Why are you doing this? This is such an odd hill for you to die on, but it appears that's what you want.
1. It was not my characterization of the excluded evidence -- it was the Second Circuit's. I've added basically zero gloss here. I'm just quoting verbatim from the opinion. I expressed no opinion as to whether he would have been convicted; I merely cited the district and appeals courts contentions.
2. I'm sorry that you "have a problem" with the use of preponderance evidence in sentencing but it's common. It's so common and unobjectionable that Ulbrecht didn't even seriously challenge it. Sentencing factors have never been required to be beyond a reasonable doubt. In fact, until 2000, judges could rely on facts not found by the jury to justify a sentencing enhancement that would yield a sentence greater than the statutory maximum.
Anyway, there's this, from Second Circuit:
The drug offenses alone—ignoring all other illicit materials sold on the site —yielded a calculated offense level of 50. Of that calculation, only two levels are attributable to Ulbricht's “credible threats of directed violence” associated with the murders for hire. PSR ¶ 94. Thus, even without considering that enhancement, the drug convictions yielded an offense level of 48, which is higher than the maximum offense level recognized by the Guidelines, for which a sentence of life imprisonment is recommended even for someone who, like Ulbricht, has no prior criminal convictions.
3. You keep using this phrase "uninformed arrogance." Why? It's clear from this discussion that you are patently uninformed, because you couldn't even bother to read the opinions in the case. You watched a documentary instead, lol. Those documentaries are always flattering toward the subject because that's the condition for them getting made. If you didn't know that, you should have. In any event, now you do.
4. You have no substantive response to bullying, I see. Every bully in the world blames the victim -- just as you did (in a completely non-specific way). Your behavior here is like a domestic or child abuser. I have no idea if you've done those things, but a person who has done those things would post just like you. You think about it. When you're bullying people and then blaming them for it, you have badly lost your way. You've basically become MAGA muck. Congrats!
