A judge in St. Croix County has delayed ruling in the case of Hastings resident Joshua Sykora who was originally charged with homicide by negligant use of a vehicle in the June 25, 2016 motorcycle crash that resulted in the death of his girlfriend and passenger Brooke Ptacek-Baker. Prosecutor Edward Minser has asked that due to alcohol being a factor in the early morning crash, the penalty should be stronger than that rendered from a plea bargain suggested by defense attorney Thomas Seiben. Sykora’s defense attributes the crash to the defendent swerving to avoid a deer in the roadway and not on his BAC level.
According to the recount of the court appearance that took place on January 4th, an agreement to have charges reduced also involved the sentence to be reduced to one year total time, revocation of Sykora’s driver’s license for that year and time to be served in Minnesota instead of Wisconsin. Judge Michael Waterman, however, took exception to the deal, noting the agreement falls short of guidelines for such charges. Plans to call expert witnesses in accident reconstruction were revealed by the defense. Judge Waterman will reconvene court on Wednesday, January 9th.
