NEENAH (NBC 26) — An Appleton man is facing a first-degree reckless homicide charge in the 2010 death of his infant son—15 years after the original investigation. NBC 26 spoke with a local attorney to understand how the case was misplaced for over a decade.
- Original investigator left the department before case referral
- Outagamie County DA says a system change, in part, caused the case to be lost
- Legal expert says human error can occur during file transitions
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, with A.I. assistance in formatting for the web)
We're continuing to follow the case of a lost co-sleeping death investigation from 2010 that only recently resurfaced.
Attorney Chadwick J. Kaehne, who is not involved in the case, says this kind of lapse—though uncommon—is possible during large administrative transitions. Kaehne, who has more than two decades of legal experience, explained that there are many safeguards in place within the justice system, but they aren’t foolproof.
“I think there are a lot of protections within our criminal system,” Kaehne said. “That being from law enforcement on onto the courts, that we have checks and balances—but human error happens.”
That human error was brought up during Michael Donnelly’s last court appearance, when Outagamie County District Attorney Melissa Tempelis revealed the case had been misplaced.
“The investigation was done by an officer who then left the police department,” Tempelis told the court. “I believe that there was a change in, I don’t know, some systems within the department and this was not referred to us and this was discovered and sent to us in December.”
Kaehne says he’s seen similar breakdowns on a smaller scale—often related to technology upgrades.
“For example, when we’re transferring from paper files to electronic files, sometimes that’s where you can have a human error element,” he said.
“It’s very hard to explain to an accused individual who is not used to or understand the system as it is how that can happen,” he added.
NBC 26 has reached out to the prosecution, defense, and Donnelly’s legal team for comment. So far, none have responded. Kaehne says legal professionals are watching the case to see how it may influence procedures going forward.
