Upset handcuffed man imprisoned for financial crime, punished for serious fraud

My Brother’s Keeper

My Brother’s Keeper

February 20, 2025

My Brother’s Keeper

By: Abbey Block

Am I my brother’s keeper? Or more specifically, can lawyers be sued for their clients’ bad behavior? A newly proposed bill out of Washington state says yes. The bill, HB 1891, provides the following legal framework, under which an attorney can be sued for injuries caused by his or her client who is released from detention pending trial: Any person injured by an individual who was previously arrested for a violent offense, and subsequently released from custody before trial for such offense as a result of the advocacy of their criminal defense counsel, has a cause of action against such criminal defense counsel if: (a) The individual caused  the injury after being released from custody; and (b) the criminal  defense…

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DOJ Memo Sneaks In Seismic Changes

January 31, 2025

DOJ Memo Sneaks In Seismic Changes

By: James Trusty

Amidst the tidal wave of Executive Orders, presidential appointments, and policy announcements, it is easy to treat last week’s Interim Policy Memo from the Acting Deputy Attorney General[1] as just another ripple of nominal change that occurs when democrats replace republicans or republicans replace democrats. And, indeed, although there are portions of it that reflect the recurring philosophical tug-of-war over the tough on crime approach…

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Virtual Reality Creating Jury Reality

January 7, 2025

Virtual Reality Creating Jury Reality

By: James Trusty

A Florida Judge may have unwittingly ushered in a new age of criminal justice, where slickly made virtual reality (“VR”) presentations turn judges and jurors into witnesses, and VR headsets provide subjective “testimony” in a powerful and difficult to challenge manner. Broward County Judge Andrew Siegel agreed to don a virtual reality headset in a preliminary proceeding[1] where the defendant was accused of aggravated assault….

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Judge Imposes Draconian Sentences in Medicare Fraud Scheme

October 7, 2011

Judge Imposes Draconian Sentences in Medicare Fraud Scheme

By: Ifrah Law

On Sept. 16, 2011, a federal judge in Miami sentenced Lawrence Duran to 50 years in prison, the longest sentence ever imposed in a Medicare fraud case, for his role in a massive fraud scheme that resulted in more than $205 million in losses. Duran was also ordered to pay $87 million in restitution. Duran was co-owner of American Therapeutic Corporation with Marianella Valera, his…

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Appeals Court Limits Scope of ‘Intended Loss’ in Sentencing Guidelines

September 27, 2011

Appeals Court Limits Scope of ‘Intended Loss’ in Sentencing Guidelines

By: Ifrah Law

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit recently considered what type of proof is required for a sentence enhancement based on “intended loss” under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The court held that a loss enhancement applies only to losses the defendant purposely sought to inflict, not losses the defendant merely knew would occur or possible losses the defendant may have contemplated. To most…

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No Attorney’s Fee Award for This Type of Prosecutorial Misconduct

September 22, 2011

No Attorney’s Fee Award for This Type of Prosecutorial Misconduct

By: Ifrah Law

The case of United States v. Shaygan recently made the news when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit overturned a district court’s award of $600,000 in attorney’s fees to a defendant who was the victim of prosecutorial misconduct. The misconduct was indeed egregious — including recording conversations between a lawyer and a defense investigator, violating discovery orders, and vexatiously filing a superseding…

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Prosecutors’ Misconduct Is More Than Just ‘Honest Mistakes’

September 8, 2011

Prosecutors’ Misconduct Is More Than Just ‘Honest Mistakes’

By: Ifrah Law

A federal judge in the District of Columbia recently ruled that the U.S. Department of Justice will be allowed to retry star pitcher Roger Clemens on perjury charges after a mistrial was declared earlier this summer when the prosecution made reference to inadmissible evidence in open court. The government claimed that its violation of court orders was done inadvertently and was not an instance of…

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Judge Delivers Rebuke to Prosecutors in Sentencing NSA Official

August 17, 2011

Judge Delivers Rebuke to Prosecutors in Sentencing NSA Official

By: Ifrah Law

The recent sentencing of a government intelligence official saw a dramatic and unusual rebuke of the U.S. Department of Justice by a federal judge. Four years after searching the home of National Security Agency official Thomas Drake, who was suspected of illegally leaking classified information to a reporter, and more than year after actually indicting him on 10 felony counts, the government dismissed those charges…

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Articles and Presentations by Our Firm Attorneys

My Brother’s Keeper

My Brother’s Keeper
By: Abbey Block

DOJ Memo Sneaks In Seismic Changes

DOJ Memo Sneaks In Seismic Changes
By: James Trusty

Virtual Reality Creating Jury Reality

Virtual Reality Creating Jury Reality
By: James Trusty

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