The art professor indicted on four counts of fraud last week for receiving a shipment of bacteria to use in a biotechnological art project pleaded not guilty in federal court in Buffalo yesterday (July 8) and was essentially released on his own recognizance.

Steven Kurtz, an associate art professor at the University at Buffalo, was issued a $1000 signature bond, which means he pays nothing unless he fails to show up in court whenever requested, according to William Hochul, Jr., the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case. Afterward, Kurtz declined to comment to reporters.

The University of Pittsburgh scientist who supplied the bacteria to him, professor Robert Ferrell, was not arraigned because of illness. If he recovers in time, he will be indicted on July 28 at the court's next conference on the case, according to Hochul. His lawyer, Efrem Grail, has said that Ferrell will also plead not guilty.

The government alleges that both professors committed mail and wire fraud when Ferrell bought two kinds of bacteria with University of Pittsburgh funds, shipped them to Kurtz, and discussed the transaction with him in E-mails. That defrauded both Pitt, the indictment alleges, and the biological supply company, because company rules prohibit moving the material outside of Ferrell's lab or using it for non-research purposes.

During the arraignment, Hochul asked Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder to require Kurtz to notify prosecutors before acquiring any more biologics while he is on bail. Schroeder replied that the request troubled him because it was a potential violation of Kurtz's First Amendment rights, according to Kurtz's lawyer, Paul Cambria. Cambria told The Scientist last night that he then told the judge that he refused to agree to the condition. "They can't micromanage his life," Cambria said. "They have no authority to do so."

But Kurtz defused the disagreement by offering to tell the court if he was going to acquire any more materials, and the judge accepted this compromise. "He has no problem telling the court," Cambria said, "which is entirely consistent with his position all along because he isn't doing anything wrong."

Hochul refused to say yesterday whether he will seek any additional indictments in the case. Cambria said, "I have no indication that there's any other charges afoot."