Ross Ulbricht's attorneys have filed their appellate brief. Full text below or pdf here.
IN THE
United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Appellee,
v.
ROSS WILLIAM ULBRICHT, AKA DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS, AKA SILK ROAD,
AKA SEALED DEFENDANT 1, AKA DPR,
Defendant-Appellant.
>> > >
BRIEF FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
JOSHUA L. DRATEL, P.C.
Attorneys for Defendant-Appellant
29 Broadway, Suite 1412
New York, New York 10006
212-732-0707
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of New York (New York City)
15-1815-CR
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page1 of 170
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .................................................................................. vii
JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT .......................................................................... 1
STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES ............................................................................... 1
SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT ........................................................................ 3
STATEMENT OF THE CASE .................................................................................. 8
A. The Charges ............................................................................................. 9
B. Pretrial Motions ..................................................................................... 10
C. Disclosure of Force’s Corruption During the Investigation .................. 11
D. The Trial ................................................................................................. 13
E. The Charge and Verdict ......................................................................... 17
F. Post-Trial Motions and Further Disclosure
Regarding Corruption In the Investigation ............................................ 18
G. Sentencing .............................................................................................. 18
ARGUMENT ........................................................................................................... 20
POINT I
THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION AND DENIED
ULBRICHT HIS FIFTH AND SIXTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS TO
DUE PROCESS, THE RIGHT TO PRESENT A DEFENSE, AND A
FAIR TRIAL BY (A) PRECLUDING THE DEFENSE FROM USING
AT TRIAL THE EVIDENCE RELATING TO DEA SPECIAL
AGENT CARL FORCE’S CORRUPTION; (B) REFUSING TO
ORDER THE GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL
DISCOVERY AND BRADY MATERIAL REGARDING
CORRUPTION; AND (C) DENYING ULBRICHT’S MOTION FOR
A NEW TRIAL BASED ON ADDITIONAL POST-TRIAL
DISCLOSURES REGARDING FORCE AND ANOTHER CORRUPT
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT INVOLVED IN THE SILK ROAD
INVESTIGATION ........................................................................................ 20
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ii
A. The Government’s Eve-of-Trial Disclosure of
Force’s Corruption ................................................................................. 23
B. The Court’s Further Preclusion at Trial of Evidence the Pretrial
Rulings Had Permitted the Defense to Use ........................................... 27
1. The Post-Trial Revelation of Bridges’s Corruption, and the
Additional Post-Trial Disclosures of Force’s Misconduct .......... 30
C. The Court Abused Its Discretion In Precluding Ulbricht from
Utilizing at Trial Information Related to Force’s Corruption ............... 37
1. There Was Not Sufficient Need to Maintain Secrecy
of the Investigation of Force and Bridges to Ulbricht’s
Detriment In This Case ................................................................ 39
2. The Record Demonstrates That Silk Road
Investigations Were Coordinated and Combined ........................ 40
3. The Information Regarding the Investigation of Force
and Bridges Is Relevant to This Case Regardless Whether
the Investigations Were Independent .......................................... 46
a. The Government’s Initial Exhibit List ................................. 46
b. The Importance of the First Half of
2013 Regarding the Evidence At Trial ................................ 47
D. The Court Abused Its Discretion By Deviating From Its
Pretrial Ruling and Precluding Evidence That It Had
Determined Would Be Admissible ........................................................ 48
E. The Court Abused Its Discretion In Denying Ulbricht’s Motion
for a New Trial Based on the Government’s Failure to Make
Complete and Accurate Pretrial Disclosure Regarding Law
Enforcement Corruption In the Government’s Investigation ................ 50
1. The Principles Applicable to Exculpatory Material
and Information ........................................................................... 50
a. General Principles Governing the Government’s
Brady Disclosure Obligations .............................................. 50
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iii
b. The Manner of the Government’s Brady
Disclosure Obligations ......................................................... 59
2. The Government Failed to Make Timely Production
of Exculpatory Material ............................................................... 60
POINT II
THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY CURTAILING
CROSS-EXAMINATION AND THE DEFENSE THEORY AT
TRIAL ............................................................................................................ 63
A. HSI SA Jared Der Yeghiayan ................................................................ 63
1. In Curtailing and Striking Cross Examination of SA
Der-Yeghiayan, the Court Improperly Concluded There
Was No Nexus Between the Alternative Perpetrator and
the Specific Offenses ................................................................... 66
a. Relevant Case Law Regarding An Alternate Perpetrator ...... 66
b. The Requisite Nexus Was Established By the
Government Itself Through Its Direct Examination
of SA Der-Yeghiayan ............................................................ 69
2. The Court Also Erred by Disregarding the Untimeliness
of the Government’s Objections, Failing to Acknowledge
That Cross Examination of SA Der-Yeghiayan Was Relevant
to Another Proper Defense Ulbricht Was Presenting, and
Improperly Considering Issues Regarding the Government’s
Possible Redirect ......................................................................... 70
3. The Court Abused Its Discretion by Precluding the
Defense From Eliciting from SA Der-Yeghiayan that
Karpeles Attempted to Exchange Immunity for the
Identity of DPR ............................................................................ 71
B. FBI Computer Specialist Thomas Kiernan ............................................ 75
C. The Court’s Rulings Which Curtailed the Cross Examinations
of SA Der-Yeghiayan and Agent Kiernan Constituted an Abuse
of Discretion ........................................................................................... 76
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iv
POINT III
THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN PRECLUDING TWO
DEFENSE EXPERTS ................................................................................... 78
A. The Court’s Decision Precluding the Two Defense Experts ................. 80
B. The Court Abused Its Discretion In Precluding
the Two Defense Experts ....................................................................... 83
POINT IV
THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN PRECLUDING
ADMISSION OF ANDREW JONES’S STATEMENT AGAINST
PENAL INTEREST PURSUANT TO RULE 804(3)(b),
FED.R.EVID., AND/OR RULE 807, FED.R.EVID. ................................... 90
A. Pretrial Disclosure of Andrew Jones’s Exculpatory Statement ............. 90
B. The Trial Proceedings ............................................................................ 91
C. The Court Abused Its Discretion In Precluding Admission
of Jones’s Statement Under Either Rule 804(3)(b) or Rule 807............ 92
POINT V
THE COURT’S ERRONEOUS EVIDENTIARY RULINGS
CONSTITUTED CUMULATIVE ERROR THAT DEPRIVED
ULBRICHT OF DUE PROCESS AND A FAIR TRIAL ............................. 97
POINT VI
THE UNLIMITED SEARCHES AND SEIZURE OF ULBRICHT’S
ENTIRE LAPTOP AND GMAIL AND FACEBOOK ACCOUNTS
VIOLATED THE FOURTH AMENDMENT BECAUSE THEY
CONSTITUTED THE FRUIT OF (A) A WARRANT THAT
LACKED ANY PARTICULARITY; AND (B) UNLAWFUL AND
WARRANTLESS PEN REGISTER AND TRAP AND TRACE
ORDERS ........................................................................................................ 98
A. The Search of Ulbricht’s Laptop and Gmail and Facebook
Accounts Violated the Fourth Amendment Because the
Warrant Authorizing the Search Lacked Any Particularity ................... 98
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v
1. The Unlimited Scope of the Warrants At Issue ........................... 98
2. The Court’s Rationale for Denying Ulbricht’s
Motion to Suppress .................................................................... 100
3. The Overriding Importance of the Particularity
Requirement ............................................................................... 100
4. The Warrants At Issue Are Devoid of Particularity .................. 102
B. The Pen Register and Trap and Trace Orders Were Unlawful
and Violated the Fourth Amendment Because They Required a
Warrant and Also Failed to Adhere to Statutory Limitations .............. 109
1. The Pen Register and Trap and Trace Orders Were Unlawful
Because They Required a Warrant ........................................... 109
a. Smith v. Maryland Does Not Control the Issue Herein ..... 111
b. The Pen-Trap Devices In This Case Required a Warrant
Because They Captured Information About Ulbricht’s
Activities In His Home ...................................................... 118
c. The Pen-Trap Devices In This Case Required a Warrant
and/or Violated the Operative Statute Because They
Captured Prospective Data and Information ..................... 120
2. The Pen Register and Trap and Trace Devices Used In
This Case Were Unlawful Because They Exceeded
Statutory Authority .................................................................. 121
POINT VII
THE LIFE SENTENCE IMPOSED ON ULBRICHT WAS
PROCEDURALLY AND SUBSTANTIVELY UNREASONABLE ......... 125
A. The Life Sentence Was Procedurally Unreasonable ........................... 125
1. The Court Erred In Considering the Alleged Overdose
Deaths Based on An Entirely Subjective, Undefined, and
Unprecedented Standard ........................................................... 127
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vi
2. The Court Improperly Relied on the Alleged
Overdose Deaths Purportedly Attributable to
the Silk Road Site Without Sufficient or Reliable Proof .......... 128
a. The Relevant Case Law ..................................................... 128
b. The Court Improperly Relied on “Erroneous Factsâ€
In Considering the Alleged Overdose Deaths That
the Defense Expert Forensic Pathologist Concluded
Was Incomplete, Unreliable, and Inaccurate ..................... 130
B. The Life Sentence Was Substantively Unreasonable ......................... 133
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 140
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vii
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Page(s)
Federal Cases
ACLU v. Clapper, 785 F.3d 787 (2d Cir. 2015) ............................................ 115, 117
Alvarez v. Ercole, 763 F.3d 223 (2d Cir. 2014) ....................................................... 69
Andersen v. Maryland, 427 U.S. 463, 96 S.Ct. 2737,
49 L.Ed.2d 627 (1976) ...................................................................................... 106
Andrews v. Stegall, 11 Fed.Appx. 394 (6th Cir. 2001) ............................................ 68
In re Application, 2006 WL 1876847 (N.D. Ind. July 5, 2006) ............................ 123
In re Application, 396 F.Supp.2d 747 (S.D. Tex. 2005) ........................................ 122
In re Application of the U.S. for an Order Authorizing the Release of
Historical Cell-Site Info., 809 F.Supp.2d 113 (E.D.N.Y.2011) ....................... 117
In re Application of the United States for an Order Authorizing the
Installation and Use of a Pen Register Device, 497 F.Supp.2d 301
(D.P.R. 2007) with In re Application of the United States for an
Order for Disclosure of Telecommunications Records and
Authorizing the Use of a Pen Register and Trap and Trace, 405
F.Supp.2d 435 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) ....................................................................... 121
In re Application of the United States for an Order Authorizing the
Use of a Pen Register and a Trap and Trace Device on Wireless
Telephone Bearing Telephone Number [Redacted], Subscribed to
[Redacted], Service by [Redacted], No. 08 MC 0595(JO), 2008
WL 5255815 (E.D.N.Y. Dec.16, 2008) ............................................................ 123
In re Application of the United States for an Order Authorizing the
Use of a Pen Register With Caller Identification Device Cell Site
Location Authority on a Cellular Telephone, 2009 WL 159187
(S.D.N.Y. Jan.13, 2009) .................................................................................... 122
In re Application of the United States for an Order Directing a
Provider of Electronic Communication Service to Disclose
Records to the Government, 534 F.Supp.2d 585 (W.D.Pa. 2008) ................... 121
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page8 of 170
viii
In re Application of the United States for an Order for Prospective
Cell Site Location Information on a Certain Cellular Telephone,
460 F.Supp.2d 448 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) ................................................................ 121
In re Applications of U.S. for Orders Authorizing Disclosure of Cell
Cite Info., 05-403, 2005 WL 3658531 (D.D.C. Oct. 26, 2005) ........................ 123
Authorizing Disclosure of Location-Based Servs. No. 07-128, 2007
WL 3342243 (S.D. Tex. Nov. 7, 2007) ............................................................ 124
In re Authorizing the Use of a Pen Register, 384 F.Supp.2d 562 on
reconsideration sub nom. In re Application of the U.S. for an
Order (1) Authorizing the Use of a Pen Register & a Trap & Trace
Device, 396 F.Supp.2d 294 (E.D.N.Y. 2005) ................................................... 124
Bowen v. Maynard, 799 F.2d 593 (10th Cir.) .......................................................... 70
Bowen v. Maynard, 799 F.3d 593 (10th Cir. 1986) ................................................. 67
Boyette v. LeFevre, 246 F.3d 76 (2d Cir. 2001) ...................................................... 66
Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (963) .............................................................passim
Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284 (1973) ................................................passim
Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (1967) ............................................................ 77
Cone v. Bell, 556 U.S. 449 (2009) ............................................................... 51, 54, 62
Cotto v. Herbert, 331 F.3d 217 (2d Cir. 2003) .................................................. 69, 71
Crane v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 683 (1986) ................................................................. 83
Dennis v. United States, 384 U.S. 855 (1966) ................................................... 38, 56
DiBenedetto v. Hall, 272 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2001) ...................................................... 67
Douglas Oil Co. Of California v. Petrol Stops Northwest,
441 U.S. 211 (1979) ............................................................................................ 56
Florida v. Jardines, __ U.S. __, 133 S. Ct. 1409 (2013) ....................................... 120
Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. 349 (1977) (plurality opinion) ............................... 129
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page9 of 170
ix
Hein v. Cuprum, S.A., De C.V., 53 Fed.Appx. 134 (2d Cir. 2002) .......................... 84
Horton v. California, 496 U.S. 128 (1990) ............................................................ 102
Klayman v. Obama, 957 F.Supp.2d 1 (D.D.C. 2013), vacated and
remanded on other grounds, 800 F.3d 559 (D.C. Cir. 2015) ........................... 115
Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81 (1996) .............................................................. 77
Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419 (1995) ..............................................................passim
Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001) .................................................... 119, 120
Lambert v. Beard, 537 Fed.Appx. 78 (3d Cir. 2013), after remand by,
Wetzel v. Lambert, __ U.S. __, 132 S. Ct. 1195 (2012) ............................... 52, 62
Leka v. Portuondo, 257 F.3d 89 (2d Cir.2001) .................................................. 58, 61
Limone v. United States, 497 F.Supp.2d `43 (D. Mass. 2007) ................................ 73
Martindell v. Int'l Tel. & Tel. Corp., 594 F.2d 291 (2d Cir. 1979) ......................... 38
Mendez v. Artuz, 303 F.3d 411 (2d Cir. 2002) ......................................................... 67
Mitchell v. United States, 526 U.S. 314 (1999) ....................................................... 94
Moore v. Illinois, 408 U.S. 786 (1972) .................................................................... 51
Muncie Aviation Corporation v. Party Doll Fleet, Inc., 519 F.2d 1178
(5th Cir. 1975) ..................................................................................................... 73
In re Order Authorizing Prospective and Continuous Release of Cell
Site Location Records, 31 F.Supp.3d 889 (S.D. Tex. 2014) ............................ 121
Parsons v. Honeywell Incorporated, 929 F.2d 901 (2d Cir. 1991) ......................... 73
People of Territory of Guam v. Ignacio, 10 F. 3d 608 (9th Cir. 1993) ................... 68
In the Matter of the Search of Information Associated with [Redacted]
@mac.comthat is Stored at Premises Controlled by Apple, Inc.,
13 F.Supp.3d 157 (D.D.C. August 8, 2014) ..................................................... 107
Sherwin-Williams Co. v. New York State Teamsters Conference
Pension and Retirement Fund, 969 F.Supp. 465 (N.D. Oh. 1997) .................. 132
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page10 of 170
x
Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735 (1979) ..........................................................passim
Steinberg v. Obstetrics-Gynecological & Fertility Group, P.C.,
260 F.Supp.2d 492 (D.Conn. 2003) .................................................................... 73
St. Germain v. United States, Nos. 03 cv 8006 (CM), 99 cr 339 (CM),
2004 WL 1171403, at *18 (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 2004) ........................................ 58
In re U.S. For an Order Authorizing the Disclosure of Prospective
Cell Site Info., 412 F.Supp.2d 947 (E.D. Wisc. 2006), aff'd, 06-
MISC-004, 2006 WL 2871743 (E.D. Wis. Oct. 6, 2006) ................................. 124
In re U.S. for an Order Authorizing the Use of a Pen Register and
Trap on [xxx] Internet Service Account/User Name
[xxxxxxx@xxx.com], 396 F.Supp.2d 45 (D. Mass 2005) ................................. 114
United States v. Abrams, 615 F.3d 541 (1st Cir. 1980) ......................................... 105
United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97 (1976) ....................................................... 54, 83
United States v. Al-Moayad, 545 F.3d 139 (2d Cir. 2008) ...................................... 97
United States v. Aldeen, 792 F.3d 247 (2d Cir. 2015) ........................................... 134
United States v. Bailey, 581 F.2d 341 (3d Cir. 1978) .............................................. 73
United States v. Blake, 107 F.3d 651 (8th Cir. 1997).1 2 ........................................ 71
United States v. Breit, 767 F.2d 1084 (4th Cir. 1985) ............................................. 59
United States v. Bridges, No. CR 15-319 (RS) (N.D. Cal.)..................................... 23
United States v. Camacho, 163 F.Supp.2d 287 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) ............................ 93
United States v. Cavera, 550 F.3d 180 (2d Cir. 2008) (en banc) .......................... 126
United States v. Certified Environmental Services, Inc.,
753 F.3d 72 (2d Cir. 2014) ..........................................................................passim
United States v. Chan, 184 F.Supp.2d 337 (S.D.N.Y. 2002) .................................. 92
United States v. Chavez, 549 F.3d 119 (2d Cir. 2008) ............................................ 84
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page11 of 170
xi
United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc.,
621 F.3d 1162 (9th Cir. 2010) (en banc) (per curiam) ..................................... 105
United States v. Coppa, 267 F.3d 132 (2d Cir. 2001) ......................................passim
United States v. Crowley, 318 F.3d 401 (2d Cir. 2003),
cert. denied, 540 U.S. 894 (2003) ....................................................................... 76
United States v. Davis, 785 F.3d 498 (11th Cir. 2015) (en banc) ......................... 117
United States v. DeSilva, 613 F.3d 352 (2d Cir. 2010) ......................................... 126
United States v. Diallo, 40 F.3d 31 (2d Cir. 1994) .................................................. 88
United States v. Diaz, 176 F.3d 52 (2d Cir. 1999) ................................................... 68
United States v. Dumeisi, 424 F.3d 566 (7th Cir. 2005) .......................................... 73
United States v. Dwyer, 539 F.2d 924 (2d Cir. 1976) ............................................. 87
United States v. Fatico, 458 F.Supp. 388 (E.D.N.Y. 1978),
aff’d in part rev’d in part, 603 F.2d 1053 (2d Cir. 1979) ................................. 129
United States v. Figueroa, 548 F.3d 222 (2d Cir. 2008) ................................... 71, 77
United States v. Figueroa, 647 F.3d 466 (2d Cir. 2011) ....................................... 126
United States v. Forrester, 512 F.3d 500 (9th Cir. 2007) ...................................... 114
United States v. Fucillo, 808 F.2d 173 (1st Cir. 1987) .......................................... 104
United States v. Fuller, 149 F.Supp.2d 17 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) ................................... 93
United States v. Galpin, 720 F.3d 436 (2d Cir. 2013) ......................................passim
United States v. Ganias, 755 F.3d 125 (2d Cir. 2014), reh'g en banc
granted, 791 F.3d 290 (2d Cir. 2015) ............................................... 101, 102, 103
United States v. George, 975 F.2d 72 (2d Cir. 1992) ............................................ 104
United States v. Gil, 297 F.3d 93 (2d Cir. 2002) ......................................... 55, 56, 59
United States v. Graham, 796 F.3d 332 (4th Cir. 2015), reh’g en banc
granted, 2015 WL 6531272 (4th Cir. Oct. 28, 2015) ...............116, 117, 119, 120
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page12 of 170
xii
United States v. Holzman, 871 1496, 1509 (9th Cir. 1989) ................................... 104
United States v. Hsia, 24 F.Supp.2d 14 (D.D.C. 1998) ....................................passim
United States v. Iaconetti, 406 F.Supp. 554 (E.D.N.Y. 1976) ................................. 73
United States v. Ingram, 721 F.3d 35 (2d Cir. 2013)
(Calabresi, J., concurring) ................................................................................. 134
United States v. Jones, 132 S. Ct. 945 (2012)
(Sotomayor, J., concurring) .............................................................................. 117
United States v. Karo, 468 U.S. 705 (1984) .......................................................... 119
United States v. Kim, 896 F.2d 678 (2d Cir. 1990) ............................................... 139
United States v. Lee, 818 F.2d 1052 (2d Cir. 1987) .............................................. 128
United States v. Mahaffy, 693 F.3d 113 (2d Cir. 2012) ........................................... 53
United States v. Manning, 56 F.3d 1188 (9th Cir. 1995) ......................................... 67
United States v. Mannino, 635 F.2d 110 (2d Cir. 1980) ........................................ 106
United States v. Maxwell, 920 F.2d 1028 (D.C. Cir. 1990) ................................... 104
United States v. McBride, 786 F.2d 45 (2d Cir. 1986) ............................................ 87
United States v. Miller, 425 U.S. 435 (1976) ........................................................ 116
United States v. Ming He, 94 F.3d 782 (2d Cir. 1996) ............................................ 94
United States v. Peter Nash, 13 Cr. 950 (TPG) ..................................................... 136
United States v. Olsen, 737 F.3d 625 (9th Cir. 2013) ........................................ 62, 63
United States v. Onumonu, 967 F.2d 782 (2d Cir. 1992) ............................ 86, 87, 88
United States v. Otero, 563 F.3d 1127 (10th Cir. 2009) ........................................ 101
United States v. Payne, 63 F.3d 1200 (2d Cir. 1995) .............................................. 52
United States v. Pollack, 534 F.2d 964 (D.C. Cir. 1976) ........................................ 57
United States v. Prescott, 920 F.2d 139 (2d Cir. 1990) ......................................... 129
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page13 of 170
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United States v. Rattoballi, 452 F.3d 127 (2d Cir. 2006) ...................................... 133
United States v. Rigas, 583 F.3d 108 (2d Cir. 2009) ............................................. 133
United States v. Rivas, 377 F.3d 195 (2d Cir. 2004) ............................................... 53
United States v. Roche, 614 F.2d 6 (1st Cir. 1980) ............................................... 103
United States v. Solomonyan, 451 F.Supp.2d 626 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) ....................... 55
United States v. Stifel, 594 F.Supp. at 154 ................................................... 67, 71, 74
United States v. Thai, 29 F.3d 785 (2d Cir. 1994) ................................................... 84
United States v. Thomas, 981 F.Supp.2d 229 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) .......................passim
United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443 (1972) ....................................................... 129
United States v. Van Brandy, 726 F.2d 548 (9th Cir.1984) ..................................... 54
United States v. Vilar, 2007 WL 1075041 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 4, 2007) ..................... 104
United States v. Wade, 512 Fed.Appx. 11 (2d Cir. 2013) ....................................... 68
United States v. Youngblood, 379 F.2d 365 (2d Cir. 1967) ..................................... 56
United States v. Zemlyansky, 945 F.Supp.2d 438 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) ...................... 108
Voss v. Bergsgaard, 774 F.2d 402 (10th Cir. 1985) .............................................. 108
Wade v. Mantello, 333 F.3d 51 (2d Cir. 2003) .................................................. 66, 67
Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294 (1967) ............................................................... 107
Williamson v. United States, 512 U.S. 594 (1994) .................................................. 95
Zerega Ave. Realty Corp. v. Hornbeck Offshore Transp., LLC,
571 F.3d 206 (2d Cir. 2009) ......................................................................... 84, 85
State Cases
Commonwealth v. Augustine, 467 Mass. 230 (2014) ............................................ 120
State v. Earls, 214 N.J. 564 (2013) ........................................................................ 120
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page14 of 170
xiv
Federal Statutes
18 U.S.C. § 2 .............................................................................................................. 9
18 U.S.C. § 371 ...................................................................................................... 108
18 U.S.C. §§ 981 & 982 ........................................................................................... 10
18 U.S.C. § 1028(f) .................................................................................................. 10
18 U.S.C. § 1030 (a)(2) .............................................................................................. 8
18 U.S.C. § 1030(b) ................................................................................................. 10
18 U.S.C. § 1341 .................................................................................................... 108
18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) ......................................................................................... 8, 9, 10
18 U.S.C. § 1960 ...................................................................................................... 46
18 U.S.C. §§ 2703 and 3122 .................................................................................. 128
18 U.S.C. § 2703(d) ............................................................................................... 128
18 U.S.C. §§ 3122 and 3123 .................................................................................. 129
18 U.S.C. § 3127 ............................................................................125, 126, 127, 128
18 U.S.C. § 3127 (3) .............................................................................................. 115
18 U.S.C. § 3127 (4) .............................................................................................. 115
18 U.S.C. § 3231 ........................................................................................................ 1
18 U.S.C. § 3500 .................................................................................... 23, 59, 60, 74
18 U.S.C. § 3742(a) ................................................................................................... 1
21 U.S.C. §§ 812, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A) ................................................................ 9
21 U.S.C. §§ 812, 841(h) and (b)(1)(A) .................................................................. 10
21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) ....................................................................................... 142
21 U.S.C. § 841 and § 848 ..................................................................................... 108
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page15 of 170
xv
21 U.S.C. § 846 .................................................................................................... 8, 10
21 U.S.C. § 848(a) ................................................................................................... 10
21 U.S.C. § 853 ........................................................................................................ 10
28 U.S.C. § 1291 ........................................................................................................ 1
28 U.S.C. § 2461 ...................................................................................................... 10
28 U.S.C. § 2703 .................................................................................... 122, 128, 129
47 U.S.C. § 1002(a) ............................................................................................... 127
Rules
Rule 6(e), Fed.R.Crim.P. ............................................................................. 12, 29, 40
Rule 16, Fed.R.Crim.P. ...................................................................................... 83, 87
Rule 29, Fed.R.Crim.P. ............................................................................................ 18
Rule 33, Fed.R.Crim.P. .....................................................................................passim
Rule 403, Fed.R.Evid. .............................................................................................. 68
Rule 803(4), Fed.R.Evid. ..................................................................... 2, 95, 100, 101
Rule 803(24), Fed.R.Evid ........................................................................................ 76
Rule 804(3), Fed.R.Evid .......................................................................................... 17
Rule 804(3)(b), Fed.R.Evid ..................................................................................... 96
Rule 804(b)(5), Fed.R.Evid ..................................................................................... 76
Rule 807, Fed.R.Evid. .......................................................................................passim
Rule 807(C), Fed.R.Evid ......................................................................................... 96
Constitutional Provisions
Fourth Amendment ...........................................................................................passim
Fifth Amendment ..............................................................................................passim
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page16 of 170
xvi
Sixth Amendment .............................................................................................passim
Other Authorities
Glenn R. Schmitt & Hyun J. Konfrst, Life Sentences in the Federal
System , United States Sentencing Commission (February 2015) ................... 134
James Cook, “The Biggest Drug Dealer on Silk Road Has Been
Sentenced to 10 Years In Prison,†.................................................................... 137
Kathleen Ridolfi, Tiffany M. Joslyn, and Todd H. Fries, Material
Indifference: How Courts Are Impeding Fair Disclosure In Criminal Cases . 106
Orin S. Kerr, Searches and Seizures in a Digital World, 119 Harv.
L.Rev. 531, 569 (2005) ..................................................................................... 101
Patrick Howell O’Neill, “The Dark Net’s Cocaine King Just Got 5
Years Behind Bars,†......................................................................................... 137
Spencer Ackerman, “NSA Review Panel Casts Doubt On Bulk Data
Collection Claims,†The Guardian, January 14, 2014 ..................................... 115
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page17 of 170
1
JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT
The District Court’s jurisdiction is based on 18 U.S.C. §3231. This Court’s
jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C. §1291 and 18 U.S.C. §3742(a). This appeal is
from an Order of J udgment entered J une 1, 2015, by the Honorable Katherine B.
Forrest, United States District J udge, Southern District of New York, following
defendant-appellant Ross Ulbricht’s conviction after trial on seven counts charged
against him in Indictment 14 Cr. 68 (KBF). A150.
1
A timely Notice of Appeal
was filed J une 4, 2015. A1554. Ulbricht is appealing a final order of the Court
regarding his conviction and sentence. A1545.
STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES
I. Whether the Court abused its discretion in precluding Ulbricht’s use at
trial of evidence of an investigating agent’s corruption directly related
to the investigation and operation of the website the defendant
allegedly operated, and whether the government withheld exculpatory
information, regarding that corruption.
II. Whether the Court abused its discretion in curtailing the defense’s
cross-examination of government witnesses with respect to the
defense theories of the case.
1
“A†refers to the Appendix filed herewith. “S†refers to the Sealed Appendix. “Tâ€
refers to citations to the trial transcripts.
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2
III. Whether the Court abused its discretion in precluding the testimony
of two defense experts.
IV. Whether the Court erred in excluding a statement by an unavailable
witness, which qualified for admission under either Rule 803(4),
Fed.R.Evid. (admission against penal interest) or Rule 807,
Fed.R.Evid. (residual exception).
V. Whether the Court’s evidentiary errors, even if insufficient
individually to warrant vacating Ulbricht’s conviction, constituted
cumulative error.
VI. Whether the Court erred in denying Ulbricht’s motions to suppress:
A. evidence from his laptop and social media accounts because the
warrants to search those materials lacked any particularity.
B. evidence obtained via pen register and trap and trace devices
that tracked Ulbricht’s internet activity and location because
they were implemented without a warrant.
VII. Whether the sentence of life imprisonment imposed upon Ulbricht
was procedurally and/or substantively unreasonable.
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3
SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT
This Brief on Appeal is filed on behalf of defendant-appellant Ross Ulbricht,
who, after a four-week jury trial, was convicted on seven counts and subsequently
sentenced to life without parole. The charges alleged that Ulbricht operated a
website, the Silk Road, on which vendors offered for sale a wide variety of
merchandise including controlled substances, computer hacking software, and false
identification documents. The exclusive method of payment on the site, which
existed on the TOR network on the Internet and provided anonymity for those
operating, selling, and purchasing on Silk Road, was through Bitcoin, an electronic
payment system also providing anonymity for participants in any transaction on
Silk Road.
This appeal presents three categories of issues: (1) those that occurred at
trial; (2) those related to the Court’s denial of Ulbricht’s motions to suppress
certain evidence; and (3) those that occurred at sentencing. As detailed below,
those errors, correspondingly, (1) constituted an abuse of discretion and denied
Ulbricht his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to Due Process, a fair trial, and to
present a defense; (2) violated his Fourth Amendment rights to be protected
against unreasonable search and seizure, and (3) constituted an abuse of
discretion and denial of Ulbricht’s Fifth Amendment Due Process rights with
respect to sentencing.
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4
At trial, the Court’s evidentiary rulings precluded a valid defense by
excluding material exculpatory evidence of critical law enforcement corruption by
two agents in the investigation itself, unreasonably curtailing cross-examination –
including post hoc excision of questions and answers from the record – as well as
precluding testimony of two experts proffered by the defense, and a crucial
statement by a cooperating witness who did not testify, but which was against the
penal interest of the declarant and exculpatory for Ulbricht.
The defense’s principal elements were that:
(a) Ulbricht was not Dread Pirate Roberts (“DPRâ€), the alias adopted by
the operator and administrator of the Silk Road website, and that, as
government investigators and persons directly involved with the site
concluded, there were multiple DPR’s over the course of Silk Road’s
existence;
(b) that DPR framed Ulbricht, who had initially conceived of and
constructed the Silk Road site, but had divested himself of it early on
(as he had informed a friend who testified as a government witness);
and,
(c) that vulnerabilities inherent to the internet and digital data, such as
fabrication and manipulation of files and metadata, and hacking,
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page21 of 170
5
rendered much of the evidence against Ulbricht inauthentic,
unattributable to him, and/or ultimately unreliable.
Yet the Court’s rulings, covered in POINTs I, II, III and IV, prevented the
defense from presenting salient facts to the jury with respect to each of those issues
by precluding:
(1) evidence that a Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent, Carl
M. Force, had engaged in corruption in his investigation of Silk Road,
which included his and another corrupt agent’s (whose misconduct
was not disclosed to the defense until after trial) infiltration of the
internal operations of Silk Road’s website and communications and
financial platforms;
(2) evidence pointing to an alternative perpetrator, Mark Karpeles, whom
the government was actively investigating with respect to Silk Road
until Ulbricht’s arrest;
(3) evidence that DPR was paying someone claiming to be involved in
law enforcement (and who after trial was confirmed to be Force) for
information regarding the status and progress of the government’s
investigation of Silk Road;
(4) evidence that over time there was more than one DPR;
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page22 of 170
6
(5) evidence that a Silk Road administrator had reason to believe that the
person acting as DPR (whom he had never met) in September 2013
was not the DPR who had hired him earlier that year; and
(6) evidence that the integrity of communications and information
transmitted over the internet is suspect without firsthand corroboration
of the source and accuracy.
In a case in which that lack of integrity of digital information, created and
transmitted on an anonymous untraceable internet network, was of paramount
importance, and in which the government did not produce a single witness to
testify firsthand that Ulbricht authored any of the communications attributable to
DPR, and which was permeated by corruption of two law enforcement agents
participating in the investigation, the restrictions on cross-examination, and
preclusion of expert witnesses offered to overcome those restrictions, eviscerated
Ulbricht’s defense and denied him a fair trial.
Also, as set forth in POINT V, even if those errors do not suffice
individually to compel reversal of Ulbricht’s convictions, they constitute
cumulative error.
In addition, as detailed in POINT VI, the Court’s denial of Ulbricht’s
suppression motion was erroneous in two respects: (1) the warrants for the
search of his laptop, Facebook and Gmail accounts lacked any particularity; and
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7
(2) the pen register and trap and trace devices implemented required a warrant
because they tracked Ulbricht’s internet activity and location, intruded into his
conduct within his residence, and sought prospective, rather than historical,
information.
Ultimately, Ulbricht was sentenced to life imprisonment. In so doing, as set
forth in POINT VII, the Court committed both procedural and substantive error.
The former involved attributing to Ulbricht several alleged overdose deaths based
on an undefined and unprecedented legal standard, and then applying that standard
to rely on accusations (rather than the uncontroverted report of the defense’s expert
forensic pathologist) that did not meet even the preponderance of evidence
standard. The latter error involved imposing a demonstrably unreasonable
sentence that “shocks the conscience†or at very least “stirs†it – the most severe
available, reserved for a tiny fraction of the worst offenders, upon a defendant who,
even if guilty, did not himself sell any drugs but merely created a neutral internet
commercial platform that enabled others to do so.
Accordingly, it is respectfully submitted that Ulbricht’s convictions should
be vacated and a new trial ordered, particular evidence against him suppressed, or,
in the alternative, the matter should be remanded for re-sentencing before a
different judge.
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8
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Ulbricht was arrested October 1, 2013, in San Francisco, California,
pursuant to a Criminal Complaint charging him with a narcotics trafficking
conspiracy, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §846, a computer hacking conspiracy, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. §1030 (a)(2), and a money laundering conspiracy, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. §1956(h). A48.
The Superseding Indictment charged Ulbricht with devising and operating
Silk Road, an “underground website†allegedly “designed to enable users across
the world to buy and sell illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services
anonymously and outside the reach of law enforcement.†A150. Ulbricht is
alleged to have owned and operated the site “with the assistance of various paid
employees who he managed and supervised†from in or about J anuary 2011
through in or about October 2013, when Silk Road was shut down by law
enforcement. A150-51.
According to the Indictment, during the period that the Silk Road website
was operational it “emerged as the most sophisticated and extensive criminal
marketplace on the Internet†and was “used by several thousand drug dealers and
unlawful vendors to distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other
illicit goods and services to well over a hundred thousand buyers worldwide.†Id.
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9
The website is also alleged to have been used “to launder hundreds of
millions of dollars from these illegal transactions.†Id. The Indictment further
alleges Ulbricht “reaped commissions worth tens of millions of dollars†from the
sales conducted on the website, and he “solicit[ed] the murder-for-hire of several
individuals he believed posed a threat†to Silk Road in order to “protect his
criminal enterprise and the illegal proceeds it generated.†A151.
A. The Charges
Ulbricht was initially indicted February 4, 2014, A87, and a Superseding
Indictment was returned August 21, 2014. A150. The Superseding Indictment
charged Ulbricht with: Distribution and Possession with Intent to Distribute
Controlled Substances and Aiding and Abetting such Distribution and Possession
with Intent to Distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§812, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A),
and 18 U.S.C. §2 (Count One); Distribution of Narcotics By Means of the
Internet and Aiding and Abetting Such Activity, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§812,
841(h) and (b)(1)(A) (Count Two); Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with
Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §846 (Count
Three); Continuing Criminal Enterprise, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §848(a) (Count
Four); Conspiracy to Commit and Aid and Abet Computer Hacking, in violation
of 18 U.S.C. §1030(b) (Count Five); Conspiracy to Traffic and to Aid and Abet
Trafficking in Fraudulent Identification Documents, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page26 of 170
10
§1028(f) (Count Six); and a Money Laundering Conspiracy, in violation of 18
U.S.C. §1956(h). Id.
The Superseding Indictment also included forfeiture allegations pursuant to
18 U.S.C. §§981 & 982, 21 U.S.C. §853, and 28 U.S.C. §2461. A163-65.
Ulbricht pleaded not guilty to the charges.
B. Pretrial Motions
Ulbricht filed pretrial motions March 28, 2014, seeking dismissal of all
charges. See Docket #21. The Court issued an Order J uly 9, 2014, denying
those motions in their entirety. A99.
Ulbricht filed additional pretrial motions August 1, 2014, to suppress certain
evidence, for a Bill of Particulars, for discovery, and to strike surplusage from the
Indictment. The suppression motions sought, inter alia, to suppress evidence
obtained via unlimited searches of Ulbricht’s laptop and Gmail and Facebook
accounts on the grounds they violated the Fourth Amendment because the warrants
lacked the requisite particularity; the searches were the fruit of unlawful pen
register and trap and trace Orders used to obtain internet router identifying
information regarding Ulbricht’s laptop, location, and internet activity. See
Docket #48.
The Court denied those motions by Order dated October 10, 2014, A176, on
the grounds that (1) the Court had “no idea†whether Ulbricht had an expectation
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11
of privacy in his laptop, and Facebook and Gmail accounts, but regardless the
warrants for these accounts were lawful in that they were not general warrants and
were supported by probable cause; and (2) “the type of information sought in
Pen-Trap orders 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 was entirely appropriate for that type of orderâ€
and “[t]he Pen-Trap Orders do not seek the content of internet communications in
any directly relevant sense.†A201, 203-04.
C. Disclosure of Force’s Corruption During the Investigation
Approximately a month prior to trial, December 1, 2014, the government
disclosed to defense counsel a November 21, 2014, letter to the Court regarding an
“ongoing federal grand jury investigation†by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Northern District of California, in conjunction with the Public Integrity Section of
the Criminal Division of the Department of J ustice, into former Drug Enforcement
Administration (“DEAâ€) Special Agent Carl Force, a matter under seal pursuant to
Court Order and Rule 6(e), Fed.R.Crim.P. A649. The letter disclosed that “[i]n
2012 and 2013, SA Force was involved as an undercover agent in an investigation
of Silk Road conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of
Maryland.†A649.
The Court conducted a sealed hearing December 15, 2014, regarding the
sealed December 1, 2014, disclosure to defense counsel regarding the grand jury
investigation of Force, and the government’s application to preclude the defense
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12
from disclosing the investigation of Force to any third party, or using it at trial.
A224. Defense counsel moved for unsealing and disclosure of all information
regarding the government’s investigation of Force. A238; Docket#114 & #227-1.
The government submitted a supplemental letter December 17, 2014,
regarding the sealed proceeding as to Force, and the Court’s endorsement of that
letter requested defense counsel submit a list of particularized discovery requests
regarding the investigation of Force to the Court by the following morning. A662.
Defense counsel submitted this list to the Court, by letter, December 18, 2014.
A669-72.
In a December 22, 2014, Sealed Memorandum and Decision, the Court
denied Ulbricht’s motions to unseal the government’s November 21 2014, letter,
and for discovery regarding the Force investigation. A675-76. The Court also
stated that in regard to defense counsel’s ability to use information from the
November 21, 2014, letter at trial, it would “over the course of the trial, entertain
specific requests to use information from the November 21, 2014 Letter on
cross-examination†and “if, during the course of the trial, the Government opens
the door to specific information or facts develop which render particularized
disclosure of facts or documents relevant, the Court will entertain a renewed
application at that time.†A700.
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13
In light of the Court’s December 22, 2014, Opinion, defense counsel
submitted a letter December 30, 2014, requesting an adjournment of Ulbricht’s
trial until after the conclusion of the investigation – by that time already eight
months old – into Force’s misconduct. A701. The government opposed defense
counsel’s request and the Court denied the adjournment request that same day.
A704-06.
D. The Trial
Ulbricht’s trial commenced J anuary 13, 2015, in the Southern District of
New York. The government’s theory of prosecution, described ante, was that
Ulbricht created Silk Road and operated it throughout its existence until his arrest,
and did so intentionally, and conspired, to facilitate the sale of drugs and other
illicit materials (hacking software and false identification documents) by vendors
and purchasers using the site, charging a commission for each transaction paid in
bitcoin.
The defense theory was that while Ulbricht, at the time 26 years old, had
devised Silk Road as a free-market economic experiment – as he told his friend,
government witness Richard Bates, see post – he had, as he informed Bates later,
divested himself of interest in Silk Road shortly after its inception. The defense
also posited that Ulbricht was not DPR, who first appeared after Ulbricht left Silk
Road, that there were multiple persons successively acting as Dread Pirate Roberts
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14
(much like the character of that name in the movie The Princess Bride), and that
the DPR in 2013, who purchased and was leaked information about the
government’s investigation of Silk Road, framed Ulbricht to absorb the
consequences.
Also encompassed within the defense theory was evidence that the
government’s investigation of DPR and Silk Road had been flawed, impairing its
ability to apprehend and prosecute a specific alternative perpetrator, Mark
Karpeles, the focus of the investigation for a considerable period of time. In
addition, with pressure mounting toward the end of 2013 – because the government
had access to Silk Road’s computer servers overseas since J uly 2013, but permitted
the site to continue operating while investigating the identity of DPR – the
government seized on Ulbricht as DPR, thereby letting the alternative perpetrator
escape justice and leave Ulbricht as the wrongfully prosecuted culprit.
The government’s first witness, Chicago-based Homeland Security
Investigations (“HSIâ€) Special Agent J ared Der-Yeghiayan, who initiated an
investigation of Silk Road based on intercepted mail packages from overseas
arriving through Chicago. T.76-77. During SA Der-Yeghiayan
cross-examination, he testified regarding an alternate perpetrator. A336.
Although the government did not object to this testimony at the time elicited, and
only did so subsequently at sidebar, and even though the Court had ruled at sidebar
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15
J anuary 15, 2015, that the testimony was appropriate, when trial reconvened
J anuary 20, 2015, the Court reversed its opinion, and directed the government to
identify the testimony (during cross-examination) that it proposed to strike.
A409-11; A441-43.
The government submitted those strikes to defense counsel during the lunch
break J anuary 20, 2015, and the Court endorsed them following the break, refusing
to permit defense counsel even a brief adjournment to reconstruct its
cross-examination to cover the stricken pieces in an alternative fashion. A334;
A466-73.
Following SA Der-Yeghiayan’s testimony, several other law enforcement
agents involved in the Silk Road investigation at various stages, including FBI
Computer Specialist Thomas Kiernan, testified regarding technical and forensic
computer matters, and through these witnesses the government admitted Ulbricht’s
laptop and items from its hard drive. A492, 494-95. However, when defense
counsel attempted to cross-examine these witnesses as to related computer issues,
the Court repeatedly curtailed or flatly denied the cross, even stating at one point in
the jury’s presence, “[y]ou can put somebody else on the stand to do that[,]†thus
improperly placing the burden on the defense. A506.
Yet, when defense counsel sought to call two experts during the defense
case, Dr. Steven Bellovin and Andreas Antonopoulos, to respond to testimony
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16
presented by the government’s computer and forensics agents, and by former FBI
Special Agent Ilhwan Yum, who testified as a lay witness but conducted a complex
analysis – provided to the defense mid-trial only days prior to his testimony – of
thousands of transactions regarding dozens of bitcoin wallets located on the Silk
Road server and on Ulbricht’s laptop, see e,g., A532, the Court ultimately issued
an Order & Opinion February 1, 2015, precluding the defense experts’ testimony.
A362; A380; A385.
The government also called Ulbricht’s former friend, Richard Bates, who
testified under a non-prosecution agreement. T.1096-97. Bates testified he
provided Ulbricht with programming assistance in late 2010 and 2011, including
assistance with the Silk Road website. T.1103, 1128. Bates also testified that
Ulbricht told Bates, November 11, 2011, that he had sold the Silk Road website.
T.1138-39.
As part of its case, the defense moved to admit a statement made to
prosecutors by Andrew J ones, who had been a Silk Road administrator, was
cooperating with the government, and had been a proposed government witness
(until mid-trial). J ones’s lawyer stated J ones would invoke his Fifth Amendment
right against self-incrimination if called to testify. A563-65; A395.
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The statement, detailed post, in POINT IV, supported the defense theory that
there had been multiple persons acting as DPR, and the identity of DPR had
changed in September 2013, shortly before Ulbricht’s arrest.
The Court, however, denied the defense’s application to admit J ones’s
statement as a statement against penal interest under Rule 804(3), Fed.R.Evid, or
the residual exception in Rule 807, Fed.R.Evid. A581-83, 589.
E. The Charge and Verdict
The government rested the afternoon of February 2, 2015, and the defense
moved for a judgment of acquittal on all seven counts pursuant to Rule 29,
Fed.R.Crim.P. T.2023. Those motions were denied. T.2029. The defense
began presentation of its case the afternoon of February 2, 2015, and rested the
next afternoon of February 3, 2015. T.2001; 2126. Closing argument occurred
that afternoon. T.2126.
The Court charged the jury the morning of February 4, 2015, and the jury
began deliberating February 4, 2015, at 11:55 a..m. T.2329. The Court received
a note from the jury foreperson at 3:23 p.m, that afternoon, announcing the jury
had “reached a verdict.†T.2334. Ulbricht was found guilty on all counts.
T.2334-37.
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18
F. Post-Trial Motions and Further Disclosure
Regarding Corruption In the Investigation
Ulbricht filed motions March 6, 2015, for a new trial pursuant to Rule 33,
Fed.R.Crim.P. See Docket #224. After those motions were filed, on March 25,
2015, seven weeks after trial concluded in this case, the government filed criminal
charges against Force and another participant in the Silk Road investigation,
former Secret Service Special Agent Shaun Bridges, in the Northern District of
California. The government filed a letter March 30, 2015, notifying the Court that
the Complaint regarding the corruption investigation into these two agents, both of
whom had conducted illegal activity during the course of their investigation into
DPR and the Silk Road website, had been unsealed. See Docket #226. This was
the first time the defense (or the Court) was informed there was a second corrupt
agent involved in the Silk Road investigation.
Ulbricht filed a Reply April 16, 2015, and included motions related to the
government’s inadequate and untimely disclosure of the investigations of Force
and Bridges. See Docket #233; A722. The Court issued an Opinion and Order
April 27, 2015, denying Ulbricht’s Rule 33 motions in their entirety. A876.
G. Sentencing
Prior to Ulbricht’s sentencing, in March and April 2015 the government
provided defense counsel and the Probation Office with reports of six overdose
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19
deaths for inclusion in the Pre-Sentence Report, which the government claimed
resulted from drugs sold on the Silk Road website, and which it believed were
relevant conduct that could be taken into account at sentencing. See Pre-Sentence
Report (“PSRâ€), ¶¶61-86.
Ulbricht submitted a report from an expert forensic pathologist, Dr. Mark
Taff, contesting the government’s claims that the deaths were causally related to
drugs sold on Silk Road, and, asserting, as a result, the alleged overdose deaths
should not have been a factor at sentencing. A903; S437.
Ulbricht’s sentencing submission, including 99 letters submitted on
Ulbricht’s behalf, sought a sentence well “below the applicable advisory
Guidelines range.†A973.
At sentencing May 29, 2015, the Court ruled the overdose deaths had been
properly included in the Pre-Sentence Report, and were related conduct relevant to
Ulbricht’s conviction. A1472. Ulbricht was sentenced “on Counts Two and Four
. . . to a period of life imprisonment to run concurrently[,]†and on “Count Five . . .
to five years’ imprisonment to run concurrently; on Count Six . . . to 15 years’
imprisonment also concurrent; and for money laundering in Count Seven, . . . to 20
years, also concurrent.†A1540.
The J udgment against Ulbricht was filed J une 1, 2015, and Ulbricht filed his
Notice of Appeal of his sentence and conviction J une 4, 2015. A1554.
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ARGUMENT
POINT I
THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION AND DENIED
ULBRICHT HIS FIFTH AND SIXTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS
TO DUE PROCESS, THE RIGHT TO PRESENT A DEFENSE,
AND A FAIR TRIAL BY (A) PRECLUDING THE DEFENSE
FROM USING AT TRIAL THE EVIDENCE RELATING TO
DEA SPECIAL AGENT CARL FORCE’S CORRUPTION; (B)
REFUSING TO ORDER THE GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE
ADDITIONAL DISCOVERY AND BRADY MATERIAL
REGARDING CORRUPTION; AND (C) DENYING
ULBRICHT’S MOTION FOR A NEW TRIAL BASED ON
ADDITIONAL POST-TRIAL DISCLOSURES REGARDING
FORCE AND ANOTHER CORRUPT LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENT INVOLVED IN THE SILK ROAD INVESTIGATION
As set forth ante, at 11-13, in December 2014, approximately one month
prior to trial the government informed the defense that former DEA Special Agent
Carl Force (“Forceâ€) was under investigation – and had been formally for
approximately eight months – for corrupt activity directly related to his
participation in the investigation of the Silk Road and Dread Pirate Roberts
(“DPRâ€). A650. Indeed, Force, as a member of the Baltimore Task Force, had
allegedly engaged DPR in computer chats that resulted in a murder-for-hire plot
targeting a former Silk Road employee.
The government moved to preclude the defense’s use of that information at
trial based on the secrecy of the grand jury investigation of Force, and because the
government claimed Force’s investigation of Silk Road was wholly independent of
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page37 of 170
21
the case against Ulbricht - alleged to be DPR - prosecuted in the Southern District
of New York. A663.
The Court granted the government’s application. A673. The Court also
denied Ulbricht’s motion for discovery and, subsequently, to adjourn the trial until
after the investigation of Force was complete. A675; A706. In addition, at the
government’s urging, during trial the Court altered its pretrial ruling and denied the
defense use of information and discovery that even the government in its pretrial
application (and the Court in deciding it) had agreed could be utilized at trial.
As detailed below, the Court abused its discretion, and denied Ulbricht his
Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to Due Process, a fair trial, and to prepare and
present a defense, because the serial preclusion was based on faulty premises, due
in large part to the government’s deliberate and calculated failure to provide either
the Court or the defense salient and material facts, including:
(a) contrary to the government’s representations to the Court, there was
not any need to keep the grand jury investigation secret from its
target, as Force was already fully aware of it, and it was nearly, if not
entirely, complete by the time trial in this case began;
(b) Force was not the only corrupt federal law enforcement agent
involved in the Silk Road investigation, as a Treasury Special Agent,
Shaun Bridges, was also under investigation for conduct in concert
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with, related to, and similar to Force’s (and had also been interviewed,
and therefore cognizant of the investigation, prior to December 2014)
– yet the government never mentioned or alluded to Bridges at all in
its pretrial disclosures;
(c) contrary to the government’s claim, Force’s (and Bridges’s)
corruption was not independent of the SDNY prosecution. Rather, as
demonstrated by a trove of internal law enforcement memoranda and
communications produced after the Court had decided the Force issue,
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §3500 (“3500 materialâ€), the Silk Road
investigation was a coordinated, interrelated, interdependent effort by
several federal districts ultimately directed and controlled by SDNY,
thereby rendering the information about Force (and Bridges) relevant,
exculpatory, and material; and
(d) Force’s (and Bridges’s) misconduct was not limited to that revealed
by the government pretrial, but rather, as established by the Criminal
Complaint filed against Force and Bridges a mere seven weeks after
the verdict in this case, encompassed far more.
The extent of Force’s knowledge of the investigation of him, the
involvement of Bridges, and the broader scope of Force’s (and Bridges’s)
misconduct, in relation to this case, as well as the trajectory of the investigation,
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were not known to the defense until after trial – indeed, until after post-trial
motions for new trial pursuant to Rule 33, Fed.R.Crim.P., were filed (although the
information was included in the Reply). In fact, the full nature of Force’s and
Bridges’s misconduct has yet to be disclosed, as the government quickly reached
plea agreements with both, resolving their cases without any additional disclosure
to the public or the defense herein. See United States v. Bridges, No. CR 15-319
(RS) (N.D. Cal.), Docket#49 & #65.
Thus, in denying Ulbricht’s post-trial Rule 33 motion based on the Force and
Bridges corruption and the government’s knowing failure to make full disclosure
prior to trial, the Court further abused its discretion. As a result, Ulbricht’s
convictions should be vacated, and a new trial ordered.
A. The Government’s Eve-of-Trial Disclosure of Force’s Corruption
In its November 21, 2014, letter to the Court, subsequently provided to
defense counsel December 3, 2014, the government disclosed its ongoing
investigation of Force. A649.
2
According to the government’s letter, the
investigation had thus far revealed that Force used his position as a DEA agent for
self-gain by leaking investigative information to the operator of Silk Road in
2
The government’s letter, along with a series of other correspondence and exhibits
related to the issue, was not unsealed until the government formally charged Force (and Bridges)
seven weeks after trial in this case. See Docket#226.
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exchange for payment, and hijacking a cooperating witness’s Silk Road account to
obtain $350,000 in Bitcoins.
In its November 21, 2014, letter, the government informed the Court that
Force “is the undercover agent whom Ulbricht allegedly hired to arrange the
murder-for-hire, as described in that indictment[,]†and that Force “is now being
investigated by USAO-San Francisco for, among other things, leaking information
about USAO-Baltimore’s investigation to Ulbricht in exchange for payment, and
otherwise corruptly obtaining proceeds from the Silk Road website and converting
them to his personal use.†A649.
The government’s letter added that “USAO San Francisco first began
investigation into SA Force in the Spring of 2014[.]†A650. Yet the information
about the investigation was not disclosed to the defense in this case until December
3, 2014, essentially one month prior to trial. The government also claimed that it
“does not believe that the ongoing investigation of SA Force is in any way
exculpatory as to Ulbricht or otherwise material to his defense[,]†but disclosed the
information “in an abundance of caution[.]†A649.
Furthermore, while the government asserted that Force “played no role†in
SDNY’s investigation of Silk Road, the government admitted that SDNY “has
been assisting USAO-San Francisco with its investigation, by sharing relevant
evidence collected from this Office’s investigation of Silk Road, including
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25
evidence from the server used to host the Silk Road website (the ‘Silk Road
Server’) and evidence from Ulbricht’s laptop computer.†A649-50.
In response, the defense submitted, in addition to sealed submissions, at
S434 & A669, two sealed ex parte letters setting forth the defense theories, and the
relationship of Force’s misconduct to them and to various items produced in
discovery (including some not referred to by the government in its November 21,
2014, letter).
3
The defense moved to unseal the government’s November 21,
2014, letter, so the defense could perform a complete investigation, and to use at
trial.
At a sealed December 15, 2014, pretrial conference, the government claimed
that the grand jury investigation of Force was active, not complete, and in some
respects was still in its “early steps.†A227. Also, the government contended it
did not “know the full extent†of Force’s misconduct, but continued to “connect[]
the dots†– which it had been doing for almost eight months (and continued to do)
while keeping the defense in the dark. A252.
Yet the government sought to preclude the defense from launching any
inquiry designed to find out the full extent of Force’s misconduct in relation to the
Silk Road investigation. As the Court remarked during the December 15, 2014,
3
Those ex parte letters have not been unsealed or provided to the government because,
inter alia, Ulbricht still faces charges in the District of Maryland. See Docket#281 & #283. Of
course, those letters can be made available to the Court upon request.
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pretrial conference, the government’s disclosure was functionally the same as no
disclosure at all since the defense could not use it, A248 – and even that was just a
small fraction of what the government knew about Force’s (and Bridges’s)
misconduct.
Also, regarding the need for continued secrecy of the investigation, the
government, in a December 12, 2014, letter to the Court, maintained that “Force is
aware that he is under investigation insofar as he has been interviewed in
connection with the grand jury investigation. He is not, however, aware of the full
range of the misconduct for which he is being investigated.†A659; Docket
#227-1, at 68 (“prosecutors believe that disclosure of materials taken from the case
file would threaten to reveal the full scope of the investigation and might cause
Force (as well as other potential subjects, co-conspirators, or aiders and abettors) to
flee, destroy evidence, conceal proceeds of misconduct and criminal activity, or
intimidate witnessesâ€).
Ulbricht also submitted a detailed discovery request demanding additional
disclosure with respect to Force’s misconduct. A669. The Court directed the
defense to prioritize its requests, A672, which the defense did.
The Court then denied all of the defense’s discovery requests, and granted
the government’s application to preclude the defense from investigating Force’s
misconduct, or exploring it at trial. A673. In so doing, the Court held that
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Ulbricht had not demonstrated a “particularized need†sufficient to outweigh the
need for continued secrecy of the grand jury investigation. A687, 691-96. The
Court added that “to the extent there is any information revealed or developed
during the Force Investigation that is material and potentially exculpatory, the
Government must disclose such information to the defense.†A699.
In response, Ulbricht moved for adjournment of the trial until the
government had completed its grand jury investigation of Force, and the full nature
of his alleged misconduct was known and available to Ulbricht’s defense. A701.
4
The Court denied that motion as well. A706.
B. The Court’s Further Preclusion at Trial of Evidence
the Pretrial Rulings Had Permitted the Defense to Use
During the December 15, 2014, pretrial conference, the Assistant United
States Attorney, when asked by the Court to define the parameters of the
prohibition imposed on the defense by Rule 6(e), Fed.R.Crim.P., answered, “What
they can’t reveal is that [Force] is under a grand jury investigation. . . . It’s just a
matter that he’s being investigated for [certain activities].†A249.
The AUSA added that
[s]o in terms of what [Rule] 6(e) prohibits, we think it
prohibits them eliciting somehow that he’s under a grand
jury investigation. That’s the basic point. I mean, that’s
4
In its opinion precluding evidence of Force’s misconduct, the Court acknowledged
that “it is clear that precisely what Force did (or did not do) remains unknown.†A675.
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what 6(e) requires be kept secret while the investigation
is pending. They still have many facts in their
possession. They’ve had them in their possession long
ago.
Id. See also A253 (“all that is evidence that has been produced in discovery and
they are free to use it the same way that they would use other evidenceâ€).
5
At trial, however, the government successfully moved to expand the
proscription to include those very facts, thereby preventing the defense from using
documents and information in cross-examination, or from introducing them as part
of the defense case. For example, the government successfully prevented the
defense from cross-examining witnesses with respect to the electronic
communications between DPR and Silk Road user DeathFromAbove, who
represented himself to be a person with inside information about federal law
enforcement’s investigation of Silk Road, which he was offering to sell to DPR.
5
During the December 15, 2014, pretrial conference, the Court commented on the
government’s inconsistent and expansive position with respect to the scope of the Rule 6(e)
proscription it sought. In response to the AUSA’s remark that the “point is, we’re not trying to
say certain witnesses, certain evidence is off limits. It’s the fact that this is a grand jury
investigation. That’s what they’re prohibited from disclosing[,]†the Court replied
[w]ell, I hear what you’re saying. And it’s like ships passing in
the night. Because on the one hand it’s the content of the
investigation. And what you’re suggesting is it’s really not the
content, it’s the fact of.
A.252-53(emphasis added).
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A575. Some of those communications had been included in the government’s
initial Exhibit list circulated a month prior to trial.
Shortly before the government rested, it revealed in a February 1, 2015,
letter, that
it appears that “DeathFromAbove,†was controlled by
former Special Agent Force, based on information that
was recently obtained from USAO-San Francisco
regarding their ongoing grand jury investigation into
Force. Following the defendant’s first attempt to seek to
use Defense Exhibit E [containing communications
between DPR and DeathFromAbove] with Special Agent
DerYeghiayan, the Government consulted with the lead
Assistant U.S. Attorney handling the Force investigation,
who provided evidence that Force controlled the
“DeathFromAbove†account and sent the messages to
Dread Pirate Roberts.
A710.
Yet the government, in its earlier submissions, and in prior sidebars, had
never identified the DeathFromAbove username/account as being controlled by
Force (and therefore its use at trial was not precluded by the Court’s pretrial
ruling). The government’s letter demonstrates that during trial it used the
cross-examination of Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent J ared
Der-Yeghiayan to continue its investigation of Force, and to generate further Brady
material, but without disclosing it to the defense until the eve of the defense case
itself. Rather, as discussed post, at 49, the government successfully, albeit
impermissibly, shoehorned that information into the Court’s pretrial restrictions on
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30
the defense’s ability to explore what had been provided in discovery and even
included in the government’s initial Exhibit List. A575.
Thus, at trial the government and Court foreclosed an entire additional
category of information, vital to the defense, that the pretrial ruling had left
available to Ulbricht. That compounded the initial abuse of discretion manifested
in the preclusion of the Force misconduct generally, and constituted a separate
abuse of discretion that effectively ambushed the defense.
1. The Post-Trial Revelation of Bridges’s Corruption, and the
Additional Post-Trial Disclosures of Force’s Misconduct
J ust seven weeks after trial concluded in this case, following Ulbricht’s
filing of his initial papers in support of his Rule 33 motion, the government
formally charged both Force and Bridges in a Criminal Complaint (“the
Force/Bridges Complaintâ€) in the Northern District of California. That Complaint
also revealed information that was not previously disclosed by the government.
Obviously, the most dramatic aspect was the involvement of a second federal law
enforcement agent, SA Bridges, in the corrupting of the Silk Road investigation.
However, there were other revelations that appeared for the first time in the Force
Complaint, but which should have been disclosed to Ulbricht’s counsel earlier, and
even before trial.
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The Force/Bridges Complaint was unsealed March 30, 2015 (while the
verdict herein was returned February 4, 2015). A Department of J ustice Press
Release, March 30, 2015, “Former Federal Agents Charged With Bitcoin Money
Laundering and Wire Fraud,†available at
<http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-federal-agents-charged-bitcoin-money-
laundering-and-wire-fraud>, summarized the Force/Bridge’s Complaint’s
allegations against Force as follows:
Force used fake online personas, and engaged in complex
Bitcoin transactions to steal from the government and the
targets of the investigation. Specifically, Force allegedly
solicited and received digital currency as part of the
investigation, but failed to report his receipt of the funds,
and instead transferred the currency to his personal
account. In one such transaction, Force allegedly sold
information about the government’s investigation to the
target of the investigation.
As the Force/Bridges Complaint itself notes, “[i]n late J anuary 2013,
members of the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force, to include BRIDGES and
FORCE, gained access to a Silk Road administrator account as a result of the arrest
of a former Silk Road employee.†S453.
According to the Force/Bridge’s Complaint, Force “created certain fictitious
personas†S451, and used those phony personas to “seek monetary payment,
offering in exchange not to provide the government certain information.†Id.
Force also created fictional characters, such as “Kevin,†a supposed law
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enforcement insider who was providing information to Nob (who was Force, in his
authorized undercover role, masquerading as a drug dealer), which Nob in turn was
corruptly providing to DPR. S462.
Also, Force “stole and converted to his own personal use a sizable amount of
bitcoins that DPR sent to Force . . .†S452. Bridges also illegally acquired
Bitcoin from the Silk Road website, through an account law enforcement believed
Bridges “controlled and/or had access with others to†and which “appears to have
initiated sizeable bitcoin thefts,†and assisted Force in his illegal endeavors.
S489-97.
In describing Force’s assumption of the screen name DeathFromAbove,
discussed ante, at 30, which Force used alternately in an attempt to extort DPR
and/or to provide inside law enforcement information to DPR, the Force/Bridge’s
Complaint concludes that Force was the source of certain information in the
“LE_counterintel†file found on Ulbricht’s laptop because the excerpts in that file
“contain information that came from a person or persons inside law enforcement,
in part because of their substance and in part because of their use of certain
terminology and acronyms that are not widely known by the public.†S460.
As a result, in assessing Force’s activities as DeathFromAbove, the Force
Complaint posits that such misconduct “demonstrates that FORCE had a history
of: (1) creating fictitious personas that he did not memorialize in his official
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reports or apprise his superiors at the DEA or the prosecutor of; (2) soliciting
payments from DPR; (3) providing law-enforcement sensitive information to
outside individuals when the disclosure of such information was not authorized and
not memorialized in any official report.†S474.
The Force/Bridges Complaint also erased any doubt that the investigation of
Force and Bridges was already fully known to them when, in December 2014, the
government cited secrecy in precluding Ulbricht from using the information at his
trial. For example, Force resigned from the DEA May 4, 2014, “shortly after law
enforcement began the current investigation.†S455, 483. Days later, May 8,
2014, Force wired $235,000 to an offshore account in Panama, with the
Force/Bridge’s Complaint noting that he did so “presumably after learning of the
government’s investigation and after he had resigned[.]†S487.
In fact, Force even voluntarily submitted to an interview by law enforcement
that his lawyer suggested. S488. That meeting occurred May 30, 2014, id., a full
six months before the defense herein was notified of Force’s misconduct.
Similarly, Bridges was interviewed (with counsel) by law enforcement more than
once, including November 13, 2014, eight days before the government wrote the
Court in this case seeking to preclude the defense’s use of such information,
ostensibly in order to preserve its secrecy. S495-96.
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Thus, the investigation of Bridges, too, was already fully underway by Fall
2014, and his misconduct, was known by then as well (as demonstrated by the
contents of the interviews of him). Bridges’s relevance to this case is beyond
obvious: as the Force/Bridge’s Complaint attests, Bridges “had been assigned to
the Secret Service’s Electronic Crimes Task Force.†S488. Also, Bridges’s
“specialty was in computer forensics and anonymity software derived from TOR.â€
Id. Bridges was also “the Task Force’s subject matter expert in Bitcoin.†Id.
Both elements were distinctive features of Silk Road, and the subject of extensive
testimony by government witnesses at trial.
Beyond Bridge’s particular expertise, firmly in the wheelhouse of multiple
critical aspects of this case (computer forensics, TOR, and Bitcoin), Bridges placed
himself firmly in the middle of important factual issues, such as his serving as the
affiant for the seizure of Mark Karpeles’s accounts at a Bitcoin exchange firm
(Dwolla) in May 2013. S489.
6
As set forth ante, he also controlled an account
that “initiated sizeable bitcoin thefts†from the Silk Road website. S491.
In addition, Bridges clearly worked in concert with Force. S491, 493.
Thus, Force was assisted in his illegal, unauthorized infiltration and manipulation
of the Silk Road website by a computer forensics agent with expertise in
6
Karpeles’s relevance to this case, as well as to Force’s misconduct, is detailed post, at
65 (POINT II).
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page51 of 170
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anonymity and Bitcoin. Yet none of this information of the site’s contamination
was disclosed to the defense herein until the filing of the Force/Bridges Complaint.
Force’s deposits totaled at least approximately $757,000 “for the roughly
year long period beginning April 2013 through May 2014.†S455-56 (footnote
omitted). Nor does that include other deposits made afterward. S456. Any
deposits made in the first half of 2014 would of course have occurred after
Ulbricht had been arrested (October 1, 2013), begging the question of the source of
those funds.
The Force/Bridges Complaint also divulged additional misconduct by Force,
shedding light on his capacity for fraud, deception, forgery, abuse of his
government authority and access – including predatory and retaliatory conduct and
false accusations against innocent persons – and inventing complex, layered cover
stories to conceal his misdeeds.
For instance, the Force/Bridges Complaint, S477-78, in a section entitled
“FORCE’s Unlawful Seizure of R.P.’s Funds,†details Force’s series of attempts to
convert the contents of an account held by “R.P.,†which efforts included abuse of
various criminal law enforcement privileges and false accusations against “R.P.†to
justify seizure of the account.
Force also misused subpoenas and in effect committed forgery by using his
supervisor’s stamp. S477, 481-83; S452 (Force “used his supervisor’s signature
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page52 of 170
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stamp, without authorization, on an official U.S. Department of J ustice subpoena
and sent the subpoena to a payments company, Venmo, directing the company to
unfreeze his own personal accountâ€). He also improperly performed queries in
law enforcement criminal databases. S475.
Moreover, Force “‘papered up’ the seizure of the digital currency portion ofâ€
one of his victim’s accounts “in such a way that he may have thought he would be
covered in the event anyone ever asked any questions†about his conduct.†S480;
S481 (Force’s documentation was an “attempt to give himself plausible deniability
by memorializing the digital currency seizure . . .â€).
The detail in the Force/Bridges Complaint was, of course, tellingly absent
from the government’s description of Force’s corruption in its November 21, 2014,
letter in this case, as was any mention of Bridges, or their knowledge of the
investigation(s). A649. Thus, to a significant degree the extent, and in some
respects the nature, of Force’s misconduct – as well as Bridges’s participation
altogether – was hidden by the government from the defense (and the Court) in this
case until after trial.
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C. The Court Abused Its Discretion In Precluding Ulbricht
from Utilizing at Trial Information Related to Force’s Corruption
As detailed below, the Court abused its discretion in five separate respects
with respect to its preclusion of the information and documents related to Force’s
corruption:
(1) in refusing to permit Ulbricht to use the information and documents at
trial, or even to investigate them further;
(2) in denying Ulbricht’s discovery demands with respect to Force, which
would have compelled the government to disclose additional
information about Force’s corruption – and that of Bridges altogether
– that was not revealed until after trial;
(3) in denying Ulbricht’s request for adjournment of the trial until after
the grand jury investigation of Force - at that point underway for more
than eight months already - was complete;
(4) in expanding its ruling at trial by prohibiting use of evidence that the
Court’s pretrial ruling had expressly permitted Ulbricht to present;
and
(5) in denying Ulbricht’s post-trial Rule 33 motion based on the post-trial
disclosures of details of Force’s (and Bridges’s) misconduct.
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In many respects, the Court’s error was in large part the consequence of the
government’s purposeful failure, in its extraordinarily circumscribed pretrial
account, to disclose material information about Force’s corruption, and about
Bridges’s corruption at all, until after trial.
Contrary to the government’s claims and the Court’s decision, the evidence
of Force’s (and Bridges’s) corruption was both material and exculpatory.
Moreover, the Due Process right to Brady material [Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S.
83 (963)] requires that it be used effectively, a principle that certainly establishes a
compelling and particularized need to modify any protective order, including any
issued pursuant to Rule 6(e), Fed.R.Crim.P., to permit a defense investigation, as
well as use of admissible evidence at trial. See e.g., Martindell v. Int'l Tel. & Tel.
Corp., 594 F.2d 291, 296 (2d Cir. 1979); see also Dennis v. United States, 384
U.S. 855, 868 (1966).
Indeed, the government claimed it could not discern any exculpatory
character in the information it provided in its November 21, 2014, letter, but
disclosed the Force investigation “in an abundance of caution.†This, of course,
begs the question: “abundance of caution†with respect to what? The answer is
obvious: with respect to the government’s constitutional obligation to disclose
exculpatory evidence. Transparently, the government’s nomenclature simply
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sought to avoid denominating the obvious: that the Force disclosures constituted
exculpatory information.
1. There Was Not Sufficient Need to Maintain
Secrecy of the Investigation of Force and
Bridges to Ulbricht’s Detriment In This Case
As a threshold matter, the Force/Bridges Complaint reveals that the
government’s pretrial application in this case to keep secret the investigation of
Force (or even Bridges, the investigation of whom the government concealed
altogether in this case), and the information derived therein, was without
foundation. While the government acknowledged pretrial that Force had been
interviewed, it did not disclose there were two interviews or, as evident from the
Force/Bridges Complaint, that those interviews provided Force extensive
knowledge about the investigation. S.478-81, 483-88. Also, by the time of trial
in this case, the grand jury presentation regarding Force had already occurred,
A660, and the charges were imminent, as demonstrated by their issuance only
seven weeks after the verdict in this case.
In addition, the government inexcusably waited eight months before
informing the defense of the misconduct by Force – and never did prior to trial
with respect to Bridges. As the Complaint notes, the government opened its
investigation of Force May 2, 2014. S495. Two days later, DoJ ’s Public
Integrity Section opened an official investigation of him. Id.
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Nor were there any facts in the Force/Bridges Complaint that were not
entirely established well before the government notified the defense in this case,
much less before trial herein. The last misconduct by either Force or Bridges
allegedly occurred in mid-2014.
2. The Record Demonstrates That Silk Road Investigations
Were Coordinated and Combined
The government’s repeated insistence that the SDNY’s investigation was
“independent†of that in which Force and Bridges were involved is demonstrably
repudiated by the record created by the government’s investigators and
prosecutors themselves. That record establishes that all of the federal
investigations of Silk Road were coordinated and, for practical purposes, and for
determining relevance to this case, combined.
By any conception of “independence,†these investigations do not qualify.
Rather, they were decidedly interdependent because,
! the agents conducting the investigation were in continued contact with
each other regarding the status of the investigation;
! supervisory law enforcement officials coordinated the investigations;
! each investigation made its fruits available to the other,
and used that information from the companion
investigation(s);
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! information was entered in law enforcement databases to which all
federal law enforcement enjoyed access;
! the investigations sought information about and from the same targets
at the same time; and
! ultimately, SDNY was able to dictate the distribution of federal
charges in the case for all of the districts involved in the coordinated
investigations.
The 3500 material produced for SA Der-Yeghiayan serves as a catalogue of
the interaction and linkage of the various investigations of the Silk Road website.
For example, a report by SA Der-Yeghiayan regarding his investigation, notes that
in October 2012, “HSI Baltimore office provided SA Der-Yeghiayan with a file
containing all of the Undercover (UC) chats made between a UC agent and DPR.â€
A828. Those were Force’s chats with DPR.
Similarly, in a May 22, 2013, e-mail to Lisa M. Noel, an HSI intelligence
analyst with HSI Baltimore (and part of that Silk Road Task Force), SA
Der-Yeghiayan wrote that “[w]e would like to examine some of the language,
usage, diction, etc. with the new U/C chats from Nob.†A747. Again, “Nob†was
Force.
Thus, at the outset of his investigation – which the government cannot claim
was “independent†of the case against Ulbricht – SA Der-Yeghiayan was provided
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with the principal product of the Baltimore investigation, generated by Force
himself. Nor was there any attenuation of that direct connection; nor did the
government even attempt to establish any.
Other e-mails and reports authored by SA Der-Yeghiayan describe the
continued contacts between Baltimore and Chicago, which evolved into the SDNY
investigation and prosecution. In a May 15, 2013, e-mail, SA Der-Yeghiayan
wrote that “[i]n early August 2012, HSI Chicago notified HSI Baltimore of the
connection made [between Mark Karpeles and Silk Road] and stated that Karpeles
was a target of HSI Chicago’s investigation.†A748. Also, “HSI Baltimore was
provided a copy of the HSI Chicago’s ROI [Report of Investigation] that
highlighted all the facts of the connection.†Id.
In that same e-mail, SA Der-Yeghiayan memorialized the following
interaction:
HSI Chicago contacted HSI Baltimore and they
confirmed that they shared all of HSI Chicago’s
information on KARPELES with members of their task
force. HSI Chicago discovered that their IRS Agent,
DEA Agent and SS Agent all inputted KARPELES into
their individual investigations as a target and a potential
administrator of the Silk Road based on HSI Chicago’s
ROI/information.
Id.
Subsequently, in an undated report, A843, SA Der-Yeghiayan provided a
lengthy chronology detailing the continued intersection of the Silk Road
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investigations throughout 2013, and which was digested in Ulbricht’s Rule 33
Reply, at A748-56. Another, (seven-page) report from SA Der-Yeghiayan
regarding various investigations into Silk Road further recounts their interlocking
character (also digested in Ulbricht’s Rule 33 motion). A846.
Among the entries in SA Der-Yeghiayan chronology were the following:
! HSI Chicago and HSI Baltimore conducted another conference call
J uly 9, 2013, about the Silk Road investigation. A852. During that
call, neither the HSI Baltimore agents nor the D.Md. AUSA on the
call mentioned – despite a question from SA Der-Yeghiayan whether
there were any new developments – that another D.Md. AUSA had
scheduled a meeting with Karpeles’s attorneys. Id. That meeting
occurred J uly 11, 2013. Id. During the meeting, Karpeles’s attorney
“randomly brought up the Silk Road and stated that their client was
willing to tell them who [ Karpeles] suspects is currently running the
website in order to relieve their client of any potential charges for [18
U.S.C. §1960].†Id. Also, the D.Md. AUSA “proceeds to set up a
meeting with [Karpeles] overseas.†Id. HSI Chicago did not learn
of the J uly 11, 2013, meeting with Karpeles’s attorneys until J uly 16,
2013. Id. Subsequently, one of the D.Md. AUSA’s informed SA
Der-Yeghiayan that the other D.Md. AUSA “continued to negotiate
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44
with [Karpeles’s] attorneys†– despite SA Der-Yeghiayan’s objections
– and has changed the meeting location to Guam [] later on in August.
Id.;
! J uly 12, 2013, there was a “coordination meeting with HSI Chicago,
HSI Baltimore, FBI New York and multiple DoJ [Department of
J ustice] attorneys and CCSIP attorneys[.]†S852. At that
“coordination meeting, “HSI Chicago mentioned [Karpeles] as their
main target.†Id.;
A month later, in August 2013, SA Der-Yeghiayan swore to an affidavit,
composed by the SDNY AUSA, in support of the SDNY search warrant application
for Karpeles’s e-mail accounts. Again, in light of this overwhelming evidence,
any claim of “independence†is contradicted by the government’s own documents
and is therefore untenable.
7
Nor was Force’s investigation into Silk Road transitory or superficial in any
respect. It began in February 2012, S470, and generated dozens of DEA-6 reports
of his (authorized) undercover activities investigating the Silk Road website (and
which were produced as discovery herein).
7
A separate question the defense asked, and which still merits an answer, is whether
any evidence related to Nob or Flush (both accounts controlled by Force) was introduced in the
grand jury that indicted Ulbricht.
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In fact, as the Force/Bridges Complaint points out, information-sharing, and
its impact relevant to this case, continued through the summer of 2013: “by late
J uly 2013, the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force had been made aware that the FBI
was seeking to obtain an image of the Silk Road server, and therefore FORCE may
have had reason to fear that any communications between himself and DPR would
be accessible to the FBI in the event the FBI was successful in imaging the server.â€
S465-66.
8
Even the government contradicts its naked claim of “independence.†In
explaining its realization (after the defense attempted to introduce certain
documents provided in discovery) that DeathFromAbove was among Force’s
aliases, see ante at 30, the government states in its response to Ulbricht’s Rule 33
Motion, that “former SA Force had access to law enforcement reports filed by SA
Der-Yeghiayan, including reports concerning his suspicions regarding Anand
Athavale, which was likely the source of the information leaked by Force through
8
That would also ostensibly have provided DPR, via Force as Nob (or French Maid, or
DeathFromAbove, or perhaps some other incarnation of his and/or Bridges’s) with advance
notice of the FBI’s imaging of Silk Road’s servers – consistent with the defense’s position that
DPR purchased and/or was provided with information that permitted him to formulate and
implement – with Force’s (and perhaps Bridges’s) assistance – an escape plan that also
incriminated Ulbricht falsely. In that context, Force also learned at least days in advance that
law enforcement intended to make an arrest of DPR in late September 2013, thereby giving him
ample time to warn DPR. S466. Yet Ulbricht did not assume any additional security protocols,
but instead violated even the most fundamental security precepts in multiple ways.
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the ‘DeathFromAbove’ account.†Response to Rule 33 Motion, at 14 n.4,
Dkt#230.
Ultimately, the investigations were not only interrelated and interdependent,
but their outcomes were dictated by SDNY, as SA Der-Yeghiayan reported in a
September 20, 2013, e-mail to an HSI colleague. A854.
Thus, in light of all of the evidence set forth above, the interdependence and
continuing relationship among the investigations, including that in which Force
and Bridges participated, is indisputable.
3. The Information Regarding the Investigation of Force
and Bridges Is Relevant to This Case Regardless
Whether the Investigations Were Independent
Even assuming arguendo the SDNY investigation was “independent†from
the District of Maryland investigation, the information and material regarding
Force and Bridges was, as evidenced by the government’s own strategy in
preparing for trial herein, as well as other objective indicia, plainly relevant to this
case.
a. The Government’s Initial Exhibit List
The government’s initial Exhibit List was provided December 3, 2014 – two
days after the government’s November 21, 2014, letter to the Court setting forth
information regarding the investigation of Force was disclosed to the defense. It
contained at least 14 Government Exhibits directly relevant to Force, including in
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his undercover capacity as “nob,†and/or his unauthorized Silk Road user name
“french maid,†and/or to the account assigned to the user name “Flush.â€
Those Exhibits included GX 220, GX 225, GX 227, GX 229A, GX 229B,
GX 241, GX 243, GX 250, GX 252, GX 275, GX 127D, GX 223, GX 240B, & GX
242. A434.
The government’s transparently tactical removal of those proposed Exhibits
from its presentation at trial does not eliminate their relevance, but merely reflects
the government’s recognition that they undermined the government’s claim that
Force’s corruption was unrelated to the charges against Ulbricht, and his defenses
thereto. Also, earlier, as part of discovery, the government had produced Force’s
DEA-6 reports, which further demonstrates the government’s belief – prior to
discovering his misconduct – that Force’s investigative activities were relevant and
connected to the SDNY prosecution.
b. The Importance of the First Half of
2013 Regarding the Evidence At Trial
The relevance of the misconduct committed by Force and Bridges is also
apparent from the time frame in which it is believed to have commenced and
occurred – the first half of 2013. That period was critical in the context of the
creation and collection of evidence used against Ulbricht at trial, and the defense’s
response to it.
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A partial timeline of relevant events during that span – described only by
information possessed by the defense at the time of trial (and not including
reference to Force or Bridges misconduct) is set forth in Ulbricht’s Rule 33 Reply.
A722.
D. The Court Abused Its Discretion By Deviating From Its Pretrial Ruling
and Precluding Evidence That It Had Determined Would Be Admissible
In foreclosing the defense’s use of any information or materials relating to
Force and his misconduct, the government exceeded the boundaries set by the
Court in its pretrial rulings on the issue, and the Court permitted the government to
do so. While the embargo was supposed to cover only the information and
materials generated as part of the ongoing grand jury investigation of Force, at trial
in this case the government converted that into a ban on the defense’s use of
information and documents provided as part of discovery, which the defense had
been expressly permitted to utilize at trial.
Yet the communications between DeathFromAbove and DPR were not
mentioned in the government’s November 21, 2014, letter to the Court, did not
mention Force at all, and did not disclose that he was under a grand jury
investigation. Also, the government’s reaction at trial to the defense’s efforts to
introduce those communications (as Defense Exhibit E, A874), memorialized in
the government’s February 1, 2015, letter to the Court, A707, made it clear that the
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government had not made the connection between Force and DeathFromAbove
until the defense sought to introduce DX E. See Docket#230, at 24 n.10.
Nevertheless, at trial, the Court improperly permitted the government to use
the grand jury investigation of Force as a sword to preclude far more than the mere
fact that Force was under investigation, employing that excuse to stymie the
defense and its attempts to introduce evidence not covered by the Court’s pretrial
rulings.
Ultimately, the government was permitted – improperly yet repeatedly – to
use its bogus rationale for precluding information about Force’s (and Bridges’s)
corruption as both a sword and shield.
9
As a result, Ulbricht’s ability to present
his defense, and his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights incorporated therein, were
gravely impaired, and he was denied a fair trial.
9
The government seized full advantage of the situation. For instance, during
summation, the AUSA disputed Ulbricht’s defense theory, arguing that “[t]here were no little
elves that put all of that evidence on the defendant’s computer.†T.2166. Yet, as it turns out –
and which the AUSA knew all along – there were indeed two “little elves†– law enforcement
agents investigating the Silk Road website – operating secretly, illegally, corruptly, and brazenly
even inside the Silk Road website itself.
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E. The Court Abused Its Discretion In Denying Ulbricht’s Motion for a
New Trial Based on the Government’s Failure to Make Complete and
Accurate Pretrial Disclosure Regarding Law Enforcement Corruption
In the Government’s Investigation
The issuance of the Force/Bridges Complaint just seven weeks after trial in
this case confirmed that the government had deliberately withheld from the defense
and the Court a substantial volume of critical exculpatory information and material
with respect to Force’s corruption, and information about Bridges’s corruption
entirely. Indeed, the Force/Bridges Complaint indicates that even now the
government has not provided a complete account of Force’s and Bridges’s
misconduct.
In light of the government’s failure to fulfill its constitutional obligation
pursuant to Brady – in terms of both the disclosure itself, as well as the timing of
the limited disclosure the government did make – the Court abused its discretion in
denying Ulbricht’s Rule 33 motion for a new trial.
1. The Principles Applicable to Exculpatory Material and Information
a. General Principles Governing the
Government’s Brady Disclosure Obligations
As this Court explained most recently in United States v. Certified
Environmental Services, Inc., 753 F.3d 72 (2d Cir. 2014), “[u]nder Brady and its
progeny, ‘the Government has a constitutional duty to disclose favorable evidence
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to the accused where such evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment.’
Id., at 91, quoting United States v. Coppa, 267 F.3d 132, 139 (2d Cir. 2001).
In that context,
[t]here are three components of a true Brady violation:
(1) The evidence at issue must be favorable to the
accused, either because it is exculpatory or because it is
impeaching; (2) that evidence must have been
suppressed by the [Government], either willfully or
inadvertently; and (3) prejudice must have ensued.
United States v. Jackson, 345 F.3d 59, 71 (2d Cir. 2003),
quoting Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281-82
(1999).
753 F.3d at 91. See also, Thomas, 981 F.Supp.2d at 238, citing United States v.
Coppa, 267 F.3d at 140 and Moore v. Illinois, 408 U.S. 786, 794-95 (1972).
Regarding the prong by which Brady material is defined, in Certified
Environmental Services the Second Circuit pointed out that
“evidence is material within the meaning of Brady
when there is a reasonable probability that, had the
evidence been disclosed, the result of the proceeding
would have been different, such that the failure to
disclose undermine[s] confidence in the verdict. Cone
v. Bell, 556 U.S. 449, 469-70 (2009), quoting, Kyles v.
Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 435 (1995).
753 F.3d at 91.
The standard for the inquiry regarding prejudice, as the Supreme Court
explicated in Kyles v. Whitley, asks not whether the defendant would more likely
than not have received a different verdict with the evidence, but whether in its
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absence he received a fair trial, understood as a trial resulting in a verdict worthy of
confidence. 514 U.S. at 434. See also Lambert v. Beard, 537 Fed.Appx. 78, 87
(3d Cir. 2013), after remand by, Wetzel v. Lambert, __ U.S. __, 132 S. Ct. 1195
(2012), vacating and remanding, 633 F.3d 126 (3d Cir. 2011).
As the Court in Kyles noted, “a showing of materiality does not require
demonstration by a preponderance that disclosure of the suppressed evidence
would have resulted ultimately in the defendant's acquittal . . . [M]ateriality is a
reasonable probability of a different result, and the adjective is important.†514
U.S. at 434 (internal citations omitted). See also, Thomas 981 F.Supp.2d at
242-43.
A reasonable probability of a different outcome “is not a sufficiency of
evidence test,†and thus, does not require that the “evidence would have rendered
the evidence as a whole insufficient to support a conviction.†United States v.
Payne, 63 F.3d 1200, 1209 (2d Cir. 1995), quoting, Kyles, 514 U.S. at 435.
Rather, evidence must be disclosed if it “could reasonably [have been] taken
to put the whole case in such a different light as to undermine confidence in the
verdict.†Coppa, 267 F.3d at 139, quoting Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 435
(1995).
As this Court has held, even when evidence may be both inculpatory and
exculpatory, its disclosure is not thus precluded under Brady. See United States v.
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Mahaffy, 693 F.3d 113, 130 (2d Cir. 2012) (“[t]he fact that the government is able
to argue that portions of the transcripts were consistent with the prosecution’s
theory fails to lessen the exculpatory force†of the remaining parts); see also
United States v. Rivas, 377 F.3d 195, 199-200 (2d Cir. 2004); United States v.
Thomas, 981 F.Supp.2d 229, 233 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) (“[w]hen Brady material is
withheld, the Government’s case is ‘much stronger, and the defense case much
weaker, than the full facts would have suggested’â€), citing Kyles v. Whitley, 514
U.S. 419, 429 (1995).
In that context, even when exculpatory evidence is disclosed, a Brady
violation can still occur if the disclosure is untimely. As the Court in Thomas
stated, “[e]vidence is suppressed when the prosecutor does not disclose it ‘in time
for its effective use at trial.’ 981 F.Supp.2d at 239, quoting Coppa, 267 F.3d at
135 (internal citations omitted), and citing, United States v. Avellino, 136 F.3d 249,
255 (2d Cir. 1998).
The Court in Certified Environmental Services elaborated that
[t]his aspect of Brady affects not only what the
Government is obligated to disclose, but when it is
required to do so. Temporally, the timing of a
disclosure required by Brady is . . . dependent upon the
anticipated remedy for a violation of the obligation to
disclose: the prosecutor must disclose . . . exculpatory
and impeachment information no later than the point at
which a reasonable probability will exist that the
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outcome would have been different if an earlier
disclosure had been made.
753 F.3d at 92, quoting Coppa, 267 F.3d at 142.
Courts have also encouraged prosecutors to err on the side of disclosure for
reasons of prudence as well as fairness. As the Court in Cone v. Bell cautioned,
“[a]s we have often observed, the prudent prosecutor will err on the side of
transparency, resolving doubtful questions in favor of disclosure.†556 U.S. at
470, citing Kyles, 514 U.S., at 439; Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 711, n. 4 (Stevens, J .,
dissenting); United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 108 (1976). See also, United
States v. Van Brandy, 726 F.2d 548, 552 (9th Cir. 1984) ([W]here doubt exists as
to the usefulness of evidence, [the prosecutor] should resolve such doubts in favor
of full disclosure . . .).
As the Court in Thomas recognized, questions about the reliability of [ ]
exculpatory information are judgment calls for [a defendant] and his counsel, not
the Government; ‘to allow otherwise would be to appoint the fox as henhouse
guard.’ 981 F.Supp.2d at 241, quoting DiSimone v. Phillips, 461 F.3d 181, 195
(2d Cir. 2006).
Thus, in contemplating whether and when to disclose, “[t]he government
must bear in mind, however, that it has the ‘affirmative duty to resolve doubtful
questions in favor of disclosure,’ and that ‘if the sword of Damocles is hanging
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over the head of one of the two parties, it is hanging over the head of the
[government].’ United States v. Hsia, 24 F.Supp.2d 14, 30 (D.D.C. 1998),
quoting United States v. Blackley, 986 F.Supp. 600, 607 (D.D.C. 1997) (internal
quotations omitted).
Here, though, when Brady becomes an issue in the pretrial context,
disclosure has a broader context. Thus, when the “exculpatory character
harmonize[s] with the theory of the defense case†failure to disclose that evidence
constitutes a Brady violation. Id., quoting, United State v. Triumph Capital Grp.,
544 F.3d 149, 164 (2d Cir. 2008). That harmony with defense theories here was
detailed pretrial, during trial, and in the Rule 33 motion.
Also, the timeliness requirement incorporated in the Brady disclosure
obligation compels disclosure of materially favorable evidence in sufficient time to
permit the defense the opportunity to use it effectively before trial. Coppa, 267
F.3d at 142 (whether the disclosure is made in a timely fashion depends on the
“sufficiency, under the circumstances, of the defense’s opportunity to use the
evidence when disclosure is madeâ€); see also United States v. Solomonyan, 451
F.Supp.2d 626, 644-645 (S.D.N.Y. 2006).
Thus, implicit in the government’s Brady obligation is the requirement that
the defense is able to use the materially favorable evidence, even if only to uncover
additional exculpatory evidence. See e.g. United States v. Gil, 297 F.3d 93, 104
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(2d Cir. 2002) (materially favorable evidence, even if not admissible itself, must be
disclosed pursuant to Brady if it “could lead to admissible evidenceâ€). Indeed, in
Gil, the inclusion of critical exculpatory (and impeachment) information in boxes
of documents produced pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §3500 the weekend prior to trial was
deemed insufficient notice. Id., at 106-07.
Consequently, although there are interests in maintaining grand jury secrecy
that exist while an investigation is ongoing, unsealing was necessary here because
evidence of Force’s misconduct was exculpatory, and thus Brady material, the use
of which was necessary to avoid “a possible injustice.†See generally Douglas Oil
Co. Of California v. Petrol Stops Northwest, 441 U.S. 211 (1979) (requiring a
showing that “material [sought] is needed to avoid a possible injustice in another
judicial proceeding, that the need for disclosure is greater than the need for
continued secrecy, and that their request is structured to cover only material so
neededâ€). Certainly the right to pre-trial access to Brady material presents a
particularized and/or compelling need for its unsealing. See e.g. United States v.
Youngblood, 379 F.2d 365, 367 (2d Cir. 1967); see also Dennis, 384 U.S. at
868-70 (“disclosure, rather than suppression, of relevant materials ordinarily
promotes the proper administration of criminal justiceâ€).
Moreover, delaying disclosure until it is contemporaneous with production
of 3500 material does not absolve the government of its responsibility to disclose
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exculpatory material and information in time for the defense’s effective use at trial.
As the Court in Hsia recognized, “the existence of a duty to disclose witness
statements at trial pursuant to the J encks Act, 18 U.S.C. §3500, does not eviscerate
the government’s Brady obligation to disclose witness statements well in advance
of trial if portions of those statements also fall under Brady.†24 F.Supp.2d at 29,
citing, United States v. Tarantino, 846 F.2d 1384, 1414 n. 11 (D.C. Cir. 1988).
As the Court in Hsia pointed out, “[t]his is important because the
government is required to disclose Brady material in sufficient time for the
defendant to ‘use the favorable material effectively in the preparation and
presentation of its case,’ United States v. Pollack, 534 F.2d 964, 973 (D.C. Cir.
1976), while J encks material is not required to be disclosed until after the witness
has testified.†24 F.Supp.2d at 29. See also Thomas, 981 F.Supp.2d at 241
(“[t]he Government’s argument conflates its J encks Act and Brady obligations.
While those responsibilities overlap at times, they are distinct legal concepts. The
J encks Act is concerned with discovery to be produced by the Government.
Brady is concerned with fairnessâ€).
The Court in Thomas further recognized a reactive defense maneuver “after
a late Brady disclosure is no substitute for thoughtful preparation and a considered
strategy. Brady material must be provided to a defendant ‘in time for its effective
use at trial.’ 981 F.Supp.2d at 242, quoting, Coppa, 267 F.3d at 135 (emphasis
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supplied by Court in Thomas), and citing, Grant v. Alldredge, 498 F.2d 376, 382
(2d Cir.1974) (refusing to infer from the failure of defense counsel, when
surprised at trial, to seek time to gather other information on [the suppressed
witness], that defense counsel would have by-passed the opportunity had the
prosecutor apprised him of the [evidence] at a time when the defense was in a
reasonable pre-trial position to evaluate carefully all the implications of that
information ).
As this Court explained in Leka v. Portuondo, 257 F.3d 89 (2d Cir.2001),
“[t]he opportunity for use under Brady is the opportunity for a responsible lawyer
to use the information with some degree of calculation and forethought. Id., at
101-03. See also, Thomas, 981 F.Supp.2d at 240; St. Germain v. United States,
Nos. 03 cv 8006 (CM), 99 cr 339 (CM), 2004 WL 1171403, at *18 (S.D.N.Y. May
11, 2004) (defense strategies are largely formed prior to trial . . . and the necessary
predicate is that the strategies selected were chosen after careful consideration of
all constitutionally-compelled disclosure).
Consequently, as this Court realized in Leka,
[w]hen such a disclosure is first made on the eve of trial,
or when trial is under way, the opportunity to use it may
be impaired. The defense may be unable to divert
resources from other initiatives and obligations that are
or may seem more pressing. And the defense may be
unable to assimilate the information into its case.
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257 F.3d at 101, citing, United States v. Washington, 294 F.Supp.2d 246, 250 (D.
Conn. 2003) (government’s failure to disclose evidence impeaching the central
witness until after the first day of trial prejudiced defendant because the late
disclosure prevented defense counsel from investigating and planning overall trial
strategy).
10
b. The Manner of the Government’s
Brady Disclosure Obligations
In Thomas, the Court also emphasized “the importance of the manner of the
Government's disclosure.†981 F.Supp.2d at 240, citing Gil, 297 F.3d at 93
(labeling Brady evidence as 3500 material and producing it as part of a large 3500
production on the eve of trial constitutes suppression), and United States v. Breit,
767 F.2d 1084, 1090 n. 4 (4th Cir. 1985) (government may not discharge its Brady
obligation merely by tendering a witness without providing any indication that the
witness’s testimony may be helpful to defense).
10
Indeed, even in Certified Environmental Services, in which this Court did not find
a Brady violation because, inter alia, the notes at issue “were at best marginally helpful to the
defense[,]†753 F.3d at 93, and the undisclosed reference in the notes “was not inconsistent with
[the prior] testimony[,]†id., the Court nevertheless added that
[t]his is not to suggest, however, that the prosecutors did nothing
wrong in failing to disclose [the] handwritten notes along with the
typewritten summaries. To begin with, we see no reason – and
the Government offers none – why the prosecutors here could not
and should not have acted in favor of disclosing the Brady material
earlier.
Id., quoting United States v. Rittweger, 524 F.3d 171, 182 (2d Cir.2008).
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In that context, “the Government cannot hide Brady material as an
exculpatory needle in a haystack of discovery materials.†981 F.Supp.2d at 239,
citing United States v. Skilling, 554 F.3d 529, 577 (5th Cir. 2009), aff'd in part and
vacated in part on other grounds, 561 U.S. 358 (2010) (suggesting that Brady
violations related to voluminous open file discovery depend on what the
government does in addition to allowing access to a voluminous open file). See
also Hsia, 24 F.Supp.2d at 29-30 ([g]overnment cannot meet its Brady obligations
by providing . . . 600,000 documents and then claiming that [the defendant] should
have been able to find the exculpatory information).
2. The Government Failed to Make Timely
Production of Exculpatory Material
Thus, the Court should have granted Ulbricht’s Rule 33 motion because the
government failed to produce exculpatory material in a timely fashion that would
have permitted the defense effective use of the material and information at trial.
Moreover, while the government’s intent is not required for a Brady
violation, here the government’s concealment was willful and calculated. It
provided but the tip of the iceberg of information it possessed regarding Force, and
none regarding Bridges. That constituted material non-disclosure that was only
aggravated by the government’s manipulation of the time frame to delay the formal
charging of Force and Bridges until after Ulbricht’s trial had concluded.
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In that regard, within the 5,000 pages of 3500 material for the government’s
first witness, SA J ared Der-Yeghiayan, produced less than two weeks prior to trial
and after the Court had precluded any defense reference to the Force investigation
and misconduct – and, in some instances, 30 months after the information was
memorialized by SA Der-Yeghiayan (and in most instances, close to or more than
two years after) – resided a substantial volume of exculpatory material and
information. That information was directly relevant not only to the government’s
claim that Force’s investigative activities and misconduct were independent of the
SDNY prosecution, but also to Ulbricht’s defense that he was not DPR.
Ulbricht’s Rule 33 motion included a catalog of the 3500 material that is
exculpatory, and which was not disclosed prior to the onslaught of 3500 material
serially produced in the weeks before trial. A643. As that list demonstrates, 70
separate documents (some consisting of multiple pages) in the 3500 material
contained exculpatory material and information that was not provided to the
defense at a time in which it could be used effectively at trial.
Nor can it be disputed that the information about an alternate perpetrator,
discussed further post, constituted Brady material. See Leka v. Portuondo, 257
F.3d at 99 (Brady material is of a kind that would suggest to any prosecutor that
the defense would want to know about it). See also, Thomas 981 F.Supp.2d at
238-39. Indeed, in Lambert v. Beard, 537 Fed.Appx. 78, 81-82 (3d Cir. 2013), the
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nondisclosure related to notes reflecting that “unbeknownst to either the defense or
the jury at the time, [a critical government witness] had in fact supplied police with
another perpetratorâ€). See also Cone v. Bell, 556 U.S. at 471 (undisclosed
investigative reports containing information consistent with defense theory were
deemed Brady material).
Here, as well, the cumulative effect of the untimely disclosure amplified its
impact and the prejudice suffered by Ulbricht as a result. See Cone v. Bell, 556
U.S. at 475 (“[i]t is possible that the suppressed evidence, viewed cumulatively,
may have persuaded the jury†not to impose the death sentence on the defendant)
(footnote omitted); id., at 471 (“both the quantity and the quality of the suppressed
evidence lends support to†the defendant’s position).
J udge Alex Kozinski, in dissenting from the denial of a petition for
rehearing, declared that “[t]here is an epidemic of Brady violations abroad in the
land[,] and “[o]nly judges can put a stop to it.†United States v. Olsen, 737 F.3d
625, 626 (9th Cir. 2013), denying reh’g, (Kozinski, J ., dissenting). See also id., at
631 (“Brady violations have reached epidemic proportions in recent years, and the
federal and state reporters bear testament to this unsettling trendâ€).
As a result, in prescribing a solution, J udge Kozinski urged the courts to
“send prosecutors a clear message: Betray Brady, give short shrift to Giglio, and
you will lose your ill-gotten conviction.†Id., at 633.
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Accordingly, in addition to the initial pretrial and trial errors, the Court
abused its discretion in denying Ulbricht’s Rule 33 motion for a new trial based on
the government’s failure to disclose exculpatory material and information and/or to
do so in a timely manner that would have permitted the defense to make use of it.
POINT II
THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION
BY CURTAILING CROSS-EXAMINATION
AND THE DEFENSE THEORY AT TRIAL
A. HSI SA Jared Der Yeghiayan
During cross-examination of the government’s first and principal witness,
SA Der-Yeghiayan – through whom the government introduced a substantial
volume of Exhibits from the Silk Road website and the parameters of the
government’s investigation (from intercepting drugs shipped from overseas
vendors to U.S. customers, to Silk Road chats, forum posts, and administrative
functions) – the government began to object to inquiries about the investigation
generally, in particular with respect to Mark Karpeles, on whom SA
Der-Yeghiayan had focused and developed a significant amount of information by
the Fall of 2013.
The Court’s initial reaction was that the subject matter of the
cross-examination was “highly relevant[,]†A406, and that it went to SA
Der-Yeghiayan’s “state of mind.†A407. The Court added that the inquiry was
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“in the heartland of the defense[,]†id., and was not hearsay because it was not
being offered for the truth. A411.
The Court added “I don’t think it’s irrelevant because if he pursued a target
of this conduct and it wasn’t the defendant, I think that’s directly relevant to the
defendant’s theory of the case.†A416. See also A412; id., at A416 (“[t]hey’re
trying to raise a reasonable doubt as to whether or not the defendant is the real
DPRâ€).
At that juncture, the Court adjourned for the weekend, and invited letters
from both sides. Monday morning the Court performed a complete about-face,
ruling that the cross-examination was not proper for purposes of raising the
prospect of an alternative perpetrator, or to challenge the competency of the
investigation. A420-441.
The Court invited the government to submit a list of questions and answers
to be stricken, and granted the strikes proposed. A441-443; A466-471. The
Court refused to afford defense counsel any time to review the stricken sections to
determine whether the cross-examination could be reconstructed through questions
the Court would permit. A471-73.
Regarding the alternative perpetrator, the Court found the defense had not
established a “direct connection†between Mark Karpeles and the charged offenses
– essentially imposing on the defense the obligation to prove that Karpeles was
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DPR. A423-30. The Court ignored the other purpose of the questioning: to
expose the defects in the investigation that allowed Karpeles to escape prosecution,
and instead turned attention to Ulbricht (which, in turn, also implicated Force’s and
Bridges’s corruption). The Court also ruled that the cross-examination would be
curtailed because the government’s redirect would be constrained (“you can’t have
one side, one-hand clappingâ€). A428.
However, the alternative perpetrator line of inquiry should have been
permitted to continue, and the prior testimony not stricken because it was
consistent with the case law on alternate perpetrators, in some instances not
hearsay at all, and in other respects admissible under Rules 807 and 403,
Fed.R.Evid.
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1. In Curtailing and Striking Cross Examination of SA Der-
Yeghiayan, the Court Improperly Concluded There Was No Nexus
Between the Alternative Perpetrator and the Specific Offenses
Here, case law supports Ulbricht’s right to ask SA Der-Yeghiayan further
questions about alternative perpetrators, including Karpeles. The cases cited by
the Court and the government, to the extent they support the broad principles
asserted by the government, apply when it is the defendant, and not an alternative
perpetrator, who is protected by constitutional as well as evidentiary rules, and in
which – unlike herein – there was not any nexus between the alternative
perpetrator and the specific offenses alleged.
a. Relevant Case Law Regarding An Alternate Perpetrator
Pointing to an alternative perpetrator is a defense endorsed by the Supreme
Court and other courts time and again, and the defense was utilizing evidence to
that effect consistent with the rules of evidence and Ulbricht’s constitutional right
to present a defense (which sometimes supersedes the technical limits of those
evidentiary rules). See, e.g., Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 449 n. 19, 453;
Boyette v. LeFevre, 246 F.3d 76, 91 (2d Cir. 2001).
Indeed, as set forth in Wade v. Mantello, 333 F.3d 51, 57 (2d Cir. 2003) “the
[Supreme] Court has observed on more than one occasion, ‘‘at a minimum,
...criminal defendants have the right . . . to put before a jury evidence that might
influence the determination of guilt.’’ Id., quoting, Taylor v. Illinois, 484 U.S. 400,
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408 (1988) (quoting, Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, 480 U.S. 39, 56 (1987)). In that
regard, “[t]he Constitution protects a criminal defendant from the arbitrary
exclusion of material evidence, and evidence establishing third-party culpability is
material.†Wade, 333 F. 3d at 58.
11
In addition, the Court placed too high a burden on the defense with respect
to evidence of an alternative perpetrator. In each of the cases the government
cited and the Court relied upon, there was a failure to establish the necessary nexus
between the alleged third-party perpetrator and the crime charged. See Wade v.
Mantello, 333 F. 3d at 61 (testimony in murder case that third-party was involved
in unrelated shoot-out with victim weeks earlier, was properly excluded at trial
because “[w]eighed against the limited probative value of the proffered testimony
were dangers that the jury could have been misled or confused by the testimonyâ€)
(emphasis added); DiBenedetto v. Hall, 272 F.3d 1, 7-8 (1
st
Cir. 2001) (absent
“evidence [of] a connection between the other perpetrators and the crime, not mere
speculation on the part of the defendant,†Court excluded evidence in murder trial
related to another murder, meant to establish that “third party culprits, not [the
defendant] and his co-defendant, were guilty†); People of Territory of Guam v.
11
See also Mendez v. Artuz, 303 F.3d 411, 413 (2d Cir. 2002) (noting materiality of
evidence of an “alternative culpritâ€); United States v. Manning, 56 F.3d 1188, 1198 (9th Cir.
1995) (same); Bowen v. Maynard, 799 F.2d 593, 600–601, 610–613 (10th Cir.) (same); United
States v. Stifel, 594 F.Supp. at 1541 (same).
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Ignacio, 10 F. 3d 608, 615 (9
th
Cir. 1993) (trial court did not abuse its discretion by
excluding evidence of third-party’s suicide as evidence of third-party culpability
where defendant had not provided “substantial evidence connecting [third-party] to
the crime chargedâ€) (internal quotation omitted); Andrews v. Stegall, 11
Fed.Appx. 394, 396 (6
th
Cir. 2001) (distinguishing defendant’s claim of third party
culpability in murder case involving “a vague threat [by third party] . . . made some
unknown time before the murder, to the victim's stepson,†where “[the third-party]
was not shown to have been anywhere near the scene of the crime, and was not
available to testify,†from Chambers [,410 U.S. at 300-301,] in which there was
substantial evidence directly connecting the third-party with the offenseâ€); United
States v. Diaz, 176 F.3d 52, 82 (2d Cir. 1999) (trial court properly excluded
evidence of another crime – prison records showing that the murder victim had
assaulted a third-party while in prison more than a year prior – in order to suggest
motive on the part of a third party in the charged crime, because, standing alone, it
would be “creative conjecturing†and the evidence “speculativeâ€); United States v.
Wade, 512 Fed.Appx. 11, 14 (2d Cir. 2013) (“the district court reasonably
excluded . . . testimony about [a third party’s] arrest because . . . [the third party’s]
December 3, 2009 sale of drugs from a mailbox was not temporally or physically
linked to the May 11, 2009 drug and firearm seizures from [the defendant’s
girlfriend’s] apartment that were contemporaneous with [the defendant’s] arrest
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and . . . [the] testimony [therefore] presented a risk of juror confusion and extended
litigation of a collateral matterâ€).
b. The Requisite Nexus Was Established By the Government
Itself Through Its Direct Examination of SA Der-Yeghiayan
In this case, though, the government itself, in the person of SA
Der-Yeghiayan and others, provided the requisite nexus between the alternate
perpetrator and specific offenses here, via an analysis of documentary and other
materials, and the defense, via cross-examination, was simply cataloguing the
bases for that nexus. Ultimately, the Court’s position and government’s argument
was about the weight of the evidence, which of course was for the jury to
determine.
Moreover, here, parts of the defense mirrored to a significant extent that
endorsed in Kyles v. Whitley, in which the defense alleged the defendant had been
framed by an informant “for the purposes of shifting suspicion away from himselfâ€
for the offense charged against the defendant. 514 U.S. at 429.
This case also replicates circumstances in other cases in which this Court
reversed convictions because alternative perpetrator evidence was excluded. See
Alvarez v. Ercole, 763 F.3d 223 (2d Cir. 2014) (conviction reversed because
defense counsel not permitted to cross-examine detective about police report
containing information about the alternative suspect); Cotto v. Herbert, 331 F.3d
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217, 229 (2d Cir. 2003) (“[b]y prohibiting [defense counsel] from questioning
Detective Alfred about the [police report], the trial court allowed the jury to get the
impression that the defense had nothing other than rhetoric to contradict the
prosecutor's statement in summation that the NYPD’s investigation into [the
charged] murder was ‘thorough’â€), citing Davis v. Washington, 415 U.S. 308, 318
(1974) .
Thus, here the evidence regarding an alternative perpetrator is directly
related to the offenses alleged, and is neither collateral nor speculative. Again, the
weight of such evidence, which ultimately is the government’s primary concern
throughout its letter, is a matter for the jury to determine. Stifel, 594 F.Supp. at
1541.
2. The Court Also Erred by Disregarding the Untimeliness of the
Government’s Objections, Failing to Acknowledge That Cross
Examination of SA Der-Yeghiayan Was Relevant to Another Proper
Defense Ulbricht Was Presenting, and Improperly Considering
Issues Regarding the Government’s Possible Redirect
In addition, the government’s objections were untimely. The government
provided 5,000 pages of material pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §3500 for SA
Der-Yeghiayan, a substantial portion of which was devoted to government’s
investigation of Karpeles. It is inconceivable that the government did not
anticipate the line of cross-examination. Yet it did not make a motion in limine,
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did not object to defense counsel’s opening, nor during a significant portion of the
cross-examination of SA Der-Yeghiayan.
Further, as noted ante, the questioning of SA Der-Yeghiayan was relevant to
another proper defense Ulbricht was presenting – that of the conduct of the
government’s investigation – which the Court did not address. See United States
v. Blake, 107 F.3d 651, 653 (8
th
Cir. 1997).
12
The Court also abused its discretion in focusing on issues regarding the
government’s possible redirect. That simply was not a proper consideration, and
therefore “cannot be located within the range of permissible decisions.†United
States v. Figueroa, 548 F.3d 222, 226 (2d Cir. 2008).
3. The Court Abused Its Discretion by Precluding the Defense From
Eliciting from SA Der-Yeghiayan that Karpeles Attempted to
Exchange Immunity for the Identity of DPR
Still another area of cross-examination of SA Der-Yeghiayan that the Court
precluded with its ruling was eliciting from SA Der-Yeghiayan that he was told by
AUSA’s that Karpeles’s lawyers had offered to provide the name of the person
12
In that context, due to the government’s precipitous seizure of one of Karpeles’s
accounts in May 2013, Karpeles had notice that he was under investigation in some respect,
thereby giving him ample time to cover his own tracks – a danger SA Der-Yeghiayan himself
warned of in protesting not only the seizure, but also any further negotiations with Karpeles.
Again, such a defense is recognized as valid and appropriate. See Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. at
442 n. 13 (if defense had possessed the undisclosed material, “the defense could have attacked
the investigation as shoddyâ€); id., at 445-46; Bowen v. Maynard, 799 F.3d 593, 613 (10
th
Cir.
1986) (“[a] common trial tactic of defense lawyers is to discredit the caliber of the investigation .
. .â€); Cotto v. Herbert, 331 F.3d 217, 229 (2d Cir. 2003).
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Karpeles – who controlled the world’s primary bitcoin exchange – suspected of
being DPR if the government would forego charges against Karpeles for operating
unlicensed money exchanging operations. A432-433; A341.
As a threshold matter, the government’s letter seeking to prohibit that
inquiry (A307), verified precisely what defense counsel sought to elicit from SA
Der-Yeghiayan about the offer on cross-examination, and which was conveyed in
J uly 2013 by Karpeles’s lawyer to the government: in return for immunity from
prosecution by the U.S., Karpeles offered to provide a name of someone he
suspected was operating Silk Road. A311. Nowhere in its letter did the
government challenge the accuracy of that account. In fact, the government
confirmed it.
As the Court noted, the initial offer from Karpeles’s attorney was not
hearsay, as it was not being offered for the truth of the matter. A405-410.
However, the exchanges between AUSA’s and SA Der-Yeghiayan, while hearsay,
qualified for admission under Rule 807, Fed.R.Evid., particularly in light of the
government’s failure to challenge their accuracy. Thus, the analysis for purposes
of Rule 807had been satisfied.
Furthermore, “exceptional circumstances†warranted application of Rule 807
here. Karpeles is a French citizen living in J apan. His lawyers have not been
identified; nor have the AUSA’s who relayed the statement to SA Der-Yeghiayan.
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See, e.g., Muncie Aviation Corporation v. Party Doll Fleet, Inc., 519 F.2d 1178,
1182-83 (5
th
Cir. 1975) (difficulty in finding witnesses justified admission);
Limone v. United States, 497 F.Supp.2d `43, `62-63 (D. Mass. 2007). Cf. Parsons
v. Honeywell Incorporated, 929 F.2d 901, 907-08 (2d Cir. 1991) (statement not
admissible because declarant available as a witness).
The circumstances also easily meet the indicia of reliability and
trustworthiness requirements found to satisfy the Rule [and/or its predecessors,
Rule 803(24) and Rule 804(b)(5)]. For example, in Steinberg v.
Obstetrics-Gynecological & Fertility Group, P.C., 260 F.Supp.2d 492 (D.Conn.
2003), the Court concluded that the description of the status of a case by one
attorney to another (assuming control of the case) possessed sufficient indicia of
reliability and lack of motive to misrepresent. Id., at 496. See also United States
v. Dumeisi, 424 F.3d 566, 576-77 (7
th
Cir. 2005) (relying on the declarants’ “duty
to accurately record their own activitiesâ€); United States v. Bailey, 581 F.2d 341,
349 (3d Cir. 1978) (“consideration should be given to factors bearing on the
reliability of the reporting of the hearsay by the witnessâ€); Muncie Aviation
Corporation v. Party Doll Fleet, Inc., 519 F.2d 1178, 1182-83 (5
th
Cir. 1975)
(trustworthiness established because published by government without any motive
not to tell the truth or be inaccurate); United States v. Iaconetti, 406 F.Supp. 554,
559 (E.D.N.Y. 1976) (admitting statement because it was testified to by a person
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page90 of 170
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with whom it was “appropriate and even necessary [for the declarant] to
communicateâ€).
Moreover, the rules of evidence were not designed to curtail a defendant’s
constitutional rights, as implicated here (with respect to confrontation and the right
to present a defense), and as the Supreme Court declared in Chambers v.
Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284 (1973), “where constitutional rights directly affecting the
ascertainment of guilt are implicated, the hearsay rule may not be applied
mechanistically to defeat the ends of justice.†Id., at 302.
Thus, the offer by Karpeles’s lawyer was admissible pursuant to Rule 807.
Concerns expressed by the Court regarding “context†and meaning of the offer are
unpersuasive, and address merely the weight that should be accorded the statement
– contentions appropriately directed to the jury. See Stifel, 594 F.Supp. 1525,
1541 (N.D. Ohio 1984) (“[t]he identity of the bomb sender was a question for the
jury, and defendant should have been apprised of evidence showing that someone
other than himself had equal motive, access to materials, and other surrounding
circumstances implicating him as the guilty partyâ€). See also Kyles v. Whitley,
514 U.S. at 451 (prosecution’s factual arguments about the implications of
exculpatory evidence “confuses the weight of the evidence with its favorable
tendency, . . .â€).
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B. FBI Computer Specialist Thomas Kiernan
At the time of his testimony, Agent Thomas Kiernan had been with the FBI
for 23 years and held the position of computer scientist. A491. Through Agent
Kiernan’s testimony, the government introduced the entire contents of Ulbricht’s
laptop. A492. During his direct testimony, select documents from Ulbricht’s
hard drive were admitted in evidence and read to the jury. See e.g., A494, 495.
Agent Kiernan also testified about the operation of Torchat, a computer program
installed on Ulbricht’s laptop at the time of his arrest, which was the vehicle for
many internet chats introduced by the government, and in which the government
claimed Ulbricht was a participant. A493.
During cross-examination, however, defense counsel was precluded from
asking a number of questions directly relevant to material elicited from Agent
Kiernan on direct. For example, Agent Kiernan testified about a test of the Torchat
program he conducted to establish that files recovered from Ulbricht’s laptop were
structured in the same way as files Agent Kiernan generated on his own computer.
The relevant portion of Agent Kiernan’s testimony is as follows:
Q. Have you personally ever used Tor chat?
A. I have.
Q. Have you tested Tor chat?
A. I have.
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Q. Have you saved the logs of Tor chats on your own computer?
A. I have.
T.889.
The defense should have been permitted to ask Agent Kiernan whether his
Torchat program experiment was running on the same, “kernel version†as that on
Ulbricht’s laptop which would have established that Agent Kiernan’s conclusions
were flawed, but was denied the opportunity. A503. The defense was also
precluded from asking questions related to the security of BitTorrent, T.1054, and
about a particular PHP script admitted as Defense Ex. J that was recovered from
Ulbricht’s laptop, both clearly within the scope of direct, and thus, fair game.
13
A498.
C. The Court’s Rulings Which Curtailed the Cross Examinations of SA
Der-Yeghiayan and Agent Kiernan Constituted an Abuse of Discretion
As this Court has instructed, “trial judges retain wide latitude insofar as the
Confrontation Clause is concerned to impose reasonable limits on such
cross-examination based on concerns about, among other things, harassment,
prejudice, confusion of the issues, the witness' safety, or interrogation that is
repetitive or only marginally relevant.†United States v. Crowley, 318 F.3d 401,
13
BitTorrent is an internet file sharing program which creates an extraordinary
vulnerability to internet intrusion by hackers when open. During direct of Agent Kiernan, a
photo of Mr. Ulbricht’s laptop screen at the time of arrest was introduced, which established that
the BitTorrent program was indeed open, thereby jeopardizing the security of the information on
Ulbricht’s laptop.
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417 (2d Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 894 (2003), citing, Delaware v. Van
Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 679 (1986). An appellate court will reverse the district
court’s decision to restrict cross-examination “only when th[e] broad discretion [of
the district court] is abused.†Figueroa, 548 F.3d at 226, citing, Crowley, 318
F.3d at 417.
The district court abuses its discretion “when (1) its decision rests on an
error of law (such as application of the wrong legal principle) or a clearly
erroneous factual finding, or (2) its decision – though not necessarily the product
of a legal error or a clearly erroneous factual finding – cannot be located within the
range of permissible decisions.†Figueroa, 548 F.3d at 226 (citations and
footnotes omitted); see also Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 100 (1996).
Such error is not harmless unless appellate court finds “beyond a reasonable
doubt that the error complained of did not contribute to the verdict obtained[.]â€
Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24 (1967).
Accordingly, the Court abused its discretion in curtailing the
cross-examinations of SA Der-Yeghiayan and Agent Kiernan.
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POINT III
THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN
PRECLUDING TWO DEFENSE EXPERTS
During the defense case, the Court precluded two defense experts, Dr.
Steven Bellovin, and Andreas Antonopoulos. The two experts were necessary to
rebut: (1) portions of the government’s case that the defense was precluded from
confronting on cross-examination; and (2) the testimony of Ilhwan Yum,
involving a lengthy spreadsheet of thousands of bitcoin transactions and a complex
analysis of bitcoin wallets located on the Silk Road servers and Ulbricht’s laptop,
notice of which was provided to the defense only days prior.
Dr. Bellovin’s testimony would have addressed a number of technical
computer and internet-related issues which the defense was prevented from
addressing during cross-examination. Those matters included general principles
of internet security and vulnerabilities; PHP computer programming; forensic
memory analysis; general issues related to linux-based operating systems; and
principles of public key cryptography. Each of these issues was significantly
implicated in the testimony of government witnesses, as well as in the evidence
related to the government’s forensic examination and analysis of Ulbricht’s laptop.
Antonopoulos’s testimony would have explained to the jury a number of
technically complex and abstract concepts involving bitcoin, and countered certain
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aspects of Yum’s testimony, particularly the massive spreadsheet accompanying
his testimony.
Yum’s direct testimony involved technically complex concepts related to
bitcoin and computer forensics, including the extraction of several bitcoin wallet
files from Ulbricht’s laptop and the Silk Road computer servers. It featured a
comparative analysis of bitcoin addresses from wallets located on the Silk Road
Marketplace server and Ulbricht’s laptop. A532. He also explained – in some
instances, incorrectly (i.e., his definition of a “hot wallet,†A555-556) – concepts
related to bitcoin in a manner consistent with the government’s theory of the case.
Antonopoulos’s testimony was critical to the jury’s full understanding of
complex concepts related to bitcoin, and to highlight defects in Yum’s forensic
analysis of bitcoin addresses. Furthermore, his testimony would have defined
principles of ownership, control, and access related to bitcoin and bitcoin wallets,
in counterpoint to the flawed conclusions in Yum’s testimony, as well as Yum’s
inaccurate definitions of important terminology and descriptions of bitcoin
mechanics.
By precluding the defense experts, who would have countered the complex
testimony regarding bitcoin presented by the government, the government
witnesses’ testimony essentially went unchallenged, and Ulbricht was denied his
Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to present a defense.
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A. The Court’s Decision Precluding the Two Defense Experts
The Court’s principal stated reason for precluding both defense experts was
non-compliance with Rule 16, Fed.R.Crim.P., i.e., the timing of defense disclosure
and the level of detail describing the experts’ anticipated testimony. A362-379.
Yet, as detailed below, the Court’s rigid application of the Rule 16
disclosure requirements, and its imposition of the most extreme sanction available
– preclusion altogether – contravened case law and paid insufficient heed to
Ulbricht’s Sixth Amendment rights, as set forth post. The ruling further ignored
the particular circumstances in this case, namely that the defense was attempting to
address issues that had become apparent only during trial.
Thus, the Court’s decision was entirely asymmetrical – while the
government was able to elicit testimony for which cross-examination was
precluded, and include complex, lengthy summary exhibits created mid-trial, the
defense was not permitted to confront them at all.
Regarding the preclusion of Dr. Bellovin’s testimony, the Court held that
defense counsel’s letter regarding the subject of his testimony failed to describe
sufficiently his opinions and proposed topics to be covered. A374-75. However,
the defense’s letter disclosing Dr. Bellovin’s proposed testimony contained
detailed reasons why each subject area of his testimony was required to respond to
areas the defense was precluded from exploring on cross-examination, or to meet
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specific government arguments, or to augment the defense theories. A385. In
fact, much of Dr. Bellovin’s testimony was necessitated by testimony the
government elicited on direct of its technical computer witnesses in areas that the
defense was precluded from examining on cross. A388-89.
The Court’s reasons for precluding Antonopoulos’s testimony were
similarly in conflict with the record. While the Court stated, “. . . what analysis
Antonopoulos performed and the methodology are unknown[,]†(A368), the
defense’s letter to the Court sufficiently outlined those subjects, and noted that
further details awaited Antonopoulos’s disembarkation from his trans-Atlantic
flight to New York. Counsel also made a subsequent detailed oral proffer, but to
no avail. T.1845-1851.
The Court ruled that it would be essentially unfair to make the government
prepare to cross-examine expert witnesses on short notice. A369. Yet the
Court’s characterization of the defense strategy as “trial by ambush,†A368, was, in
fact, the exact opposite of how events unfolded at trial.
Indeed, many of the exhibits introduced during Yum’s testimony were first
revealed to the defense mid-trial, only three days before their introduction through
Yum as a witness. Many in the 600 series – including GX 620, a 63-page
spreadsheet including and analyzing thousands of bitcoin transactions – were first
turned over J anuary 28, 2015, more than two weeks into trial, and two days prior to
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Yum’s testimony. Nor were they contained in any previous Exhibit list; indeed, as
former Special Agent Yum testified, he had, at the prosecutors’ direction,
commenced and completed the spreadsheet and the analysis only after the trial had
begun.
The defense had not even been made aware of any bitcoin wallet analysis, let
alone provided with related exhibits, until 10:17 p.m. the night of J anuary 25,
2015, when a 3MB Excel spreadsheet containing the wallet analysis conducted by
Yum was provided to defense counsel. See Rule 33 Motion, at 14 (Docket#224).
At that time the government notified defense counsel that the government intended
to produce the spreadsheet as 3500 material, and was in the process of preparing a
series of summary exhibits, based on the spreadsheet, to be introduced during
Yum’s testimony. Id, at 15.
14
Furthermore, in contrast to the inflexible standard imposed on Ulbricht, the
government was permitted to elicit Yum’s testimony, which included the
voluminous spreadsheet and an extraordinarily complex analysis of millions of
bitcoin addresses and sophisticated computer software. The defense sought to call
Antonopoulos for the purpose of countering the testimony of Yum, who admitted
on cross that 60% of the work on the spreadsheet and analysis had been performed
14
A disk containing the documents that would ultimately become GX 650 and 651 was
also first provided to defense counsel the night of J anuary 25, 2015.
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by a colleague with a doctorate in cryptology, who the government did not call as a
witness at trial. A553.
When defense counsel asked for a brief adjournment so that a proper
cross-examination could be prepared on the materials underlying Yum’s testimony,
the Court refused. Thus, it was the defense that was subject to “trial by ambush.â€
A551.
B. The Court Abused Its Discretion In Precluding the Two Defense Experts
It is well established that precluding an expert witness constitutes reversible
error if the proposed expert’s testimony was critical to the defendant’s case and
could have produced a different outcome at trial. See e.g. Crane v. Kentucky, 476
U.S. 683, 690 (1986) (“Constitution guarantees criminal defendants a meaningful
opportunity to present a complete defenseâ€) (internal quotations marks and
citations omitted); Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 302-03 (1932)
(exclusion of evidence “amounts to constitutional error if it deprives the defendant
of a fundamentally fair trialâ€). Whether exclusion of witness testimony
constitutes reversible error rests on whether the omitted testimony “creates a
reasonable doubt that did not otherwise exist.†United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S.
97, 112 (1976).
In addition, trial courts have broad discretion in fashioning a remedy for
failures to comply with Rule 16. Fed. R. Crim. P. Rule 16; United States v.
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Chavez, 549 F.3d 119, 129 (2d Cir. 2008); United States v. Thai, 29 F.3d 785, 804
(2d Cir. 1994). The trial court’s decisions in its choice of remedy is reviewed
under the abuse of discretion standard, and is reversible error if it causes
“substantial prejudice.†Thai, 29 F.3d at 804; see also Zerega Ave. Realty Corp. v.
Hornbeck Offshore Transp., LLC, 571 F.3d 206, 213 (2d Cir. 2009).
Although trial courts are afforded deference in sanctioning of parties that do
not comply with procedural rules, courts have noted that preclusion of evidence is
an extreme remedy. Hein v. Cuprum, S.A., De C.V., 53 Fed.Appx. 134, 137 (2d
Cir. 2002) (commending trial judge for “appropriately us[ing] his discretion to
steer a middle course between the extreme remedy of exclusion and the possibility
of unfair prejudice to the plaintiffâ€) (emphasis added); Thai, 29 F.3d at 806
(finding that “extreme sanction†of striking testimony from the record, is “the most
severe remedy a court can impose short of declaring a mistrialâ€) (quoting United
States v. Rodriguez, 765 F.2d 1546, 1557 (11th Cir. 1985) (internal quotes
omitted)).
In determining when the trial court’s decision to preclude a witness
constituted an abuse of discretion, four factors are considered:
(1) the party’s explanation for the failure to comply
with the discovery order; (2) the importance of the
testimony of the precluded witness; (3) the prejudice
suffered by the opposing party as a result of having to
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prepare to meet the new testimony; and (4) the
possibility of a continuance.
Zerega Ave. Realty Corp., 571 F.3d at 213.
Applying these four factors to the facts at hand, even assuming
non-compliance with procedural rules, the Court’s reliance on the extreme remedy
of preclusion was an abuse of discretion.
As set forth above, the testimony of Dr. Bellovin became necessary during
the course of trial because the defense was precluded from cross-examining Agent
Kiernan on a number of subjects well within the scope of his direct examination.
See ante, at 77. These subjects included the impact of certain lines of PHP
computer code; the security implications of BitTorrent software on Ulbricht’s
laptop; and the general operation of linux-based operating systems (also present on
the laptop).
Antonopoulos’s testimony was necessary to counter Yum’s testimony,
which involved a huge spreadsheet and complex analysis of a large number of
bitcoin transactions provided to the defense mere days before his testimony. The
two experts’ testimony was critical given the curtailment of cross-examination of
Agent Kiernan and the complexity of Yum’s testimony involving bitcoin forensics,
as well as the timing of its production.
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Additionally, the government, fully aware of the subjects the defense
experts intended to cover through numerous sidebar discussions and letters to the
Court, failed to articulate specific prejudice that would have resulted if the expert
testimony had been admitted – particularly if the government were granted a
continuance (to which the defense would have consented).
For example, in United States v. Onumonu, 967 F.2d 782, 784 (2d Cir.
1992), the defense to a charge of knowingly importing heroin into the United
States, was that the defendant believed he was smuggling diamonds, and therefore
lacked the requisite knowledge and intent. Id. Defendant proffered a gemologist’s
expert testimony on issues including the feasibility of smuggling diamonds by
swallowing them, and their value. Id. at 785.
In Onumonu, this Court held that the refusal to allow the expert testimony
was reversible error because “[a]t the end of the case, all [the defendant] had been
able to present was his own belief about diamonds.†Id. at 789. Furthermore,
“[a] major thrust of the prosecutor's summation was that Onumonu’s story was
‘ludicrous,’ with the government arguing that no one would smuggle diamonds in
this fashion.†Id.
15
15
As a result of the preclusion of the experts, the government was granted similar
license during closing argument in this case. T.2154.
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This Court found in Onumonu that the exclusion of the expert testimony was
not harmless error because the defendant was deprived of “fair opportunity to
present his case to the jury†and the exclusion may have had a “substantial effect
on the jury’s verdict.†Id.; see also United States v. McBride, 786 F.2d 45, 49-50
(2d Cir. 1986) (reversing the defendant’s conviction because the testimony of a
psychiatrist – the only witness the defendant sought to present and who would have
testified to the defendant’s mental capabilities at the time of the crime – was
excluded, despite being “critical to [the] defenseâ€).
Similarly, in United States v. Dwyer, 539 F.2d 924 (2d Cir. 1976), this Court
reversed the exclusion of the defense’s expert psychiatric testimony related to the
role of mental disease or defect in criminal responsibility. Dwyer, 539 F.2d at
927.
Given that the defendant had admitted the criminal conduct alleged, expert
testimony supporting the assertion that defendant suffered from mental disease or
defect was “vital.†Id. Therefore, the expert opinion would have “added to the
lay testimony already before the jury†and possibly “produced a different verdict.â€
Id. at 927-28. This Court reasoned that because the probative value of the
evidence proffered was so great, it should not have been excluded “in the absence
of a showing of unfair prejudice.†Id. at 928 (citing United States v. Mejia, 529
F.2d 995, 996 (9th Cir. 1975)).
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In a case with very similar facts to Onumonu, the defendant, charged with
importing heroin, presented the defense that he believed he was smuggling gold
dust. United States v. Diallo, 40 F.3d 31, 33-34 (2d Cir. 1994). The defendant
was precluded from presenting the testimony of a commodities consultant
regarding the profitability of smuggling gold dust into the country, and on general
statistics of trading of precious metals. Id. at 34.
In Diallo, because the “critical fact in issue†was whether or not the
defendant “actually knew†what he was smuggling, the exclusion of the expert’s
testimony deprived the defendant of a fair opportunity to present his case to the
jury, as it left him with only his own testimony to support his defense. Id. at 35
(quoting Onumonu, 967 F.2d at 789). Depriving the defendant of this fair
opportunity had a “substantial effect on the jury’s verdict,†and was therefore
found not to be harmless. Diallo, 40 F.3d at 35 (quoting Onumonu, 967 F.2d at
789).
Particularly analogous to this case was the inequitable nature of the
preclusion of the defense expert in Diallo, because, as this Court pointed out, the
government was permitted in Diallo to call its own expert – a DEA agent – to
establish an economic motive for the defendant to have smuggled heroin and the
defense expert would have testified to the economic advantages of smuggling gold
dust. 40 F.3d at 35.
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In the final paragraph of its opinion, this Court found that “[h]aving allowed
the government to call as an expert a DEA agent, who was surely no more
qualified as an expert in heroin than [the defense’s expert witness] was in gold, the
district court should have accorded the defendant the same right.†Id. (emphasis
added). As this Court concluded, “[t]urnabout is fair play, even in the federal
court.†Id.
Accordingly, the preclusion of two defense experts at trial herein denied
Ulbricht his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to present a defense. While the
government was permitted to present testimony regarding extremely complicated
processes outside the ken of the average juror, Ulbricht was denied the vital
opportunity to challenge that testimony and evidence, some of which was
generated and provided only mid-trial shortly before its admission, and therefore,
the Court’s preclusion of the two defense experts was an abuse of discretion.
Accordingly, Ulbricht’s convictions should be vacated, and a new trial ordered.
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POINT IV
THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN PRECLUDING
ADMISSION OF ANDREW JONES’S STATEMENT AGAINST
PENAL INTEREST PURSUANT TO RULE 804(3)(b),
FED.R.EVID., AND/OR RULE 807, FED.R.EVID.
A. Pretrial Disclosure of Andrew Jones’s Exculpatory Statement
J ust two weeks before trial commenced, the government wrote defense
counsel December 29, 2014, to inform of a statement made by Andrew J ones, a/k/a
“inigo,†an administrator of the Silk Road site for a period in 2013 until its closure,
and a cooperating government witness (charged in a separate indictment):
[a]t some point in or about August or September 2013,
J ones tried to authenticate that the Silk Road user “Dread
Pirate Roberts†whom he was talking to at the time (via
Pidgin chat) was the same person with whom he had been
communicating in the past with this username.
Previously, in or about October 2012, J ones and “Dread
Pirate Roberts†had agreed upon a “handshake†to use for
authentication, in which J ones would provide a certain
prompt and “Dread Pirate Roberts†would provide a
certain response. When, during the 2013 chat in
question, J ones provided what he believed to be the
designated prompt, “Dread Pirate Roberts†was unable to
provide the response J ones thought they had agreed on.
However, later in the chat, J ones asked “Dread Pirate
Roberts†to validate himself by specifying the first job
that “Dread Pirate Roberts†assigned to him (running the
“DPR Book Clubâ€), which “Dread Pirate Roberts†was
able to do.
A398.
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That statement substantially buttressed the defense theory that there was
more than one DPR, that DPR’s identity changed over time, and that there was a
change very close in time to Ulbricht’s arrest – all supporting Ulbricht’s defense
that he had been framed by the genuine DPR.
B. The Trial Proceedings
While J ones was included in the government’s witness list, the government
indicated during trial it would not call him. A563. As a result, the defense
indicated its wish to call him, but J ones’s lawyer informed defense counsel that
J ones would not testify, and would instead assert his Fifth Amendment privilege.
A1856.
Although the government initially agreed to stipulate to J ones’s statement,
the night before the defense sought to finalize and introduce the stipulation the
government reneged at 11:00 p.m. (even though it had, in return for the agreement
to stipulate, extracted a significant concession from the defense earlier that
evening). A564. Consequently, the defense moved for admission of J ones’s
statement as a statement against penal interest pursuant to Rule 803(4),
Fed.R.Evid., or in the interests of justice pursuant to Rule 807, Fed.R.Evid. (the
“residual exceptionâ€). A564. Ulbricht also moved for the statement’s admission
pursuant to the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process guarantee. See Chambers v.
Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 302 (1973).
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The Court denied the application to introduce J ones’s statement, concluding
it was not against penal interest because made while J ones was cooperating with
the government, it was not sufficiently corroborated, and did not possess sufficient
indicia of trustworthiness. A581-583.
C. The Court Abused Its Discretion In Precluding Admission of
Jones’s Statement Under Either Rule 804(3)(b) or Rule 807
J ones’s unavailability was established during the colloquy with the Court,
A587-88, during which defense counsel relayed a conversation with J ones’s
attorney confirming that J ones would be asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege.
United States v. Chan, 184 F.Supp.2d 337, 341 (S.D.N.Y. 2002) (“[a] witness need
not be physically brought into court to assert the privilege; the . . . representation
that the pleading defendants' lawyers had been contacted and . . . stated that his
client would assert the Fifth Amendment privilege is sufficientâ€), citing, United
States v. Williams, 927 F.2d 95, 98–99 (2d Cir. 1991).
Regarding J ones’s statement, the Court found it was not against his penal
interest, because he “was under a cooperation agreement at the time†the statement
was made. A589. Although the Court relied on unspecified “case law,†id., this
Court, in fact, “frequently refrain[s] from articulating the limits of the ‘against
penal interest’ requirement and instead decide[s] cases based on the corroboration
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requirement[.]†United States v. Camacho, 163 F.Supp.2d 287, 299 n.10
(S.D.N.Y. 2001) (collecting cases).
Here, J ones’s cooperation did not affect his statement’s character against his
penal interest. Cooperation agreements do not provide immunity, and regarding
an offense involving nationwide, and even worldwide, illegal internet activity,
prosecutions could very well occur in multiple jurisdictions. In that context, of
crucial importance is that the agreements explicitly binds only the signing parties,
leaving cooperators exposed to prosecution for crimes confessed over the course of
cooperation in any other jurisdiction (including states). See United States v.
Fuller, 149 F.Supp.2d 17, 22-23 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) (cooperator’s agreement with
state prosecutor did not bar federal prosecution nor prohibit use of cooperator’s
statements in federal prosecution, as agreement “is not the equivalent of an
‘immunity order,’ . . . binding on both the State and Federal Governmentâ€).
Consequently, a cooperation agreement does not erase Fifth Amendment
protections. Indeed, if it did, J ones’s invocation of the privilege at trial – a
common occurrence for witnesses, including those who have cooperated but are
not called at trial, and who have pleaded guilty but are awaiting sentencing –
would not have been valid. If his Fifth Amendment privilege survived his
cooperation agreement, certainly his subsequent incriminating statements were
contrary to his penal interest.
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In addition, even with respect to the prosecuting office that signs the
agreement, the formal written terms of cooperation provide only conditional
protection against subsequent prosecution. If at any point the prosecuting office
determines a cooperator has been untruthful or provided incomplete information,
or has committed an additional crime (even if not prosecuted), the prohibition on
prosecution by that office is void. See United States v. Ming He, 94 F.3d 782, 790
(2d Cir. 1996) (“government was in a position to impose grave penalties†if it
determined that information was “incomplete or dishonest,†meaning that “a breach
by defendant amounted to a waiver of [his] Fifth Amendment privilege against
self-incriminationâ€).
In addition, cooperation agreements explicitly state that all information
provided is available to the Court at sentencing, and may be considered as either
relevant or other conduct when calculating the appropriate Guidelines range and
the applicability of departures. For the same reason that the Fifth Amendment
privilege against self-incrimination survives a guilty plea, in that subsequent
statements can still adversely affect sentencing exposure, statements made subject
to a cooperation agreement are against penal interest. See Mitchell v. United
States, 526 U.S. 314, 326 (1999) (“[w]here the sentence has not yet been imposed a
defendant may have a legitimate fear of adverse consequences from further
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testimonyâ€). Undoubtedly then, statements made during cooperation may
certainly be against the declarant’s penal interest.
The Court’s further assessment of J ones’s statement – that “the chat itself
independently and in itself doesn’t carry any particular penal impact†– improperly
fails to consider the context of the statement, which implicates J ones in a
worldwide criminal conspiracy. See Williamson v. United States, 512 U.S. 594,
603-04 (1994) (“whether a statement is self-inculpatory or not can only be
determined by viewing it in context . . . [e]ven statements that are on their face
neutral may actually be against the declarant's interestâ€).
Also, regarding corroboration of the reliability of both the statement and the
declarant, the Court concluded it was not “aware of [anything] that indicates the
trustworthiness†of the statements. However, cooperation agreements provide a
compelling, even overwhelming, motivation for candor because the limited
immunity granted is entirely dependent on honest and complete disclosure. See
United States v. Certified Envtl. Servs., Inc., 753 F.3d 72, 85-86 (2d Cir. 2014)
(“cooperation agreements generally contain so-called truth-telling provisions,
which set out promises to testify truthfully as well as penalties for failure to do so,
such as prosecution for perjury and reinstatement of any charges dropped pursuant
to the dealâ€) (internal quotations omitted).
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Moreover, in its December 29, 2014, letter informing the defense of J ones’s
statement, the government provided more than sufficient corroboration. While the
government was “unaware of any extant record of the 2013 chat described by
J ones . . . [t]here is a record of an October 2012 chat between [DPR] and J ones
discussing a ‘handshake’ in the file labeled “mbsobzvkhwx4hmjt†on the
defendant’s computer . . . provided to the defense in discovery.†A398.
Thus, J ones’s statement was more than adequately corroborated for purposes
of both Rule 803(4) and Rule 807 (requiring “equivalent circumstantial guarantees
of trustworthinessâ€). For that reason, and because the government chose mid-trial
not to call a cooperating witness who asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege,
thereby depriving the defense of his testimony, and further, at the last moment
refused to fulfill an agreement to stipulate, admission of J ones’s statement also
satisfied the “interests of justice†criterion of Rule 807(C), as well as the Fifth
Amendment Due Process guarantee, consistent with Chambers.
In denying admission of J ones’s statement, the Court further decimated
Ulbricht’s defense just as it did with respect to the evidentiary rulings set forth
ante in POINTs I, II, and III. Accordingly, J ones’s statement should have been
admitted pursuant to Rule 803(4) and/or Rule 807, and the Court abused its
discretion in excluding it.
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POINT V
THE COURT’S ERRONEOUS EVIDENTIARY RULINGS
CONSTITUTED CUMULATIVE ERROR THAT DEPRIVED
ULBRICHT OF DUE PROCESS AND A FAIR TRIAL
While each of the series of evidentiary trial errors set forth above
individually are sufficient to warrant vacating Ulbricht’s convictions and granting
him a new trial, cumulatively they require it. In combination, they served to
prevent Ulbricht from presenting any meaningful defense to the charges, and
permitted the government to argue that the defense theory was unsupported by
facts.
The concept of cumulative error is well established. As this Court noted in
United States v. Al-Moayad, 545 F.3d 139 (2d Cir. 2008), “[t]he Supreme Court
has repeatedly recognized that the cumulative effect of a trial court’s errors, even if
they are harmless when considered singly, may amount to a violation of due
process requiring reversal of a conviction.†United States v. Al-Moayad, 545 F.3d
139, 178 (2d Cir. 2008), citing, Taylor v. Kentucky, 436 U.S. 478, 487 n. 15
(1978), and Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 302-03 (1973).
Similarly, the “‘cumulative unfairness’ doctrine is also firmly embedded†in
this Circuit. Id., citing, United States v. Guglielmini, 384 F.2d 602, 607 (2d Cir.
1967) (determining that, singly, the errors at trial would not require reversal, but
that “occurring at the same trial, the total effect of the errors . . . found . . . cast
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such a serious doubt on the fairness of the trial that the convictions must be
reversedâ€).
Accordingly, the substantial accumulation of errors, as set forth post and
ante, requires reversal here.
POINT VI
THE UNLIMITED SEARCHES AND SEIZURE OF ULBRICHT’S
ENTIRE LAPTOP AND GMAIL AND FACEBOOK ACCOUNTS
VIOLATED THE FOURTH AMENDMENT BECAUSE THEY
CONSTITUTED THE FRUIT OF (A) A WARRANT THAT LACKED
ANY PARTICULARITY; AND (B) UNLAWFUL AND
WARRANTLESS PEN REGISTER AND TRAP AND TRACE ORDERS
A. The Search of Ulbricht’s Laptop and Gmail and Facebook
Accounts Violated the Fourth Amendment Because the
Warrant Authorizing the Search Lacked Any Particularity
As noted ante, Ulbricht moved prior to trial to suppress evidence recovered
from his laptop seized from him at the time of his arrest, and his Facebook and
Gmail accounts. See Docket#46. The search of Ulbricht’s laptop violated the
Fourth Amendment because the warrant authorizing the search lacked any
particularity, but instead expressly and purposefully sought a search without any
limiting principle.
1. The Unlimited Scope of the Warrants At Issue
The warrants here represent the antithesis of “particularity†not only in
execution, but also in design, language, and purpose. For example, the warrant for
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the laptop sought, and received, authorization to search for the following (with
only the most patently offending paragraphs cited herein):
44. The SUBJ ECT COMPUTER is also likely to contain evidence
concerning ULBRICHT relevant to the investigation of the
SUBJ ECT OFFENSES, including evidence relevant to
corroborating the identification of ULBRICHT as the Silk Road
user "Dread Pirate Roberts," including but not limited to:
a. any communications or writings by Ulbricht, which may
reflect linguistic patterns or idiosyncracies associated
with “Dread Pirate Robertsâ€[] or political/economic
views associated with “Dread Pirate Roberts†(e.g., views
associated with the Mises Institute);
c. any evidence concerning Ulbricht's travel or patterns of
movement, to allow comparison with patterns of online
activity of “Dread Pirate Roberts†and any information
known about his location at particular times
h. any other evidence implicating ULBRICHT in the
SUBJ ECT OFFENSES.
S248-49(footnote omitted).
The deliberate intention to review everything was further manifest from
Attachment B to the warrant, which included authority to search the laptop for
2. Any evidence concerning ROSS WILLIAM ULBRICHT
relevant to the investigation of the SUBJ ECT OFFENSES,
including but not limited to:
a. any communications or writings by ULBRICHT;
c. any evidence concerning ULBRICHT'S travel or patterns
of movement;
S252-53.
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Moreover, the warrants for Ulbricht’s gmail and Facebook accounts were
similarly without boundaries. S311; S383. Thus, the entirety of Ulbricht’s
private “papers,†and more (i.e., his internet history, political or other associations)
were expressly targeted by the government.
2. The Court’s Rationale for Denying
Ulbricht’s Motion to Suppress
In denying Ulbricht’s suppression motions, the Court held that the warrants
for the laptop and the social media accounts were lawful because they were not
general warrants and were supported by probable cause, and that pen register and
trap and devices did not require a warrant because “the type of information sought
in Pen-Trap orders 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 was entirely appropriate for that type of orderâ€
and “[t]he Pen-Trap Orders do not seek the content of internet communications in
any directly relevant sense.†A201, 203-04.
3. The Overriding Importance of the Particularity Requirement
The critical importance of the particularity requirement in preserving Fourth
Amendment rights and protections in the digital age has recently been recognized
by this court. In United States v. Galpin, 720 F.3d 436 (2d Cir. 2013), the Court
observed that
[w]here, as here, the property to be searched is a
computer hard drive, the particularity requirement
assumes even greater importance. As numerous courts
and commentators have observed, advances in
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technology and the centrality of computers in the lives of
average people have rendered the computer hard drive
akin to a residence in terms of the scope and quantity of
private information it may contain.
Id., at 447, citing, United States v. Payton, 573 F.3d 859, 861 62 (9th Cir.2009) (
[t]here is no question that computers are capable of storing immense amounts of
information and often contain a great deal of private information. Searches of
computers therefore often involve a degree of intrusiveness much greater in
quantity, if not different in kind, from searches of other containers) (other citation
omitted) (footnote omitted). See also United States v. Otero, 563 F.3d 1127, 1132
(10
th
Cir. 2009); Orin S. Kerr, Searches and Seizures in a Digital World, 119 Harv.
L.Rev. 531, 569 (2005).
Indeed, last Fall the Court en banc considered the rehearing of the panel’s
opinion in Ganias. United States v. Ganias, 755 F.3d 125, 134 (2d Cir. 2014),
reh'g en banc granted, 791 F.3d 290 (2d Cir. 2015). While the specific issue
relative to particularity is distinct herein – not retention and subsequent searching,
as in Ganias, but rather the absence of any particularity in the warrant – the Court’s
en banc consideration nevertheless underscores the importance of the particularity
requirement, especially in the context of computers and digital evidence.
In fact, in Ganias and Galpin this Court has twice reversed convictions and
suppressed evidence because of violations of the particularity requirement. In
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Ganias, the panel noted that the particularity requirement makes general searches .
. . impossible because it prevents the seizure of one thing under a warrant
describing another. 755 F.3d at 135, quoting, Galpin, 720 F.3d at 446 (quoting
Marron v. United States, 275 U.S. 192, 196 (1927)) (internal quotation marks
omitted). That principle restricts the government’s ability to remove all of an
individual’s papers for later examination because it is generally unconstitutional to
seize any item not described in the warrant. See Horton v. California, 496 U.S.
128, 140 (1990).
4. The Warrants At Issue Are Devoid of Particularity
Nor is the protest here directed at the initial seizure of a hard drive by
imaging it for off-site review. The panel opinion in Ganias has already noted that
such a procedure is “constitutionally permissible.†755 F.3d at 135. Rather, it is
the lack of any limiting standards or procedures during that review. Indeed, the
language cited above from the applications and warrants manifests the opposite
intent: a detailed review of every piece of digital information.
In the digital/computer context, the panel in Ganias recognized that
“computer files may contain intimate details regarding an individual’s thoughts,
beliefs, and lifestyle, and they should be similarly guarded against unwarranted
Government intrusion. If anything, even greater protection is warranted.†Id., at
135, citing Kerr, Searches and Seizures in a Digital World, 119 Harv. L.Rev. at
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569 (explaining that computers have become the equivalent of postal services,
playgrounds, jukeboxes, dating services, movie theaters, daily planners, shopping
malls, personal secretaries, virtual diaries, and more ).
Ganias followed Galpin, which explained that the purpose of the
particularity requirement “is to minimize the discretion of the executing officer . .
.†720 F.3d at 446 n.5, and pointed out that “[m]indful of that purpose, . . . other
Circuits have held that even warrants that identify catchall statutory provisions,
like the mail fraud or conspiracy statutes, may fail to comply with this aspect of the
particularization requirement.†Id., citing United States v. Leary, 846 F.2d 592,
594 (10th Cir.1988) (warrant authorizing search of export company's business
records for violation of the Arms Export Control Act, 22 U.S.C. §2778, and the
Export Administration Act of 1979, 50 U.S.C. App. §2410, held overbroad);
Voss v. Bergsgaard, 774 F.2d 402 (10th Cir. 1985) (warrant specifying 18 U.S.C.
§371, the general federal conspiracy statute, held overbroad); United States v.
Roche, 614 F.2d 6, 8 (1st Cir. 1980) (concluding that a limitation of a search to
evidence relating to a violation of 18 U.S.C. §1341, the general mail fraud statute,
provides no limitation at all ).
Also, here the language of the governing statutes is not sufficiently precise
to provide sufficient particularity; indeed, general statutes such 21 U.S.C. §841 and
§848 are so broad and general that they exacerbate the problem. See, e.g., United
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States v. Maxwell, 920 F.2d 1028, 1033 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (fraud); United States v.
Holzman, 871 1496, 1509 (9
th
Cir. 1989) (fraud); United States v. Fucillo, 808 F.2d
173, 176-77 (1
st
Cir. 1987). See also United States v. George, 975 F.2d 72, 76 (2d
Cir. 1992). Regardless, the terms of the warrants imposed no limitation at all on
the parameters of the searches.
In Galpin, the Court recounted that it has “emphasized that ‘a failure to
describe the items to be seized with as much particularity as the circumstances
reasonably allow offends the Fourth Amendment because there is no assurance that
the permitted invasion of a suspect’s privacy and property are no more than
absolutely necessary.’ 720 F.3d at 446, quoting, United States v. George, 975
F.2d 72, 76 (2d Cir. 1992). See also United States v. Vilar, 2007 WL 1075041, at
*22-24 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 4, 2007) (suppression granted because warrant, inter alia,
included an omnibus provision permitting seizure of “all corporate recordsâ€).
In language particularly germane here, the Court in Galpin cautioned that
“[t]he potential for privacy violations occasioned by an unbridled, exploratory
search of a hard drive is enormous[,]†and that “[t]his threat is compounded by the
nature of digital storage.†720 F.3d at 446-47.
16
See also United States v.
16
This Circuit has thus far declined to impose the type of search protocols enumerated
by J udge Kozinski in his concurring opinion in United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing,
Inc., 621 F.3d 1162, 1176 (9th Cir. 2010) (en banc) (per curiam). However, the Court in Galpin
recognized “‘a serious risk that every warrant for electronic information will become, in effect, a
general warrant, rendering the Fourth Amendment irrelevant[,]’†and that “[t]his threat demands
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Abrams, 615 F.3d 541, 543 (1
st
Cir. 1980) (warrant failed to satisfy particularity
requirement because language was so amorphous that agents’ discretion was
unfettered).
In that context, the Court in Galpin instructed that upon remand “the district
court’s review of the plain view issue should take into account the degree, if any,
to which digital search protocols target information outside the scope of the valid
portion of the warrant. To the extent such search methods are used, the plain view
exception is not available.†720 F.3d at 451.
Here, again, no such limiting principles were instituted at all, and the
warrants inverted the analysis in a manner that dissolves Fourth Amendment
protections. Rather than require the government to establish probable cause in
advance of reviewing categories of electronic data, they would license the
government to examine every file to assure that probable cause to seize it did not
exist. Any more dramatic or patent example of the “rummaging†could not be
envisioned, yet that is what the government has done in this case with respect to
Ulbricht’s laptop and Gmail and Facebook accounts.
17
a heightened sensitivity to the particularity requirement in the context of digital searches.†720
F.3d at 447-48, quoting Comprehensive Drug Testing, 621 F.3d at 1176, and citing United States
v. Burgess, 576 F.3d 1078, 1091 (10th Cir. 2009) ( If the warrant is read to allow a search of all
computer records without description or limitation it would not meet the Fourth Amendment's
particularity requirementâ€).
17
See also Kathleen Ridolfi, Tiffany M. J oslyn, and Todd H. Fries, Material
Indifference: How Courts Are Impeding Fair Disclosure In Criminal Cases, National
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106
Nor do the warrants here permit mere “perusal†to determine relevance, as in
United States v. Mannino, 635 F.2d 110, 115 (2d Cir. 1980) (quoting, United
States v. Ochs, 595 F.2d 1247, 1257 n. 8 (2d Cir. 1979)), or seek merely a
“cursory†review for purposes of determining relevance, as in Andersen v.
Maryland, 427 U.S. 463, 482 n. 11, 96 S.Ct. 2737, 49 L.Ed.2d 627 (1976) ( [i]n
searches for papers, it is certain that some innocuous documents will be examined,
at least cursorily, in order to determine whether they are, in fact, among those
papers authorized to be seized ).
Indeed, the government announced in the applications that it intended to
perform various detailed analyses of the entirety of Ulbricht’s communications and
digital history. That guaranteed that every piece of digital information would be
subject to a detailed search in the absence of any probable cause to search any
specific piece of electronically stored information.
Nor is the principle that a warrant can seek and seize “mere evidenceâ€
availing to the government with respect to these warrants. See Warden v. Hayden,
387 U.S. 294 (1967). Warden involved a discrete set of physical objects –
clothing and weapons directly related to the offense charged – that were easily
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and The Veritas Initiative (Santa Clara University
School of Law), November 17, 2014, at 12, available at <http://www.nacdl.org/discovery
reform/materialindifference/>(“[e]ven if every nook and cranny of a digital device could
theoretically contain evidence covered by the warrant, it does not mean that every nook and
cranny may reasonably contain such evidenceâ€) (emphasis in original).
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107
identifiable, not a fishing expedition into the entirety of someone’s
communications and research history.
Also, in Warden the Court cautioned that “[t]here must, of course, be a
nexus – automatically provided in the case of fruits, instrumentalities or contraband
– between the item to be seized and criminal behavior,†in addition to the
particularity requirement. 387 U.S. at 300, 309-10.
Regarding the social media accounts, in In the Matter of the Search of
Information Associated with [Redacted] @mac.comthat is Stored at Premises
Controlled by Apple, Inc., 13 F.Supp.3d 157 (D.D.C. August 8, 2014), involving a
warrant for certain emails, the Court emphasized that the particularity requirement
“ensures that the search will be carefully tailored to its justifications, and will not
take on the character of the wide-ranging exploratory searches the Framers
intended to prohibit.†Id., at 163.
In Apple, the warrant was sufficiently particularized because it “[specified]
in the attachments to its application the particular e-mails to be seized[,]†id., at
164, and also included a precise temporal limitation. Id., at 161. No such
restrictions on the agents’ discretion existed here, though. See United States v.
Zemlyansky, 945 F.Supp.2d 438, 457-60 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) (warrant invalid because,
inter alia, it did not sufficiently particularize and failed to impose any temporal
limitation on the items to be searched).
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Here, because the warrants to search Ulbricht’s laptop, as well as his Gmail
and Facebook accounts, expressly – even deliberately – fail to adhere to the Fourth
Amendment’s particularity requirement, it is respectfully submitted that all
evidence seized and/or searched pursuant to those warrants, and all the fruits
therefrom, should be suppressed.
The Court also questioned whether Ulbricht possessed a “legally
established†personal privacy interest in the laptop and the Google and Facebook
accounts without a declaration of his possessory interest in the laptop and the
Google and Facebook accounts. A183. However, not only did the government
not contest Ulbricht’s standing with respect to those searches, but the Court failed
to cite any case law for that interpretation. Ulbricht was in possession of the
laptop at the time of his arrest and there was no factual dispute as to his possession
of either the laptop, or the Facebook or Google accounts.
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B. The Pen Register and Trap and Trace Orders Were Unlawful
and Violated the Fourth Amendment Because They Required
a Warrant and Also Failed to Adhere to Statutory Limitations
The Pen Register and Trap and Trace Orders used in this case were
implemented by court order and not by a warrant based on probable cause, and
consequently, for the reasons set forth below, they violated the Fourth Amendment
as well as the statutory framework under which they were obtained. Accordingly,
all evidence acquired as a result of the Pen Registers and Trap and Trace devices,
and their fruits, should have been suppressed, and the Court’s decision denying
Ulbricht’s motion was erroneous.
1. The Pen Register and Trap and Trace Orders
Were Unlawful Because They Required a Warrant
The pen register and trap and trace Orders (“pen-trapâ€) at issue herein
essentially requested the following:
this Court has, upon the application of the United States
of America, entered an Order authorizing agents of the
Secret Service to direct COMCAST to install a trap and
trace device to identify the source Internet protocol
(“IPâ€) address of any Internet communications directed
to, and a pen register to determine the destination IP
address of any Internet communications originating from,
the following Internet user account controlled by
COMCAST (the “TARGET ACCOUNTâ€), along with
the date, time, duration, and port of transmission, but not
the contents, of such communications (the “Requested
Pen-Trapâ€), in connection with a criminal investigation.
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S67.
18
The pen-trap devices were used on routers, IP addresses, and MAC
addresses.
19
See, e.g., S127. Each of the Orders were for 60 days, although the
full range of surveillance under the pen-trap orders lasted approximately two
weeks. The applications also claimed the pen-trap devices did not capture
“content.†S85.
While ostensibly a pen-trap reveals only identifying information, these
pen-traps had an ulterior purpose: to track Ulbricht’s internet activity and his
physical location, in an effort to connect him with access to the administrative
section of the Silk Road Servers at particular times on particular dates. S245-46.
18
According to the applications for the pen-trap Orders,
[a] “pen register†is “a device or process which records or decodes
dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information transmitted
by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic
communication is transmitted.†18 U.S.C. § 3127(3). A “trap
and trace device†is defined as “a device or process which captures
the incoming electronic or other impulses which identify the
originating number or other dialing, routing, addressing, and
signaling information reasonably likely to identify the source of a
wire or electronic communication.†18 U.S.C. § 3127(4).
S73.
19
According to the applications for the pen-trap Orders, “[e]very device on the Internet
is identified by a unique number called and Internet Protocol (‘IP’) address. This number is
used to route information between devices, for example, between two computers. Two
computers must know each other’s IP addresses to exchange even the smallest amount of
information.†S128-29. A MAC address is “a unique identifier that is hard-coded into a
computer that can be used to physically identify the computer (similar to a vehicle identification
number of a car).†S129-30.
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111
That purpose extends well beyond that permissible for a pen-trap, and, because the
devices were used absent a warrant based on probable cause, violates the Fourth
Amendment as well as express statutory provisions.
a. Smith v. Maryland Does Not Control the Issue Herein
In Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735 (1979), the Supreme Court held that a
telephone subscriber does not have an expectation of privacy in the numbers he or
she dials because the subscriber knows full well that the telephone company keeps
records of that information (which the subscriber has at least tacitly “knowinglyâ€
provided to that third party). However, the pen-traps in this investigation are not
the same as those at issue in Smith and, as a result, Smith should not control the
outcome herein.
For example, in Smith, the Court noted in support of its reasoning that a pen
register “does not indicate whether calls are actually completed.†Id., at 736 n. 1,
quoting United States v. New York Tel. Co., 434 U.S. 159, 161 n. 1 (1977). See
also id., at 741 (“law enforcement . . . could not even determine from a pen register
whether a communication existedâ€). Also, the Court cited that “[n]either the
purport of any communication between the caller and recipient of the call, their
identities, nor whether the call was even completed is disclosed by pen registers.â€
442 U.S. at 741, quoting, United States v. New York Tel. Co., 434 U.S. at 167.
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Here, the pen-traps were implemented to do exactly what, “[g]iven a pen
register’s limited capabilities . . .†442 U.S. at 742, the Supreme Court said the
device could not constitutionally do, and thus insulated pen-traps from constituting
an invasion of private communications. The pen-traps here were sought to
confirm the laptop’s connection to the Internet at specific times and dates, their
duration, and the laptop’s physical location when it logged on and off.
In Smith, the Court further based its decision on the fact that pen registers
were “routinely used by telephone companies ‘for the purpose of checking billing
operations, detecting fraud, and preventing violations of law.’†442 U.S. at 742,
quoting, New York Tel. Co., at 174-75. See also, id. (also “to check for a defective
dial, or to check for overbillingâ€) (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks
omitted).
Again, the Internet provides an entirely different technical and privacy
environment than a telephone circuit, particularly one in 1979. As explained by
J ulian Sanchez (Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and contributing editor at
Reason magazine),
the Internet functions quite differently from the
traditional circuit-switched telephone network. On the
phone network, a binary distinction between “contentâ€
and “metadata†works well enough: The “content†is
what you say to the person on the other end of the call,
and the “metadata†is the information you send to the
phone company so they can complete the call. But the
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Internet is more complicated. On the Open Systems
Connections model familiar to most techies, an Internet
communication can be conceptualized as consisting of
many distinct “layers,†and a single layer may
simultaneously be “content†relative to the layer below it
and “metadata†relative to the layer above it.
* * *
The crucial point here is that the detailed “metadata†for
a particular Internet communication, past the IP layer,
typically wouldn’t be processed or stored by the ISP in
the way that phone numbers and other call data is stored
by the phone company. From the ISP’s perspective, all of
that stuff is content.
* * *
Either way, the acquisition of “metadata†other than IP
addresses from an ISP or off the backbone is pretty
clearly dissimilar from the collection of call data at issue
in Smith in every important respect. It is not information
conveyed to the Internet provider for the purpose of
routing the communication; it is routing information
conveyed through the provider just like any other
content. Nor is it information the Internet provider would
otherwise normally retain for routine business purposes.
Again, relative to the ISP, it’s all just content.
J ulian Sanchez, “Are Internet Backbone Pen Registers Constitutional?†Just
Security, September 23, 2013, available at
<http://justsecurity.org/1042/internet-backbone-pen-registers-constitutional/>.
Courts have reached the same conclusion with respect to certain internet
information that is captured by a pen-trap, particularly that employed here. For
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example, in United States v. Forrester, 512 F.3d 500 (9
th
Cir. 2007), the Court
postulated that
[s]urveillance techniques that enable the government to
determine not only the IP addresses that a person
accesses but also the uniform resource locators ( URL )
of the pages visited might be more constitutionally
problematic. A URL, unlike an IP address, identifies the
particular document within a website that a person views
and thus reveals much more information about the
person's Internet activity. For instance, a surveillance
technique that captures IP addresses would show only
that a person visited the New York Times’ website at
http://www.nytimes.com, whereas a technique that
captures URLs would also divulge the particular articles
the person viewed. ([I]f the user then enters a search
phrase [in the Google search engine], that search phrase
would appear in the URL after the first forward slash.
This would reveal content . . . . ).
Id., at 510 n. 6. See also, In re U.S. for an Order Authorizing the Use of a Pen
Register and Trap on [xxx] Internet Service Account/User Name
[xxxxxxx@xxx.com], 396 F.Supp.2d 45, 49 (D. Mass 2005) (“[a] user may visit
the Google site. . . . [I]f the user then enters a search phrase, that search phrase
would appear in the URL after the first forward slash. This would reveal content . .
. . The substance and meaning of the communication is that the user is conducting
a search for information on a particular topicâ€) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Indeed, even senior government intelligence officials concede that metadata
is content. See, e.g., Spencer Ackerman, “NSA Review Panel Casts Doubt On
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Bulk Data Collection Claims,†The Guardian, J anuary 14, 2014, available at
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/14/nsa-review-panel-senate-phone-d
ata-terrorism> (quoting former Deputy CIA Director Mike Morrell’s testimony
before the Senate J udiciary Committee that “[t]here is quite a bit of content in
metadataâ€).
That a privacy expectation in metadata is recognized by society as
reasonable is reinforced by the fact that, “in today’s technologically based word, it
is virtually impossible for an ordinary citizen to avoid creating metadata about
himself on a regular basis simply by conducting his ordinary affairs[.]†ACLU v.
Clapper, 785 F.3d 787, 794 (2d Cir. 2015); see Klayman v. Obama, 957 F.Supp.2d
1, 35-36 (D.D.C. 2013), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 800 F.3d 559
(D.C. Cir. 2015), on remand, No. CV 13-851 (RJ L), 2015 WL 6873127 (D.D.C.
Nov. 9, 2015) (“the ubiquity of phones has dramatically altered the quantity of
information that is now available and, more importantly, what that information can
tell the government about people's lives. . . . it is . . . likely that these trends have
resulted in a greater expectation of privacy and a recognition that society views
that expectation as reasonableâ€) (emphasis in original). See also Clapper, 785
F.3d 794 (“[t]he more metadata the government collects and analyzes, . . . the
greater the capacity for such metadata to reveal ever more private and previously
unascertainable information about individualsâ€).
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116
Similarly, even more recently, in United States v. Graham, 796 F.3d 332
(4th Cir. 2015), reh’g en banc granted, 2015 WL 6531272 (4th Cir. Oct. 28, 2015),
the Fourth Circuit, responding to the government’s argument that a third party’s
possession (and even ownership) of the defendant’s cell site location information
(“CSLIâ€), eliminated a defendant’s reasonable expectation of privacy, rejected the
argument that precedents like Smith and United States v. Miller, 425 U.S. 435
(1976), “categorically exclude third-party records from Fourth Amendment
protection.†Id., at 354.
The Court in Graham explained that
[e]xamination of a person’s historical CSLI (cell site
location information) can enable the government to trace
the movements of the cellphone and its user across public
and private spaces and thereby discover the private
activities and personal habits of the user. Cellphone
users have an objectively reasonable expectation of
privacy in this information. Its inspection by the
government, therefore, requires a warrant, unless an
established exception to the warrant requirement applies.
Id., at 345 (emphasis added). But see United States v. Davis, 785 F.3d 498 (11
th
Cir. 2015) (en banc).
20
As the Court in Graham declared, “[w]e cannot accept the proposition that
cell phone users volunteer to convey their location information simply by choosing
20
In Graham, the Court nevertheless declined to suppress because the law enforcement
agents had relied in good faith on orders (rather than warrants) issued pursuant to the Stored
Communications Act (28 U.S.C. §2703).
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to activate and use their cell phones and to carry the devices on their person.†Id. at
356. See also Clapper, 785 F.3d at 822-23 (“rules that permit the government to
obtain records and other information that consumers have shared with businesses
without a warrant seem much more threatening as the extent of such information
growsâ€); In re Application of the U.S. for an Order Authorizing the Release of
Historical Cell-Site Info., 809 F.Supp.2d 113, 127 (E.D.N.Y.2011) (“[t]he fiction
that the vast majority of the American population consents to warrantless
government access to the records of a significant share of their movements by
‘choosing’ to carry a cell phone must be rejectedâ€).
More explicitly, J ustice Sotomayor, in concurring in United States v. Jones,
132 S. Ct. 945 (2012) (Sotomayor, J ., concurring), challenged the continued
vitality of the third-party records doctrine underlying Smith:
[m]ore fundamentally, it may be necessary to reconsider
the premise that an individual has no reasonable
expectation of privacy in information voluntarily
disclosed to third parties. See, e.g., Smith [v. Maryland],
442 U.S. [735], 742 [(1979)]; United States v. Miller, 425
U.S. 435, 443 (1976). This approach is ill suited to the
digital age, in which people reveal a great deal of
information about themselves to third parties in the
course of carrying out mundane tasks.
* * *
I for one doubt that people would accept without
complaint the warrantless disclosure to the Government
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of a list of every Web site they had visited in the last
week, or month, or year.
Jones, 132 S. Ct. at 957 (Sotomayor, J ., concurring).
Accordingly, Smith, which describes a primitive methodology that bears
little, if any, resemblance to what the pen-trap devices accomplished in this case,
does not control the issue herein, and the information obtained here through
warrantless pen-traps is protected under the Fourth Amendment, and falls within
the warrant requirement.
b. The Pen-Trap Devices In This Case Required
a Warrant Because They Captured
Information About Ulbricht’s Activities In His Home
The pen-trap devices in this case required a warrant because they captured
information about Ulbricht’s activity within his residence. The devices act as a
tracking device notifying law enforcement when a target is at home, and revealing
when and how the target uses his computer at home. Thus, law enforcement was
able to monitor Ulbricht’s internet activity while in his home.
That places pen-trap devices in this case squarely within the jurisprudence of
cases such as United States v. Karo, 468 U.S. 705 (1984) and Kyllo v. United
States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001). In Karo, a beeper was used to track the movements of
a chemical container to a home, and law enforcement continued to monitor the
beeper inside the home. The Court found that intrusion “violate[d] the Fourth
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Amendment rights of those who have a justifiable interest in the privacy of the
residence†because it “reveal[ed] a critical fact about the interior of the premises . .
. that [the government] could not have otherwise obtained without a warrant: that
a particular article is actually located at a particular time in the private residence
and is in the possession of the person or persons whose residence is being
watched.†468 U.S. at 715.
21
Similarly, in Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001), the Court again
found that the use of technology to reveal information about activity inside a
private residence constituted a search under the Fourth Amendment. The Court
emphasized that “[w]here . . . the Government uses a device that is not in general
public use, to explore details of the home that would previously have been
unknowable without physical intrusion, the surveillance is a ‘search’ and is
presumptively unreasonable without a warrant.†Id., at 40. See also, Florida v.
Jardines, __ U.S. __, 133 S. Ct. 1409 (2013).
In Graham, the Fourth Circuit employed precisely that analogy: “[l]ike the
searches challenged in Karo and Kyllo, examination of historical CSLI can allow
21
In Karo, the Court explained that “private residences are places in which the
individual normally expects privacy free of governmental intrusion not authorized by a warrant,
and that expectation is plainly one that society is prepared to recognize as justifiable.†468 U.S.
at 714. See also id., at 716 (“[i]ndiscriminate monitoring of property that has been withdrawn
from public view would present far too serious a threat to privacy interests in the home to escape
entirely some sort of Fourth Amendment oversightâ€); Graham, 796 F.3d at 346, reh’g en banc
granted, 2015 WL 6531272 (4th Cir. Oct. 28, 2015).
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page136 of 170
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the government to place an individual and her personal property – specifically, her
cell phone – at the person's home and other private locations at specific points in
time.†796 F.3d at 346, reh’g en banc granted, 2015 WL 6531272 (4th Cir. Oct.
28, 2015); State v. Earls, 214 N.J . 564, 642 (2013); Commonwealth v. Augustine,
467 Mass. 230, 252-53 (2014).
c. The Pen-Trap Devices In This Case Required a
Warrant and/or Violated the Operative Statute
Because They Captured Prospective Data and Information
Another reason the pen-trap devices in this case required a warrant, and/or
violated the operative statute, §3127, is because four such orders sought and
obtained prospective data and information about Ulbricht’s internet activity. See,
e.g., S66; S77; S92; S124.
While there has been a split among courts regarding the propriety of
warrantless acquisition of prospective locating information, there is ample
authority – even a likely majority – for the position that prospective information
cannot be obtained absent probable cause (while the §3127 orders require only the
lower standard of relevance). Compare, e.g., In re Order Authorizing Prospective
and Continuous Release of Cell Site Location Records, 31 F.Supp.3d 889 (S.D.
Tex. 2014); In re Application of the United States for an Order Authorizing the
Use of a Pen Register With Caller Identification Device Cell Site Location
Authority on a Cellular Telephone, 2009 WL 159187 (S.D.N.Y. J an.13, 2009)
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page137 of 170
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(denying application for prospective CSLI); In re Application of the United States
for an Order Directing a Provider of Electronic Communication Service to
Disclose Records to the Government, 534 F.Supp.2d 585 (W.D.Pa. 2008) (same);
In re Application of the United States for an Order Authorizing the Installation and
Use of a Pen Register Device, 497 F.Supp.2d 301 (D.P.R. 2007) (same) with In re
Application of the United States for an Order for Disclosure of
Telecommunications Records and Authorizing the Use of a Pen Register and Trap
and Trace, 405 F.Supp.2d 435 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) (because location data is imprecise
it does not necessarily implicate private space; third party doctrine applies to
CSLI); In re Application of the United States for an Order for Prospective Cell
Site Location Information on a Certain Cellular Telephone, 460 F.Supp.2d 448
(S.D.N.Y. 2006); In re Application of the United States for an Order Authorizing
the Use of a Pen Register and a Trap and Trace Device on Wireless Telephone
Bearing Telephone Number [Redacted], Subscribed to [Redacted], Service by
[Redacted], No. 08 MC 0595(J O), 2008 WL 5255815 (E.D.N.Y. Dec.16, 2008).
22
2. The Pen Register and Trap and Trace Devices Used In This
Case Were Unlawful Because They Exceeded Statutory Authority
Moreover, the use of the pen-trap devices to establish Ulbricht’s internet
activity in conjunction with his physical location is the functional equivalent of
22
The cited cases represent a sampling of decisions on both sides of the issue.
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geo-locating, which could violate the Communications Assistance for Law
Enforcement Act (“CALEAâ€), which provides at 47 U.S.C. §1002(a), in the
context of requiring telecommunications carriers to make their equipment
accessible for government electronic surveillance, the following caveat: “with
regard to information acquired solely pursuant to the authority for pen registers and
trap and trace devices (as defined in 18 U.S.C. §3127), such call-identifying
information shall not include any information that may disclose the physical
location of the subscriber (except to the extent that the location may be determined
from the telephone number[.]â€
Here, the pen-trap Orders were “hybrids,†procured through a combination
of authorities – §3127 as well as 18 U.S.C. §2703(d) of the Stored
Communications Act (“SCAâ€) – and were not authorized exclusively pursuant to
§3127. However, that resort to the SCA constitutes mere semantics, and violates
the spirit of CALEA, which was designed to foreclose real-time locating (as
opposed to the SCA, which targets historical stored information).
Indeed, such “hybrids†have been disfavored by a number of courts. See,
e.g., In re Application, 396 F.Supp.2d 747 (S.D. Tex. 2005); In re Application of
U.S. for Order, 497 F.Supp.2d 301, 302 (D. Puerto Rico 2007) (rejecting
application by government for “orders under 18 U.S.C. §§2703 and 3122, . . . for
the installation and use of pen register and trap and trace devices, Enhanced Caller
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ID special calling features, and the capture of limited geographic or cell site
information, all for a period of sixty days from the date of the orderâ€). See also In
re Application, 2006 WL 1876847 (N.D. Ind. J uly 5, 2006); In re Authorizing the
Use of a Pen Register, 384 F.Supp.2d 562, 564 on reconsideration sub nom. In re
Application of the U.S. for an Order (1) Authorizing the Use of a Pen Register & a
Trap & Trace Device, 396 F.Supp.2d 294 (E.D.N.Y. 2005) (initial case holds cell
site location information which the government seeks “is information that a pen
register or trap and trace device does, by definition, provide, but it is not
information that the government may lawfully obtain absent a showing of probable
causeâ€); In re Applications of U.S. for Orders Authorizing Disclosure of Cell Cite
Info., 05-403, 2005 WL 3658531 (D.D.C. Oct. 26, 2005) (stating that Magistrate
J udges will not “grant applications for orders authorizing the disclosure of cell site
information pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2703, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3122 and 3123, or bothâ€
absent new authority and ordering any such applications to be returned to the
attorneys).
Also, courts have been unreceptive to applications for pen-traps used for the
purpose of ascertaining location. See In re U.S. for an Order: (1) Authorizing
Installation & Use of Pen Register & Trap & Trace Device; (2) Authorizing
Release of Subscriber & Other Info.; (3) Authorizing Disclosure of Location-Based
Servs.No. 07-128, 2007 WL 3342243 (S.D. Tex. Nov. 7, 2007) (AUSA
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“request[ed] an Order authorizing the [DEA] to require the [cell phone] Provider to
disclose location-based data that will assist law enforcement in determining the
location of the Target Device[,]†(emphasis added), prompting Court to conclude
that “[t]he information that the Government seeks clearly attempts to identify the
exact location of the Target Device (and presumably the person holding the Target
Device), and thus requires a finding of probable causeâ€); In re U.S. For an Order
Authorizing the Disclosure of Prospective Cell Site Info., 412 F.Supp.2d 947, 958
(E.D. Wisc. 2006), aff'd, 06-MISC-004, 2006 WL 2871743 (E.D. Wis. Oct. 6,
2006) (disagreeing with a prior SDNY case, In re Application of the United States
of America for an Order for Disclosure of Telecommunications Records and
Authorizing the Use of a Pen Register and Trap and Trace, 405 F.Supp.2d 435
(S.D.N.Y.2005), that a pen-trap with some other authority like the SCA could be
sufficient to allow for geo-locating, and stating that "[t]he bottom line is that the
array of statutes invoked by the issues in this case, i.e., the Pen/Trap Statute, the
SCA, and CALEA present much more a legislative collage than a legislative
mosaic. If Congress intended to allow prospective cell site information to be
obtained by means of the combined authority of the SCA and the Pen/Trap Statute,
such intent is not at all apparent from the statutes themselves.â€).
23
23
In addition, the applications for the pen-traps in this case did not reveal to the issuing
magistrate judges the true purpose – attempting to ascertain Ulbricht’s internet activity in
conjunction with his physical location and administrative interaction on the Silk Road Servers –
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POINT VII
THE LIFE SENTENCE IMPOSED ON ULBRICHT WAS
PROCEDURALLY AND SUBSTANTIVELY UNREASONABLE
A. The Life Sentence Was Procedurally Unreasonable
The life sentence the Court imposed on Ulbricht, including the consideration
of six alleged overdose deaths as a factor at sentencing, was procedurally
unreasonable and thereby violated Ulbricht’s Fifth Amendment right to Due
Process.
There were two facets to the Court’s procedural error: (1) the Court erred
in fashioning a legal standard, not apparently based on any procedural rule or
precedent, “that the deaths, in some way, related to Silk Road,†A1472, which
required some undefined level of relationship between a criminal defendant and the
harm (here, six deaths) in order to attribute that harm to the defendant as relevant
conduct at sentencing; and (2) even if that vague standard was procedurally
reasonable, the Court abused its discretion when it based its sentence, in part, on
“clearly erroneous facts†– the six alleged overdose deaths that the government
speculated were the result of drugs purchased on Silk Road, and which the Court
found by a preponderance of the evidence were, “in some way, related to Silk
Road†and therefore relevant to Ulbricht’s conviction and sentence. A1472. See
beyond the rudimentary certification that the information sought was relevant to a criminal
investigation of Ulbricht. See, e.g., S75, at ¶ 10.
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also United States v. Figueroa, 647 F.3d 466, 469 (2d Cir. 2011), quoting, United
States v. Cavera, 550 F.3d 180, 187 (2d Cir. 2008) (en banc) (stating “[w]e review
a criminal sentence for ‘unreasonableness,’ which ‘amounts to review for abuse of
discretion’â€); United States v. DeSilva, 613 F.3d 352, 356 (2d Cir. 2010) (holding
that “[p]rocedural error includes, among other things, selecting a sentence based on
clearly erroneous factsâ€).
Accordingly, Ulbricht’s life sentence should be vacated and he should be
remanded to a different judge for resentencing without the alleged overdose deaths
as a factor at sentencing.
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1. The Court Erred In Considering the Alleged
Overdose Deaths Based on An Entirely
Subjective, Undefined, and Unprecedented Standard
At sentencing, the Court determined there was sufficient factual basis to
consider as related conduct relevant to Ulbricht’s sentencing, six alleged overdose
deaths the government claimed resulted from drugs sold through Silk Road.
A1472. Ulbricht opposed consideration of those accusations, and submitted a
report by defense expert, Mark L. Taff, M.D., a Board-certified forensic
pathologist, that concluded the information was utterly insufficient to attribute any
of the deaths to drugs purchased from vendors on Silk Road. A904. The
government did not present any rebuttal to Dr. Taff’s report.
Prior to making its determination, the Court stated that “[a]ny factual
determinations would be based on the standards set forth in a vast number of cases
in the Second Circuit which indicate that such findings are made at sentencing
proceedings or in connection with sentencing proceedings by a preponderance of
the evidence.†A1457. The Court then concluded that “[t]he question as to
whether this information [the six alleged overdose deaths] is properly included in
the PSR is whether the Court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence that the
deaths, in some way, related to Silk Road. And they do.†A1472.
Yet, while “preponderance of the evidence†is the established standard of
proof for evaluating whether a disputed allegation should be included in the PSR.
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the legal standard employed by the Court here– “that the deaths, in some way,
related to Silk Roadâ€â€“ is not based on any established or cited precedent or
procedural rule. Nor was it defined, or connected to any objective yardstick, but
rather, was hopelessly vague.
As a result, the Court’s invented standard does not meet the standard of
procedural reasonableness, as it creates an entirely vague and subjective basis that
defies meaningful consistency or review.
2. The Court Improperly Relied on the Alleged
Overdose Deaths Purportedly Attributable to
the Silk Road Site Without Sufficient or Reliable Proof
Moreover, even assuming arguendo the validity of the standard employed by
the Court, the Court nonetheless abused its discretion and violated Ulbricht’s Fifth
Amendment right to Due Process at sentencing by relying on information
regarding the alleged overdose deaths that, according to Dr. Taff’s review of that
information, was neither reliable nor accurate.
a. The Relevant Case Law
It is well-settled that “because sentencing is a critical stage in a criminal
proceeding a convicted defendant standing before a sentencing judge still remains
wrapped in his right to procedural due process . . . and may question the procedure
leading to the imposition of his sentence. †United States v. Lee, 818 F.2d 1052,
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129
1055 (2d Cir. 1987), citing, Mempa v. Rhay, 389 U.S. 128 (1967); Gardner v.
Florida, 430 U.S. 349, 358 (1977) (plurality opinion).
This Court has held that “[a]lthough the sentencing court has discretion to
consider a wide range of information in arriving at an appropriate sentence, a
defendant may not be sentenced on the basis of materially-untrue statements, or on
misinformation or misreading of court records.†United States v. Prescott, 920 F.2d
139, 143 (2d Cir. 1990), citing Townsend v. Burke, 334 U.S. 736, 741 (1948);
United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443, 446 (1972)) (internal quotations and
citations omitted); see also United States v. Lee, 818 F.2d 1052, 1055 (2d Cir.
1987).
In order to ensure that a defendant’s right to due process at sentencing is
meaningful, “a sentencing court must assure itself that the information upon which
it relies when fixing sentence is reliable and accurate.†Prescott, 920 F.2d at 143,
citing, United States v. Pugliese, 805 F.2d 1117, 1124 (2d Cir. 1986); see also
United States v. Fatico, 458 F.Supp. 388, 397-398 (E.D.N.Y. 1978), aff’d in part
rev’d in part, 603 F.2d 1053 (2d Cir. 1979), citing, United States v. Malcolm, 432
F.2d 809, 816 (2d Cir. 1970). Accordingly, the government shoulders the burden
of demonstrating the reliability and accuracy of those facts alleged. United States v.
Fatico, 603 F.2d 1053, 1057 (2d Cir. 1979).
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b. The Court Improperly Relied on “Erroneous Factsâ€
In Considering the Alleged Overdose Deaths That
the Defense Expert Forensic Pathologist Concluded
Was Incomplete, Unreliable, and Inaccurate
At Ulbricht’s sentencing the Court abused its discretion when it relied on
information regarding the alleged overdose deaths that it knew, from Dr. Taff’s
Expert Report, was incomplete and unreliable.
Indeed, though the Court posited that the “question is whether there is a
connection between the purchase of the drugs on Silk Road and the death . . . and
whether the ingestion of those drugs may be reasonably associated with those
deaths†and that it “c[ould] make such findings by a preponderance of the evidence
and c[ould] make reasonable inferences,†the Court also admitted that Dr. Taff had
identified in his Final Report serious deficiencies in those allegations, and serious
impediments to relying on them. A1476; S437.
The Court acknowledged that for each of the six deaths Dr. Taff “finds in
each instance information is missing regarding at least one stage of the six-stage
process.†A1475. The Court also noted the unreliability of the alleged overdose
death evidence, referring to statements by Dr. Taff that “in some cases no autopsy
was performed and there was no cause of death that could be reliably be
determined[,]†that “without certain pieces of information [that were missing
from the evidence presented], it is impossible for a medical examiner to render
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certain types of opinions and . . . . that what are deemed overdoses may be death by
suicide or other causes.†A1476.
Likewise, the Court noted that based on the quality of the information
presented, Dr. Taff had“opine[d] that he is unable to render opinions to a
reasonable degree of medical certainty as to the cause, manner and time of death
with each of the decedents except for [one].†A1476.
Yet the Court summarily dismissed these deficiencies in the information as
beside the point, claiming that “Dr. Taff is asking a question which this Court does
not need answered,†despite receiving no contrary evidence or expert analysis from
any other source. A1476. In fact, Dr. Taff’s analysis establishes not only that
the information was unreliable, but also that the Court’s finding that the
information established a “connection between the purchase of the drugs on Silk
Road and the death[s]†and that “ingestion of those drugs may be reasonably
associated with those deaths[]†was materially inaccurate. A1476.
In his Final Report, Dr. Taff made clear the full range of problems with the
government’s information, stating not only that he was “unable to render opinions
to a reasonable degree of forensic medical certainty in 5 of 6 cases regarding cause,
manner and time of death as well as several other forensic issues typically
addressed by medical examiners investigating drug-related deaths†but also that his
inability to render such opinions was due to “a) paucity of information; b)
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confusing interpretations, selective/partial/incomplete diagnoses; c) omissions;
and d) inability to inspect original death investigation and autopsy reports and
primary autopsy evidence.†S445.
Indeed, even the one death on which Dr. Taff was able to provide an
opinion, he “disagreed with the official version of [the] cause of death†because
“[i]n [his] opinion, the . . . forensic team failed to factor in the presence of other
drugs and a pre-existing heart condition into . . . cause of death.†A445-46.
Further, Dr. Taff noted that the fact that the decedent’s “manner of death was
classified as an accident . . . indicates that local authorities had insufficient
evidence to criminally charge another person for contributing to or directly causing
[the] death.†Id., at A446.
Ultimately, “[u]nder the clearly erroneous standard of review . . . the
question for the reviewing court is . . . whether, on the entire record, it is left with
the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.â€
Sherwin-Williams Co. v. New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and
Retirement Fund, 969 F.Supp. 465, 472-473 (N.D. Oh. 1997), citing Zenith Radio
Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc., 395 U.S. 100 (1969).
Here, given that even the Court acknowledged the shortcomings of the
overdose death allegations, including that certain critical information was missing,
the Court clearly erred by nonetheless relying on the unreliable accusations.
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Accordingly, Ulbricht’s sentence should be vacated, and the matter remanded for
re-sentencing by a different judge untainted by the incurably prejudicial but
unsubstantiated and unreliable allegations upon which the Court relied.
B. The Life Sentence Was Substantively Unreasonable
In assessing the substantive reasonableness of a sentence, the Court looks
not only to whether “the trial court’s decision can[] be located within the range of
permissible decisions,†but also “may consider whether a factor relied on by a
sentencing court can bear the weight assigned to it . . . under the totality of
circumstances in the case.†United States v. Cavera, 550 F.3d 180, 189 - 191 (2d
Cir. 2008) (internal quotations omitted).
However, while significant deference is afforded the district court’s
reasoning and ultimate conclusion with respect to sentence, “several courts,
including [this one] have cautioned against converting review for substantive
reasonableness into a ‘rubber stamp.’†United States v. Rigas, 583 F.3d 108, 122
(2d Cir. 2009) (collecting cases); see also United States v. Rattoballi, 452 F.3d
127, 137 (2d Cir. 2006) (“[t]o the extent that the district court relied upon the
history and characteristics of the defendant . . . , on this record, those
considerations are neither sufficiently compelling nor present to the degree
necessary to support the sentence imposed . . . [and] unjustified reliance upon any
one factor is a symptom of an unreasonable sentenceâ€).
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In particular, “[t]he closer a sentence comes to the boundary of the
substantively reasonable, the more attentive will (and should) . . . procedural
scrutiny be.†United States v. Ingram, 721 F.3d 35, 45 (2d Cir. 2013) (Calabresi,
J ., concurring); see also United States v. Aldeen, 792 F.3d 247, 255-56 (2d Cir.
2015), as amended (J uly 22, 2015) (remanded “for a fuller record†because “even
if [the defendant’s] sentence does not shock the conscience, it at the very least stirs
the conscienceâ€), citing, United States v. Ahuja, 936 F.2d 85, 89 (2d Cir.1991)
(“in cases where . . . the sentence imposed by the district court strains the bounds
of reasonableness, remand for resentencing may well be warrantedâ€).
Falling squarely in the category of sentences that must be scrutinized
carefully, and which certainly stir, if not shock the conscience, is the life sentence
imposed here, if only because a life sentence is extremely rare in the federal
system. See e.g. Glenn R. Schmitt & Hyun J . Konfrst, Life Sentences in the
Federal System, United States Sentencing Commission (February 2015)
(presenting collected national statistics on life sentences imposed in 2013, and
noting as of J anuary 2015, only 2.5% of all sentenced federal offenders are serving
life sentences), available at
<http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/research-pr
ojects-and-surveys/miscellaneous/20150226_Life_Sentences.pdf>.
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Of all federal offenders sentenced in 2013, only 153 (about 0.19%) were
sentenced to life in prison, not including those who received such a lengthy
sentence as to be serving a “de facto†life sentence. See Life Sentences Report, at
1. Of this minuscule percentage of offenders, only 17 (about 0.02% of all
offenders) were subject to a Guidelines range in which life was not the minimum
sentence prescribed. See id., at 9. Specifically with respect to drug trafficking
cases, the number of offenders sentenced to life drops from 153 to only 64
defendants (about 0.08% of all federal offenders and less than 0.33% of all drug
trafficking defendants). See id., at 4.
Here, the life sentence was substantively unreasonable for several reasons.
The Court ignored the 99 letters on Ulbricht’s behalf that apprised the Court of the
positive contributions Ulbricht has made, and could make in the future if given a
reasonable sentence, ignored the expertise of the forensic pathologist, and ignored
the empirical and other academic and practical research presented in Ulbricht’s
sentencing submission, although some of that research was about Silk Road
specifically, and its harm reduction effects on the drug culture. A904-910,
916-18, 929, 946, 951; A1006. Yet the Court instead defaulted to the outdated
and now-failed narrative that more incarceration is the solution, which courts,
politicians, and policy-makers have affirmatively abandoned. A1029-36;
A1522-28. The Court relied on unsubstantiated, unquantifiable factors that
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necessarily created an unwarranted – and unfair and unreasonable – disparity on a
number of levels based on factors that render Ulbricht’s sentence unique in its
unreasonableness.
The Court’s consideration of the alleged overdose deaths was substantively
unreasonable as well as procedurally erroneous. In addition to ignoring the expert
forensic pathologist, the Court penalized Ulbricht in a manner that even those who
sell illegal drugs are not. The Court did not cite a single case – despite the
defense’s challenge to the government – in which even those who manage large
tangible drug organizations are sentenced based on overdose deaths that are not
part of the charges, much less any as tenuous and attenuated as those here.
Indeed, in United States v. Peter Nash, 13 Cr. 950 (TPG), the Honorable
Thomas P. Griesa sentenced the defendant, Peter Nash, a/k/a
Samesamebutdifferent, a forum moderator and one-time administrator on Silk
Road during a time when Silk Road experienced its highest volume of sales, to
“time served†– essentially a 14-month sentence. See J udgment, Docket#36,
United States v. Peter Nash, 13 Cr. 950 (TPG). See Government’s Sentencing
Submission, (“Nash Sentencing Memoâ€), Docket#35, United States v. Peter Nash,
13 Cr. 950 (TPG), at 4, 7-8.
Nash pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell drugs in an amount that made him
subject to a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence pursuant to 21 U.S.C.
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§841(b)(1)(A). See Nash Sentencing Memo, at 4. As a result, his base offense
level was 36, just like Ulbricht’s. See id., at 5. See also PSR, ¶94. Yet even with
multiple downward adjustments for his minor role and his safety valve proffer,
Nash’s adjusted Guidelines range was still 121-151 months. See Nash Sentencing
Memo, at 5.
The government did not seek any enhancement for Nash for the deaths cited
here, although Nash was involved with the site during a period in which five of the
six deaths occurred. See Nash Sentencing Memo, at 4 & n.1. In fact, Nash’s PSR
clearly noted the drug-related deaths, as the government, in its submission,
remarked that Nash involved himself with the Silk Road site with full knowledge
of its activities and “with predictably harmful (and in some cases deadly)
consequences, as the PSR makes clear.†Id., at 10.
24
Yet the Court summarily
dismissed that sentence – imposed by a jurist with among the longest current active
tenures.
24
Two vendors on Silk Road who were the actual sellers of heroin and other drugs –
one the leading seller on Silk Road and the other the largest cocaine seller on the site – have
been sentenced and were also spared any liability for overdose deaths. In fact, their sentences
were ten years and five years’ imprisonment. Although they cooperated with the government,
the disparity between their sentences and Ulbricht’s cannot be rationalized by that factor alone.
See J ames Cook, “The Biggest Drug Dealer on Silk Road Has Been Sentenced to 10 Years In
Prison,†Business Insider, May 29, 2015, available at
<http://www.businessinsider.com/silk-road-drug-dealer-supertrips-sentenced-to-10-years-in-pris
on-2015-5?r=UK&IR=T>; Patrick Howell O’Neill, “The Dark Net’s Cocaine King J ust Got 5
Years Behind Bars,†The Daily Dot, March 19, 2015, available at <http://bit.ly/1EyGMoN>
<http://www.dailydot.com/crime/steven-sadler-silk-road-five-years-prison/>.
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In addition to that dramatic disparity, Ulbricht did not sell drugs. Even
assuming his guilt (for purposes of sentencing) he created an internet platform that
enabled others to do so, and thus, the proper analogy would be to a landlord who
knowingly leases space and collects rent and utility payments from tenants whom
he knows sell drugs from the premises (and even whom he markets to). There is a
federal statute punishing that conduct – 21 U.S.C. §856, the “crack house†law –
and the maximum sentence is 20 years’ imprisonment.
The Court also created an overwhelming disparity by its reliance on “general
deterrence,†which it said “plays a particularly important role†in this case, in part
because the Court claimed it was unprecedented. A1532-33. Yet the Court
again, without any contrary authority, dismissed all of the literature and studies
presented to it on the subject – that general deterrence is illusory and should not be
a factor, much less used as a basis for a life sentence. A1533.
Moreover, even if general deterrence were a proper factor in this case, it did
not in any way justify a life sentence, but instead created a grotesque disparity.
The Court did not provide any standard, or formula, and did not provide any
gradation that would make a life sentence, as opposed to a term of years,
appropriate or reasonable.
For instance, at what point does additional imprisonment for purposes of
general deterrence lose its effectiveness, and become “greater than necessary�
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139
Why would a 20-year sentence not provide sufficient deterrence? The Court
failed to perform any of that analysis. See United States v. Kim, 896 F.2d 678,
685 (2d Cir. 1990).
Nor are the Court’s assumptions at sentencing about general deterrence
borne out by either reality or empirical research. The illusory nature of general
deterrence clearly holds true for internet drug sales, given that they skyrocketed
after Ulbricht’s arrest and even after his conviction. A1027-29. Again, even if
there were some deterrent effect, the Court failed to provide any basis for a life
sentence as necessary. Resort to general deterrence without any confining
principles – some standard, some comparative analysis – guarantees that it will
create disparity that is immeasurable and inequitable.
In this case, it was also unconscionable. The life sentence imposed on
30-year old Ross Ulbricht “shocks the conscience†– or at the very least “stirs it†–
and is therefore substantively unreasonable. Accordingly, Ulbricht should be
resentenced before a different judge to avoid the irremediable taint from the
improper factors the Court considered.
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Conclusion
Accordingly, for all the reasons set forth above, it is respectfully submitted
that Ulbricht’s conviction should be vacated, and/or evidence derived from invalid
warrants and pen trap orders should be suppressed, and/or Ulbricht should be
remanded for resentencing before a different judge.
Dated: 12 J anuary 2016
New York, New York
Respectfully submitted,
/S/ J oshua L. Dratel
J OSHUA L. DRATEL
J OSHUA L. DRATEL, P.C.
29 Broadway, Suite 1412
New York, New York 10006
(212) 732-0707
Attorneys for Defendant Ross Ulbricht
– Of Counsel –
J oshua L. Dratel
Lindsay A. Lewis
Whitney G. Schlimbach
J oshua J . Horowitz
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page157 of 170
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE WITH FRAP 32(a)
1. This brief complies with the type-volume limitation of Fed. R. App. P.
32(a)(7)(B) because this brief contains 30,182 words, excluding the parts of
the brief exempted by Fed. R. App. P. 32(a)(7)(B)(iii).
2. This brief complies with the typeface requirements of Fed. R. App. P.
32(a)(5) and the type style requirements of Fed. R. App. P. 32(a)(6) because
this brief has been prepared in a proportionally spaced typeface using
Microsoft Word in Times New Roman, 14 point font.
Respectfully submitted,
/S/ Joshua L. Dratel
JOSHUA L. DRATEL
JOSHUA L. DRATEL, P.C.
29 Broadway, Suite 1412
New York, New York 10006
(212) 732-0707
Attorneys for Defendant Ross Ulbricht
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page158 of 170
SPECIAL APPENDIX
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page159 of 170
Table of Contents
Page
Judgment of the United States District Court, Southern District
of New York, entered May 29, 2015, Appealed From .................. SPA1
Notice of Appeal, entered June 4, 2015 ............................................... SPA10
Case 15-1815, Document 30, 01/12/2016, 1682738, Page160 of 170
AO 245B
Case 1:14-cr-00068-KBF Document 269 Filed 06/01/15 Page 1 of 9
(Rev. 09111) .J udgment in aCriminal Case
Sheet I
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
Southern District of New York
v.
Ross William Ulbricht
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
Case Number: S1 14-cr-00068-KBF-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA J UDGMENT IN A CRIMINAL CASE
USMNumber: 18870-111
J oshua Dratel
Defendant's Attorney
THE DEFENDANT:
o pleaded guilty to count(s)
o pleaded nolo contendere to count(s)
which was accepted by the court.
i;(was found guilty on count(s) 2,4,5,6,7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
after a plea of not guilty.
The defendant is adjudicated guilty of these offenses:
Title & Section Nature of Offense Offense Ended
21:841A=CD.F
21 :848.F
18:1030A.F
AIDING AND ABETTING DISTRIBUTION OF DRUGS aVE 10/31/2013
CONTINUING CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE 10/31/2013
COMPUTER HACKING CONSPIRACY 10/31/2013
2
4
5
The defendant is sentenced as provided in pages 2 through
the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.
o The defendant has been found not guilty on count(s)
[i(Count(s) UNDERLYING 0 is
__ 9 of this judgment. The sentence is imposed pursuant to
~ are dismissed on the motion of the United States.
It is ordered that the defendant must notify the United States attorney for this district within 30 days of any change of name , residence,
or mail ing address until all fines, restitution, costs, and special assessments imposed by this judgment are fully paid. If ordered to pay restitution,
the defendant must notify the court and United States attorney of material changes in economic circumstances.
5/29/2015
Counts One (1) and Three (3) are vacated by
the Court.
Date of Imposition of J udgment
Signature of J udge
Katherine B. Forrest, USDJ
USDCSDNY
DOCUMENT
ELECTRONICALLY FILED
DOC #: UN 0 1 2015
DATE FILEd.
Name and Title of J udge
Date G.(( ( 5
11111 ----------
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AO 24513 (Rev. 09/11) J udgment in aCriminal Case
Sheet I A
DEFENDANT: Ross William Ulbricht
CASE NUMBER: S1 14-cr-00068-KBF-1
J udgment-Page _ _ of
ADDITIONAL COUNTS OF CONVICTION
Title & Section
18:1028A.F
18:1956-4999.F
Nature of Offense
FRAUD WITH IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS
MONEY LAUNDERING CONSPIRACY
Offense Ended
10/31/2013
10/31/2013
Count
6
7
1111 _
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AO 2458 (Rev. 09/11) J udgment in Criminal Case
Sheet 2 ~ Imprisonment
J udgment ~ Page 3 of 9
DEFENDANT: Ross William Ulbricht
CASE NUMBER: S1 14-cr-00068-KBF-1
IMPRISONMENT
The defendant is hereby committed to the custody of the United States Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a
total term of:
Counts Two (2) and Four (4): Life to run concurrently; Count (5): Five (5) Years to run concurrently; Count Six (6): Fifteen (15)
Years to run concurrently; Count Seven (7): Twenty (20) Years to run concurrently.
ilf The court makes the following recommendations to the Bureau of Prisons:
PLEASE SEE ADDITIONAL IMPRISONMENT TERMS PAGE FOR RECOMMENDATIONS.
o The defendant is remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal.
o The defendant shall surrender to the United States Marshal for this district:
o at o a.m. o p.m. on
o as notified by the United States Marshal.
o The defendant shall surrender for service of sentence at the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons:
o before 2 p.m. on
o as notified by the United States Marshal.
o as notified by the Probation or Pretrial Services Office.
RETURN
I have executed this judgment as follows:
Defendant delivered on to
a ___ ~ ~_~_ , with a certified copy of this judgment.
UNITED STATES MARSHAL
By
DEPUTY UNITED STATES MARSHAL
11 __
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AO 2458 (Rev. 09111) J udgment in a Criminal Case
Sheet 2A - Imprisonment
J udgment-Page
DEFENDANT: Ross William Ulbricht
CASE NUMBER: 81 14-cr-00068-KBF-1
ADDITIONAL IMPRISONMENT TERMS
It is respectfully recommended that the defendant be designated to FCI Petersburg I in Virginia in the event that the
Bureau of Prisons waive the public safety factor with regard to sentence length. However, if the Bureau of Prisons is not
inclined to waive the public safety factor, it is respectfully recommended that the defendant be designated to U8P Tuscon,
in Arizona, or, as a second choice, U8P Coleman II, in Florida.
111111111111111 _
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AO 245B (Rev. 09111) J udgment in aCriminal Case
Sheet 3 - Supervised Release
J udgment-Page of
DEFENDANT: Ross William Ulbricht
CASE NUMBER: S1 14-cr-00068-KBF-1
SUPERVISED RELEASE
Upon release from imprisonment, the defendant shall be on supervised release for a term of:
Life on Counts Two (2) and Four (4) to run concurrently; Three (3) Years on Counts Five (5), Six (6) and Seven (7) to run
concurrently.
The defendant must report to the probation office in the district to which the defendant is released within 72 hours of release from the
custody of the Bureau of Prisons.
The defendant shall not commit another federal, state or local crime.
The defendant shall not unlawfully possess a controlled substance. The defendant shall refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled
substance. The defendant shall submit to one drug test within 15 days of release from imprisonment ana at least two periodic drug tests
thereafter, as determined by the court.
The above drug testing condition is suspended, based on the court's determination that the defendant poses a low risk of
future substance abuse. (Check, if applicable.)
The defendant shall not possess a firearm, ammunition, destructive device, or any other dangerous weapon. (Check, if applicable.)
The defendant shall cooperate in the collection of ON A as directed by the probation officer. (Check, if applicable.)
o
The defendant shall comply with the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 U ,S.c. § 1690 I, et seq.)
as directed by the probation officer, the Bureau or Prisons, or any state sex offender registration agency in which he or she resides,
works, IS a student, or was convicted of a qualifying offense. (Check, if applicable.)
o The defendant shall participate in an approved program for domestic violence. (Check, if applicable.)
If this judgment imposes a fine or restitution, it is a condition of supervised release that the defendant pay in accordance with the
Schedu Ie of Payments sheet of th is judgment.
The defendant must comply with the standard conditions that have been adopted by this court as well as with any additional conditions
on the attached page.
STANDARD CONDITIONS OF SUPERVISION
I)
2)
3)
4)
5)
the defendant shall not leave the judicial district without the permission of the court or probation officer;
the defendant shall report to the probation officer in a manner and frequency directed by the court or probation officer;
the defendant shall answer truthfully all inquiries by the probation officer and follow the instructions of the probation officer;
the defendant shall support his or her dependents and meet other family responsibilities;
the defendant shall work regularly at a lawful occupation, unless excused by the probation officer for schooling, training, or other
acceptable reasons;
the defendant shall notify the probation officer at least ten days prior to any change in residence or employment;
the defendant shall refrain from excessive use of alcohol and shall not purchase, possess, use, distribute, or administer any
controlled substance or any paraphernalia related to any controlled substances, except as prescribed by a physician;
the defendant shall not frequent places where controlled substances are illegally sold, used, distributed, or administered;
the defendant shall not associate with any persons engaged in criminal activity and shall not associate with any person convicted of a
felony, unless granted permission to do so by the probation officer;
the defendant shall permit a probation officer to visit him or her at any time at home or elsewhere and shall permit confiscation of any
contraband observed in plain view of the probation officer;
the defendant shall notify the probation officer within seventy-two hours of being arrested or questioned by a law enforcement officer;
the defendant shall not enter into any agreement to act as an informer or a special agent of a law enforcement agency without the
permission of the court; and
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13) as directed by the probation officer, the defendant shall notify third parties of risks that may be occasioned by the defendant's criminal
record or ,Personal history or characteristics and shall permit the probation officer to make such notifications and to confirm the
defendant s compliance with such notification requirement.
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AO 245B (Rev. 09/11) J udgment in a Criminal Case
Sheet 3A - Supervised Release
J Udgment-Page of
DEFENDANT: Ross William Ulbricht
CASE NUMBER: S1 14-cr-00068-KBF-1
ADDITIONAL SUPERVISED RELEASE TERMS
The defendant shall submit his computer, person and place of residence to searched as deemed appropriate by the
Probation Department.
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Sheet 5 - Criminal Monetary Penalties
J udgment - Page of
DEFENDANT: Ross William Ulbricht
CASE NUMBER: S1 14-cr-00068-KBF-1
CRIMINAL MONETARY PENALTIES
The defendant must pay the total criminal monetary penalties under the schedule of payments on Sheet 6.
TOTALS
Assessment
$ 500.00
Restitution
$ $
o The determination of restitution is deferred until
after such determination.
. An Amended Judgment in a Criminal Case (AG 245C) will be entered
---
o The defendant must make restitution (including community restitution) to the following payees in the amount listed below.
lfthe defendant makes a partial payment, each payee shall receive an approximately proportioned J ?ayment, unless specified otherwise in
the priority order or percentage payment column below. However, pursuant to 18 U.s.C. § 36640), all nonfederal victims must be paid
before the United States is paid.
Name of Payee Total Loss* Restitution Ordered Priority or Percentage
TOTALS $
0.00
$
0.00
o Restitution amount ordered pursuant to plea agreement $
o The defendant must pay interest on restitution and a fine of more than $2,500, unless the restitution or fine is paid in full before the
fifteenth day after the date of the judgment, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3612(1). All of the payment options on Sheet 6 may be subject
to penalties for delinquency and default, pursuant to 18 U.S.c. § 3612(g).
o The court determined that the defendant does not have the ability to pay interest and it is ordered that:
o the interest requirement is waived for the 0 fine 0 restitution.
o the interest requirement for the 0 fine 0 restitution is modified as follows:
* Findings for the total amount oflosses are required under Chapters I09A, 110, II OA, and 113A of Title 18 for offenses committed on or after
September 13,1994, but before April 23, 1996.
~I ----------------------
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Sheet SA - Criminal Monetary Penalties
J udgment-Page 8 of 9 __
DEFENDANT: Ross William Ulbricht
CASE NUMBER: S1 14-cr-00068-KBF-1
ADDITIONAL TERMS FOR CRIMINAL MONETARY PENALTIES
Forfeiture in the amount of $183,961,921.00 is Ordered.
" --------------------
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Sheet 6 - Schedule of Payments
J udgment - Page
9 of 9
DEFENDANT: Ross William Ulbricht
CASE NUMBER: 81 14-cr-00068-KBF-1
SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS
Having assessed the defendant's ability to pay, payment of the total criminal monetary penalties is due as follows:
A Lump sum payment of $
500.00
due immediately, balance due
D
D
not later than , or
D E, or D F below; or in accordance D C, D D,
B D Payment to begin immediately (may be combined with DC, D D, or D F below); or
C D Payment in equal .. ~_ .. __ . (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly) installments of $ over a period of
__ . '_' __ (e.g .. months or years), to commence (e.g., 30 or 60 days) after the date of this judgment; or
D D Payment in equal . __ (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly) installments of $ over a period of
_________ (e.g.. months or years), to commence ~ (e.g., 30 or 60 days) after release from imprisonment to a
term of supervision; or
E D Payment during the term of supervised release will commence within (e.g., 30 or 60 days) after release from
imprisonment. The court will set the payment plan based on an assessment of the defendant's ability to pay at that time; or
F D Special instructions regarding the payment of criminal monetary penalties:
Unless the court has expressly ordered otherwise, ifthisjudgment imposes imprisonment, payment of criminal monetary penalties is due during
imprisonment. All cnminal monetary penalties, except those payments made through the Federal Bureau of Pnsons' Inmate Financial
Responsibility Program, are made to the clerk of the court.
The defendant shall receive credit for all payments previously made toward any criminal monetary penalties imposed.
D J oint and Several
Defendant and Co-Defendant Names and Case Numbers (including defendant number), Total Amount, J oint and Several Amount,
and corresponding payee, if appropriate.
o The defendant shall pay the cost of prosecution.
D The defendant shall pay the following court cost(s):
D The defendant shall forfeit the defendant's interest in the following property to the United States:
Payments shall be applied in the following order: (1) assessment, (2) restitution principal, (3) restitution interest, (4) fine principal,
(5) fine interest, (6) community restitution, (7) penalties, and (8) costs, including cost of prosecution and court costs.
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\
Filed 06/04/15 Page 1 of 1
r
~~c==sn==' N=Y======· =--11
DOCUMENT II
I ELECTRONiCALLY FILED I
i! g~iE#;1LED:cIUN (] ~'015!1
_S_o_u_th_e_r_n District of New_Y_o_r_k ' '-"_ ,>_ •. :::~-,-:) j
Case 1:14-cr-00068-KBF Document 274
Criminal Notice of Appeal - Form A
NOTICE OF APPEAL
United States District Court
Caption:
United States
v,
Ross William Ulbricht
Docket No.: 14 Cr. 68 (KBF)
Honorable Katherine B. Forrest
(District Court J udge)
Notice is hereby given that Ross William Ulbricht ___ appeals to the United States Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit from the judgment .f J . other l.f and Preliminary Order of Forfeiture/Money J udgment
entered in this action on J une 1, 2015
(date)
(specify)
This appeal concerns: Conviction only l__ Sentence only L_j Conviction & Sentence [.f Other L___
Defendant found guilty by plea I I triall.f I N/A I
Offense occurred after November 1, 1987? Yes I .f i No IN/A [
Date of sentence: _M_a_y_2_9_,_2_O_15 N/A L_j
Bail/J ail Disposition: Committed I .f Not committed I I N/A I
Appellant is represented by counsel? Yes .f I No I I If yes, provide the following information:
Defendant's Counsel:
Law Offices of J oshua L. Dratel, P.C.
Counsel's Address:
29 Broadway, Suite 1412
New York, New York 10006
Counsel's Phone:
(212)732-0707
Assistant U.S. Attorney:
Serrin Turner
AUSA's Address:
United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York
One Saint Andrews Plaza, New York, New York 10007
212-637-1946
AUSA's Phone:
L(/AZF---
Signature
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