This post is for my Jewish Readers. Dead Sea Scrolls trial of Raphael Golb

giant "menorah of freedom," lit around the world

תשע"א 

5771

Yud Kislev   י כסלו       

Wednesday November 10, 2010

Yud-Tes Kislev   י"ט כסלו

New Year of Chasidut

Friday November 26, 2010

פדה בשלום נפשי מקרב לי כי ברבים היו עמד

Tehillim 55:19  He has redeemed my soul in peace . . .

A webpage describing the detailed, day-by-day progress, from the Alter Rebbe's imprisonment to his release:

from the initial complaints of the Misnagdim of Vilna; day-by-day details of the interrogations and responses; simultaneous historical events; dates of specific documents and petitions, etc.:

http://www.chabadlibrary.org/exhibit/ex7/exeng7.htm

___________________________________________________

You may recall this event in Brooklyn, exactly a year ago:


http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=22056

http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=22115

http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=22472


Why choose the most physically dangerous place to send skinny 125 lb bookworm Raphael Golb, fellow Jew, and son of an academic rival? In my understanding, please correct me if I'm wrong, even a felon can be eligible for rooming with other non-violent, minimum-security inmates.

Why criminal court? Isn't this a matter for the civil courts, a lawsuit? Where's the prison-punishable crime?

'CRIMINAL' E-MAIL ACCOUNTS, RAPHAEL GOLB NEVER USED- Dead Sea Scrolls

Rikers Island State Penitentiary, NY

where Raphael Golb 
the son of an academic rival,
could be sentenced to 4 years. . .

. . .for certain emails that he sent

perhaps hoping 

to "obtain a benefit"

or perhaps hoping to "annoy,"

by parodying a professor;

AND EMAIL ACCOUNTS HE OPENED,

-INCLUDING MANY HE NEVER USED;

And for a name he invented;

And for perhaps hoping

the professor might not get $650.

[But which the professor got.]

Reminder:
Raphael Golb testified that he opened up email accounts in the names of people who were aggressive against his father. (By the way, since the real "Jonathan Seidel" was not one of these people, it wouldn't make sense for Raphael to use his name in any way; or even to know of him.)

But not exactly in their names: Raphael Golb testified that he was careful to use off-kilter approximations of those names.

Raphael was also careful not to use email addresses that looked real. A witness for the prosecution, the person in charge of all New York University computers system-wide, stated quite emphatically, some two or three times, that it is "extremely easy" for anyone to forge an "nyu.edu" email account. But Raphael testified that he used no professional-appearing account addresses, only general accounts like "Gmail."

I go into more detail on all this in my post::

The "Larry Schiffman" Gmails

THE BIG "HOWEVER"
From Raphael Golb's point of view, the names he used were "approximate" enough for legal parody. But the jury ruled that even "approximation" was enough to convict Raphael of several criminal charges, such as for "criminal impersonation" of those people. 

Mystifying to me is that many of these "approximate" names were on accounts that Raphael never sent an email from, never even used.

Why Was Raphael Golb Convicted of a Felony, not Libel? Dead Sea Scrolls

Poet Frederick Seidel,

in 2006 called

"the best 

American poet writing today" 

by the New York Sun.

(click for website)

Raphael Golb testified that

he was the inspiration 

for the name 'Jonathan Seidel'

Did the jury understand why they convicted Raphael Golb of a felony?

I found a copy online of the original Grand Jury Indictment of Raphael Golb. I knew that he had been convicted of the felony of Identity Theft, and I soon figured out that "Identity Theft in the Second Degree" was a felony, while "Identity Theft in the Third Degree" was not a felony but a misdemeanor.

The definition of these two types of "Identity Theft" were very similar- it was a difference of one extra phrase. I know I sound condescending but I wonder if the jury realized the difference, if they realized that one was a felony and the other was not.

Changes to My Previous Posts. Dead Sea Scrolls Trial of Raphael Golb

Frederick Seidel's poetry collection

"Ooga-Booga" won the 2006 

Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

(click for website)

Raphael Golb testified that

he was the inspiration 

for the name 'Jonathan Seidel'

If you occasionally revisit my older posts, you will find changes almost every time you return. Changes both large and small.

Why Did Raphael Golb Plead Not Guilty?-another SUMMARY. Dead Sea Scrolls

Frederick Seidel's poetry collection

"Ooga-Booga" won the 2006 

Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

(click for website)

Raphael Golb testified that

he was the inspiration 

for the name 'Jonathan Seidel'

While I continue to compose new posts, here is my latest SUMMARY of the Dead Sea Scrolls trial of Raphael Golb. Not exactly a Reprint, but not totally fresh either.
(NOTE there are 3 other new posts, below, in the last 2 days.)

TRUE or FALSE IRRELEVANT

Did the jury convict Raphael Golb of falsely accusing Dr. Lawrence Schiffman of plagiarism?

No, he was not found guilty of that.

The jury was told that the truth or falsity of of Raphael Golb's accusation of Dr. Schiffman was irrelevant to their decision of "criminality."

The sum total of the "criminal" charges in this trial, as presented to the jury, as I understand it, is simply this:

The 'LARRY SCHIFFMAN' Gmails. Dead Sea Scrolls, Raphael Golb

Rikers Island State Penitentiary, NY

where Raphael Golb,
the son of an academic rival,
could be sentenced to 4 years. . .

. . .for certain emails that he sent

perhaps hoping 

to "obtain a benefit"

or perhaps hoping to "annoy,"

by parodying a professor;

And email accounts he opened

-including many he never used;

And for a name he invented;

And for perhaps hoping

the professor might not get $650.

[But which the professor got.]

A new point about those emails, in which Raphael Golb says he "parodied" Dr. Lawrence Schiffman. 

First, I repeat two points from a previous post; hang on, though, there's new info to follow.
1) "PANICKED AND CONFESSIONAL E-MAILS"
This quote from the Associated Press article Sep 14 2010 (J. Peltz):

"New York University professor Lawrence Schiffman's students and colleagues started getting panicked and confessional e-mails, in his name, that pointed to blog posts accusing him of plagiarism. Prosecutors say the e-mails and website posts were a hoax created by [Raphael Golb]."

(Of course the "website posts" themselves- accusing Schiffman of plagiarism- were not part of any "hoax"- they were Raphael Golb's deadly serious accusations.)

from: Raphael Golb Dead Sea Scrolls Blog
http://deadseascrollstrial.blogspot.com 

Witness for the prosecution Dean Stimoson verified that Schiffman's colleagues found the emails "weird." Dr. Schiffman said that colleagues were asking him what was going on.

So, if Raphael Golb's intention was for people to think he really was Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, he did a terrible job of it.

6 POLICEMEN WITH GUNS & HANDCUFFS, Raphael Golb, Dead Sea Scrolls

Rikers Island State Penitentiary, NY

where Raphael Golb,
the son of an academic rival,
could be sentenced to 4 years. . .

. . .for certain emails that he sent

perhaps hoping 

to "obtain a benefit"

or perhaps hoping to "annoy,"

by parodying a professor;

And email accounts he opened

-including many he never used;

And for a name he invented;

And for perhaps hoping

the professor might not get $650.

[But which the professor got.]

It is important to note how extreme was the verdict concerning these emails from "larry.schiffman@gmail.com." I have looked at the Grand Jury Indictment and here were the charges, which I interpret as follows: For Dr. Lawrence Schiffman's case alone, Raphael was indicted for:

8 counts of Identity Theft (2 types of felonies: "assume the identity of another person");

6 counts of Criminal Impersonation (to obtain a "benefit");

5 counts of Forgery;

and one count Aggravated Harrassment (to "annoy").

The jury found Raphael guilty on all these counts.

What kind of big "criminal investigation" was this? Dr. Schiffman said he did not know who was responsible. The police officer who signed the warrant, witness for the prosecution Officer McKenna, said that from the very beginning of the criminal investigation, two years ago, Raphael Golb was the only person he investigated. He had Raphael's M.O. from day one.
If all they wanted was for Raphael Golb to stop, there were far less violent ways to have accomplished that.

Six policemen with guns and handcuffs
arrested Raphael Golb in his bed,
the son of an academic rival. . .

. . .for certain emails that he sent

perhaps hoping 

to "obtain a benefit"

or perhaps hoping to "annoy,"

by parodying a professor;

And email accounts he opened

-including many he never used;

And for a name he invented;

And for perhaps hoping

the professor might not get $650.

[But which the professor got.]

I know this is no laughing matter. But- sending 6 policemen with guns and handcuffs? What, in case Raphael stuck out a finger to punch one last "PDQ" on his computer keys? All 125 pounds of him (as his lawyer said)? Is this how the NYPD delegates their manpower? 5 of those policemen could have been stopping 5 crimes during the time of Raphael's arrest.

Something here seems a bit peevish- to load on all these heavy criminal charges for what Raphael Golb did- the son of an academic rival- it makes me almost want to laugh. It almost just sounds to me like somebody got really mad. But that's just my opinion.