Federal Investigations and Why You Need a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney

Have you found yourself caught in the middle of a federal investigation? If you have, it is crucial to understand just how serious this situation can be. Even if you believe you are innocent, you still need to take measures to protect yourself. Federal agencies, from antitrust violations to healthcare fraud, are bringing in innocent organizations and individuals for grand jury criminal investigations across various areas nationwide.

Being investigated by federal agents can have detrimental effects on your life, even if you are not prosecuted. That is why hiring the appropriate defense should be your top priority. It is not uncommon for people to be charged with a federal crime without realizing they have committed one. That’s where an experienced federal criminal defense attorney, such as Attorney Todd Spodek of Spodek Law Group, comes in. They can help to minimize the chances of a life-changing federal indictment.

Why You Need to Hire a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney

As soon as a federal investigation involves you, your livelihood and freedom are at stake. The investigators are already set on your guilt, by the time you learn of the case. When contacted by the investigative team, they are only seeking to obtain your information and incriminating statements before you hire an attorney. Therefore, hiring a criminal defense attorney, such as Attorney Todd Spodek, is necessary to protect yourself in numerous ways.

Benefits of Hiring a Criminal Defense Attorney

Hiring a federal criminal defense attorney can help you in several ways:

Avoiding any unnecessary disclosures: The investigators are trying to obtain statements from you to work towards a conviction against you. They are not interested in hearing your side of the story. A lawyer from Spodek Law Group will give you guidance on what you are legally required to say, especially when you have not yet developed your own strategy in response to the federal inquiry.

Avoiding criminal charges: Do not try to prove your innocence when federal agents show up at your door. They are not there to help you and have already formed an opinion about your guilt. Save all you have to say for when you hire a federal criminal defense attorney. They will develop a strategy for presenting your side of the story to the federal prosecutor.

Developing a solid defense strategy: By the time you find out that you are being investigated by a grand jury, the government already has a substantial amount of evidence against you. Hiring an experienced federal criminal defense attorney, such as Attorney Todd Spodek, as soon as possible can help you to start building your defense, negotiating with the prosecution, and gathering the evidence necessary to prove your innocence.

Mitigating criminal penalties: If you are unable to avoid getting charged with a criminal offense, your lawyer will be crucial in mitigating the penalties brought against you. The punishment for many federal offenses is often severe, including fines, mandatory forfeiture of assets, long-term prison time, and more. Attorney Todd Spodek, from Spodek Law Group, will work tirelessly to reduce these penalties and protect your rights.

Tucson Federal Appeals Lawyers

Appealing a Federal Court Sentence: Federal Criminal Appeals

The trial and conviction for a federal crime have just concluded, and you are waiting for sentencing. This is an excellent time to start contemplating federal criminal appeals. Before sentencing, you are allowed one vital opportunity to talk and try to mitigate the seriousness of your fees while begging for leniency. The same trial judge who is about to pass sentence is the one who will rule whether the case can go ahead to appeals. If a conviction results from your defense endeavor, you have only 14 days to file the notice of appeal.

To lodge an appeal is to return to court the trial situation that sentencing was passed; to seek redress. Therefore, before determining whether to appeal, there are two things to consider. First, if the trial court sentence is milder than what the federal prosecutor was arguing for, he or she may establish a cross-appeal, and the consequent sentence may be much stiffer. Second, you should decide whether to keep the legal representation you used at trial for the appeal or hire a more capable Tucson defense lawyer with specific appeals expertise.

After the trial court has passed sentence on a federal criminal case, you must file a notice of appeal promptly. The court system’s statute of limitations for filing an appeal notice is 14 days. According to www.uscourts.gov, there are 12 regional circuits at the 94 federal judicial authorities of the United States. In these circuits, there are 13 Federal Courts of Appeal, each with a panel of justices who manage all appeals on the national level in every circuit. Above them is the US Court of Appeal for Federal Circuit, which is the judicial establishment that manages matters caused by international trade, national claims, constitutional and patent legislation. As a federal criminal appeals suspect, it is crucial to stay informed about the changes to court regulations and names or locations of the courthouses.

Once the notice of appeal has been dealt with, your Tucson Federal appeals attorney can file docketing statements related to your trial, which will allow court clerks to gather your case details and prepare them for referral to the appellate bench. The court will issue a briefing schedule in response to the registered notice, and all parties will receive notification or communication of the deadline of the briefing program. As the national criminal appeals suspect, you will have 45 days to prepare an opening brief. You will also need to get in touch with the court reporter who took notes of your event to prepare the trial transcripts that will be utilized to initiate your appeal defense.

After the briefing schedule has been released by the appellate court, the skills of a competent Tucson federal criminal appeals attorney will be required. Your counsel can help you prepare an opening brief, which is the defendant’s initial statement. The brief can be filed in a given form, filled on judicial internet portals, or handwritten. The opening brief is a lengthy citation-filled record aiming to demonstrate that the lower court’s trial result did not meet either legal or other expectations with regard to your case, using references to other related matters.

The Federal Court of Appeal receives your legal agents’ arguments; then, it is the federal prosecutor’s turn to record their opening brief in response to yours. They will answer the arguments your counselor has put forward and try to reveal to the court why the sentencing you received is legally just. The Tucson Federal appeals defense attorney then has a few weeks to submit a reply brief, possibly stressing firmly upon the opening brief’s stronger points or passing strategic tackles into the prosecution’s arguments. The national criminal appeals circuit court will then decide if the briefs fulfill the necessary requirements to pass a judgment. Depending on the opening and reply briefs and other docketed evidence filed by the defense, they could pass sentencing or choose to hear oral arguments from the attorney against the prosecution. At oral arguments, each side has just 30 minutes to make its case; that may be an intense half hour. The discretion, however, remains with the judge, though parties can make plans in federal criminal appeals for their oral arguments to be heard.

Based on the outcome of this appeal, you can decide to accept the appeal court’s sentence, appeal again in the national circuit level, or take the matter all the way to the Supreme Court of the USA. The Federal Circuit Court of appeals seat has three judges that the president appoints and is on life tenure. Above this is the Supreme Court, which is the final stop for many appeals.