TAKING IMMEDIATE ACTION AFTER A FEDERAL GRAND JURY INDICTMENT OFTEN GAINS THE BEST RESULTS

We've looked at methods to stop the grand jury process, establishing there's been grand jury abuse and how to make direct challenges to a grand jury indictment. But unfortunately even when a grand jury indictment may be subject to a later challenge once a federal grand jury produces an indictment against a defendant who has not already been arrested for the allegations he will face immediate federal arrest. Within hours or a few days of the arrest the defendant will face a federal magistrate judge in a federal courtroom who will make important determinations as to whether the defendant should be released while awaiting trial and if so what restraints and limitations may be required such as giving up of passport, gps monitoring, drug monitoring or ankle bracelet.

 Eliminate Your Flight Risk

Unlike the way criminal cases move forward in Florida's state criminal court system it's unusual for a bail bondsman to be involved in the federal bond process as the magistrate is apt to either allow a property bond subject to forfeiture or to grant a signature bond if release before trial is deemed appropriate. The magistrate judge's primary objective is to secure attendance to future court hearings and trials by eliminating any flight risk from the defendant. Factors a judge takes into account for federal bond and detention include the nature of the offense, the prior record of the defendant, the violent nature of the offense and statutory requirements such as the necessity to view any drug trafficking offense as a presumptive threat to the public.

In the Middle District of Florida most federal prisoners await their first appearance at the Pinellas County Jail which is often overcrowded with unsafe conditions. After the initial hearing with the magistrate the Florida federal cases proceed quickly compared to Florida state cases and in a manner of months are usually resolved by plea or trial.

The most important decisions made by federal defendants are often made very early in the federal criminal process sometimes well before the grand jury even deliberates on the allegations of misconduct. In federal cases where smart decisions are made early the likelihood of future success are enhanced so it's important to work with your federal criminal defense lawyer to gain the best results.

FLORDA'S SCANDALOUS JAILS: VISIT A FLORIDA PRISON WHERE JUSTICE GOES TO DIE

Recent articles in the press further establish that Florida's prison system is a failure. This is not unexpected, as I've noted here repeatedly that the Pinellas County Jail has many problems that have not been fixed. Why should we expect more from other prisons in the Florida Gulag? The Pinellas Jail fails to protect and provide for federal and state prisoners in the following ways:

1. The Pinellas jail fails to provide prisoners with proper medical care. The sheriff allowed a contract with a private firm to continue giving medical services at the Pinellas Jail even though he was aware that the same medical service provider at the Hillsborough Jail was involved in a case where a prisoner died from lack of proper medical care. Only now, after further frustration with the provider is the sheriff finally reevaluating his decision.
2.  The Pinellas jail is unable to protect prisoners from violence. One young man in jail for a misdemeanor was strangled to death at the Pinellas Jail by a serial murderer at the jail not long ago. Not only are prisoners subjected to attacks from other prisoners, but they also face the occasional bludgeoning from jail guards. In a case a few weeks ago a Pinellas Deputy at the jail was fired after beating up a man in a wheel chair. Why wasn't the Deputy also subjected to charges of battery or aggravated battery. The answer is not mere firing instead a grand jury should be convened to ascertain if there is a systematic failure to protect prisoners and where there is an alleged beating charges should be filed against the officers just as they would be filed against any other citizen who commits a battery or aggravated battery.
3. The Pinellas jail provides terrible food. The jail purposefully has poor food so that the jail with a private company can make money by selling edible food to the prisoners who can afford it. This introduces a destructive barter system at the jail. If the issue is money why not provide land for the prisoners to grow their own food and opportunities to learn how to cook. 
4. The Pinellas jail does not provide sufficient educational opportunities, books nor other library material. 
5. The jail does not give prisoners enough time to exercise nor to get fresh air. Often the time allotted is merely one hour a day.
6. The Pinellas jail is overcrowded with more prisoners than it was meant to hold when built. The Pinellas prison population has soared even though the crime rate in Pinellas continues to fall.

As bad as my clients have told me it is, I've always found while visiting the Pinellas County Jail that those who work there are professional, competent and caring (good to write just in case I end up there). Clearly, these local jail problems are mirrored throughout the entire Florida Jail System. The remedy needs to come from the top with a decision to treat prisoners with respect and compassion making time served in prison or jail not just about punishment, but an opportunity to help educate, elevate and give treatment for prisoners especially for nonviolent crimes such as drug crimes.

WHY EVERY JUDGE SHOULD SPEND SOME QUALITY TIME IN JAIL

It's an unfortunate aspect of the American Criminal Justice System that the vast majority of judges have spent no time in jail. A little jail would do most of them good. Not only would some time in the slammer help them understand what incarceration really entails, it would add some perspective if not empathy to a sentencing process that is often inhumane and robotic. 

Even Judge Judy needs Jail

In fact why stop with just the judges? Prosecutors and Defense lawyers could share a cell, eat beans together and pay seventeen dollars for a two minute call home, just like their targets and clients must do when imprisoned. It's not unusual for prosecutors and judges to forget the hopeless reality of prison by simply basing every Florida sentencing decision on scoresheet calculations and sentencing guidelines. 


Because if they did think about it, if the tortured lives and wasted time of each prison day the defendant would serve had to be counted and assessed in some knowing way, the prisons would be emptied except for the most violent criminals. How does it help anyone to have nonviolent people wasting time in jail? 

Recently a family from my home town sought advice about a federal habeas corpus petition to rectify the results of on an older grand theft case in which the defendant was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. Twenty-five years for a grand theft! He'd been offered a mere two years of jail before his trial. 

In Florida judges are forbidden to punish someone for exercising their constitutional right of going to a jury trial, but a judge may get around that by stating that information gained at the trial changed one's mind. One wonders if this judge would benefit from spending some quality time in jail himself. In fact why not have the judge spend say one hour for every year for which he sentences someone.

Wouldn't the victims be better off if the Defendant was earning money to pay them back even if he was just flipping hamburgers? Wouldn't society be better off if he was on probation? Wouldn't his children be better off with a father at home? It's unfathomable to me that the American Criminal Justice System is often just in the process but not in the results. Yet the truth is that the habeas corpus action was unlikely to meet with success unless some aspect of the process could be shown to have been a failure despite the obvious failed result of that process.

But let's brighten your day by thinking of others we should place in our empathy jail. Why not send every police officer to jail too?  Starting with the Sheriff,  all the way down. They'd all benefit from having a fuller understanding of how brutal the prison system actually is in Tampa Bay, Florida. Would the Pinellas County Jail's recurring problems with bad food, lack of safety and failures by the medical staff be affected if those in control knew that they would be spending time there? Would the Judges allow it to continue? Would the Prosecutors? Would the Defense lawyers?