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Steven Powell’s lawyers want charges tossed, reduced sentence

Posted at 3:37 PM, Jun 09, 2012
and last updated 2012-06-09 17:37:52-04

TACOMA — Steven Powell’s defense team is asking a judge to dismiss most of the voyeurism charges a jury convicted him of.

In court documents obtained Saturday by FOX 13, Powell’s attorneys argue that it would be double jeopardy to sentence him on the 14 counts of voyeurism. They ask the judge to dismiss all but two counts — one for each victim.

“There is no evidence to prove that all of these acts took place at different times. The testimony was that they could have all taken place on the same day. The State presented evidence that the individual photos themselves were drawn from a series of images saved from a digital video recording, but no definitive evidence to support the conclusion that they were taken at different times,” defense attorneys Mark Quigley and Travis Currie wrote in a motion to dismiss.

Steven Powell was convicted of voyeurism for taking illicit images of two neighbor girls as they used the bathroom, bathed and changed clothes. He faces up to 70 years when he is sentenced on Friday. Pierce County prosecutors have asked that he serve 10 years in prison with no credit for time served.

In another filing obtained by FOX 13, the defense team asks for up to a year in prison, arguing that the prosecution’s request is too harsh.

“Notwithstanding the rather routine nature of the charges… this case generated extreme national media attention,” they wrote. “The Defendant’s connection to Susan Powell and
Josh Powell, although not a significant part of the trial, is without doubt the cause of such public interest. These collateral connections have no bearing on the Defendant’s culpability and should not be considered by this Court at sentencing.”