Mitnick Trial Postponed ----------------------- By Kevin Poulsen (December 4, 1998) After nearly four years in jail, hacker Kevin Mitnick has just voluntarily extended his stay. Federal district court judge Marianna Phaelzer postponed hacker Kevin Mitnick's January 19, 1999, trial date yesterday-- but will the case ever get to court? Mitnick's defense attorney, Don Randolph, expressed some optimism that it may be settled before the new date of April 20, 1999. The continuance was in response to a strongly worded defense motion filed two weeks ago, in which Randolph argued that he needed the additional time to investigate the role of a potential government witness who had, at one time, worked as a clerk for a member of the defense team. Randolph also complained that the government had been late turning over evidence for his review. Randolph's motion brought an equally strong response from government prosecutors, who revealed that both sides had been intently focused on plea negotiations, not trial preparation. Prosecutor David Schindler argued that Randolph had no interest in the evidence until the plea talks broke down late last month-- at which point the government began turning over the evidence it owed the defense. Despite the contentious flurry of paperwork, Thursday's hearing was decidedly amicable. Prosecutors agreed that a brief postponement of the trial date was not unreasonable in light of the abortive plea agreement, and Randolph did not repeat his sweeping indictment of the government's conduct. Judge Phaelzer set the trial for April, warning that she would not grant another continuance. The judge also indicated that she would be willing to sever the case of Mitnick's codefendant, Lew DePayne, at the request of Richard Sherman, DePayne's attorney. Sherman, who also did not receive the evidence on schedule, was not a party to the plea negotiations. Outside the courtroom, Don Randolph told reporters that, in his view, the sticking points in the plea negotiations were not insurmountable, and offered that they might bring in an outside arbitrator to help hammer out an agreement before April. For now, the details of the would-be plea remain secret.