“A basic reading of the criminal complaint calls into question whether there’s probable cause, and, if it were challenged at an initial appearance, whether the case would go forward at all” – former Milwaukee County prosecutor Dan Adams.

A respected former Milwaukee County prosecutor who is now a criminal defense attorney is raising serious questions about the Milwaukee DA’s criminal complaint against state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez. “I think there’s not sufficient facts listed to support probable cause,” attorney Dan Adams said.

Meanwhile, Ortiz-Velez’s lawyer, Michael Chernin, confirmed to Wisconsin Right Now that the earlier shooting accusation lodged against Ortiz-Velez by Democrat legislators, including Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, was closed after Capitol Police deemed there was “no basis” for a criminal charge over it. The disorderly conduct charge filed against Ortiz-Velez this week by the Milwaukee County DA’s office makes no mention of that more serious accusation.

Adams is regarded as a rare independent voice in Milwaukee legal circles (although he ran for Assembly as a Democrat in 2014). He told Wisconsin Right Now in an interview that the complaint seemed “vague, and that was striking,” although he thinks that may be intentional.

Wisconsin Right Now also spoke about the rather unprecedented disorderly conduct charge against Ortiz-Velez with two high-profile Republicans who have lengthy prosecutorial careers. Due to their positions, neither of those sources would go on the record. One told us, “We don’t even know from it (the complaint) what she was going to say. I can’t believe the DA in Milwaukee is spending any time on this. Play nice in the sandbox. Geez.” He called it “nonsense.” The second veteran prosecutor said the complaint seems “ridiculous” and is “vague” and believes Ortiz-Velez could prevail in court based on what is in “the four corners of the complaint.” We also spoke to a Latino newspaper publisher, Victor Huyke, who called the charge ridiculous and said Ortiz-Velez has worked hard in the community and district.

The Milwaukee DA’s office declined to comment. We wrote DA Kent Lovern a list of questions about the charge, which is based on alleged speech by Ortiz-Velez, a Democrat with an independent streak who has called out party leaders. Jeffrey Altenburg, chief Deputy District Attorney, told WRN: “As the Complaint has been filed and this matter is now in the litigation phase, we are not able to comment further on this case.”

In light of all those comments, we thought it would be interesting to see what a non-Republican and non-Democrat former prosecutor would say about the complaint since the situation is so politicized. Thus, we called Adams.

“A basic reading of the criminal complaint calls into question whether there’s probable cause, and, if it were challenged at an initial appearance, whether the case would go forward at all,” said Adams. “There is a probable speech and debate defense under our Wisconsin state Constitution that she could pursue.”

Read the complaint here:

Criminal Complaint_2 – Ortiz-Velez, Sylvia N; 2026CM000557; Ortiz-Velez, Sylvia N_29035346_1

A ‘Metaphor & Hyperbole’

We also called Ortiz-Velez and her attorney, Michael Chernin. Both declined to comment on the charge, but Chernin noted that it contained no mention at all, and was not based on, the prior accusations from fellow Democrat legislators that Ortiz-Velez had threatened to shoot people. She adamantly denies this, and Chernin revealed for the first time that the shooting accusations were deemed not to be criminal by Capitol police Deputy Chief Christopher M. Litzkow. Wisconsin Right Now has asked Capitol Police for comment; Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos previously claimed that the shooting accusation against Ortiz-Velez was deemed unfounded.

“That was investigated, and it was not brought forth as a charge,” Chernin said of the shooting angle. “They (police) said it was just in the context of a metaphor and hyperbole, and that’s what the police said.” Chernin said that decision “was reviewed by Deputy Chief Litzkow” who said there was “no basis” for the “gun threat” accusation.

Chernin stressed that there is “nothing in the complaint” about that accusation. “It’s not referenced in there. It was investigated and closed.” He added that Ortiz-Velez was “very hurt” about “not being included in the Latino veterans proclamation… her late husband had been a veteran.”

Chernin added of the charge that was filed, “It needs to work its way through the justice system. Ultimately, it will.”

The complaint accuses Ortiz-Velez of saying she would go to the news media to reveal alleged “inappropriate personal actions” of another Democrat legislator, Priscilla Prado, because she wanted a resolution withdrawn honoring Latino veterans. The complaint says Ortiz-Velez, who occasionally votes with Republicans, was upset because she was excluded from the resolution, as her late husband is a Latino veteran. The complaint does not explain what the actions are and doesn’t name Prado or others involved; sources allege that Democrat Minority Leader Greta Neubauer and Rep. Kalan Haywood are involved in the accusations against Ortiz-Velez; we reached out to all three for comment. Defenders of Ortiz-Velez say that she has been a thorn in Democrat leaders’ sides because she is willing to call out things she believes are wrong and cares more about her constituents’ needs than any political party’s.

What Dan Adams Says: ‘We Want Our Legislators to Be Able to Speak Freely… & Have Disagreements’

What else did Dan Adams say?

Adams noted that the charge is based on Ortiz-Velez’s alleged speech, which creates a “higher threshold” for criminality under the law. “They have to show it was a true threat, that a reasonable person would believe it was a true threat, all of this.” He added that the First Amendment would also be a defense “if challenged.” He also noted that the shooting accusation never appears in the complaint.

“Our state Constitution has protection for legislators to not be held legally liable for actions they take as legislators,” he added. “We want our legislators to be able to speak freely and debate issues and have disagreements and not worry about being dragged into court. Given that her conduct was speech-based and directed toward her colleagues in the Legislature, I think it would fall into that protection. Wisconsin doesn’t have a lot of case law on this topic.”

Because the complaint was so vague and oddly written, Adams said that he believes “the complaint was likely issued as a negotiated issuance, meaning the prosecutor and defense negotiated what charge would be issued with the promise that the defendant would take quick responsibility and plead guilty to the negotiated plea.”

That doesn’t mean that he is saying Ortiz-Velez believes she did anything wrong or that her attorney does; rather, he said, “when someone is being threatened with serious charges, especially a high-profile person,” they often enter a plea so they don’t have to “go through entire months or years of litigation. We have a system of pleas, not a system of trials.” He said that people usually take pleas when “confronted with all of the power of law enforcement and the prosecutor, especially white collar cases where they have so much leverage to pressure people into a plea,” even when they believe “in their heart of hearts” that they did nothing wrong.

We spoke to people close to Ortiz-Velez’s orbit who confirmed that she is under a lot of pressure to accept a plea – not because she believes she did anything wrong, but because she is afraid the Milwaukee County DA will hit her with a more serious charge that could prevent her from holding office. She is in the middle of a Democrat primary. In addition, she has made accusations against Democrat gubernatorial candidate David Crowley, which he denies. At least two of the unnamed people mentioned in the complaint against her have endorsed Crowley for governor, Wisconsin Right Now has learned.

“I think (prosecutors) even filing it seems like political motivation, retaliation. The fact is that Sylvia has been working hard for the community. She’s brought a lot of legislation, more legislation than most Democrats,” alleged Victor Huyke, publisher of El Conquistador Latino newspaper and a respected figure in Ortiz-Velez’s district.

Wisconsin Right Now learned Ortiz-Velez is being advised by at least one well-known Democrat attorney, in addition to Chernin, although no one will discuss this on the record.

That all being said, Adams raised multiple serious concerns about the complaint.

First, he says that the law requires “something to be considered a true threat, if it was threatening at all.”

And, under current case law and the state Constitution, he said, “no member of the Legislature should be liable for words spoken in debates.” He called the latter a “pretty clear defense.”

He said the issue doesn’t come up a lot, so “spoken in debates” has not been discussed or defined a lot in the case law. Thus, it’s unclear how it would apply to, say, a legislator making comments to another legislator on the phone or outside an Assembly session.

Adams believes the complaint was intentionally vague. He said the complaint “would not be something a prosecutor would file who would think a case would be challenged in court.”

Adams said assistant prosecutor Matt Westphal, whose name is on the complaint, is a “very experienced and knowledgeable guy,” so he doesn’t believe he expects the charge to be challenged in court, or it wouldn’t be written this way.

“Again, I think there’s not sufficient facts listed to support probable cause,” said Adams, of the complaint.