Judge orders Burke to trial on felony counts
10:40 AM 10/13/03
Scott Milfred State government reporter

A Dane County judge Monday ordered former state Sen. Brian Burke to stand trial on all 18 felony counts he's been fighting for nearly 16 months. <

Circuit Judge Angela Bartell found probable cause to believe that Burke, a Milwaukee Democrat, committed the felonies, including misconduct in office and altering subpoenaed documents. <

She transferred the case to Dane County Circuit Judge Bill Foust for trial. <

Bartell rejected arguments by Burke's lawyer, Jeremy Levinson, that the prosecution was relying on "guesswork" to allege Burke intentionally falsified expense records. Bartell cited evidence Burke was in far-flung areas of the state on dates when Burke claimed on his expense voucher to be in Madison on official legislative business. By saying he was in Madison, Burke could collect an $88-a-day per diem. <

Even though the prosecution can't account for Burke's whereabouts on every hour of each day, the "extent and duration" of Burke's trips "render it highly unlikely that he was in Madison at any point on the dates in question," Bartell said in her written decision. <

Bartell also ruled that Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard could move ahead with his charges against Burke alleging Burke used state employees to work on his aborted campaign for attorney general during regular work hours. <

Levinson had argued the workers put in 40 hours a week for the state even if they didn't always do so during regular work hours. But Bartell pointed to evidence that one employee wasn't "carrying his weight" on policy issues. <

Bartell said the counts alleging Burke requested campaign contributions in the Capitol from lobbyists during or immediately after meetings related to the lobbyists' interests "represent discrete acts but also form a pattern of conduct that shows probable cause." <

As for the counts alleging Burke ordered staff to change and delete entries in his office calendar, Bartell wrote: "The intent to defraud is shown by the fact that the entries ordered changed and deleted .