Day 41 - 8/2/21 - Mon.

This image shows my zero restitution judgment, and it raises a critical question from Day 41: How did the government justify criminal copyright charges when they couldn't prove any actual loss?

Journal Entry:

“Was up at 4 AM, or a little after; couldn’t get back to sleep. Made my LHR drink, chilled till breakfast.

BREAKFAST: Cereal, ate half. Coffee cake, ate a couple of corners, saved apple. (I’m thinking of skipping future breakfasts or just try to eat even less but snag the fruit, like three dry spoonfuls of cereal, one bite of whatever cake) —Willpower!

I am also re-thinking the Wellbutrin, wish they would switch the dose to AM. Oh, well, I used to drink Mountain Dew at night and during the overnight, and I slept better then, if I remember correctly. Sent Mom/T. email, responded to Mom’s and asked T. to help me get a couple of email addresses, especially L. Lessig. If I can’t get him to accept my email, maybe I’ll draft one and have T. send it. I wish I would have known how hard it was going to be to fight my case from inside. Steve won’t even respond to my email. It’s like prison is planned that way. Going to work on Walking Distance, D/OJ and read DK’s Frankenstein. Beautiful day. I’m shooting for a mile today, in pieces maybe. Get back to my SHU workout also.

LEGAL IDEA: New possible appeal points: Copyright Abuse as an Affirmative Defense? I haven’t found a criminal case that has used it, but since civil/criminal is the same in copyright law, why not try at some point in the appeal process? The copyright abuse defense was not available to me during the 2019 trial due to the following reasons:

1. The restitution (or damages) for the copyright charges was zero, not the $732,000 in damages alleged by the government.

2. The five alleged ‘victims’ in the copyright charges were ‘expert witnesses’ who represented the companies that may or may not own the copyrights, but they were portrayed by the Government as victims for the Jury. Not one of them said during testimony that the companies or owners suffered any losses due to Mr. Gordon’s actions. Nor were any of them called for the sentencing.

3. The copyright law was abused by the Government due to it being a prosecution based on pretext. Not any real violation of the law or any criminal complaint.

4. If there was no copyright infringement, the superseding indictment would have been nullified because the indictment reads ‘unlawfully’ made copies. No copyright infringement would mean they were ‘lawfully’ made copies.

Also: Implied License. Even though I mentioned it in my testimony as a defense, the Judge did not include it in the Jury Instructions. That is Steve’s fault, so it will be ineffective counsel. But a win is a win.

LUNCH: Pizza, cheese with some onions in the sauce. Hmph. I still ate it. Salad.

Went outside after lunch, read Frankenstein, hung out. It’s R.Y.’s next to last day. Lucky bastard. Of course, I don’t know how long he’s been here. Still glad he’s getting to f*ck out of this place and is free, no matter how long he’s been here. Skipped supper, looked gross. Still shooting for the mile walk around 6 PM. (later: Did two laps, too hot, leg not good).”

Notes for Day 41 (Four Years Later)

This otherwise standard day was important because it was when I started to dive into my legal case. My direct appeal was still pending, but my long-time Attorney was already causing me some grief. And this was the first time I realized something was not quite right with his representation.

There were many things about my case and Mr. Steve Smith’s representation of me that didn’t make a lot of sense. Back then, it was kind of like finding a box of puzzle pieces and trying to put all the pieces together. But none of them fit, not even the size or color. Only now, ten years after the case started, have I put together some of the pieces, found new boxes, and put them together. And guess what? The picture that is coming together is shocking, disturbing, and actually quite motivating me to reveal this picture to anyone else who wants to see it. I had planned on talking about the actual legal parts of this in detail here, but I’ve decided, as I am still finding pieces, that is all I am going to say about that.

More to come…