Convicted Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht requests a mulligan

[Shawn Knight]

Convicted Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbricht is seeking a new trial. In a motion recently filed in New York federal court, Ulbricht’s legal team alleges the prosecution failed to disclose evidence in a timely fashion which ultimately influenced the outcome of the trial.

According to Joshua Dratel, Ulbricht’s lead attorney, evidence pointing to his client’s innocence was buried amid 5,000 pages of material that was handed over less than two weeks before the trial got under way.

The court filing by Dratel said this holdup of information denied Ulbricht his Fifth Amendment right to due process and a fair trial.

Dratel further argues that government agents conducted warrantless surveillance of the Tor network to find the Internet protocol for the Silk Road website. What’s more, Dratel said the defense should have been allowed to call Andreas Antonopoulos – an expert in the field digital currencies – to challenge whether the Bitcoins in Ulbricht’s possession came from Silk Road transactions.

While Ulbricht maintains that the Bitcoins were his, he said they weren’t from Silk Road profits but rather early investments in the cryptocurrency. It may sound far-fetched but it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard about an early investment generating a fortune for its lucky owner.

Ulbricht’s trial lasted about three weeks although jurors needed less than four hours to find him guilty on all seven charges. The court has until April to decide whether or not Ulbricht deserves another trial. If not, he will be sentenced on May 15 and is facing up to life in prison.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/59986-convicted-silk-road-founder-ross-ulbricht-requests-mulligan.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

This chump should be worrying about who's skank he's gonna be in the big house, not a round of golf.

 

[yRaz]

This chump should be worrying about who's skank he's gonna be in the big house, not a round of golf.

well what seemed to be the damning evidence in this case was the bitcoins. If they can prove that his bitcoins did not come from the silk road then the case falls apart. Anyone who's actually been following this case knows that this thing stinks. The evidence against him was gathered illegally(Most of the evidence is speculative at that) and the main piece of evidence they used to convict him may not have even come from the source they're saying it did.

This guy may very well be guilty and I will not argue his innocence, but we can't allow speculative evidence that was gathered illegally to be used to convict US citizens. At this point the case is about more than an internet drug dealer. Cases like this usually go on for months and sometimes years, not weeks. That in and of itself raises some questions

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

well what seemed to be the damning evidence in this case was the bitcoins. If they can prove that his bitcoins did not come from the silk road then the case falls apart. Anyone who's actually been following this case knows that this thing stinks. The evidence against him was gathered illegally(Most of the evidence is speculative at that) and the main piece of evidence they used to convicted him may not have even come from the source they're saying it did.

This guy may very well be guilty and I will not argue his innocence, but we can't allow speculative evidence that was gathered illegally to be used to convict US citizens. At this point the case is about more than an internet drug dealer. Cases like this usually go on for months and sometimes years, not weeks. That in and of itself raises some questions

I didn't really follow it, I only know what I read here but I did notice that it was rather quickly concluded. If these charges don't stick maybe the prosecution can try drug dealer/baron route and nail him under the RICO act. I dunno, I'm probably way off base here but he's sure guilty of some serious criminal offence.

 

[yRaz]

I didn't really follow it, I only know what I read here but I did notice that it was rather quickly concluded. If these charges don't stick maybe the prosecution can try drug dealer/baron route and nail him under the RICO act. I dunno, I'm probably way off base here but he's sure guilty of some serious criminal offence.

Well I don't really think he did that much wrong as I have some libertarian views, but I understand other people don't have those views. We've been screaming about illegal wiretaps from the US government for awhile now, but now we're starting to see the consequences of that spying. The US governments knows they don't have anything on him, that's why they didn't allow a crypto currency expert testify on the nature of his bitcoins. They're trying to quickly sweep this case under the rug and this guy should be set free simply on the grounds that the US government is trying to convict him in an illegal trial with illegal "evidence".

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Well I don't really think he did that much wrong as I have some libertarian views, but I understand other people don't have those views. We've been screaming about illegal wiretaps from the US government for awhile now, but now we're starting to see the consequences of that spying. The US governments knows they don't have anything on him, that's why they didn't allow a crypto currency expert testify on the nature of his bitcoins. They're trying to quickly sweep this case under the rug and this guy should be set free simply on the grounds that the US government is trying to convict him in an illegal trial with illegal "evidence".

I enjoyed your insightfulness into this topic but I'm gonna shutup now, I don't know enough about it to add anymore of my two cents, I'll just wind up changing feet.