In January 2012, FBI and local police raided the New Zealand mansion rented by Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom. The raid was just part of the U.S. government"s operation to shut down the file-sharing website on online piracy charges. During the raid, law enforcement authorities took a ton of documents and hard drives filled with files from the mansion as evidence in their case.
Now, Reuters reports that a New Zealand judge has ruled that Dotcom and his defense team must have access to all of the evidence that was taken during the raid, including anything that was forwarded over to the FBI. Dotcom also mentioned the court"s ruling in a Twitter post:
BREAKING NEWS: High Court: FBI has to return hard drives unlawfully removed from New Zealand + NZ Police has to return my data
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) May 31, 2013
The judge ordered all of the evidence that is considered to be relevant to the case must be copied and turned over to Dotcom"s legal team. Any documents or files that are deemed to be irrelevant are supposed to be given back to Dotcom. It"s a major legal victory for Dotcom, as he and his lawyers continue their long fight in court against the U.S. government. Dotcom"s hearing on whether or not he should be extradited to the U.S. is scheduled for August, but Reuters stated that court date may be delayed.
Source: Reuters