Won't be active for a while

KD, I sure hope you get this worked out soon, and without any problems. :unsure:
I would have never thought that they would have cared this much about a 16-year old kid with a school computer.

Last edited by ChrisMG on Fri Mar 10, 2006 4:42 am; edited 1 time in total

Sometimes, but more often than not an attorney has a good excuse.  Public Defenders don't work only one case at a time.  Sometimes these guys have 5 or 6 people they're representing in totally different cases at one time.  Since the state selects them to represent people, they have valid reasons for being overworked and a judge will normally just issue a continuance.

Josh, the reason they care so much about a 16 year old with a computer is because the government dumps billions and billions of dollars a year (tax-payer money) into the education system.  If someone tampers with the education system, usually it's the public that gets upset because it's their money.  Public pressure on the officials can have a huge impact on how they handle things.  While I agree that what KD did isn't a very big deal, the fact that I have a daughter who someday will be in the public school system affects my view.  I wouldn't want someone else's kid to have a better chance in school just because they're a computer prodigy and can tamper with the system to their benefit at will.  It's sort of unfair to every other kid who goes in with the intention of working their fingers to the bone to make the grade.

KD, I'm not saying that this was your intention, but I'm trying to bring the public severity issue into light.  This is likely the reason they're making a big deal of it.  I still don't think it will haunt you for long, but right now, it seems pretty bad (in the public official's eyes.)  I hope this can get settled in a good way and not take too long.  From the little I know about you, you seem to be a guy of integrity and high intelligence.

Oh, I agree with you. knowledge of technology is knowledge of the future.

I was just pointing out most of the public opinion.

You know, alot hinges on whether the school wants to pursue any charges itself. The prosecutor can't just throw charges on KD unless the school wants to (sometimes he can, as in molestation or battery cases). Maybe the school just wants to see if he actually transferred anything, and if not, then the charges may be dropped. It's all up to the school administration really. Maybe they want to use him as a shining example of what NOT to do. That happens too.

Too much of a big deal I think.

Last edited by KoolDrew on Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:24 pm; edited 1 time in total

Wow, now my court date got pushed back to May 10th. It was supposed to be today and I was expecting to get my computers back Thursday or Friday. No, that's not happening. I'm going to be stuck with this crappy Dell for yet another month. No Oblivion for me unless I go out and buy an Xbox 360. However, with the fines and other crap going on I don't think I'll have enough money so I'm just going to have to wait until I get my computers back. :(

Gosh you should have done a better job not to get caught or done it at all. your not in my cyber ninja gang....

jusk kidding well maybe once you get hacking a little more masterd you can get hired into a big corporation and take over the internet security part and make the BIG BUCKS!

I doubt he actually hacked. He probably just guessed the admin password.

Last edited by KoolDrew on Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:07 pm; edited 1 time in total

I know why they pushed your court date back because the cops are having fun playing your games on your computer. :P

Last edited by ChrisMG on Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:53 pm; edited 1 time in total

They might just be buying time to stack up evidence against him.

More probably, the courts are undoubtedly swamped or the Police/Detective couldn't make it today, hence a continuance.

what would all the computers in the world prove against him if what he did was at school.

Good point...

Last edited by ChrisMG on Fri Apr 14, 2006 11:30 am; edited 1 time in total

Because they have this thing called 'Probable Cause' to believe that he may be involved in computer crimes.  They would need his computers to gather evidence...however, they would probably have had to have had a search warrant to get them under the 4th Amendment that dictates illegal searches and seizures.

Personally, I think we're making much too big a deal of it, and its probably my fault.  I'm just trying to give all of you an insight into how this whole thing works.  He'll be fine.  He has no criminal record and what he did was probably a very very low level misdemeanor or even less.  They'll slap him on the hand, maybe fine him a small amount and he might get a few hours of community service.  And he's a minor.  Unless its murder or a very heinous felony, minors typically get off with a stern warning unless they're repeat offenders, which he's not.  He'll eventually get his computers back, and that will be that.

Keep in mind that I'm not an attorney, I'm just a law enforcement officer who deals with this day by day.  I have no idea what will happen in reality there in NY, but what I've said above has happened more often than not here.

Predator makes a valid point.  What exactly did he do and what does the NY state statute view it as?  So far we have virtually no hard information, not that we're privy to any as it stands.  I once knew a guy who hacked (Yes, hacked, not just script running) a large server in a medium sized corporation.  He was caught, indicted, found guilty and sentenced to 2 years in prison.  And I believe it was in NY.  This was a few years ago and he's done now, but it shows the level of law here.  This guy actually went in and tampered with Corporate Secrets (to a company that could afford a VERY good attorney too)...did Drew do that to a school?  Doubt it.

No, I won't say his name or divulge any other information, but if you dig deep enough, you can probably find the court transcripts somewhere.  I'm pretty sure it made the paper.