Darrell Brooks Jr. has asked for and been granted another extension — his 10th — to appeal his 2022 conviction tied to the deaths of six people and injuries to more than 60 others in the 2021 Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy.
Brooks’s latest motion, approved by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Sept. 2, extends the deadline to Oct. 29. It’s a notably shorter window than some of his previous court-granted extensions, which generally have ranged from 12 to 16 weeks.
Whether that means he is near the point of filing an appeal is uncertain. Brooks, who was granted the right to again represent himself in April, has not reached out to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about his plans after his former attorney supplied him with a reporter’s contact information.
Brooks case carries on nearly four years after Waukesha parade incident
Now 43, Brooks, formerly of Milwaukee, remains incarcerated in the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls on consecutive life terms for the deaths of Tamara Durand, Wilhelm Hospel, Jane Kulich, Leanna Owen, Virginia Sorenson and Jackson Sparks.
He was convicted in October 2022 on six counts first-degree intentional homicide, 61 counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, six counts of hit and run involving death and two counts of bail jumping, all felonies, plus one count of misdemeanor battery.
Brooks, then 39, was charged after he was seen driving through a heavy crowd of parade participants on Nov. 21, 2021, maneuvering his SUV in a manner that prosecutors said proved his intent to kill. Police fired shots at his vehicle as he fled the scene, and his brief escape ended in his arrest late that evening outside a home not far from the parade route.
The case drew national attention from the start, ending with the nearly monthlong trial that was played and recorded live on a YouTube channel and reported by news outlets in and outside the nation. Brooks represented himself in the trial.
Brooks has long signaled his plan appeal, but hasn’t to date
Shortly after he was sentenced to six consecutive life prison terms plus 762 years in November 2022 on the 76 criminal counts, Brooks publicly stated he would seek relief from, or overturn, his conviction.
However, through a court-appointed public defender and beginning in 2024, Brooks instead sought and received eight appeal deadline extensions. Then, in February 2025, he signaled his intent to ask his attorney, Michael Covey, to step aside so he could again represent himself. The court granted his request in April. He filed a ninth extension in June and was granted one through Aug. 27.
His latest request was received by the courts on Aug. 29, two days beyond that most recent deadline. Covey, speaking generally and not on behalf of Brooks, acknowledged in a late-August email exchange with the Journal Sentinel that the Court of Appeals doesn’t typically view the deadline as absolute.
“It is very common for a deadline like this to be missed and then extended retroactively,” Covey said. “This is especially true for in-custody inmates who may have issues with mail delivery.”
In previous conversations with news media while he was still serving as Brooks’s court-appointed attorney, Covey also acknowledged that Brooks has recognized that the extensions aren’t limitless and that he will be required by the court to follow through on his intent to appeal at some point.
Once an appellate brief is filed, the Court of Appeals must decide how the case proceeds, as was previously reported. The appellate court must decide if it will be decided in a summary disposition, whether briefs will be submitted either with or without oral arguments, or whether the case should be certified to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for consideration, which is considered rare.
Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese, who was part of the prosecutorial team in Brooks’s criminal proceedings, has declined to comment on the potential appeal.
Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at james.riccioli@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Darrell Brooks gets 10th extension to appeal his Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy case
Reporting by Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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