After 24 hours of legal maneuvering in a politically charged investigation of Gov. Scott Walker and his allies, an appeals court late Wednesday handed prosecutors a victory, preventing for now the destruction of evidence from the case.
A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago stayed U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa’s preliminary injunction from Tuesday stopping the John Doe investigation, saying he had overstepped his authority. The appeals court ruling also said Randa cannot order prosecutors to destroy evidence they have collected in the five-county probe.
“It’s definitely an extraordinary case,” said former Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann.
The appeals court ruling puts the investigation back where it was a day earlier. Technically, it remains active, but in practice it appears stalled as prosecutors wade through waves of litigation.
Via Federal appeals court stays ruling halting Doe probe into Walker recall @ JSOnline.