At 3:29 AM 8/19/96, Alan Horowitz wrote:
I suspect they are trying to get a judgement against "John Doe", in the hopes of tracking him down later.
Actually, if I had a sizeable judgement against such a John Doe, I could probably find a private detective who would find the dude for a contingent fee. Wow, a whole new class of factoring (commerce definition) opens up. Get me a lawyer....
Lawyers out there can and should correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe either the criminal or civil justice system has the concept of a "John Doe" trial! The ability to have the advice of an attorney, to confront one's accusers, cross-examine witnesses, and mount a defense, and all that constitutional stuff. Rather hard to do if the trial is in the past tense. Can you cite an example of such a "John Doe" trial in the U.S.? (There may be trials "in absentia," more so in other countries than in the U.S., but not when no persons have been identified at all!) --Tim May, who hopes he is never identified as the "John Doe" indicted, tried, convicted, and sentenced in 1979 in Washington County, Oregon, for the crime of unlawful foddering in a public place. Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."