NY & NJ Criminal Defense Law Blog

While most people consider themselves unlikely to become the subject of a police investigation, there is one common situation in which ordinary citizens fall under police scrutiny: the traffic stop. Police officers are trained to search for evidence of illegal activity every time they pull over a driver, whatever the reason for the stop. While the consequences for speeding, failure to maintain lane, careless driving or Driving Under the Influence (DUI) can be bad enough – carrying the possibility of loss of driving privileges, assessment of motor vehicle points and higher insurance rates – things become far more serious if the police search for and find illegal drugs in a car.  Teenagers and young adults – who are presumed by police to be more likely to be in possession of illegal recreational drugs – are often the targets of such searches late at night, while driving to and from wherever it is that teenagers actually disappear to when they leave the house to “hang out with friends.”  

President Trump tweeted that Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and “fixer”, won’t flip on him. Putting aside for the moment why the President would say this if Cohen didn’t have incriminating evidence against him - because one could only “flip” on someone if they did - let’s examine why people charged with crimes cooperate with law enforcement.

In recent days we have witnessed the President and various pundits scream (or tweet) that the attorney-client privilege is dead or under serious attack. What they are referring to, of course, is the judicially authorized search of Michael Cohen’s home, office and hotel room by the FBI. Cohen is said to be one of the President’s long-time attorneys.

Federal and state prosecutors are increasingly aggressive in their investigation and prosecution of healthcare fraud. Given the vast amounts of government or private insurance monies that can be exploited, the penalties have increased for healthcare professionals and others who engage in fraudulent activities. Sentences of 10 years or more, in addition to forfeitures, restitution and fines in the millions of dollars, are becoming commonplace.

Michael Flynn's legal fees continue to grow with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and Flynn's guilty plea to "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI regarding conversations with Russia's ambassador.

In his coverage of the legal fees of Michael Flynn and Andrew McCabe for Fox News, Alex Pappas sought out Criminal Defense Attorney Robert Stahl for background on the costs of criminal defense cases. In his March 30, 2018 coverage comparing the legal costs and funding of Michael Flynn's legal expenses to that of Andrew McCabe, Mr. Pappas quotes Mr. Stahl:

“Most people have no idea how expensive top flight representation costs in white-collar cases,” Robert Stahl, a criminal defense attorney and a former assistant U.S. Attorney, told Fox News.

While most people would say that you should retain a criminal defense lawyer once you are charged with a state or federal crime, the answer is not that straightforward. In many instances, an individual or company will learn that there is an active, pending investigation into their activities. They might be contacted by law enforcement for an interview; they might be served with a grand jury subpoena for documents and/or testimony; they might learn that business associates and customers have been interviewed by law enforcement; they might receive a “target letter” from the U.S. Attorney’s Office; or they might be tipped off by their friendly banker that their financial records have been subpoenaed.

Eastern District federal prosecutors are aggressively pursuing corruption on Long Island, as evidenced in the Manganos-Venditto political corruption trial. The trial is anticipated to last two months at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Among the 100 potential witnesses, the government's lead witness is Harendra Singh.

In coverage on Gen. Michael Flynn options for withdrawing a guilty plea in the Robert Mueller investigation, Fox News reached out to Attorney Robert Stahl for insights on plea reversals. In Alex Pappas' Feb. 20, 2018 article, "Flynn urged by supporters to withdraw guilty plea as judge's actions raise eyebrows,", Robert Stahl was quoted as saying:

"Withdrawing a federal plea is extremely rare and very difficult."

"There are lots of factors that go into a decision to plead guilty … In Flynn's case, there are also the factors of other potential charges that were not pursued by the government in exchange for his plea entered."

I have written before about both the good advances in technology, and the negative consequences of some of those developments. Here are a few more methods high tech methods that law enforcement uses, and occasionally misuses, in its investigations.

Much has been written and tweeted about this past week concerning this topic. Politics aside for the moment, what does the government need to demonstrate to a court that a place should be searched, or a person’s phone calls should be intercepted?