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<DIV></DIV>>From: mark cooley <mgc868f@smsu.edu>
<DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: mark cooley <mgc868f@smsu.edu>
<DIV></DIV>>To: list@rhizome.org
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: RHIZOME_RAW: CAE - "BIOTERROR" CHARGES DOWNGRADED TO "MAIL FRAUD"
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 21:40:09 -0700
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>June 29, 2004
<DIV></DIV>>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Contact: mailto:media@caedefensefund.org
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"BIOTERROR" CHARGES DOWNGRADED TO "MAIL FRAUD" IN STEALTH INDICTMENT
<DIV></DIV>>U.S. Attorneys attempt to cast $256 technicality as health and safety
<DIV></DIV>>issue in "stealth" indictment
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Professor Steve Kurtz was charged today by a federal grand jury in
<DIV></DIV>>Buffalo, New York–not with bioterrorism, as listed on the Joint
<DIV></DIV>>Terrorism Task Force's original search warrant and subpoenas, but with
<DIV></DIV>>"petty larceny," in the words of Kurtz attorney Paul Cambria. (See
<DIV></DIV>>http://www.caedefensefund.org/ for background.)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Also indicted was Robert Ferrell, head of the Department of Genetics at
<DIV></DIV>>the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public Health. The charges
<DIV></DIV>>concern technicalities of how Ferrell helped Kurtz to obtain $256
<DIV></DIV>>worth of harmless bacteria for one of Kurtz's art projects.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The laws under which the indictments were obtained–Title 18, United
<DIV></DIV>>States Code, sections 1341 and 1343, covering mail and wire fraud–are
<DIV></DIV>>normally used against those defrauding others of money or property, as
<DIV></DIV>>in telemarketing schemes.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>This is a far cry from the bioterrorism charges originally sought by
<DIV></DIV>>the District Attorney. To make a "federal case" out of such minor
<DIV></DIV>>allegations, the District Attorney will have the burden of proving
<DIV></DIV>>criminal intent.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"There was very obviously no criminal intent," said Kurtz attorney
<DIV></DIV>>Cambria. "The intent was to educate and enlighten." Cambria suggested
<DIV></DIV>>that the pursuit of such a minor case at the federal level was
<DIV></DIV>>profoundly absurd. "If the University of Pittsburgh feels that there
<DIV></DIV>>was a contract breach, then their remedy is to sue Steve for $256 in a
<DIV></DIV>>civil court."
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>A STEALTH INDICTMENT
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The U.S. District Attorney attempted to cast the issue as one of public
<DIV></DIV>>health and safety in a public press conference called without the
<DIV></DIV>>knowledge of either defendant's lawyers, thus eliminating the chance of
<DIV></DIV>>rebuttal. During the conference, parts of which were broadcast on local
<DIV></DIV>>Buffalo news channels, U.S. Attorney William Hochul and U.S. District
<DIV></DIV>>Attorney Michael Battle repeatedly alluded to "dangerous" and
<DIV></DIV>>"bio-hazardous material," even though the charges have nothing to do
<DIV></DIV>>with such issues, and scientists universally regard the materials in
<DIV></DIV>>question as safe.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>At one point in the press conference, U.S. Attorney Hochul stated that
<DIV></DIV>>Serratia marcescens, one of the two bacteria ordered by Ferrell, "is in
<DIV></DIV>>fact a dangerous material in that it can cause pneumonia." Serratia
<DIV></DIV>>cannot cause pneumonia, only aggravate it in someone who already has
<DIV></DIV>>it, and very rarely at that. Furthermore, it would be hard to
<DIV></DIV>>characterize as a "dangerous material" something that high school
<DIV></DIV>>students routinely use in biology class experiments. (Easily trackable
<DIV></DIV>>by its bright red color, S. marcescens is commonly used to demonstrate
<DIV></DIV>>the many ways microbes can be destroyed–e.g. with household bleach.
<DIV></DIV>>The other bacterium, Bacillus globigii, is also used in experiments as
<DIV></DIV>>a stand-in for dangerous microbes–precisely because it is harmless.)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Many believe the attempt to cast the $256 technicality as a public
<DIV></DIV>>health and safety issue is a face-saving measure by the government,
<DIV></DIV>>which has already expended an enormous amount of time and money in
<DIV></DIV>>their fruitless pursuit of this case.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>ONLY THE BEGINNING
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Although the original bioterrorism charges are now completely off the
<DIV></DIV>>table, the trial still promises to be financially and psychologically
<DIV></DIV>>draining for the defendants.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The international support of the defendants by artists, scientists and
<DIV></DIV>>other citizens has been remarkable; it is crucial that this support
<DIV></DIV>>continue as the government extends this outrageous and wasteful
<DIV></DIV>>persecution into a grueling trial.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>To donate to the defense fund, please visit
<DIV></DIV>>http://caedefensefund.org/donate.html. Updates on the case will be
<DIV></DIV>>posted at http://www.caedefensefund.org/. To receive more frequent
<DIV></DIV>>updates by email, please join
<DIV></DIV>>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAE_Defense/.
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