Byron Sonne quizzed over saved tweets, goat avatar

Cory Doctorow 5:08 pm Fri Mar 23, 2012

Denise sez, "Update on the trial of Byron Sonne, arrested in Toronto on explosives charges in advance of the G20 in June, 2010. This week, the Crown pulled up information off of Sonne's harddrives, including tweets from Clay Shirky and Oxblood Ruffin, 50-year-old U.S. military manuals and photos of goats. Much time was spent discussing why Sonne used a goat as his username/avatar."

On Monday, Nadeau also pressed Ouelette for his personal understanding of why there were photos of goats (one labeled "drunk goat") on Sonne's hard drive, and why the accused had used "Goatmaster" and "Toronto Goat" as his online usernames. Peter Copeland, one of Sonne's lawyers, objected, saying that Ouelette wasn't an expert on acronyms. Spies decided to hear the argument as "voir dire," meaning she will decide later if it's admissible as evidence. So, Ouelette opined that "Goat," stood for "Greatest of All Time," based on his knowledge of hockey, nicknames, and Wayne Gretzky.

Read more about Sonne's kafkaesque encounter with Canadian law.

Miles to go: Byron Sonne trial Continues (Thanks, Denise!)

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