What happened with the subpoena: Report from Tacoma courthouse

[Declan McCullagh]

[originally sent to politech]

U.S. District Judge Jack Tanner did not grant our motion to quash the 
subpoena, so I took the stand this afternoon.

When I did, I confirmed that I was the author of two Wired News articles 
and I said I believed those articles were accurate.

When the prosecution and (mainly) defense asked me other questions, each 
time I said I "respectfully declined" to answer that question based on my 
First Amendment privilege as a journalist. I did this about six times 
before both sides gave up and said they had no further questions. Also, 
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robb London asked the judge to declare me a 
"hostile witness," but Tanner did not rule on the government's motion.

The questions I refused to answer included whether I subscribed to the 
cypherpunks list, whether I interviewed government agents while writing my 
articles, what else defendant Jim Bell told me in other conversations, and 
whether I knew cypherpunks co-founder Eric Hughes. I did not answer any of 
those questions.

This morning I emailed family and some close friends with emergency contact 
info for my attorney, Tim Alger, in case I was held in contempt and went to 
jail. Some were concerned enough that they already contacted Tim, and it's 
heartwarming to know that you have friends who will do that for you. Thanks 
(you know who you are).

As an aside, this is a very interesting trial. It appears to be the first 
time the new "interstate stalking" law will be tested in court, the first 
time a defendant has been prevented from viewing discovery material because 
he wishes to post it to the Internet, the first time the Feds appear to be 
using a GPS bug implanted in a defendant's car, and so on. Local 
journalists or interested politechnicals may want to stop by the Tacoma 
federal courthouse tomorrow. I'll send along a writeup of today's 
proceedings later on.

-Declan
Tacoma, Washington
http://www.politechbot.com/p-01882.html