Tacoma 2PM Declan's motion to avoid testifying was denied, though Judge Tanner said defense cross-examination would be limited to his testimony. Declan is testifying this afternoon. Judge Tanner twice warned Jim to not speak out and that he will be muzzled or taken "down stairs" if he does so. No mistrial, Jack barked. Jim scribbled "SHAM" on a notepad and displayed it to the courtroom. Declan and I were excluded from the courtroom after the hearing on his motion and the jury was empaneled. My partner is allowed to remain but is not allowed to tell me what is happening in the courtroom until after my testimony tomorrow or the next day. Nor can I buy a copy of the transcript until after I testify. My partner can buy it but cannot show it to me. My partner strictly obeys the rules. Anonymous showed a copy of the feds memorandum on how the trial is to proceed, about 40 pages. There may be a chance of getting this at the end of the day if the judge returns the case file to the public records office. A quick glance at the memo revealed the feds witness and evidence lists. At least one other alleged cpunk listed. In fact, it looks as though anybody who spoke with Jim in jail has been subpoenaed, except Adam Ciralsky of 60 Minutes, who is covering the trial but has not been subpoenaed. All calls were recorded, some of them to be used as evidence. The memo reveals that the feds have been tracking Jim for a long time, including using high tech devices and udercover agents, as Jim has been claiming. The memo makes considerable use of "murder-for-hire on the Internet." Anonymous said the stalking law used against Jim was enacted only a month before his arrest, and this trial is the first application of the law. A party said the first question asked of prospective jurors was: "have you heard of cypherpunks?" The memo states I will be asked about a post to cpunks concerning location of CIA agents and that I might invoke the 5th. And that I will be immunized if that happens. My partner expects a subpoena to disclose what we speculate is the real reason for the Bell trial: training for prosecuting counterterrorism in the homeland. Retroactive application of laws and investigations once limited to foreign enemies.
John Young wrote:
Anonymous said the stalking law used against Jim was enacted only a month before his arrest, and this trial is the first application of the law.
Your source is unreliable. These are testable assertions, and every single one of them is false. 1) Jim Bell was arrested November 17 2000 http://cryptome.org/jdb032801.htm 2) He was charged under U.S.C. Title 18, Section 2261A "Interstate stalking" http://cryptome.org/jdb111700.htm 4) That became law Sept. 23, 1996. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2261A.html http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2261A.notes.html 5) Nor is this trial the first application of the law http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.med.uscourts.gov/opinions/carter/1999/gc_2-99cr034_usa_v_brown_doc034_nov.pdf+Title+18,+United+States+Code,+Section+2261A&hl=en Granted, you can't be expected to check up on this stuff right now. But your source is feeding you paranoia and cypherbibble. Please take that into account when evaluating anything further from said source. __ Seth Finkelstein Consulting Programmer sethf@mit.edu http://sethf.com
John Young wrote:
Anonymous said the stalking law used against Jim was enacted only a month before his arrest, and this trial is the first application of the law.
Further note, I figured out the kernel of truth in the above. There was an *addition* to interstate stalking law 2261A on 10/28/2000 which involved electronic communications (106-386), that seems to have been the basis of 1 (one) (uno) (00000001) of 3 (three) (tres) (00000011) later counts of interstate stalking against Jim Bell. Grumble, no reputation-capital in countering urban-legend-punkery :-( __ Seth Finkelstein Consulting Programmer sethf@mit.edu http://sethf.com
participants (2)
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John Young
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Seth Finkelstein