The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has decided to uphold the dismissal of a homicide charge against a Minneapolis firefighter accused of killing a Wisconsin man.
The court ruled that lost evidence in the case prevented Kyle Huggett from getting a fair trial in the 2008 shooting death of 29-year-old John Peach, which occurred in Burnett County. Investigators were unable to provide threatening voice mail messages left by the alleged victim, which the court said could have exonerated Huggett at trial.
Burnett County Sheriff Dean Rolland says police made every attempt to properly gather evidence, and blamed the cell phone provider for deleting the voice mails. Still, Rolland doesn’t necessarily disagree with the court’s decision, but says the Department did act within the guidelines it was supposed to during the investigation.
Peach was shot after the rural Danbury man broke into Huggett’s home.
AUDIO: Burnett County Sheriff Dean Rolland (:15)