(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . DA Willis files a Motion to Protect Jurors from Doxing [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-07 — — This doxing story needs more attention, even if it’s not as satisfying as slamming simpleton Jordan … It’s just as important, maybe more so, in my opinion. Willis asks court to protect jurors after doxing in Trump's Georgia case by Jacob Knutson, Axios — Sept 7, 2023 Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked a judge on Wednesday to take steps to protect jurors who indicted former President Trump and over a dozen of his allies for their alleged attempts to flip Georgia's election results in 2020. Why it matters: Willis said at least 23 jurors in the case have had their personal information — including their names, ages, addresses and vehicle details —posted anonymously on "conspiracy theory websites" hosted by a Russian company as part of an effort to "harass and intimidate them." [...] Sometimes it’s best to let the Court filings speak for themselves. I’ve selected some of the key elements from this Motion filed by Atlanta DA. STATE'S MOTION TO RESTRICT JURORS' IDENTITY [...] The State fears that "the Defendants' Sixth Amendment rights to a fair trial [will] be endangered if the identities of the jurors become known to the public" during the upcoming, and likely highly-publicized, trial. See U.S. v. Al-Arian, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62070 at 7 (U.S. Dist. M. Dist. Fla. 2005). Therefore, the State files this motion requesting this Court issue an order restricting any Defendant, members of the press, or any other person from disseminating potential jurors' and emplaned jurors' identities during voir dire and trial. [...] STATEMENT OF FACTS AND LAW The present case has been highly covered by the media thus far since indictment. Numerous articles have been published about this case, not only in local news outlets, but also in national and international media outlets.[1] The State anticipates that press coverage of this case will continue, and likely increase, throughout the pendency of pretrial motions and the trial itself. The effects of the widespread national and international media coverage on individuals associated with this case is real and substantial. Immediately following the filing of the indictment, anonymous individuals on conspiracy theory websites "shared a list of the 23 grand jurors [who approved the indictment] with their supposed full names, ages and addresses" with the intent to harass and intimidate them." This incident as resulted in law enforcement officials, including the Atlanta Police Department, Fulton County Sheriff's Office, and other police departments in the jurisdiction, putting plans in place to protect the grand jurors and prevent harassment and violence against them. See Exhibit A, Affidavit of Atlanta Police Department Chief Darin Schierbaum. Additionally, members of the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, including the District Attorney herself and members of her family, have been doxed, causing their personal information to be displayed permanently on the internet. [Id.] This personal information includes jurors [who approved the indictment] with their supposed full names, ages and addresses" with the intent to harass and intimidate them.[2] This incident has resulted in law enforcement officials, including the Atlanta Police Department, Fulton County Sheriff's Office, and other police departments in the jurisdiction, putting plans in place to protect the grand jurors and prevent harassment and violence against them. See Exhibit A, Affidavit of Atlanta Police Department Chief Darin Schierbaum. Additionally, members of the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, including the District Attorney herself and members of her family, have been doxed, causing their personal information to be displayed permanently on the internet. [Id.] This personal information includes the District Attorney's name, her family members' names, ages with dates of birth, home physical addresses, phone numbers, GPS coordinates, places of employment, work physical addresses, e-mail addresses, and social media accounts. The personal information was intertwined with derogatory and racist remarks. The United States Department of Homeland Security determined that this information is hosted by a Russian website company and cannot be removed from public view. See Exhibit B, Affidavit of Fulton County District Attorney's Office Assistant Chief Investigator Gerald Walsh. — [ Footnote 1:] Those publications include, but are not limited to, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Rolling Stone, Vice, NPR, Time Magazine, the New Yorker, USA Today, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, TMZ, and the Daily Mail. [ Footnote 2:] Odette Yousef, Sam Gringlas, Threats, Slurs and Menace: Far-right Websites Target Fulton County Grand Jurors, NPR (August 18, 2023), https://www.npr.org/2023/08/18/1194471162/trump-indictment-fulton-county-grand-jurors-threats [...] CONCLUSION The State wishes to ensure that the defendants' Sixth Amendment rights to a fair trial are protected. Therefore, State now moves this Court to issue an order: 1) Preventing any Defendant, members of the press, or any other person from videotaping, photographing, drawing, or otherwise creating or publishing images of the jurors or prospective jurors inside or outside the courtroom; and 2) Preventing any Defendant, members of the press, or any other person from publishing any verbal or written descriptions of any information that would assist persons in determining the identity of any jurors or prospective jurors, specifically physical descriptions, telephone numbers, addresses, employer names, and membership affiliations of all jurors or prospective jurors. Respectfully submitted this 6th day of September 2023, [signed] Fani Willis District Attorney Atlanta Judicial Circuit — The extent of the “doxing” that has already occurred is astounding. It could have a chilling effect on the most dedicated public servants. Imagine how it will affect average citizens, called up for jury duty. Willis is right to raise this issue to protect jurors identities, before this intimidation and harassment effort gets out of hand. Kudos to Willis for filing this pre-emptive motion. Without these protections jurors may tilt their verdicts — to whatever degree — based on the threats they keep getting in their email in-box and voicemail. Worse yet, prospective jurors may make claims that they are “too frightened” to serve on the jury — to do their public service. They would have a point — given the track-record of the RICO defendants, to apply intimidation against election workers . — If either of these things happen (biased outcomes, personal threats) — then it is “mission accomplished” for criminal defendant Trump. Someone really needs to hurry this trial along, as previously warned for such bad conduct. Poisoning the jury pool is not a joke. It is harassment. It is intimidation. And there should be consequences for such actions. Now, not someday. Courts wouldn’t accept this type of intimidation from Mafia Bosses — neither should they accept it from the MAGA Boss(es). Which is a difference, without much of a distinction, these days. — — [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/7/2192112/-DA-Willis-files-a-Motion-to-Protect-Jurors-from-Doxing Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/