Incumbent Attorney General Josh Kaul said that Eric Toney, the current District Attorney for Fond du Lac County and a candidate in the Republican primary for Attorney General, should admit mistakes in a case in which Ruben Houston III, a nine-time felon, was released on $500 bail after killing an Appleton firefighter.
The dispute arose from criticism of John Chisholm, the District Attorney for Milwaukee County, after his office released Darrell Brooks Jr. on bail. Brooks then drove through the Waukesha Christmas Parade, killing six people and injuring dozens. Kaul argued Chisholm admitted that the bail that his office set for Brooks was “inappropriately low,” while Toney had not offered “ a willingness to take ownership” of the Houston case. Toney countered that Kaul was mischaracterizing the case and noted that Kaul later hired Timothy Filipa, the assistant district attorney who oversaw the case, for a position in the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ).
