[x-pubpol] Twitter hands over messages at heart of Occupy case

[Joly MacFie]

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19597437

Legal pressure has forced Twitter to hand over messages sent by an Occupy
Wall Street protester.

Twitter spent months resisting the call to release the messages, saying to
do so would undermine privacy laws.

If the messages were not handed over on 14 September, Twitter would have
been in contempt of court and faced substantial fines.

The Manhattan district attorney's office wanted the tweets to help its case
against protester Malcolm Harris.

It believes the messages undermine Mr Harris' claim that New York police
led protesters on to the Brooklyn Bridge to make it easier to arrest them.
It claims the messages will show Mr Harris was aware of police orders that
he then disregarded.

Mr Harris has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

As the large number of messages are no longer available online, the
Manhattan district attorney took legal action to win access to Mr Harris'
account and three months' worth of messages.

Mr Harris was one of about 700 protesters arrested during demonstrations in
New York in October 2011. The protests spilled on to the Brooklyn Bridge
and Mr Harris claims that police action prompted protesters to move on to
the bridge so they could then be arrested for obstructing traffic.

Twitter has now surrendered the messages to the court where the trial is
taking place, but they will remain uninspected while an appeal lodged by Mr
Harris' lawyer is heard. A hearing on the appeal is due to be heard within
seven days.

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