A federal judge has stalled opening statements for the trial of Matthew Crippen, the Anahiem, California student charged with violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by illegally modifying game consoles.
Wired reports that the historic trial, originally scheduled to kick off this morning, hit a setback when U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez spent roughly half an hour disparaging the prosecution’s case. Gutierrez took particular issue with the prosecution’s insistence that the jury not be informed of possible crimes committed by a pair of witnesses.
“Maybe two of the four government witnesses committed crimes,” the judge argued. “I think it is relevant and the jury is going to hear about it — both crimes.”
