Timothy Hauschultz in Manitowoc County court, February 24, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Prosecutors say Timothy Hauschultz shouldn’t be allowed to appeal three decisions by a judge — including her rejection of a plea deal — before his case goes to trial for allegedly ordering the punishment which lead to the death of Ethan Hauschultz in 2018.
Hauschultz faces eight counts, including felony murder, in the death of Ethan, his 7-year-old great-nephew, in Manitowoc County. Timothy Hauschultz was the boy’s legal guardian when the child was found dead in a snowbank. Timothy Hauschultz’s son, Damian, was convicted of causing Ethan’s death.
His trial was scheduled to start last week, but after Judge Jerilyn Dietz rejected a plea deal and a subsequent request for her to remove herself from the case because of that ruling, the trial was postponed was to allow the defense to appeal those rulings before trial. An Oct. 1 trial is now set.
While Judge Dietz allowed the defense to file its appeal, the appeals court does not have to take the case, known as an interlocutory appeal. The attorneys file written arguments with the court on whether it should hear the case. If the court agrees to take the case, additional briefs would be filed before a decision is made. If it does not take the case, it goes back to the Manitowoc County judge for the case to pick up where it left off. There is no set timeline for the appeals court to make its decision.
The defense raised three issues it wants the appeals court to hear: Judge Dietz’s rejection of the plea; her subsequent refusal to remove herself from the case; and a decision prohibiting social workers from testifying they knew about the punishments Hauschultz ordered and did not intervene, leading him to believe they were reasonable.
Assistant Attorney General Michael Conway filed the state’s response late Monday, opposing the appeals court reviewing any of the matters.
In terms of rejecting the plea deal, Conway wrote:
Although the State asked the circuit court to accept the plea agreement, the State in candor recognizes that the trial court appropriately exercised its discretion in rejecting it. It correctly identified the applicable legal standard and it reasonably applied the facts to that standard.
In terms of Judge Dietz not recusing herself, Conway wrote:
Hauschultz’s judicial bias claim depends entirely on this Court assuming, as he does, that the trial court improperly considered his sentence credit when rejecting the plea agreement. However, the trial court’s consideration of its “ability to dispose of the case” in light of the sentence credit was proper. And even if it had not been, it was simply an adverse ruling, not an extrajudicial source of bias. A single adverse ruling that nonetheless constituted an appropriate exercise of discretion cannot rebut the presumption of judicial impartiality. This Court should deny Hauschultz leave to appeal this doomed judicial bias claim.
In terms of the decision on the social workers’ testimony, Conway wrote:
Hauschultz has not provided any reason to conclude that he did anything but resuscitate a resolved issue. Therefore, he has failed to establish this Court’s interlocutory jurisdiction over this evidentiary issue, barring permissive appeal… Even if successful, Hauschultz will still have to return to circuit court to have a trial. If convicted, he will almost certainly appeal, which will provide him an opportunity to raise this evidentiary issue. Deferring this evidentiary issue to that post-conviction appeal promotes judicial economy.
According to the criminal complaint, on April 20, 2018, Timothy told his son, Damian Hauschultz, then 14, to make sure Ethan completed his punishment.
That included, according to the complaint, Ethan Hauschultz being required to carry the log for two hours around a path in the backyard of their home. Damian said he had to carry wood for not knowing 13 Bible verses to Timothy’s satisfaction. The punishment was one week of carrying wood for two hours per day. Timothy picked out the logs, but Damian had to supervise the punishment for the younger children.
During that time the complaint says Ethan Hauschultz “struggled to carry his log” and Damian did “hit, kick, strike and poke Ethan approximately 100 times.” The complaint goes on to say Damian Hauschultz also stood on Ethan Hauschultz’s “body and head” while he was “face-down in a puddle.” The complaint also alleges Damian Hauschultz buried Ethan Hauschultz in about “80 pounds of packed snow” where he was left for about 20 to 30 minutes without a coat or boots.
Neither Timothy Hauschultz, nor his wife, Tina McKeever-Hauschultz, was home when Ethan died.
Damian Hauschultz, now 21, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for Ethan’s death.
Tina McKeever-Hauschultz served a five-year prison term for her role in the events leading up to and failing to prevent Ethan’s death. She was released to extended supervision in January 2024.
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