Dane County Sheriff to investigate allegations against Wisconsin Justice David Prosser

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Wisconsin Capitol Police have turned over to the Dane County Sheriff an investigation into allegations that Supreme Court Justice David Prosser choked a fellow judge.

“Sheriff Mahoney has agreed to investigate this incident and all inquiries about the status of the investigation should be made with the Sheriff’s Department,” Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs said, according to WisPolitics.com.

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said it recognized “the significance and sensitive nature of this investigation” in a statement released Monday.

“Beginning today, detectives will work diligently to conduct a thorough and timely investigation,” the sheriff’s office added.

Prosser has issued a denial of witness reports that he grabbed fellow justice Ann Walsh Bradley by the throat on June 13. The altercation reportedly erupted in Justice Bradley’s chambers during a heated discussion of Governor Scott Walker’s controversial budget bill, which curtails collective bargaining rights for public workers.

The Wisconsin Judicial Commission authorized an investigation into the incident at a meeting on Friday.

“The investigation will be conducted without prejudgment in a fair and thorough manner,” the commission said.

Prosser says that the allegations against him “will be proven false” after a “proper review of the matter and the facts surrounding it are made clear.”

He was reelected in April in tight election for his seat against liberal challenger JoAnne Kloppenberg.

With prior reporting by David Ferguson