On Friday the Commutation Advisory Board met for the second month in a row to hear from another 12 incarcerated people applying for a commutation, a shortening or modification of a criminal sentence allowed by Wisconsin Constitution under the governor’s executive clemency authority.

Gov. Tony Evers issued two executive orders on April 4 establishing the Commutation Advisory Board and application process 25 years after the last commutations  were offered by Gov. Tommy Thompson.

On Aug. 21, the board heard from the first 12 applicants.

The second round of the applicants also appeared in open session via livestreaming. The board then convened in closed session to make recommendations to the governor. Board chair Mel Barnes said that only those receiving a majority vote of the members are forwarded to the governor for consideration.

Touissant Harley

In 1992, Touissant Harley was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder and first-degree reckless injury. A board member said he became eligible for parole in July 2025. Harley, now 53, was convicted at 18. 

Harley told the board that it was impossible for him to “fully grasp the impact that my abhorrent actions had upon Mrs. Sallis, mentally, emotionally and otherwise,” referring to Mavis Sallis, the mother of the victim of the homicide. 

“In me accepting responsibility and apologizing, I’m also expressing the fact that I fully recognize that reality that I am not by no means worthy of the slightest acknowledgement from neither Mr. Evans or Mrs. Sallis,” Harley said. “I did not awake Aug. 15, 1991 with the intent to harm anyone. Nonetheless, me shooting and killing Chris, and injuring Mr. Evans, not only disgusted me, I felt like I was the worst of the worst… My disregard for life generated fear in the community and contributed to the eroding trust society affords each individual.”

In a December 2024 hearing in Harley’s case, then-Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm presented Sallis’s thoughts, using a statement from Sallis prepared by Harley’s attorney. 

Chisholm said that immediately after the homicide, Harley wrote a letter to Sallis, apologizing and asking for forgiveness for the death of her son. He said Sallis is an active supporter of his early release and his pleading to a lesser charge. 

“The relationship has been a testament to the power of forgiveness and restoration,” he said. “During his sentencing and trial phase, the voice of Christopher Sallis’s mother was neither heard nor considered.” 

Mistye Doughty

Mistye Doughty, 66, incarcerated at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, was sentenced on Oct. 11, 2002, in Brown County to 35 years followed by 25 years of extended supervision for felony murder and armed robbery. She has completed 25 years of her sentence.

In 2004, Doughty’s appeal was denied. She claimed she was not a party to a crime involving the robbery of a jeweler, Douglas Tappa, who was killed by her husband, Matthew Doughty, during a robbery.

Doughty recounted her husband attacking Tappa, and then later receiving $100 from him after selling the jewels in Chicago, although the court found she had taken “half the proceeds,” which she contested was incorrect. 

“I accept all responsibility and accountability for my action of not rendering aid and calling 911,” she said. “A good man lost his life. I live with the remorse and regret every day for what I did and didn’t do by not taking the proper action. This shattered many lives. I hurt and violated the sanctity of the home of Mr. Tampa, deeply hurting his children, grandchildren.” 

She recounted receiving therapy and becoming a certified peer specialist  to work and mentor others.

If released, Doughty said, she would live at Safe House in Madison managed by the advocacy group EXPO and continue with therapy and working as a peer mentor.

“Working as a certified peer specialist is my way of giving back to the community,” she said.

During victim statements, Mel Tappa, Douglas’s daughter, recounted how her mother and siblings suffered from the death of her father, and she asked the board to not grant a commutation.

Efrain Campos

In 1999, Efrain Campos was sentenced to 70 years of confinement. He was convicted of being party to armed robbery and first-degree recklessly endangering safety. 

According to a criminal complaint, he was charged with conducting robberies with threat of force between Jan. 18 and 19, 1999, and was charged with attempted homicide for shooting at two responding police officers. He said he’s been incarcerated for about 27 years for crimes committed when he had just turned 18. 

“I am grateful that no one lost their life, but I recognize that the outcome could have been very different,” Campos told the board. “At the time, I was immature, and I wanted to fit in and feel accepted. Growing up without a father in my life contributed to my desire to find acceptance from others. But that is no excuse. I had choices, and I made terrible and selfish ones.”

 

Wazir El-Amin

Wazir El-Amin, formerly Wade A. Curtis, 55, incarcerated at Fox Lake Correctional Institution, was given a life sentence on Nov. 21, 1990 for first degree intentional homicide with a dangerous weapon in Racine County, and has served 37 years in prison.

He applied for juvenile commutation because he was 18 at the time of his conviction; anyone 19 or younger at the time of conviction can apply through the juvenile application.

El-Amin is eligible for a parole hearing in 2028.

At the hearing, he took responsibility for the death of Christopher Rolle,18, and the pain it caused Rolle’s family and community.

“I understand now what I didn’t then – that my actions caused both mental, physical, emotional trauma,” he said.

He said the one way he had made amends was  by turning his life around, including pursuing his  education, getting two degrees, participating in several programs and becoming a tutor and respite care worker.

If released, he said he would live in the duplex he owns with his wife and he would continue in a program helping other people  who have been to prison.

Casey Fisher

In 1994, Casey Fisher was sentenced to life imprisonment and a consecutive 20 years of confinement. He was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide while armed and armed robbery with threat of force. 

Fisher, 54, said he has and still is maintaining his innocence of the crime, but that he isn’t trying to challenge his conviction through the commutation process. 

“I also want to acknowledge that me maintaining my innocence in this matter does not mean that I was some kind of good guy back then,” Fisher said. “I really wasn’t. I made a lot of poor choices, I often associated with the wrong people and acted without thinking about the impact that my actions had on others.”

Fisher said that during his incarceration, he’s taken advantage of some of the programs and classes in the prison system. Board member Cindy O’Donnell, former deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, said that he hadn’t received a prison conduct report since 2018. She said that this was a hard thing to achieve, and asked how he’d done it. 

“Stayed in my own lane and just stayed focused on trying to do better,” Fisher said. “(I’ve) got a 2year-old granddaughter.”

Richard Sulla

Richard Sulla, 39, incarcerated at  Oregon Correctional Center, was convicted in May 15, 2012 for burglary using a dangerous weapon prison and required to make restitution of $101,070 to Joseph and Laurie Dudley. He was also charged with multiple other offenses in Waukesha, Milwaukee, Walworth and Washington counties that cumulatively, with the Jefferson County offenses, resulted in 25 years of incarceration and 25 years extended supervision. He has served 16 years in prison.

Sulla said he began his crime spree after he was medically discharged from the Marine Corp. while struggling with the effects of childhood abuse.

“I violated their sense of security and trust in society,” he said of his victims. “I took family memories and ultimately destroyed the Dudleys’ home. And today I stand here humbled, apologetic, and truly sorry for my actions. The destruction I caused to the Dudleys’ home was the first time in this 18-month crime spree I laid awake at night asking myself, ‘What are you doing, Richard?’”

He said in prison he began to focus on changing and taking responsibility for his actions. Through restorative justice programs, he realized the ripple effect of the harm his actions had caused.

He described  investing his time in getting an education and volunteering for Paws Patrols, working with service dogs and earning an associate’s degree, and starting a certified peer support program.

The Dudleys submitted a letter asking that Sulla not be given a commutation due to the damage he caused the family.

Robert Patterson

Robert Patterson was convicted of killing a man found dead from gunshot wounds in a van where he was a passenger on Sept. 3, 2002.

According to the criminal complaint, Patterson said he was riding in the back of the van when one of the men, Kristopher Beason, suddenly turned around in the front seat. His co-defendant, Kionta Crockett, began shooting after he saw Beason was holding a gun. 

Patterson said “the whole van was lighting up like a strobe light.” Patterson pointed his own gun toward the front of the van and fired at least two shots as he moved to exit the vehicle and ran away. 

Patterson told the board that he feared for his life. 

 “Looking back on the situation, I know that I didn’t have to shoot Kris,” he told the commutations board. “I had options…I also should not have gotten into a vehicle with people I didn’t trust.”

Ballistics results linked Beason’s bullet wounds to Patterson’s gun, according to court records. Patterson pled guilty to an amended charge of party to second-degree intentional homicide in Beason’s death. The prosecution agreed to recommend “in the area of 20 years” for initial confinement. 

Patterson was sentenced in 2003 to 27 years behind bars and 18 years on community supervision. 

Board chair Mel Barnes read a statement opposing Patterson’s application for commutation  from the sister of the victim. She said that the pain of losing her brother, especially knowing the perpetrator was a neighbor of more than 10 years whom she considered a friend, “shattered my sense of safety and trust.” She said Patterson pretended to help look for the people behind the crime despite being responsible. 

“It is deeply painful to know that if Robert Patterson is released, he will move forward with his life, while my family continues to live with the daily anguish of his actions,” Barnes read from the statement.

Dequelvin Douglas

Dequelvin Douglas, 47, a resident of Oshkosh Correctional Institution, was convicted of first degree intentional homicide and attempted first degree intentional homicide in Kenosha County at age 15 and sentenced to life in prison when he was 16. He has been incarcerated for 31 years.

“I take full responsibility for my actions,” he said. “This is not a crime of circumstance or peer pressure, but rather the result of a deliberate and selfish choice that terrorized my community. The actions I display, specifically in regards to my victims and their families, are both inexcusable and unrepairable. I know that there are no words that can be said to heal their pain or change how I destroyed their lives.”

When he went to prison at age 16, Douglas said, he thought he was a “monster,” but, he said, over the years he became a member of a men’ s accountability group and began to change his perspective and mature.

He talked about becoming a peer specialist and a mentor and helping others, especially young men. 

A restorative justice program, he said, helped him understand the perspective of his victims and develop empathy.

Harlan Schwartz 

In 2001, Harlan Schwartz was sentenced to 37 years behind bars and 18 years of supervision in the community. He had been convicted of two counts of arson for setting fire to a building and a count of selling, possessing or manufacturing a Molotov cocktail. 

Schwartz was charged in two instances of arson against then-Douglas County District Attorney Daniel Blank’s home, according to the criminal complaint in the case.

The first incident caused soot discoloration and minor charring on part of the siding on the garage. Over a month later, Blank’s family woke to the sound of breaking glass. Blank, his wife Suzanne and their three year-old daughter had been sleeping on the second floor of their home. Suzanne Blank said that she saw fire and smoke in their living room on the lower level, and the family called 911 and exited the home.  

Schwartz and his co-defendent claimed that they committed the crime under duress because they were in fear of their lives and the lives of their families based on threats by gang leader Alejandro Rivera, Fox 21 News reported. At the time of the firebombing, Rivera was awaiting trial for murder, with Blank as prosecutor. 

“Between (my co-defendant) and I, it was fear for me to participate in this because at that point in time, I didn’t believe I had any other choice,” Schwartz said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized I had a lot of different choices.”

Board member Cindy O’Donnell said that the Blanks wrote a letter in support of Schwartz’s commutation.

“That means so much to me,” Schwartz said. “I’m so sorry for everything I did to them, and for them to support and have forgiveness is just so overwhelming.”

In a notice to the court, Douglas County Circuit Court Judge George Glonek took no position on whether Schwartz should receive a commutation, noting that he was not the judge who handed down the original sentence, and that Judge Joseph McDonald is now deceased. But he stated that the incident “did more than just affect the victims, the city of Superior, or the County of Douglas.” 

Glonek wrote that during the sentencing hearing, McDonald said that the incident “‘was an attack on the criminal justice system’ (including elected officials) which shook the entire State of Wisconsin and beyond.”

Glonek wrote that at the sentencing hearing, McDonald said that the jury appropriately found there was no coercion, and called the conduct an “act of cowardice.”

“He says fear,” McDonald stated, according to Glonek. “The State says money. I say money. Fear wasn’t there…Fear wasn’t there when he was calling, trying to make arrangements after the fire bombing to Rivera to get the money, according to the testimony of other witnesses. He was waiting for the delivery of the money.”

In 2022, Schwartz sought a lighter sentence, with his attorney arguing that he provided information to law enforcement regarding a prison stabbing at risk of his own safety, according to a hearing transcript. His attorney contended that because of this new factor, Schwartz had met the standard for a sentence modification, and that his overall changed character merited a lighter sentence. 

“There are few things more telling about a person’s character than their (willingness) to risk their own safety to do the right thing,” Schwartz’s attorney said. “Mr. Schwartz did not do that 22 years ago when he committed the crime. He has shown today that he can and he is willing to do that.”

He said that the perpetrator of the prison stabbing, David Schroeder, admitted that he intended to kill the victim because he thought he was a snitch. 

“(Schwartz) found out later that David Schroeder had found out who he was, that he had provided information to the State, that he had made threats to Mr. Schwartz based on that,” Schwartz’s attorney said. 

At the hearing, the district attorney argued that Schwartz hadn’t met the legal standard to be considered for a lighter sentence. He said that Schwartz wasn’t the only witness to the stabbing and that Schroeder took a plea deal instead of going to trial. Judge George Glonek declined to change Schwartz’s sentence. 

Dawn Dobbs

Dawn Dobbs, 59, incarcerated at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, was convicted of first degree intentional homicide (party to a crime) in Milwaukee County and sentenced July 1, 1994, to life imprisonment for killing her life partner, the father of her two sons. She has been in prison for over 32 years.

At 26 years of age, she said, she obtained a gun that a younger co-defendant used to shoot  her partner. She said it had taken her 20 years to be fully accountable for her actions instead of blaming others. She said she now took responsibility for enticing her younger co-defendants to commit the crime.

“As pathetic as these words are, I am so very sorry for the trauma, the pain and heartache that I’ve caused for each and every one of you,” she said to her victims.

Dobbs recounted various jobs she had in prison and the numerous programs she has participated in, including counseling in anger management and coping skills.

She noted one of her crowning achievements was making a suicide prevention video that is viewed in prisons and had reportedly helped to save lives.

If released, she said she would live with her sister in Jefferson, where other family members live, and said she would like to work with animals and volunteer with numerous agencies, including animal and homeless shelters.

Richard Perekovich

On Nov. 9, 2001, police found Victor Ransom dead in the parking lot outside a tavern, alongside Antonio Young, who had gunshot wounds to his right arm and right leg after gunfire  broke out while the two men were leaving the bar at closing time.. 

According to a criminal complaint, Young said he and Ransom were walking out of the tavern when he saw a man he later identified as Richard Perekovich in front of the bar. Perekovich appeared to be showing off a handgun. Young was looking away and talking with Ransom when he heard a scream.

He looked up and saw Perekovich, firing the gun. Young ran and was hit in the arm and leg, and saw Ransom lying on the ground. Perekovich was sentenced to 30 years behind bars and 10 years of supervision in the community for the shootings. 

“Although the circumstances have never been fully resolved, the fact remains that my choice to arm myself and return fire resulted in the loss of a precious life, deprived children of their father, caused the mother to suffer the loss of her son, and a young man challenged with a severe injury to his arm,” Perekovich said. 

A board member asked Perekovich to clarify what happened and who fired first. He said that he fired first out of fear as a person who approached him at his car moved for a gun. Asked whether he saw a weapon, he said he did not, but that the person had previously threatened to “put a hole” in him.  

At sentencing, Perekovich said he pleaded no-contest because he didn’t think he could persuade a jury he acted in self-defense because of how many shots he fired, according to court records. His defense counsel argued that an investigator had found independent witnesses who said that people at the crime scene were armed and firing guns. Perekovich said he believed he was defending himself and did not intend to hit anyone when he fired his gun. 

The circuit court didn’t adopt the state or Perekovich’s version of events presented at sentencing, but said that “although you tell this court that you were not intending to shoot directly at anyone, it appears that an innocent person, someone who is doing nothing more than probably saying goodnight to his friends after an evening of socializing, he, too, was probably doing nothing more than trying to go home and be with his family.”

Yatau Her

Yatau Her, 43, incarcerated at  McNaughton Correctional Center, was convicted of attempted first degree intentional homicide in Eau Claire County, and sentenced on Nov. 18, 2005 to 24 years of confinement and 15 years of extended supervision.

Prior to his attempted robbery of the grocery store, Her said, his life had been unstable after he escaped  from the California Youth Authority to Minnesota and then joined a gang. He recounted the robbery and how he panicked and shot at the store owner.

At his sentencing, he said, the victim asked why a hardworking woman who had done nothing to others would be threatened with harm.

“To answer that question, life pushed me around, and I didn’t have the confidence in my ability, nor the capability to understand how to push life back, so I took it out on people,” he said and added,  “I am ashamed of my actions.”

In 2011, while living in segregation, Her said, he had a revelation about how destructive his life had become and how he had harmed others, and he began to reflect, tried to surround himself with “productive individuals,” and invested in himself by reading self-help books and participating in programs.

He said he gained work experience and education and skills and, over the years, was allowed to move from maximum to medium to unsecured minimum housing and take part in work release.

He said he is no longer a threat to society, and is “ready for the final step of rehabilitation.”

If released, he said he would live with family in California, Oklahoma or Wisconsin.

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