Port protest case ends in mistrial after data breach
by Christian Hill
The Olympian
March 30, 2007
http://www.theolympian.com/101/story/73781.html

The trial of 15 people who protested last year at the Port of Olympia
ended in a mistrial Thursday after the judge learned confidential jury
information was sent out over a compromised e-mail listserv used by the
co-defendants.

The issue came to light after the lunch recess when Senior Deputy
Prosecuting Attorney Steve Straume showed Thurston County District Court
Judge Susan Dubuisson a copy of an e-mail that was obtained from the
supposedly secure listserv. A listserv is an electronic mailing list.

Straume would not tell Dubuisson in court how he obtained a copy of the
e-mail. The e-mail contained a spreadsheet with the names of the more
than 60 prospective jurors and their responses to a jury questionnaire.
A legal aide for one of the defense attorneys created the spreadsheet
and sent it to the listserv Saturday, said Andrew Yankey, one of the
co-defendants. Six jurors and two alternates were selected from the pool
Monday.

Most of the information on a jury questionnaire is not to be shared with
anyone other than the defendants, defense lawyers and prosecutors.
People other than the co-defendants and their attorneys had access to
the e-mail listserv.

Straume and the other prosecutor assigned to the trial, Debra Eurich,
could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.

Dubuisson said she declared a mistrial because of her concern that this
breach would taint their ability to reach a fair verdict.

The questionnaires compiled on the spreadsheet did not contain
information that could be used for identity theft, such as birthdates
and Social Security numbers, but were of a general nature to help
determine whether a prospective juror could be impartial, Dubuisson said.

Yankey said he was angry that the trial ended the way it did, saying it
was a result of accident by the co-defendants and a ?dirty trick on the
part of someone else.?

?It would have been nice to get it done and not have it hanging over our
heads again,? he said.

A co-defendant created the listserv through riseup.net ? which provides
?mail, lists and hosting for those working on liberatory social change,?
according to its Web site ? in the wake of the arrests at the Port of
Olympia during a May 30 protest over a military shipment. All of the
co-defendants were charged with second-degree criminal trespass for
remaining on the port?s secured operations yard when authorities
instructed them repeatedly to leave the area.

The co-defendants used the listserv to send out reminders about court
dates and draft briefs and for other attorney-client work products.

Approval needed to be granted by the listserv administrator before an
individual could subscribe to it, Yankey said.

But with some basic information, a reporter from The Olympian located
and subscribed to the listserv in minutes without authorization Thursday
night.

The legal aide put the spreadsheet on the listserv Saturday, and another
subscriber, recognizing the sensitivity of the information, quickly
followed up with a message requesting that people not involved in the
trial ignore it, Yankey said.

Dubuisson requested more information to determine what effect the
compromised listserv will have on the ability to retry the case.

The trial began with 17 codefendants, but one was dismissed from the
trial Monday after his lawyer withdrew from the case and another
co-defendant accepted a plea agreement Wednesday.

Port of Olympia officials seek $29,000 in restitution from any of the
co-defendants convicted of trespass.