Trial

A trial date was set for July 31st but it has now been postponed to September 8th at the Philadelphia Federal Courthouse at 6th and Arch St. starting at 10 am in Courtroom 5B on the fifth floor. Also, some good news is the fact that a bail hearing has finally been agreed to by the judge. The bad news is that it's not until September 7th, the day before the trial.

A suppression hearing is now set for WEDNESDAY, September 6th with the trial set to start on the 7th. The issue of bail will also be decided on Wednesday. Times are 11:00 am Wednesday and 10:00 am Thursday, if the trial is still scheduled at that point. The courtroom is now 9B. We expect things to start changing quickly at this point so keep checking this address for new information.

Trial Results

The trial is over. And we wish we could report better news than this. In the words of Bernie S., "I was forced to make a deal with the devil." On Thursday, September 7th, he plead guilty under what is known as a Zoodic Plea. This means that, although pleading guilty, he is challenging the constitutionality of the law he is violating. This came about for a number of reasons. The government had found data on a commercial diskette in Bernie S.'s possession which they say was related to cellular fraud in California. While Bernie says he has no idea what it is they're referring to, the odds of a jury being able to understand how someone could have a diskette and not be held accountable for every bit of data on it seemed uncomfortably slim. Also, by pleading guilty at this point and in this manner, Bernie will be sentenced in 10 days and will most likely be released at that time since he has already served the time he would probably be sentenced to. He would then have the ability to further challenge this law over the next several months. Being free during this process will be an advantage. Of course, the down side to this is the fact that the federal government will interpret this as a green light to lock up anyone in possession of simple electronic and/or computer tools. And, as has been so aptly demonstrated by the Bernie S. case, if they choose to treat the suspect as a terrorist and lock him/her up for six months with no bail, they won't have much of a problem finding a judge willing to do this. But what is really tragic about this case is that so few organizations with the power to speak up and draw attention to this travesty of justice felt compelled to do so. Groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Electronic Privacy Information Center, and the American Civil Liberties Union did little, if anything, to help. Their silence is overwhelming evidence that we need an electronic civil liberties group to tackle cases like this, many of which are likely to come up in the future.

Sentencing

In yet another example of callousness, the sentencing of Bernie S. was postponed for another three weeks. No reason was given for this latest extension of prison time (had he been sentenced on September 21 as scheduled, it's quite likely he would have been released because of the long period already served) but an emergency bail appeal is being filed. For now, sentencing is scheduled for October 10.

Sentencing took place on October 10 and Bernie S. was sentenced to seven months in federal prison. The seven month period ends on Saturday, October 14. At this time, Bernie S. is expected to be placed in the custody of local police where he will face a hearing on October 20 for probation violation. (He had been convicted of "tampering with evidence" when he removed the batteries from a tone dialer after being questioned by police.) There is the possibility of still more prison time after this hearing.

Freedom!

In a surprise move, Bernie S. was released on October 13. He still faces the October 20 hearing. This is the first time Bernie S. has been free since March.