Election watchdog faces theft charges
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/14136708.htm
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A 43-year-old actor has become a hero
to digital rights and political activists who they claim
is a whistle-blower who helped exposed a threat to the
election system.
But Stephen Heller also is alleged to be a thief.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles last month charged him with
three felonies for allegedly stealing damaging documents
about voting machine manufacturer Diebold Election Systems.
''My wife would never describe me as someone on the
front lines of anything, and I wouldn't either,'' Heller said.
''I'm not politically active except I've voted since I was 18.''
Prosecutors say Heller, of Van Nuys, took more than 500 pages
of Diebold-related documents, including memos from the company's lawyers
at the Jones Day law firm. The memos suggested that Diebold
may have broken state law by providing Alameda County with
voting machines that had not been certified by the state.
''This case is not about whistle-blowing. It's about theft
of attorney-client privileged material from an attorney's office,''
said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County
district attorney's office.
The California Voter Foundation, Black Box Voting,
an electronic voting group, and others believe Heller
is a whistle-blower who helped spur a state crackdown on Diebold.
''People should be thanking Stephen Heller because ultimately
he helped our secretary of state stop illegal acts by Diebold,''
said Cindy Coen, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
a San Francisco-based digital rights group.
Heller has pleaded not guilty to three counts of felony
access to computer data, commercial burglary and receiving
stolen property.
State law protects whistle-blowers from retaliation by employers,
but it does not preclude criminal prosecution.
Heller gained a few small roles on television shows and in
commercials, but acting failed to pay the bills and he refused
to wait any more tables. He began a three-month stint in the
Los Angeles office of Jones Day in December 2003 after
improving his typing to become a word processor. One of his
assignments was to transcribe an attorney's tapes on legal
issues facing Diebold.
Bev Harris, founder of Black Box Voting, told investigators
that Heller met her in a Ventura County park in early 2004
and gave her the documents. She turned them over to the
secretary of state and the Oakland Tribune.
''What Stephen did was the best of citizenry,'' Harris said.
Harris and another activist had already sued Diebold in 2003
for allegedly failing to certify the voting system. The state attorney
general's office later joined the lawsuit and Diebold eventually
settled for $2.6 million.
The state banned use of its machines, but the ban was reversed
this year and the machines have been certified for use in 17 counties.
Diebold declined to comment on Heller's prosecution.
Jones Day officials said they had to return $1 million
in legal fees to Diebold. ''As far we are aware, this is
a criminal matter. The authorities are taking care of it,
and we will watch to see what comes of it,'' said John Majoras,
a partner at Jones Day.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Association of
Computing Machinery, an information technology group,
have been searching for a pro bono attorney to help represent Heller.
Black Box Voting has donated $10,000 to the
Stephen Heller Legal Defense Fund.
''I'm optimistic that the right thing is going to be done here,'' Heller said.
''Hopefully, I'll get a chance to properly defend myself and justice will prevail.''
_________________________________________________
Stephen Heller Legal Defense Fund:
http://www.hellerlegaldefensefund.com/
Whether or not you are able to donate to Stephen's defense
fund, you can help Stephen by contacting the Los Angeles
District Attorney's office and asking them not to prosecute
Stephen Heller. Information on how to do that is below.
http://www.hellerlegaldefensefund.com/help.html
.
|
