[Infowarrior] - DoJ, FBI turn March 22 court date into evidentiary hearing

[Richard Forno]

DoJ, FBI turn March 22 court date into evidentiary hearing [u]

	• updated 05:14 pm EDT, Fri March 18, 2016
	•          by MacNN Staff

http://www.macnn.com/articles/16/03/18/hearing.speeds.the.entire.process.by.at.least.six.months.if.granted.133093/

Hearing speeds the entire process by at least six months, if granted

In another surprise move by the US Government, and further complicating the iPhone 5c penetration tool saga, the Department of Justice has asked that the hearing scheduled for Tuesday, March 22 be made an evidentiary hearing -- accelerating the discovery process significantly. Both Apple and the Department of Justice will be given opportunity to subject witnesses that have made court filings for cross-examination. (updated Friday, 6:19 PM ET)

Apple attorneys have protested the motion, saying that the request should have been made weeks ago, and not less than a week before the hearing. Should the motion be granted, Engadget claims that Apple's cryptography expert and product security and privacy manager Erik Neuenschwander will be in attendance, as well as Apple's global privacy and law enforcement compliance team lead Lisa Ollie will both be present at the hearing. The FBI will reportedly be bringing the two agents who filed declarations on the case, neither of which has any significant experience with encryption, nor what is required to penetrate the iPhone's security.

While the original source seems clear on the details, a call placed to the courthouse at 5PM ET (2PM PT) confirms that the filing was made on Wednesday. However, no ruling on the request has been posted to the electronic filing system as of yet. MacNN will continue to look into the situation, which is likely to evolve over the weekend. 

[strong]Update:[/strong] An Apple spokesperson has confirmed to us that the Tuesday hearing is now evidentiary.

MacNN has spoken with a DC-area lawyer who has been closely following the matter, and who wishes to remain anonymous. She told us that the move is "desperate" by the Department of Justice and notes that if granted, the hearing will speed the process by six to twelve months and "only helps the FBI" as it remains hard to "fight an upstream battle against the tide of public opinion of the electorate, which tends to be vindictive" in an already contentious election year. She noted that the quicker the saga lurches to an end before the election cycle concludes, regardless of victor, the better off any existing pro-establishment candidate may fare.


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