By: Associated Press//February 21, 2013//
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin appeals court has ordered a new trial for a Waupun man convicted of sexually assaulting a teenager.
Jesus Villarreal argued his attorney had a conflict of interest because his lawyer was also representing his sister who testified in Villarreal’s initial Dane County trial. Villarreal was granted a second trial a year later after investigators accused his sister of perjury in the first trial.
The appeals court ruled Villarreal’s request for a third trial is legitimate because it’s reasonable to believe his attorney’s performance was undermined by his representation of two conflicting parties.
The 51-year-old Villarreal was convicted of four felony counts in 2009. A phone message left for Villarreal’s attorney was not immediately returned.