10-6-2009 California:
A Sonoma County judge has denied a defense motion to dismiss the case of an East bay doctor caught in a televised sex-predator sting in Petaluma three years ago.
Judge Arthur Wick found that the failure of a computer hard-drive containing online chats between Dr. Maurice Wolin and a decoy posing as a 13-year-old girl did not harm the defense case because the material was recorded on a proxy server.
Further, Wick said in the four-page ruling the prosecution’s failure to disclose at a preliminary hearing that the computer did not violate Wolin’s rights.” At most, such information would have been only “potentially” exculpatory, Wick said.
Wolin was one of 28 men arrested in August 2006 during a three-day sting law enforcement conducted in partnership with a group called Perverted Justice and the NBC-TV show "To Catch a Predator.” Prosecutors contend the Piedmont doctor drove to Petaluma to have sex with the girl.
Wolin has challenged the authenticity of the online chats police say he engaged in with the decoy, Xavier Von Erck, a founder of the online group.
Wolin’s trial is expected to begin in January. ..Source.. by PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
October 6, 2009
CA- Judge upholds charges in 'Dateline Doc' case
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Anybody who still thinks this is "...a government of laws not of men..." is not paying attention. Potentially exculpatory seems to me to be important evidence since the whole arrest is based on the potential that the doctor was going to have sex with an underage person who doesn't even exist.
Post a Comment