Killercop.com was the name of an Internet website owned and published in 1997 by Steven Sutcliffe. Authorities viewed the site as promoting violence against police officers which led to the arrest of Sutcliffe and a lengthy court battle.
The Site The Killercop.com website contained Sutcliffe's story about police corruption and numerous other claims of official corruption, misconduct or otherwise illegal activity by judges. The site became notorious of its citation of an early US Supreme Court Case, John Bad Elk v. US , which stated the acceptability of killing an officer during an attempted arrest when the arresting officer had no legal authority to make the arrest. In conjunction with this legal citation, the website offered a parody reward for individuals who "legally" had to killed a police officer in the course of an attempted "illegal" or false arrest. The site then offered additional legal reference materials to help readers determine what constitutes an "illegal" arrest.
The site also named two California municipal court judges and one superior court judge and claimed all three were violating California laws. The municipal court judges named were Debra Wong Yang and Lisa Hart Cole. Cole was accused in 1998 of sitting as a judge with no Oath of Office for over four years. She later swore and filed the Oath of Office after the exposure on Killercop.com.
Debra Wong Yang was named by Sutcliffe in the site when she refused to rule on a motion Sutcliffe filed accusing the city attorney of stealing an undercover audiotape Sutcliffe had made of an LAPD Internal Affairs officer, which had previously been seized from Sutcliffe in her courtroom at a prior hearing regarding a missing witness named "Tony." A copy of the .
Controversy Surrounding the Shutdown
The site was closed down by the LAPD in 1998 in what was a somewhat controversial act which some called censorship. In so far as no charges were brought in connection with the site, its publication or its being forcibly removed by law enforcement, the actions of the government remain questionably legal but first amendment proponents continue to claim it is an outstanding infringement of the Constitution. Sutcliffe authored a book called The Censorship Of Killercop.com in 2007 detailing the history of Killercop.com which details multiple emails sent to him from police calling him a "nigger" and saying they would shoot him.
The Arrest of the Author
Sutcliffe was arrested in 2002 by federal police agents for transmitting "true" threats on the website evilgx.com. His prosecutor was U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang, a judge named in Killercop.com. Right before Sutcliffe's arrest in 2002, NBC News released a report calling him a "gang affiliated person."
The Trial of The Author
Sutcliffe was arrested in New Hampshire and the FBI testified he was selling weapons and threatening police on Killercop.com. The government then flew Sutcliffe back to California for an arraignment. At a post arraignment hearing Sutcliffe refused to sign the "Defendant's Statement of Constitutional Rights" form.
The Prosecutor
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has raised questions about Yang's departureas U.S. attorney in light of the subsequent firing of seven US Attorneys. Yang's office had opened an investigation into the relationship between Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and a lobbyist five months before she left to join the law firm that represented Rep. Lewis. Yang has denied that any pressure was put on her to resign.
According to the transcripts above, Sutcliffe accused Debra Wong Yang of selectively prosecuting him. According to the transcripts above, Sutcliffe subpoenaed Debra Wong Yang at his trial but the trial judge Alvin Howard Matz denied this right by saying: "t would be a huge sea change in the administration of justice to have the personal backgrounds of whoever happens to be U.S. Attorney at a given time become a basis to issue subpoenas."
Despite her advocacy on behalf of media outlets making First Amendment claims, Yang seems uncomfortable with transparency.
Selective Prosecution Accusations
In court papers filed in the federal appeal above, both the U.S. Attorney's office and the Ninth Circuit have admitted Joe Shmoe "threatened" Sutcliffe.
The Sentence
A Florida resident Michael Ian Campbell was arrested under the same charges of 18 U.S.C. 875(c), as Sutcliffe, however Campbell ultimately pleaded guilty to the charges of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. On Friday, April 28, 2000, Campbell was sentenced to four months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. "Both the prosecution and the defense were surprised by the severity of the sentence."
For the exact same charges, Sutcliffe received 11.5 times the sentence Michael Ian Campbell received.
While Sutcliffe was serving the sentence he filed a Coram Nobis motion, in reply the judge admitted the sentence imposed on Sutcliffe was illegal.
At Sutcliffe's 04.15 sentencing hearing Judge Matz made the following statement about Killercop.com:
The Trial Judge
Judge Alvin Howard Matz was appointed to the federal bench by President Clinton. Judge Matz also presided over the 2005 trial of Sen. Clinton's campaign finance director David Rosen who was acquitted of filing false financial reports of the fund raiser for Senator Clinton. At the outset, before any evidence had been presented Matz declared, "This isn't a trial about Senator Clinton." The senator, he said, "has no stake in this trial as a party or a principal" and is "not in the loop in any direct way, and that's something the jury will be told." On October 2, 2007 Judge Matz was confronted with a Hillary 'smoking-gun' video.
October 6th, 2007, Judge Matz was accused of Ethics Violations under a cloud of suspicion and allegations of trial fixing.
is another article regarding this issue some are calling .
Federal Involvement
Los Angeles FBI Special Agent Kenneth McGuire created a PowerPoint presentation and digitized Sutcliffe's personal identifying information including his signature. Sutcliffe claims this is a violation of the same law he was charged under by the FBI, as well as a violation of California Penal Code 530.5(d)(2). Sutcliffe has called for the arrest of Agent McGuire in his book Myth America: A Global Double Crossing.
In that book he claims the FBI returned 8000 Social Security Numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, bank account numbers, dates of birth, and other personal information of all of Global Crossing, Inc. employees in a CD-ROM marked "Exhibit LA-15," and that the FBI told the court it was of no value.
The Federal Appeal Sutcliffe's appeal is currently being heard by the US Court of Appeals.
Sutcliffe appealed his conviction by Debra Wong Yang in case number: CA 04-50189
One of numerous issues raised was judge Matz's ruling that Sutcliffe had to proceed through the federal trial without the assistance of counsel guaranteed by the Six Amendment.
Another issue raised was judge Matz's decision to deny Sutcliffe the right to subpoena Debra Wong Yang in his trial to establish the connection to Killercop.com.
Sutcliffe's Appeal Brief can be read .
Debra Wong Yang's Reply Brief to Sutcliffe's Brief can be read .
Sutcliffe's Reply Brief to Debra Wong Yang's Reply can be read .
The Ninth Circuit allowed Sutcliffe's appeal counsel, appointed through the Federal Public Defenders office, to "quit." Sutcliffe objected . Sutcliffe stated the conflict with the Federal Public Defender's office and asked that the next counsel appointed not be appointed through the Federal Public Defender's office. Judge Kozinski admitted they did not follow the rules, or law, by allowing Sutcliffe's appeals counsel to "quit." Yet despite these conflicts and violations he ordered another counsel for Sutcliffe be specifically appointed through the Federal Public Defenders office as documented [https://www.secure-session.com/files/18/6588/1126219192/D2320D91FB/i/Court%20of%20Appeals%20Docket.doc here.] Sutcliffe objected to this appointment .
The 10.11.2007 decision of the case by the Ninth Circuit can be read [http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/0AB3A158C680607088257371005B0218/$file/0450189.pdf?openelement here].
A copy of the oral argument can be heard [http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/media.nsf/47D43940F9DBD30E8825727B007F4E25/$file/04-50189.wma?openelement here].
The says the recent adverse October 11th, 2007 ruling by the court "strikes" of the Ninth Circuit as being
Quotes
"This threat is very real. Various websites specialize in providing this information, and the harmful intentions of some are self-evident. www.killercop.com - now inoperable - offered a cash reward with "
"Zeglin has taken one gang related site seriously enough to conduct a full investigation: The owners of KillerCop.com, which suggested rewards for people who , were eventually convinced to take the site down before any potential charges were pressed."
" was with the creators of KillerCop.com, which offered a reward for the most creative way to kill a policeman. It soon disappeared after the LAPD began to talk about charges to incite murder."
"One part of the life that has not been seen much online is the crime. Zeglin recalls one Web site, www.killercop.com, that offered rewards for murdering Los Angeles police officers a few years ago. , Zeglin has not seen street gangs doing anything illegal online."
"Un seul site a provoqué une enquête de la , offrant des récompenses aux visiteurs prêts à tuer des policiers de Los Angeles."
"In 2002, . We identified and located the perp who was offering people big money to kill LAPD officers on his website."
"Many disgruntled ex-employees dream of revenge against their former bosses, but Steven Sutcliffe, who lost his job at Global Crossing in September 2001, didn't just dream about revenge -- he actually did something about it. And now he's been convicted of identity theft and making threats to harm Global Crossing executives, for which he faces a long stretch up river. Sutcliffe set up a Website dedicated to making threats against his former employers, such as former chairman and fat cat Gary Winnick (see Winnick Walks). But the FBI recently put the kibosh on Sutcliffe's site, where he allegedly posted messages threatening to injure his former colleagues -- threats that included such plangent cris du coeur as 'I will personally send you back to the hell from where you came.' The FBI is accusing Sutcliffe of being instrumental in one Global Crossing employee's identity theft as he allegedly posted social security numbers, dates of birth, and other personal details, about Global Crossing brass. The FBI also says Sutcliffe had another site dedicated to threatening Los Angeles Police Officers. News reports say the site offered rewards for the killing of law enforcement officers. Sutcliffe faces up to 30 years behind bars -- probably just long enough to see the investment community get excited about global networks again." —
[http://books.google.com/books?idHY1ZbtgAJ9kC&pgPA302&ots63D5Rro0Os&dqkillercop.com&sig=kvASKPiffyN0ZQ5Y4m0FJBTvkVY Free Expression in the Age of the Internet: Social and Legal Boundaries], By [http://www.google.com/search?hlen&qJeremy+Harris+Lipschultz&btnG=Google+Search Jeremy Harris Lipschultz],
"www.killercop.com - now inoperable - [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:yVATL1yCmQwJ:democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a07/press/a072005021.htm+assembly+killercop.com&hlen&ctclnk&cd3&glus offered a cash reward with no questions asked] for the death or home addresses of two LAPD officers." -California Assembyperson Noreen Evans, 2005
Trivia
In 1998, when he was much younger, Sutcliffe appeared on The Dating Game and won. (Apparently the female contestant, Tracy Ray, could not resist Sutcliffe's "deep voice.")
Sutcliffe recently in the movie , playing a High Roller.
Misc Facts Police officers in two different parts of the country contacted their local branch FBI offices in 1998, whom then contacted the head quarters of the Los Angeles, FBI office, twice, within a two week period and made accusations of International Trafficking in Arms (ITAR), amongst others crimes such as Internet Threats, Extortion, and the big M, Murder, against Killercop.com and Sutcliffe all within a time frame of less then 30 days as seen [http://clearblogs.com/censorship/75823/Government+Censorship.html here.]
The earliest know page preserved is found
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