Judge Pushes Back Accused LinkedIn Hacker's Trial One Last Time Over COVID-19 Concerns
U.S. District Judge William Alsup delayed until July 6 a trial that was set to resume next week in the case of a Russian man accused of hacking three Silicon Valley technology companies, citing juror concern about COVID-19 and the current civil unrest.
June 02, 2020 at 06:22 PM
5 minute read
A federal judge in San Francisco has once again delayed the resumption of the criminal trial of a Russian man accused of hacking Silicon Valley technology companies.
The trial of Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Nikulin, who is charged with hacking LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring, has been put on hold since the Bay Area was put under local shelter-in-place orders in mid-March to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California during a telephonic hearing Tuesday said that resuming the trial July 6 rather than June 8 would provide a better chance of reseating the current jury amid concerns about the virus. Alsup put the chances of keeping a jury together out of the original 12 jurors and four alternates who began hearing testimony in March at 20% if the trial were to resume next week and 70% if it were to resume next month.
"It's a gamble either way, but it's a more reasonable gamble if we wait," said Alsup.
The judge added that current civil unrest in the city and threats to the district's courthouses also convinced him that the later date was better. David Patrick Underwood, a security guard, was shot and killed while protecting the federal building that's home to the Oakland courthouse the Night of May 29.
"We're walking on eggshells," said Alsup, after mentioning the Underwood's death.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Kane had initially raised concerns about the July 6 trial date, because the FBI case agent on the matter is set to be reassigned to a field office in Indiana in the interim. She also said that the agent was anticipating a "significant family event."
"I gotta tell you, in ordinary times I would give that some weight," said Alsup, suggesting that a family vacation or a reassignment wouldn't be enough to change his mind on the July trial date.
"He's going to have to be here or you dismiss the case," Alsup said.
After Kane clarified that the agent was expecting the birth of his child July 1, Alsup said "that's good, but he can be in the court."
"He can be in Indiana on July 1 and fly out and be here on July 6," Alsup said.
Alsup mentioned that his colleague U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California is acting as an "air traffic controller" for the collective trial schedule for the San Francisco courthouse, where current plans are for only one jury trial to move forward at a time to address public health concerns. After Kane and one of Nikulin's lawyers, Adam Gasner, said that they would possibly be willing to move forward with just 11 jurors, Alsup urged them to stipulate to doing so, if necessary. The judge put the prospect of moving forward with trial under those circumstances at closer to 90%.
"Your client needs to understand that if we don't finish with this jury, he may be languishing in pretrial detention for much longer," Alsup told Gasner, whose client has been in custody for about 44 months currently. Alsup said that if Nikulin's trial was unable to proceed with the current jury, he would not be in the front of the line for another trial date.
"I think we have a serious problem here," Alsup said. "I don't like for someone to be in pretrial detention this long."
Alsup also had stern words for Franco Muzzio of Keker, Van Nest & Peters who represents a LinkedIn witness who had earlier raised concerns about the virus in asking to provide testimony remotely, but who was prepared to come in to testify next week if he only had to appear one day and safety precautions were in place. Muzzio, citing the unpredictability of the virus, wouldn't say whether his client would be willing to come into court to testify in July or not. Alsup said that if the witness were to be allowed to testify by videotaped deposition it would put the judge in the position of forcing the jurors to come in for proceedings while the witness is allowed to stay home.
"That's not a good way to run the railroad, and I'd much rather he come in in person," Alsup said.
Read more:
Judge Again Pushes Back Accused LinkedIn Hacker's Trial Over COVID-19 Concerns
Judge Pushes Back Restart in Accused LinkedIn Hacker's Trial to May
In Criminal Trial Stalled Over Coronavirus Concerns, Parties Willing to Move Forward … Carefully
In Stalled Criminal Trial, a Call for COVID-19 Tests to Protect a Defendant and His Lawyers
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllState Appeals Court Revives BraunHagey Lawsuit Alleging $4.2M Unlawful Wire to China
3 minute readApple Disputes 'Efforts to Manufacture' Imaging Sensor Claims Against iPhone 15 Technology
Lawsuit alleges racial and gender discrimination led to an Air Force contractor's death at California airfield
7 minute readLaw Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1Pogo Stick Maker Wants Financing Company to Pay $20M After Bailing Out Client
- 2Goldman Sachs Secures Dismissal of Celebrity Manager's Lawsuit Over Failed Deal
- 3Trump Moves to Withdraw Applications to Halt Now-Completed Sentencing
- 4Trump's RTO Mandate May Have Some Gov't Lawyers Polishing Their Resumes
- 5A Judge Is Raising Questions About Docket Rotation
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250