Waukesha County Judge’s Attorney Considers Seeking DA Recusal

A status hearing for a criminal case involving a circuit court judge accused of disorderly conduct has been rescheduled for July 11.

Linda Van De Water, a judge for the Waukesha County Circuit Court, is facing criminal charges after she allegedly tracked down and jumped on her boyfriend’s car in Caledonia. 

Steven Kohn, Van De Water’s attorney, said he’s considering filing motions that would ask the Racine County District Attorney’s Office to recuse itself from the case and one that would dispute certain facts contained in the criminal complaint.

“But those haven’t been filed, we’re still considering filing them at this point,” Kohn said.

The Racine County District Attorney’s Office filed a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge against Linda Van De Water, 48, of Brookfield, in early April.

Racine County District Attorney, Mike Nieskes, said he wouldn’t speculate on the reason for any future motion.

“I don’t believe I have a conflict of interest in this,” Nieskes said. “If I had a conflict of interest, I would recues myself from the case.”

According to a report by Caledonia police, officers responded to a report of suspicious circumstances, disorderly conduct and damage to property complaint at 2:28 a.m. Jan. 16. If convicted of the charge, Van De Water faces up to 90 days in jail or fines up to $1,000.

A woman who lives in the 4900 block of Pine Tree Circle told police she awoke to frantic knocking and constant doorbell ringing at her door. When the woman went to the door, she saw a woman she didn’t recognize. The woman later identified the woman as Van De Water.

After the woman told Van De Water she couldn’t help her, Van De Water left the house and the woman watched Van De Water go to another home and knock on the door. Van De Water then walked up to a car and started kicking it.

The woman then went upstairs and watched Van De Water from a window. She told police a dome light went on in a car that was parked nearby, and began to drive away. Van De Water then jumped on the hood of the car and screamed at the driver. The man then opened the door, pushed Van De Water, who was “flailing her arms,” away from him enough to close his car door, and drove away, according to the police report.

The woman told police Van De Water got into her SUV and followed the car at a high rate of speed.

According to the report, officers had checked the area for two vehicles, but they had left prior to the police arriving to the incident.

When police asked another woman living in the 4900 block of Pine Tree Circle about Stone, the woman said she had been dating Stone off and on for the last two to three years, and that he had also been dating Van De Water until September 2010.

At the last hearing, Van De Water and Stone were in court together, holding hands. Kohn said the couple is still together.

According to police, Stone told them he had been called into surgery and he refused to give officers any information about Van De Water. The woman told police she thought Van De Water might have been tracking Stone through his cell phone or through his GPS.

A few days later, when police followed up on the incident, Stone's girlfriend told police another neighbor saw Van De Water in the woman’s yard at 11:30 a.m. Stone's girlfriend also said Van De Water confronted the couple at 7 p.m. Jan. 17 at a restaurant in Brookfield.

When police interviewed Stone, he denied that anything happened on Jan. 16 when he left the woman's house and that he never saw Van De Water when he left her house. He also said she did not jump on the hood of his car.

Stone also denied knowing about Van De Water trespassing on the woman’s property or that she confronted them at a restaurant in Brookfield.  He told police she “stopped by to say hello and denied there was any confrontation, or that a scene was made by Van De Water,” according to the police report.

During the investigation Stone told police he did not want to proceed with the investigation and he refused to talk about his relationship with Van De Water.

Van De Water was elected as a circuit court judge in 2003. She ran for District II Court of Appeals in 2010 and lost.