CHIPPEWA FALLS — A man accused of repeatedly stabbing his friend in the neck with a broken beer bottle in May 2023 is seeking to have his interview with police tossed out of court, claiming he wasn’t properly given a reading of his Miranda rights.
Abraham Sanchez-Galicia, 28, 219 W. Grand Ave., is charged in Chippewa County Court with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, mayhem, and first-degree reckless injury.
Defense Attorneys Kirby Harless and Ryan Kohler filed the motion, saying police began interviewing Sanchez-Galicia before he was properly given his Miranda rights reading in a manner that could be understood by Sanchez-Galicia. The defense attorneys are asking that the interview be suppressed, meaning it would not be allowed as evidence in a trial. A Spanish interpreter has been used in all court hearings in the case.
According to the letter filed in court, three police officers interviewed Sanchez-Galicia, including officer Gonzales from the Eau Claire County Sheriff’s Department, who speaks both English and Spanish, and he was used as “an impromptu translator.”
According to Lt. Kory Boos’ police report, the Miranda rights were read from a department-issued form and were translated into Spanish by Officer Gonzales.
“Mr. Sanchez-Galicia was not properly advised of the Miranda warnings nor did he knowingly and intelligently waive his rights, due to the insufficiency of the impromptu and non-professional translation given by Officer Gonzales in this matter,” the letter to the court reads. “Mr. Sanchez-Galicia therefore respectfully requests the court enter an order excluding from evidence all statements he made during his interrogation.”
Sanchez-Galicia was slated to appear in court earlier this week. However, Judge Steve Gibbs canceled the hearing and reset a motion hearing for Sept. 9 to consider the request to suppress the interview. Assistant District Attorney Sheila Yohnk previously requested the interpreter be present in the courtroom for the next hearing, as she expects it could take three hours to go through all the motions. No trial dates have been set at this time.
Sanchez-Galicia remains in custody on a $250,000 cash bond because he is deemed a flight risk.
According to the criminal complaint, the Chippewa County dispatch center received a call at 1:05 a.m. Saturday, May 20, 2023, but nothing was heard on the call. The dispatch center called the number back but did not get a response. A second call from that number came to the dispatch center at 1:08, but the voice was an unintelligible man; the call came from the lobby of the police department. “Dispatchers accessed the police department camera system and informed officers that a male subject was in the front lobby, covered in blood.”
Several officers responded to the lobby and spoke to the man, who was identified as Sanchez-Galicia. He was not wearing shoes, socks or a shirt.
“Officers observed the front side of Abraham’s body was covered in partially dried blood from the bottom of his torso to the top of his neck,” the complaint states. “Abraham had blood on his face and a large bloody handprint right below his right arm. Due to the amount of blood observed, officers were concerned Abraham was seriously injured. However, upon inspection, the only injuries observed were lacerations on Abraham’s hands, fingers, and knees.”
Due to a language barrier, officers had difficulty communicating with Sanchez-Galicia, but they believed he was indicating that there was an injured person at a nearby residence in the city. When officers arrived, they saw multiple broken glass shards on the cement outside the front door. They found a male victim, lying face down in a pool of blood, in the living room. The victim was not moving or speaking.
“Blood spatter was observed on all four walls in the room,” the complaint states. He was taken to a nearby hospital with “several lacerations on his face, neck and hands. The doctor advised the laceration to the neck would require emergency surgery due to potential injury to a large vein in (the victim’s) neck.”
With the aid of an interpreter, Sanchez-Galicia told officers his friend had attacked him and he had defended himself. Abraham took a preliminary breath test, which showed a .099 blood-alcohol level.
Sanchez-Galicia explained that his friend was eating Sanchez-Galicia’s food, and he told his friend he needed permission first. The victim said he was going to eat it anyway and insulted him. He claimed his friend came at him and they fought.
“Abraham stated while they were struggling on the ground, beer bottles were falling around them and (the victim) was attempting to reach for a beer bottle. Abraham admitted he used his left hand to hold (the victim) down by the neck, grabbed a broken beer bottle, and repeatedly struck (the victim) in the neck. Abraham informed officers he did not stop hitting (the victim) until (the victim) stopped moving.”
Sanchez-Galicia initially claimed he immediately went to the police department for help, but when officers confronted him that the blood on his body had already dried, he admitted he first called a family member. He added that he had consumed 12 bottles of beer before the incident.
The victim needed a blood transfusion at the hospital because of significant blood loss. He had emergency surgery due to injuries to his neck and a second surgery the following day. The victim told officers he was fearful for his life during the incident and believed Sanchez-Galicia was going to kill him.
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