Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 22, 1995 TAG: 9506220053
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DETROIT LENGTH: Medium
U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn said Jake Baker expressed no intent of actually carrying out such acts. He said the tale was ``only a rather savage and tasteless piece of fiction.''
Baker, 21, faced five counts of transmitting a threat to kidnap or injure by electronic mail. Each count is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Baker was arrested in February after a University of Michigan alumnus read his story on the worldwide computer network and notified school officials.
In addition to putting the fantasy on the Internet, he exchanged e-mail with another man about the tale, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors argued that Baker's e-mail evolved from ``shared fantasies to a firm plan of action.''
But defense lawyers argued that Baker's writings were protected free speech, and Cohn agreed.
The judge said ``musings, considerations of what it would be like to kidnap or injure someone, or desires to kidnap or injure someone'' do not violate the Constitution unless some intent to commit the acts is expressed.
``The government's enthusiastic beginning petered out to a salvage effort once it recognized that the communication which so much alarmed the University of Michigan officials was only a rather savage and tasteless piece of fiction,'' Cohn wrote.
Cohn said Baker's story about a fellow student, whose name has never been made public, would have been better handled as a disciplinary matter by the university.
Cohn also said it was important to note that the exchanges between Baker and a man identified as Arthur Gonda were private and, since Gonda has never been found, there is no way of knowing whether the threats could have been carried out.
Neither Baker nor his attorney, Douglas Mullkoff, immediately returned messages seeking comment.
U.S. Attorney Saul Green said he may appeal.
Baker was suspended by the university after he was charged, moved to his mother's home in Boardman, Ohio, and withdrew from the school.
Baker sent Gonda a message in December saying in part, ``I want to do it to a really young girl first. ... There (sic) innocence makes them so much more fun - and they'll be easier to control. What do you think?''
Gonda responds: ``I would love to do a 13 or 14 year old. I think you are right ... not only their innocence but their young bodies would really be fun to hurt.''
Paul Denenfeld, legal director for the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, praised the ruling and said he hopes it will curb prosecutors from filing similar charges.
``I don't think its realistic to think there are not going to be more legal issues presented in the future that raise questions about electronic communications,'' he said.
by CNB