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Aaron Krowne14525 SW Millikan Way #9599Beaverton, OR 97005Honorable William J. WenzelConnecticut Superior Court, Stamford/Norwalk DistrictCivil and Criminal Division123 Hoyt StreetStamford, CT 06905April 3, 2013Your Honor,I write with urgent concern upon learning that trusted colleague Teri Buhl has been convicted of “Harassment” and “Breach of Peace” in the pending case

S20N-CR10-0127478S.

I agree withdefense counsel (based upon my admittedly still in-progress law school education) that these chargesare not supported by the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, and that this deficiency necessitatesacquittal. However, I can add nothing original to defense counsel's apt arguments to this effect. WhatI can more uniquely contribute to the court's understanding are in terms of Ms. Buhl's professionalintegrity and the import of this verdict, if left to stand, to journalism in general.I am the founder, since 2007, of ML-Implode.com and a number of “sister” sites, collectively the“Implode-o-Meter” or (“Implode”), which provided groundbreaking coverage on the subprime,mortgage and global financial crises. My small, independent “media network” has been globally-renowned, and has racked up over 50 million web site visits. From the early days of Implode, I havecollaborated and contracted with Ms. Buhl to provide original investigative coverage in particular areasconcerning the financial economy and various individuals', companies' and funds' relation to thefinancial crisis, as well as general unsoundness which might necessitate enforcement or policy reform.Ms. Buhl has proven herself to be a hard-nosed investigative journalist of the classic type, of whichthere are lamentably too few today. We are now in an era where such original reporting, whichgenuinely “speaks truth to power,” points fingers and “names names” is nearly impossible to do under the umbrella of a major media company. Despite lacking the safety and comfort of such a “brick andmortar” panoply, complete with in-house counsel, Ms. Buhl has been undeterred, bravely publishingher work on her own news site at www.teribuhl.com, and with small and independent internet media publications such as Implode and trade publications.This case (if let stand) illustrates the mortal risk to one's safety, well-being, and ability to do one's journalistic job, that lies in striking out on one's own to do the sort of real investigative reporting thatour society so sorely needs. Here, despite the court's not having eliminated the perfectly plausibleexplanation that Ms. Buhl is protecting a confidential source on an important matter of public concern,she now finds herself facing jail time. All this for invoking a long-recognized pillar of journalistic privilege.I, and the others who have helped produce the Implode-o-Meter, are intimately familiar with this this precise issue. In 2008, Implode was sued by a New Hampshire mortgage company called The