RACINE, Wis. — The Racine County District Attorney is considering throwing out 65 court cases. They are all linked to a deputy who was recently charged with possession of child pornography.
Those cases, concerning Deputy Preston Kite, include one misdemeanor, four felonies, two ordinance violations, and 58 traffic tickets.
Defense attorney Jonathan LaVoy, who is not connected to the case, says the DA may have to throw those cases out because the credibility of the officer is always at issue in an investigation, and believes Kite will no longer be a willing witness, if he's under prosecution by the same office.
"If he were called to testify, he would have to answer likely severe questions about his past and his actions, and that's going to create a big mess in court for sure," LaVoy said.
He believes an investigator facing half a dozen counts related to child pornography is equivalent to a poison pill for prosecutors.
"Once the questions come in about him and his behavior, that's when he might have to start pleading the Fifth, and that becomes really messy," LaVoy added.
Questions may include how those charges came about in the first place.
Court records allege the deputy was masturbating inside a gas station bathroom while on duty and six other counts of child pornography.
The victim told investigators he saw Kite in his uniform, ran away, and took a photo of his parked squad vehicle in the parking lot.
"His credibility is going to be absolutely attacked by the defense of that case," LaVoy said.
The Racine County District Attorney has dismissed one of the four felony cases Kite is involved in. TMJ4 was told the case had to do with a traffic stop which Kite performed, where drugs were found on the driver. And the 58 traffic tickets he wrote up "will be reviewed as the court dates come up."
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