Plea deal in '97 murder case upheld

A man convicted in a 1997 Green Bay murder had his attempt to withdraw a plea denied Tuesday by the state court of appeals.

Shane Gressel entered no contest pleas to reduced charges of first-degree reckless homicide and first-degree reckless injury for stabbing two members of a rival gang as part of a gang initiation, killing Jeffrey Neosh and severely injuring Damon Schwartz. Gressel, then 19, was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

In June 2011, Gressel filed a motion for plea withdrawal, claiming his pleas were not knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily entered because the colloquy was deficient; he was "medicated" at the time of the plea hearing; and counsel was ineffective by failing to explain the elements of the crimes and the range of penalties. The motion was denied without a hearing and this appeal follows.

The appeals court ruled that his claims are barred by state law, however, because he didn't show why the issues weren't raised on his previous appeals.

"Because Gressel does not offer a sufficient reason for failing to raise these arguments earlier, they are procedurally barred," the court wrote .