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A good rainy Wednesday morning here in my Atlanta office for reviewing some of the discovery materials in yet another federal criminal case I am handling.  Plowing through these materials reminded me of several important lessons I have learned during the 40 years or so I have been representing folks accused of federal crimes here…

In my federal criminal defense practice here in Atlanta, I regularly file Pretrial Motions that challenge, in one way or another, the criminal indictment that alleges that my client did something illegal.  There are several such cases I am currently working on, and the process of thinking about, and then creating, challenges to the indictments…

As part of my work being a criminal defense lawyer in Atlanta and elsewhere, I recently gave a speech to some attorneys about civil asset forfeiture, which is the legal proceeding through which the police seize and then “forfeit” property.  The seizure is often part of or accompanies and is parallel to a criminal investigation.…

The morning Atlanta paper had a story about an investigation regarding alleged securities fraud in which a very good local attorney who I know was quoted.  That lawyer basically said that his client had not done anything wrong.  Good for him, sometimes an attorney needs to be proactive in defending his or her client, both…

I am handling a criminal appeal that arose out of a high-profile murder prosecution here in beautiful Atlanta, Georgia.  The case was brought to me long after the trial and “direct appeal”, at a point when the client was down to his last “post-conviction” effort, which in some jurisdictions is called a “habeas corpus petition.”…

Some good attorneys here in Atlanta recently won a federal criminal case, so being the nosy person that I am (and formerly their so-called “boss”) I had lunch with these very accomplished attorneys to find out how they happened to get the far too rare “two word verdict” (meaning “not guilty”).  I posted a few…

I posted recently on questions people should ask themselves and potential attorneys when anyone feels they need to hire a federal criminal defense lawyer.  The earlier post focused on questions dealing with the attorney’s qualifications, and whether he or she would be the right “fit” for the client and that case.  Today, we talk about…

I have tried around 100 federal criminal cases here in Atlanta over my 35 year career. A recent report from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (“NACDL”) demonstrates that trials in federal criminal cases are almost “extinct.”  The report shows that a mere 3% of Defendants take their cases to trial, mostly because of…

To those who may not often read these missives or do not know me, I am a criminal defense lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia who specializes in federal criminal defense and criminal appeals.  This is me:  Many people who do this kind of work find themselves representing clients who look at the criminal case differently than…

Swear to God, same thing happened to me!  Go to a party on a Saturday night, cops bust in,  homeowner claims to “know nothing”, everybody gets busted and goes down to the police station.  Officers make arrests for trespassing, since the homeowner dummies up.  That is basically the fact pattern from District of Columbia v. Westby,…