The case of Justice David Prosser’s alleged choking of a Supreme Court colleague has made news again, as a lawyer representing Prosser sent a letter to the chief justice asking her to dismiss the case.

In August, the Judicial Commission asked Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson to send the case to the Court of Appeals, as the three conservative-leaning judges on the court recused themselves from the case. Yesterday, Prosser’s attorney Kevin Reak sent a letter to Abrahamson requesting that she refuse the recommendation and dismiss the case.

According to the letter, sending Judicial Commission complaints to the Court of Appeals has to be decided by the whole court, not by only one justice.

“For more than a quarter century, Judicial Commission complaints have remained in the Supreme Court until the court, as a whole, issued an order sending them to the Court of Appeals,” the letter read. “There is no rule, no understanding and no practice that an individual justice, including the chief justice, may act on behalf of the court in these matters.”

The letter said that if Abrahamson were to do so and not get the whole court to decide on the case, it would be “a formula for mischief and chaos,” because if a single judge can decide to send such complaints to the Court of Appeals, another judge can also countermand that decision.

As the three conservative-leaning judges have recused from judging the case and the potential victim Justice Ann Walsh Bradley cannot participate, the letter reiterated that the Supreme Court does not have a quorum to rule on this issue and should ultimately drop it.

“The Judicial Commission is attempting to induce you to violate multiple ethical and procedural rules in order to trigger a meaningless but very costly “mock trial” that can never produce a definitive conclusion. Subjecting Justice Prosser to a meaningless trial will clearly violate his constitutional rights,” the letter read.

Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Clerk Diane Fremgen declined to comment on the issue and could only confirm the letter was filed, though she did say it is unclear when Abrahamson would make a decision.

One Wisconsin Now spokesperson Mike Browne said Prosser’s alleged behavior has not reflected well on the court as a whole.

“Justice Prosser’s [alleged] behavior reflects poorly on himself and on the court,” Browne said. “He is also essentially doubling down by alleging no one is qualified to judge his alleged behavior.”

Tea Party Patriots Wisconsin spokesperson Michael Hintze said he was frustrated with the “back-and-forth” between both sides on the issue and added that he believed Prosser is facing a “hostile set of justices.”

He added the main reason for the judges acting in a partisan way, with the conservative judges siding with Prosser and the liberal judges siding with Abrahamson, is that the justices have to run for office and therefore face some political pressures.

“I think [the case] should be dropped,” Hintze said. “I think the justices on both sides are doing a significant amount of damage to the reputation of the court by their behavior. I encourage the justices to go back to being justices and leaving the politics to the politicians.”