What a Month - January 2009

Posted by Michael P. Hanle on January 29, 2009

Well it has been a wild and crazy month. Very productive and very successful though.

We started off the month on January 5th with a bang. Three different clients, three different courts, in two different parts of town.

On Wednesday of that week, I was involved in a federal bank fraud sentencing. The client was looking at a prison sentence of between 2 1/2 and 3 years. I pre-filed a very extensive sentencing memorandum with the court setting out my argument for a probationary sentence. Following an hour of argument, the court agreed with me. To place my client on probation, the court varied downward by 10 offense levels. What a glorious day for everyone involved.

On Friday, in another federal social security fraud case, I was able to get a second judge to place a client on probation. Funny thing about this case was the Judge's comments to my client after sentencing. The U.S. District Court judge told my client that she was happy to see me with such a nice client for a change. She said she was tired of seeing me come into her courtroom with bad clients facing long sentences. It was refreshing.

The next week, on January 12th, I started a murder trial in the Jefferson County Circuit Court. Client was accused of beating a man to death. According to the State he did it because the victim took some money ($35.00) out of his mother's car. The State's evidence was contradictory and we had a real jerk as the chief investigator. I tried to warn the State that its' witnesses were not going to help the case. But no, the State did not believe me. The jury got the case at 4:45 p.m. on January 14th. The judge asked if they wanted to break for the evening and start fresh in the morning. They told the judge no, they wanted to get started. FIFTEEN MINUTES later they entered the courtroom. With a thumbs up the jury told the STate that my client was NOT GUILTY of MURDER. What a GREAT VERDICT. It is such a fabulous feeling to see all of your hard work and preparation pay off in such an important case.

Progress continues on my Atlanta, Georgia Federal internet pharmacy case. Sentencing is coming up the first week of February and my discussions with the Assistant United States Attorney are beginning to get the desired results. More on that next month.