Posted on 09/14/2007 6:25:19 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
(He will seek appeal of judge's ruling on child enticement charge)
A stunned Sheboygan County district attorney said Thursday he will seek to appeal Circuit Judge Timothy Van Akkeren's decision overturning a man's conviction for trying to entice a 9-year-old girl into a park shelter to have sex.
Van Akkeren made his ruling just minutes after the jury handed down its guilty verdict Wednesday, saying that the shelter the man tried to lure the girl into wasn't secluded enough to satisfy the requirements of the charge.
According to a criminal complaint, Mitchell D. Pask, 44, of Sheboygan was charged in June with approaching the girl at a playground at Workers' Water Street Park in Sheboygan, offering her candy and asking her to follow him to a nearby shelter.
Pask is a convicted sex offender. The girl testified at Wednesday's trial that Pask asked her three or four times to accompany him, offered her candy and made hand gestures signaling her to follow him to the shelter.
A witness overheard Pask, who was drinking beer at the time, tell three other men standing nearby, "Look at those sexy little salty girls."
A 13-year-old friend of the girl witnessed the exchange and took her home, where the girl's mother called police. Pask was arrested a short time later, according to the complaint.
The jury visited the site on Wednesday as part of the one-day trial and found Pask guilty of felony child enticement after deliberating for about 30 minutes. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Van Akkeren immediately overturned the verdict, however, determining that the park shelter was not a "secluded area" as required for the charge.
In his instructions to the jury, Van Akkeren defined "secluded area" as "a place screened or hidden from view or remote from others."
That was the definition considered by the jury during its deliberations, Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco said.DeCecco said he was "stunned" by Van Akkeren's ruling.
"In our opinion, any area can be 'secluded,' including a park shelter, trees and large bushes. The jury, having visited the site of the incident, obviously concluded we had met that burden beyond a reasonable doubt," DeCecco said in a statement.
"In my 18 years as a prosecutor, I've never had a judge do something like this," DeCecco said in a telephone interview Thursday.
Van Akkeren could not be reached. A judicial assistant said that Van Akkeren had instructed her to tell reporters he would not comment on the case.
Sheboygan police Lt. Jeff Johnston said he was "disappointed" in Van Akkeren's ruling.
"The officers who investigated the case clearly felt it met the legal criteria and feel they did a thorough and accurate job," Johnston said. "The jury was taken to the site and felt that burden of proof was met."
George Limbeck, Pask's attorney, said the only shocking thing that happened in court was that the jury found his client guilty, noting that the shelter "is four poles that hold up a roof" that is clearly visible from the surrounding area and is just yards from a street.
"I think they (the jury) were angry and upset with what he said to this girl. That's an issue of morality. But this is not about what's moral, or what's ethical, but whether there were sufficient facts as defined by law to convict him of the charge," Limbeck said.
Van Akkeren said in court that DeCecco overcharged Pask and that a disorderly conduct charge would have been more appropriate.
"The only people who are shocked by the dismissal are those who did not hear all the evidence," Limbeck said.
But that opinion isn't shared by at least one of the jurors.
Juror Gerald Dempski, 64, said he was stunned when he heard of Van Akkeren's decision.
He said jurors felt there were several places in the immediate vicinity of the shelter that would have provided enough seclusion for Pask to harm the girl without anyone seeing him.
He was also upset that the verdict was overturned despite the ordeal the two girls had to go through by testifying.
DeCecco said he will file a motion with Van Akkeren to reconsider his decision. If Van Akkeren denies that motion, DeCecco said he will ask the Wisconsin Department of Justice to appeal. By law, the department must handle such appeals.
"Our aim is to keep him where he is. We don't want him back on the street," DeCecco said, referring to Pask.
Pask is in custody in the Sheboygan County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail on a disorderly conduct charge.
In that case, Pask is accused of grabbing a woman indecently and telling her "you are my sweetie" while shopping at a downtown Sheboygan thrift store, according to a criminal complaint.
Pask was convicted in 1992 of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy. In February 2004, he was convicted of misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault; and in October 2005, he was convicted of a felony sex offender registry violation.
He also has numerous convictions for disorderly conduct and other misdemeanors and municipal citations going back to 1991, according to online court records.
In one of those cases, in July 2005, Pask was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after he grabbed a 14-year-old girl by the arm at King Park in Sheboygan and refused to let go, telling her, "I love you, I won't ever forget you."
Pask has appeared before Van Akkeren in six other cases, online court records show. Those include the current misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge and others for disorderly conduct, resisting an officer and bail jumping.
I couldn’t agree with you more.
I am beginning to wonder what type of person becomes a judge. Most are former lawyers, so if money is the motivation, then they must have been lousy lawyers because successful lawyers make much more than judges. Maybe it’s laziness. In general, judges have better hours and easier jobs than lawyers.
I am beginning to think a main reason someone becomes a judge is because he/she is the type of person who thinks he is above the law and who thinks he knows better than the rest of us how to run things. Or someone who has an agenda. Or someone who has no discernable skills that would otherwise benefit society. I think these people get their kicks from messing with other people’s lives. (Similar to politicians.)
“Van Akkeren made his ruling just minutes after the jury handed down its guilty verdict Wednesday, saying that the shelter the man tried to lure the girl into wasn’t secluded enough to satisfy the requirements of the charge.”
I am stunned. What possesses a person to rule this way? I really feel that a judge that could do this should be imprisoned right along with the convicted as he is contributing to this travesty.
Who, the perps, or the judges? Or both?
I’ve been thinking about this since the ‘80’s when I learned there is a college major called Criminal Justice and that’s where those interested in a Law Enforcement career are to study.
Criminal Justice? Criminals are getting all the justice, IMO. How about VICTIM Justice, huh?
I’ve got a quarter that says Bill O’Reilly adds this one to his show.
The judge should be reversed. The judge interprets the law, the jury has final say on the facts. If the jury, hearing the legal definition, found that the place met the definition, then the judge may not overrule that finding of fact
My one journey into the dark world of conspiracy is the belief that there is a very powerful cabal of pedophiles that operate as untouchables in our country: judges, politicians, clergy, teachers, etc. they are positioned for access and cover.
Both!!
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