Lawyer in Jammie Thomas case withdraws

As the legal case between the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Jammie Thomas heads to retrial, it appears her lawyer is trying to withdraw from the case due to $130,000 of unpaid legal bills.

Attorney Brian Toder originally tried to withdraw from the case prior to the first trial, but he was not allowed to do so because of a ruling from Judge Michael Davis.  However, Thomas reportedly said she has no objection to her attorney’s latest withdrawal request, and trial jude Raymond Erickson will likely allow it.

The first round of the Capitol Records v. Thomas was originally lost by Thomas, but the judge involved in the case gave wrong instructions to the jury. It was ruled a mistrial after the judge said that simply having a file available for sharing couldn’t prove someone actually downloaded the file.

Before the case was ruled a mistrial, Thomas owed the RIAA more than $200,000 in damages related to being found guilty.  Prior to this second trial, both sides met and were unable to agree upon a settlement offer.

Since the "making available" copyrighted file theory won’t be allowed in the second trial, it should be interesting what legal tactics the RIAA will use to try and show Thomas’ guilt in the case.  The second trial begins on June 15.

"We struck an impasse," according to Toder.  "We actually had some offers back and forth, but there was definitely an impasse there that could not be overcome despite considerable efforts by Judge Erickson."

Thomas remains the only person to go all the way through a jury trial with the RIAA, as most people chose to pay fines ranging from $1,500 up to $7,000.  The RIAA now says that it is more interested in focusing on ISPs instead of individual file sharers, though several individuals have been sued since that statement was released.