PHOENIX, Ariz. — A new trial for the founders of Backpage.com has been scheduled for February 22, 2021, following the declaration of a mistrial by the court in the embattled site operators’ previous trial, last month.
Three weeks ago, US District Judge Susan Brnovich said that “the government, as prosecutors, are held to a higher standard” and that “their goal is not to win at any costs, but their goal is to win by the rule.” Brnovich ultimately declared a mistrial because the federal prosecutors in the case made too many references to child sex trafficking in a trial where no charges were even related to that statute and crime.
Newspapermen Michael Lacey and James Larkin are the co-founders of Backpage.com, which served as a safe platform for sex workers and adult entertainers to advertise their services. Lacey, Larkin and four other senior executives who worked at Backpage were accused of taking part in an alleged scheme to knowingly sell ads for sex on the site.
Federal prosecutors, many of whom are former Donald Trump administration hangers-on and appointed by the controversial Republican president who signed the deeply flawed FOSTA-SESTA federal statute, took the accusations further by alleging that all of these people were participating in a conspiracy to permit child sex trafficking and other heinous acts. No proof has been furnished by investigators, to date, to support these claims.
“I, at the beginning of this, gave the government some leeway, because child sex trafficking, sex trafficking, are forms of prostitution,” Brnovich said in declaring the mistrial last month.
Counsel representing Lacey and Larkin filed a complaint asking for a mistrial before Brnovich announced her ruling. Six former Backpage employees, including Lacey and Larkin, have pleaded not guilty to charges of facilitating prostitution. Four of the six, again including Lacey and Larkin, have pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges.
Lacey and Larkin also previously owned an influential chain of independent alt-weekly newspapers. These include the Phoenix New Times and The Village Voice. At the peak of their newspaper empire, Lacey and Larkin controlled about 17 newspapers across the country. Both were the targets of lawsuits that challenged the sanctity of the First Amendment and a free press.
One of these lawsuits came from the notorious former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was accused of corruption and mismanagement by Lacey and Larkin’s Phoenix New Times. In 2008, the American Civil Liberties Union awarded Lacey and Larkin with the organization’s coveted Civil Libertarian of the Year Award for their work.
