Juror Calls RIAA Defendant a Liar
Things just got a little tougher for Jamie Thomas, the mom of two who was recently fined $220,000 by a court for illegally sharing copyrighted music. Yesterday, Thomas pledged to appeal the verdict that ordered her to pay nearly $10,000 to the RIAA for each of the 24 songs she was accused of sharing. But, judging by comments made by one juror who is speaking out, Thomas' appeal doesn't look too promising. According to juror Michael Hegg, the jury simply didn't believe her defense. The unanimous response to Thomas' claim that her personal information had been stolen was, "Oh my God, you got to be kidding." Hegg goes on to call Thomas a liar after it was revealed that she turned over a different hard drive to RIAA investigators than the one she used to download music. "There was no defense," Hegg says. "Her defense sucked."
Thomas should actually consider herself lucky. During deliberations, Hegg claims, some of the jurors wanted to fine her the maximum amount allowed, which would have been $150,000 per track for a total of $3.6 million. That's a whole lot of "I'm sorry."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Victoria @ Oct 10th 2007 2:12PM
Wow! I feel really sorry for this lady despite what she did. I believe she's guilty but the fine is ridiculous. How is she going to pay it? She doesn't have the income, so I guess she's going to have to file bankruptcy or something. I hope she appeals not because I believe she's innocent but so the amount can be reduced to something she can actually pay.
Jason Lovejoy @ Oct 16th 2007 3:21PM
$220,000 is ridiculous. It sounds like the jurors, with Hegg being at the head of the lynching party, took a little ride on the power trip. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a case of "let's hit the minority where it hurts and see what happens". And I am a white male...too bad she isn't. She would have gotten off.
Oh and karma will come back around for those jurors. Mr. Hegg, expect to either lose something worth a lot of money or you personally will lose something of great value...the universe has a way of dealing with people like you--I can't wait to see what happens. You deserve nothing less.
Bob @ Dec 11th 2007 10:22PM
Hegg
You really a power asshole.