Detroit Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Federal Crimes and Their Impact

Federal crimes tend to carry stiff consequences that can affect the life of you and your family members for many years after the case is decided. The ability to defend your rights is central to safeguarding your future.

Fighting Federal Felony Charges

The felony charges can be fought by a federal criminal defense lawyer. This process happens within the federal court system, and this is a different system than the one happening at the state level. Our federal criminal defense law firm provides exceptional legal counsel to anyone charged with a felony crime in Detroit.

Obtaining Legal Counsel for Felony Charges

Obtaining legal counsel is the right of anyone charged with a felony offense. Under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, you have the right to a legal defense attorney; however, the process of selecting your attorney can affect the quality of your legal case.

Importance of Selecting the Right Defense Lawyer

Not every criminal defense lawyer is equally equipped to navigate the federal court system. In addition to the legal paperwork, there are a myriad of other procedural rules that govern discovery, investigations and presentation of legal evidence. The attorney must be well-versed in all of these protocols while establishing expertise in legal matter that affect your case.[1]

Hiring a Criminal Defense Attorney

The process of hiring a criminal defense attorney for your felony case is one of the most important actions you will take during the course of the proceedings. There might be a time limit on your case, but this doesn’t mean that you should rush to hire the first federal criminal defense attorney who responds to your inquiries.

Spend some time creating a comprehensive list of informed questions to ask your prospective legal representative. It’s important to ensure that you feel confident in their skills and experience. There are many areas of the law, and most lawyers tend to take cases that align with their expertise. Researching the attorney’s case history is a good method for uncovering this expertise; if this aligns with your case, the match is more likely to produce a favorable outcome in court.

Difference between Federal Courts and State Court Systems

The state court system is an institution of the state; cities established the local court system. This network of courts is considered to be the state court system. This is a completely different system from the federal court, which were established under Article III of the Constitution.[2] The right to counsel is also guaranteed, but finding a federal criminal defense lawyer with the skills and expertise necessary to successfully litigate your case can still be challenging.

The Role of Federal Prosecutors

The federal courts system employs a federal prosecutor to use significant resources in an attempt to get defendants to strike a plea bargain or get a guilty verdict from the federal judge. These federal prosecutors also tend to be highly competitive and ambitious by character. The best defense you have in this context is a defense attorney with a skill set that is capable of handling this situation. An aggressive federal criminal defense attorney can leverage your right to innocence until guilt is proven by increasing the burden of proof on the federal prosecutor.

Navigating the Federal Courts

The ability to file court paperwork correctly and within the relevant deadlines is a critical function of the federal criminal defense attorney. This important function should never be entrusted to a state lawyer who is unfamiliar with the procedural rules and federal court protocols. The legal process can be complicated and confusing at times.

The criminal defense attorney can help you to understand what’s happening in your case while enabling you to navigate the legal process. This is an important role because the federal court system relies on a filing and procedural process that is significantly different from the state courts. Mistakes when filing motions and petitions can result in delays or other penalties to the case.

Understanding Procedures and Rules of Federal Courts

Procedures and rules are an essential part of the federal court system, and the capacity of your federal criminal defense attorney to successfully navigate this system is central to the success of your case.[3] For example, the rules of admitting evidence can determine whether or not an important fact or document can be presented to the court in your case.

If the evidence is excluded because these rules weren’t followed, the federal judge will never see the evidence that could have reversed the outcome. This is a major obstacle for defendants who hire an inexperienced federal criminal defense lawyer, and it can have grave consequences. Make sure that your federal criminal defense attorney has the knowledge of the federal procedural rules to manage your case properly.

Characteristics of a Good Defense Strategy

There are other characteristics and skills that play a major role in the development of any good legal defense strategy:

Articulation

The federal criminal defense attorney is responsible for communicating critical information about your case in a way that you can understand. This skill can make a difference when there is technical or legal jargon involved in the case.

Previous Case Experience

The similarity of previous cases can give you a sense of how your case will be handled. It’s always a good idea to interview your prospective defense attorney prior to the case. Find out any details about how the defense strategy worked in the past, so you can be prepared for the federal court hearings.

Improvisation

Deep knowledge of the legal system should be tempered with an ability to think on the go. As the case develops, sudden changes might be necessary in order to mount an effective response to something that the federal prosecutor is initiating.

Detroit Federal Defense Lawyer

Federal cases can be complex, and it’s normal to feel overwhelmed or confused by this situation. Your legal representative can help you to navigate the legal system while maintaining your composure. There are more cases heard at the state level, so you need to be aware that a federal prosecutor has significantly more time to develop a convincing argument against you.

All of your attention should be focused on finding ways to assist your federal criminal defense attorney in establishing the reasonable doubt needed to have the case dismissed, charges reduced or penalties minimized. The rules and procedures play a critical role, so make sure your federal criminal defense lawyer is well-versed in these various rules.[4]

Citations:

[1] https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-6/
[2] https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-3/
[3] https://www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/current-rules-practice-procedure
[4] https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/rule_16

If you have been charged with a federal crime in Detroit, there is no time to spare. The quicker that you obtain an experienced defense attorney, the better. It becomes harder and harder to dismiss cases as time ticks on. Evidence can spoil. Witnesses can become unavailable. And phases of the pre-trial proceedings can pass by without proper legal work done. The federal courts are not very forgiving and have limited appellate opportunities.

How is a Federal Case Defended?

At our Detroit law firm, we pride ourselves in being thorough and engineering the highest quality of defense work available. Our decades of experience helps us to know what works and what is a waste of time. We will find the strongest defense strategy possible and pursue it vigorously on your behalf. Whether this requires us to hire the leading forensic experts or private investigators, we make sure that no stone is left unturned. And because we have developed a working foundation, you are getting more value for your money. We have already overcome the learning curve and don’t fritter away your money on endless research and figuring out the basics.

Cases that we handle:

• Computer crimes
• Bank fraud
• White-collar crimes
• Tax evasion
• Money laundering
• Drug trafficking
• Human trafficking
• Public official corruption
• Safe Neighborhood Act violations
• Illegal arms dealing
• RICO cases
• Rape
• Murder
• And many more …

The first opportunity that we have to assist you is when police want to interrogate you. Federal agents can ask you questions informally without reading you your rights if they don’t arrest you. They can secretly record these conversations and may choose to pursue this method if they are sketchy about probable cause.

If you are formally arrested, they must read you the Miranda rights warning regarding your right to remain silent. In almost every case, it is best to remain silent. However, if you don’t have an attorney present to defend you, they may try to use coercive methods to manipulate you into talking. They can use incentives like guaranteed lower sentence for your cooperation, the ability to leave if you cooperate, and other tricks that wear you down.

It is a fine line of when a confession or statement becomes involuntary. The danger in speaking with police, even if you are completely innocent, is that they will twist your words around and may try to submit hearsay statements regarding what you told them at trial. In some cases, clients may have some associations with criminal activity or inadvertently were involved without intent but can be easily convicted if the officials twist and manipulate the evidence enough.

You will be able to bail out within 72 hours of your arrest in most cases. Unless there is a murder charge or serious risk of flight, bail should be granted in nearly every case. Bailing out will give you an opportunity to organize your affairs and to assist in compiling any useful evidence in your favor. We can help lower the bail amount to get you out fast.

If you don’t have an attorney already, you will need one for the next hearing. Within 10 days of your arrest, the prosecutor will be required to demonstrate probable cause. Probable cause exists when the affidavit of the arresting officer establishes that there is a reasonable certainty that you committed the offense.

A skilled defense attorney can deflate any presumptions and persuade the court to dismiss weak cases at this point. A weak case is one where an element is speculative, and there is no firm manner of proving it at trial possible. If the chief witness says that you may have been the getaway driver of a bank robbery but she did not see your face. This, without more, is not probable cause.

The next phase involves discovery requests and other pre-trial motions to suppress evidence or have the case thrown out for constitutional violations. We can work hard to preserve your claims for appeal and to ensure fair proceedings. Finally, you will be faced with the option of a trial or plea bargain.

In 97 percent of federal cases, the defendants plead guilty in exchange for leniency. The determining factor of the plea bargain is how strong the defense may be if the case goes to trial. Ultimately, you will be sentenced according to mandatory minimums or whatever is agreed upon in the plea bargain. Let our law firm help you obtain the best results in any situation by building a strong and thorough defense.