Racist Milwaukee cops charged in Brutal Beating of Frank Jude Want separate trials

Attorneys for three Milwaukee police officers accused of brutally beating a man told the court Tuesday they want separate cases and want to have the trial moved to another county. Jon Bartlett, 33, Daniel Masarik, 25, and Andrew Spengler, 25, have pleaded not guilty to battering Frank L. Jude Jr. while he lay face down in the street outside the house where off-duty officers were partying Oct. 24. The officers were court for a scheduling conference Tuesday. Their two motions must be filed by June 6 and won't be heard by a judge until July 27. That means if the case goes to trial, it won't occur until fall at the earliest. All three men are charged with party to substantial battery. Bartlett and Masarik also are charged with party to second-degree recklessly endangering safety. Masarik faces a third count of perjury. The officers sat in the public gallery of the court Tuesday, near members of Jude's family and Alderman Mike McGee, who told others in the gallery that they were sitting near "killer cops." The charged officers did not respond. [more]