[spectre] Fw: <nettime> CIVIL DISPUTES SHOULD BE FEDERAL CRIMES, PROSECUTOR ARGUES

[Who has Ringworm?]

I agree with the headline - cannot read further than
that - not versed in legalese... 

ciao bella -


--- Aliette Guibert <guibertc at criticalsecret.com>
wrote:

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "CAE Defense Fund"
> <hearingpr at caedefensefund.org>
> To: "nettime-l-bbs.thing.net"
> <nettime-l at bbs.thing.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 9:53 AM
> Subject: <nettime> CIVIL DISPUTES SHOULD BE FEDERAL
> CRIMES, PROSECUTOR
> ARGUES
> 
> 
> >      To edit your profile or unsubscribe, visit
> >      < nettime-specific URL omitted @ nettime >
> >
> > May 17, 2005
> > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> >
> > BREACHES OF CIVIL CONTRACTS SHOULD BE FEDERAL
> CRIMES, PROSECUTOR ARGUES
> > Judge calls proposal "Pandora's Box"; defense
> calls for dismissal
> >
> > Today in Buffalo, Judge Kenneth Schroeder heard
> motions to dismiss a
> > federal criminal case against artist Steven Kurtz.
> Professor Kurtz was
> > charged with mail and wire fraud last summer after
> prosecutors found
> > nothing to support their original allegations of
> bioterrorism. (Please
> > see http://www.caedefensefund.org/faq.html for an
> overview of the case.)
> >
> > In today's hearing, defense attorney Paul Cambria
> argued that a
> > dangerous precedent would be set by "exalting"
> into a federal criminal
> > case of wire and mail fraud what is at best a
> minor, civil contract
> > issue--the purchase of the bacterium Serratia
> marcescens by scientist
> > Robert Ferrell for use by Kurtz in his artwork.
> >
> > Judge Schroeder seemed to agree, asking Federal
> Assistant District
> > Attorney William Hochul whether an underaged youth
> who uses the
> > internet to purchase alcohol across state lines,
> for example, should be
> > subject to federal wire fraud charges. "Yes,"
> Hochul answered after
> > some hedging, and Schroeder chuckled. "Wow, that
> really opens up a
> > Pandora's Box, wouldn't you say?" he asked Hochul.
> >
> > Schroeder also asked Hochul whether there is any
> federal regulation at
> > all (OSHA, EPA, or other) concerning Serratia.
> Hochul admitted there
> > wasn't. (The alleged danger of Serratia forms the
> basis of the
> > government's argument for making this a criminal
> case, rather than
> > simply allowing the bacterium's provider to pursue
> civil remedies if it
> > feels it was wronged.)
> >
> > Cambria further argued that the FBI intentionally
> misled a judge into
> > issuing the original search warrant. That judge
> was never told of
> > Kurtz's lengthy, credible and complete explanation
> of what the seized
> > bacterial substances were being used for, nor of
> the fact that Kurtz
> > tasted Serratia in front of an officer to prove it
> was harmless. Also,
> > the judge was told of Kurtz's possession of a
> photograph of an exploded
> > car with Arabic writing beside it, but not of the
> photograph's context:
> > an invitation to an important museum art show. The
> photograph, by
> > artists the Atlas Group, was one of several
> exhibited pieces pictured
> > on the invitation.
> >
> > Because of the photo, the judge issued a warrant
> calling for the
> > seizure of anything with Arabic writing. "Would
> that have included the
> > Koran?" Judge Schroeder asked Hochul at today's
> hearing. "Nothing in
> > Arabic was in fact seized," Hochul replied.
> Schroeder repeated the
> > question, and Hochul admitted that the Koran would
> have been seized,
> > "if the officers hadn't recognized what it was."
> >
> > Today's apparent courtroom victory for Cambria
> does not mean that Judge
> > Schroeder will grant any of the defense motions.
> And if he does, it is
> > certain that the prosecution will appeal the
> decision--"all the way to
> > the Supreme Court if they can," according to
> Cambria.
> >
> > Whatever the outcome of today's hearing, it will
> not come quickly:
> > rulings in such hearings typically take two or
> three months. The
> > defense has so far cost $60,000 for Kurtz alone;
> as for the taxpayer
> > bill, it is well into the millions.
> >
> > See also
> >
>
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--artvsterror0517may17,0,4577499.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
> >
> > CONTACT: mailto:media at caedefensefund.org
> >
> > For more information on the case, or to make a
> donation to the CAE
> > Defense Fund, please visit
> http://www.caedefensefund.org/
> >
> >                                    ###
> >
> >
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> 
> 
> 
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