FPC’s coverage of the prosecution of publishers Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin on charges related to Backpage.
On January 7, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich, the trial judge in the ongoing criminal case against award-winning newspapermen Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin, denied a defense motion challenging the adequacy of computer server evidence, which the government claims…
In a 12-page decision issued on December 20 from his chambers in Los Angeles, U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner brushed aside a First Amendment challenge to the federal government’s seizure of millions in publishing proceeds as part of…
At an hour and a half-long evidentiary hearing in Phoenix’s federal court on December 2, computer forensics expert Tami Loehrs testified that the FBI had shattered vital defense evidence in the criminal case against veteran journalists Michael Lacey and Jim…
An October 25 evidentiary hearing in Phoenix federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich offered additional proof of the government’s bad faith in its prosecution of Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin, the erstwhile owners of the online classifieds…
In a 22-page order filed in federal court in Phoenix on October 24, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich denied a defense motion to dismiss the 100-count indictment in the Lacey and Larkin case. The judge found that, given the…
A powerful new defense motion in the ongoing criminal case involving longtime Phoenix newspapermen and former Backpage.com owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin contends that federal prosecutors poisoned the grand jury process, obtaining indictments against the two men and their…
During a grueling, day-long evidentiary hearing on Oct. 3 at the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse in downtown Phoenix, government witnesses testified that the FBI botched the seizure of the ex-listings behemoth, Backpage.com, by failing to maintain the databases on…
With nary a black cat in sight, Friday, September 13 still proved unfortunate for government attorneys in the Lacey and Larkin case. During a pre-trial hearing in federal court in Phoenix, prosecutors sought to continue stonewalling defense counsel on access…
During a two-hour pretrial hearing in downtown Phoenix on Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Susan M. Brnovich swatted away prosecutors’ efforts to sanction the defense team over allegations that ex-Backpage owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin disclosed sensitive government documents…
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today vacated a lower court’s order halting a First Amendment challenge by ex-Backpage owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin to the federal government’s seizure of millions of…
