Wrongful Conviction: Penny Brummer Is Innocent and Still in Prison

Don't worry Penny, we'll keep up the edifying debate about how noble Dane County (Wisconsin) police really are amid 'mistakes' like Dane County throwing your life away.

From MC, Jan. 14, 2016

Penny Brummer - Wrongfully Convicted
by bigotry and police tunnel vision

Bigotry, police tunnel vision, police deceit, prosecutorial misconduct and the prison-industrial complex all suggest a criminal justice system gone way, way wrong.

Manitowoc, Wisconsin is one international focal point; Madison, Wisconsin is another.

Penny Brummer was convicted in 1995 for first degree intentional homicide and given a life sentence.

This is Madison, Wisconsin. The question advocates ask: Will a more enlightened community 20 years later give Ms. Brummer a new trial for a prosecution that should never have taken place?

That's really what advocates want because there is no chance in a million Brummer would be convicted today.

Bill Lueders has the story at Isthmus.

Writes Lueders:

Which brings us to Penny Brummer, convicted of the March 1994 murder of Sarah Gonstead, the best friend of Penny’s female ex-lover, after a night of barhopping. The case has all the hallmarks of wrongful conviction: No prior criminal history on Brummer’s part. No physical evidence tying her to the crime. No credible eyewitnesses, and one manifestly non-credible one. 

Which Dane County jurist will come forward and champion justice, and save the life of an innocent woman in the process?

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.

Penny Brummer Wrongful Conviction Penetrating Consciousness

Penny Brummer - Wrongfully Convicted
by bigotry and police tunnel vision

Bigotry, police tunnel vision, police deceit, prosecutorial misconduct and the prison-industrial complex all suggest a criminal justice system gone way, way wrong.

Manitowoc, Wisconsin is one international focal point; Madison, Wisconsin is another.

Penny Brummer was convicted in 1995 for first degree intentional homicide and given a life sentence.

This is Madison, Wisconsin. The question advocates ask: Will a more enlightened community 20 years later give Ms. Brummer a new trial for a prosecution that should never have taken place?

That's really what advocates want because there is no chance in a million Brummer would be convicted today.

Bill Lueders has the story at Isthmus.

Writes Lueders:

Which brings us to Penny Brummer, convicted of the March 1994 murder of Sarah Gonstead, the best friend of Penny’s female ex-lover, after a night of barhopping. The case has all the hallmarks of wrongful conviction: No prior criminal history on Brummer’s part. No physical evidence tying her to the crime. No credible eyewitnesses, and one manifestly non-credible one. 

Which Dane County jurist will come forward and champion justice, and save the life of an innocent woman in the process?