IL- Court overturns STC man's conviction

4-25-2009 Illinois:

ELGIN – A St. Charles man’s child pornography conviction was overturned by the 2nd District Appellate Court on the grounds the police search in the case wasn’t just.

Robert Prinzing, now 48, was arrested in December 2004, and convicted in April 2007 on possession of child pornography charges by Circuit Judge Timothy Sheldon. Prinzing was later sentenced to 21⁄2 years probation and ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Prosecutors said Prinzing had multiple pornographic images depicting children on his computer, along with memberships to pornographic Web sites. Prinzing denied the images were pornographic.

This week the Appellate Court handed down a ruling, sending the case back to Kane County.

The court said the search warrant allowing police to search and seize Prinzing’s computer was obtained illegally.

Prinzing’s attorney, while he fought the charges, had maintained Sheriff’s police used “trickery and deceit” to obtain the search because investigators told Prinzing they were conducting a credit card fraud investigation.

Sheldon didn’t find the search to be illegal, but the high court disagreed. The case now could be re-tried in Kane County. ..News Source.. by KATE THAYER