CA- Failed hard drive becomes issue in predator sting case

When you need a comvenience store you can never find one, but you can always create one. We will be following this very interesting case.

5-21-2009 California

A Sonoma County judge wants additional testimony from a prosecution witness in the case against an East Bay oncologist arrested in a televised “online sex-predator” sting three years ago in Petaluma.

At issue is the potential admissibility of key evidence against Dr. Maurice Wolin, 51.

Judge Arthur Andy Wick tentatively ruled Thursday in favor of defense attorneys who were seeking an explanation from prosecutors about why they haven’t turned over a computer hard drive a decoy allegedly used during electronic chats with Wolin.

Wolin was among 29 men arrested in August 2006 during a three-day sting police conducted in partnership with the advocacy group Perverted Justice and producers of Dateline NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” TV series. The sting resulted in two hours of programming showing men arriving at an East Petaluma home, ostensibly to meet with an underage boy or girl with whom they’d arranged a rendezvous online.

Prosecutors said the decoy — the founder of Perverted Justice, Xavier Von Erck, who calls his members vigilantes — told them the hard drive on which he recorded the Wolin chats on crashed two years ago and that its data is irretrievable.

Wolin’s attorneys questioned the timing of the alleged computer crash and Von Erck’s motives and truthfulness. Von Erck’s organization was paid $140,000 for the Petaluma sting and Von Erck himself takes a $125,000 salary from Perverted Justice.

Wolin is charged with attempted lewd conduct with a child, a felony that could mean a maximum of four years in prison if he is convicted. He also would have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. His medical license has been suspended pending the outcome of the case.

On Thursday, Wick indicated he would issue a written ruling that would order an evidentiary hearing to pin Von Erck down on when the hard drive crashed, exactly what that means and how he says he copied the contents of the hard drive onto a portable thumb drive.

The data from the thumb drive — chat logs that show four days of sexually tinged conversations, allegedly between Wolin and a 13-year-old girl — was entered into evidence at Wolin’s preliminary hearing in 2007 after Von Erck testified that the information was a true representation of the conversations.

One of Wolin’s attorneys, Blair Berk of Los Angeles, said the revelation of the hard drive failure raises doubts about the reliability of the chats and calls into question the chain of custody for evidence prosecutors want to use against Wolin.

“The defense believes they are a false, inaccurate and incomplete reflection of the actual chat,” she told Wick.

Prosecutor Brian Staebell said the defense greatly overstates the importance of the chats and the damaged hard drive. He said Von Erck already had copied the relevant files and “there is no more information on it.”

Wick said he remains concerned about the reliability of the logs and their chain of custody. He tentatively set a June 15 hearing date to have Von Erck explain under oath what happened, and when, with his computer equipment, and where it is now. Computer experts also may testify.

Wick previously dealt the prosecution a blow by ruling that Petaluma Police twice violated Wolin’s Miranda rights by continuing to interrogate him after he’d asked for a lawyer. Wolin’s statements to police were tossed out.

The ruling didn’t exclude other prosecution evidence against Wolin, including the chats and video recordings showing Wolin arriving at the house, talking with a female decoy and being arrested after he apparently saw TV monitors and began to leave.

Several times during the chats, Wolin declined or expressed discomfort with idea of a meeting, saying that they “can’t do anything” if they did meet. Wolin acknowledges driving from the Bay Area to the Petaluma home police had staked out and rigged with cameras for the sting. But he contends he wasn’t intending to engage in sex acts.

Wolin has been free on bail since shortly after his arrest. ..News Source.. by LORI A. CARTER, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT




Judge seeks additional testimony in sex sting: Ruling in Petaluma case would review admissibility of evidence against East Bay doctor

5-22-2009 California:

A Sonoma County judge wants additional testimony from a key prosecution witness against an East Bay oncologist arrested in a televised "online sex-predator" sting three years ago in Petaluma.

At issue is the potential admissibility of key evidence against Dr. Maurice Wolin, 51.

Judge Arthur Andy Wick tentatively ruled Thursday in favor of defense attorneys, who were seeking an explanation from prosecutors about why they haven't turned over a computer hard drive a decoy allegedly used during electronic chats with Wolin.

Wolin was among 29 men arrested in August 2006 during a three-day sting police conducted in partnership with the advocacy group Perverted Justice and producers of Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator" TV series. The sting resulted in two hours of programming showing men arriving at an East Petaluma home, ostensibly to meet with an underage boy or girl with whom they'd arranged a rendezvous online.

Prosecutors said the decoy -- the founder of Perverted Justice, Xavier Von Erck, who calls his members vigilantes -- told them the hard drive on which he recorded the Wolin chats crashed two years ago and that its data is irretrievable.

Wolin's attorneys questioned the timing of the alleged computer crash and Von Erck's motives and truthfulness. Von Erck's organization was paid $140,000 for the Petaluma sting and Von Erck himself takes a $125,000 salary from Perverted Justice.

Wolin is charged with attempted lewd conduct with a child, a felony that could mean a maximum of four years in prison if he is convicted. He also would have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. His medical license has been suspended pending the outcome of the case.

On Thursday, Wick indicated he would issue a written ruling that would order an evidentiary hearing to pin Von Erck down on when the hard drive crashed, exactly what that means and how he says he copied the contents of the hard drive onto a portable thumb drive.

The data from the thumb drive -- chat logs that show four days of sexually tinged conversations, allegedly between Wolin and a 13-year-old girl -- was entered into evidence at Wolin's preliminary hearing in 2007 after Von Erck testified that the information was a true representation of the conversations.

One of Wolin's attorneys, Blair Berk of Los Angeles, said the revelation of the hard drive failure raises doubts about the reliability of the chats and calls into question the chain of custody for evidence prosecutors want to use against Wolin.

"The defense believes they are a false, inaccurate and incomplete reflection of the actual chat," she told Wick.

Prosecutor Brian Staebell said the defense greatly overstates the importance of the chats and the damaged hard drive. He said Von Erck already had copied the relevant files and "there is no more information on it."

Wick said he remains concerned about the reliability of the logs and their chain of custody. He tentatively set a June 15 hearing date to have Von Erck explain under oath what happened, and when, with his computer equipment, and where it is now. Computer experts also may testify.

Wick previously dealt the prosecution a blow by ruling that Petaluma police twice violated Wolin's Miranda rights by continuing to interrogate him after he'd asked for a lawyer. Wolin's statements to police were tossed out.

The ruling didn't exclude other prosecution evidence against Wolin, including the chats and video recordings showing Wolin arriving at the house, talking with a female decoy and being arrested after he apparently saw TV monitors and began to leave.

Several times during the chats, Wolin declined or expressed discomfort with idea of a meeting, saying that they "can't do anything" if they did meet. Wolin acknowledges driving from the Bay Area to the Petaluma home police had staked out and rigged with cameras for the sting. But he contends he wasn't intending to engage in sex acts.

Wolin has been free on bail since shortly after his arrest. ..Source.. by Lori A. Carter