Judge William M. McMonigal comes under fire for plea deal, sentence.

• Date: 29 January 2007
• Author: Zemlicka, Jack

Byline: Jack Zemlicka

Did the punishment fit the crime? That is the question many Green Lake County residents are asking in the wake of Judge William M. McMonigal's sentencing of two Illinois attorneys accused of raping a 29-old Berlin, Wis., woman in August 2005. McMonigal levied legal penalties against Benjamin C. Butler, 29, of Medinah, Ill., and Stephen W. Addison, 29, of Chicago that were less severe than initially sought by the state after a plea agreement was reached in December 2006. A group of local residents is upset by a plea agreement in the case, but a law professor and veteran criminal law attorney say the agreement and resulting sentence were not unusual given the situation. The outcome has led to an increasingly publicized perception by some residents that the case was a "travesty of justice" and the outrage came to a head when a formal recall of McMonigal was filed with the State Elections Board on Jan. 9. "I want someone to answer for this," said resident Tara Schubert who is the primary organizer of the recall. "I tried to call the judge several times and get an explanation, but got no reply. If he couldn't be a man and call me back, he certainly doesn't deserve to be a judge in this community." While McMonigal's actions have raised a few eyebrows in the legal community, legal observers do not consider the outcome a judicial anomaly. Case for Conviction Butler and Addison faced up to 60 years in prison after being accused of raping a local woman on the night of Aug. 7, 2005 at a boat landing in the town of Brooklyn, in Green Lake County. The charges were eventually reduced due to a plea agreement and the men were sentenced to community service, with Addison also receiving 30 days in jail. Addison originally faced three counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of fourth-degree sexual assault and false imprisonment, while Butler faced one count of being party to the crime of first-degree sexual assault...