Shortly after yesterday’s Congressional hearing, Apple filed a formal objection to the court order instructing it to assist the FBI in breaking into an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.
Apple had previously filed its mandatory response, in which it called for the court to vacate the order. This was a 65-page detailed document setting out the reasons the company believed the order should not have been granted. The document filed yesterday was rather shorter …
It was simply a two-page filing in which Apple formally objected to the order referencing the reasons already provided in its earlier response.
Although a follow-up hearing had already been scheduled by the court for March 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, it could technically have been argued that Apple had waived its right to appeal by failing to submit a formal objection to the ruling. This is why Apple states that it is simply filing the objection “in an abundance of caution.”
In an abundance of caution, to the extent Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 59, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72, and/or Local Civil Rule 72-2.1 are applicable in this case, Apple Inc. (“Apple”), by and through its counsel of record, hereby formally objects to the Court’s February 16, 2016 Order Compelling Apple Inc. to Assist Agents in Search (ED No. 15-451M, Dkt. 19) for the reasons set forth in Apple’s Motion to Vacate Order Compelling Apple Inc. to Assist Agents in Search, and Opposition to Government’s Motion to Compel Assistance (ED No. CM 16-10-SP, Dkt. 16).
Via NBC. Photo Distan Bach (cropped).
