Man found guilty of threatening a judge will be allowed to appeal

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A Green Bay man who was found guilty of sending a threatening letter to a judge in 2010 will be allowed to proceed in challenging his convictions, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

John Phillips Sr., 37, was a patient at the Wisconsin Resource center in Winnebago when he sent a letter to Brown County Judge Timothy Hinkfuss that said “when I get out of here I am going to kill you and your family,” according to the court’s decision. Court records show that Hinkfuss was the judge who took over cases where Phillips was sent to prison for sex crimes and also denied a request to give him credit toward a prison sentence, court records show.

The letter from Phillips also threatened to “deal with” the Brown County District Attorney’s Office and Assistant DA Kevin Greene. It also contained what was later determined to be talcum powder, according to the decision, and Phillips wrote that it came from another patient.

Phillips was found guilty of threatening a judge and misappropriating identity to avoid penalty. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

While the case was open, though, the DA’s office received another letter that said yet another patient, Harvey Stanley, sent the letter and not Phillips, according to the decision. Judge Mark Warpinski, who oversaw the case, did not allow the letter to be entered into evidence.

Following Phillips’ conviction, attorney Timothy O’Connell filed a no-merit report with the Court of Appeals that said there are no frivolous arguments to be made to challenge the convictions. O’Connell also argued that the letter from Stanley should have been entered in as evidence, but the error was harmless.

But Phillips, in a response to the no-merit report, argued that Warpinski also should have declared a mistrial after one of the jurors was heard saying “so should we just fry the bastard?” During the trial, prosecutors did not oppose the motion for a mistrial, though the case proceeded.

The appeals court ruled Friday that the motion denial was enough to give Phillips another chance to appeal or file a request for postconviction relief. It referred the case to the State Public Defender’s Office, which will determine whether Phillips should have a new attorney appointed.

Phillips is serving his sentence in the Green Bay Correctional Institution. Follow @eheisigWLJ