Hacker Lauri Love Wins Extradition Appeal - Extradition Hearing Transcript Sept. 2016 (Videos)

HACKER LAURI LOVE WINS EXTRADITION APPEAL + EXTRADITION HEARING TRANSCRIPT Sept. 2016 + VIDEOS

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HACKER LAURI LOVE WINS EXTRADITION APPEAL – 5 FEB. 2018

.

LAURI LOVE EXTRADITION HEARING TRANSCRIPTION + videos

Posted on September 24, 2016by butlincat

 

APPLICATION AND BACKGROUND

1. This is an application by the Government of the United States of

America for the extradition of the requested person, Lauri Love,

(dob: 14.12.1984) a United Kingdom citizen, who is accused of

unlawfully accessing computers used by United States Federal

Agencies and private companies and misusing the data he

unlawfully obtained.

2. The United States of America is a Category 2 territory. Part 2 of the

Extradition Act 2003 (the Act) applies.

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3. The criminal proceedings in the US have been commenced in three

judicial districts, the Southern District of New York, the District of

New Jersey and the Eastern District of Virginia. These proceedings

are referred to within a Diplomatic Note from the United States

dated 6th July 2015. The material relating to each of the judicial

districts was separately certified by the Secretary of State on 7th July

2015 and these proceedings are treated as a single request. The

bundle contains the warrants for Mr Love’s arrest in the three

districts and were issued by the Southern District of New York on

21st February 2015, District of New Jersey on 23rd March 2015 and

Eastern District of Virginia on 21st May 2015.

4. Following certification a warrant was issued for Mr Love’s arrest.

Mr Love was arrested on 15th July 2015 and appeared at

Westminster Magistrates’ Court on the same day. The initial hearing

was unchallenged. Mr Love did not consent to his extradition. He

was granted bail and has remained on bail throughout the

proceedings.

5. Section 78 of the Act requires the judge at the initial stages of the

extradition hearing to decide whether the documents received

include the documents referred to in section 70(9), the certified

request, the particulars of the person whose extradition is sought,

particulars of the offences specified in the request and, where a

person is accused of an offence, a warrant for his arrest has been

issued in the category 2 territory.

6. I have received prosecutor’s affidavits and photos which accord with

the particulars given in the Diplomatic Note which provides Mr

Love’s personal information and references to other names he is

known as including, “nsh”, “peace”, “shift”, “route”, “Smedley

Butler”.

EXTRADITION OFFENCES

7. The Government of the United States is not required by operation of

the Extradition Act 2003, in common with many other States, to

adduce a prima facie case and it is not for me to determine if there is

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a case to answer, however, I have set out the nature and extent of

the evidence obtained by the United States prosecutors against Mr

Love. I will set out an overview of the evidence contained in the

affidavits to set out the extradition offences (details of the individual

indictments are contained in Mr Caldwell’s Opening Note dated 15th

June 2016, pages 5-12).

8. Mr Love is accused in three indictments that between the period

October 2012 to October 2013, he, working with others, made a

series of cyber-attacks on the computer networks of private

companies and United States Government agencies, (including the

US Federal Reserve, US Army, US Department of Defence, Missile

Defence Agency, NASA, Army Corps of Engineers, Department of

Health and Human Services, US Sentencing Commission, FBI

Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, Deltek Inc, Department

of Energy, Forte Interactive, Inc) in order to steal and then publicly

disseminate confidential information found on the networks,

including what is referred to as personally identifiable information

(“PII”).

9. Mr Love is accused in three indictments in three districts as follows:

(i) Southern District of New York – Mr Love faces two counts on

Indictment, one of computer hacking (maximum sentence of

10 years imprisonment) and one of aggravated identity theft

(maximum sentence of 2 years imprisonment to be imposed

consecutively to the sentence for count 1).

(ii) The New Jersey request details two counts on one indictment.

One count is conspiracy to access a computer without

authorisation and obtain information from a department or

agency of the United States (maximum sentence of 5 years

imprisonment) and one of accessing a computer without

authorisation and obtaining information from a department or

agency of the United States (maximum sentence of 5 years

imprisonment).

(iii) The Eastern District of Virginia request contains nine counts on

an Indictment, count 1 – conspiracy to cause damage to a

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protected computer and to commit access device fraud

(maximum sentence of 5 years imprisonment); counts 2 -7 –

causing damage to a protected computer and aiding and

abetting (maximum sentence of 5 years imprisonment); count

8 – access device fraud and aiding and abetting (maximum

sentence of 10 years imprisonment) and count 9 – aggravated

identity theft and aiding and abetting (maximum sentence of 2

years imprisonment).

10.In most of the attacks it is alleged Mr Love gained unauthorised

access by exploiting vulnerabilities in a programme the computers

ran known as Adode ColdFusion; software designed to build and

administer websites and databases (the “ColdFusion Attacks”). It is

further alleged Mr Love also carried out “SQL Injection Attacks” in

which unauthorised access was gained to computer databases by

manipulating “structured query language”, computer programming

language designed to retrieve and manage data on computer

databases (the “SQL Injection Attacks”).

11. Once inside the compromised computer systems, Mr Love and

others placed hidden “shells” or “backdoors” within the networks.

This allowed them to return and steal the confidential data which

included telephone numbers, social security numbers, credit card

details and salary information of employees, health care

professionals, and service personnel.

12. A confidential source working for the United States Federal Bureau

of Investigation (FBI) had access to a restricted online “chat room”

used by Mr Love and others from about 2012 to 2013. They had

discussions about their hacking activity in the chat room using

Internet Relay Chat (“IRC”). This allows multiple users to talk

about their activities using typed messages to each other. Various

online names were used to disguise their true identities. From this

the FBI has identified Mr Love’s nicknames as “nsh”, “peace”, “shift”

and “route”.

13. Mr Love used IRC to discuss how to “exfiltrate” the stolen data and

what could be done with it.

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14. On 25th October 2013 officers of the National Crime Agency (NCA)

executed a search warrant at Mr Love’s address in Stradishall,

Newmarket, while he was present. One of his computers was logged

onto an online chat room using the name “nsh”. It is alleged some

of the computers in his possession had some of the data stolen

during the computer intrusions under investigation, including some

intrusions that he discussed online using the name “nsh” and other

names attributable to him.

15. Under section 137(3)(b) I have to be satisfied that the conduct

specified in the request would constitute offences in the United

Kingdom if they had occurred in England and Wales. Mr Caldwell’s

analysis of the offences (set out at page 13, para 52 of his Opening

Note) has not been challenged by Mr Cooper and I am satisfied the

conduct alleged would amount to the offences outlined at paragraph

52 and therefore are extradition offences, namely offences under

sections 1 and 2 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (carrying

maximum sentences of 2 years and 5 years imprisonment

respectively); sections 327, 328 and 329 of the Proceeds of Crime

Act 2002 (carrying maximum sentences of 14 years imprisonment)

and the common law offence of conspiracy.

EVIDENCE

16. I have been supplied with bundles of documents and have heard

oral evidence and submissions from the parties including written

submissions.

17. Reverend Alexander Love gave evidence in person and adopted

his three statements dated 3rd October 2015 (Bundle, pages 373-

384), 13th January 2016 (pages 385-386) and 27th June 2016. His

oral evidence can be summarised as follows: He gave evidence of his

son’s history of anxiety and low self-esteem, of how he “fell apart”

when he was at sixth form college, during his National Service in

Finland (he applied for a Finnish passport as his mother is Finnish

and was aware he would have to undertake military service) and

when he attend Nottingham and Glasgow Universities. In 2005,

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whilst at Nottingham University, his son became depressed and

returned home a “mental and physical wreck” (bundle tab23, para

36). In 2006 he suffered anxiety and was referred to mental health

services

18. During Mr Love’s second year at Glasgow University his mental

health deteriorated so badly his parents had to collect him and bring

him home. He has told his parents that if it were not for them he

would have killed himself.

19. In his role as a prison Chaplin in Highpoint Prison in Suffolk,

Reverend Love told me of the approach used by the prison estate in

the UK to deal with potential suicidal risks in prisoners, which I

interpret as being an holistic approach, including engaging with the

prisoner’s family and encouraging the inmate to talk about their

situation. His son will not have parental support if extradited.

20.Under cross examination Reverend Love said his son would not take

his life “in an attempt to make us feel guilty” but that if he were on

remand in the United States and his family were no longer with him,

“despair will grip him deeper”.

21. Mrs Sirkka Love gave evidence in person and adopted her

statements dated 3rd October 2015 (Tab 25) and 28th June 2016

(Tab 39). Her oral evidence can be summarised as follows: She

confirmed her son was diagnosed with eczema as a baby; he also

suffers from asthma. In the last few years she has noticed a

correlation between his physical symptoms (screaming and

suffering pain) and his mental state. She agrees with her husband’s

statement (tab 23, page 9, para 4) in which he states, “The only

thing that keeps Lauri from killing himself is me and my wife and

having him at home with us. He has told me very clearly he would

kill himself if there was an order for extradition”.

22.Professor Simon Baron-Cohen gave evidence in person and

adopted his three reports dated 7th December 2015 (tab 4), 4th

February 2016 (tab 5) and 1st June 2016 (tab 6). He is Professor of

Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge and

Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is Director of the Autism

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Research Centre in Cambridge. He has been involved in autism

research for 30 years and has been a consultant in the NHS for 15

years specialising in the diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome in adults.

23.He has considered the evidence of other experts in this case,

including Professor Kopleman’s witness statement and evidence of

the treatment Mr Love is likely to receive in US custody. He

confirmed Mr Love’s diagnosis of suffering from Asperger

Syndrome (AS) which is a sub group of the autistic spectrum. He

does not have AS in combination with learning difficulties, attention

deficit and language. He is high functioning.

24.Those suffering from AS struggle in social relations,

communication, develop unusual interests, have hypersensitivity

and cannot adjust to social change. Mr Love feels socially isolated

and suffers from severe depression, which is not uncommon in AS

sufferers. The questionnaire completed by Mr Love was self-
reporting and is used to determine scores to identify how many

autistic traits an individual has in order to be referred to a specialist.

When he sees a patient he always takes due diligence that someone

may be inflating their symptoms.

25.Under cross examination Professor Baron Cohen agreed that Mr

Love has capacity to participate in a trial, give instructions to his

lawyers and a fair trial process was available to him. He also said,

“to be balanced, in prison he could be as calm as he is now and put

his hand up and ask for help. Equally his mental health may

deteriorate and he cannot do that if the voice will tell him to kill

himself”. Psychological wellbeing fluctuates.

26.He agreed the overwhelming priority, if extradition were ordered,

was to keep Mr Love alive. This could be done on bail under the

supervision of his parents. Incarceration in the United Kingdom

prior to removal would not be a means of alleviating suicide. Mr

Love has thought through the way he could evade detection about

committing suicide and he is able to do this and said, “it would be a

risk to assume this is a fantasy”. He agreed that a previous attempt

at suicide might be an indicator of Mr Love attempting suicide

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again, but in this case the self-neglect and being unwell which

necessitated him being brought home from University may be a sign

of suicidality.

27. Professor Baron-Cohen assessed Mr Love’s risk of suicide as very

high and if he were not at home his risk increased. Mr Love was

“way above average intelligence” and would be well aware the

authorities will do all they can to prevent suicide. When asked if Mr

Love’s suicide ideology was a voluntary act or through mental

illness, Professor Baron-Cohen’s evidence was Mr Love’s experience

of intent was not a reflection of a voluntary plan or act, he does not

want to die but his mental health is so dependent on being at home

with his parents and not being detained for an indefinite period, he

could not impose restraint on himself to stop himself committing

suicide. He has made it clear that at the point he is handed over his

suicidal feelings will increase.

28.The Professor was initially impressed with the United State’s highly

developed mental health system and how it cared for prisoners with

mental health issues but changed his mind after reading Dr

Kucharski’s report, which highlights staff shortages, prisoner ratios

and there being no experts in AS. There is insufficient clinical or

other support to prevent a likely suicide.

29.He said it would be pure speculation about what would happen to

Mr Love in solitary confinement.

30.He confirmed his opinion in his report dated 1st June 2016 (tab 6,

page 1, para 1a) that the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) protocols

are not satisfactory for Mr Love given mental health services are

only valuable on a non-emergency, voluntary basis and Mr Love

may not be allowed to see a private specialist.

31. Dr Thomas Kucharski gave evidence in person. He has been a

forensic psychologist for 30 years. For 2 1⁄2 years from 1991 he was

a forensic psychologist at the Federal Medical Centre in Rochester,

Minnesota (one of five medical facilities operated by the Federal

Bureau of Prisons). For the next 9 years he was a forensic

psychologist and promoted to Chief Psychologist at the

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Metropolitan Correction Centre in New York (one of the facilities

Mr Love might be detained at if extradited). He has no direct

experience of the two contract facilities in New Jersey and Virginia

where Mr Love would be held during proceedings in those districts

but served for 1 year as Director of Mental Health at the Westchester

County Department of Corrections in Valhalla, New York, a county

jail that contracts to detain federal inmates. Since leaving BOP in

2002 he has maintained a part time forensic psychology assessment

practice. He said his experience was relatively up to date, he has

attended the Metropolitan Detention Centres in Brooklyn and

Manhattan and remains in contact with a number of people in the

facility.

32.He adopted his report dated 10th June 2016 (tab 15). He told me Dr

Lynn’s Affidavit correctly states there are 600 psychologists or staff

in the 122 Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) institutions but

mischaracterises their role; the true level of services is substantially

lower than that she states. Each institution has a Chief Psychologist

(which is in effect an administrative role). Out of 60, one

psychologist would be a drug abuse co-ordinator who would not

engage with prisoners and 30 are forensic psychologists who

prepare reports regarding competency to stand trial. All inmates in

segregation have to be seen every 30 days.

33.Dr Kucharski said it was most likely Mr Love would be sent to the

Metropolitan Detention Centre. That facility shares a full time

psychiatrist. He has concerns that, given Mr Love’s presentation, he

would be placed on suicide watch for a substantial period of time

and probably as soon as he arrived. There is also a high risk of

suicide if he were placed in segregation (where he would go if he

misbehaved). Dr Kucharski commented that a lot of mentally ill

prisoners are in solitary confinement as their behaviour “upsets the

apple cart”.

34.Suicide watch comprises being put in a room with an inmate

observing the prisoner 24 hours a day. The conditions in

segregation are the same as those on suicide watch save for inmate

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observation. Mr Love would be seen by a psychologist once a day to

determine if he needed to stay on suicide watch. He commented,

“no one commits suicide on suicide watch”.

35. Dr Kucharski also told me the county jails probably have worse

mental health facilities than in the metropolitan areas, where

prisoners who are serving either short sentences or who are pre-trial

are detained.

36.Under cross examination Dr Kucharski said he assesses fitness to

plead, insanity cases, sex offender and civil commitment cases. He

was last amongst the prison population in 2002.

37. He has not dealt with someone extradited to the United States but

would hope the United States Marshalls would be aware of Mr

Love’s medical background. On arrival in the United States he

would go onto suicide watch at MDC.

38.He confirmed that prisoners suffering from acute symptoms or

those who could not function in a medical facility (he gave the

example of those suffering from severe schizophrenic symptoms)

would be transferred to medical centres.

39.Professor Michael Kopelman gave evidence in person. He is an

Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychiatry at Kings College London.

He adopted his three reports dated 7th December 2015 (tab 7) and

reports dated 12th May 2016 and 26th May 2016 (tab 8). His oral

evidence can be summarised as follows: Mr Love suffered from

recurrent depressive disorder at age 20, 24-25 and in his late 20s.

He has severe eczema and asthma. These conditions can predispose

someone to depression.

40.In August 2012 Mr Love was referred to his local community health

team by his GP. In his opinion, at that time, Mr Love was on the

verge of psychosis and was clinically depressed, scoring high on the

Beck Depression Inventory (53). Mr Love continues to describe

features of depression and the hallucination to kill himself when

either severely depressed or fatigued. If/when extradition becomes

“imminent his mental health with plummet. Hallucinations will get

worse as will his eczema and asthma and suicide ideas will become

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prominent in his mind”. He suggested Mr Love should see an

expert in AS and a psychiatrist to help him with his depression.

41. After hearing Kucharski’s evidence, Dr Kopelman said it was likely

Mr Love would be in and out of suicide watch, likely to become

agitated and not tolerated by the prison authorities, resulting in him

being put in segregation, which is well known to have an adverse

mental effect on anybody. For someone with an existing

psychological disorder, such as Mr Love, it will be even worse. He

anticipated the consequences for Mr Love being held for a

prolonged period in pre-trial detention in the United States as

resulting in a severe deterioration in his mental state, a severe

exacerbation of his clinical depression, the possible onset of

psychotic ideas and experiences, a worsening of his eczema and

asthma and “in consequence, an exacerbation of suicidal ideas to a

“very high” level” (tab 8, bullet point 3).

42.Under cross examination Professor Kopleman confirmed he had

met Mr Love on 3 occasions and had spoken to him on the

telephone. He accepted he had given Mr Love the “Beck Depression

Inventory” questionnaire to complete to cast his mind back to how

he was feeling in 2012/2013 and agreed it was slightly artificial to

get someone to describe their mental state. Mr Love’s medical

records are limited, he has never been referred to either a senior

psychiatrist or a senior clinical psychologist. He has been seen by

his GP and a Community Mental Health Team Support Worker.

43.Dr Kopleman said it was not unreasonable to conclude at times of

intense stress Mr Love would experience episodes of psychosis given

he has had pseudo hallucinations and fragmentary thought

processes in the past. He too agreed with Professor Baron-Cohen’s

assessment that this was not a fantasy.

44.In his opinion what would tip Mr Love over the brink, from not

committing suicide, would be a severe deterioration in his

depression, psychotic symptoms (including hearing voices), asthma

and eczema.

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45.His mental condition would remove his mental capacity to resist the

impulse to commit suicide. Segregation in a United Kingdom prison

is a last resort for the most serious cases of someone at risk of

committing suicide.

46.Mr Love has not been taking his medication which is why he needs

to be supervised by either a Consultant Psychiatrist or a Senior

Clinical Psychologist.

47. Naomi Colvin gave evidence in person. She adopted her

statements dated 30th November 2015 (tab 26) and 14th January

2016 (tab 27) is a campaigner and works for the Courage

Foundation, an international organisation dedicated to protecting

the rights of whistle-blowers worldwide. She told me of a number of

cases highlighting the fact that in like circumstances where

defendants in the United States were sentenced to imprisonment

they spent substantial time in pre-court detention and were subject

to coercive plea-bargaining.

48.Under cross examination she confirmed the Courage Foundation is

raising funds to cover Mr Love’s legal costs through social media

and campaigning on his behalf to help him avoid extradition.

49.Jennifer Arcuri gave evidence in person. She adopted her

statements dated 2nd February 2016 (tab 30), undated statement

(tab 40) and statement 29th June 2016. She set up Hacker House

with its aim of ethical hacking. She met Lauri Love 9 months ago.

She attests to his emotional fragility. He works at Hacker House

from Thursday – Monday.

50.Lauri Love adopted his four statements dated 10th December 2015

(tab 19), 13th January 2016 (tab 20), 1st February 2016 (tab 21) and

undated proof (tab 22). In his oral evidence he told me as a child he

felt a deep sense of alienation from his peers and remembered

thinking he was different to others. He was very close to his sister

and had a small group of friends. When the family moved to

Lowestoft his hair fell out. It grew back when he went to 6th form

college. However he dropped out and worked in a turkey factory.

He applied for a Finnish passport, because his mother is Finnish,

13

and had to undertake military service. This was not successful

because he could not interact with others and was transferred to the

civil service. He describes himself as “falling below water” when he

cannot function properly. He entered into crisis and was diagnosed

with depression. He was apprehensive about taking antidepressants,

giving an example of a friend’s problems taking them. He finds it

difficult to confide in people and does not “know how empathy and

autism are related, but if I share problems it seems unfair and I’ve

kept my counsel. It appears now, given my understanding of AS, I

have not been able to do this”. In respect of his eczema, he told me

he bathes every day and uses creams and steroids. He has tried

immune suppressant drugs in the past but given he has a

suppressed immune system, he is cautious about using them. He

experiences skin infections and his skin falls off. The pain from his

eczema causes him stress which in turn causes more inflammation

of his skin.

51. He is unable to resist the need to scratch, “every day I try my utmost

to tear apart the skin in my body. Every day I fail to control this

urge. If sent to the United States of America those conditions, urges

to die would be stronger than my urge to scratch every day. My

degree of control is already impaired because of these proceedings.

The urge, the despair, feeling of helplessness will result in my

ending my life”.

52. His involvement in activism started at Glasgow University. He was

involved in a 7 months occupation of the university. He also told me

about Aaron Schwartz who committed suicide after being

prosecuted for downloading documents from the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology. He feels the prosecutors have added

charges to obtain a plea bargain, which he will refuse. He also said

he will not be able to access the evidence against him if he were in

custody.

53. He is currently studying for a degree in electrical engineering at

University Campus Suffolk and teaching at the University. He works

for Hacker House advising on computer security systems.

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54.Under cross examination, Mr Love was asked about his relationship

with the media and it was put to him that, with the assistance of

others, he was trying to liken himself to Gary McKinnon and that he

has exaggerated his symptoms to the professionals, which he

denied. Although he has been diagnosed with AS for over 6 months

he has not taken antidepressants because they are not for AS. He

denied seeking to promote his personal difficulties as a shield.

55. Sylvia Royce gave evidence over Scopia. She is a lawyer and

member of the Bar of the District of Columbia and of the Bar of the

United States Supreme Court. Between October 1995 and August

2000 she was Chief of the International Prisoner Transfer

Programme, which is part of the Criminal Division of the

Department of Justice. She adopted her reports dated 8th and 12th

February 2007 (tab 16) which she prepared for the case of Gary

McKinnon. Her knowledge of prisoner transfers is up to date. In

2016 she had two cases involving applications for transfer to the

United Kingdom which were both refused. The prosecutor’s

position is the single most important factor in the decision for

prisoner transfer and there is an expectation it will be part of a plea

bargaining process. She has seen cases where prosecutors will not

agree to a transfer without a plea bargain. Prisoners can apply for

reconsideration of prisoner transfer 3 years after the original

refusal.

56.Under cross examination Ms Royce confirmed the Chief of Transfer

makes recommendations to the signatory authority which are

usually granted. In this case, it will be Ms Woolf who will make the

decision if a request for transfer is made. A prisoner can make a

request for transfer within 8- 12 weeks of arrival at their federal

prison.

57. A district judge makes the decision about a financial order for

restitution. A probation officer undertakes a financial investigation

of the defendant but she was unsure what this would involve for a

foreign national and was not sure how the representations are

weighed when the defendant is a foreign national. There have been

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..continues: https://butlincat.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/hacker-lauri-love-wins-extradition_89.html