UPDATED 21:49 PM EST, January 17, 2013
BOSTON (AP) — A federal prosecutor who has been sharply criticized following the suicide of an Internet freedom activist appeared to fight back tears as she defended her office's handling of a hacking case against him.
U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz says Aaron Swartz's family has suffered a "horrible tragedy" and that she is personally "terribly upset about what happened here." But she says she believes the case was handled fairly.
Ortiz made her remarks Thursday at an unrelated news conference in Boston.
