On Thu, Apr 05, 2001 at 12:33:54PM -0400, Declan McCullagh wrote:

----- Forwarded message from Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> -----

"It's still on the Internet today," London said during the second day of the trial in federal district court. "He has not retracted it."

Maybe London would prefer China, where thought crime is punished by life in slave labor camps. During your communist "rebirth" process you are made to renounce your opinions on a daily basis.

London said that while Bell may not have directly threatened IRS agent Jeff Gordon, "he has done it indirectly through 'Assassination Politics.'"

Why don't they charge him with conspiracy to murder in the first degree then? Presumably because they don't have a case. Wait, conspiracy needs others involved, right? How about attempted murder?

Bell has pleaded not guilty to five counts of interstate stalking that allegedly took place last year, saying he was legally assembling information about government agents he thought were participating in a conspiracy involving illegal surveillance. He is not accused of making direct threats or seeking physical confrontations.

Now stalking has been expanded to passive activities like finding information about people. Many private detectives would be out of business if that were the case. Maybe Bell was simply going to complain to his congressman about them. Must be sure you have the exact Jeff Gordon.

As evidence of Bell's malicious intent, London showed the jury a photograph of four guns that Bell legally owned up until the IRS raided him in April 1997 during a prior prosecution. The weapons: Two SKS rifles, a Smith & Wesson 629 pistol, and a Ruger mini-14 rifle.

And this was allowd into evidence? The court system is apparently nosediving quicker than I had previously thought.

London characterized this as a collection of assault weapons that amounted to "serious firepower" and said, "That's what the agents were afraid of."

They are afraid of guns they had already probably confiscated? Were they agaid Bell was going to break into BATF's evidence locker?

That prompted an objection from Bell's attorney, Robert Leen. "(You're) asking the jury to draw an adverse infrerence from what was, at the time, an exercise of a constitutional right," Leen said.

Woops. Thought crimes and ownership crimes. Maybe we are slowly being prepared for integration into a system like communist china. (maybe were half-way there)

The government has not alleged that Bell owned firearms more recently than 1997. Bell pleaded guilty in July 1997 to interfering with IRS agents and using false Social Security numbers.

Evil, evil, bad, nasty Jim Bell. I say he should be drawn and quartered. Wait, thats not good enough for him.

U.S. District Judge Jack Tanner allowed the government to show to the jury photos of the weapons Bell once owned -- one rifle had a bayonet mounted on it -- and warned Bell that if he made any additional outbursts, he would be muzzled or hauled out of the room.

His outburst probably had something to do with said "evidence" that had no bearing on the case. And bayonets? Holy shit, next thing you know Bell might have a hankering to put a sling on his rifle. Maybe a cleaning kit or two. Lord knows with all that equipment he wasn't just hunting rabbits.

Bell had interrupted Leen a few times and pounded on the table two or three times to get Leen's attention. Bell also wrote "SHAM" on a white pad of paper and held it so spectators could see.

Normal response to kangaroo trial proceedings. But it does piss of Judges. Mr Bell, you must learn how to handle those rigged trials with aplomb.

London complained that some people were downloading public documents through the Pacer service provided by the federal court system, translating the graphical TIFF images into text, and posting the documents on a website. He warned that soon everything will be "splashed all over the Internet for all to see."

Oh my f'ing god. On the Internet? Next we'll be asked to believe in evolution and a round earth.

The prosecutor likened it to an illicit activity: "Transferring court documents from our computer onto the Internet."

Just the next horseman of the infocalypse I say. Internet users, immanentizing the Eschaton!

That got the attention of Tanner, an 82-year-old jurist with little patience for lawyers and even less patience for online open-records activists. He sealed the entire court file, including public documents like the charges against Bell, saying that "anything that's filed" will remain in his chambers.

Hmmm. More like star chambers. Were it not for a jury, Tanner could simply pronounce him summarily guilty and be done with it. Not to worry though, its unlikely the jury has any concept of their rights. jim