krvw@SEI.CMU.EDU (Kenneth R. van Wyk) (12/06/89)
[Ed. Thanks for typing this article in, Tom!]
Quoted from COMPUTERWORLD - December 4, 1989 - page 17
`Morris seeks classified data' by Michael Alexander, CW Staff
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The trial of Robert T. Morris Jr., the young hacker
alleged to have launched a worm into the Internet last year, was
postponed last week after his lawyer notified the court that he needs
access to classified information he claimed is critical to the case.
Additionally, Morris' lawyer, Thomas Guidoboni, charged that the
government had not responded quickly enough to requests for a list of
computer sites allegedly struck by the worm.
"The trial was postponed at my request over government opposition
because we needed more time to prepare," Guidoboni said.
In a motion filed Nov. 21 for a continuance, Guidoboni said that
the defense had filed for a motion under the Classified Information
Procedures Act (CIPA) requesting classified information important to
the case. In the same motion, Guidoboni said the government had
failed to provide him with a complete list of the institutions that
the government intended to prove had been affected by the worm and a
list of witnesses it intended to call.
"I have been told that some of the information that is useful to
my case is classified," Guidoboni said. "It may or may not be. I
don't want to overplay it or belittle it, but we needed some time to
get that worked out.
"Less than two weeks before the trial [on Nov. 20], the government
added new names to the list that were not mentioned in the indictment
as well as filed a motion to withdraw one of the original names
mentioned," Guidoboni said. "I wanted time to look into that."
In opposition to the motion for a continuance, government lawyers
said that the national security issues raised in the CIPA motion were
being resolved and would have no effect on the defense's ability to
proceed or on the timing of the trial.
Responding to the issue of not having responded in a timely manner
to the defense's requests for a list of victims or witnesses it
intended to call, "the government has complied with all court orders
to provide discovery," said Mark Rasch, trial attorney for the Justice
Department. In addition, the defense has had ample opportunity to
request and receive additional information related to the case, he
said.
The government is seeking in a motion to remove the U.S. Air Force
Logistics Command at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton Ohio,
from a list of four sites mentioned in the jury indictment as having
been allegedly hit by the worm.
Rasch declined to comment on why the government wishes to remove
this particular site from its list of victims, while adding that it
intended to offer evidence on 16 sites in all.
Guidoboni filed an objection to that motion last week, and a
decision is pending.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Howard Munson agreed to continue
the case to the week of Jan. 8. A new trial date has not been set.