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Judge Won't Lower $5M Bail For Jailed SF IT Admin
snydeq writes "San Francisco County Judge Charles Haines has denied Terry Childs' motion to reduce his $5 million bail, alluding to 'public security concerns,' according to Richard Shikman, who is representing Childs in court. The ruling comes in the wake of a recent decision to drop three of the four changes that have been levied against Childs, who has spent the past 14 months in jail. The fourth charge — that Childs violated a California statute regarding illegal denial of service for the San Francisco FiberWAN — has been called into question by those closely monitoring the case. As a point of comparison, the San Francisco Felony Bail Schedule lists a $1 million bail for the most serious crimes, such as sexual assault of a child, aggravated arson, or kidnapping for ransom. Prosecutors have argued that the bail is appropriate because, if released, Childs could cause damage to San Francisco's network."
Childs could cause damage to San Francisco's network.
But, but... think of the children
He's a danger to their network only if no one has yet changed the passwords on the routers and other equipment.
Truth, Justice. Or the American Way.
Anybody who knows about computers has to be kept away from them, else they might cast spells on the rest of us.
maybe he should get his money's worth and go sexually assault five children then...
> Prosecutors have argued that the bail is appropriate because, if released, Childs could cause damage to San Francisco's network.
It sounds like they have zero confidence in whoever is now in charge of securing their network.
1 in 4 Maine children in struggle with hunger.
The incompetence of the legal system has no lower bound.
Since I can't mod you down, I'll just note that they've now had over a year to change the passwords and otherwise secure the allegedly compromised LAN.
I don't think the judge understands the nature of network security, which is understandable since he isn't an IT guy......but no doubt the prosecuting attorney was pushing to distort the issue to make him look as dangerous as possible. What if he is not guilty, are they still going to keep him in jail because he might be dangerous? Furthermore, if he DOES damage the network, can't they just charge him for that crime at that time? It's not like he can cause irreparable damage, as murdering someone might.
One thing I don't understand is why this guy doesn't exercise his right to a speedy trial. He's already been punished enough considering all the evidence I've seen suggests he is innocent. Maybe he is getting some kind of zen experience living in jail and he actually likes it or something. From what I've heard from some sysadmins, living in jail can't be much worse than that job.
Qxe4
(IANAL) I find it curious that he and his lawyers haven't pushed for a speedy trial. Legally you can insist that the trial go forward in a timely manner, though in cases where both sides want time to collect additional information the defendant won't do so. So what is Childs and his lawyer waiting for? Are they waiting for the prosecution to completely fk up and prove themselves wrong? Are they collecting their own information?
The more I read about this the more it sounds like once the case against Childs is over his counter suit against the city (and possibly against his individual bosses, the police officers involved, etc) is gonna be a complete raping.
You are right, any nutso can get a sniper rifle, case full of ammo, and take out half a campus from the church tower. It's the really dangerous folk, like the ones who haven't had access to your network in the past year (which you somehow haven't secured on your own because you are too fucking stupid) that are the real danger to society at large.
Here's a tip for the Judge, if there is still something out there on SF's network that Childs actually could manipulate with greater access or affect than a normal citizen, then the folk who should be in jail are the ones who cleaned up the mess.
Prosecutors have argued that the bail is appropriate because, if released, Childs could cause damage to San Francisco's network.
So if the 4th charge is dropped and he is freed, can they keep him jailed? He could, at that point, still cause the same damage that he can now.
But then I realized the cable was blue, so I only gave it one star. I hate blue.
I think the problem is they know he's not going to be convicted of anything in the end. So the judge is trying to send a message to people who might be inclined to do the same thing.
"We can get you. We don't need to actually convict you, either. We can get you anyway."
Doesn't this guy have a sixth amendment right to a speedy trial?
Besides (and Google may have led me the wrong CA statute) but it look like the penalty for the remaining charge could be as little as a $5,000 fine. It also seems to have an out:
"Subdivision (c) does not apply to punish any acts which are committed by a person within the scope of his or her lawful employment. For purposes of this section, a person acts within the scope of his or her employment when he or she performs acts which are reasonably necessary to the performance of his or her work assignment."
Which requires them to know what all of the equipment is, and potentially all of the software installed in all of it. Information for which Childs was supposed to be the source.
I'm not saying that the $5 million bail is right, but it's not at all inconceivable that Childs could cause damage to that network if he chose to do so.
Are you adequate?
True, it takes a special kind of nutso to blackmail the mayor of a major city into meeting personally with you.
When I was a corporate IT guy (about 3 years in the middle of about 16 years as a consultant), I took responsibility over a large part of the network in a multi facility health care business. This wasn't life or death stuff, but network outages did cause problems with appointments and general "face" of the corporation. When I came on board, the network was down a lot. No change control, no "chief" in charge of the network, and about 9 people mucking with stuff constantly.
I put my job on the line, in exchange for FULL control of that system (It was a 85 server Netware + Groupwise environment). The first thing I did was take *everyone's* admin away, removed "admin" from supervisory rights to the tree. I then doled out the appropriate levels of access to the security team (read new users, password resetters), put in a hidden OU with a tree supervisor in it and then wrote the "master" admin/login information down. Lightly, in pencil. Folded it up, put it in an envelope with a tamper seal, that went into another tamper evident envelope and that went into the safe. Every month or two I changed the password and replaced the envelope.
That was in case I died, they could easily get in. That is what Terry should have done. Then it wouldn't have come to this - he might have gotten sacked, and/or lost control over what he considered to be his "creation" -- but he wouldn't be rotting in jail....
= Grow a brain...
The prosecutors in the case are arguing that the city's computer systems are more valuable than human life?
If that's the case, then yes, certainly the bail is appropriate.
If not, then the bail is entirely inappropriate.
They're using their grammar skills there.
I hope it was all worth it for him. Sounds like there's not much of a case against him, but I have a hard time feeling any sympathy for him.
While it seems the prosecutors in this case are overreacting (why's this even a criminal case?), what I find curious is that there was no scheme to retrieve the passwords if Childs were to pass away accidentally (no HBB protection). Passwords written on paper in a safe, safety deposit box or similar, or the passphrase to Password Safe written down somewhere secure.
It's pretty stupid to have to physically access all the routers to reset passwords in the event that the network admin dies or quits in fury. Just write the procedure into the admin's job description.
testing 1 2 3
Maybe I don't remember HS Civic's very well but I thought the point of bail was ONLY to prevent flight, not that it had been redefined to be large as a result of danger the innocent (until proved otherwise) person poses. He's being jailed not because he's a flight risk but because of political posturing by the DA, that is a serious miscarriage of justice. I don't have a lot of sympathy for the guy but bail is clearly being misused here.
Bail exists to a) manage flight risk and b) prevent repeat occurrences of the same crime. So unless he decides to not tell the city the password again(which they now know), it's not even possible to repeat the "crime".
So to put it in perspective, bail is set at $5 Mill because he would only tell the password to the Mayor, which is apparently a crime 5x more severe than killing someone, even though it can't exactly be repeated.
"He might do damage in some other way which has nothing to do with what we're charging him for.", is NOT a reason to set bail ludicrously high. Maybe the guy's a dick, maybe he even did some stuff wrong, but he's definitely having his rights stepped on now.
IANAL, etc. etc.
--Not to be worried, Pitr fix.
I don 't know the man, but he appears to have behaved like a raging asshole since the start of this. Whatever his skill or lack thereof as a network administrator, he has totally failed as a member of the team running the City's network. For all of you bewailing the fact that this all seems to be politics, I can only say, "Duh!" Everyplace you work has politics. Childs seems to have decided that his way of winning at office politics is to commit public, career seppuku on top of a hill no one cares about. He has demonstrated for all to see that he lacks judgment and a sense of proportion. Good luck with your career in fast food retailing, dude.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
This whole thing has seemed overblown from the get go to me. I thought it had been cleared up a while back ..obviously not. My guess is that he stepped on some politician's/power broker's toes somehow, and "they" are punishing him this way; it's a classic corrupt government gambit. Vindictive state and local politicos have a lot of ways to screw people who lack friends in high places. Wonder what the poor bastard did, refuse to help some honcho spy on or frame someone?.
If you want your life to be different, live it differently.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Judge needs to be removed and disbarred.
The entire concept of 'bail' is ridiculous. Money paid should not have any effect on whether a person is in or out of jail.
He better sue the city big time as 14 months in jail looks bad resume and some places he will not get pass HR with that. Other jobs as well will question the big job gap maybe not the IT guy but likely the PHB will.
unfortunately, this case has been made into an "honor" case.
They've been helding that poor guy for 14 months already.
Lowering bail would be like admitting that the facts hold against him are not that bad.
And admitting that facts aren't that bad, would mean that he would get a lower sentence.
But he has already been in jail for 14 months, so not framing this guy would be utter failure and loss of face for prosecution and the city/state/watever. "hey guess what, we've been holding you for 14 months and you're getting a 5,000$ fine. Excuse us for turning the complaint from a 'termination of contract gone bad' to a terrorrism claim"
The pervert/sickos they just caught in SF had their bail set at $500,000 each
for imprisoning and raping kids for 20 years
10% of what this admins bail is set at
good to see the USA court has its priorities set
raping kids is only 10% of the risk to society than this guy?
$5M bond, 14 months in jail, and he still hasn't been convicted of the ONLY (1) charge he is currently facing ..."The fourth charge â" that Childs violated a California statute regarding illegal denial of service for the San Francisco FiberWAN".
What exactly does that statue say and what is the maximum penalty for that? If it's not 14 months, he should be released for time served and the court should pay him to go to his own trial, that way he still gets his chance to be proven innocent of the 1 charge.
Nobody died, nobody bled, and the only financial damage was cleaning up the mess his MANAGERS made by not doing their jobs properly. This wasn't a problem CREATED by Childs. It was a problem IDENTIFIED by Childs. Let's toss people in jail for 14 months, without a trial, on non-violent/non-drug/non-financial gain "crimes"?!? I'm not saying he handled this correctly, just that I don't see ANY crime here.
The city DA published 150 passwords as Exhibit A in a court filing, see http://www.infoworld.com/d/security-central/san-francisco-da-discloses-citys-network-passwords-481.
This sorta proves his case that turning over passwords might jeopardize security, doesn't it?
House arrest, and GPS monitor. Any damage to their network can easily be traced to an IP address, which if he can't move with freedom, makes it pretty easy to identify if it came from his computer. (I'm assuming they can't restrict his access to computer.) If he does, charge him with another crime. If he were to attack the network under such conditions, he'd be demonstrating his utter desire for being raped in prison, as I can't think of any other sane reason why he'd do it. Only reason bond should be denied is flight risk or a risk to further harm against a human victim/witness.
The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.
Phillip Garrido is only being held on $1 million bail. Which one do you think can do more damage if released, Childs or Garrido? If you answered "Childs", I would insist your priorities are seriously fucked up.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
... when he has to register as a Childs offender.
Anybody want a peanut?
Someone send over 63 pirated songs then.
Is there anything that can be done for him?
As a SysAd and citizen I find this case to be disturbing. I don't know if visiting him in jail would be helpful.
Do they even let one have cookies in there? Cookies may not help him or his case, but cookies can taste good.
20 characters max for the password? How will I use my favorite poems as passwords?
The thing is, in most cases defendants don't exercise their speedy trial right. The reason is that they want time to prepare their defense. Also cases don't tend to take massive amounts of time to prepare all that often. However, in many states (I don't know about California) there are specific laws for speedy trial and they are enforced. There is a case I'm aware of in Arizona (a DUI) that is going to get dismissed on speedy trial grounds if the state doesn't have their act together in a hurry.
I don't know what is going on with this case, but the idea that speedy trial is a pipe dream is BS. For the most part it simply isn't an issue, the defense is fine with taking some time to prepare and the trial happens under the speedy trial statute anyhow. Speedy trial doesn't mean next week, it means in a reasonable amount of time. In the case of Arizona law, it's 6 months.
he could even claim he's still an employee and due back wages. The original fight was because he was an ass to a new woman manager and she walked to her boss and claimed "sex harassment". The manager tried to fire him without following city process in the first place... and didn't follow legal process to get the passwords in the second place... he could probably go back to the city worker's union and actually win his job back for managerial misconduct if charges don't stick!!!! After all he hasn't even had 3 officially written strikes yet!!!
He may be an ass, but he's been smart enough to follow the City's work rules to the letter.... it's the management that's skipping steps in the written HR process.
An the "security policy" is why the last charge will have to be dropped or will fail and the counter-suite for malicious wrongful dismissal and arrest, and detention should be filed.
Why didn't someone just do password recovery and change the passwords when this all started? That has confused me for the last year. I have yet to run into any Cisco gear that you cannot do password recovery on if the box is in your hands. It would have been a lot cheaper and easier on everyone. Reset them and move on... Why go through all of this crap if you don't have to?
...is going to work for a bunch of self-declared viciously stupid assholes and risk jail time for doing their job right?
make it 10 million.
--edfardos
Yeah, his career's shot.
If they drop the 4th charge, too, he ought to get lost wages, some sort of additional compensation for being STUCK IN GODDAMN JAIL FOR 14 MONTHS, and the difference between the amount he'd have made in his projected, optimal career path and what he'll make working at Burger King. Then double it. Call that part the "douchebag tax".
When ordinary citizens break the law, they get punished, often going to jail. When officers of the state violate citizen's constitutional rights, violations that have a much more resounding effect on society, the violations go largely ignored, rarely resulting in penalties, and even rarer that those officers will see any jail time. It is unfair and fucked up, the kind of system the founders wanted to prevent. IMO, if a civil servant (from the bottom to the top) blatantly violates the constitutional rights of a citizen, it should be prosecuted. Of course that will never happen, but one can dream.
On one charge? This looks _very_ fishy. Conditions on bail would certainly include no computer use. I suspect the real motive for the DA is to use incarceration as pressure for some sort of plea bargain. Any bargain, because their case is weak / non-existant. Highly corrupt.
The DA has to pressure, because if he does NOT cave, they're facing a multi-million $ lawsuit for wrongful (or even malicious where less would be protected by privilige) prosecution. This will ruin careers. As it should.
I dunno - I was in San Francisco with my wife a few weeks ago, it was really beautiful, and we had a great time. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves too!
No problem driving or parking (ok California drivers in general are pretty aggro, but) and no more homeless folks than I see here in Denver...
Not gonna move there, or break into any city routers, but all in all, very pleasant.
Ask Me About... The 80's!
Turns out the password was "childs".
Who would've guessed?
I'm pretty sure he isn't laughing his ass off while sitting in jail after 14 months. Although there's a good chance he will be once this is done, and he's won his lawsuit against the city and gotten the DA disbarred.
The court sided with the D.A. and the city.
When the high bail was granted and when the high bail was sustained.
Spending 14 months in a 6x8 cell fantasizing over the pot over the nonexistent pot of gold at the end of this rainbow is just plain nuts.
His duty to help them by giving them passwords and other confidential information ALSO ended when his employment contract ended. That's what the law says.
I want to see some solid proof for this. Because I am betting there are residual obligations under his contract - or that his contract was never properly terminated.
Childs accused his managers of "gross incompetence," Ugh Duh, don't he read his daily Dilbert's that's how the world is.
I don't see why this is still up. If most of the IT community with any sense of self respect boycotted the entire city, the problem would evaporate within two weeks. Any professional with even an ounce of self respect should be refusing to service any aspect which receives funding, or inherits legal obligations from any portion of the city. They've already demonstrated they're willing to prosecute someone for doing their job and following policy.
I don't care if the guys supervisor told him to hand over the password--his supervisor was not in a position of authority to make such a demand. And even if he *was*, the charges and accusations they leveled demonstrated that they behaved with a callous lack of professional ethics, and abuse of power intended to crush the will of this man, instead of simply punishing him according to the rule of law. The charges were clearly trumped up--so such an extent that even the biased judge had no choice but to throw them out.
Refuse to consult or provide services to anyone associated with the city until they repay Childs and punish those responsible for this abuse of authority. They've already engaged in miscarriage of justice, and it's already painfully clear neither the DA nor the judge will be held accountable.
Nah, If anything, curiosity will get him a few interviews. If the competence story is true, or he can hide any assholish tendencies for long enough to look like he is, he might even be able to upgrade.
That in no way excuses the prison time or high bail. There is much douchebaggery going on here, and the unfortunate part is that it will all be paid for by the citizens of SF in the end.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
maybe he can work at felony franks
Bail appeals (using "appeal" loosely) are usually reserved for the very rich, because they are usually a big waste of time. They are a waste of time because the trial judge is invested with a very large dollop of discretion in matters of bail. Here, the big bail doesn't seem to have too much to do with the charge that the defendant is being detained on. It's kind of like holding me on thirty gazillion dollars bail for a driving while license suspended charge because the judge is concerned that I am going to vandalize my neighbor's Rolls Royce.
This case sucks because the poor bastard has to rot in jail while his lawyers are preparing his defense. If he had money, his experts would be done by now and the State would have, long ago, had its back against the wall scrambling to try to put their bullshit case together.
I bet that the County Attorney depended on the City's experts (rather than his own, independent, experts) when he filed charges. That's reasonable, but you'd hope they'd have their own independent experts on board by now. Too bad nobody's Groklawing for the defendant.
Well, tradition for this is to bake him a cake with a file in it.
If that fails, then you and your buddies saddle up your horses and a spare one for him, then pull the window bars out.
Bonus points for shooting up the town marshal's office during the escape.
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
What skilled, knowledgable, trained network administrator would work for them at this point?
Some may be willing to take a crappy job to put food on their kids table... but one that's likely to put you in jail for following their own proceedures?... I wouldn't do that to my kids.
How are they going to hire the new IT dude after this crap? I think some of the would-be applicants are heading for janitorial work so they can at least... not be in jail.
"They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal!"
it doesn't matter what he might do. if you have a maximum bail you need to adhere to that. you can't toss out the tenants of your court system because it's inconvenient to the prosecution of a single individual.
The Hacker Manifesto
by
+++The Mentor+++
Written January 8, 1986
Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers. "Teenager Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"...
Damn kids. They're all alike.
But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?
I am a hacker, enter my world...
Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most of the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me...
Damn underachiever. They're all alike.
I'm in junior high or high school. I've listened to teachers explain for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it. "No, Ms. Smith, I didn't show my work. I did it in my head..."
Damn kid. Probably copied it. They're all alike.
I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me... Or feels threatened by me.. Or thinks I'm a smart ass.. Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here...
Damn kid. All he does is play games. They're all alike.
And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought... a board is found. "This is it... this is where I belong..." I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to them, may never hear from them again... I know you all...
Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They're all alike...
You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us willing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.
This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.
Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for.
I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual, but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike.
"accused city hacker" instead of "the guy who built and maintained san francisco's networks for several years"?
"essentially commandeered the system" instead of "yeah, that was his JOB"?
with the city still trying to politically assassinate this guy, the judicial system still eager to help, and the press still spewing this ignorant garbage to the general public, why isn't the entire IT community out on the streets protesting for this guy?
He has filed a suit for $3M.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/275531/jailed_sf_network_admin_files_3m_claim
Don't know how that is going.
I hate to ask but have they tried a motion for a change of venue? Besides that isnt what he's charged with more of a federal mater then a local?
The California legal system leaves me speechless... almost...SF alone supports gang members who eventually shoot citizens, and as a business, you can get sued frivolously for having a door handle 2 cm higher then code. Child rapes are so common that they need an Amber Alert System 24x7 to try and slow it down, and now a network admin can't get out of jail for less then 5mil - all while Gov. Taxinator prepares to release tens of thousands of convicts onto the streets before serving their full sentences. An earthquake would be a blessing at this point, especially if the epicenter were the capital building in Sacramento.
I think therefore I can't be ~TTNH
If this story is any indication, SF isn't even a democracy anymore; it is a dictatorial oligarchy.
Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
Just admit that he was presumed guilty before a trial you incompetent fools.
My understanding is that bail isn't meant to be punitive (after all the accused hasn't been convicted yet), just sufficient to ensure that they will show up for court. Larger crimes don't have larger bail because the cases are more important, but because the sentences associated with a conviction are larger so there is a larger incentive to skip out on your trial. So is he likely to get five times the sentence of a murderer? Heck I'd be surprised if after the appeals process if he even gets more than time served and a fine. Of course how much of his life and money will have been pissed away in jail and given to lawyers will be anyone's guess.
It is incredible that the people responsible for the network today cannot secure the network well enough to keep Childs out and they are allowed to keep their jobs. If they can keep Childs away from the physical equipment, passwords are all that is necessary to lock things down. Do the people in charge have any dignity? It is about time we start publishing the names of the people who are now responsible who cannot secure this network. The fact that he seems to be needed to be kept in jail for the safety of the network proves every word he said about the incompetent people involved. This situation is so bizarre that it is even stranger than my first wife, and that is saying something.
Are we to infer from this that, given the option, the judge would prefer four children be assaulted rather than have the network damaged?
* Prohibition of excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
"Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk."
~Joaquin Setanti
right to speedy trial? a write habeas corpus?
If hes already served more than he could be sentenced to, what is he still doing in jail?
Proof again, that our justice system is run by incompetent twads, who do not ever take the time to keep themselves
up to date with today's technology, especially when they are RULING on it...
It's not because he is behind bars that he can't get to that fiber network and shut it down.
Take this into consideration next time (Judge moron!)...he withheld the network password, not shut it down, and gave the password to the only person whom he thought he could trust, the governor ( or mayor? i forget)...which was a good thing on his part, being he felt there was a breach of trust as to who had access to this password.
Secondly, if he really wanted to get back with revenge in mind, he could give access to a backdoor to anyone who might be savy enough to help him,even though he would still be behind bars. A password can be written down, and mailed...so if he is not there to cancel the letter being transmitted on a certain date, because he was behind bars, this revenge letter could make its way into the hands of russian mafia...who then would REALLY f*ck things up, which would then be not his fault, he had no access to a computer at the time to do these dirty deeds, he would not be held accountable for anything that happened after that (unless the russian mafia were to actually get caught and have kept a copy of his letter to incriminate him!)
Seriously, James bondish I know, but sooooo easy to do, its sad that the judge thinks he is doing good in this case!
You have to wonder why his boss isn't sitting in jail for letting such a valuable resource (as shown by the bail figure) be endangered by the chance that said Terry Childs gets run over by a bus (or otherwise kicks the bucket).
The only reason that the password/s had value was because of someone else's incompetence.
Where is his right to a speedy trial? It's been 14 months. Childs is just building up more credit for the inevitable lawsuit.
The prosecutors are simply digging themselves a bigger hole. I suspect the whole game now is to get him to 'confess' to the single charge on the table and then sentence him to time served.
If he does, then he can't sue.
Childs is the one who is holding out and he will have to wait until the D.A.'s office either drops the final charge or actually takes him to court.
And loses.
Just in legal fees. Not to mention being stigmatized even if cleared of all charges. And unable to earn a living during this trial. If he had a family, his wife would have probably divorced him and taken the kids. They wrecked his life, because they are corrupt. Because they were embarrassed by him, by the press around it.
To honor the deeply corrupt SF government, the real life Hal Holbrooks who think they ARE the law, I give you Dirty Harry...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OFnOaPDerw&feature=related
What evidence is there that Childs' refused to hand over these alleged passwords, to whom did he refuse to hand over passwords and finally why didn't those with physical access change the passwords? And what ever happened to the accusations that he:
..
...
Configured the routers and switches with 'no service password-recovery, removed the start-up configuration from some devices, created unauthorized wireless access to the FiberWAN, possessed lists of usernames and passwords, including his supervisors, installed sniffers on the network, had a prior arrest record for aggravated burglary
Where did all this go or what it merely the prosecution flinging dirt. So basically we have Childs being locked up and his character being trashed until he cops a plea to a bogus charge. Lucky he don't live in communist China
"But one charge remains: the charge that Childs violated a California statute regarding illegal denial of service for the San Francisco FiberWAN"
Of course not! He acted illegally and unethically
Send him to Ol' Sparky and throw the switch! Get rid of Marxists (democrats), criminals, illegal aliens, gays & lesbians! Send them all to Ol' Sparky! Remove the abberant behavior and perversion from the face of the earth!
Keeping a man under custody or outrageous bail under nothing more than the theory that they have the power to do harm if they wished to do harm is a real nut job way of doing business. It would be another matter if the man were making threats that he would screw up the system. But punishing people simply because they have an ability is absurd. Can you picture a man being held under absurdly high bail simply because he is known to be a great shot with a gun? After all, if he wanted to kill someone he would be far more able to do it than most people. So what's next? Perhaps we need to take all arrestees to the shooting range to make sure they are bad shots before they are given bail.
...how is it theft of service?
"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong." -- Voltaire
I think we know where this is all going, Lifetime movie.
Has it really been 14 months? That was fast.
I don't think the JAG core will let some sit in jail for that long + with no trial and weak evidence. Hell a captain can't just ask you for the missile key with out the right say from the chain of command.
released LIVE passwords to the LIVE and sensitive system, to public court, as evidence ?
if those MORONS said that the world was round, i would be inclined to believe it was flat. i stressed the word MORON many times, because, there can be no other explanation for their failure in logic, and their sheer incompetence, than a mental handicap.
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I was thinking along the same lines. this judge is clearly making himself and the city more vulnerable to him suing the pants off the lot of them. This is clearly a violation of excessive bail, and thus violates his Constitutional rights. He needs some high powered litigator to go after these guys. I don't see how he can lose. Someone needs to show this judge and DA the light. I was going to say something else, but I wouldn't want to be locked up for some trumped up BS just for political speech.
Welcome to the New and Improved USA, where Free Speech is now a crime. Home of the despoitic rulers, and increasingly severe Police State.