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DOJ Memo Sneaks In Seismic Changes

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 first memorialized by Attorney General Thornburgh in 1989, it would be a serious oversight to miss the Memo’s dramatic departure from status quo and even from the first Trump administration’s view of federal prosecutor responsibilities. The heart of the memo is immigration enforcement. The Memo emphasizes the need for DOJ and the Department of Homeland…

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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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How Thick is the Blanket? – Preemptive Pardons as a Presidential Power

December 6, 2024

How Thick is the Blanket? – Preemptive Pardons as a Presidential Power

By: James Trusty

As the presiding judge scolded Hunter Biden’s attorneys this week, “The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 1, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history.”[1]  But what exactly is that history he claims is being re-written? Judge Scarsi was challenging…

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Going…Going…Ghosn

May 22, 2020

Going…Going…Ghosn

By: James Trusty

While much of the focus on the Japanese prosecution of high-profile executive Carlos Ghosn has been on his spectacular private jet escape from Japan while hidden in an instruments case, his prosecution actually raises much more profound issues about white collar criminal prosecution in Japan and in the United States. Ghosn is an indisputably talented executive at the highest reaches of the auto manufacturing and…

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Death by a Thousand Cuts

May 8, 2020

Death by a Thousand Cuts

By: James Trusty

When legal scholars look back at the failed Flynn prosecution, they will not be able to pin the dismissal on a single deficiency or legal principle, but if they are fair they will recognize a small case that was plagued with innumerable flaws. The DOJ Motion to Dismiss, filed in the rarified air of a case where the guilty plea already took place, spends a…

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Videoconferencing to the Rescue

April 1, 2020

Videoconferencing to the Rescue

By: James Trusty

While the recent passage of the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act is receiving tremendous attention because of its price tag, strategies to keep businesses and families afloat, and its hidden gems for beneficiaries like the Kennedy Center, it also has a component that is important for federal practitioners who handle criminal matters in District Courts around the country.  Federal courts currently show…

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How White Hats Get Dirty

March 19, 2020

How White Hats Get Dirty

By: James Trusty

Historically, undercover operations by law enforcement would run into problematic “loyalty tests,” designed to make sure that the criminal conspirators could trust the “new guy.” Biker gangs would ask this “pledge” to beat someone up or take drugs, knowing law enforcement agencies would likely not let that happen, even in an undercover capacity. Prostitution stings could be compromised by either a John smart enough to…

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A Tiny Crack in the Wall?

December 10, 2019

A Tiny Crack in the Wall?

By: James Trusty

Federal sentencing proceedings have a long and rich history of including every speck of good and bad that a defendant brings to the table. Unlike the trial itself, there are no Rules of Evidence that apply to keep the factfinder from considering unreliable or unproven information. The judge need only find facts by a preponderance of evidence, and those facts can be established by hearsay….

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Articles and Presentations by Our Firm Attorneys

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

How Thick is the Blanket? – Preemptive Pardons as a Presidential Power

How Thick is the Blanket? – Preemptive Pardons as a Presidential Power
By: James Trusty

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