U.S. federal court overturns hacker Andrew Auernheimer’s conviction

Andrew AuernheimerA U. S. federal appeals court on Friday overturned the conviction of computer hacker Andrew Auernheimer, ruling that putting him on trial in New Jersey was improper as his alleged hacking had taken place elsewhere.

Auernheimer was convicted in 2012 for hacking into AT&T's website and stealing nearly 120,000 e-mail addresses of iPad users, including then-New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein, and give them to the website Gawker.

But, many digital rights advocates criticized his conviction and prison sentence of more than three years. They argued that he was one of numerous minor hackers who were arrested due to their political and anti-corporate views.

The U. S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit finally overturned his conviction yesterday, pointing out the government violated Auernheimer's rights by trying him in Newark in spite of absence of any obvious connection to New Jersey. A three-judge panel said Auernheimer's alleged hacking activities took place in Arkansas, while a co-conspirator was found in California, and the servers of AT&T they allegedly hacked were in Georgia and Texas. The panel added that trying a person where the crime was committed had been fundamental ever since the founding of the country.

Matthew Reilly, a spokesperson for the U. S. attorney's office in New Jersey, said, "The court determined that the Department of Justice brought this case in the wrong district. We're reviewing our options."

On the other hand, digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which worked on Auernheimer's appeal, hailed the decision, calling it an 'important' result.