TRAVERSE CITY — Authorities plan to sift through court transcripts before they decide whether to appeal a judge's decision to dismiss criminal charges against Dennis Mikko.
Charlevoix Circuit Judge Richard M. Pajtas on Wednesday threw out several felony charges that accused Mikko, 53, of possessing child sexually abusive material. Prosecutors have less than three weeks to appeal if they hope to continue a case against Mikko, a former 13th Circuit Court referee.
"My next step is to get a transcript of the judge's decision, read it over and determine whether we want to appeal," Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider said Thursday. "There were a number of legal issues in this case, but until I see (Pajtas') reaction ... I'm not certain where we're going at this point."
Mikko's attorney contends the ages of people featured in nude images from a magazine and Internet files found in Mikko's briefcase and county-issued computer did not play a role in Pajtas' decision. Pajtas determined those images did not qualify as child sexually abusive material.
"Age was never a factor," said Craig Elhart, Mikko's attorney. "None of them were defined as child sexually abusive material. Not all nudity, including child nudity, is child sexually abusive material."
Child sexually abusive material is described as "any depiction, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means ... which is of a child, or appears to include a child engaging in a listed sexual act," court records show.
None of the images found in Mikko's possession portrayed a listed sexual act, Elhart said.
"In each of these pictures, there is only one person involved," Elhart said in a motion. "Viewing the pictures in question, in a light most favorable to the prosecution ... the pictures do not depict sexual intercourse, erotic fondling or sadomasochistic abuse."
Mikko was expected to stand trial next month on 10 counts of possessing child sexually abusive material and a count of using a computer to commit a crime.
He was arrested in September and charged with five counts of possessing child sexually abusive material after deputies found explicit photos in a briefcase underneath his desk at the Robert P. Griffin Hall of Justice.
The photos were cut from various adult magazines, then stashed in a paper bag. Mikko also had pornography and a photo collage containing clothed pictures of 10 girls who once were on probation in Grand Traverse County.
Authorities added another five counts of possessing child sexually abusive material and a count of using a computer to commit a crime after Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies performed a forensic investigation on Mikko's computer.
The investigation revealed Mikko's Yahoo e-mail account and a separate folder on his county-issued laptop computer contained images of young, nude females.
Yahoo users either can program their e-mail account to display an image once the message is opened, or to display images through an attached file. Mikko allegedly responded to the e-mails, but authorities could not confirm whether he opened any attached files that included the explicit images.
Mikko, from 1997 until his August resignation, handled child custody matters in Grand Traverse, Antrim and Leelanau counties, along with child abuse and juvenile offender cases in Grand Traverse County.
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