Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: Mike Godwin Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Neidorf Trial Message-ID: <10565@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 7 Aug 90 10:54:10 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: Mike Godwin Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas Lines: 38 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 548, Message 9 of 11 In article <10518@accuvax.nwu.edu> JKOSS00@ricevm1.rice.edu (The Ohm Boy) writes: > I am wondering if any of the statements made by BellSouth and/or >their legal mouthpiece(s) were said under oath. I would assume, >naively, that a sworn oath of affirmation would have to be made before >Neidorf could be arrested for the supposed crime. If so, wouldn't that >imply that BellSouth perjured themselves? It is not necessary that the information used by prosecutors be sworn statements. The Supreme Court has held that sometimes an anonymous tip can be sufficient to establish probable cause for issuance of a search or arrest warrant. But even if the prosecutors relied on sworn grand-jury testimony, it is possible that their Bell South sources did not commit perjury, since their valuation of the E911 document may in some sense be "accurate" -- that is, based on actual data concerning the costs of development. If someone asked me what my Macintosh costs, and I interpreted the question to mean costs of development, I might come up with a figure -- based on research, development, and marketing costs of the Lisa and the Macintosh -- that exceeded the actual sticker price of my Mac by orders of magnitude. Do BellSouth's statements about the value of the E911 document amount to perjury? Probably not. But does that mean that BellSouth was fully forthcoming about the value of the E911 document? Hardly. BellSouth knew what the federal prosecutors needed to hear in order to establish federal jurisdiction over the Legion of Doom cases. Mike Godwin, UT Law School mnemonic@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (512) 346-4190