Transcription
Federal criminal defense cases and state cases are very different. The first reason is, the laws are different. State laws are different from federal laws. Just because a person might know about what the drug laws are in the state of New York, doesn’t mean that person knows what federal drug laws are. Second, often times federal consequences are much more severe, and usually they are. Because of that, the stakes are higher. As a practical matter also federal cases tend to go on longer than state case, and there tends to be a lot more legal argumentation in federal cases.
It’s very important to understand the investigative process in the federal system. Law enforcement agencies work differently. The New York Police Department works differently than the FBI. A New York city detective works differently than a DEA agent. Until a person has had experience dealing with the FBI or dealing with the DEA, the person is not going to understand the investigative process by the government well. When a person understands the investigative process at the federal level, it means that the person can understand more readily and be able to exploit any weaknesses or problems within the investigation, both procedural and substantively. It can make the difference between a lengthy prison sentence, and whether or not a client is cooperating, or might not even be charged at all.
When a person is considering hiring a federal defense lawyer, it’s very important that the lawyer not be learning federal criminal defense law on the fly. The person’s life is at stake. The punishments are higher. A person really needs to find someone who will, yes absolutely put in the hard work, roll up his sleeves and do the job, but also know what job he’s doing. Know what kind of work specifically goes into it. That’s what I bring to the table when someone hires me their federal criminal case.
