FOND DU LAC, Wis. (WBAY) – A man serving life in prison for being party to a man’s death outside the Press Box Tavern in Fond du Lac eight years ago lost his appeal Wednesday.
A jury found Devon Neuman provided the gun that Jesse Schultz used to kill Logan Foster during an attempted robbery in 2017. Schultz and Neuman weren’t identified as suspects until a couple of months later when they were in jail on drug charges.
Neuman challenged his homicide conviction on five points, including the trial’s use of Schultz’s statements to a witness, the “patently incredible” testimony of the witness, Neuman’s jail writings, and that no physical evidence tied him to the crime scene.
A Wisconsin Court of Appeals disagreed on every issue he raised.
Schultz refused to testify at Neuman’s trial, but prosecutors used statements he made to a friend, who said Schultz told him he shot a man the night before during a fight outside the tavern, using a gun Neuman gave him.
The appellate court said the judge applied the correct legal standards in allowing the hearsay testimony, since the statements were relevant to whether Neuman was involved, were made when Schultz’s memory was fresh, and were made against Schultz’s own legal interest.
The appeals court also said Neuman’s appeal offered no explanation why that witness’s testimony was unbelievable, but it was for jurors to decide if a witness was credible.
Neuman also said it was wrong for the court to allow his jail writings — specifically, a rap song — as evidence. The higher court said the violent lyrics, opening with the line “This is my confession,” supported the case that Neuman regularly carried a firearm and was willing to use it.
As for the lack of physical evidence, the appellate court pointed to surveillance video showing Neuman and Schultz together outside the tavern minutes before the shooting.
The court of appeals upheld the lower court’s decisions and concluded “a rational jury could properly find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Neuman was present and provided the weapon.”
Schultz accepted a plea bargain instead of going to trial, reducing the charge from first-degree intentional homicide to first-degree reckless homicide. He’s was sentenced three years ago to 32 years in prison.
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