According to an exclusive Reuters news report, a lawyer for the victims of the Dec. 2 shootout has filed a legal brief before U.S. courts. Victims have pleaded that the court should compel Apple to provide Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requests to unlock the shooter's iPhone.
A former judge at a federal court, Stephen Larson, told Reuters that his clients were interested in the information, beyond the immediate need of the criminal investors at the Justice Department.
The new legal brief brings the victims of the Dec. 2 attack directly into the middle of the on-going battle between Apple and the Federal courts over the latter's rights to demand access to protected information on the killer's secured iPhone. The pressure on the iPhone manufacturer, has since multiplied, given the emotional involvement of the victims in the case.
Thus far, the company had pushed back on the U.S. government's requests stating that protection of user data was its primary goal. It had also claimed that such demands by the national security agencies would set "dangerous precedent" allowing for deluge of similar requests to compromise user data.
In his statement to Reuters, Larson said that his clients were "targeted by terrorists" and hence they "need to know why, how this could happen." Larson said he was approached by the Justice Department and the local prosecutors before Apple denial of FBI request went public. Larson shared that he would file an amicus brief by early March.
Continued rebuttal by Apple to comply with Justice Department requests saw the latter win an order from a federal court in California, even though Apple was not present at the time of the ruling. Apple will commence it first legal reaction to Federal orders at the court of the US Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym.
Interestingly, Pym and Larson paths have crossed previously. Before Larson returned to private law practice in 2009, he was a federal judge before whom Pym as a prosecutor had argues several cases. Now, the tables are turned and Pym is privy to rule on a high-profile legal case that has the world watching!
