New Trial Denied
by Doug Erickson derickson@madison.com
608-252-6149
Posted July 28, 2006
APPLETON — A man who says police framed him for the stabbing death of a jogger will not get a new trial, a circuit court judge ruled Tuesday.
Ken Hudson, 37, was convicted five years ago of murdering Shanna Van Dyn Hoven, a 19-year-old UW-Madison student who was killed while running near her Kaukauna home about 6 p.m. June 25, 2000.
Hudson says he’s innocent and that police poured and smeared a red substance on him and planted a bloody knife in his truck. The Wisconsin State Journal has detailed contradictions in the case uncovered by Hudson and his former attorney, David Cook of Monroe.
However, at Tuesday’s hearing in Outagamie County Circuit Court, Hudson’s current attorney, Chris Gramstrup of Superior, declined to present any issues related to a police conspiracy or evidence tampering. Gramstrup said he looked into the issues but found them meritless.
Instead, Gramstrup presented just one issue, arguing that Hudson did not receive a fair trial because he was forced to wear a shock belt. Hudson, a high school dropout who served as his own attorney at his trial in 2001, testified Tuesday that the fear of being shocked and intimidating tactics used by his police escorts during the trial seriously impeded his ability to defend himself.
But Outagamie County District Attorney Carrie Schneider questioned why Hudson never raised the issues with the trial judge. She said the shock belt was preferable to leg shackles, which can be noticeable to jurors and painful if worn for days.
Outagamie County Circuit Judge Harold Froehlich, who also served as the trial judge, denied Hudson’s motion for a new trial, saying Hudson seemed alert during the trial, with no detectable signs of stress from the shock belt. Tuesday’s hearing lasted barely an hour.
Froehlich’s ruling was met with relief from the victim’s family members and friends, about two dozen of whom filled the courtroom. Steve and Nancy Van Dyn Hoven said they are confident that the right man is behind bars for their daughter’s murder.
Hudson’s supporters called the hearing a sham.
"It’s just a replay of what they did to him in 2000," said Sheila Martin Berry of Richmond, Va., who has closely followed the case as co-founder of Truth In Justice, a nonprofit organization that educates the public on the frequency of wrongful convictions.
Berry, a litigation paralegal who started the victim-witness program in Outagamie County, called the shock belt discussion "a complete non-issue compared to missing blood, blood with no discernable DNA and self-erasing tapes."
Kaukauna Police Department officials testified at the trial that Hudson confessed to the crime, however they said the tape of his confession erased itself. Transcripts and a tape of the 911 communications the day of the murder omit nearly all transmissions mentioning the murder and the 16-mile police chase of Hudson’s truck.
Also, the state Crime Laboratory initially found only animal blood on Hudson’s foot and later only Hudson’s DNA in the blood, even though police say his foot was dripping with the victim’s blood.
Cook, the attorney who helped Hudson dig up the new evidence, withdrew from the case last year because he closed his law practice to start a carpentry business. Gramstrup, a private attorney, was appointed to represent Hudson by the state Public Defender’s Office.
Hudson and Gramstrup clashed over progress in the case, with Hudson accusing Gramstrup of failing to do much work. Hudson tried to fire Gramstrup, and Gramstrup sought to withdraw from the case, but Froehlich kept the two together.
"If allowed to (represent yourself)," Froehlich wrote to Hudson, "your frivolous, meritless, irrational motions and issues will be never ending."
Hudson’s mother, Lorraine Tramontana of Buffalo, N.Y., said her son plans to continue appeals in the case. She accused Gramstrup of failing to provide adequate counsel.
"(Gramstrup) has not done anything for my son except lie all the way through," she said. "There was a time period of three to four months when he didn’t even acknowledge my son was alive — no communication whatsoever."
Gramstrup, who appeared at Tuesday’s hearing by phone, did not respond to calls for comment.
