Dykema Secures Dismissal of Felony Computer Intrusion Charges Against Michigan Township Supervisor Shortly Before Trial

Dykema, a leading national law firm, secured dismissal of all felony charges against Scio Township, Michigan, Supervisor Jillian Kerry before trial was scheduled to begin later this month in Washtenaw County Circuit Court.

The dismissal came in State of Michigan v. Jillian Kerry, No. 25-000517-FH, pending before the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court for Washtenaw County. Kerry faced two felony counts—interfering with electronic communications and using a computer to commit a crime—charges that carried potential penalties of up to four years in prison and would have jeopardized her ability to continue serving in elected office.

The Dykema defense team was led by Mark D. Chutkow, Co-Leader of the firm’s White Collar and Government Investigations Practice Group, and included Michael Bullotta, Emma K.F. Blackwood, and Carrie Hazel.

The charges stemmed from Kerry’s use of a communal township laptop while preparing to host a public Zoom meeting. The prosecution claimed that Kerry improperly accessed the email account of then-Scio Township Supervisor Will Hathaway after his Microsoft Outlook account automatically opened when Kerry clicked on the laptop’s Outlook application to retrieve a Zoom verification email. Within approximately one minute, a cached and unsent email and meeting invitation were transmitted from Hathaway’s account, leading prosecutors to accuse Kerry of intentionally accessing the account and committing felony computer crimes.

The Dykema defense team challenged the prosecution’s theory through pretrial motion practice and forensic analysis. Working with a computer forensics expert, Dykema established that it was impossible within the one-minute timeframe alleged by prosecutors for Kerry to navigate through thousands of emails, locate a message that was more than 15 months old, read it, and forward it—all while preparing to host a public meeting scheduled to begin moments later.

The Dykema defense team also uncovered evidence demonstrating that the alleged victim had created and cached the email at issue himself and had experienced other inadvertent email transmission incidents. These findings, combined with Dykema’s pretrial challenges to the prosecution’s case, undermined the state’s theory, contributing to the dismissal.

“This dismissal reflects the importance of carefully testing criminal allegations through rigorous investigation, forensic analysis, and motion practice,” Chutkow said. “When the facts and circumstances were fully examined, the prosecution case became unviable.”

The charges were originally filed in June 2024, shortly before the Scio Township primary election. Despite the pending felony charges and significant public scrutiny surrounding the case, Kerry prevailed in the primary election and was subsequently elected Township Supervisor in November 2024. She has served in that role since January 2025 while defending against the criminal allegations.

The victory marks the third time in the past eight months that Dykema’s White Collar and Government Investigations team has secured a complete dismissal of high-profile felony charges against a client shortly before or during trial.

Dykema’s nationally recognized White Collar and Government Investigations Practice Group represents corporations, executives, public officials, healthcare providers, and individuals in government investigations, public corruption matters, internal investigations, criminal prosecutions, regulatory enforcement actions, and related litigation throughout the United States.