Attorney breach stalls Milwaukee officers' gun store lawsuit

A long-awaited trial pitting two wounded Milwaukee police officers against the gun store that sold the weapon used to shoot them has been delayed after attorneys from a national gun control group posted information online that the judge had ruled inadmissible.

The lawsuit against Badger Guns and its predecessor, Badger Outdoors, by former officers Bryan Norberg and Graham Kunisch is the first of its kind nationwide to make it this far. It had been scheduled to begin Monday and last three weeks.

The case, however, is not dead. It has been transferred to another Milwaukee County judge and it is due next in court in September. Separately, two other wounded Milwaukee police officers have sued the gun-selling operations. Their case is set to go to trial later.

Milwaukee County Judge Jeffrey Conen on Monday allowed attorneys Jonathan Lowy and Alla Lefkowitz of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence to withdraw from the case. They were representing Norberg and Kunisch along with local attorney Patrick Dunphy.

Conen ordered Brady to pay $800 to Milwaukee County, the cost of paying 100 jurors who were called for jury selection for half a day. It was an extra large pool, more than double what judges typically summon.

The Brady attorneys agreed to leave the case after it was disclosed that the organization posted information over the weekend that Conen had ruled inadmissible. Brady has since taken down the information in question and it was not disclosed in open court. Conen discussed the matter off the record with attorneys in his chambers before coming into open court and making brief comments on the record, according to a transcript.