Retrial of Machado Internet Case Begins
A second jury was impaneled Monday to determine the fate of former UCI student Richard J. Machado, the first person in the nation accused of committing civil rights violations via the Internet.
The jury of eight women and four men heard opening statements in Machado’s retrial before U.S. District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael Gennaco said Machado plotted to intimidate 60 Asian students when he sent an electronic message threatening to “hunt down and kill” them if they didn’t leave the campus.
Deputy Federal Public Defender Victor Cannon portrayed Machado as a despondent and bored teen who sent the e-mail message to provoke a response.
In November, the jury in Machado’s first trial deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of acquittal.
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