Democratic Talk Radio Blog

Whistleblower Charged With Three Felonies for Exposing Diebold’s Crimes A
whistleblower in Los Angeles is in legal trouble and needs our help. Stephen
Heller is alleged to have exposed documents in Jan. & Feb. 2004 which
provided smoking gun evidence that Diebold was using illegal, uncertified
software in California voting machines. The docs also showed that Diebold’s
California attorneys (the powerful international law firm Jones Day) had
told them they were in breach of the law for using uncertified software, but
Diebold continued to use the uncertified software anyway.

Heller is alleged to have come across these docs while temping as a word
processor at Jones Day, and he is further alleged to have taken the docs and
exposed them to the bright light of day. Now, after sitting on this for 2
years, the Los Angeles District Attorney, under pressure from Jones Day, is
going after this whistleblower with 3 felony charges, each of which carries
the potential of time in state prison.

Here is a story in the LA Times. Heller’s lawyer believes the 2 year wait
to file charges was due to the then-impending 2004 election, and that
Diebold and their attorneys didn’t want the information to be made public in
the lead up to the election.

The documents also look bad for Diebold’s California lawyers, Jones Day.
According to Bev Harris, author of the book Black Box Voting, the docs
“provided evidence that the Jones Day law firm was helping Diebold to cover
up the fact that they were installing uncertified software which, as it
turns out, caused thousands of voters to be unable to vote just weeks
later.”

Bev Harris continues, “Jim March, another investigator for Black Box
Voting, and I immediately took the documents to both the California Attorney
General’s office and to Kevin Shelley, who was then the California Secretary
of State. Just days later, the secretary of state decertified Diebold.”
At the time, Shelley called the company’s conduct “reprehensible” and said
“their performance, their behavior, is despicable,” and that “if that’s the
kind of deceitful behavior they’re going to engage in, they can’t do
business in California.” In an interview, Shelly said “We will not tolerate
the deceitful conduct of Diebold, and we must send a clear message to the
rest of the industry: Don’t try to pull a fast one on the voters of
California.”
Shelley then requested Cal. Attorney General Bill Lockyer to investigate
taking criminal and civil actions against the company based on what he
called “fraudulent actions by Diebold.” Lockyer eventually dropped the
criminal probe of Diebold but he sued the company on behalf of California,
and Diebold settled out of court for $2.6 million.

Let’s make this clear, folks. The docs Heller is accused of exposing were
important evidence. First, they show that Diebold and their attorneys, Jones
Day, conspired to mislead the California secretary of state, and that the
lie they told was material, and resulted directly in the disenfranchisement
of voters.
Second, another document demonstrates that Diebold lied to the secretary
of state when it represented that certain problems with its software were
“fixed.” This document, the release notes for the new software, showed that
the problems were not fixed.
Third, the documents showed that Diebold had been advised by Jones Day
that what it had been doing with its uncertified software was illegal.
Fourth, the documents show that Jones Day advised Diebold that it was
subject to criminal prosecution. So in a nutshell, Diebold was defrauding
the state government and taxpayers of California, and disenfranchising the
voters of California. And the documents PROVE it.

And for allegedly exposing Diebold’s felonious behavior (which led
directly to Diebold being de-certified in California), for allegedly helping
protect the taxpayers and voters of California, for allegedly helping to
keep elections clean and fair, what happens? Diebold, the true criminal in
this case, and their powerful international law firm Jones Day, press the
L.A. District Attorney’s office to hammer Heller, a whistleblower. Three
felonies! Diebold was (and probably still is) screwing California voters,
Heller is alleged to have seen the smoking gun evidence of Diebold’s crimes,
and, like a true patriot and whistleblower, allegedly exposed that smoking
gun evidence, and now HE’S the one facing jail time. Only in Bush’s America!
And the irony is, if Heller is convicted of a felony for exposing
Diebold’s crimes against the California voters, he’ll lose his right to
vote. Diebold will win. We can’t let that happen!
But we can help. Let’s flood the Los Angeles DA’s office with phone calls,
letters and emails asking them not to crucify this whistleblower.
Now of course, BE POLITE. Remember you are writing, calling and emailing
the office of the Los Angeles District Attorney, which is a branch of law
enforcement. Being harassing, rude, or threatening will only get you in
legal trouble of your own, and it won’t help Steve Heller, the
whistleblower.
Talking points:

Don’t prosecute Stephen Heller. He’s a whistleblower, not a criminal, and
he should not be prosecuted.
Diebold is the criminal here. Stephen Heller is alleged to have exposed
Diebold’s criminal activity, and that makes him a whistleblower. He should
not be prosecuted.

Diebold’s election malfeasance strikes at the very heart of our democratic
republic. Without clean elections, we don’t have democracy anymore. Those
who expose such crimes are whistleblowers and should not be prosecuted.

America has a long history of whistleblowers exposing criminal activity,
and prosecuting them is wrong; it puts a chilling effect on others who might
see criminal activity and want to expose it.

Heller is getting pounded. He’s the victim of bullies; a huge, powerful,
wealthy, politically connected corporation and their equally huge and
powerful international law firm are slamming him, grinding him up in legal
machinery for allegedly lifting up the pretty skirt Diebold shows to the
world, exposing the dirty, stinking criminal secrets that lie beneath. For
what he’s alleged to have done, there was nothing in it for him. No
financial gain (in fact a serious financial loss, because he got fired from
his job, and he’s had to pay 10s of thousands of dollars to his lawyers, and
owes them 10s of thousands more). And he’s now at risk of over 3 years in
state prison. It’s insane. His cause is a worthy one, and he needs our help.
Please call, write and email today.
Email the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office at [email protected].
A good old fashioned snail mail letter is very powerful tool:
District Attorney’s Office
County of Los Angeles
210 West Temple Street, Suite 18000
Los Angeles, CA 90012-3210
And of course, phone calls:
Telephone (213) 974-3512
Fax (213) 974-1484
TTY (800) 457-7778 (8:30am - 5:00pm M-F)
Let’s help defend a whistleblower from Diebold and their attorneys!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-soby-jr/whistleblower-charged-wit_b_1641
1.html

This entry was posted on Monday, February 27th, 2006 at 7:12 pm and is filed under Election Fraud. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.