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.htm Jim Bell's show trial Cypherpunk Jim Bell was found guilty of making the feds nervous 
Dateline: 4/11/01 Jim Bell has been probed, raided and arrested. He spent time in prison for "obstructing" Internal Revenue Service agents and using a false Social Security number. Now Bell has been convicted for — get this — stalking government arm-twisters. Stalking? Well ... that's what they call it. Bell gathered the sort of information on them that they compiled on him — and many, many other people — for years. For that offense, the feds decided to send Bell away again, and they did everything in their power to fix the trial. A cypherpunk and libertarian, Bell originally got official skirts in a bind when he penned Assassination Politics, a provocative think piece that postulated an Internet-based system for anonymously rewarding people who knock off abusive government officials. All hot and bothered by the article, the feds made Bell a target of an intense investigation. Soon, he was an unwilling guest of the government, and the powers that be thought they were done with yet one more thorn in their sides. Well, some thorns grow back. Outraged by his treatment, upon his release, Bell began compiling information on the agents who had previously put his life under the microscope — in particular, a Treasury Department agent by the name of Jeff Gordon ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). To find evidence backing his claim that he's been the target of illegal surveillance, Bell openly purchased motor vehicle databases and performed Internet searches in a mirror image of the sort of scrutiny to which he was subjected. Well, a crude sort of mirror image, since Bell doesn't have access to the resources and neat-o toys with which the feds play. And those toys are neat, indeed. An agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms admitted that Bell's car was tagged with a transmitter that monitored his location for the edification of agents who tracked his every move with mapping software. All this for a fellow who originally attracted attention for penning a strongly worded, heavily philosophical, anti-government screed. The BATF's admission that agents spent their time watching a pamphleteer's trips to the grocery store came during the course of the latest trial, and that's another story in itself. Bell was charged for his data-gathering under a statute penalizing anybody who crosses a state line "with the intent to injure or harass another person." But a trial isn't just a chance for officials to shuffle a few papers around while a scaffold is hammered together in the public square. The defendant is supposed to have a chance to present his argument, and perhaps demonstrate that the prosecution is off-base, overzealous, or just plain wrong. This requires that the defendant have legal representation and access to witnesses and evidence. That's where matters turned odd. The government was happily knocking together that scaffold and didn't want any diversions along the way — diversions such as an adequate defense. Bell was represented by Robert Leen, an attorney in who he apparently has no faith and who he tried to fire — to no effect, since the court essentially ignored Bell. Bell claimed that his lawyer admitted to having been threatened by officials, and that Leen colluded with prosecutor Robb London and Judge Jack Tanner to hurry things along with no more than a nominal defense offered to slow the rush of events. Bell's assertions about his attorney appeared in a series of court documents he himself prepared. In them, he made no pretense of legal knowledge — he admits that he's completely unqualified to act in any formal capacity in court at all. The readings are eccentric and acerbic and very funny, if lacking in legal niceties. Whatever the truth of Bell's representations about his relationship with his lawyer, it's clear that they went through the trial barely on speaking terms, and that made for a shaky defense. It's also clear that Judge Jack Tanner did his best to block Bell's access to information that might support his case. In his filings with the court, Bell complained that the government denied him documents that might bolster his defense, on the grounds that they contain identifying information about federal agents. Why it would be so dangerous for Bell, who wasn't charged with any violent crime, to have such data is unclear. Nor is it apparent why allegedly sensitive information can't be redacted so that Bell can use the rest of the documents in his defense. Likewise, Bell was unable to call witnesses. According to an article in Wired , "[Judge] Tanner has quashed all of Bell's subpoenas for defense witnesses." The list of prosecution witnesses, on the other hand, was a long one indeed. It even included reporters who covered the case and who had to be dragged unwillingly into court. The conduct of the trial became even more curious when Judge Tanner threatened contempt charges against any news operation that mentioned the names of jurors — names that were available from documents posted on the Web by the court itself. That blanket publication ban raised the ire of free speech advocates. Also sparking discussion was the use by the prosecution of agent Gordon, an alleged "victim" of Bell's inquiries, as the chief investigator in the case. That's a highly unusual and quite possibly unethical move, since it raises the possibility of revenge rather than law motivating the prosecution. The bizarre nature of the case didn't even end with the verdict, since the jury hung 11-1 on three of the five charges, and convicted on two. One of the guilty verdicts came on a charge of sending a single harassing fax message to Agent Gordon. Wow. Treasury agents are apparently sensitive types, so you'd better watch those nastygrams to the I.R.S. around April 15. Whatever the paper charges, Jim Bell was clearly arrested and prosecuted for loudly criticizing the government and for being abrasive and unrelenting in the process. Bell may be something of an eccentric, but he had enough moxie to make federal agents nervous. That's the worst crime as far as any government official is concerned. |
