Disgraced Prosecutor Ken Kratz Claims He Will Resign

On Monday, 27 September, 2010, a hearing was held at the Calumet County Courthouse. The hearing was to schedule future hearings for the removal of Ken Kratz from his elected office of district attorney.

Calumet County District Attorney Kratz is presently taking medical leave. In September, 2010 the Associated Press revealed that Kratz had attempted to coerce a witness to become his concubine. The witness was a victim in a case that Kratz was prosecuting.

During the hearing, the attorney for Ken Kratz, Robert Craanen, announced that Kratz was planning on resigning his position. Kratz’s lawyer alluded to medical criteria. I suspect that Kratz will use medical reasons for his resignation rather than fess up to his shortcomings.

That statement had no bearing on future hearings since it was not backed up with a signed letter. The lawyer said that Kratz would not be resigning until next month. There was no explanation for the delay.

Such a letter will not stop other actions against Kratz. If he thought things would get better that is his error. His lies keep coming.

The Wisconsin Crime Victims Rights Board (CVRB) issued a letter stating that Kratz had not told them the correct story when he resigned from the board. He told the board that text messages were mutually friendly. Apparently, he omitted the fact that the victim had reported him to the police.

At a news conference after the Monday hearing, Kratz’s attorney conveyed Kratz’s desire that the citizens of Calumet County should move on and forget the misconduct. This is another attempt by Kratz to minimize his abuse of office.

Throughout this affair, Ken Kratz has minimized responsibility and omitted his use of his position to access sex when dealing with the various agencies involved.

I noted in an earlier post that I wanted to see Kratz disbarred. It turns out I am not alone. A woman he attempted to victimize is pushing her own case with the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR).

But, even after the OLR rules, the case can go to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. This Court has excused prosecutors who did worse.

Other Wisconsin agencies are still minimizing their role in the scandal. Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen wants the public to blame the OLR. The OLR wants the public to the blame the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The CVRB has issued a statement that blames Kratz for their silence.

Meanwhile, the heat remains on Kratz. I don’t think he can minimize his problems away.