AUGUSTA, Maine — During oral arguments Wednesday, justices on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court voiced support for the findings of a Superior Court judge who last year found a former disc jockey guilty of possessing child pornography.
Dana Wilson, 65, was sentenced in August 2014 at the Penobscot Judicial Center to 2½ years in prison with all but nine months suspended for possession of sexually explicit material. He also was sentenced to four years of probation.
Wilson is free on bail and living in Florida with his aging parents while the appeal is pending, according to a previously published report.
Justices of the state’s high court considered his appeal when they convened at the Capital Judicial Center for the first time since 1987.
The case that led to the charges against Wilson began when Brewer police Sgt. Jay Munson went to Wilson’s home on Feb. 14, 2011, after learning from the group Internet Crimes Against Children that someone with an IP address at the home where Wilson lived had received a video known to portray child pornography, according to testimony at his jury-waived trial in June 2014.
Attorney Jamesa Drake of Auburn, who handled Wilson’s appeal, argued Wednesday that Superior Court Justice Ann Murray’s verdict was flawed because she “made assumptions and findings that are not on the record.”
Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley disagreed.
“The trial judge had a lot of circumstantial evidence in this case, and she laid that all out in her decision,” she told Drake. “That’s different than a judge pulling facts out of thin air.”
Drake argued, as did trial attorney Hunter Tzovarras, that Wilson’s son could have downloaded child pornography on his father’s computer.
Justice Jeffrey Hjelm pointed out that Murray heard the son testify and found him to be a credible witness.
“Your whole argument is based on a credibility assessment, and that is not something we review on appeal,” Justice Donald Alexander told Drake.
In questioning Tracy Collins, the assistant district attorney for Penobscot County who handled the appeal, Saufley expressed concern that people might get child pornography on their computers without searching for it.
“Shouldn’t we be concerned that an ordinary user of ordinary laptops might not know that these kinds of virulent materials can come in?” she asked. “Shouldn’t we be concerned the people can get it without wanting to?”
Collins said that forensic examiners testified at Wilson’s trial that individuals must “reach out for this kind of material.” The judge concluded that Wilson had repeatedly downloaded, then, deleted child pornography on his hard drives based on the expert’s testimony, the prosecutor said Wednesday.
“There also were two videos in the recycle bin that could have been taken out and watched at any time,” Collins said.
There is no timetable under which the justices must issue an opinion after hearing oral arguments. If Wilson were to lose the appeal, he would have to report to the Penobscot County Jail to begin serving his sentence three days after his lawyer was informed of the court’s decision.