4 ms·
> A U.S. Army soldier who pleaded guilty last week to leaking phone records for high-ranking U.S. government officials searched online for non-extradition count
by ghssds 2y ago
> A U.S. Army soldier who pleaded guilty last week to leaking phone records for high-ranking U.S. government officials searched online for non-extradition countries and for an answer to the question “can hacking be treason?” prosecutors in the case said Wednesday.
I searched for both those sentences in the past year at least once. I also made other sketchy searches on a weekly basis. Curiosity should not be considered evidence of a crime.
- superjan 2y agoI don’t expect him to get convicted for just the google searches. They possibly matter in this case because they direcly relate to his personal circumstances. In his legal proceedings, they are used as an argument to keep him in custody due to flight risk. I find that understandable.
- dkjaudyeqooe 2y agoIt's not, but other evidence of a crime together with suspiciously related searches might be considered evidence of a crime.
- refurb 2y agoIn the US judicial system, which is adversarial in nature, the job of the prosecutor is to put forth the strongest case which involves casting even minor details in the most evil, twisted light possible. Every single high profile case involves these sort of details including ones where the defendant is found innocent. All it takes is reading the takedown of a prosecutors case a few times to hear these “facts” with an highly skeptical ear.
- zmgsabst 2y agoEvidence can be circumstantial. Eg, searching “how to pick locks” when you’ve also robbed a house — even though people search that without committing crimes. That’s particularly true for evidence showing intent. The question for evidence is not “is this alone irrefutable proof of wrongdoing?” but “does this in an ensemble with other known facts raise the probability of guilty?”
- not_a_bot_4sho 2y agoIt's not. Not at all. As mentioned in the article, it's part of the reasons why prosecutors consider him to be a flight risk. He was searching for this, alongside figuring out what countries don't have extradition treaties and how to get to the Russian embassy.
- jjav 2y agoIt is difficult to reconcile anyone being charged for hacking, when Musk and his minions are bypassing every security control ever established on government systems without any repercussion.
- immibis 2y agoLuckily, the law feels no need to be consistent and therefore doesn't need to reconcile it.
- Ylpertnodi 2y agoDo you work for the US military in any way?
- kotaKat 2y agoThis is why I take time out of my busy week to make sure I Google and plan at least one crime a week, just to keep the government on its toes in whatever discovery they’ll be forced to do.
- wruza 2y agoYou must like these truthful conversations with truthful detectives where being truthful with you and as you is very important in the moment, cause all of that may be taken into account and it’s a last chance for being truthful.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- genewitch 2y agoThere is or there used to be a browser extension called Track Me Not that would run random internet searches based on trending topics on Google News or whatever. At one point I had thousands of searches a day on multiple networks on my "profile"