The case of a Ross lawyer convicted of peeping has been appealed — but by the prosecution, not the defendant.

Charles Gideon Korrell, 47, was scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 17 after pleading no contest to a charge of privacy invasion with a video camera. He could have faced up to six months in jail.

Instead, the judge dismissed the case. The prosecution filed an appeal, saying the judge “abused her discretion,” did not state the reasons for her order and was not acting “in the interests of justice.”

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Neither Korrell nor his lawyer, Seth Morris, responded to requests for comment.

The judge, Paige Hein of Sonoma County Superior Court, also did not respond to a request for comment. Hein, a former public defender, was appointed to the bench by Gov. Gavin Newsom in May 2023.

Korrell was arrested in 2022 on allegations he planted a camera in a bathroom during a teen graduation party he attended in Petaluma. During the party, someone found a GoPro camera hidden in a cat litter box in the bathroom, police said.

The camera had been recording for approximately 30 minutes before it was discovered, according to the Petaluma Police Department. Police were called to the home, and no one admitted to owning the device.

Police seized it for further investigation and found footage of Korrell placing it in the litter box, the department said. Investigators also executed a search warrant at his home and took more evidence.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office filed two misdemeanor charges. One was the video camera charge, and the other was a charge filed when a suspect allegedly “annoys or molests” a minor.

The case had a series of delays as attorneys worked toward a plea agreement, and the judge vacated several trial dates.

Korrell accepted a deal last June, entering the no-contest plea to the concealed camera charge. The prosecution dismissed the other count.

The prosecution also argued that Korrell should be required to register as a sex offender, according to the district attorney’s office. Hein’s order to dismiss the case last month rendered the issue moot.

No hearing date has been listed for the appeal.

Meanwhile, the State Bar of California, which licenses and regulates attorneys, is investigating whether to take disciplinary action against Korrell. While the conviction is a misdemeanor, the state bar can still suspend or revoke licenses when it determines the conduct involved “moral turpitude.”

The bar does not take action in a case until the appeals process is exhausted, a spokesperson said.

Korrell obtained his law license in 2012. His website indicates that his specialty is business contracts, technology and intellectual property law.