[artinfo] "BIOTERRORISM" DOWNGRADED TO PETTY THEFT IN FBI EMBARRASSMENT

[CAE Legal Defense Fund]

June 29, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: mailto:media at caedefensefund.org

"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.

To donate to the defense fund, please visit
http://caedefensefund.org/donate.html. Updates on the case will be
posted at http://www.caedefensefund.org/. To receive more frequent
updates by email, please join
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAE_Defense/. 

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