No New Charges for Curt Johnson

Billionaire Curt Johnson will not face three addtional felony charges, and his April 23 trial date appears to be intact, according to a decision from Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz filed on Wednesday.

Johnson was charged March 23, 2011 with . If the state had won its motion to reconsider, he would also face three additional felony counts of incest.

But in his five-page opinion, Gasiorkiewicz said the state was well aware of the deadline he set and should have known last October that circumstances with the victim had changed.

The District Attorney's Office first made the request Feb. 15, and Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz denied it because it missed the Jan. 23 deadline given during Johnson's Jan. 9 status hearing. Part of the state's explanation for the delay was that because when charges were first considered, the state erred on the side of caution to try and secure the victim's testimony.

Since then, however, the victim has proven uncooperative. In his Feb. 21 motion to reconsider, Assistant District Attorney Robert Repischak wrote, "the victim will not fully cooperate with the prosecution in this matter, thus diminishing the plaintiff's need to 'pull its punches' in charging this case."

But in Gasiorkiewicz's opinion, the state should have read the writing on the wall when the victim refused to release her medical records. It was at that time the District Attorney's Office should have filed the amended charges instead of waiting two weeks past the time set at the Jan. 9 status hearing.

"It should be noted that this is a case which has been termed by the State as a 'high profile' case, and, as such, it should have received high priority by the State and its representatives," Gasiorkiewicz wrote. "The defendant and his counsel were preparing to answer charges filed in the complaint and information filed on April 13, 2011 ... It is the opinion of this Court that to amend the information in this matter at this late date will prejudice the defendant in that he would have to revise trial strategies."

Johnson was charged last year after he allegedly admitted to his therapist in Arizona that he inappropriately touched a young girl. That counselor reported the information to the Racine County Human Services who then contacted the Racine County Sheriff's office.

According to the criminal complaint, the girl told police Johnson touched her, kissed her and asked her to have sex with him numerous times over several years. Now a teenager, the girl said the abuse may have started when she was in sixth or seventh grade.

The case is making its way to an April 23 trial date. Attorneys on both sides are awaiting the after motions were filed because  allowed the victim to keep her medical records sealed and the door open for her testify. The prosecution wants the records released while the defense wants the victim barred from testifying if the records aren't released.