Atlanta Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

The right to have a lawyer defend a person against federal criminal charges was affirmed yesterday in a major ruling issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The case, United States v. Stein, affirmed a decision by a District Judge who dismissed all charges because the prosecutors violated the Sixth…

The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently issued a very lengthy opinion that covers a variety of sentencing issues we see quite often in federal white collar cases. Although this case came out of the appellate court that covers Denver, we see similar issues in cases here in Atlanta, the rest…

A recent story in USA Today explains a recent trend for people convicted in a federal criminal case. More and more federal prisons are implementing an email system to allow prisoners to use this method for communicating with friends, family, and even their attorneys. On the surface, one might wonder if emails could be abused…

The Court of Appeals in New York recently reversed securities fraud convictions in a federal criminal case. This case, which said that the defendants simply did not commit a crime, reminds me of how important it is for lawyers to keep fighting, even after a jury says the client is guilty. The case in New…

Many people, lawyers included, are surprised when I tell them there is no such thing as a “first offender” in federal court. Many years ago, there were “Youthful Offender” statutes in federal court, but in our efforts to “shock and awe” crime, we completely eliminated all vestiges of the idea that young people or first…

Federal prosecutors are more and more fond of trying to seize assets from people who are prosecuted for federal crimes. We see this quite a bit in money laundering and white collar crime cases. However, a recent federal case that started in South Florida shows that the details are always important, and a good lawyer…

We are defending a client here in Atlanta against federal money laundering charges. The indictment seems to be confusing and unclear, so we filed several motions asking that the prosecutors explain more about what our client supposedly did wrong. Recently, a federal judge here in Atlanta granted our request. The judge entered an Order directing…

Federal agents who work for the FBI, DEA, ATF and the like can sometimes be very crafty in trying to get a suspect to make a statement that later will be used in court. There is an old saying in my business that it’s mighty hard to catch a fish that won’t open its mouth.…

An article in yesterday’s New York Times examines federal drug sentences as part of the overall picture which shows that the U.S. leads the world in the number of people incarcerated, as well as in the length of those sentences. Part of the article looks at statistics showing how federal criminal sentences have exploded in…

A federal conviction in a white collar fraud prosecution out of Alabama was recently reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. This case could be a very important decision for many people who have faced federal fraud charges. The decision in United States v. Svete might even impact some cases…