The case involving a Michigan man who is the first to be charged with a felony under Michigan’s anti-hacking statute continues to make news. Eric Johnson, Chris Bury, and Bret Hovell of ABC report, in part:
This is Michigan’s first criminal prosecution for snooping through a spouse’s e-mails. So far, two Michigan judges have refused to toss out the charges in the potentially precedent-setting case.
“It’s outrageous. It’s insane,” Leon Walker told ABC News.
Walker, 33, said it was easy for him to log in because his wife kept the password in a book next to the computer — something that Clara Walker denies.
Prosecutors contend that Walker — who is a computer technician — illegally hacked into his wife’s computer after she had filed for divorce, but Walker’s lawyer calls the prosecution’s claim an overzealous application of a law meant to protect trade secrets and credit card data.
“People who live under the same roof, be they married or not, and who share a computer — as in this instance — they may have some personal privacy lines that they adhere to. And if they don’t, that’s between the two individuals,” defense attorney Leon Weiss said.
“The word ‘e-mail’ does not appear in this statute. This is an anti-hacking statute,” Weiss said. “It does not, in any way, shape or form encompass reading somebody’s e-mail.”
Read more on ABC News.
ABC’s interview with the wife will be on Nightline tonight.
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