Man remains jailed in contract killing case
JANESVILLE -- The man accused of hiring a hit man to kill his estranged wife and her boyfriend must remain in jail while awaiting trial, a Rock County judge decided this afternoon.
Joseph R. Chrislaw Sr. , 46, of 733 Kellogg Ave., No. 3, Janesville, asked the judge to reduce his bail from $30,000 to $1,500.
Judge James Daley denied his request.
Chrislaw is charged with two counts of soliciting first-degree intentional homicide.
Chrislaw is suspected of hiring a man from the Hells Angels motorcycle gang to kill his estranged wife, Inna M. Cheremisina, 34, and her boyfriend, Janesville City Councilman Yuri Rashkin, 33, according to the criminal complaint.
But Chrislaw actually attempted hiring an undercover Janesville police officer posing as a contract killer, according to the criminal complaint.
Chrislaw has pleaded not guilty.
He is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 11 for a status hearing.
Nov 18, 2008 at 9:50 p.m.
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Two reasons to plead not guilty:
1. You are actually wrongfully accused.
2. You are guilty and want to get a lawyer get the charges reduce and not get the full penalty for the crime.
Nov 18, 2008 at 4:55 p.m.
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ALL cases are open to plea deals, and 95% of all cases are concluded with plea deals. It isn't something special and people have to stop basing their ideas of how our justice system works from TV shows.
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If you plead guilty you conclude your case. In fact a plea deal generally involves pleading guilty to *something*, not necessarily the original charge. Pleading not guilty is how your attorney pursues a vigorous defense, to which we are all entitled by the Constitution. If your lawyer is not pursuing a vigorous defense, you are entitled to fire them, even if they are a public defender.
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Even if caught red-handed, one may plead not guilty *as charged*, but to something else. It is then the responsibility of the prosecution to prove that one is guilty as charged. This is a basic civil liberty in a free society.
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A probable defense in any solicitation of murder case is either entrapment, or that the defendant didn't really mean it, was drunk, blowing off steam, etc.
Nov 18, 2008 at 4:54 p.m.
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in this country it is your right to be PROVEN guilty in a court of law. Not Prove your innocence. geez.
Nov 18, 2008 at 4:20 p.m.
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I think it has something to do if you plead guilty you don't get your case tried. So by pleading not guilty he gets a hearing and an attempt to defend whatever case he may have. Probably mental illness or something. Correct me if I am wrong on the pleading status.
Nov 18, 2008 at 4:18 p.m.
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By pleading not guilty, this hints to the prosecution that the defendant is looking for a plea deal, and it leaves the case open for plea negotiations. If the defendant plead guilty right away, their sentence would be imposed without a negotiation of a set amount and would be completely up to the judge.... This guy is looking to plead out in hopes of a reduced sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. And he'll most likely get it!
Nov 18, 2008 at 4:08 p.m.
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Too much Sopranos for someone.
Nov 18, 2008 at 3:59 p.m.
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I don't understand how people can plead not guilty when they were caught red-handed. Is anyone able to explain that to me?
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