I have just finished a very complicated (on one level) and simple (on another level) case involving kiddie porn that was found on a computer. The complicated part was challenging the fact that digital imaging technology is of such a sophisticated nature that even experts can’t tell the difference between morphed images and real ones. In other words, the images that are discovered on a computer could have been adult females and simply manipulated to make them look like children.

The simple part was that the charged images were all logged in under my client’s girlfriend’s name! The state argued that my client was the one that actually accessed the pictures because there was a search for “preteen” under his login.

To make a long story short – after a series of computer experts testifying that the images were not morphed and that the children were real, the jury acquitted on all 10 counts.

Needless to say, a very relieved client! What really bothers me, however, is that district attorneys around the state continue to charge these patently weak case. Is it a reaction to public hysteria over sex crimes in general (witness the “rape” cases of 18 year old boys having sex with their 15 year old girlfriends)? Political expediency? Both? Who knows….what is clear is that hundreds, maybe thousands, of people (mainly men) are being charged with very serious felonies when they should not be.

In this case it was a bitter ex-girlfriend who made it very clear that she would do and say most anything to put my client in prison. I was able to prove that she had lied in court on numerous occasions, and actually hatched a plan to get rid of my client months before she turned the computer over to the police.

If anyone doubts the importance of an experienced defense attorney in our system of justice – go ask my client!

John A. Birdsall, Birdsall Law Offices, S.C.
135 W. Wells St., Ste 214, Milwaukee, WI 53203
414.831.5465 –
www.birdsall-law.com