Juror Speaks: Teacher in Porn Case

["'Richard M. Smith'" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/003741.html

A juror in the Julie Amero porn pop-up case sent me an e-mail. He thinks
Amero was guilty of not protecting the children in her classroom and wanted
to give me his rationale for the guilty verdict. His words in a sec.

Julie Amero's Dilemma 
If you're not familiar with Julie Amero's problems, you can catch up by
reading "Woman Faces 40 Years for Porn-Infected PC (Crazy, but True)" here
<http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128672-c,browsersecurity/article.html> .

It's a longish piece, but here are the basics: Amero is a substitute teacher
in a small Connecticut town. The PC in the classroom where she was subbing
was infected with spyware and malware, and several children were exposed to
inappropriate content. Amero was convicted of not protecting the children. 

The Juror's Words
The e-mail from the juror, ConnYankee1951, came as a complete surprise. He
said he subscribed to my PC World newsletter and proceeded to talk about why
he voted to find her guilty. (He asked me not to reveal his real name and to
use his nom de plume instead.)

Through sources with access to court transcripts, I was able to verify that
ConnYankee1951 was definitely on the jury that convicted Amero. 

Here's exactly what he wrote in his e-mail to me, including typos (I've
inserted my comments in italics):

"I was on the jury and yes we did find her guilty. 

"But everything seems to be misquoted by the papers and reporters envolved.
The bottom line was that it didn't make a difference who or how the porn
sites showed up on the computer."

According to the trial transcript, Amero testified that she made every
attempt to keep the children from seeing the images. In fact, a number of
children at the trial testified that she had attempted to block them from
seeing the screen. Also, another substitute teacher testified that Julie had
asked for help in the teachers lounge. 

"The fact that a teacher in a public scol system did absolutly nothing to
keep it away from the children is what was wrong. Yes we were told that she
was given no permissions to turn off the computer, she also said she was not
allowed to use any other school equipment. 

"If a 40 year old school teacher does not have the sense to turn off or is
not smart enough to figure it out, would you or any other person wanting her
teaching your child or grandchild?"

At the trial Amero testified that she didn't, in fact, know how to turn a
computer on or off. 

"If you and your wife were watching an xxx rated movie the you put into the
dvd player, you powered it up and you hit play, then went into the other
room for a snack and your child or grandchild entered the room would you
expect your wife to stop the dvd or just let it play because she didn't
start it. No you would be upset as all get out. 

"Even giving Julie the benefit of doubt, not knowing enough about a computer
to be able to turn it off. Some paper and tape would have covered the screen
or a coat or sweater, it was October after all. 

"Finally she was pronounced guilty because she made no effort to hide or
stop the porno, not just because she loaded the porno onto the machine.
Going to the history pages it was obvious that the paged were clicked on
they were not the result of pop-ups."

Actually, the defense expert at the trial testified that the sites visited
were from pop-ups.

"Each web page visited showed where links were clicked on and followed to
other pages. Pop ups go to sites without change lnk colors, as in used
links."

That's incorrect. Pop-ups show as a changed type color, just like a normal
site visit.

It's Your Turn
There's plenty of room for your thoughts in Comments below.

Tomorrow: Comments from Detective Mark Lounsbury, the crime prevention
officer with the Norwich Police Department.


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