The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office has refiled felony criminal charges against Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s brother the day after a judge tossed the charges because an essential witness was not available.
The DA’s office charged Allen Addison – again – with first-degree reckless injury (use of a dangerous weapon) and possessing a firearm as a felon in connection with shooting a Milwaukee man in the head, court records show.
However, Allen Addison was NOT booked into the jail. “Summons mailed. Defendant ordered into room 221 Safety Building on 6/20/23 @ 1:30p,” court records say.
The charges could be refiled because the judge, David Feiss, dismissed the charges without prejudice.
Wisconsin Right Now reported previously that Feiss tossed the charges against Addison when the witness, the shooting victim’s neighbor, did not show for a jury trial. She claimed to be out of state, twice missing court dates. Addison was released on a signature bond after the state admitted it couldn’t meet his speedy trial demand due to the witness no-show.
WRN also exclusively reported that, according to court documents, Addison, who has previous felony convictions for witness intimidation, was accused of violating a no-contact order four days before the shooting incident charges were dismissed. He was accused of entering an exclusion zone around the shooting victim’s house. Again, the essential witness is a neighbor of that victim.
Addison has still not been charged by the DA’s office with bail jumping for that allegation. We asked the DA’s office why and received no response.
The shooting victim, Eddie Knox, was shot in the head. Addison, the mayor’s half-brother, then held police on a two-hour standoff, refusing to come out of a house. He has not been charged in connection with the standoff, either.
Back in 2021, we interviewed DA John Chisholm in a courthouse hallway. Chisholm revealed in that interview that officials were using a previously unreported process – which he blamed on COVID – to hand many arrested suspects “summons” (a notice) to come to court for their first appearance, rather than book them into the jail and requiring them to bail them out at all. That means that many offenders were left on the streets after their arrests, and it was left to them to do the right thing and show up for their first court appearance.
To create space in the jail “instead of bringing people downtown and booking them,” suspects were booked at district stations and given “order in dates and given a summons. It’s just a different approach,” said Chisholm.
“In the past, everyone was brought down immediately…. You don’t stay at Glendale, West Allis, or (Milwaukee police) district number 3 for long,” Chisholm explained. “You get booked there quickly and put down in the jail.”
