Suspect will stand trial Monday for attempted homicide, robbery By Jessica La Plante News-Chronicle One of two men accused of conspiring to rob and kill a pair of Bellevue brothers will stand trial this week after a Friday court appearance failed to resolve the disputed facts of a drug deal gone bad. At a pretrial conference for shooting suspect Wayne Cornelius, prosecutors and defense attorneys made it clear there wouldn't be any last-minute plea negotiations. Instead, they used the court appearance to flush out a few evidentiary issues before Monday's trial. According to a criminal complaint, the 21-year-old Green Bay resident tried to rob the two brothers in mid-October under the pretext of a drug deal. The complaint levies similar charges against Daniel Gene Webster, alleging the 21-year-old Minneapolis man hatched the robbery scheme and sent Cornelius to see it through. According to prosecutors, the two brothers met up with Webster at a bar a few hours before the robbery incident and arranged to buy marijuana. Later on, Cornelius showed up at the brothers' apartment and introduced himself as Dan Webster's agent. The brothers invited the man in, expecting to buy drugs, but were instead accosted at gun point and ordered to hand over their cash. When one of the brothers resisted, Cornelius allegedly pulled the trigger of the loaded gun five times. When the defective handgun failed to fire, the two brothers tackled Cornelius to the ground and disarmed him. By the time police arrived, Cornelius was lying on the apartment floor, bleeding profusely from the head, the complaint said. Although the victims told police they attacked Cornelius out of self-defense, defense attorneys claim prosecutors are charging the wrong men. They contend the alleged victims were really the instigators of the October attack that injured Cornelius. To prove that allegation, defense attorney Mark Rosen plans to call police officers and private investigators at Cornelius' trial. A document filed with the court also named a narcotics investigator among the list of potential witnesses. At the pretrial conference, prosecutors took issue with the defense's proposed testimony. Brown County District Attorney John Zakowski asked the court to prevent Rosen from asking questions or soliciting testimony to explore drug-dealing allegations against the victims. Zakowski said a search of the victims' apartment produced no illegal drugs, and that no drug transaction had occurred on the day of the alleged attack. He argued the allegations would lead the jury astray from the real issue: Whether Cornelius tried to the kill one of the brothers when the robbery scheme fell through. Rosen made a similar request to the court, asking the judge to issue a gag order preventing prosecutors from dredging up the defendant's past convictions and alleged misconduct. In a motion filed Tuesday, Rosen said Cornelius planned to testify at trial, but would be barred from doing so if the prosecution were given an unlimited license to explore all allegations of past misconduct by the defendant, and not just the offense on trial. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Peter Naze heard both arguments but said he would postpone deciding the issues until Monday. Whatever fate a jury ultimately decides for Cornelius could affect the outcome of his co-defendant's trial, which was adjourned to mid-November. At a Sept. 19 motion hearing, defense attorney Tim Blank convinced the judge that it made procedural sense to submit Cornelius' case to a jury before Webster's trial. He argued his client could prove he wasn't a conspirator to attempted homicide and robbery, but needed Cornelius' testimony to do that. Since a suspect cannot be ordered to testify if the evidence could be used against him in criminal proceedings, Cornelius' willingness to participate in Webster's defense hinges on the outcome of Monday's trial, Blank said. The jury trial, which is scheduled to last three days, is expected to start at 8:30 a.m. The panel of witnessesthe state plans to call includes a half-dozen police officers, acquaintances of the defendant and the two victims of the robbery attack.