While representing one of the defendants during the course of a six-week trial in this case, defense attorney Michael S. Fawer of Covington, LA became embroiled in a number of arguments and confrontations with the prosecutor, A.U.S.A. Michael Reese Davis, and the trial judge, Judge Tyson of the M.D.La. After …

Last Fall, a divided panel from the Ninth Circuit struck down two, consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences imposed under California’s three strikes law; and held that the sentences, which had been imposed on a defendant convicted of petty theft who had seven prior non-violent crimes, violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel …

This case is noted principally as a reminder that the forfeiture laws now require the Government to pay interest on funds which it seizes from a claimant pursuant to a forfeiture proceeding, but which are ultimately returned to the claimant when the forfeiture proceedings are dropped or otherwise terminated.

In …

In July, 1998, U.S. Customs Agents obtained warrants to search the residence and warehouse of William Farmer, who was not yet a defendant in any criminal proceedings, based on a showing of probable cause that he was engaged in the “illegal counterfeiting of clothing trademarks in violation of Federal law.” …

In this case, three defendants were charged with various drug crimes based in large part on evidence obtained from wiretaps obtained by the Government that were supported by a 74-page affidavit of an FBI agent. The defendants sought to suppress the evidence obtained from the wiretaps on the grounds that …