MADISON: News that Stephen Fitzgerald, a former Dodge County sheriff, is seeking to serve as the head of the State Patrol under Gov. Scott Walker, is bringing back painful memories for those who remember a fatal shooting by his deputies during a botched drug raid in April 1995.

The Associated Press, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and other media are reporting that Fitzgerald, 68, who is the father of the state’s two most powerful lawmakers, has applied to Gov. Scott Walker in hopes of snaring the position. Fitzgerald served most recently as U.S. marshal in the Western District of Wisconsin up until May 2010. He was soundly defeated in last September’s Republican primary against incumbent Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls, who won 68% of the vote to Fitzgerald’s 32%.

At issue is the death of Scott Bryant. Blogger Franke Schein described it like this:

On April 17, 1995, police in Dodge County, Wisconsin, forcefully entered the mobile home of Scott Bryant after finding traces of marijuana in his garbage. The officers would later say they knocked and announced before entering, but neighbors who witnessed the raid say police entered without doing either. Moments later, Detective Robert Neuman shot an unarmed Bryant in the chest, killing him. Bryant’s eight-year old son was asleep in the next room. Neuman told investigators he “can’t remember pulling the trigger. Dodge County sheriff Stephen Fitzgerald compared the shooting to a hunting accident. –  Franke Schei “SWAT Raids Out Of Control”