If that's the case, how can Dratel think that can possibly work?
What exactly is Ross' official defense right now? "Not guilty, only started SR, sold it later, but I hadn't been running it despite being caught logged on?"
If that's the case, how can Dratel think that can possibly work?
[9 Points] avianp:
[3 Points] AgoraMarket:
Even if Ross literally did give up control of Silk Road at some point, only to be lured back later -- and all evidence suggests the contrary -- it's not like that's going to get him acquitted. He'd still be part of the overall conspiracy.
The defense lawyer really has very little to work with, Ross screwed up big-time on multiple fronts: the archived Silk Road chats, the storing of keys/passwords in plain text, using his computer in public, and of course the daily journal (beyond dumb).
Dratel knows Ross isn't going to be acquitted on all charges; at this point, he's just trying to get his client a sentence of something less than "life in prison".
[3 Points] not_theymos:
He's very limited in what he can do because of the judge. Basically his strategy seems to be making the witnesses and evidence seem less credible.
It's interesting because some of it is clearly non-sense, like he asks about how having bit torrent running could have allowed other people to connect to ross's laptop and download (or upload) files. The way he presents it and the way the witness responds to some of his questions would be very confusing to the average juror, but if you know anything about bit torrent and computer security you know that's not really how it works.
He also talked to another witness about how the data they examined was a "copy of a copy" and not the original from ross's laptop. Again if you know how these things work you know that it really doesn't matter if its a copy.
They have MD5sums to prove the data is the same on the copies so Dratel makes an arguement about how md5sums can be duplicated on modified files to match the unmodified ones (sort of true, but not in a practical sense) and that SHA is more reliable so they should have used SHA. It's basically all just to make the jury have reasonable doubts as to ross's guilt. Its not likely to work, but he's doing the best job he can given the situation.
[3 Points] iLoveDNM:
Unlike the prosecution who must prove beyond a doubt that a specific action was committed by the accused, while the defense has the much lower bar of creating merely reasonable doubt. Dratel does not have to prove anything, the defense does not actually have to propose an alternative scenario (though he is doing this) but just poke enough holes in the prosecution's story to create just a shadow of doubt in the minds of a single juror.
Unfortunately reality does not work this way; plenty of people are convicted simply because the jury just wanted to get their jury duty over with and the (black) defendant sounded guilty in the first 30 minutes of testimony before eyes just glazed over. Ross' trial in particular, so far at least half of the words the jury has had to sit through have been arguments over technicalities of the law, not the actual substance of the trial.
[3 Points] Diactylmorphinefiend:
It seems like he is falling on his sword so that other dark net market operators can learn from his mistakes
[3 Points] tvgn9545:
jury nullification is his only chance
[1 Points] swimmer4200:
It seems like they havent gotten over the denial stage of grief. It seems like the defense lawyer wasnt even aware of the diary of immense stupidity when he formulated his defense strategy.
[1 Points] don_crackavelli:
There is too much evidence for him to get acquitted let alone a lower sentence. Ross dug his own grave when he made his journal and kept his data on his computer unencrypted. He is done for unless Dratel can work some black magic or something.
Dratel is arguing that ross gave up the site shortly after being created. He is also arguing that he was lured back just before the bust to take the fall while the real operators who also commissioned the murder go free.