DA: Domestic Abuse Allegations Against Dan Needles 'Not Provable'

The woman who claimed WISN-TV (Channel 12) sports director Dan Needles attacked her when she tried to leave their residence with the hair products he needed for work changed her story several times, according to a letter from Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel.

The woman, who Schimel said asked his office not to prosecute Needles, insisted they had a verbal argument on Sept. 2 and that she and Needles would rekindle their relationship after charges were dropped. When Needles didn’t call her in late September, the letter stated, she told investigators on Monday their relationship was over and that she never asked prosecutors to dismiss the charges.

“The current situation is that the case is not provable,” Schimel said in a letter to the Waukesha police officer working the case. “This is not a conclusion that it did not happen. Only two people know that for sure.

“The problem is that (the woman) has changed her position on a number of occasions, such that it would be impossible for a jury to conclude that Mr. Needles was the primary aggressor beyond a reasonable doubt. The amount of impeachment material available to the defense would be overwhelming.  (The woman), during the majority of the time the case was under review, strongly asserted her desire that no charges be issued.

“Until the last few days, she had maintained consistently since the matter was referred to our office that she is not a victim, that her relationship with Mr. Needles is that of two equals, and no one is exercising a power and control position.”

The woman told police the two were arguing at their Oak Valley Lane home when Needles pulled her hair, causing pain to her neck, according to the police report. The woman told officers she had sciatic nerve problems prior to the incident.

The woman told officers that as she was running out of the bathroom during the argument, Needles pulled her hair, according to the police report. Police said Needles admitted pulling the woman's hair, but said he was trying to grab her shoulder as she ran out of the residence.

“Mr. Needles asserted that he did not intentionally cause her injury,” Schimel said in the letter. “Rather, he reports that he was attempting to grab her shoulder to prevent her from leaving the residence with his hair products.

“He asserts that he needed those products to get ready for his work as a television reporter. He claims that he was only in his boxer shorts and could not pursue her outside, so he tried to grab her shoulder to stop her from taking the items out of the house.”

In a Tuesday interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Needles’ attorney, Julius Kim, complimented Schimel’s review of the case.

“The main thrust of what we wanted to do was make sure that the DA got a complete picture of the situation and not just a snapshot of that particular night," Kim told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.