[118191] in Cypherpunks
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daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Anonymous)
Tue Sep 21 16:20:51 1999
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 20:50:53 +0200 (CEST)
Message-Id: <199909211850.UAA13049@mail.replay.com>
From: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
To: cypherpunks@algebra.com
Reply-To: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
Rummaging around the crytptomb one finds
a declassified doc that discusses using
decrypted info in prosecution (for
soviet spies, in this case).
Excerpt:
In the first place, we do not know if the deciphered messages would be admitted into evidence and if they were not,
that would abruptly end any hope for prosecution. It is believed that the defense attorney would immediately move
that the messages be excluded, base on the hearsay evidence rule. He would probably claim that neither the person
who sent the message (Soviet official) nor the person who received it (Soviet official) was available to testify and
thus the contents of the message were purely hearsay as it related to the defendants. Consequently, in order to
overcome such a motion it would be necessary to rely upon their admission through the use of expert testimony of
those who intercepted the messages and those cryptographers who deciphered the messages. A question of law is
involved herein. It is believed that the messages probably could be introduced in evidence on the basis of an
exception to the hearsay evidence rule to the effect that the expert testimony was sufficient to establish the authenticity
of the documents and they were the best evidence available.
http://cryptome.org/fbi-nsa.htm
