Lawyer Condemns Dark Web Threats Against Silk Road Trial Judge

On Friday, alleged Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbrichts defense attorney Joshua Dratel condemned threats against Judge Katherine Forrest that appeared on the Dark Web earlier this week. The threats came in response to two recent rulings dismissing motions by the defense to drop charges and suppress evidence in the Silk Road trial.

An editor on Hidden Wiki who goes by the name ServingJustice was the source of the threats, Arstechnica reported on Wednesday. ServingJustice allegedly posted: Katherine Bolan Forrest is the judge who is unfairly ruining Ross Ulbrichts life and chance for a fair trial, and then published what the anonymous editor claimed to be Forrests Social Security number, date of birth, and home address on the Dark Web.

On Friday, Ulbrichts defense responded to the threats. I would prefer not to have to dignify these threats with a comment, but obviously, and as strongly as possible, we condemn them, Dratel wrote in a statement. They do not in any way have anything to do with Ross Ulbricht or anyone associated with him, or reflect his views or those of anyone associated with him.

ServingJustice claimed the threats were motivated by two of Judge Forrests recent ruling in the case. In July, the court denied Ulbrichts first motion to drop charges. In that motion, the defense had posed two questions: Could Ulbricht be convicted of money laundering using Bitcoin, which the government does not consider currency? And could Ulbricht be charge with drug trafficking for simply running a website on which drug trafficking occurred?

The second motion was denied October 10, after a series of back-and-forth court filings between the defense and prosecution debating the legality of the seizure of the Silk Road and whether they had violated Ulbrichts Fourth Amendment rights. The ruling stated that even if the FBI had hacked the Silk Road servers in Iceland, Ulbrichts rights werent violated because he had not provided evidence that the Silk Road servers belonged to him. According to the ruling, Ulbricht failed to take the one step he needed to take to allow the Court to consider his substantive claims regarding the investigation: he has failed to submit anything establishing that he has a personal privacy interest in the Icelandic server or any of the other items imaged and/or searched and/or seized.

This line of reasoning placed Ulbricht in a difficult position—in order to have his Fourth Amendment rights considered, he would have to claim ownership of the Silk Road, which he has denied thus far in the case.

While Judge Forrests ruling provided an answer as to whether or not evidence would be suppressed (it wont), there are still many questions from the motion that have not been answered—namely, did the FBI hack the Silk Road servers? The prosecution says thats irrelevant to Ulbrichts Fourth Amendment rights, but the defense is still seeking answers.

And anyone hoping for answers at the trial itself will have to wait until next year as the trial was delayed until the beginning of January. The trial was delayed on October 15 after Dratel requested the extension, citing several different reasons. First, he was afraid that the trial would run into the Christmas holidays, affecting juror decisions. Additionally, he said that Ulbricht has not been able to access three important pieces from the discovery, hampering his ability to be prepared for trial. Finally, Dratel explained that he was drained after a heavy workload with three federal trials that lasted longer than expected.

Its now been over a year since Ulbricht was arrested in early October 2013 in a library in San Francisco soon after the feds seized the Silk Road servers in Iceland. The feds claimed that Ulbricht was the Dread Pirate Roberts responsible for running the Silk Road, and charged him with seven drug trafficking, money laundering, and ID theft charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Ulbricht will appear in court one more time this year for a final pretrial conference on Wednesday, December 17, 2014. The trial is scheduled to begin Monday, January 5, 2015.