The effort of a Door County woman to have her conviction on multiple charges for theft from a business setting and identity theft overturned was thwarted by a state appeals court Tuesday. The court upheld the December 2016 sentence handed down by Door County Judge David Weber in the case of 42-year old Carrie Counihan. Counihan had been accused of taking in excess of $22,000 from the then Door County Humane Society during her time as the organization’s Executive Director. Judge Weber sentenced her to nine months in jail, fined her $2,500, and ordered restitution of nearly $23,000. In appealing the sentence, Counihan indicated that she was not provided due process because the judge considered other cases to come up with a sentence of his own. She also contended that her defense counsel provided poor representation by not pointing out the theory. In light of the appeals court decision, Counihan’s attorney, Ana Babcock, has pointed out that the decision does not take effect until early December and that Counihan is considering appealing to the state supreme court.
