GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers defensive back Mossy Cade, who is serving a two-year prison term for sexual assault, must stand trial on a charge of perjury, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Brown County Circuit Judge N. Patrick Crooks found probable cause to believe a felony had been committed and ordered Cade to stand trial. A date was not set for Cade to enter a plea to the charge.
Crooks ordered Cade to stand trial after defense attorney Donald Zuidmulder informed the judge he would not present additional written arguments in the case.
Cade is accused of lying at his Brown County sexual assault trial last summer when he testified he did not attack an aunt who visited him from Texas. The jury convicted Cade of two counts of second-degree sexual assault.
Zuidmulder had asked for additional time to study trial and sentencing transcripts and to file written arguments after Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Lasee presented the state's case at a preliminary hearing Feb. 11. But Zuidmulder informed Crooks Tuesday he would not present additional arguments.
At the preliminary hearing, Lasee said Cade, 26, testified he did not sexually assault the woman. But Lasee said a psychiatrist testified at a later sentencing hearing that Cade had admitted the offense in counseling sessions. Cade also apologized for his actions and asked his family and the victim to forgive him before sentencing, Lasee said.
Despite Crooks' ruling, there may be lengthy legal delays before the case ever goes to trial. Zuidmulder has accused District Attorney John Zakowski of selective prosecution for filing the perjury charge six months after the trial.
Zuidmulder also said there are serious legal questions whether statements made by a person at a sentencing hearing at the invitation of a judge can later be used to file additional charges.
Crooks had set aside those dismissal arguments before the preliminary hearing, saying they were best left to a trial court to decide.
