San Bernardino victims support FBI in iPhone hack, attorney says

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Apple continued its fight with the FBI on Sunday, refusing to help unlock an iPhone used by San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook, but an attorney representing the victims said the FBI has their support.

Ted Olson, the attorney representing Apple, appeared on ABC's "This Week," where he said Apple has helped the FBI, but it will draw the line at "recreating code, changing its iPhone, putting its engineers and creative talents to destroy the iPhone as it exists."

Apple, however, was getting pushback from those who have been directly affected by the terror attack.

Stephen Larson is representing several victims of the San Bernardino massacre and said he plans to file a "friend of the court" brief to explain why the victims believe Apple needs to help unlock the phone.

"The people who were in that room, the people that were shot, the people that lost loved ones - those people have a very real, present interest in knowing what happened and why and what information might be on that phone," he said.

Meantime, Apple argues it would violate the privacy of its customers.

"Apple has a responsibility to maintain the trust and faith of millions of people who've depended upon Apple to produce a product that protects their privacy, their intimate personal life," said Olsen. "This is a Pandora's box."

Larson said Apple has taken things too far in the debate of privacy versus security.

"To say that allowing the government to obtain a dead murderous terrorist's telephone and the information that's on there is somehow going to set a precedent for everyone to lose their privacy rights on their iPhone is obviously gross exaggeration."

FBI Director James Comey echoed that sentiment in a letter released Sunday night.

"We don't want to break anyone's encryption or set a master key loose on the land," the letter read in part. "But we can't look the survivors in the eye, or ourselves in the mirror, if we don't follow this lead."

A hearing is set for March 22 in federal court.