The Sconi

A Green Bay Correctional Institution officer is set to face trial in a hate crime case after a Brown County Judge refused to accept the terms of a plea agreement.

WBAY.com reports Shane Nolan recently appeared before the court for a hearing on charges of substantial battery - intend bodily harm (hate crime) and disorderly conduct (hate crime), where his plea deal could have lessened the severity of the charges he faces along with reducing his potential prison sentence.

In rejecting the arrangement, the judge set a jury trial for Feb. 15, where Nolan will stand trial on the original charges.

Nolan faces charges of throwing Dessiray Koss into a fire pit in early July of 2021 during a bonfire party at her home. As the incident unfolded, Koss said Nolan, “unprompted,” called her a homophobic slur, then grabbed her by the ribs and picked her up before throwing her into the fire, adding when she crawled out of the pit the two engaged in a physical confrontation that ended with Nolan allegedly choking Koss.

Nolan was later taken into custody on felony and misdemeanor charges with hate crime modifiers. He was facing up to 10 years being bars at the hearing, where some assumed that the judge would accept his plea deal based on the lack on concrete motivation behind the act and if it was a hate crime or just drunken actions.

During an interview, Nolan said he was drunk during the alleged incident and that he had been blacking out, only to remember being hit by several people. He added he could not recall anyone being thrown into the fire and denied attacking Koss or using a homophobic slur.

Despite Nolan’s attorney insisting upon his client’s guilt and asking the jury to allow him to move on with his life, other groups aligned with the victim argued the court should not allow him to fall through the cracks.

As part of the proceedings, LGBTQ+ advocacy group Diverse and Resilient spokesperson Nick Ross implored the court not to honor the plea deal and for the case to go to trial. Group officials added Koss is still recovering from 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns and will undoubtedly be left to deal with the mental trauma stemming from the incident for the rest of her life.

Holly Koss, the victim’s sister, released a statement stating, “A person who commits a crime so terrible in which they hold a person in a fire because of their sexual orientation has some serious issues that will now cost his victim trauma for the rest of her life. This is a hate crime, and sixty days in jail is not enough justice for the victim when originally the charges included a felony and hate crime modifiers. Accepting this plea will be a horrific choice and sends a terrible message to victims everywhere."