[July 24, 2007]

Computer expert takes stand in Speers trial

(The Sun (Yuma, AZ)(KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jul. 24--A well-known author and computer expert on the Internet, e-mail and cybersecurity testified Monday in the retrial of a former Yuma teacher accused of molesting some of his second-grade students.

Called to the stand by the defense, John R. Levine, who wrote the book, "Internet for Dummies," spent the afternoon giving jurors in the trial of Phillip Gregory Speers a general overview of the Internet.

While he did not conduct forensic exams on either of the two computers involved in the case, Levine did review a disk with an exact copy of one of the computer's hard drives and a partial printout of that disk that showed when the files on it were last modified.

While questioning Levine, Kristi Riggins, of the Yuma County Public Defenders Office, asked him about a wide array of Internet topics such as spam, worms, viruses and trojan horses.

Riggins also asked Levine about the proliferation of computer pornography in 2000 and how computers of that time, especially those that used the Windows 98 operating system were virtually unprotected against it.

"There is a great deal of pornography on the Internet and someone can receive it, even if they did not ask for it," said Levine, who was being paid $250 to testify. "It's not surprising that pornographers realized that the Internet was a way for them to get their material to customers."

Levine also testified that it was very common for Web sites -- including pornographic sites -- to use misleading names to lure more traffic.

"It was very easy to misspell something and wind up going somewhere completely different," Levine said.

Speers, 36, whose previous convictions had been overturned, faces two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He is also facing four counts of child molestation and one count of sexual conduct with a minor in a second case, which also must be retried.

Levine was also asked about temporary Internet files and to explain to jurors what they are and how they work.

He explained that a Web browser downloads files into what is called a temporary Internet file folder so the computer can work faster. He also said these can be downloaded without the user knowing it.

During his cross-examination, prosecutor David Haws asked Levine if he could tell, based on the information he had reviewed, if he saw any evidence of any software that would have downloaded the pornographic Web pages and images found on Speers' computer. Levine said he could not tell.

Just before the trial ended for the day, the judge asked Levine a question written by one of the jurors. The juror wanted to know if a porn site could be downloaded on to someone's computer with any of the software about which he had testified.

"I'm afraid the answer to that is yes," Levine stated.

The trial is scheduled to continue at 9 a.m. today before Maricopa County Superior Judge Christopher Whitten.

Speers was first sentenced in 2002 to 34 years in prison after being convicted of two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor for having child pornography on his computer.

In 2003, he was convicted of one count of sexual conduct with a minor and four counts of child molestation for allegedly molesting girls in his second-grade classroom at St. Francis of Assisi School during the 1999-2000 school year. For that conviction, he was sentenced to 71 years in prison.

However, both the 2002 and 2003 convictions were overturned by the Arizona Court of Appeals in 2004 and 2005.

The appellate court ruled Speers' defense had not been allowed to use an expert witness to testify about how interview techniques used by police might have influenced the testimony of child witnesses, and that the defense was not allowed to call character witnesses at the trial.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.
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