Brown County drug trafficking suspect James Grandberry. (Photo source: Brown County Jail)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – In a case which has been defined by delays, James Grandberry’s trial next week for drug charges filed in July 2024 has been postponed because the parties are waiting for an appeals court decision in the case.
Grandberry is a suspect in a Chicago-to-Green Bay drug ring. He faces 14 charges, including three of manufacture or delivery of fentanyl, amphetamines and cocaine. Several other defendants in the case have already been sentenced.
However, because the state couldn’t find Grandberry an attorney, his preliminary hearing was postponed ten times over more than 14 months. Normally, such hearings are required within ten days.
Grandberry asked for his case to be dismissed, but a judge denied that motion. However, the Court of Appeals granted a rare in-case appeal, known as an interlocutory appeal, and said it will review the case. The last brief in the case was filed in May, but the appeals court hasn’t ruled yet.
Because of that, during a hearing Tuesday, next week’s trial was postponed. Without knowing when the ruling may come, a new trial date was not set. Instead, a status conference will be held Jan. 8.
Grandberry eventually did get an attorney, and the case resumed with the preliminary hearing, arraignment, and other usual pre-trial hearings.
Grandberry’s case isn’t the only one from that July 2024 drug bust impacted by the lack of defense attorneys.
Last week, a judge dismissed the charges against Kyla Sanache because she still doesn’t have an attorney – despite public defender’s office making more than 1,000 contacts to lawyers, asking them to take case.
Brown County District Attorney David Lasee says that the charges against Sanache could be re-filed, but he did not offer a timeline for that to happen.
Five others arrested in the initial bust in July 2024 have already been sentenced:
Felton Currie, who police identified as the ringleader, was sentenced to 40 years in prison
Cheri Austin was sentenced to 15 years in prison
Michael Oliver was sentenced to 15 years in prison
Jessica Wright was sentenced to 14 years on prison
Ebony Austin was sentenced to six years in prison
Grandberry’s case isn’t the only one to challenge the delays in appointing attorneys. In 2022, eight current and former inmates filed suit in Brown County, seeking an order demanding quicker appointment of counsel. The state public defender’s office has also spent more than a year making over 5,000 contacts, before it found an attorney for Jordan Leavy-Carter, who is charged in connection with the shooting death of a five-year-old.
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