Comment Re:Why was this "difficult"? (Score 5, Informative) 982
Thanks for your comments, I hope I can address them all. First, he was not fired before asked for access to the FiberWAN. And there's a big distinction there -- not only was he asked for passwords, he was asked for "access". I can understand not giving up your personal username and password, but also not allowing anyone else there own access is entirely different. However, he did go into this meeting knowing that he was being "reassigned", so I'm of the frame of mind that he actually thought he was being fired. After a long period of different claims -- including that he didn't remember them, that he himself had been locked out of the system for three months (even though he was working on it that morning), providing incorrect passwords -- he was placed on administrative leave. He was even scheduled to have a meeting the next week with the CTO of the city to discuss the matter. However, he made one of the biggest mistakes then that he could have. While under police surveillance, he decided then to leave the state and make cash withdrawals of over $10,000. He was arrested, and that's where it became a criminal matter instead of simply an employment matter.
His representation was very good and did a great job in presenting his defense. However, the prosecution was also very good and presented some pretty damning evidence. The law that he broke was a section CA Penal Code 502, specifically that he disrupted or denied computer service to an authorized user and he did so without permission. We had legal definitions provided for many terms, including "computer service" and from this we were able to determine that the ability to manage or configure the routers and switches of the FiberWAN is a "computer service". So, in a nutshell, he broke the law by denying to the COO and others within the IT group the ability to manage those routers when ordered to do so.
I too really wish the case had been dismissed, but I think the city let this story get too large and didn't want to lose face by dropping all the charges. However, as a juror I cannot allow myself to make decisions based on why I think the city did what it did or whether I think that was right or wrong. I really had to take all the facts before me and apply them to the law, and I would hope that if I were ever in court that twelve other people would do the same for me.