free kurtz

[A Dontigny]

>At 20:33 01/07/2004, you wrote:
>>-/ free kurtz !!! he is an innocent !!! /-
>
>innocent of what ?
>

June 29, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"BIOTERROR" CHARGES DOWNGRADED TO "MAIL FRAUD" IN STEALTH INDICTMENT U.S.
Attorneys attempt to cast $256 technicality as health and safety issue in
"stealth" indictment

Professor Steve Kurtz was charged today by a federal grand jury in
Buffalo, New York--not with bioterrorism, as listed on the Joint Terrorism
Task Force's original search warrant and subpoenas, but with "petty
larceny," in the words of Kurtz attorney Paul Cambria. (See
http://www.caedefensefund.org/ for background.)

Also indicted was Robert Ferrell, head of the Department of Genetics at
the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public Health. The charges
concern technicalities of how Ferrell helped Kurtz to obtain $256 worth of
harmless bacteria for one of Kurtz's art projects.

The laws under which the indictments were obtained--Title 18, United
States Code, sections 1341 and 1343, covering mail and wire fraud--are
normally used against those defrauding others of money or property, as in
telemarketing schemes.

This is a far cry from the bioterrorism charges originally sought by the
District Attorney. To make a "federal case" out of such minor allegations,
the District Attorney will have the burden of proving criminal intent.

"There was very obviously no criminal intent," said Kurtz attorney
Cambria. "The intent was to educate and enlighten." Cambria suggested that
the pursuit of such a minor case at the federal level was profoundly
absurd. "If the University of Pittsburgh feels that there was a contract
breach, then their remedy is to sue Steve for $256 in a civil court."

A STEALTH INDICTMENT

The U.S. District Attorney attempted to cast the issue as one of public
health and safety in a public press conference called without the
knowledge of either defendant's lawyers, thus eliminating the chance of
rebuttal. During the conference, parts of which were broadcast on local
Buffalo news channels, U.S. Attorney William Hochul and U.S. District
Attorney Michael Battle repeatedly alluded to "dangerous" and
"bio-hazardous material," even though the charges have nothing to do with
such issues, and scientists universally regard the materials in question
as safe.

At one point in the press conference, U.S. Attorney Hochul stated that
Serratia marcescens, one of the two bacteria ordered by Ferrell, "is in
fact a dangerous material in that it can cause pneumonia." Serratia cannot
cause pneumonia, only aggravate it in someone who already has it, and very
rarely at that. Furthermore, it would be hard to characterize as a
"dangerous material" something that high school students routinely use in
biology class experiments. (Easily trackable by its bright red color, S.
marcescens is commonly used to demonstrate the many ways microbes can be
destroyed--e.g. with household bleach. The other bacterium, Bacillus
globigii, is also used in experiments as a stand-in for dangerous
microbes--precisely because it is harmless.)

Many believe the attempt to cast the $256 technicality as a public health
and safety issue is a face-saving measure by the government, which has
already expended an enormous amount of time and money in their fruitless
pursuit of this case.

ONLY THE BEGINNING

Although the original bioterrorism charges are now completely off the
table, the trial still promises to be financially and psychologically
draining for the defendants.

The international support of the defendants by artists, scientists and
other citizens has been remarkable; it is crucial that this support
continue as the government extends this outrageous and wasteful
persecution into a grueling trial.

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a_dontigny

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