The trial for a 78-year-old Milwaukee attorney charged with sexual assault in Wisconsin has been delayed after he was arrested on an aggravated stalking allegation in Georgia.
Robert Lee Taylor had been scheduled to stand trial Aug. 11. Instead, the trial was moved to Dec. 15, almost exactly three years from the date he was first charged.
“It’s an unfortunate situation," said Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Borowski at a hearing Aug. 6.
Taylor, who did not appear in person or by video for his Milwaukee hearing, has been free on $10,000 bail while the sexual assault case is pending. He has spent much of that time living at a house he owns in Savannah, Ga.
He was arrested July 20 on an allegation of aggravated stalking and is expected in court on Aug. 12, according to public records in Georgia.
Mary Atkins, a neighbor of Taylor’s, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in an interview that Taylor was arrested after he violated a protection order she filed against him earlier this year.
The Journal Sentinel verified through court records that a judge granted the protection order in March. The Chatham County Police Department denied a records request for reports related to Taylor's recent arrest, citing the ongoing investigation.
Atkins said Taylor has repeatedly harassed her, dating back to their first interaction in 2017 when she said he touched her inappropriately as she dropped off a Christmas gift to her then-new neighbor.
"There's no respect for women or boundaries,” Atkins said in an interview.
Atkins said she and her husband had an ongoing series of disputes with Taylor over the years about chemical treatment for trees and feral cats in the neighborhood. She said Taylor has repeatedly trespassed on their property.
In April 2019, Atkins called Chatham County police and described what was happening, according to a report reviewed by the Journal Sentinel.
In addition to the allegations that Taylor had poisoned or cut down trees on her property, she also said Taylor regularly was shining a powerful spotlight at her bedroom windows at night and playing extremely loud music, the report says. The officer advised her to call 911 if she ever felt unsafe around her neighbor.
Attorney awaiting trial on sexual assault charges from 2022
Taylor's case in Milwaukee began when a woman called 911 on Dec. 11, 2022, and asked to be taken to a hospital for a migraine.
During the call, Taylor got on the phone, identified himself as “attorney Robert Taylor” and tried to downplay the woman’s condition, according to a criminal complaint.
Taylor told the 911 operator that the woman had mild stroke symptoms, before adding that “she’s fine” and “she doesn’t want to go to the hospital. … I don’t know why she’s calling you,” the complaint says.
Paramedics arrived and took the woman to a hospital where she disclosed that she had been sexually assaulted.
According to the complaint, she said she and Taylor had gone to his out-of-state property. On the way back to Wisconsin, she said he raped her at a hotel and again once they returned to his apartment in Wisconsin, the complaint says.
Court records show that forensic testing did not find evidence that the woman had been drugged.
Taylor’s defense has sought to admit information on the woman’s prescribed medication and to allow testimony from Taylor's medical providers.
At the hearing on Aug. 6, attorney Andrew Joel Golden, who represents the victim in the Milwaukee case, said the woman objected to the trial postponement.
The judge set a status hearing for Aug. 18 that could serve as an initial appearance if prosecutors file a bail-jumping charge related to Taylor's arrest in Georgia.
“There are a lot of moving parts," Assistant District Attorney Erin Karshen said in court.
In response to questions from the Journal Sentinel, Karshen said she did not take a position on Taylor's residency while he was out on bail.
"Defendants living out of state may give victims more of a sense of security knowing there will not be incidental contact in Milwaukee," she wrote in an email.
One of Taylor’s attorneys, Robert Webb, declined to comment about the case, as did Golden, who represents the victim.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee attorney charged with sexual assault arrested in Georgia
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