Files appeal, stays out of prison
Keys’ lawyers file an emergency motion with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (source), allowing Keys to stay out of prison. The request is filed just hours after the federal judge who presided over Keys’ trial and sentencing, US District Judge Mueller denied a similar motion for release pending appeal. Keys’ defense attorney says that because the defacement that occurred at the Times was ultimately corrected from a backup, no damage was actually inflicted.
The damage minimum is a jurisdictional requirement of a CFAA charge. Without damage, there can be no conviction. Courts across the country have denied damage findings even in more extreme cases where files were deleted but recoverable.
An automatic stay has issued in the @MatthewKeysLive case. He will not be reporting to prison today.
— Jay Leiderman (@JayLeidermanLaw) June 15, 2016