Petition Begun to Free Penny Brummer of Madison, Wisconsin

Penny Brummer - Wrongfully Convicted

A petition has begun by advocates to free the wrongfully convicted Penny Brummer of Madison, Wisconsin.

Penny Brummer was convicted in the 1994 murder of Sarah Gonstead despite no weapon, no forensic evidence, no motive, and literally no evidence of any kind tying Brummer to the undetermined crime scene. It has long been asserted that bigotry against lesbians in law enforcement investigators and among the jurors played a big part in Ms. Brummer's prosecution and conviction.

The petition follows the announcement in December of a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer of Ms. Gonstead.

The petition at Change.org reads:

From Friends of Penny Brummer:

New Trial for Penny Brummer, Wrongfully Convicted
Friends of Penny Brummer

Penny Brummer of Madison, Wisconsin was wrongfully convicted of first degree intentional homicide in the 1994 murder of Sarah Gonstead.

Whereas the last 20 years have seen a sea change in public attitudes with respect to sexual orientation; criminal justice findings on eyewitness testimony have shown its diminished reliability; tunnel vision defined the police investigation; and 20 years have passed highlighting the frail circumstantial case resulting in the wrongful conviction of Penny Brummer, showing a reasonable person cannot find the presented trial evidence strong enough to exclude to a moral certainty every reasonable hypothesis of the defendant's innocence, we the undersigned request:

1. Dane County District Attorney Ismael R. Ozanne move to vacate the 1995 wrongful conviction of Ms. Brummer and stipulate to a new trial.

2. A declarative statement from the Dane County District Attorney that Ms. Brummer's wrongful conviction be vacated in the name of justice, administering justice being an element of the oath of office that all Wisconsin district attorneys take upon assuming their duties.

The law can afford to be and must be just.