Judge throws lifeline to CrimeNet - News

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Judge throws lifeline to CrimeNet

By Megan McAuliffe, ZDNet Australia
December 21, 2000
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/soa/Judge-throws-lifeline-to-CrimeNet/0,139023165,120107793,00.htm

After months of controversy, CrimeNet claims to have been cleared by a Supreme Court judge of prejudicing court proceedings by publishing details about a murder suspect on the Internet.

"It validates what we've been doing and saying all along, we provide a public service of information already in the public domain. I believe the judge has vindicated CrimeNet's position," CrimeNet operator Ken Shultz told ZDNet.

A Victorian Supreme Court judge, hearing a murder retrial yesterday, cleared CrimeNet of having any influence on juries during court proceedings. This is the second case in two weeks where a judge has exonerated Crime Net from any adverse affects on the outcome of a jury trial, according to Shultz.

"The Judge [told the court] if a jury is properly instructed, CrimeNet shouldn't interfere with it," Shultz said.

CrimeNet was at the centre of debate in May this year when a Victorian Judge aborted a murder case because information about the accused was published on the Web site, which may have prejudiced the jury.

CrimeNet was threatened with contempt of court charges by the state Attorney General Rob Hulls and was ordered to shut the site down, pending a decision of the standing committee of Attorneys General in July.

Shultz told ZDNet however, the company has not heard from the Government regarding the fate of the site.

A report was released on November 9 by the Federal Government called "Cookie Monsters? Privacy in the information society (Submissions)".

According to Shultz, the report mentions CrimeNet and suggests the introduction of new laws which ban the publishing of bulk records on Australian citizens over the Internet.

The Victorian government was studying the judge's decision.

"It was nonsense to suggest that these [two] cases support the argument for CrimeNet," the Attorney General Rob Hulls told ZDNet.

"It doesn't mean the danger doesn't exist for juries to access this information in other cases," he said.