WAUKESHA, Wis. (WLS) — Emotional testimony from victims of the Waukesha Christmas parade attack resumed after a reported threat halted the sentencing hearing for about an hour Tuesday.
The hearing began Tuesday morning with victims reading impact statements and then around 10 a.m. the courtroom was evacuated. The hearing resumed at about 11:15 a.m.
Judge Jennifer Dorow addressed the disruption saying an anonymous threat was made to the courthouse. She said police are trying to track down who made it, but law enforcement assured people that the courthouse is safe and court.
Prosecutors expect 45 survivors to make impact statements over the next two days.
Last month, a jury convicted Darrell Brooks of killing six people and injuring more than 60 others at a holiday parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin nearly one year ago.
Darrell Brooks found guilty of homicide, more in Waukesha parade attack
Jackson Sparks, 8, was killed when Brooks drove his SUV through the parade. His big brother Tucker was badly injured.
WATCH: Brooks removed from court again
Their mother, Sherry Sparks, shared her story before the judge makes her decision.
“Do you have any idea of gut wrenching it is to have to explain your 12-year-old son but his little brother isn’t going to make it his injuries are too expensive for his little body to come back from and that he won’t be coming home with us over again.”
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Brooks faces a mandatory life in prison sentence for the most serious charges
During the court proceedings, he flipped through a book and didn’t react to anyone who spoke. At one point he even rolled his eyes.
Meanwhile, a child also spoke at the hearing.
“On the way to the hospital, we had to lay our head down on the floor because we heard there was a shooter,” the child said. “My fingers, my whole body was paralyzed in fear and when we made it to the hospital, I was terrified because I thought I broke my fingers. And when they asked me what happened, I was too busy crying I couldn’t speak.”
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Many plan to speak about the damage this has also done to the community.
Meanwhile, Brooks has asked nine people to speak for him.
Brooks chose to represent himself during his trial despite overwhelming evidence against him. His interactions with victim witnesses were tense, but he generally treated them respectfully, and they kept their answers short. Tuesday will be the victims’ first chance to confront Brooks while he is forced to sit and listen.
State law doesn’t place any restrictions on what can be said during victim impact statements other than that the remarks must be relevant to the sentence. The law doesn’t define relevance; as long as people don’t lapse into screaming or profanity, they will be free to say what they want.
Brooks told the judge this month that nine people will speak on his behalf, including his mother. Brooks had said she would testify at the trial, but he never called her to the stand.
The monthlong trial was punctuated by erratic outbursts from Brooks, who refused to answer to his own name, frequently interrupted Dorow and often refused to stop talking. The judge often had bailiffs move him to another courtroom where he could participate via video but she could mute his microphone.
After he was removed from the main courtroom during jury selection, he removed his shirt, sat on the defense table bare-chested and stuck down his pants a sign he’d been given to signal objections. Later in the trial, he built a small fort out of his boxes of legal documents and hid behind it so the camera couldn’t pick up his face. At other times, he hid his face behind a Bible.
Judge Jennifer Dorow said in a memo to Brooks and prosecutors this month that she has received emails, letters, cards and gifts, including candy and other food, in connection with the case.
Any perception of judicial bias against Brooks could provide him with grounds for an appeal.
Dorow wrote that the gifts will not influence her sentencing decision, saying that she has taken “every step possible” to not read the correspondence and that she has distributed the candy among the clerk of court’s staff.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that much of the correspondence came from livestream viewers who praised the judge’s handling of a difficult case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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