Detroit ? Three former workers at a Sterling Heights, Mich., nursing home accused of taking photos of themselves with a woman after she died at the home insist they did nothing wrong because state law does not ban mistreatment of a corpse.

Last week, defense attorneys filed a motion to appeal a Macomb County District Court decision upholding charges of patient abuse, claiming no crime was committed in the October 2004 incident that has been winding its way through the courts for years.

Prosecutors say nurse’s aides Keisa Cooper and Ericka Jackson, both of Detroit, were fired from Cherrywood Nursing and Living Center after climbing into bed with the deceased 88-year-old woman, who was dressed in a nightgown, and pretended to embrace her as another aide, Tahirah Shakur, took photos with her cell phone.

Prosecutors also say they put the corpse in various positions for photos.