Former Milwaukee cop cleared in fatal shooting that sparked riots reaches deal in sex assault case
The Milwaukee police officer who was cleared in an officer-involved shooting that sparked two days of violent protests on the city's northwest side is likely heading to prison in connection with alleged sex crimes that were revealed during the investigation into the shooting.
As part of a plea deal reached Wednesday, Dominiuqe Heaggan-Brown avoided a trial by agreeing to plead guilty to reduced charges: three counts of soliciting prostitution and two counts of capturing an intimate representation without consent.
He pleaded no contest to a false imprisonment charge. Two charges of sexual assault were dropped.
His attorney said afterward they were prepared to fight the sexual assault charges at trial, but this deal removes the risk of a much longer prison sentence.
"We're not denying that there was sexual contact between certain parties. The issue can be one of consent, and as we stated in court, and is referenced in the criminal complaint, there is an issue concerning the issue of intoxication," Jonathan Smith said.
The deal was motivated in part because the victims didn't want to testify in court.
"The state has their interests as they outlined in court in terms of not having to have victims come forward and publicly testify in court, and this isn't a typical case. This would've generated media attention," Smith said.
Heaggan-Brown is scheduled to be sentenced in February. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
He was brought up on sexual assault and prostitution charges in October 2016, two months after the shooting death of Sylville Smith and the rioting that followed.
He has been jailed for more than a year as the shooting and assault cases wound through court.
A jury last June found him not guilty of first-degree reckless homicide.