

"It is my understanding that the decedent was being abusive to Mr. Conners' mom, that there was a history of violence and Mr. Conners was concerned that the decedent would grab the gun," said Lockwood. 

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Court Commissioner Joe Riepenhoff went on to mention self-defense when explaining his bail decision. 

"When I read the complaint, that was my concern. There's a potential defense here for defense of others or defense of self," said Riepenhoff. "This may have been a domestic violence situation where Mr. Conners was attempting to come to the rescue of someone else. I do find that as a mitigating factor." 

Riepenhoff then set bail at $2,000 cash. Online court records indicate Conners posted that bail Monday and was released from custody. 

Judge rules $2,000 bail ‘completely inappropriate’ 

Conners was back in court Tuesday. Prosecutors filed an objection to the $2,000 bail. This time, the hearing was in front of Judge David Borowski. 

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Potter told Borowski that he normally re-arranges his schedule to make sure he's in town when Riepenhoff is presiding over intake court on the weekends. Potter says there have been issues before. 

"The last time this commissioner sat in intake court on a Saturday, there were four bails where we almost had to call the duty judge. None of those four were homicides," said Potter. 

Potter said there was a trade and switch that the prosecutor's office didn't know about, so Potter was out of town the weekend of Oct. 15.

"By the time I got back, it was too late. It had been posted," said Potter "I filed this motion knowing full well that the court would be in an impossible situation. Now, we got this young man who is here on bail, but this bail is unbelievable." 

Potter went on to explain his frustrations with Conners' bail. 

"This bail is unbelievable. I've been doing this for three decades in this office. Even in the ‘80s, this type of bail for this type of homicide was unheard of," said Potter. "You can’t take a human life and expect to get $2,000 cash." 

Judge Borowski agreed something didn't sound right about how this case was handled. 

"Any analysis by the commissioner of, ‘Well, this may have been self-defense,’ or, ‘Maybe there are extenuating circumstances’ is completely inappropriate," said Borowski. "That's not the job of the commissioner at intake when he's setting bail." 

Borowski gave Conners credit for showing up to court but still increased bail significantly. 

"I am shocked and dismayed at what occurred. I am setting bail at $15,000 cash," said Borowski. 

Lamar Conners 

Conners is now back at the Milwaukee County Jail. 

A number of Conners' family members were in court supporting him on Tuesday. A woman who identified herself as Conners' aunt told FOX6 in court that the circumstances of the shooting are not how they have been reported but did not elaborate further.

FOX6's attempts to reach Robinson's family were unsuccessful. The district attorney's office mentioned in court they have been in contact with his mother.

"Understandably, she's completely flummoxed by this. What mother wouldn't be? Told that putting a bullet through your son and killing him would result in this kind of bail," said Potter. 

FOX6 emailed Chief Judge Mary E. Triggiano with questions about this case and commissioner Riepenhoff, but she has not responded. 

Riepenhoff's other cases: 

 At Tuesday's hearing, ADA Potter said he was still waiting on a transcript of Saturday's intake appearance.

FOX6 has a full recording of Saturday's intake court. FOX6 regularly records the zoom proceedings and saves them. The courts do not save and post the hearings themselves, but recording is allowed.  

 FOX6 watched our full recording to see how Riepenhoff handled other cases on Saturday, Oct. 15. Here are the other cases handled that day captured on our recordings. 

  • Jediell Diaz Rodriguez is charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety and fleeing an officer. The state requested $5,000 cash bail. Riepenhoff set case bail at $500.
  • Curtiz Terrell Oglesby is charged with four counts of intimidate victim/domestic abuse crime. The state asked for cash bail but did not specify how much. Riepenhoff set bail at $2,000 cash.
  • Roy Allen is charged with Intimidate victim/domestic abuse crime, battery, criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct. The state asked for $15,000 cash bail. Riepenhoff set bail at $500.
  • Thasia Jones is charged with resisting/obstructing an officer. The state requested $3500 cash bail. Riepenhoff set bail at $800.
  • Ricky Emmanual Woods is charged with second-degree sexual assault. The state asked for significant cash bail. Riepenhoff set bail at $30,000.
  • Jorge Cortez was charged with possession of cocaine, OWI (4th), operating with PAC, and operating while revoked. The state asked for $500 cash bail. Riepenhoff set a $1,000 signature bond.

There were also three misdemeanor retail theft cases where a signature bond was set.