Birmingham, Alabama Criminal Defense Blog

What a Month - January 2009

Posted by Michael P. Hanle  //  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, ... Keep Reading »

A Case of Murder or the Death of the State's Case

Posted by Michael P. Hanle  //  January 25, 2009

What a couple of weeks it has been. Trial work has to be some of the most exhaustive work that an attorney can handle. The mental and emotional toll on the body is beyond description. Knowing that your clients' future is in your hands is enought to scare some lawyers away. However, the truely great lawyer (not me) relish the chance to champion the case to the jury. In my recent murder trial, I tried to convince the State that they were dealing with bad facts and even worse witnesses. Did they listen? Not one little bit. After the Judge shot down all of my suppression issues (identification) we started into the State's witnesses. One after the other, I was able to get them to shot holes in the State's theory of the case -... Keep Reading »