Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney Pushes State Crime Lab To Get Results Done Faster

A Fond du Lac County Judge has ordered the state Crime Lab to test a blood sample in a drunk driving homicide case after Attorney General Josh Kaul’s office didn’t assign the sample to an analyst for testing for more than a month.

The deceased victim is 58-year-old Mike Hoffman of Waukesha, whose wife, Julie, was also injured in the crash.

The court was acting on a request by Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, who is prosecuting the case.

During the state Attorney General’s race last fall, Toney repeatedly criticized Kaul for crime lab delays more severe than his predecessors, which Toney said were imperiling public safety.

Toney Says “It is unsettling to the State for the lab to have the evidence for over a month without an analyst having been assigned to begin the testing of the defendant’s blood. This has the potential to delay this case and create uncertainty for the defendant as well as the victim’s family.”

The case involves defendant 56-year-old Brian Sippel, a repeat drunk driver from Oshkosh, who is accused of killing Hoffman in a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of Highways 151 and 41.

The court order states that the crime lab shall perform the necessary tests and submit results by March 8th.