Category Archives/Archivos de la categoría: Articles

New York Times, March 21, 2012 Criminal defendants have a constitutional right to effective lawyers during plea negotiations the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday. The cases decided Wednesday answered the question: What is to be done in cases in which … Continue reading →

This is a portion of a letter I sent to an attorney in Colombia and Mexico that may be of interest to those of you unfamiliar with the federal criminal process. My explanation of the process begins after the defendant’s … Continue reading →

Once there was a fellow who was arrested for three kilos of cocaine in his house in the 70’s when the “tough on crime” drug laws were in vogue. Every politician wanted to be tougher than the next. Now, this … Continue reading →

A reader complained of his extradition saying he should not have been extradited and wanted to bring that up to the Federal hearing his case. Waste of time. The United States doesn’t care how it gets you. The U.S. government … Continue reading →

A reader complained of an illegal search in his home country of Colombia.  He wants to know what he can do about it in the United States. Nothing. If you are not a U.S. citizen and you suffer an illegal … Continue reading →

I get a lot of complaints about this: out of State lawyers not visiting their clients. My response: It is your own fault. If I had a case in Bogota, I would not get a lawyer from Cali or vice versa. … Continue reading →

Dimitrios Skaftouros (“Skaftouros”) was wanted in Greece on murder charges. A Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York certified him as extraditable, but the decision was overturned by a District Court judge … Continue reading →

The guidelines are a sentencing scheme by which levels are accorded to different factors such as the nature of the crime, the amount of drugs or money involved in the crime, the role played by the defendant in the crime, … Continue reading →

Taking a case to trial after the client has “proffered” (spoken to the prosecutor) is difficult. Most proffer agreements have a clause permitting the government to introduce the defendant’s proffer statements to rebut evidence offered or elicited, or factual assertions … Continue reading →

In United States v. Rodriguez, No. 10-2724-cr (2d Cir. August 25, 2011), a defendant, while detained at the MDC in New York, called his sister and asked her to tell their brother to contact defendant’s attorney so that they could … Continue reading →

United States v. Archer, No. 10-4684-cr (2d Cir. September 20, 2011), a case involving fraud by an attorney, brought up a particularly interesting discussion of the procedures for sentencing issues upon returning a case to the trial court for reconsideration … Continue reading →

In United States v. Leslie,  (2d Cir.October 3, 2011) the court rejected the argument that a defendant’s incarceration stannding alone, should be treated as a withdrawal from the conspiracy for sentencing purposes. Defendant was serving a bank fraud sentence in 2005, but … Continue reading →

The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few is a book written by James Surowiecki about group thinking that, he argues, makes for better decision-making than decisions made by any single member. The example he uses … Continue reading →

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the recent case of United States vs. Al Kassar set forth legal rules that extradited defendants and their lawyers should find useful. The defendants in that case argued that U.S. courts … Continue reading →

Taken from an article in the New York Times, November 5, 2011 written by Sarah Shourd, a writer who was imprisoned in Iran, entitled “Torture by Solitude.” “After two months with next to no human contact, my mind began to … Continue reading →

After an extradited defendant arrives in the USA, how much time can pass before the court decides his case? It could be months or even years, depending on what the defendant wants to do. If he wants to cooperate with … Continue reading →

The best lawyer in the criminal process is not necessarily the one who always wins because that is impossible. The best lawyer is the one who lets the prosecutor know that even though the prosecutor could win, it will take … Continue reading →

The judge tells a jury how to decide a case, and the jury obeys. That is why it is wrong to suggest that because someone is a Colombian and the case involves drugs, the Colombian is going to be convicted. … Continue reading →

Whenever possible, it is a good idea to order sentencing minutes of co-defendants. Not only will you know what your judge thinks of the crime, but you might get an idea of what he thinks of sentencing in general. I … Continue reading →

The case is intriguing. Motion papers allege that the DEA struck a deal with members of a Mexican cartel to allow it to ply their trade so long as they provided information to the DEA about other cartels. The idea … Continue reading →