Dylan Yang, the Wausau teen convicted of fatally stabbing a fellow teen during a fight in 2015, will not seek a new trial.
Yang decided against asking for a new trial because of the emotional and financial burden it would place on his own family as well as the family of Isaiah Powell, said Yang’s attorney, Harry Hertel of Eau Claire. Hertel also told the courYang believes he deserved some kind of punishment for Powell’s death.
Harry had filed a motion in Marathon County Circuit Court requesting a new trial, but at the hearing Tuesday for that request, Hertel told the court Yang asked him not to proceed.
Yang was convicted in March 2016 of killing Powell during a fight outside Yang’s home. Yang was 15 at the time and Powell was 13. Yang received a 13-year prison sentence after being charged and tried as an adult. The case was controversial because many people believed Yang should have gone through the juvenile system instead.
Yang’s initial request for a new trial was based on inadequate defense, arguing that attorney Jay Kronenwetter did not call enough witnesses to testify, including any expert who might have spoken to the latest research on teenage brain development.
Hertel told City Pages he hasn’t seen someone not take a chance at a new trial in the 41 years he has been practicing law.
“He put his family and Isaiah’s family first,” Hertel says, adding that Yang seemed very calm when speaking with HertelMonday, and has appeared to accept his situation.
Yang will remain imprisoned at the Lincoln Hills juvenile facility until he turns 18 in November, when he will be transferred to Dodge Correctional. That facility has a number of social programs that can help Yang, Hertel says. Yang will be released before he turns 30. “Hopefully he can go on to lead an exemplary life,” Hertel says.
