Mequon lawyer pleads not guilty to hate crime, battery charge

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The Mequon lawyer Stephanie Rapkin is pleading not guilty to a hate crime and a battery charge resulting from spitting on a teenage protester and her subsequent arrest.

Rapkin, an estate planning and probate attorney, appeared for her arraignment on Wednesday using Zoom online videoconferencing.

A criminal complaint accuses Rapkin of spitting in the face of 17-year-old Eric Lucas, who was peacefully protesting with his friends in Shorewood in early June. When officers went to Rapkin’s Shorewood home to arrest her, they said she tried to resist and kneed one of the officers in the groin.

Rapkin was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct with a hate-crime modifier and felony battery. Her attorney, Jason Luczak of GRGB Law, entered pleas of not guilty on both counts during Wednesday’s Zoom hearing.

Luczak also filed a motion for change of venue and a motion to strike the hate-crime enhancer on Rapkin’s misdemeanor charge.

Attorney Allysa Brown, who appeared for the state, asked for a status conference and time to review the motions Luczak filed. Judge David Borowski agreed that a status conference should be the next step in the case.

“Both sides can get up to speed on discovery, get up to speed on the motions, and then at that point in time, decide if there’s going to be a hearing, and the hearing can be scheduled accordingly,” Borowski said.

A Zoom status conference was scheduled for Sept. 17 at 8:30 a.m.

Luczak also asked Borowski to sign an order memorializing what happened at the initial appearance so $5,000 of Rapkin’s bail could be returned.

At the initial appearance, Judge David Feiss ordered the return of the $5,000, but Luczak said the clerk’s office said it couldn’t be returned until the close of the case. Borowski said he didn’t know where the clerk’s office came up with that rule and it should be able to return the money, but he would sign the order anyway. Follow @WLJReporter