From: m5@vail.tivoli.com (Mike McNally)
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 93 09:30:57 PST
To: Brian D Williams <talon57@well.sf.ca.us>
Subject: re it had to happen
In-Reply-To: <199312231704.JAA23692@well.sf.ca.us>
Message-ID: <9312231729.AA18315@vail.tivoli.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Here's the deal, as this certified non-lawyer sees it:

*	There is ample precedent for forcing suspects to hand over
	materiel other than spoken or written data.  Keys to safe
	deposit boxes come to mind, as do of course blood and urine 
	samples.

*	The tricky case is one in which the key is actually a phrase 
	like "I am a drug dealer and I did the crime".  I'm not
	exactly sure how this would be used in court; maybe something
	like "I refuse to reveal that information on the grounds that
	the key itself is in the form of a statement which could be
	construed to be incrimintating."  Of course, I don't know why
	you couldn't always say that...

If Mr. Godwin isn't too bothered by the re-emergence of this thread,
he may choose to share with us further thoughts on the topic raised in
the second bullet.  My guess is that such a situation will have to be
tested in court, and I can only hope that it gets tested with the
assistance of some very skilled counsel.

--
Mike McNally : m5@tivoli.com : Day Laborer : Tivoli Systems : Austin, TX
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember that all experimentation does not produce extrapolated results.
                                                           - k. pisichko