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Ten members of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance entered the gallery of the U.S. Senate on March 12, 2008 and literally stood up wearing t-shirts calling for an end to the funding of the Iraq War. They were tried for this peaceful protest and five were found guilty. They will be sentenced on Dec 15 and face six months in jail and/or a fine.
They are looking for an expert on computers who can testify at this hearing as to facts about the network site Protest.net.
After the prosecution rested its case, it was discovered that the U.S. Capitol Police Intelligence Report for March 12, 2008 contained a private email of one of the defendants, Max Obuszewski, which contained his proposal for doing a gallery action. At an evidentiary hearing on November 7, the person who compiled the intelligence report claimed he found the email on Protest.net on March 12. This testimony was challenged by the defense, as the source for this email listed in the report was bogus. Nevertheless, the judge accepted this testimony, ruled it was not obtained illegally and rejected the defense motion to dismiss the guilty charges.
After the hearing, it was discovered that the purloined email does not appear in the Protest.net archives. However, the intelligence report for March 12 contained a notice for another protest Stop Loss Congress. This notice is still listed in the archives for Protest.net on March 12. The Stop Loss Congress protest was posted widely on the Internet.
The five defendants scheduled for sentencing plan a new motion for dismissal on December 15. Based on legal advice, they are seeking an "expert" who would be willing to testify in court about the Protest.net calendar and that there is no evidence that Obuszewski's private email ever appeared on that site.
If you can and will help, please contact Max Obuszewski at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.