Kevin Mitnick may not use a computer to review government evidence in his upcoming trial on computer-fraud and theft charges, a federal judge has ruled.
"We're never in the world going to do that," US District Court Judge Mariana Pfaelzer said Monday.
Pfaelzer ordered prosecutors to come up with an alternative plan that would allow Mitnick to review the evidence files. She gave them until 13 April to submit a proposal.
Government prosecutors argued that because of the nature of the charges against him, allowing Mitnick unrestricted access to files containing such things as computer burglar tools would be unwise. They also called him a flight risk and argued against bail. The judge agreed.
Mitnick was arrested in February 1995 after a nationwide search by federal investigators that later became the subject of several books. He faces three separate federal indictments: possession of cellular phone account information, violating the conditions of a supervised release program relating to a 1989 conviction of computer fraud, and alleged computer fraud committed between November 1992 and his arrest.
Mitnick, who'd been placed in solitary confinement last year as punishment for hoarding tuna, is due back in court on 14 April.
