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 Police Had Insufficient Evidence Says Superior Court Entrapment Involving a Non-Existent Teen 'Fraudulent' |
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By Jack Nichols
Mirken, who was doing research for the gay press on the plight of distraught teens, had gone to meet "Anthony" in a Sacramento park where, without further ado, he was arrested and wrongly charged with using the Internet to solicit sex and with attempting to perform a lewd and lascivious act on a child. If convicted, Mirken would have faced up to 4 years in prison. Judge Loncke agreed with Mirken's attorney that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the trial. The journalist had contended from the start that the prosecutor's case had been a fraud. On July 1, just as Mirken's trial was getting underway in Sacramento, his lawyer's offices in San Carlos were violated by city police on the pretext of conducting a "probation search" of one of his employees. The search breached the confidentiality of the attorney's many clients, including Mirken. Nothing, apparently, was found that might have incriminated the beleaguered journalist, however.
Miriken plans on writing a first-person article about the legal nightmare he's endured. "Endless thanks," he offered, "and love to all the hundreds of people (way, way too many to list) whose support has helped me endure the last year. Words will never be adequate to express how grateful I am." |
