US v Valle, the “cannibal cop” case

U.S. v. Gilberto Valle, the "cannibal cop" case

By John Bandler

This page has resources relating to this case, which I discuss in several places in my book on Cyberlaw.

Looking to navigate to another place?

• Cyberlaw Book Resources (main resources page)
• Cyberlaw main book page
  • Cyberlaw Book Resources: Chapter 20
  • Cyberlaw Book Resources: Chapter 36
• Udemy course on cyberlaw

U.S. v. Gilberto Valle

My book discusses this case in several places including chapter 20 (substantive cybercrime law) and chapter 36 (speech, thought, and expression online).

This page is a way to make certain things easily available for learners: court documents, additional materials, and to frame the issues.

Here are the main questions this case raises:

• Where is the line in criminal law between freedom of thought and expression and fantasy (including fantasizing about rape, torture, and murder) and a conspiracy to commit rape, torture, and murder? (See Chapters 10, 20, 36).
• What do we want for society and in our online spaces (even if conduct does not violate a criminal law) (See Chapter 36)
• With the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), is it a violation of the CFAA (and thus a crime) when an authorized user of a computer system uses the system for unauthorized purposes?  (See Chapter 20)

Court documents (more coming someday):

• Indictment, U.S. v. Gilberto Valle, https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nys/pressreleases/March13/ValleVerdictPR/Valle,%20Gilberto%20Indictment.pdf
• United States v. Valle, 301 F.R.D. (SDNY, 2014) (trial court decision, after trial, entering a judgment of acquittal -- dismissing the count -- for the conspiracy to commit kidnapping count)
• United States v. Valle, 807 F. 3d 508 (2nd Cir. 2015), (appellate decision affirming the judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy to kidnap count, and dismissing the CFAA count as well) https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-2nd-circuit/1719750.html, https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11783993212131547013
• US v. Valle, 467 F.Supp.3d 194 (SDNY, Jun 18, 2020), (denial of defendant's motion for a certificate of innocence), https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8773055006259424461 

Other materials

• Ex-Officer’s Conviction in Cannibal Case Shouldn’t Be Reinstated, Appeals Court Rules, NY Times (Dec 4, 2015) https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/nyregion/appeals-court-gilberto-valle-cannibal-case.html

Discussion of this case requires knowledge from these chapters

• Chapter 10, The First Amendment (foundation for laws on speech)
• Chapter 20, Substantive Cybercrime Laws (speech that could be criminally prosecuted, the CFAA)
• Chapter 36, Speech, thought, and expression online.

Cyberlaw book links and information

• The book: Cyberlaw: Law for Digital Spaces and Information Systems, by John Bandler
• Cyberlaw Book Resources (main resources page)
• Cyberlaw book FAQ
• Cyberlaw main book page
• Amazon - John's Author page
• Udemy online course on cyberlaw (other online courses too)
• Services
  • Cybersecurity Services

This page is hosted at https://johnbandler.com/us-v-valle-cannibal-cop-case, copyright John Bandler, all rights reserved.