New York's highest court will consider overturning convictions in an Internet impersonation case of a man who argues his mockery of scholars in an academic debate about the Dead Sea Scrolls was protected by the First Amendment.
Raphael Golb, an attorney and writer, was convicted of identity theft for disguising his identity in email messages and blog posts to discredit detractors of his father, a University of Chicago professor, in a dispute over the scrolls' origins.
The more than 2,000-year-old documents, found in the 1940s, contain the earliest known versions of portions of the Hebrew Bible.
A midlevel court threw out one conviction but affirmed others, concluding the intended harm to scholars fell within the definition of injury and wasn't protected free speech.
The Court of Appeals hears arguments Tuesday
© 2014 AP
