PERSONAL OPINION:Track Coach Under Fire
By BUD SARGENT
Senior Staff Writer
Marquette Mining Journal
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
MARQUETTE — Marquette Area Public Schools administration is investigating allegations its girls high school track coach used his position to question high school students in connection to a criminal case he was working on as a private investigator.
Private investigator James Cihak of Marquette,
who has served as Marquette Senior High School girls track coach since March 2003, is accused of obtaining the class schedules of two sophomore girls through his familiarity as track coach with office staff.
The accusation was made by one of the girls’ mother and supported by a preliminary investigation conducted by MSHS Principal Robert Anthony.
Cihak is accused of using the class schedules to locate the girls at the high school on Jan. 29, then ask their teachers to send them out in the hallway where he questioned them individually. He was working as a private investigator under court appointment on behalf of the defense in the recent Wesley W. Feltner rape case.
The girls were friends of the alleged victim in the case. Both were called as defense witnesses at the trial, which ended in a hung jury Feb. 12.
Feltner, 38, of 129 Dobson Place, Marquette, was tried on six counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct. Currently free on bond, Feltner will be retried on the same charges June 15. CSC first degree is a felony carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.
In a Feb. 27 letter obtained by The Mining Journal, Marquette schools Superintendent Patrick Smith advised Cihak that the school district was investigating the incident.
"The allegations are serious and if they are true, there will be serious consequences," Smith wrote.
Cihak is a retired probation and parole officer who is a member of the Marquette County Board. He is paid $2,475 a year as MSHS girls track coach. When contacted by The Mining Journal, Cihak declined to comment about the accusation.
In a Feb. 12 letter from Anthony to Karen Antilla, mother of one of the girls involved, Anthony stated, "Mr. Cihak’s behavior in his role as a private investigator is unacceptable."
Anthony wrote that on Jan. 29 that Cihak "gained information from our staff that has provided him with similar information in the past but in his role as a coach.
"Although he was a stranger to (your daughter) he was not a stranger to our staff," Anthony wrote.
Anthony also noted that "staff members typically are provided information assuming a need to know. We have since re-evaluated that assumption."
School Board President Kellie Holmstrom said, "We don’t condone what he (Cihak) did."
Cihak was appointed to serve as investigator by Marquette County Circuit Judge John Weber to assist attorney Karen Alholm in Feltner’s defense. Alholm did not return telephone calls from The Mining Journal.
Weber declined to discuss the Feltner case, citing its pending nature. He did, however, describe how investigators are assigned to cases at public expense. He explained that typically the defense attorney asks the court to appoint an investigator in cases where the defendant has been declared indigent and faces significant prison time if convicted.
"It’s the unusual case where the investigator is authorized," Weber said.
Marquette County Assistant Prosecutor Matt Wiese said state law allows the defense to call witnesses that can possibly bring the credibility of the accuser into question. Michigan Rules of Evidence Rule 608, entitled “Evidence of Character and Conduct of Witness,” states “the credibility of a witness may be attacked or supported by evidence in the form of opinion or reputation.”
Wiese said Cihak’s actions were inappropriate.
"I think it could have been done in a better fashion," he said, noting that he didn’t believe the girls’ testimony impacted the case.
Antilla has publicly addressed the Marquette school board, the district’s K-12 Extracurricular Committee and the Marquette County Board on the Cihak issue. She said that after the encounter with Cihak, her daughter was upset and was subsequently taken to a high school guidance counselor.
"This never should have happened," Antilla told the The Mining Journal. "Students at school should be protected from that type of thing. The school needs to know what happened and make sure nothing like this ever happens again."
Carol Lamirand, grandmother of the alleged victim in the Feltner case, told the school board at its Feb. 23 meeting that she wants Cihak removed as coach.
"We strongly suggest that the board of education demand his immediate resignation or fire him," Lamirand said.
Smith said he plans to complete his investigation this week.
Other news links for updates:
MSHS Coach Fired
This happened in my hometown up here in the UP of Michigan. The "investigator" is not affiliated with my agency in any way and his behavior crossed about a dozen lines, although it's hard to say that we wouldn't all want this kind of access during an investigation.
This is a small town, though, and the fact that he was fired has a lot to do with the personalities involved. It should be noted that Michael Angeli, one of the board members quoted in the second story, is also the lieutenant detective with the Marquette City Police Department, which was one of the departments involved in the prosecution.
The morals of the story: Don't interview kids without parent's permission, don't abuse the methods of another institution (the school) unless you can get away with it, and don't expect the world to be nice to you if you work for accused sex offenders.
My question is, should he lose his PI license for what he did?